Tairafon Worldbuilding

[St George]

Tairafon

Area: 392,000km2
Population: 47,040,000
Population Density: 120km2
Capital, and largest city: Caerwyn (“Fair Fort”) population 480,000
Second city: Aberllyn (“Mouth of the Lake”) population 370,000, Pontarfan (“Bridge on the Tarfan”) population 310,000
Other cities: Llanerchfaen (180,000), Rhydonnen (130,000), Brynmawrth (115,000), Glanyrhyd (95,000)
Official language: Taireg, Afoneg (bardic form of Taireg given official status)
Religion: Yr Eglwys Afonol (The Riverine Church) (64%), Irreligious (19%), Orthodox (6%), Lakhic Church (2%), Others (9%)
Demonym(s): Taires / Tairwr
Government: Cooperative Parliamentary Republic
Head of State: Ceremonial Arlywydd (President) Bryn Cadi
Head of Government: Prif Weinidog (Prime Minister) Seren Siân
Legislature: unicameral 399-member Y Senedd Genedlaethol (National Senedd) / y Gymanfa (informal name)
Electoral System: Mixed-Member Proportional Representation
Motto: “Dan Dair Afon, Un Gyfraith” (Under Three Rivers, One Law)
Currency: fflorinau (₣ or Ff)

Tairafon is an agricultural, mid-sized nation of 47,040,000 per the 2026 census, having grown by around 89,000 per year over the previous census, taken in 2016. The area around the three rivers that dominate the geography of the country was first settled by tribesman moving in from the Iterian interior around 2,300 years ago who migrated north, following the Afon Tarfan and setting up the Teyrnas yr Afon (River Kingdom) though the contemporary name appears to have been related to the settlement of Adref, translated from the proto-Taireg dialect of Afoneg (distinguished from the modern bardic language with the same name, which was a split of Taireg created during the 19th century bardic revival) as “home” or sometimes “safety”.

Records of the Teyrnas yr Afon vary but it, alongside other early tribal settlements along the Tarfan and during the next three to four hundred years the Afon Eirian and Afon Rhydlas, grew and shrank in the usual way – one of these early kingdoms would grow dominate the area before the others brought them down. According to the semi-historical records of Mawgan, the Messianist monk whose Hanesion y Tair Pobl Afon (Histories of the Three River Peoples), circa 642 CE, is the earliest surviving document purporting to tell a complete history of the Tairwr, the entirety of the three rivers from the source of the Tarfan in the far south to estuary of Eirian where it’s joined by the Rhydlas and flows into the Môr Digoneddus (Bountiful Sea) as Mawgan names it, however by the time the 13th century Brenhines yr Afon (River Queen) Branwen, the southernmost lands had been lost to invading southern Iterian empires, likely the Kyerkhen-Tso Empire.

The present day borders of Tairafon have been largely unchanged since the days of Branwen and her descendants, even as the Ty o Llŷr fell and was replaced by first the Gwyn and later the Suadvici-originating Fflafian, named after Marcus Antony Flavian, who nativised himself as Marcws Antwn Fflafian. The Fflafians were the last ruling house of the Tairafon and with the death of Elenora I Fflafian in 1808, who during the bardic revival is given the epithet “Y Frenhines Dawel” (the Quiet Queen”), the nobility, clergy, senior judges, town delegates and cooperative representatives gathered in Caerwyn to select a successor.

No successor was selected however, due to an inability to come to an agreement. Wanting to avoid war and with no compromise candidate emerging, the assembly opted instead to pass the Deddf Gwarchod y Deyrnas, 1809 (the Act for the Keeping of the Realm). The Act establishes that, until a new monarch is chosen, royal powers will be exercised by y Gymanfa, which will elect a council of ministers and a ceremonial presiding officer called Stiward y Deyrnas (the Steward of the Realm). The Act also establishes that the courts shall act in the name of the law rather than the crown, “Hyd oni choronir olynydd cyfreithlon” (until a lawful successor is found.

