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Description
Official name: The All-Darcsen Host (Vsedarksenskaya Sech)

Colloquial names: The Host, Darcsenia

National motto: Nasha rasa yeshche ne pogibla (Our race has not yet perished)

National anthem: Marsh detey Rodiny (March of the Motherland’s Children)

Anglish translation of the first stanza and chorus

Arise, Darcsen land, and defend your faith!

We have composed many a song in our heart,

Glorifying our native land!

We’ve loved you no matter what,

You, our holy Europa!

You’ve held your head high,

Your face shone like the sun!

But you’ve become a victim of injustice,

By the invaders, the accursed hordes!

|: And the trumpet, once more, calls us for the campaign.

We stand in formation,

Ready to charge into the sacred battle! :l

Capital(s): Sinigrad u kreposti

Largest city: Sevastopol - 5.9 million

Languages:

- Darcsen - Going by the very little archeological evidence that has been collected over the centuries, it’s generally accepted among historians that in the Ancient Europan Antebellum, Darcsenkind was culturally and linguistically divided between the western and eastern halves of the continent. While it appeared that the eastern Darcsens mingled with the native Slavs and adopted their language, the western Darcsens maintained their own, distinct tongue that seemed to be related to Celtic. With the Great Invasion, the western Darcsen language, along with their culture, was rendered extinct.

Today, the sole remaining Darcsen language exists, alongside with Russish, as one of the “Slavic Twins”, identical languages in grammar and vocabulary, only differing in the alphabet. Interestingly, Darcsen is written in the Latin script: The transition from the Ancient Slavic alphabet was a result of closer ties with the Latin Empire, which was also fiercely opposed to the successor kingdoms set up by the Hyperboreans and worsening relations with the increasingly belligerent Russish princes. The Darcsen language remained written in the Latin alphabet, even after the Latin Empire’s fall, as Gothic tribal confederations, most importantly those in modern-day Brandenburg, adopted it as well.

- Gothic - Darcsenia always shared a special relationship with Brandenburg, both being militaristic, socially-progressive non-Christian states viewing themselves and the other as the last true natives of Europa. Because of this, plenty of Gothic speakers can be found in Darcsenia, especially in the nation’s cosmopolitan centers, Sinigrad and Sevastopol.

- The Latinate Languages (Burgundian, Lazian, and Hispanic) - Only a couple decades ago, within a human lifespan, these three languages were spoken by over a hundred million in Europa. Today? They only exist in the history books, at least in their birthplaces. Decades of cultural genocide, settlement, and ethnic cleansing have taken irreversibly transformed these regions and their inhabitants, with natives now making up of only a tenth of their homelands’ populations.

Of special note is Lazian, language of the successor states of the Latin Empire. While the Darcsens held the Latins in high regard, the invasion by Hyperborean remnants and subsequent period of ethnic intermingling (referred to by Darcsens as “The Latin Calamity”) that slowly replaced the natives with settlers and mestizos permanently severed ties between the two lands, as the Darcsens saw these new Lazians as irreversibly corrupted by the invaders, along with the Burgundians and Hispanics. As such, while the Gothic cleansing of Burgundy was out of a sense of historic rivalry and various dubious politico-historical theories, Darcsenia’s cleansing of southwestern Europa was fueled by racial enmity and a desire to make these new additions to the Host ethnically homogeneous.

The period of ethnic cleansing is known in Darcsenia as “The Purification”.

Religions:

- Novayavera (New Faith) - One of Europa’s two remaining polytheistic religions. Novayavera believes in the Tvortsy (Creators), an unknown species of extremely powerful beings that created the Earth countless years ago, but were forced to leave it behind to fight a malevolent entity simply known as the Kravor. Whatever happened between the Creators and the Kravor afterwards is completely unknown, but the answer to Darcsens’ prayers and various disasters over the millenia have suggested that these two forces are still locked in battle and have focused their attentions on Earth.

An important moment not just in human history but in Novayavera’s history was the Hyperborean Invasion: While archeological evidence is almost non-existent, according to tradition, the ancient Darcsen religion (Old Faith) was less of a cohesive organization than a collection of disparate, if like-minded, factions that set aside their differences to drive out the invaders. Supposedly, throughout the war, Creators inhabited a handful of people, accomplishing feats that have yet to be replicated, such as forcing changes in weather, inducing natural disasters, and, in one particularly legendary instance, moving an entire mountain (it’s speculated that these were extremely powerful thaumaturges whose bloodlines have long since gone extinct). Such events began a period of major theological rethinking of previous lore and assumptions, known by Novayaverans as Vozrozhdeniye (The Revival), that culminated in Old Faith’s evolution into New Faith. Practitioners believe that the Hyperboreans and their descendents were the creations of the Kravor, sent to destroy mankind and undo the work of the Creators.

