Federal Directive of Valloria

ALERT: Oglothatean calendar ~100 years after. i.e. 0A = 100 BC, 1411A=1311CE.

WIKI: VALLORIA Valloria, officially the Federal Directive of Valloria is a constitutional semi-presidential republic located in southern Gralen. The Gralien portion of Valloria extends from the Red Hills in the north to the Feilnianor Sea in the south, and from the Volnain mountains to the east reaching the western edge of the Aranain range. Due to the shape of Valloria’s Gralien holdings, it is sometimes referred to as “the Axe.” Along with Valloria’s primary possessions, Vallorian Bartoi, Clemenoi, Vidras, and various insular territories in the Mariban, Delukas, and Onorai oceans make up the global Vallorian Directive, a supranational collective that share open borders, defence and foreign policy goals, but retain their own legislatures. Mainland Valloria covers 473,241 square miles, the second largest in Gralien and sixth largest worldwide, and has a population of 155.5 million. Valloria has an extremely diverse climate, with temperate maritime climate in the northwest, dry summers along the Feilnianor coastline, desert in the far south, and frigid alpine weather in the Volnain and upper reaches of the Aranain. Valloria is a federal-confederal sovereign state with Visgath as its capital; the city is also the nation’s largest with over 9 million people, closely followed by Asgolat and Breisgo, each with 6 million. The country’s other principal cities include the historic capital of Fornos, Lorgod, Bezern, and Lerdbattern. Within Valloria there are three principal cultural groups: the relatively sparsely populated far north is dominated by people of Dromuin origin, while the central and southern portions are principally populated by the descendants of various Varen tribes from the Volnain mountains. The two largely mutually intelligible languages used in the central and southern region are Vainori and Aneriel, while the majority of Dromuien speak Tharos, with Vainori as their second language. Vainori is the principal language of state. Other languages spoken include various dialects of Vainori and Aneriel, as well as other Gralien tongues and languages from around the world spoken largely by immigrants.

In ancient times, what is now Valloria was populated mainly by various tribes of Ovlatan and later Derebain origin who eventually founded various trade cities along the Felnianor coastline before being conquered in 79A by the nascent Oglothatean Empire, although the empire’s expansion into the region had begun with settlements along the southern portion of the coastline a decade earlier. Eventually, over the course of the following 116 years, the Oglothatean Empire would spread its control to include nearly all of what is currently Valloria. Between 537 and 541A, after two centuries of gradual decline, Oglothatea suffered a series of colossal military defeats at the hands of the Valgaï tribes who, at the time, inhabited the Volnain mountains. These military defeats, coupled with incursions from nomads to the north, led to the breakdown of Oglothatean authority not just in the Vallorian area, but nigh everywhere beyond the core provinces. The Valgaï took advantage of the chaos and descended from the mountains to settle the region during the latter half of the 6th century, leading to various would-be conquerors seizing control in the area and eventually the creation of a multitude of polities along the coastline. Many of the realms that emerged would join together in the Holy Alliance of the Imperial Protectorate of the Nine Cities in 1024A, a loose confederation of states headquartered in Lorgod bound together in mutual defence against a rejuvenated Oglothatean Empire. After a brief honeymoon period lasting roughly a century, a north-versus-south rivalry emerged within the Nine Cities, with Vainor and Aneril the principal powers, respectively. The alliance would eventually break apart in 1411 following disagreements and internal conflicts between the major powers of the area. Immediately following came the Great Plague, killing roughly 40% of Gralen’s population and thrusting the area into a century-long decline. The states in the nine cities area invariably fell apart, were conquered in part or in whole, or at the very least suffered severe sociopolitical turmoil. Those that survived would go on to become some of the world’s most powerful countries during the following centuries. During these tumultuous years, the First Realignment of Gralien diplomacy occurred, with the union of Vainor and Keilbor into one state, Aneril’s partition of Banazir, and the general subsumption of weaker polities into stronger, centralized ones through diplomacy and conquest.

With the Great Restoration’s birth in the various principalities of Megorath, all of Gralien experienced a rejuvenation of art and culture, bringing renewed study to the arts and sciences from a more secular perspective. This expansion of scholarship and exploration especially affected those nations like Vainor and Aneril who had emerged from the Nine Cities Age as great powers. During the Exploration Age, Vallorian culture experienced a golden age and colonization led to the formation of global colonial empires by both Vainor and Aneril, providing enormous wealth and power. Beginning after the Great Plague in urban areas throughout Vainor and solidifying over the following century was the Third Reform Movement, leading to the abandonment and abolition of the position of Archregimant in most areas south of the Aranain mountain range save for in Elgoren. Struggles between the clergy on one side and the nobility and peasantry on the other punctuated the chaos of the late 16th and early 17th centuries in Vainor, while Aneril’s lack of competent monarchs led to the development of a Council of State that managed the country. The culmination of the War of Kings’ Fates in 1731A confirmed Vainor’s status as the predominant cultural, political, and military power of Gralen, dwarfing Aneril. By the end of the century, however, prolongued famine and repeated revolts in the wealthier colonies, coupled with the loss of political preeminence in Gralen to Serion left Vainor in a weakened state. In 1793A, a fire in Visgath left half the city a smouldering ruin. The lack of royal response due to lavish spending on an unpopular war with Aneril triggered a revolt that quickly engulfed Vainor. By the winter of 1794A, most of the country had been seized and popular revolts were stirring in Aneril as well as among ethnically Vallorian populations ruled by foreign powers. The decisive Battle of Fornost left the King and most of his supporters dead, establishing the first modern republic in Gralien and instituting Federal law, forever changing the relation of the state to its people and influencing other legal codes worldwide. After a brief conflict with the remains of the Aneriel state, Vainor and Aneril unified into one state: the Federal Directive of Valloria.

Beginning in the early 19th century, Valloria experienced a period of world hegemony, a period during which its economy experienced explosive growth leading to the birth of the Innovation Era in the latter half of the century, during which technology and material output was revolutionised in favour of industry. Massive social reorganisation occurred, leading to ripple effects that fundamentally changed how the whole of Gralien social structure operated and charging the death knell to the power of the landed upper class that had made up the ruling elites since the revolution. By the mid-20th century, the Innovation Age came to a close, leaving most of Gralien industrialised and enabling the trade gap between East and West to close, and eventually switch directions. A period of general peace followed, lasting until 1981A, when revolt broke out in Vallorian Sonte, leading to the burning of Visgath by Sonte rebels in 1983A and questions about Valloria’s status as the preeminent superpower. Instability following these events led to global anticolonialism efforts as well as tensions over who would be the foremost power globally, causing the First Global Conflict in 2002A, from which Valloria emerged victorious, acquiring several territories north of the Aranain mountains. Unresolved conflicts lead to the outbreak of the Second Global Conflict in 2020A, a short, decisive affair during which the newly-formed Sonte Empire won resounding victory over Valloria and its allies, only to ally with the Vallorians in the final Third Global Conflict in 2027A, following which the global political situation evolved in favor of AMERICA. After the Third Global Conflict, the anticolonial sentiments that defined the beginnings of the 21st century began to overwhelm Gralien powers in 2043A leading to mass decolonization worldwide. To this day, Valloria retains close economic and oftentimes military connections with their former colonies, with various frameworks in treaties and multinational organizations providing the basis of mutual conduct.

