Quietarians

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The Quietarians were militarily very weak. Despite nearly every group in the Playground coveting the domineering geographical position held by the Quiet Area, none were able to take it. The Quiet Area is of course surrounded by walls, but although relatively intimidating they are easily scaled... Constantly bickering amongst themselves, they were obsessed with the fact that they had once been the seat of power [of Rushymia] and never let anyone else forget it, pretending that they still held this power despite the fact that in reality they were a group of vain, ostentatious, squabbling weaklings who were hostile to any outsiders who walked past the walls that they cowered behind. I held nothing but contempt for the Quietarians when I joined the force that attacked them in 2003; by 2006 however, when they agreed to send a force to attack the Midget Hunters, I began to realise that despite their faults, the Quietarians had done an invaluable service by keeping the memory of Rushymia alive, and that they should be respected as being the only real direct link other than the Footballers to that mighty kingdom of Alex the Great.

The Quietarians are a group in the Playground which have inhabited the Quiet Area since the days of Rushymia. They were well known for being immensely proud of the history of their territory, and were often caricaturised as weak and snobbish by the Midget Army.

History

In October 1995, the Quiet Area became the capital of Rushymia when Ferengool overthrew General James and took over the Playground, using the Quiet Area as a base. It functioned as the seat of government of Rushymia, where Ferengool and his court resided, and continued to act as a capital under the next two rulers, King Billy and King Alex. There was notably a small rebellion by the inhabitants of the Quiet Area against Alex's rule at the start of his reign in December 1997, when rumours spread that he would transfer the capital of Rushymia to the Football Pitch - he did not do so and the rebellion was easily crushed, but this appears to be the first instance of the inhabitants of the Quiet Area displaying the jealousy and pride for their pre-eminence in the Playground that they would be later infamous for.

After the reign of King Alex, Rushymia quickly collapsed. During the turmoil which followed the break-up of Rushymia, the Quietarians survived relatively unscathed, mostly continuing how they had while as a Rushymian province - by the time that the Midgets entered the Playground in September 2002, the Quiet Area and the Football Pitch were the only two Rushymian provinces which had retained that status in any shape or form, thanks to their military (or, in the case of the Quietarians, their defensive) strength and well-defined cultural identities. It was during this time that the Quietarians as they were known to the Midgets became a proper self-identifying group of people.

Between 2002 and 2006, the Quietarians remained relatively static, retaining their territory while not expanding into any others. In October 2003, Commander Jonathan of the Midget Army accompanied a joint Midget-Word Life Gang force in an attack on the Quiet Area, but after initial success this was eventually repulsed by Yr. 6 allies of the Quietarians.

In April 2006, the Midget Empire came under a huge attack from a group calling themselves the Midget Hunters. The attack must have had been planned for a long time, and the Midget Army was caught completely unaware. The Midget Base itself was taken, and the Midget Army began to lose a pitched battle being fought on the Field. Midget Master Jonathan (II) asked the Quietarians for help, and they agreed to send a force to fight alongside the Midget Army on the condition that the Midget Empire agree to protect them against any and all future enemies. This they did so, and for the first time in many years a Quietarian army was fielded, and along with the Midget Army successfully defeated the Midget Hunters.

According to the agreement, the Quiet Area was made a protectorate of the Midget Empire later that month, and Midget Master Jonathan sent a force of Midget Army troops to act as a garrison. A rebellion soon broke out, however - the Quietarians threw rocks and sticks at the heads of the Midget Army soldiers, and so the Midget Master ordered them to tie their school jumpers around their heads to act as helmets. This tactic was successful, as by the time that Commander Thomas had arrived with reinforcements and put down the rebellion, there had been no casualties.

The Quiet Area had now been taken over by force, and despite moving the Midget court there and making it capital of the Midget Empire in all but name, Midget Master Jonathan still allowed the Quietarians to govern themselves, and to claim the status of a protectorate rather than a province of the Midget Empire.

In September 2006, when the school returned after the summer holidays with Caroline (III) as Midget Master, the Midget Empire quickly fell. Very little is known about this period of history, but it is known that the Quietarians were one of the groups to keep a Midget identity for the longest period of time - probably up to a year - despite having no proper garrison and the rest of the Playground having reverted back to independence and relative anarchy.

Culture

Of all the "gangs" in the Playground, the Quietarians were one of the only ones with any form of culture. Safe behind their walls from the battles and wars which frequently occurred in the rest of the Playground, the Quietarians became effectively pacifist, and often looked down (quite literally, due to the elevated position of the Quiet Area) on the gangs which did fight each other. The Quietarians held the history of the Quiet Area in great esteem, priding themselves on being the lineal "descendants" of the royal Rushymian court. This was a cause (or possibly a result) of the degree to which Quietarian Vapourism thrived in the Quiet Area.

The benches in the Quiet Area meant that many Quietarians spent their time reading and writing instead of fighting or playing. While no surviving examples of Quietarian literature remain, it is notable that under Midget Master Jonathan the Quiet Area even hosted a play, performed to a large proportion of the population of the Playground. Other common activities undertaken by the Quietarians were observation of the wildlife in the several small flowerbeds in the Quiet Area, performance of Quietarian Vapourist rituals at the Quiet Area Portal and Shrines of the Kings, and (when particularly sunny) lying on top of benches and sunbathing. Midget Master Jonathan, whilst known to have originally held the Quietarians in contempt due to their disdain for military prowess, came to enjoy spending time amongst their relatively relaxed and sophisticated society, and so moved the Midget court there soon after the Quiet Area Rebellion.