Straights

The Straights, or simply Straights or Straighti were a pre-modern seafaring civilization that controlled much of what is now considered to be Oceania, namely most of the Australasian content, from the year 576 AD until the downfall of the last Straighti colonial outpost in 1171 AD. Having existed for roughly 500 years, the Straights' maritime empire capitalized upon the trade of Braaper parchment, which, as the name suggests, was an expensive form of paper used for fine print because of its high level of absorbance, which made smearing ink more difficult. As such, the Straights' used the wide demand for this product to build their trade influence, which resulted in the enslavement and indenturedness of most Braapers living within their colonies. Over time, however, the thin slicings of the Poletree plant required to produce large amounts of paper contributed to the plant's weakened resistance to insects, and without the shade afforded by Braaper levies, most paper-making farms were decimated by the 9th century. The decline of Braaper parchment resulted in drastic changes to the trade dymanic within the region, with the Straights and their coastal empire rapidly shrinking for a couple of centuries until the Fall of Straightion in year 1121, during which the Braapers sacked the colonial city of Straightion, located at the heart of modern-day Central Australia, now known to its inhabitants as Braap Doah (Doah is the Braaper word for 'citadel,' with Braap Doah roughly translating to "Braaper City").

Etymology and discovery

The word 'straight' used in reference to the Straighti people is, in fact, an Anglicanized form of name. However, since the ethnic Straighti have not existed as a substantial ethnic group for almost six centuries, with the last self-titled "Sturhaitagaei" (sometimes used interchangeably with "steureateai" for unclear reasons) being observed only once in passing by Portugese wayfarers and briefly documented by explorer Cristóvão de Mendonça in his captain's diary, later converted into a memoir. Mendonça, a member of Portugese nobility, thus captured the tribe's name using Latin phoenetics and went on to discuss of their nature amongst other explorers, but with little documentation to this effect.

The Straighti would not come into contact with Europeans again, to any modern knowledge, however, the arrival of the British First Fleet in the late 18th century would invite British archaeologists to conduct expeditions across the Australasian continent. It was not until the year 1894 that the Horn expedition would make the discovery of signs that an antiquated civilization had existed not far from the Braaper colonies, which were well-known to the British at this period. Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer, a British anthropologist, described the prehistoric "straughts" living within small fortifications, making direct reference to Mendonça's text as the historical basis for positing that the civilization had existed for much longer than previously thought, citing archaeological finds which consisted of various tools: a ceramic pot, some shovel-like tools with spearheads, and what Spencer describes as "ornamental imagery carved into short bloques; a unique form of expression indeed."

History

Since Straighti history spans numerous centuries, it is difficult to synthesize an accurate historical chronicle of their civilization without relying upon sources that are directly linked to the Homobro religion of the Braapers. The earliest known Straighti civilization emerged either in modern-day Tasmania or somewhere along the Bass Strait along the Melbourne coastline which, at the time, would have probably been devoid of any existing societal presence.

Ultimately, many historians have come to attribute the rise and fall of the Straights to the enormous surplus in profits brought by the paper trade, which, over centuries, transformed Straight society into one which instutionalized a racial hierarchy, thereby adopting the ideology that they were genetically superior to their territorial subjects. However, Straight supremacy had always been determined by the Straights' dominance of trade routes, which prioritized the exporting of paper. Straight emphasis on exports probably made their economy completely dependent upon the Braaper colonies, which further contributed to tensions between colonial settlers and the native Braapers. In the 9th century, the prophet Clyde Homobro spent years travelling to spread his "wisdoms" among his kindred people, which culminated in the Braapers' total rejection of Straight occupation within just one decade.

Religious and cultural practices

The Straights, who were enthralled with the pre-Zernerian ritual practices of the Xanthian religion, a duotheistic belief system. And so, they largely dismissed the cultural significance of Clyde to the Braaper colonies without considering that it would sour colonial attitudes, even for some of the Straights. For example, 10th century Straight emperor Huckslin Vagga, although buried in the Xanthian ritual, was a self-described "student of Clyde" who read the Book of Clyde on a daily basis, believing the text to contain instructional advice for the future course of the Straights. However, Vagga's only son and heir, Beg Begg Huckslin was a proponent of traditional Xanthiani and ordered his father be buried accordingly. For decades after the death of Vagga, his sympathetic nature towards Clyde was discarded from the official Straight dynastic histories.

Modern influence

In the modern period, the legacy of the Straights and their all-pervading way of life has greatly influenced culture all throughout the Pacific, with specific regard for Central Australia, which continues to be sparsely populated with Braaper colonies. In Braap Doh, built atop the historical city of Straightion, there is a 115-foot monument to the Braaper Uprising which depicts Clyde directing the young Braapers to push back Straight legions. In fact, this was an actual historical event in which Braaper students of the Straight colonial institutions successfully pushed approximately 10,000 Straight fraternias (legions) out of the city's walls, after which point the Second Braaper Kingdom was formally established.