Today, Novayavera’s popularity is still centered in Darcsenia, which has made it the state religion; it enjoys a small, but ultimately negligible following internationally, usually amongst overseas Darcsens.

- Gothic Paganism (GP) - A syncretic religion mixing Novayavera and local traditions. Gothic Pagans worship a large pantheon consisting of dozens of gods, who they believe are divine representatives sent by the Creators. Interestingly, unlike other polytheistic religions past or present, GP makes each god an advocate of modern fields and professions, similar to the Catholic tradition of Saints. For example, Freja, Goddess of Love, Sex, and Fertility, is the patron of (among others) marriage officiants, marriage counselers, prostitutes, and (not without some controversy) homosexuals; Foresti, God of Justice and Vengeance, is the patron of judges, detectives, military policemen, and (yet again, controversially), vigilantes.

It’s believed that at some point after the Hyperborean Invasion (likely between 500 and 450 B.C.E.), Darcsen refugees began mingling with native Balts and Goths, introducing their religion to the region. Since then, the Pagans have weathered crusade after crusade, war after war, and stubbornly refuse to be subjugated by anyone who seeks to disrespect and dethrone the Creators and their holy emissaries.

GP is mostly centered in Northeastern Europa, especially in Brandenburg, with 61% of the population claiming faith.

- Christianity - The first Christians were met with curiosity. The first missionaries were met with annoyance. The first crusaders were met with arrows. Since as far back as anyone can remember (indeed, as far back as written records reach), Darcsenkind always held Christianity at an arm’s length. While the Novayaverans were, at first anyways, intrigued by what the strangers had to say, apparently even liking their sermons on charity and compassion, they quickly took issue with Christian insistance that the Darcsens both make peace with the Hyperborean descendants and abandon their ancient faith for this new strangers’ creed. Recovered documents indicate that a key factor in the tensions between Darcsenia and the late Roman Empire was the latter’s adoption of Christianity as the state religion.

Since then, relations between the two religions haven’t gotten much better. Christians within the Host’s borders, with the exception of tourists, foreign diplomats, and Goths (we’ll get to that later) are slapped with quite a tax (even with their equally abysmal relations, the Darcsens found the practice of Jizya one of the few good things about Islam), and outside of the largest congrgations, many smaller Christian groups are actively hostile to Novayaverans.

Gothic Christians enjoy(?) an unendingly awkward relationship with Darcsenia. Having fought side-by-side with Novayaverans for almost 40 years against the Kravor’s spawns, and with the Brandeburgers vouching for them, they enjoy multiple privileges denied to other Christians, such as exemption from the aforementioned tax and special legal protections from hate crimes and discrimination. Some are hoping that the Gothic Christians might become the catalyst for a detente between the two religions.

Government: Federal ethnocratic elected military junta
Executive - The Supreme Council of the Darcsen race
Head of State/Generalisimo - Grand Commander of all Hetmanates
Privy Council - Council of Advisors
Legislative - The Assembly of Elected Officers
Judicial - The Supreme Council of Judges

Population by January of 1946:

- 119,770,400

Economy by January 1946: NOTE: All figures are adjusted to current values as of 2003.

- Currency - The Darcsen Zloto (DZL)

- GDP (PPP) - $2.9 Trillion

- GDP per capita (PPP) - $24,213

History:

- 4400 B.C.E - Earliest evidence of Darcsen artifacts

- 1900 B.C.E - Estimated establishment of the first Darcsen governments in modern-day Morskoy-Utes (Western Darcsens) and Sevastopol (Eastern/Modern Darcsens)

- 1700 to 1300 B.C.E - The Great Invasion
1600 to 1500 B.C.E - Extinction of the Western Darcsens
1500 - 1300 B.C.E (estimated) - Vozrozhdeniye (The Revival)

- 1021 to 1022 - The Darcsen Crusade

- 1386 - Treaty of Potsdam

- 1663 - Unification of Darcsenia

- 1882 to 1917 - The War of Reclamation (the World War)

