The Discovery of Whaler’s Vault and Sutherbury

Those humans and Faeries who fled Tanzia and reached Cavendia had only the ships on which they had come, the largest being The Land’s End. Having no desire to leave their new home and much to do exploring it, the settlers left those ships to decay, merely writing down their knowledge of shipbuilding for future generations. The Cavendian Isles presented many new challenges to survival, and shipbuilding was not a first concern. It was hundreds of years before anything but simple fishing boats were built.

It is now known that the trip from Tanzia to Cavendia is short compared to the journey to other landmasses. It was therefore not until Cavendia was thoroughly surveyed and well-developed that longer sea journeys were successful. First, these new ships built for longer voyages traveled north to explore, knowing from old that the Forbidden Land of Tanzia lay to the south.

Therefore, the first landmass to be discovered beyond the Cavendian Isles was Whaler’s Vault. Though uninhabitable, Whaler’s Vault to be a great commercial discovery, especially as it brought the whale oil that powered early industry, as well as other goods.

A hunger for new lands of bounty was born.

Following the success of discovering Whaler’s Vault, exploratory sailing expeditions were sent east, leading to the sighting of the continent of Sutherbury. This new landmass was at first feared to be somehow attached to Tanzia by a southerly landbridge.

Once the new world’s discovery was reported, the government sent the first Royal Army Expedition. This consisted of six ships, manned by the bravest scientists and the most elite Army and Navy men of their time.

They discovered that no Servants were to be found on the continent, and they cataloged a staggering diversity of new animal and plant species. It was clear that incalculable commercial value lie there.

The early surveyors, however, soon were at a loss to say how large the continent might be. Early outposts were setup to facilitate further explorations. Meanwhile, the homeland could not wait the many years necessary to fully map Sutherbury. Eager to begin extraction, certain companies were given rights to go and begin the importation of new commodities.

Conflict with the Indigenous

As the exploratory work went on, it was found that indigenous men — of the same white skin tone as Cavendians — were using illegal decisive majik. These tribal societies were indifferent to the ancient mandate by the Altaica that men not use decisive majik. Told the story of the fall of the Maraa and of the necessity that their majik be given up, they resisted. Though they lacked firearms, the natives used majik to terrible destructive effect on colonizers.

Conflicts with the native tribes, who learned the locations of the Cavendian settlers soon became common, resulting in many battles large and small. The natives were declared savages possessed by dark majik, enemies of all, and soon devastating firefights and raids were carried out, with great loss of life on both sides. The war to purify Sutherbury of dangerous majik and claim it as ruled by Cavendia became a great undertaking, requiring both the Cavendian military and militias of those who now called Sutherbury home. The last tribe to be subdued was the Vapanchi, around whom all other native Sutherbury peoples had united to resist colonization.

The First Colonies

After the execution of the Vapanchi leadership, peace and order were finally attained. What at first were military camps in territory conquered by the Army explorers soon developed into full-on colonies, populated most heavily by the workers of large trading companies who exported Sutherbury goods.

Soon 15 Cavendian colonies had grown into proper towns, populated by those who had never set foot on their forebears’ homeland. The children of soldiers and company workers began to setup their own companies and their own farmsteads in safe territory. The population born and raised on Sutherbury began to resent the heavy influence of the homeland on colonials. They felt a flood of goods enriching Cavendia left their stores, and little came back. They wrote pamphlets complaining the prices they were given were unfair.

Cavendia argued that it was government money and soldiers who had discovered and secured Sutherbury for commercial purposes, and it sought high taxes from the profits of all concerns that had setup on Sutherbury as return on this investment.

The colonialists, whom after a few generations had no loyalty to Cavendia, soon desired to govern themselves and improve life in their own society. They argued it was now pioneers and local militias who were continuing the fight to claim land from the natives and gain new territory. All they gained, they argued, would be gobbled up by Cavendian government.

The War of Independence

Soon, ships of Cavendian trade goods were not allowed to unload their cargo and turned back homeward. A declaration of independence was written and signed by the most important leaders in the 15 colonies.

War broke out, which has come to be called the War of Independence. The Sutherbury militias had the advantage of knowledge of the terrain and fought inland, where they were protected from the might of the Royal Navy. After a six year struggle, Cavendian forces finally gave up the struggle, signing a treaty and recognizing Sutherbury as an independent nation. All Cavendian military presence was removed, and trade agreements were reached for the good of both nations.

Since, Sutherbury and its companies have bloomed into a power to rival Cavendia on the basis of raw material wealth. However, Cavendia has remained ahead in manufacturing, invention, and education. Sutherbury’s progress has been checked, however, by numerous and expensive wars to fight the revolts of native tribes and general lawlessness in frontier areas governed by a handful of homesteaders.

The Sutherbury Outback

The people of Sutherbury concentrated in the most productive regions of the landmass and turned the government’s efforts toward building infrastructure in their existing cities: railroads, universities, libraries, factories, botanical gardens, and more.

The land beyond, called the Outback, is still held by numerous indigenous tribes, many long-stripped of decisive majik. It now has a patrolled border, marked out by the longest fences in the world.

Only in very recent times has Cavendia and Sutherbury agreed to a few scientific probes into the vast, unexplored regions of the very great continent. The land will likely remain conserved until the population of Sutherbury should make expansion worthwhile.

The Outback draws hunters from Cavendia on safari, for game animals unknown in Cavendia dwell there in great numbers.