Veres Suomi

The Early Stages of Suomi
Long before John C. Calhoun, or any whisper of such a name, there was the Hämäläinen family: rulers of Suomi around the turn of the Millenium. The Suomen people battled the harsh northern winters each year, the maintaining their supply of lumber and food being an essential part of Summer and Fall in Suomen culture. Each year the various tribes, the Hämäläinen being the largest and leading tribe, would mark the beginning of Summer with Jägerstai, a great day of hunting, during which a plethora of animals were slain to be dried, and stored for Winter-time food. Fall began in a similar fashion, with Elonkorjuu, a festival in which great amounts of agricultural harvests were placed into stores for the hard months that approached. These events dated near the 1st of June, and the 2nd of September. On top of battling the winter, Slavic tribes bordering Suomen territory were always a great difficulty, attacking quite often during the early years of this culture.

For several hundred years, this method of life was the way of the Finns of Suomi. However, around the year 452 AD, the Great Slavic Invasion came. In this year, the Summer and Fall festivals had proceeded as usual, and Winter had taken its time settling in: it was recorded to have still been slightly above freezing in early November. As the Finns took their time settling into their homes for a long winter due to the pleasant climate, their neighbours to the East were planning unknown conquests. As Winter grew stronger, these neighbours directed a fearsome attack on Suomen territory, to which they were nearly defenseless. The Hämäläinen family had to take their place as leaders, and organise a pact with these neighbours to restore order; this resulted in the infamous Hämäläinen Cession, which lead to the loss of the territories of Viipuuri, Joensuu, and Kola: something that would linger in the minds of the Suomen people for quite some time.