This goes on for several decades, until the Y Senedd enacts Deddf y Weriniaeth (The Republic Act) 1856. The opening line becomes famous through Tairafon, “Gan fod y Goron wedi aros yn wag, a’r wlad heb aros yn segur…” (Since the Crown has remained empty, and the country has not remained idle…) and the Gweriniaeth Tairafon (Republic of Tairafon) is formed. The Stiward y Deyrnas becomes the Arlywydd (President) at this time also.

Tairafon largely avoided the wars of the 20th century, due to the passage of Deddf Niwtraliaeth (Neutrality Act) 1909 which committed Tairafon to cooperative diplomacy, humanitarian causes and banned the government from waging wars of aggression or conquest. Humanitarian, peacebuilding and other aid organisations received government backing during the Fascist Wars, and Tairafon opened itself to refugees in this time, though post-Fascist Wars many refugees found themselves “encouraged” home by the state.

In the modern day, Tairafon is an agricultural exporter, though doesn’t engage in mass livestock farming, instead preferring to use land for crops or for wildlife, with hunting a major industry and venison a national dish. The population has started an urban influx, however compared to other nations Tairafon is notably rural – the capital city of Caerwyn and the larger Ardal y Brifddinas Tair Dinas (Three Cities Capital Area) has a population of 480,000 and 1.7 million people total. The largest city outside of the capital region, Llanerchfaen, is only 180,000.

Rather than industrialise and lacking the large deposits of natural resources that are needed for large scale mining operations, the economy is highly decentralised, with local cooperatives making up the vast majority of registered companies in the nation. More recently, the government has attempted to attract international finance corporations to the country with favourable tax rates though this remains highly controversial.

The 399-member unicameral Y Senedd Genedlaethol (National Senedd) is elected on a mixed-member proportional representation system, where 60% of the members come from the constituency vote and 40% from regional lists. The voting age is 16 and parties require 4% of the regional vote to gain representation in the Senedd.

 

[St George]

The Cooperative Movement

Cooperative tradition begins to gain prominence in the early 18th century, though it’s not ideological or at the national level – it’s farmers sharing mills, chapel-led poor funds and the first local credit societies in cities and towns. Under Elian I Fflafian (1731-1759), the movement gains more official backing, as he gives legal protection to the chapel mutual-aid societies and backs local assemblies and clergy-led mediation over the traditional rights of the nobles.

Elian’s successor, Luc Fflafian (1759-1784) expands the roles of these societies and other cooperative bodies, giving them high status in terms of national petitions. Tutored in his youth by the Tairwr philosopher and historian Dale Owen, Luc was influenced by Owen’s ideas around consensus-based decision, to the frustration of some of his own court. By the end of Luc’s rule, consensus politics and the cooperative movement were both fashionable among the educated classes.

In contrast to Luc’s consensus based work, Marcws Antwn II Fflafian (1784-1797) attempts to reverse the drift, but is stymied by how entrenched committees and cooperatives have become. Marcws Antwn – and his favourites at court – dismiss such things as dithering, but his attempts to bypass the Senedd and cooperative societies largely fail as the decentralised bureaucracy in towns and cities fail to enforce unpopular tolls. Under Elenora I Fflafian, the chronically ill last queen of Tairafon, her regents and councils restore the cooperative, consensus-based system. Elenora, for her part, is said to have been a supporter of these efforts, though whether this is true has been disputed by more recent, revisionist historians.

Following the official establishment of the republic in 1856, the Mudiad y Gydfasnach (the mutual trade movement) emerges, beginning as a collection of farmers’ grain cooperatives, mutual insurance societies, chapel credit unions, workers’ buying clubs, river transport groups and seed banks and machinery-sharing societies banding together in their local areas. Over time, these groups coalesce and after receiving government backing and established in the constitution, the Cyngor y Gydfentor (Cooperative Council) is formed in 1923, operating not as a second chamber in the Senedd, but as an advisory body, weighing in on bills that must be referred to it under the law.