Modern Valloria continues to be the centre of arts, sciences, and education that it has been for centuries. It hosts two of the three oldest universities worldwide and of the top 20 global universities, 7 are Vallorian. Valloria is a fully developed country with a post-industrial economy, boasting the seventh-highest level of human development worldwide and fourth-longest life expectancy. The nation holds a preeminent status in social, economic, and political affairs both regionally and globally, qualifying as a superior power. The Vallorian economy is the third-largest in the world by nominal GDP, and the second-largest by purchasing power parity. Roughly 81 million people visit Valloria as tourists annually – the most in the world – and the country has the highest number of heritage landmarks globally. Valloria is the founder of the Directive for International Cooperation, a multinational initiative formed largely of ex-Vallorian colonies and current Vallorian overseas possessions, with the rest made up of various island nations. Local municipalities are often part of global city partnership programs like the Municipal Cooperation Initiative, also founded by Valloria. Beyond management of the Directive, Valloria is a founding member of the Alliance of Southern Gralien, the Global Unity Initiative – of which Valloria holds a permanent position on the High Council – the Gralien Economic Integration Initiative, and the Economic Cooperation Directive.

ETYMOLOGY Originally applied to the Volnain mountain range by the Oglothatean Empire, “Valloria” evolved from the Oglothatean Valgaroina, meaning “area [inhabited by] the Valgaï.” The evolution of the name Valloria occurred over centuries and went through various periods of disuse – the term was not regularly applied to the region Valloria is situated in or any peoples in the area until the foundation of the Federal Directive in 1793A.

The coastal area which the various Valgaï tribes and their descendants came to inhabit were divided into two principal geopolitical areas: Olran, encompassing the Olrain basin in central Valloria, and Mirdan, which includes the Asagom peninsula down to the Peregon river. Both Olran and Mirdan are bounded in the west/southwest by the Feilnianor Sea. The word Valgaï and the related adjective Valgoïn are related to the Proto-Oglothatean word meaning “of hills,” which evolved to be a general term describing “mountain [dwellers]” during the First Confederation Age. Originally the term applied to any people inhabiting hilly or mountainous areas, most commonly to those in the mountains of Nath south of the Great Oglothatean Desert, but its use gradually evolved to exclusively refer to those living in the Volnain mountains by the Imperial Age.

HISTORY Prehistoric Period (pre-750Z) Human life in what is now Valloria appeared roughly 50,000 years ago and people adopted a hunter-gatherer lifestyle centred around the Peregon river, where the oldest traces of humans in Valloria are found, probably migrants from western Syvern. The Ovlatan people of the Peregon river area spread to inhabit all of Mirdan up through the Olrain basin as the climate gradually warmed by 7,000Z. Cave art from the period is very common, especially in the Kornai hills west of Breisgo. By 5,000Z the Neolithic Age began, with the inhabitants adopting a sedentary lifestyle. With a mild climate and plentiful crops, the population boomed and new agricultural methods were developed during the period between 4,500Z and 2,250Z. Valloria has many structures built in the period that were preserved, like the Larien Stones, dating back almost 6,000 years. The oldest permanent settlement in what is now Valloria is Asgolat, founded in 2,500Z with a population around 2,000. Smelting and metallurgy appeared near 2,000Z in the mineral-rich areas of the southern foothills of the Volnain. Around 1,000Z, the Derebain people, who were the principal group to spread over all of Gralien outside of Olran and Mirdan via the Ildragoin and Reaniel peninsulas through eastern Syvern, finally breached the Aranain and Volnain mountain ranges to begin settling in Valloria. These peoples supplanted the Ovlatans, who due to their lesser numbers largely assimilated. Few Ovlatan languages survive; among them are Morkiz, Elekiz, and Oviz.

Ancient Period (750Z-600A) Around 550Z the first true city was founded by Duruiz Nathi settlers at Zafar (near modern Syferith) at the furthest navigable point of the Peregon river approximately 5 miles upstream. The city gradually gained independence and asserted its authority over the entire Peregon drainage basin, founding other settlements further inland as well as along the Feilnianor coast. The Derebain people that had settled in the area half a millennium prior began to coalesce into two general tribal groups - the Olran Dereb and Mirdan Dereb, who give their names to the Olrain basin and Mirdan Hills respectively; these two areas as geopolitical concepts also emerged at this time. Modern Valloria’s borders roughly line up to those of Olran and Mirdan combined, save for Vallorian holdings north of the Aranain mountains. At this point, Mirdan was a highly prosperous area split into various, ill-defined polities hugging a coastline lined with settlements heavily influenced by Nathi. Olran, on the other hand was far more secluded and although the land was more fertile, political clashes between weak tribal structures and a lack of influence from the wealthy Nathi left the area practically dependent on their southern neighbors. Mirdan and Nath became rivals as their growing reach and overlapping commercial interests led to naval conflicts in the western Feilnianor Sea.

Mirdan grew in strength significantly especially relative to Nath, and the Sovereignty of Peregion’s incursion into Nath in 14Z significantly weakened the area politically. Much of the prior wealth of Nath was stripped away as repeated occupation and a drawn out struggle between various confederations and leagues allowed for Dobroz ve Zevlech’s newfound Oglothatean Empire to conquer it in 17A. The power balance that had existed for the past 500 years abruptly ended as the steppeland conquerors rapidly spread over the region, absorbing the Ildragoin and Reaniel peninsulas by 43A, most of northern Syvern by 68A, and by 93A, all land east of the Volnain and south of the Gaduiel River was under the control of the Oglothateans. All the while, the Oglothateans had been settling new colonies on the Mirdain coast and interfering with local politics, leading to a fracturing of power in the region. By 195A both Olran and Mirdan had been fully integrated into the Empire – Dobroz III’s victory at the Battle of Muoriban ensured the region’s conquest. His successor Modoras I adopted a policy of integration, with large amounts of settlers moving to enjoy the pleasant climate of locales like Breisgo and Apalen, both of which were founded by the Oglothateans. Traditional Oglothatean style supplanted earlier Nathi- and Derebain-dominated design in cities as a cultural melting pot formed. The paganism of the area was subsumed by the Faith of the Bison rapidly, being fully adopted by 300A.

