This is an article about Eastern Natopia. Click here for more information.
This is an article about Natopia. Click here for more information.

Hazelwood

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Natopia Natopian demesne
Hazelwood
Flag of Hazelwood
Flag
Coat of Arms of Hazelwood
Coat of Arms
Motto: Ni ellir hollti griffin
Location of Hazelwood
Map versions 6.7.7 - present
Capital The Sacred Glade
Largest cities Hazelwood City, Oakham
Official language(s) Nats, Hazel
Official religion(s) Hazkisi, Jaiesican Bovinism
Demonym Hazel
 - Adjective Hazelwoodian
Official full name Chiefdom of the Great Hazel Woods
Government
under the Constitution of Natopia
Chiefdom
 - Demesnial Charter {{{demesnialcharter}}}
 - Empress of the Natopians Vadoma I
 - Chief Clara Sundara
 -
 - Demesnial Legislature Mykorza of the Great Woods
 - Part of
(Demesnial Union)
Key Historical Dates {{{historicaldates}}}
 - Establishment 1493 AN
Area
Population 25,079,450 (1707)
Key Landmarks {{{landmarks}}}
Abbreviation HW
Full Greater Arms of the Empire WP version Nathan III crest.png

Administrative divisions of Natopia

The Chiefdom of the Great Hazel Woods, commonly known as Hazelwood, is a demesne of Eastern Natopia. It comprises the southern third of Yellow Island. Major cities are Hazelwood City, Cape Newport, Oakham, and Apis of the Cedars. Hazelwood's current borders roughly corresponds to the original land held by the Hazel, the native people of this region of Yellow Island at the time of Nett Opaegh's semi-legendary unification campaigns. Hazelwood borders Tas Neemia to the north and Ziegeland to the west. It is connected to Eucal, Sororiya via the Oakham-Eucal Bridge. It has long been associated with neighboring Ziegeland, and its autonomy has ebbed and flowed through history. It was re-established as its own demesne in Eastern Natopia to allow for the cultural uniqueness of the Hazel people to flourish. It is named for the Great Hazel Woods are a natural wonder of Natopia.

Geography

The terrain of Hazelwood.

The Chiefdom is divided into two duchies, the western third is Cheshunt, dominated by cottonfields and other agriculture and the Macon River. Oakham, located at the mouth of the Macon River, has a large textile and food processing industry. The eastern two-thirds is the Duchy of Hazelwood. Hazelwood's interior is covered in a dense, lush, diverse forest known as the Great Hazel Woods. The Woods extends towards Hazelwood City in the east, up to the Sidewinder Cliffs and follows the Macon River Valley down to Oakham. Cotton fields are located in the western part of the duchy of Cheshunt. Small farms and homesteads occupy the fertile soils north of the Newport Strait, with the County of Bellerive being an important agricultural center. The Sacred Glade, located deep in within the oldest part of the Woods, is surrounded by small lakes and wetlands with rocky outcroppings that have not recovered from the Great Fire in 1622.

Government

Clara Sundara, along with her husband Cledwyn, established a government for Hazelwood according to ancient Hazel tribal structures. The large, urbanized, cities of Hazelwood and Oakham were given special city status to govern themselves and be excluded from certain laws. The mayors and city councils of these cities were given greater autonomy as well.

The capital city was relocated to the Sacred Glade, deep within the Great Hazel Woods. Laws were proposed by petitioners and decided by the Mykorza of the Great Woods. The Mykorza was the network of Tree Spirits, the souls of the Hazel people's ancestors. As the Tree Spirits could see into the past and future due to their long lives and interconnected experiences, the Hazel people entrusted them with establishing rules. All decisions of the Mykorza were unanimous, they may debate a topic for months before returning a yes or no verdict. The Druids, Hazel priests with especially high sensitivity to hearing the Tree Spirits speak, were responsible for relaying the reasons why the rule was struck down to allow for petitioners to re-propose bills.

The Chief would execute these rules in the name of the Mykorza. In the absence of instruction from the Mykorza, the Chief would consult with the Arch Druid to make decisions. The Chief would be elected by and from among the grandchildren of the Chief's mother (Asara Waffel-Paine). There are therefore currently eight possible inheritors of the chiefdom: Nathan III, Vadoma, Leonora, John, Lisa, Carl, Stav, and Fen. The Arch Druid is a religious position, inherited after years of mentorship and study.

Spirituality

The Hazel people practice a ritual magick, called hazkisi, that combines elements of shamanism, druidism, and fetishism. The core of hazkisi is the belief in the souls of Hazel ancestors inhabiting the trees of the Great Hazel Woods. The magical properties of the soil of the Great Hazel Woods comes from Mona Von'Fel, an Elfinshi living in Menelmacari Elivia hundreds of years ago. She taught the Hazel people to use magic. The soil of the Hazel Woods imbues certain Trees there with supernatural magick. When a Hazel dies, they are Planted face down in the ground with a seed in their mouth. The soil causes the seed to sprout and grow to a sapling quickly, within a day, and goes through the skull and brain of the recently deceased. This new stage of a Hazel's life is when they become a Tree Spirit.

Tree Spirits are able to communicate with each other in the Mykorza and with certain living druids that become attuned to their Treespeak. Druids are called to their vocation after hearing Treespeak in their youth. It is impossible to deny the call from the Tree Spirits. All Hazel can communicate with the Tree Spirits of their closest kin, parents, siblings, and children. Depending on the Hazel's sensitivity, this communication can range from full conversations to just images or emotions. The longer a Hazel person has been a Tree Spirit, the more difficult it is for the average Hazel person to communicate with them, as the Tree Spirits begin to forget verbal languages. As the Tree Spirits age, however, they begin to communicate more and more with the other Tree Spirits, this prevents living Hazel from becoming to attached to their departed loved ones, and give them a period of months or years to make peace with their passing.

Druids are specially attuned to Treespeak, and can communicate with older Tree Spirits, or ask other Tree Spirits to convey messages to the oldest Tree Spirits. They form a priestly class among the Hazel people and serve the community by creating hazkisi fetishes, Planting the recently deceased, learning history from the Tree Spirits, acting as intercessors between the Hazel people and the Trees, and interpreting decisions of the Mykorza. Druids memorize their knowledge and pass it on orally. Once a Hazel has been called to the druidic profession, they are no longer taught how to read or write to ensure this. The Tree Spirits have a nearly limitless memory, and druids can call upon the Tree Spirit to remember things for them. An Arch Druid selects his or her protégé from among the most talented druids and trains the druid for years, sometimes decades. The Arch Druid serves as the religious leader for the Hazel people and has certain important powers to assist the Chief in governing.

Hazel people keep fetishes on them at all times with soil kept in amulets, lockets, or vials when traveling beyond the Woods. The hazkisi soil therapy can rejuvenate the sick by burying the afflicted person up to their neck for days or weeks. It was famously practiced on Nathan II who suffered development issues from a traumatic childhood.

Nobility

The Chiefdom maintains a legal continuity with the peerage system established by Flaventia. The Chief and Arch Druid may create and bestow additional titles. All titles that existed under Flaventia are maintained, and the Chief herself retains the title of Duchess of Hazelwood.