Today, cooperatives dominate the day to day life of the people. For example;

Lian and Beca Prys drop off their son Cai and daughter Emi at their school in Coedllwyd, a market town along the Afon Tarfan, run by the local Cymdeithas Ysgol Gydfuddiannol (mutual school society), before Beca heads to an appointment at a branch of Banc Cydafon, a national cooperative banking network that traces its origins back to the chapel credit unions and farmers’ funds, to see about getting an assisted loan to help fund their farm. At the same time, Lian takes a Teithio Tarfan bus ran by a cooperative to the Coedllwyd market hall, run by the Marchnad Gydweithredol Genedlaethol, a national federation of market halls, produce auctions and food distribution networks. He’s there to speak to a representative of the Cwmni Grawn Rhanbarthol (reginal grain company) for Rhanbarthol Tarfan, about how much storage the Prys farm will need this coming harvest.

At school, Emi is finishing her application to Prifysgol Gydweithredol Caerwyn (Cooperative University of Caerwyn), one of the three major universities in the nation, where she’s aiming to study medicine. Cai, meanwhile, is on a school trip, to the Academi Chwaraeon Genedlaethol (the National Sports Academy), which is run cooperatively by many of the country’s sports federation. Cai is a promising rugby and Pêl Afon player, who has already representing Tairafon at the youth level.

 

[St George]

Sport in Tairafon
Pêl Afon
Riverball

Pêl Afon, like most codes of football, traces its lineage back to a fight. Multiple fights, actually - it was the native medieval ball game in Tairafon, the land of the three rivers, and involved entire villages fighting over a ball that is carried, kicked, hidden, wrestled over or smuggled towards a goal. One 14th century chronicler called it “the peak of life, where men and women compete for the pride of their homes. In the 17th century it was labelled “the cause of all our ills, pursued by weak-willed, ill-educated, low-bred peasantry”, perhaps reflecting the moral decline of 17th century writers.

The game survives to this day and has inspired songs and poems in the bardic tradition extolling the virtues of the game. One famous poem, unattributed to any one author, but dating from the late 16th century, remains performed to this day:

Cân am Y Belen (Song about the Ball)
O belen fach o groen a llaid,
O leuad y maes â’i bloedd,
A’th gipia di, fe rydd ei waed,
Ac ni’th ildia calon oedd.

Trwy ryd a rhych, o law i law,
Heib drain a cherrig a chloch capel,
Fe’th gludwn dros ein gwlad a’n glaw,
Ein clod, ein hawl, ein Belen.

Boed llwfriaid wrth y tân a’r llestr,
Boed henwyr yn galw’n briwiau’n ofer;
Fe gyfyd ieuenctid y tair glyn
I’th yrru’n chwerthin drwy’r tywydd chwerw.

Lle rhedi di, fe red y werin;
Lle rydych chi wedi'ch dal, maen nhw'n sefyll.
Felly ymlaen tan fachlud haul - ymlaen ac ymlaen
Y Belen sydd yn dwyn ein calon.

Spoiler: Translation

From a little ball of skin and mud
From the shouting darling of the field
Who takes thee up must spend his blood
Yet no true heart to thee will yield.

Through ford and furrow, hand to hand,
Past thorn and stone and chapel bell,
We bear thee for our river-land,
And fight for thee, our ball.

Let cowards keep the hearth and cup,
Let elders name our bruises vain,
The youth of three green valleys rise,
To drive thee, laughing, through the rain.

For where thou runs, the people run,
Where thou art held, they stand
So on till sunset, on and on
The ball that steals our heart.

Codifying the Game
Pêl Afon started to become the game seen in modern days in the late 18th and early 19th century, around the same time the monarchy of Tairafon fades from history and the cooperative movement rises. Cooperative societies formed many of the early teams, as a way to keep young workers attached to the town they were in, create local pride and build networks between villages. There was also a civic element - the match between Marchnadonnen Gydweithredol and Rhydonnen Melinwyr in 1824 raised much of the relief fund for those affected by the worst seasonal floods ever seen in Tairafon.