- 1883 to 1901 and 1904 to 1928 - The Purification

Artist's Notes:
Arguably the defining effect of this timeline: With a failed Valkyrian invasion, the Darcsens now have their own state/empire. I imagined it’d be a militarized state seeking vengeance for the centuries of suffering at the hands of the Hyperborean invaders.
I have no idea why, but I always pictured a non-defeated Darcsen race to be cavalry-centric with their military, like the Cossacks.
When making the flag of Darcsenia, I got inspired by various Cossack flags and war standards of other countries, and decided to make the flag look like a cavalry banner.
Darcsenia is mainly inspired by White Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and the Cossacks.
The Darcsens in the canon Valkyria Chronicles universe have little to no cultural exposition. All we get to know of them is that they were the original natives of Europa, they suffer extreme discrimination from other Europans (to the point where they’re not even allowed to have surnames), and some otherwise ignorable tidbits (i.e, the trademark pattern on their clothing, dolls, etc.).
Again, I have no idea why, but I always thought of a surviving Darcsen culture to be slavic, especially Russian/Ukrainian. In fact, the whole “Darcsens are fantasy Russo-Ukrainians” idea stemmed from an old world I built, which was also an alternate history of VC.
With all that said, I have an important announcement to make: If you are a person of Ukrainian, Russian, or otherwise Eastern Slavic descent, and find this work to be insulting to you, your people, and/or your culture, then I am deeply and sincerely sorry. I do not mean to insinuate that Russians, Ukrainians, or slavs in general are genocidal racial supremacists. I’m only writing fiction, and have used them as an aesthetic base to build off of, nothing more.
I consulted MukofromtheUkraine for the official name of Darcsenia. Thanks for the help, drug.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Took longer than I expected, but here it is: The second fact sheet! I'm experimenting with using different types of deviations for my fact sheets, so bear with me. Let me know which type you prefer.

Thanks for sticking around for this! As always, comments are encouraged and appreciated.

UPDATE FROM JULY OF 2023: This factsheet is officially outdated; it no longer reflects the official canon of A Toast to The East!, and only remains on the site as a relic, not unlike a museum. An updated sheet for Chernomor is in the works and this page will be updated when it is uploaded.

Description
Official name: The All-Darcsen Host (Vsedarksenskaya Sech)

Colloquial names: The Host, Darcsenia

National motto: Nasha rasa yeshche ne pogibla (Our race has not yet perished)

National anthem: Marsh detey Rodiny (March of the Motherland’s Children)

Anglish translation of the first stanza and chorus

Arise, Darcsen land, and defend your faith!

We have composed many a song in our heart,

Glorifying our native land!

We’ve loved you no matter what,

You, our holy Europa!

You’ve held your head high,

Your face shone like the sun!

But you’ve become a victim of injustice,

By the invaders, the accursed hordes!

|: And the trumpet, once more, calls us for the campaign.

We stand in formation,

Ready to charge into the sacred battle! :l

Capital(s): Sinigrad u kreposti

Largest city: Sevastopol - 5.9 million

Languages:

- Darcsen - Going by the very little archeological evidence that has been collected over the centuries, it’s generally accepted among historians that in the Ancient Europan Antebellum, Darcsenkind was culturally and linguistically divided between the western and eastern halves of the continent. While it appeared that the eastern Darcsens mingled with the native Slavs and adopted their language, the western Darcsens maintained their own, distinct tongue that seemed to be related to Celtic. With the Great Invasion, the western Darcsen language, along with their culture, was rendered extinct.

Today, the sole remaining Darcsen language exists, alongside with Russish, as one of the “Slavic Twins”, identical languages in grammar and vocabulary, only differing in the alphabet. Interestingly, Darcsen is written in the Latin script: The transition from the Ancient Slavic alphabet was a result of closer ties with the Latin Empire, which was also fiercely opposed to the successor kingdoms set up by the Hyperboreans and worsening relations with the increasingly belligerent Russish princes. The Darcsen language remained written in the Latin alphabet, even after the Latin Empire’s fall, as Gothic tribal confederations, most importantly those in modern-day Brandenburg, adopted it as well.

- Gothic - Darcsenia always shared a special relationship with Brandenburg, both being militaristic, socially-progressive non-Christian states viewing themselves and the other as the last true natives of Europa. Because of this, plenty of Gothic speakers can be found in Darcsenia, especially in the nation’s cosmopolitan centers, Sinigrad and Sevastopol.