The local languages, which in Mirdan were practically dialects of Nath, were gradually replaced with Oglothatean principally in urban areas, while the countryside continued to be dominated by Nathi-Oglothatean amalgamations of various forms. Due to their position as one of Oglothatea’s earliest conquests, as well as one that was both rather far from their centre of power and well-developed before the Oglothatean’s arrival, Olran and especially Mirdan became a nexus of immigration from the more war-torn areas of the empire. A long period of peace and prosperity began in the area, lasting almost 150 years before a period of increasingly harsh weather and the promise of large amounts of loot from rich urban centres drove the Valgoïn inhabitants of the Volnain mountains to begin settlement of Olran and Mirdan. Oglothatean response was strong at first, with the construction of a multitude of fortresses along key passes. This largely stifled the expansion of the Valgoïn settlements for the better part of the century, but the disastrous invasion of the Domain of Marbian in 441A depleted the Oglothatean armed forces significantly resulting in the neglect of important defenses. This calamity coincided with renewed Valgoïn interest in settlement, leading to that people’s takeover of the upper Olran basin.

Migration Period (600A-1000A) Oglothatea was able to, with great struggle, manage the Valgoïn expansion until the Great Invasion of contemporary Oglothatean steppelanders in the 590sA caused the collapse of the ve Zevlek dynasty in favour of the Beletos dynasty, resulting in a general breakdown of Oglothatean authority in the border regions. Valgoïn settlers began to arrive and settle in earnest, especially in riverine inland cities, some preexisting and some of their own creation. In the first two decades of the 6th century, mistreatment of Valgoïn reached an all-time high, with entire communities being driven out and incursions into the Volnain mounted. This enraged the tribes, who gathered at Lorgod to launch a major invasion of the Oglothatean heartland. An estimated 520,000 men, women, and children marched from their homes in the mountains down the Burdaren (Varnarod, lit. West Pass) Road to first siege the Oglothatean fort and trading post of Lerdbattern in 637A. The first few sieges in Olran were challenged by token Ogolothatean forces, as the bulk of the Imperial Army was occupied suppressing a revolt in Mirdan. Roughly a third of the half million tribespeople stayed behind to tend to the newly conquered land in the eastern Olran Basin, although most of the men continued to march. 350,000 tribesmen faced their first in a series of serious conflicts with the Oglothateans at the large, strategically important city of Fornost. The 90,000-strong well-trained, battle-hardened Oglothatean army was nearly wiped out in a surprise victory for the tribesmen.

Emboldened by their victory at the Battle of Fornost, the tribesmen pushed further south, leaving behind settlers along the way, reaching as far south as Breisgo and even Syferith before turning back amidst reports of an Oglothatean siege of Lorgod. Those reports were false however, but proved to be an important prediction because by the time the tribal army was approaching their home, an Oglothatean army had in fact been dispatched to take the city. The Battle of Auruk Mordien around 50 miles southeast of that city was a decisive victory for the tribesmen, leaving Oglothatea with little in terms of options. The tribes proceeded to march on the Oglothatean capital of Narvozny, looting everything along the way, before their leader Bralaeg ca Othgad was killed in battle not far from the city. Factionalism quickly emerged in the invading army and the Oglothateans, critically weakened by the constant invasion, managed to score a sorely needed victory outside the walls of the capital. The damage to Imperial stability was irreversible, however, as the Beletos dynasty was overthrown in favor of the Narvos dynasty in a palace coup shortly after hostilities ended and the Oglothatean Empire split into four warring factions. The Domain of the Alinoïn came to rule over all of Mirdan, led by an Oglothatean ethnic minority struggling with political conflict from a Mirdain-Nathi nobility and the constant threat of invasion from the Valgoïn tribes that now ruled over all Olran.

The Domain of the Alinoïn suffered its death knell when tribal inhabitants of the southern Volnaïn surged down from their mountainous homeland in the Second Volnain Migration in the latter half of the 7th century. The tribes in the north took advantage of the chaos and by 725A the Domain of the Alinoïn was no more, completely replaced by tribes that finally began to settle down. Tribal confederations began to emerge, and frequent conflict occurred due to the tensions arising from the mixing of the Valgoïn and the inhabitants that had migrated down from the southern reaches of the Volnaïn in the Peregon river valley region. By the end of the century, clear divisions in the Valgoïn tribal structures became apparent, with the Magaroi, Vanaroi, and Keilboroi tribal kingdoms emerging in the north, and the Anaroi and Goroi in the south. The Goroi were the most heavily influenced by southern Volnain culture, and the Magaroi by the inhabitants of the lands west of the Aranain. These tribes began to convert en masse to the areas’ already-established religion, as the controversy due to the lack of a clearly-defined Archregimancy reached a fever pitch. The island kingdom of Elgoren, remnants of the Domain of the Alinoïn, grew closer to the coastal tribal kingdoms rapidly solidifying in the area, and the Goroi, their closest neighbors on the continent, quickly sponsored a local Archregimant, who up until this point led a heretical sect, to stop their subjects from worshipping to Alinomra’s. The other kingdoms in the area followed suit, and by 850A five major states emerged on the coastline, each forming roughly corresponding to the seven major tribes.

A religious reform movement rapidly spread through the land around 900A, partially motivated by the difficulties realms new and old were facing, but also spurred by the solidification of changes in statehood dynamics that had occurred over the past 200 years. Oglothatean law as part of the Book of the Code was still incredibly restricting to monarchs of the Faith, so theologists produced the idea that due to uncertain lineage, all Oglothatean monarchs after Modoras II the Elderly were not true Archregimants and thus all Oglothatean holy law made after this point was invalid. This reform movement began in the south and spread rapidly to all areas ruled by those of the faith, except the shadow Oglothatean Empire. Secular law was thus introduced as a real force, with the idea of the monarchy remaining closely tied to the faith but now able to make separate proclamations not tied to religion. The tribal kingdoms, while now solidifying, were still in a period of intense determination. As all land was treated as private property and the idea of the state as an indivisible entity yet to arise, the tribal kingdoms were often repeatedly split amongst descendants of a monarch, only to be reunified by conquest under an ambitious heir. Chaos reigned, with no clear, long-lasting kingdoms emerging. Some conquerors were able to occupy neighboring tribal groups for periods of time, with the Keilboroi tribes the most successful - establishing an empire that stretched nearly the entire Olrain basin for almost a quarter century before invasion and inheritance split it into a multitude of pieces.

The political upheaval that defined the previous three centuries began to settle down around 975A as Archregimancies were formalized and brought under the control of the monarchs of the area of the area, and proclamations related to the singularity of inheritance into one heir selected by the monarch from his family were asserted by the faith throughout most every realm of tribal origin west of the Volnain. Much of the land most closely attendant to the monarch became bound permanently to the royal demesne. The tradition of tribal warlords swearing allegiance to a king for his lifetime evolved into vassal suzerainties defined by perennial oaths of loyalty and other traditions, marking the beginning of a feudal structure marred by constantly shifting supremacy and alliances. Hereditary tradition extended to include all nobles, not just monarchs – the elected tribal warlordism that defined previous centuries gave way to hereditary landholders who became incredibly rich and powerful. Constant warfare between the coastal states left their rulers bereft of the ability to enforce their power and claims within their own borders, leading to the breakdown of the strong authority that defined the later tribal power structure, leading to their now-hereditary vassals seizing vast tracts of land, often through not entirely legitimate means. This dire situation reached critical mass around 1050A, at which point the rulers of the seven principal kingdoms that had solidified their hold on the region were nearly entirely dependent on their unbound vassals. The situation was not helped by the fact that increasingly desperate monarchs would grant hereditary land plots to mounted warriors that would serve in their ranks, further diluting their control over personal holdings.

