Hesgarigani

The term Hesgarigani denotes shipborne pirates, raiders, invaders and eventually settlers from what is modern day Masalne, operating between the 1st and 5th centuries DN, who operated mostly on the coastal regions of Osonde, but in many cases also reached far inland via rivers.

The Hesgarigani were mostly Mirselani by ethnicity and in origin, though their ranks would eventually swell to include peoples from over ancient Kavena, Birasleti and Ruguzma such that the term would become merely a catch-all description for any pirate and raider by the 3rd century. Their travels and impact upon mainland cultures, as well as the devastation caused by the DN Event, precipitated the Hesgarigani Era in both Risevan and Kavenain history, albeit with dramatically different interpretations.

Name and Etymology

The term Hesgarigani is quite unambiguous in Mirselec; it means "Raider" (Hesgara "raid" + -gani), and was originally used to denote merely the first phase of what is now called the Hesgarigani Era, when the Mirselani visited Osonde mainly for the simple motivation of loot. This term, however, was coined by 19th century historians, based ironically on Kavenain sources about their tormentors in that period, and does not occur as an autonym in any writings that have survived from the Mirselani, which were not yet discovered in the 19th century.

Rather, the Hesgarigani mostly addressed themselves as simply being a member of a certain clan, tribe and eventually kingdom, as their own social structures evolved partly through direct contact with the advanced civilisations on Osonde. The closest things to a term that applies to the profession of raiding include Numarkhain (Modern Nimargani, "Navigator" or "Seafarer") and Ganudekhain (Modern Kanidegani, roughly meaning "Warrior").

In the Kavenain language even in modern days, the term Ezkar, which is based off the Mirselec verb Hesgara, is used to refer to a bandit or a particularly rapacious foe; up to the 20th century, and even after, it was often used as a derogatory term for the Risevani by the Kavenain.

Origins

The Hesgarigani, despite their seemingly monolithic image as raiders, warriors and invaders, were in fact a highly heterogenous group; for much of their history internecine warfare was just as common as warfare against other peoples. What can be ascertained is that the technology and techniques for which these people were famed came mostly from the Mirselani who inhabited the western coast of Masalne, and that these people were the driving force behind the first raids.

The technologies used by the Hesgarigani to great effect in this era were not new; rather they had evolved over hundreds of years, hinting at an unusually high level of technological attainment even before the DN Event. Skilled at shipbuilding and navigation, the Hesgarigani made use of compasses, knowledge of which is postulated to have been gained around the early first century BDN; another intriguing fact is that, while the raids were received with great shock, the records from the period do not betray much curiosity about these people, and in some cases even calls them "Once-traders".

Seen in this light of relatively highly social and technological achievement, the reasons for the spread of the Hesgarigani seem inextricably tied to the DN Event. It is postulated that the fallout from the event had negative impacts on the way of life in Masal, based around small-scale agriculture in the coastal plains regions; as productivity fell due to lack of sunlight and colder climates, the people looked to their former trading partners on mainland Osonde (who had, by this time, developed extensive irrigation technologies, which partially softened the impact of the Event), and trading soon turned to raiding. At the same time the perennial lack of a strong central force amongst the Mirselani would also have precluded a stop to the raiding by any authorities.