The First Saga

11,000 years ago the great nation of Iceagea was founded, cut off from the Eurasian mainland by the rising waters and home to the last remaining Neanderthals, it was decided by the 6800th council that all surviving tribes must be united. Little did the council know that it would become one of the most successful countries in Europe, becoming a naval power in the Arctic and Antarctic as well as a pioneer of Martian Colonisation.

Above: The naval, national and interstellar flags of Iceagea
But it was in fact much earlier, 45,000 years ago, that the seeds of destiny - for later Neanderthal kind - would be sown.
You see the population was dwindling, the scales had tipped in favour of Homo sapiens whom had arrived in the Mediterranean only a thousand years ago.
For years scholars believed the Neanderthal had gone extinct. This would have been true. Had it not been for 1 man.

Above: An artists study of cave art from what is thought to be the first shelter they found in Iceagea
This is his story, the Fyrst swgw (English: First saga), translated and edited for modern day audiences.

Phil as he is so affectionately called by Iceagean historians was the son of a hunter gatherer and a cave wife.
His early years were spent in the cave before reaching the age of 13, where he would join his father at work, hunting and gathering.

His later years were spent doing exactly the same thing. Phil was a fine hunter, strong, fast, agile and a quick thinker, his many exploits were documented in the cave.

When the sapiens arrived, Phil, now leader of his clan, (after his father died at the heady age of 40) was wary. He had never fought human before, and he wasn’t about to, at 20 he was older now, wiser, scarred and weathered by the ever present threat of death, his people depended on him.

So one snowy, oppressive morning he led his family North, his father had told him of the Fgylnd, (English: Foggy Lands). Far far away, thousands of islands poking up out of the frozen ocean, surrounded by fog. With the two largest centred right in the middle.

Phil was no idiot, he knew of the danger, the ice was melting, he’d probably lose a few wives and children. But if anyone was to survive it had to be done. As they marched they would occasionally come across other Neanderthal groups, Phil would speak to their leader and if they were willing, joined the expedition.

There was safety in numbers. Through forest, mountain, glacier they were pursued, stalked and hounded by wolves, cave lions, cave bears, polar bears, the size of the group meant they took down mammoths with relative ease, either scaring them off of escarpments with fire or luring them onto thin ice or mud from which they could not escape.

Above: A stylistic map of Phil’s Route and modern day Iceagea

Eventually they reached the sea, the creaking and groans from the ice were enough to frighten anyone. For a minute Phil hesitated, he was afraid. The expedition stood there, awaiting his order, they’d lost many, men, women, children, to the weather, to the animals, to old age. It would have been impossible to give up.

So it was not Phil whom stepped forward first, but his daughter. She held out a hand to Phil and he tentatively took one step onto the ice which creaked under his weight. But it did not crack and so he took another step, and another. The ice was less scary now. Then he paused. Turning to face the expedition and declared to his people that they must “Hold hands and walk side by side, do not walk on the same path, children at the front”.

The plans logic was that the children at the front would be able to test the ice and the adults would follow, ready to catch them if they fell. It was a successful tactic with only a single casualty.
And they marched that way for “Two mornings and a night” towards the land of Iceagea.

Here on out the first council was formed by the chieftains he’d recruited along the way, enabling dialogue between tribes, with Phil as king, its leader. However nationhood as previously stated would not come until much later.
The First Saga is taught in Iceagean Schools across the country, from the farthest reaches of the North, to the busiest Districts in the SouthWest, to remind everyone of Phil’s endeavour to preserve Neanderthal kind, quotes, tablauexs, reminders of the story are everywhere.

The close minded might see the reverence towards Phil as cult like, but the very existence of Iceagea depends on a mindset of unity and self preservation. Which is exactly the kind of thing a cult leader might tell you.

But if Phil’s story was to be forgotten, the very reason for the nation to exist would too. Iceagea is not just a nation but a sanctuary.