In the mid-19th century, the rules began to be formalised, with several competing codes practiced by school, college and chapel leagues as things became more organised. Pêl Afon Werinol (folk riverball), the more chaotic form of the early 19th century, continued to be played well into the 20th, but the birth of the modern game came in 1872, with the Cod Pontarfon (Pontarfan Code).

The Game Today
Today, Pêl Afon is the most popular sport in Tairafon, though both rugby union and soccer run it close. Following reforms to how the game was played in the 1970s, three tactical schools have developed:

Y Llif Hir (The Long Flow) - the “traditional” way to play the game, favouring kicking for territory and chasing the game. Favoured by teams in the Rhydlas Basin and perfected by the Rhydonnen Melinwyr of the 1990s, which won five league titles in a row in a last hurrah for the style as the dominant tactic in the game.

Y Llif Byr (The Short Flow) - long considered the weakest tactical strain, Y Llif Byr is in the tactical vogue at the moment, with most of the title challenges engaging in the possession-heavy, rapid passing game. Featuring quick interchanges, high tempo and favouring skill players, it’s helped Pêl Afon regain its spot as the most watched sport in the country, after a downturn in the late 2000s.

Y Bont Glo (The Locked Bridge) - and responsible for that downturn was Y Bont Glo, a defensive, grinding, counterattacking style that took Y Llif Hir and punched it in the mouth. When national champions Rhydonnen Melinwyr faced Pontarfan Bontwyr, the previous season's basement team, in 2003, everyone expected the Millers to romp to another win. But under new coach Haf Deri, who had played as a back for the Melinwyr team in the 90s, the Bridgemen adopted a style that was, on the face of it, not playing the game. When Melinwyr kicked, they weren’t given time to chase. The forwards stepped in, the backs dropped to reinforce the guards, and they made the pitch much narrower due to the runners dropping in. What followed was 70 minutes of chaos. The Melinwyr scored Afon early in the first half to go 5-0 up and then didn’t get close again. Bontwyr meanwhile, spent the rest of the game grinding down the champions, with Llifs, Ponts and an Afon of their own. By the end of it, the champions had been shocked 19-9 (1-3-5 to 1-1-1). And the next week Bontwyr did it again, winning 22-14 (1-4-5 to 2-1-1) against early frontrunners Aberllyn Glas. Bontwyr finished third that season, before winning five of the next seven titles as the suffocating style dominated the league - and turned off television viewers.

More recently, some coaches have tried to come up with a hybrid style, known as Y Tair Ffrwd (the Three Streams), which seemingly has more definitions every week as analysts seek to define the style.

The Code
Pêl Afon is played with teams of 13 players on a rectangular pitch which is allowed to be 106m to 138m long, and 65m to 68m wide. At the end of Y Maes (the field) sits Y Bont (the bridge), a scoring structure consisting of two upright posts, a lower crossbar and a central-ground level scoring gate with a net much deeper than a soccer net, usually between 5m and 10m. Scoring can happen through the air, beyond the bridge-line and through the gate.

The ball, Y Belen, is shaped like a slightly rounder rugby ball. The ball has been designed to allow a wide array of ball actions to take place, including:

• Carrying the ball
• Bouncing the ball on the field
• Short kicking off the foot, shin or knee
• Longer punts off the toe of the boot or with the laces
• Hand-passing, either with rugby-style passes or by striking the ball with a closed fist or open palm
• Contested catches, either with one or both hands

Traditionally dark brown, today the ball is usually white with three blue river-lines, though orange or yellow balls have been used in winter to improve visibility.