Descendants of Razanur, father of Bralaegh Odgat the Warrior, the man who marched on the Oglothateans nearly five hundred years earlier, from various branches of the family had ruled the Vanaroi, Magaroi, and Keilboroi at the dawn of their respective tribal kingdoms, and a bill of dubious accuracy connecting the family by blood to Dobroz ve Zevlek was produced in 975. Lord Mechar Odgat of the Mirin Keilboroi, a northern subgroup of the tribe, successfully conquered the entire Olran basin in 911A; his attempt to unite the tribes and ultimately refound the Oglothatean Empire did not survive him, with his empire splitting into four pieces upon his death - these four kingdoms, each ruled by one of his heirs, would evolve to become Keilbor, Megorath, Vainor, and Varenoth. The Anaroi were ruled by various nobles due to their strong elective tradition until the rise of the Bespezieu dynasty in 867A. In the south, the Banazoi and Goroi extensively intermarried with the nobles of Alinomra, producing such dynasties as Belionip (855-943A) and Modroionip (943A-1086A) in Gorath and the Unial (792-960A) in Banazir before the latter joined in personal union under the former. This union would last until the death of the last Modroionip, upon which Gorath’s plutocratic nobility began electing a Lord Director and became a republic. Marriage was the primary method by which vassal houses were tied more permanently to one of the seven kingdoms that emerged and the concept of periphery as a subset of the feudal structure emerged at this time, meaning lands not directly owned by a monarch but wherein an owner would be subject to enforceable loyalty.

Nine Cities Period (1000A-1400A) A new threat began to appear on the horizon of the kingdoms of Olran and Mirdan at the turn of the millennium: a renewed Oglothatean Empire. Now under the leadership of a new dynasty, Oglothatea undertook renewed expansion as the 10th century came to a close and this push for new land showed no signs of stopping as the 11th century began. Anxious to maintain their new holdings, an unlikely alliance formed between the monarchs of the five largest realms and Alinomra, spurred by holy encouragement as the Archregimants of the area viewed Oglothatea as a threat to their legitimacy. Many in the area viewed this second rise of Oglothatea as foretelling and worshipped to their Archregimant instead. The Treaty of Lorgod was signed in 1024A by the rulers of the Magaroi, the Vanaroi, the Keilboroi, the Varetoi, the Anaroi, the Goroi, the Banazoi, and Alinomra, creating the Empire of the Grand Alliance of the Nine Cities to politically rival the Oglothateans. Inspired by the Faith of the Bison’s idea of Nine Holy Cities, the league professed to defend these against Oglothatean expansion, castigating their enemies as a parody of the holy Oglothatean empire that had come centuries before. Headquartered in Baragath, the alliance proved to be a valuable block to Oglothatea’s expansion west of the Volnain; the treaty mandated the members serve each other in mutual defence against the Oglothateans, but this later expanded to include other threats to the empire. The Faith’s power in all six Kingdoms had made it increasingly impossible for the monarch to appoint whomever they pleased as Archregimant, so the position gradually became elected from within the ranks of monks and scholars. In order to limit the authority of the monarchs, the Treaty of Lorgod involved a provision related to the unification of all Archregimancies in the region. This was not an uncommon practice, as many of the ‘periphery’ realms abandoned the idea of having individual Archregimants, preferring instead to align under the Archregimant of the kingdom they were sworn under. Realms unified under personal union would often conjoin their Archregimancies, and the idea that the monarch as the personification of the state related to the Archregimant as the personification of the Faith was born.

The Empire led to reductions in the rights of Lords Suzerain, as a final, binding judicial arbiter was created that did not rely on force of arms and often sided with the monarchs to retain their support. As their rights as independent states were eroded by unequal treaties, more and more Lords Suzerain accepted treaties that permanently bound their land as integral parts of the lands of Lords Sovereign, instead of binding them as tributary for life. Lords Suzerain still nominally maintained their right to administer justice within their lands, mint money, build castles without royal permission, not pay their inheritance tax, etc. It was commonly used for Lords Suzerain to get out of debt, increase their standing by marrying into a royal family, and cement protection of their holdings from foreign incursion. Lords Suzerain whose holdings were permanently bound also had to deliver substantially less money in lieu of military service to their overlords. As peace reigned in the early and middle periods of the Empire of the Nine Cities, Lords Suzerain gradually began to lose their rights, including that of issuing capital punishment, castle construction, freedom from inheritance tax, as well as various other rights depending on the individual Lord Suzerain. This era also saw the end of many ancient and powerful dynasties. The families ruling some Suzerainties died out, their lands subsumed into the territory of the monarch they owed allegiance to. Some Sovereign houses ended only to be inherited by the ruler of a Suzerainty. The most prominent example of this was a man that would unify three of the kingdoms in the Nine Cities, and whose family would go on to shape Gralien affairs until the end of the 17th century.

His Highness Lord Suzerain Marin VII, son of Marin VI, of the ennobled House ca Vespicz, Duke of Alghar and Perezan, Count of Ulnuth, and Protector of Bezern was a periphery noble bound to Lord Sovereign Bralaegh VII, High King of the Vanari, who by marriage and descent became, at age 19, heir to the thrones of both the High Kingdom of the Vanari and the Kingdom of the Keilboroi. His father was the nephew of the King of Keilbor and his mother was the daughter of the High King of the Vanari. To avoid a woman’s succession in Vainor, and also to secure control of Keilbor, Marin was quietly declared heir presumptive after the death of Bralaegh VII’s only son. Having been raised by Keilborain nobles in the North Valgaï tradition, the King of Keilbor did not truly believe Vainori nobles would allow his succession. This would prove to be his realm’s undoing, however, as upon the untimely death of Bralaegh in 1377, Marin became High King of Vainor. During the scramble to find an eligible heir, which lead to paralyzing court conflict in Keilbor due to claimaint infighting, the King perished of the plague that had also taken Bralaegh. Marin used the military might of Vainor to exercise his rightful claim to the Kingdom of Keilboron, thus uniting the two realms in personal union. During this time, a series of protracted wars between Aneril and the now-republican Gorath would lead to the absorption by the former of much of the northern territory of the latter.