- The Latinate Languages (Burgundian, Lazian, and Hispanic) - Only a couple decades ago, within a human lifespan, these three languages were spoken by over a hundred million in Europa. Today? They only exist in the history books, at least in their birthplaces. Decades of cultural genocide, settlement, and ethnic cleansing have taken irreversibly transformed these regions and their inhabitants, with natives now making up of only a tenth of their homelands’ populations.

Of special note is Lazian, language of the successor states of the Latin Empire. While the Darcsens held the Latins in high regard, the invasion by Hyperborean remnants and subsequent period of ethnic intermingling (referred to by Darcsens as “The Latin Calamity”) that slowly replaced the natives with settlers and mestizos permanently severed ties between the two lands, as the Darcsens saw these new Lazians as irreversibly corrupted by the invaders, along with the Burgundians and Hispanics. As such, while the Gothic cleansing of Burgundy was out of a sense of historic rivalry and various dubious politico-historical theories, Darcsenia’s cleansing of southwestern Europa was fueled by racial enmity and a desire to make these new additions to the Host ethnically homogeneous.

The period of ethnic cleansing is known in Darcsenia as “The Purification”.

Religions:

- Novayavera (New Faith) - One of Europa’s two remaining polytheistic religions. Novayavera believes in the Tvortsy (Creators), an unknown species of extremely powerful beings that created the Earth countless years ago, but were forced to leave it behind to fight a malevolent entity simply known as the Kravor. Whatever happened between the Creators and the Kravor afterwards is completely unknown, but the answer to Darcsens’ prayers and various disasters over the millenia have suggested that these two forces are still locked in battle and have focused their attentions on Earth.

An important moment not just in human history but in Novayavera’s history was the Hyperborean Invasion: While archeological evidence is almost non-existent, according to tradition, the ancient Darcsen religion (Old Faith) was less of a cohesive organization than a collection of disparate, if like-minded, factions that set aside their differences to drive out the invaders. Supposedly, throughout the war, Creators inhabited a handful of people, accomplishing feats that have yet to be replicated, such as forcing changes in weather, inducing natural disasters, and, in one particularly legendary instance, moving an entire mountain (it’s speculated that these were extremely powerful thaumaturges whose bloodlines have long since gone extinct). Such events began a period of major theological rethinking of previous lore and assumptions, known by Novayaverans as Vozrozhdeniye (The Revival), that culminated in Old Faith’s evolution into New Faith. Practitioners believe that the Hyperboreans and their descendents were the creations of the Kravor, sent to destroy mankind and undo the work of the Creators.

Today, Novayavera’s popularity is still centered in Darcsenia, which has made it the state religion; it enjoys a small, but ultimately negligible following internationally, usually amongst overseas Darcsens.

- Gothic Paganism (GP) - A syncretic religion mixing Novayavera and local traditions. Gothic Pagans worship a large pantheon consisting of dozens of gods, who they believe are divine representatives sent by the Creators. Interestingly, unlike other polytheistic religions past or present, GP makes each god an advocate of modern fields and professions, similar to the Catholic tradition of Saints. For example, Freja, Goddess of Love, Sex, and Fertility, is the patron of (among others) marriage officiants, marriage counselers, prostitutes, and (not without some controversy) homosexuals; Foresti, God of Justice and Vengeance, is the patron of judges, detectives, military policemen, and (yet again, controversially), vigilantes.

It’s believed that at some point after the Hyperborean Invasion (likely between 500 and 450 B.C.E.), Darcsen refugees began mingling with native Balts and Goths, introducing their religion to the region. Since then, the Pagans have weathered crusade after crusade, war after war, and stubbornly refuse to be subjugated by anyone who seeks to disrespect and dethrone the Creators and their holy emissaries.

GP is mostly centered in Northeastern Europa, especially in Brandenburg, with 61% of the population claiming faith.

- Christianity - The first Christians were met with curiosity. The first missionaries were met with annoyance. The first crusaders were met with arrows. Since as far back as anyone can remember (indeed, as far back as written records reach), Darcsenkind always held Christianity at an arm’s length. While the Novayaverans were, at first anyways, intrigued by what the strangers had to say, apparently even liking their sermons on charity and compassion, they quickly took issue with Christian insistance that the Darcsens both make peace with the Hyperborean descendants and abandon their ancient faith for this new strangers’ creed. Recovered documents indicate that a key factor in the tensions between Darcsenia and the late Roman Empire was the latter’s adoption of Christianity as the state religion.