Players generally split into five units:

• Amddiffynwyr - literally translated as protectors, but now often known in Mercanti as keepers. These players - a maximum of 2 but sometimes only 1, aim to protect the gate and contest most catches into the scoring area.
• Cefnwyr - backs. These players - usually 3 or 4 - are defensive carriers and traditionally the players who contest long kicks.
• Canolfannau - centres. These are linking players, responsible for playmaking, starting moves and breaking up opposition play. Most teams play with 4 centres.
• Cludwyr - carriers, though traditionally known as wide carriers. These are generally faster players positioned out on the wings for quick breakaways, though some coaches of the Y Bont Glo school have converted Cefnwyr to play in this position to give greater control. Generally just 2 players.
• Blaenwyr - forwards. Generally the scoring threats and more recently the first line of defence, pressuring the opposition backs. Depending on the coach, this can be either 1, 2 or 3 players.

To move the ball, players may:

• Carry the ball for six seconds without bouncing it. After six seconds they have to either bounce the ball or take another allowed action;
• Kick the ball off the foot, shin or knee forwards
• Hand-pass sideways or backwards
• Use an open palm to slap pass the ball forwards - the ball must bounce at least once.
• Use a closed fist to pass the ball sideways, backwards or diagonally forwards at a 55 degree angle. This is the most contested rule in the sport and many pundits would like to get rid of it.

They may not:

• Throw long forward passes
• Hold the ball indefinitely
• Use a closed fist to pass the ball forwards at a greater than 55 degree angle
• Hide the ball under clothing, despite this being “traditional” and sometimes funny.

Players without the ball may:

• Contest possession physically by wrenching the ball out of players hands whilst they are on their feet
• Tackle between the knees and shoulders
• Contest grounded balls, so long as the player in possession does not have two hands on the ball.

They may not:

• Tackle above the shoulders or at or below the knees
• Block players nowhere near the ball
• Enter a grounded contested ball from the side or above the shoulder of the players involved in the contest.

Tackles should attempt to halt, turn, bind or ground, rather than smash. Two-player tackles are legal, three-player (or more) tackles are not and a foul known as a Boddiad (Drowning). Tackles can either be on a standing player above the knees but below the shoulder, or attempt to wrench the ball from their hands, but not both.

Players score in one of four ways:

• Llif (flow) - kicking or striking the ball between the posts above the crossbar for 1 point.
• Pont (bridge) - kicking or striking the ball between the posts below the crossbar for 3 points. Some proposals to reduce this to 2 points have been attempted, but failed repeatedly.
• Afon (river) - grounding the ball beyond the bridge-line outside the posts for 5 points. This is the most often attempted score.
• Croesiad (crossing) - a rare score where the ball is carried and then grounded beyond the bridge-line between the posts for 7 points.

A match score will generally be listed in order of highest form of scoring to lowest, so Croesiad-Afon-Pont-Llif. A score where all four scores occur will generally look like this:

Pontarfon 1-2-3-4 Aberllyn 0-3-4-6

For ease of use, it is also rendered as

Pontarfon 32 Aberllyn 33

Given the rarity of Croesiads, broadcasters generally omit them from scoring, so a similar game may look like:

Pontarfon 4-4-3 Aberllyn 3-3-2, which is also Pontarfon 35 Aberllyn 26

Play restarts with a long kick from one team to the other, generally from their scoring-zone. The opening play at each half is a kick from the centre-line to the opposition's scoring-zone. Kicks that go out of bounds result in the non-kicking team being given possession from 20m back from the centre-line. After scoring, the scoring team kicks from their scoring-zone to the opposition’s half - these kicks cannot be contested. Kicks that fall short of the centre-line are retaken once, if they again fall short, the non-kicking team is given possession 20m from the kicking team’s scoring-zone.