As stipulated in the Treaty of Lorgod, a Commander was to be chosen by election of a council of the leaders of the eight kingdoms that primarily made up the Nine Cities and the Principality of Lorgod, who would lead the Empire’s collective armed forces during wartime. This position evolved to become the Emperor of the alliance, whose political power ebbed and flowed depending on the level of threat the Oglothateans posed, among other factors. In the late 11th through early 13th centuries when the threat of Oglothatean expansion was strongest, the Nine Cities were practically unified under the Emperor - often a King of Alinomra as that realm was the most politically unified and powerful at the time. On the mainland, a rivalry began to emerge between the principal powers of Vainor and Aneril, which later expanded to include all of the north pitted against all of the south. Alinomra’s military might acted as a deterrent to conflict within the Nine Cities, but as the power of both Alinomra and the imperial title waned both Vainor and Aneril became far more brazen in their power grabs against each other. In 1341A, for the first time since 1174, Alinomra lost the imperial election to a coalition built by Vainor. Over the following century, Keilbor and Varenoth would largely become subservient states to Vainor, as the latter’s advantageous trade location and superior population and resources forced the former two to become sidelined, and when Varenoth’s royal family died out in 1441A Vainor was able to seize the throne through their rights as Emperor. Vainor’s focus on consolidation of the northern half of the empire further weakened Imperial authority, with the throne passed back and forth between Vainor and Aneril until 1481A, when King Marin III of Vainor was elected to be Emperor, the third consecutive Vainori and final holder of the office of Emperor.

The rivalry between Vainor and Aneril that had produced many proxy wars, land seizures, and internal purges against perceived supporters of the other reached a critical point during Marin III’s reign. When in 1496A, Belmorad, firstborn son and heir of Marin III eloped with (or kidnapped, it depends on one’s viewpoint) Anaren, granddaughter and heir of High King Eletan of Aneril, the nobles of Aneriel could no longer stand the growing Vainori supremacy, leading them to launch the Nine Cities’ first all-encompassing internal war. While previously no state within the Nine Cities dared declare on a sitting Emperor, not only did Aneril do this, but their allies in Gorath and Elgoren joined them in open war. This so-called War of Weddings was the first in a series of Vainori-Aneriel wars that would define the following two centuries. Fifteen years after the declaration of the War of Weddings, Marin III passed away and all of the states in the south boycotted the election of the Emperor, signalling the end of the Nine Cities in 1511A. As Vainor could not enforce attendance of all the southern states to the election, their absence went uncontested and the Imperial title fell into disuse. As the dust settled, Vainor, Keilbor, and Varenoth had united into the Union of Olran, Megorath had devolved into warring principalities whose politics was largely determined by Serain and Vainori interference, Aneril and Banazhir united, and Gorath, now a republic, conquered the remainder of the Goriath Desert.

The Nine Cities Period was defined by dynastic struggle and efforts towards centralisation. The Odgat dynasty that had ruled Vainor, Keilbor, Megorath, Varenoth, and various other principalities in the area began to rapidly die out near the turn of the millennium, losing all but the Principality of Lorgod by 1391A. Vainor and Keilbor united under the ca Vespicz dynasty and Varenoth under the Bogdonat family, while Megorath split into warring dukedoms as no clear successor availed itself. The Vespicz family’s rule expanded the limited royal authority of Vainor, previously one of the weakest in the area, into the principal power of the region through wars and dynastic inheritance into the High Kingdom of Vainor; it had previously been known, like the other states in the Nine Cities (save for Alinomra) by its tribal name “the Kingdom of the Vanari.” The Bespezeiu rulers of the Anari gave way to the Stragnath family as the realm became Aneril, and the Kingdom of Alinomra, which was named after the Alinom ruling dynasty, became the Kingdom of Elgoren after the first Elgor king took power. Many further dynastic changes occurred after the onset of the crisis that would serve as the close of the Nine Cities Period: the Plague.

Disease from the GREAT LAKES spread rapidly through trading ports such as Narvozny and Duro, eventually bringing its deadly influence into Breisgo, and later Fornost despite repeated efforts at quarantine. It is estimated that over half the population of Aneril was killed in the Plague

The death of King Marin IV of the Union of Keilbor in The death of the last ca Vespicz led a council of nobles from all three realms coming together to choose a new ruler, in the interim while they couldn’t decide they appointed a maternal-line cousin of the ca Vespicz, a member of the Toberk family, as Custodian of the Union, with a body of directors

The Regency (1400A-1676A)

POLITICS Valloria is a federal semi-presidential state with a mixed-collective executive led by a Directory. Lakner Toberk currently serves as the Presiding Director of the 57th Directorate, composed of 13 voting Directors including the Presidency, each selected by the legislature on the occasion of its first sitting during a term. The Presiding Director is popularly elected, while the majority party or coalition in the democratically elected Council Regent chooses the remainder of the Directory with the advice and consent of the Presiding Director. In practice, the Presiding Director and the Regent-Director agree on a slate of Directors, with different responsibilities within the established executive infrastructure, at the beginning of a term. This creation must then passed by a majority in the Council Regent in order to form a government. If the Presiding Director and the Council Regent are unable to agree on a Board of Directors, new elections must be called.

The Constitution of Valloria is not directly codified, consisting mostly of a collection of disparate written sources, including domestic & international treaties, statutes, and judge/Court Council-made case law, together with constitutional conventions. As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and “constitutional law,” the Vallorian Council Regent can perform “constitutional reform” simply by passing Acts of the Council, and thus has the political power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the constitution. No Council Regent can pass laws that future Councils cannot change. However, the Council Regent is bound by convention to the domestic and international treaties that formed it. This forms the bulk of the constitutional literature.

Government Valloria has a directorial government based on the Arvath system that has been emulated around the world: a legacy of the Vallorian Empire. The council of Valloria meets in Fort Arvath and is composed of one house: an elected Council Regent, although the appointed Board of Directors has some legislative function. All bills must be passed by a majority in both bodies, however, the Council Regent can overturn a failure in the Directory through a supermajority vote. The Presiding Director can also veto a law, only superseded by a supermajority in both houses.

The position of Presiding Director serves as Valloria’s head of government, and a part of the Directory that serves as its collective head of state. This position is popularly elected in quinquennial elections with a term coterminous to that of one Regency. The position of Regent-Director belongs to the person most likely to command the confidence of the Council Regent; this individual is typically the leader of the political party or coalition of parties that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber. The Presiding Director, upon election, must confer with the incoming Regent-Director to agree on an amenable slate of candidates for the various positions on the Directory, who must then be formally voted on as an Instrument of Government. By convention, if a Presiding Director is unable to come to an agreement on a candidate list with the Council Regent, the Presiding Director will refuse to take office and new elections must then occur.

Directors are traditionally drawn from members of the Presiding Director’s party or coalition and mostly from the Council Regent but always from both the legislature and each provincial government, the Directory being responsible to both. Executive power is exercised by the Presiding Director and Board of Directors, all of whom are sworn into the Great Council of Valloria. The current Presiding Director is Loman Galistiz, who has been in office since DATE. Galistiz is a member of the Federal Party. For elections to the Council Regent, Valloria is divided into 100 constituencies, apportioned by state, each electing five Regents (officially Regents-Representative) by plurality, with one candidate able to assume multiple seats based on vote share. General elections are by law required to be called at 5-year intervals at maximum, although the resignation of the Presiding Director forces new elections.