Since then, relations between the two religions haven’t gotten much better. Christians within the Host’s borders, with the exception of tourists, foreign diplomats, and Goths (we’ll get to that later) are slapped with quite a tax (even with their equally abysmal relations, the Darcsens found the practice of Jizya one of the few good things about Islam), and outside of the largest congrgations, many smaller Christian groups are actively hostile to Novayaverans.

Gothic Christians enjoy(?) an unendingly awkward relationship with Darcsenia. Having fought side-by-side with Novayaverans for almost 40 years against the Kravor’s spawns, and with the Brandeburgers vouching for them, they enjoy multiple privileges denied to other Christians, such as exemption from the aforementioned tax and special legal protections from hate crimes and discrimination. Some are hoping that the Gothic Christians might become the catalyst for a detente between the two religions.

Government: Federal ethnocratic elected military junta
Executive - The Supreme Council of the Darcsen race
Head of State/Generalisimo - Grand Commander of all Hetmanates
Privy Council - Council of Advisors
Legislative - The Assembly of Elected Officers
Judicial - The Supreme Council of Judges

Population by January of 1946:

- 119,770,400

Economy by January 1946: NOTE: All figures are adjusted to current values as of 2003.

- Currency - The Darcsen Zloto (DZL)

- GDP (PPP) - $2.9 Trillion

- GDP per capita (PPP) - $24,213

History:

- 4400 B.C.E - Earliest evidence of Darcsen artifacts

- 1900 B.C.E - Estimated establishment of the first Darcsen governments in modern-day Morskoy-Utes (Western Darcsens) and Sevastopol (Eastern/Modern Darcsens)

- 1700 to 1300 B.C.E - The Great Invasion
1600 to 1500 B.C.E - Extinction of the Western Darcsens
1500 - 1300 B.C.E (estimated) - Vozrozhdeniye (The Revival)

- 1021 to 1022 - The Darcsen Crusade

- 1386 - Treaty of Potsdam

- 1663 - Unification of Darcsenia

- 1882 to 1917 - The War of Reclamation (the World War)

- 1883 to 1901 and 1904 to 1928 - The Purification

Artist's Notes:
Arguably the defining effect of this timeline: With a failed Valkyrian invasion, the Darcsens now have their own state/empire. I imagined it’d be a militarized state seeking vengeance for the centuries of suffering at the hands of the Hyperborean invaders.
I have no idea why, but I always pictured a non-defeated Darcsen race to be cavalry-centric with their military, like the Cossacks.
When making the flag of Darcsenia, I got inspired by various Cossack flags and war standards of other countries, and decided to make the flag look like a cavalry banner.
Darcsenia is mainly inspired by White Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and the Cossacks.
The Darcsens in the canon Valkyria Chronicles universe have little to no cultural exposition. All we get to know of them is that they were the original natives of Europa, they suffer extreme discrimination from other Europans (to the point where they’re not even allowed to have surnames), and some otherwise ignorable tidbits (i.e, the trademark pattern on their clothing, dolls, etc.).
Again, I have no idea why, but I always thought of a surviving Darcsen culture to be slavic, especially Russian/Ukrainian. In fact, the whole “Darcsens are fantasy Russo-Ukrainians” idea stemmed from an old world I built, which was also an alternate history of VC.
With all that said, I have an important announcement to make: If you are a person of Ukrainian, Russian, or otherwise Eastern Slavic descent, and find this work to be insulting to you, your people, and/or your culture, then I am deeply and sincerely sorry. I do not mean to insinuate that Russians, Ukrainians, or slavs in general are genocidal racial supremacists. I’m only writing fiction, and have used them as an aesthetic base to build off of, nothing more.
I consulted MukofromtheUkraine for the official name of Darcsenia. Thanks for the help, drug.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Took longer than I expected, but here it is: The second fact sheet! I'm experimenting with using different types of deviations for my fact sheets, so bear with me. Let me know which type you prefer.

Thanks for sticking around for this! As always, comments are encouraged and appreciated.

UPDATE FROM JULY OF 2023: This factsheet is officially outdated; it no longer reflects the official canon of A Toast to The East!, and only remains on the site as a relic, not unlike a museum. An updated sheet for Chernomor is in the works and this page will be updated when it is uploaded.