The game is governed by the Undeb Pêl Afon Tairafon (Tairafon Riverball Union) which is usually shortened to UPAT. UPAT is responsible for:

• The two professional leagues
• The national cup
• The national team
• Youth development
• School competitions
• The professional women’s league and cups
• The amateur leagues for both men and women
• Refereeing
• Disciplinary and governance panels

Below the two professional leagues, which operate as a closed system since a 2017 change that ended promotion and relegation between the second and third tier and replaced it with an election system with the bottom team in the second tier facing re-assessment by UPAT at the end of each season - a club failing reassessment is demoted and replaced by an applying club, the guidelines state that the amateur national champions will be preferred but given that demotion has never happened, it is not known if this is the only possible outcome. This is ostensibly to allow UPAT to develop the amateur leagues without teams feeling the pressure to invest beyond their means. Critics argue that it closes off competition and protects bad teams from the consequences of their actions. Since 2017, only three teams have finished bottom of the second tier - all teams that spend comparatively less than the rest of the league, perhaps justifying the critics.

The Adran Gyntaf y Dynion (Men’s First Division) is the top division of Pêl Afon, having been formed in 1901. The first winners were Aberllyn, though not the same Aberllyn as Aberllyn Glas who currently are in the league. The team that has won the league the most are Llanerchfaen Llaethwyr with 24 wins, though the Dairymen have not won the Gyntaf in the 21st century. The current champions are Glanyrgyd Llifwyr, in their first reign as champions. There are currently 12 teams in the league, though there are proposals to increase this to 14.

The Ail Adran y Dynion (Men’s Second Division) was formed in 1912, though this current incarnation started in 2003, after the crisis-hit four group, 40 team old Second Division was abolished, and replaced with a 12-team league of fully professional clubs. There are also proposals to increase this to 14 or even more teams, along with a three-region, 24 team proposal as well.

The Adran Ranbarthol y Dynion (Men’s Regional Division) is a reincarnation of the old Ail Adran, with 40 teams competing in four groups of 10, organised via region. At the end of the season, the two best teams in each group go into the Gorgystal (playoffs, lit. super-comp) to crown a national amateur champion. Fans of Adran Ranbarhol teams often call this team the “real” national champion.

UPAT organises two cup competitions. Firstly the Cwpan y Tair Afon Dynion (Men’s Three Rivers Cup). This is the oldest and most prestigious cup competition in Tairafon, first held in 1865 under the Caerwyn Cod (Caerwyn Code) - and fans of Caerwyn Cenedlaethol (whose predecessor team didn’t even make the final) never let anyone forget it. This cup competition is open to any men’s team in the country, and was unaffected by the 2017 league changes. In 2022, amateur side Tarbin Morwyr beat Caerwyn Cenedlaethol 37-36 in the most-watched final in competition history. Caerwyn are the team that have won this competition the most times, 19 in total. The current champions are Portharian Gwylanod, who won the cup for the fifth time.

The Cwpan Cydweithredol y Dynion (Men’s Cooperative Cup) is for the 24 teams of the professional league and is generally more favoured by older teams that formed out of cooperative societies. Caerwyn are also the most often winners of this competition, formed in 1976, winning it 12 times. Aberllyn Glas, a more commercialised team, won the cup for the first time last season.

The women’s game has one professional league with 12 teams, known as the Cynghrair Proffesiynol y Merched (Women’s Professional League) began in 1996, replacing the earlier, all-amateur Cynghrair Genedlaethol y Merched (National Women’s League) which became the tier below it. The Cynghrair Genedlaethol y Merched is organised along the same lines as the Adran Ranbarthol y Dynion, with 40 teams split into four groups of 10. The most recent women’s playoff final sold out the national stadium, setting an attendance record of 84,358 for a women’s Pêl Afon game. The most recent winners of Cynghrair Proffesiynol y Merched are Pontarfon Merched - the only professional women’s Pêl Afon team not linked to a men’s team. Pontarfon Merched are the sports club of the Cymdeithas Menywod Pontarfon (Pontarfon Women’s Society), an all-women sports cooperative. The Cwpan y Tair Afon Merched (Women's Three Rivers Cup) has been held since the 1950s and has seen a lot more amateur winners than the men's version. A Cwpan Cydweithredol y Merched (Women's Cooperative Cup) will launch next season, for just the 12 teams in the women's professional league.