The Federal Party of Valloria, the Vallorian Union and the Vallorian Syndicate Party have, in modern times, been considered Valloria’s three major political parties, representing the Vallorian traditions of libertarianism, conservative-liberalism and socialism, respectively. Most of the remaining seats are won by parties that contest elections only in one part of Valloria: Pramzyl (Aneril et al.), Vasis Laorga (Reanuil only), and the Serain Front (Itarion only). In accordance with tradition, the voting members of the Directory are split between the ruling coalition. Additionally, each realm is permitted to appoint a Director Legate to represent their interests in the federal Directory, with the vote. The various departments within the Directory are incorporated in statute, but they exist and operate separately from the position of Director. Most other department employees are career civil servants. Each position of Director and all rights and responsibilities that go along with that position are created by sunset-clause restricted statute at the beginning of each term by negotiation between the incoming Council and Presiding Director.

The current makeup of the Council Regent of the Federal Directive of Valloria is 217 Federal (FPV), 158 Union (VU), 83 Syndicate (VSP), 30 Pramsyl (P), 8 Serain (SF), and 4 Vasis Laorga (VL). The Federal Party is the largest party and thus appoints the Regent-Director. By virtue of Presiding Director Galistiz’ membership in the party, they are also the governing party, meaning by tradition they must also be part of the ruling coalition. Currently, the Federal and Syndicate parties are governing in coalition. The makeup of the voting, Council-appointed members of the Directory (titled Directors Plenipotentiary) is 7-3 Federal/Syndicate, with the nonvoting Council-appointed members composed 14-5. Of the Directors Legate, 3 are from the Federal Party, 2 are from the Union, 1 is from Pramsyl, and 1 is nonpartisan. This, the 57th Directory, was created with 36 members, 17 voting and 19 nonvoting; 10 total voting FPVs, 3 voting VSPs, 2 voting VUs, 1 voting Pramsyl, and 1 voting nonpartisan. If no Director is appointed to a legally existing Department of the Vallorian Directory, executive authority goes to the Commissioner, the highest career office within a given department.

The other branch of the federal government, the Justiciary, is headed by the Court Arbiter, the supreme court of Valloria. The function of the Court Arbiter is to consider appeals beyond state courts or the lower federal Courts Appellate. The judges of the Court Arbiter are chosen by the Directory, subject to approval by the Assembly. The Justicars-Arbiter at the beginning of each term select a non-voting advisory termed the Legate that advises the Directory on how to best mold law to fit with established governmental principle. Laws can be declared ‘made without prerogative’ by the Court Arbiter if they violate existing commitments of the Vallorian government, invalidating them. Additionally, a traditional member of the Directory without voting power is the Inquisitor-General, who serves as the chief prosecutor of the realm.

Evolution This complex, intricate form of government is unlike any other: the byproduct of centuries of natural development. The origins of the Council Regent go back to the various Councils summoned by the realms of Vainor, Keilbor, and Varenoth at different points of their monarchical history, then composed of important nobility and clergy. The death of King Marin VI ca Vespicz of the Union of Keilbor without issue in 1653 led to constitutional crisis, with the Councils of each member of the personal union summoned to Visgath by his partially-illegitimate cousin Lakner Toberk in an effort to ensure each realm followed the terms of the Treaty of Apalen that united the three realms in a real union. Toberk, who became Duke of Bezern, was appointed by this group of nobles — known then as the Council Regent — as Lord President and Director of Vainor, Keilbor, and Varenoth. This is so the Council could focus on the task of finding a new eligible heir for all three realms. As part of the grant of authority, they mandated Lord Toberk appoint, with their consent, a number of their rank to be Lords Director of equal power to himself. This ad-hoc executive group would later evolve to become the Directory, as the Council Regent would evolve to its current, democratically-elected form.

The Councils of each constituent monarchy were, by each realm’s law and convention only allowed to meet under certain conditions. Indeed, the Council Regent was only allowed to meet for forty days a year without leave of the now-absent monarch, hence the necessity of appointing a Director to manage the state while they spent the entirety of their term on the search for a new heir. Due to a combination of religious nonconformism, illegitimate ancestry, and political nonviability within one of the realms, no eligible candidate was anointed in the first five years of the Council Regent’s meeting. Lord Toberk, after five years of impasse, used his prerogative powers as the executor of the monarch’s will to call a meeting of the Council for an increase in taxes. The Council, then numbering under 80, was composed of the most powerful of the nobility, and refused the request, although they did agree on the Act of Bequest 1659 that affirmed the right of the appointed executor to exercise most powers of the monarch.

The following year, Lord Toberk used this prerogative to call all landed members of the nobility that had been granted the rank of Count or above, as well as allowing each group of non-feudal tenants-in-chief and urbanites that paid a certain amount in taxation to elect four representatives to the Council. This was an exercise of the ancient right of the monarch to veselach obyna (universal counsel). The less-powerful nobles and burghers were largely supportive of the pro-trade and pro-colonial policies of Toberk and were willing to vote to increase the gradations of the land tax on the larger lords. This began the permanent sitting of the Council Regent. While the Lords Director were able to undertake many actions on their own, the powers reserved to the Council in the Act of Bequest 1659 required their continued sitting, which they would do until elections were held upon the death of a Presiding Director. Occasionally political dynasties would form but rarely remained in power beyond two generations as the Council Regent mandated that any who accepted the title of Lord President and Director were for life ineligible for the throne.

Aneril became embroiled in civil war in 1673, their monarch gradually becoming more autocratic in the face of a stream of pretenders. The Union interceded, occupying Breisgo and forcing the abdication of the unpopular ruler. Aneril’s nobility negotiated accession to the Union of Olran by the Treaty of Arash (1676), which thence became the Union of the Realms of Valloria. This Treaty remains the largest single source of Vallorian constitutional literature, outlining the permanence of Aneril’s government, the enfranchisement of all immediate landowners, the idea of the Director Legate, and the formal enshrinement of Keilboron and Varenain governments in the form of Councils Ministrant that ruled each individual realm. Over the following two and a half centuries, Acts of the Council Regent, alongside the terms of Reanuil’s accession in the Treaty of Lorgod (1712) and the Articles of Establishment of Megorath (1729), altered the methods by which the Vallorian government operated into its present form. This included in the former the abolishment of knight-service and all non-socage based feudal tenures and in the latter the institution of universal socage based on the assessed total production ability of the land. These three documents instituted and reinforced some of the core Vallorian freedoms, including freedom of speech and assembly, of religion, and of the press, as well as rights of fair trial and the inviolability of property.

