Wardens (Syara)

Wardens
Ovlaštene
Symbol of the Warden Way
Leaders	Kazys Ulinskas Aris Jēkabsons
Dates of operation	1986-1987
Headquarters	Slocova
Active regions	Syara
Ideology	Syaran nationalism Zobethos Fundamentalism
Opponents	Royalists

The Wardens were the followers of the Warden Way, a Syaran nationalist philosophy that was created by Syaran author and activist Serovpe Boyajian. Although Boyajian's original text was not overly militarized and focused heavily on ecology, his criticisms of the Monarchies of Galania and Makedon led to a sharp increase in their unpopularity throughout Syara. Followers of the Warden Way came to be known as the Wardens, who became a major national organization opposed to the continued power of the Monarchists. The Wardens would seize power in the Syaran Government during the 1970s and began upsurping the traditional powers of the monarchs in exchange for a more nationalist and Zobethos fundamentalist approach to government.

The Warden led High Council attempts to strip the Makedonian and Galanian royal families of their titles and power in December 1984 led to the Refusal War. The Wardens benefited from greater popularity among the Syaran people, and received international backing from states Cacerta, Tennai, Quenmin, and Æþurheim. The Wardens emerged victorious in the war and afterwards would reform Syara into a Commonality, led by the pro-Warden Union Party.

Origin

The Wardens emerged as followers of Serovpe Boyajians' work The Warden Way, which preached a neo-fundamentalist/conservationist approach to Syaran society that emphasized Syara's relationship with Zoethos, the national religion of the Republic. Although Boyajians' work was heavily focused on ecology and society, it contained noticeable and significant criticism of the dual-monarchies of the Baligov and Kinesean dynasties. Boyajians' claims resonated deeply with a Syaran populace that had grown disillusioned with Syara's traditional form of government in the aftermath of the Broken Years, along with the crippling of the aristocracy as a result of the Siduri War. The adherents of Boyajians' teachings, known as the Wardens, came to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s with their own distinct strain of populist-nationalism, intermixed with a strong current of Zobethos fundamentalism.

Despite Boyajian's death in 1970, the Wardens continued to rise in popularity, especially in Scitaria and Hayreniky, where Zobethos fundamentalism and Syaran anti-monarchist sentiment was high. Between 1972-1978 the Wardens saw widespread electoral victories across Syara's Realms and national offices, with the United Syara Party becoming the de facto political vehicle for the Warden ideology.

Philosophy

The Warden philosophy largely transcended the traditional left-right divide in Syaran politics, though it was common for analysts to subscribe Warden beliefs to right wing aspirations towards intermixing of nationalism and religions fundamentalism. The Wardens largely scorned Syaran conservatism, which was dominated by Royalist supporters while liberal elements of Syaran society, who proved more secular, were at odds with the Warden emphasis on the centrality of faith in Syaran society and politics. Despite the strong religious and national convictions the Wardens proved more flexible on economic matters, with writer Zlatko Lazarov noting "...on matters of money the Wardens drop much of their rhetoric in favor of earnings".