At the Conference of 1784, wherein representatives of the Vallorian national government as well as each constituent realm met in concert, the Edicts of Union were passed, formalizing the method by which elections were called and abolishing the nobility’s seigneurial privileges at the Federal level. Indeed, the Council Regent was now a mediatized body elected by all landowners in regions throughout Valloria, with borders drawn to follow those of the realms. Through this the number of Regents per region was expanded from four to five. As all lands granted under subinfeudation were now officially given immediacy, many nobles chose to voluntarily abandon their titles as to avoid the taxation associated with their holdings. In 1834, the Magistracy of Aneril surrendered the ability to appoint their Regents and universal male suffrage was instituted. The Conference of 1841, held now at Bezern, further abolished all noble titles at the federal level and instituted universal male suffrage regardless of property ownership. Aneril and Valloria as a whole fully abolished all hereditary fiefdoms in the Acts of Redressment 1878. The Council Regent therein formally abdicated the more than two-hundred-year search for a legitimate claimant to the thrones of the Union of Olran, marking the official end of the long transition from monarchy to democracy.

Constituent Realms All portions of the nation of Valloria are bound to the union by some treaty or legal agreement. The combination of these form a great bulk of the Constitution of Valloria, and indeed are the only parts that theoretically limit the Council Regent’s powers. Different realms have different traditions, including systems and structure of government. The amount of autonomy given to realms varies widely based on the principles outlined in their initial accession treaty as well as by powers their governments have legally ceded to the Directory. This variable autonomy is what makes Valloria one of the primary examples of a federacy. The constituent realms of Valloria are as follows: Vainor, Aneril, Varenoth, Keilboron, Mirdan, Itarion, and Reanuil.

Aneril, Varenoth, Keilboron, and Reanuil all became part of what was then the Union of Valloria through treaties negotiated through a combination of diplomacy and warfare. The treaties by which those four realms acceded to the union contain a great deal of Valloria’s constitutional literature. Itarion and Mirdan, both the aftermath of conquests by an already-formed Valloria, were established through Articles of Incorporation. These Articles allow for the devolution of government to these realms, within the bounds established by the Council Regent. The difference between the two largely rests in the institutionalization of their functions: interference with treaty-created realms cannot be undertaken by the Council outside of the mechanisms outlined in the treaties; Council-established realms can be created or dissolved at the will of the government.

Vainor is unique as it is the technical legal predecessor to the nation of Valloria; therefore there has been neither an accession treaty or articles of incorporation promulgating its status within the Federal Directive. Vainor has historically vacillated between immediate control by the Directory and congresses of incorporated local government institutions, with Regency laws specifically concerning Vainor forming the bulk of constitutional material. Vainor has been in the past used as a legal instrument for the Directive’s governance of unincorporated territory, considering the evolutionary process by which Valloria arrived at its current governmental form. The Government Act 1913 authorized the Council Plenipotentiary of Vainor, a body composed of representatives of each local authority within Vainor as created by the Council Regent of Valloria, to appoint a Director Legate.

The Treaty of Arash (1676) establishes the wide-ranging powers possessed by the Aneriel Magistracy within the structure of the Vallorian Federal Directive. Its current responsibilities include education, healthcare, Aneriel law, taxation, and local government. In 1834 and 1878, the Vallorian and Aneriel governments signed Accords that modified key portions of the Treaty of Arash and set out the terms for greater integration between the two governments, including in the former the assumption by Valloria of Aneril’s debt and abolishment of nobiliar titles and in the latter a lift on federal taxation limitations. This successful federalization of what was once an almost completely independent state within the Directive was emulated with the repeal of some of the more obscure and obsolete strictures placed by other accessory treaties at the Conference at Bezern, 1841. Despite these renegotiations, acceded realms still retain a wide range of significant powers, often more than their established counterparts.

Law and Justice The Federal Directive of Valloria does not have a single legal system as Section 14 of the Treaty of Arash specifically provided for the continuation of Aneril’s separate legal system. The Conference at Bezern codified into treaty law the independence and stratification of the judiciary at the federal level as well as formalizing state control of the enforcement of state laws. Today, Valloria has three distinct systems of law: Federal law, Union law and Aneriel law. Federal law applies in established realms where government has been prescribed following the Directory model, as well as on a superior level throughout Valloria. Union law is found in the realms of Keilbor and Varenoth, as well as in slightly modified form in Reanuil. Aneriel law is the most divergent from the Federal system and carries long tradition.

Both Federal and Union law are based on the principles of court-law. The essence of court-law is that, subject to statute, the law is developed by judges in courts, applying statute, precedent and common sense to the facts before them to give explanatory judgements of the relevant legal principles, which are reported and binding in future similar cases. The highest federal court is the Court Arbiter, which is also the constitutional court. Below this body are the Courts Appellant, which adjudicate on Federal law throughout Valloria. Union law varies in its application as some realms with this legal system have codified constitutions and are therein limited. Aneril has a council-law system wherein statute takes supremacy over case law. Federal and Aneriel law have strong traditions of corroboration, and indeed Federal law maintains two forms of acquittal: innocent and unproven, the former implying exoneration and the latter implying a lack of necessary evidence.

Crime in Valloria increased in the late DATE century, though since then there has been a significant reduction in crime throughout the realm, according to crime statistics. The prison population of Valloria is currently nearing 186,000, giving Valloria the third-highest incarceration rate in Gralen. The Prison Office, which reports to the Interior Department, manages all Federal prisons; realms operate their own prisons. The murder rate in Valloria has plateaued over the last 20 years, with a rate around 1 per 100,000 which is one third the peak in DATE and similar to the rate in the DATE. Aneril maintains a lower violent crime rate but a higher overall rate than Valloria as a whole, with a murder rate at 0.7 per 100,000.

Foreign Relations Valloria is the founder of the Directive for International Cooperation, a multinational initiative formed largely of ex-Vallorian colonies and current Vallorian overseas possessions, with the rest made up of various island nations. Local municipalities are often part of global city partnership programs like the Municipal Cooperation Initiative, also founded by Valloria. Beyond management of the Directive, Valloria is a founding member of the Alliance of Southern Gralien, the Global Unity Initiative – of which Valloria holds a permanent position on the High Council – the Gralien Economic Integration Initiative, and the Economic Cooperation Directive. Valloria and Elgoren share a common background and are thus said to have a ‘historical relationship,’ also relating to the free travel area between the two, although in recent years this has come under strain due to Elgoren’s difficulties in managing an influx of refugees from Syferith.

Valloria’s global presence and influence is further amplified through its trading relations, foreign investments, official development assistance and military engagements. MEXICO and AUSTRALIA, both former colonies of the Vallorian Empire, are the most favourably viewed countries in the world by the Vallorian people, sharing a number of close diplomatic, military and cultural ties with the Federal Directive. Indeed, these and many other nations including most prominently Sonté are a part of the international Global Directive, with some acknowledging the Presiding Director of Valloria as head of state.

Military The Vallorian Armed Forces consist of four professional service branches: the Vallorian Army, the Vallorian Navy, the Vallorian Air Force, and the Vallorian Security Force.[231] The armed forces of the Federal Directive are managed by the Military Director and controlled by the Defence Council, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The Commander-in-Chief is the Presiding Director, although members of the forces swear an oath of allegiance to the totality of the government of Valloria. The Armed Forces are charged with protecting Valloria and its overseas territories, promoting the Federal Directive’s global security interests and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in ALLIANCE, including the NAME OF CORPS, as well as the Five Power Defense Association, ACRONYM and other worldwide coalition operations. Overseas garrisons and facilities are maintained in Gagan, Myanao, MEXICO, AUSTRALIA, ISLAND, ISLAND, ISLAND, ISLAND, FRANCE, W AFRICA, E AFRICA, S AFRICA, MIDDLE EAST, MIDDLE EAST and SOUTH ASIA.[233][234]

The Vallorian armed forces played a key role in establishing the Federal Directive as the dominant world power in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. By emerging victorious from conflicts, Valloria has often been able to decisively influence world events. Since the end of the Vallorian Empire, the Federal Directive has remained a major military power. Following the end of the Cold War, defence policy has a stated assumption that “the most demanding operations” will be undertaken as part of a coalition. Vallorian military operations in PLACES have followed this approach. Setting aside the intervention in AFRICA in 2000, the last occasion on which the Vallorian military fought alone was the WAR.

According to sources which include the CITY International Peace Research Institute and the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Valloria has either the second- or the third-highest military expenditure. Total defence spending amounts to 2.4 percent of national GDP.

ECONOMY Overview Valloria has a partially-regulated market economy. Based on market exchange rates, Valloria is today the third-largest economy in the world and the largest in Gralen. The Economy Department, led by the Director of the Economy, is responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and economic policy. The Exchequer is Valloria’s central banking system and is responsible for issuing notes and coins in the nation's currency, the stravin. The Aneriel Fund retains the right to issue their own notes, subject to retaining enough Exchequer notes in reserve to cover their issue. The stravin is the world's second-largest reserve currency, after the AMERICAN. Since YEAR the Exchequer's Currency Commission has been responsible for setting interest rates at the level necessary to achieve the overall inflation target for the economy that is set by the Directory each year.

The Vallorian service sector makes up around 79 percent of GDP. Visgath is one of the three “command centres” of the global economy (alongside NYC and Memnosos), it is the world's largest financial centre alongside NYC, and it has the largest city GDP in Gralen. Tourism is very important to the British economy; with over 80 million tourists arriving in LASTYEAR, Valloria is ranked as the most popular tourist destination in the world and Visgath has the most international visitors of any city in the world. The creative industries accounted for 7 per cent GVA in 2005 and grew at an average of 6 per cent per annum between 1997 and 2005.

The Industrial Revolution started in Valloria with an initial concentration on the textile industry, followed by other heavy industries such as shipbuilding, coal mining and steelmaking. Vallorian merchants, shippers and bankers developed an overwhelming advantage over those of other nations allowing the Federal Directive to dominate international trade in the 19th century. As other nations industrialised, coupled with economic decline after three global conflicts, the Federal Directive began to lose its competitive advantage and heavy industry declined, by degrees, throughout the 20th century. Manufacturing remains a significant part of the economy and accounted for 21.7 percent of national output in YEAR, although this was localised principally to the northeast region of the country.

As of YEAR, the Global Trade Initiative (GTI) reported Valloria was the world's third largest exporter and the second largest importer of manufactured goods. In YEAR, Valloria was the third largest recipient of foreign direct investment among highly developed countries at $218 billion, ranking behind TAXHAVEN (where foreign direct investment was essentially monetary transfers to banks located there) and AMERICA ($294 billion), but above ENGLAND ($100.7 billion), FRANCE ($51 billion), or JAPAN ($33 billion). In the same year, Vallorian companies invested $287 billion outside Valloria, ranking Valloria as the second largest outward direct investor in the OECD, behind the United States ($294 billion), and ahead of the ENGLAND ($111 billion), JAPAN ($128 billion) and FRANCE ($157 billion).

Financial services, banking and the insurance sector are an important part of the economy. The Visgath stock exchange is the second-oldest such institution, founded by Marin IV in 1629. The three largest financial institutions cooperatively owned by their customers are located in Valloria. Cooperative ownership and the dominance of small and medium-sized business are essential components of the Vallorian economy, owing to its history as a group of disparate realms with their own financial traditions. Indeed, this preponderance of small firms is known as the Aneriel model, so-called due to its supposed origination among artisans in Breisgo. Of the world's 500 largest stock-market-listed companies measured by revenue in YEAR, 117 are headquartered in Valloria. Well-known international brands include Letheren, VOG Group, Prashkatha, Tifinlon, Marinrion Group, Bis Enterprises, KeVaRean, Bresche, Poelesh and Gundar Velisan. Breisgo and Lorgod are hubs for startup companies and have become the leading locations for venture capital funded firms in Gralen.

The Vallorian Federal budget had a size of 1.452 billion stravins in YEAR, which is an equivalent 15.35% of the country's GDP in that year; however, the budgets of the realms and municipalities are not counted as part of the federal budget and the total rate of government spending is closer to 31.8% of GDP. The main sources of income for the federal government are the land-worth tax (0*-39%) and the direct income tax (0-10%) and the main expenditures are healthcare (28%), pensions (17%), education (16%), defense (15%), alms (8%), and other (16%). GDP growth has been consistently strong with minor periods of recession, a collective average growth rate of 3.6% per annum.

Descendants of Razanur, father of Bralaegh the Warrior, the man who marched on the Oglothateans nearly five hundred years early, from various branches of the family had ruled the principal kingdoms in the area, and a bill of dubious accuracy connecting him by blood to Dobroz ve Zevlek was produced in 975.

Battle of fornost won due to rainy weather bogging down artillery+cavalry

southern states boycotted the election due to Belmorad claiming that he had the electoral votes of Keilbor and Varenoth, which would have enabled his victory

Vainori king gives overlapping land grants to prove national government has absolute control over land, foments civil war between vassals that consumes country, but his victory secures monarchical supremacy as the country exited the middle ages

Alinomra has the most pure Ovlatan descent (straight brown/black hair and olive skin; little body hair), Valloria is mixed due to Derebain migration.

Empire of the Nine basically saying the Oglothateans are a twisted parody of Dobroz’ empire, formed in defence of the Nine Holy Cities: Narvozny (capital of Oglothatea), Asgolat (site of Dobroz’ education), Lorgod (site of Dobroz’ death), Gadazur (birthplace of Dobroz), Diloin (proclamation of the end of the Thousand Generations), Byilgor (site where the God-King caused the flood) Metanadur (site where the Holy Books were first promulgated), Radavat (site of the Conversion of Kings), and Halamedor (proclamation as Emperor of the Civilised Lands).

After dissolution of Nine Cities: Baragath question? Imperial holding/what of Principality of Lorgod/what of portions of the Empire that were under immediate Imperial authority? Are weaker members now independent/vulnerable? Do they align themselves with larger neighbours?