Vaothan

Vaothan
Capital	Kaluran (official); Kaluran, Ketek, Zaman (de facto)
Ruler	Kaluran circle, Ketek circle, Zaman circle
Government	Multiple
Demonym	Vaothanite
Adjective	Vaothani
Languages	Timakal, Sangiran, Common
Religions	Atheism (offical); animism; post-Suzerain faiths

Vaothan (pronounced VOW-than) is a nation around the Gulf of Timakal, once a province of Sangiran but now independent. While the death of the Eternal Suzerain had drastic consequences for all former subjects of the empire, the people of Vaothan took it particularly badly. Abandoned by their god, a large proportion of Vaothanites renounced faith entirely and now form an officially atheistic society, albeit one that remains fractured by internal divisions.

Geography, flora, and fauna

While much of Vaothan is covered by dense tropical forests, especially in the eastern parts of the mainland, the interior also includes large expanses of grasslands, dry forests, and plateaus. Mangroves thrive along the coast. The climate of the nation is quite hot for most of the year. Monsoons seasonally make landfall in the coastal regions.

Vaothan encompasses a great many islands. On the smaller side, innumerable barrier islands can be found along the coastline with the Gulf of Timakal. Farther afield, the Khahre Archipelago sits solidly within the gulf. On the other end of the spectrum are the large islands of Senarena, Timutara, and Emperor's Island. While these three islands have largely tropical climates, they each have elevated regions that are considerably drier for much of the year, save for when the seasonal rains arrive,

History

Pre-Sangiran

As with much of the lands around the Gulf of Timakal, prior to the arrival of the Sangiran Empire Vaothan was a patchwork of various tribes, city-states, and small independent realms. In Vaothan in particular many of these took the form of mage-kingdoms, territories ruled by dynasties of human and nagaji wizard-kings.

Sangiran colonization

Upon finishing their consolidation of Kea Racha with the full annexation of Langkha in Y6190^*, the Eternal Suzerain looked to lands farther afield, and in particular those around the Timakal. By Y6400^* waves of Kea Rachan settlers began arriving in the region, especially to the lush and fertile lands around the mouths of the Crocodile and White Stone rivers, where they built new cities and societies in the styles of their homelands. The growth of Sangiran control around the gulf was slow, but was significant and consistent enough that the province of Vaothan was integrated into the empire as a constituent nation in Y7232^*, even if the colonization only reached its peak several centuries later.

During this period most new arrivals to Vaothan hailed from the core territories of Sangiran, in southern Kea Racha, as well as from parts of Kintaka and western Vua Ran. The settlers had a reputation as some of the most devoted followers of the Eternal Suzerain outside of Sangiran proper, and over the millennia they constructed many grant temples and monuments in honor of the dragon god. Multiple incarnations were known to especially appreciate the worship they received from the Vaothanites and spend much time amongst them, to the degree that the the imperial palaces within the city of Sanmorai were sometimes viewed as a second capital to the Empire.

Independence from the Empire

The sudden and final death of the Suzerain in Y9606^* shook the people of Vaothan. While their death affected the entire Empire, setting off cultural and political ripples that turned to waves, few were as strongly affected as those in the cities around the Timakal. Unlike the other constituent nations within the Empire like Langkha or Kintaka, the inhabitants of Vaothan did not have an enduring existing identity to fall back upon, as these peoples of disparate origins had instead based their society and unity around the Suzerain as an individual.

Ultimately it was only six years after the Suzerain's death that Vaothan separated from the Empire. In Y9612^* representatives from the remaining Sangiran military units in the region convened a council with various influential former priests and mercantile families from across Vaothan. Together they declared their independence, their will to remain part of the Empire shattered, as well as a drastic new policy - the banning of the worship of any gods. So broken was their faith after the death of the Suzerain that they came to believe no god was worth worshiping. They had been abandoned and left directionless once, and they decided they would not allow that to befall them again.

Vaothani civil war and the Mortal Guardians

Yet the transition away from the Empire was not easy for Vaothan. Their motivation for unification gone, the initial council soon fell to factionalism as various competing interests advocated for the newly independent nation to move in separate directions. A chaotic civil war ensued, as old Sangiran military units pledged their loyalties to competing cities and commanders. Eventually the factions consolidated into four - the newly established nobles of Ketek, formed from the now-faithless priestly elites, the wealthy merchant class of Kaluran, the republicans of Zaman, and the restored nagaji mage-kings of the southern mainland.

After several years of violence, the war had cooled by Y9615^*, but it was not until Y9619^* that it formally ended with the signing of a treaty between the Kaluran, Ketek, and Zaman factions. Each side pledged to cease hostilities and begin the process of reunifying Vaothan, with the goal of establishing a central government by Y9625^*. Additionally, all agreed to form a new organization, the Mortal Guardians, to root out remaining worshipers of the dead dragon god who they blamed for stoking tensions between them in order to allow Sangiran to regain control of Vaothan.

Ultimately this deadline passed with little fanfare, as all three sides refused to relinquish control of their territories. The Mortal Guardians, however, only grew in influence, supported by all factions. Their purview quickly expanded from the suppression of the Eternal Suzerain's faith to that of all religions, a role they began to take with increasing vigor. Nearly all of the Suzerain's temples and monuments across Vaothan were soon destroyed, at least those not already in ruins from the war, as were holy sites to post-Suzerain deities and even ancestral shrines.

Only the nagaji mage-kings truly lost the civil war. With the ability to pull their forces away from the coastal defenses, the Kaluran faction turned their attention south, driving the mage-kings and their courts into the sparsely populated South Vaothani Hills. They remain there to to the present day, each ruling tiny realms while they plan their return to glory.

Modern Vaothan

Relatively little has changed in Vaothani politics in the last three centuries. The three factions have ossified into the circles that continue to govern the territories they possessed at the end of the war, while the Mortal Guardians remain vigilant against the religious revivalist movements that periodically arise across the nation. There is a semblance of stability in Vaothan, yet lingering tensions remain just below the surface.

Demographics

Humans, half-elves, and nagaji account for most of the population of Vaothan. The Island Kings, a dwarven people with their own distinct culture, have long called Emperor's Island home, but have little presence in the rest of Vaothan.

Culture

Religion

Vaothan is an officially atheistic society under the laws of all three circles. Worship of any divine entity is forbidden, enforced through the inquisitions of the Mortal Guardians. The Guardians target organized faiths in particular, yet also seek to disrupt the ancestor worship and animism that has become pervasive across the nation since the death of the Eternal Suzerain. While faith enough is cause for imprisonment by the Mortal Guardians, at least until one recants, use of divine magic is an even more serious crime, viewed as undermining the laws of the Vaothani circles in favor of allegiance to a god.

Even with the repression, religion in Vaothan remains widespread, although almost always hidden out of public sight. Temples and ancestor shrines in the wilderness, in hidden rooms within cities, or in other obscured places allow the faithful to still congregate and give prayer and offerings. To a degree Vaothani atheism is class-based - the upper classes, and especially those who are influential within the circles, are ardent atheists, while it is somewhat less common amongst the lower classes.

Multiple post-Suzerain faiths have arisen in Vaothan, as they have elsewhere in the former territory of the Sangiran Empire, yet none have achieved a significant presence like some have in Kea Racha.

The nature of atheism takes multiple forms in Vaothan, and is in itself a point of contention within the circles. Some truly believe no gods exist at all while others state they simply are not worthy of worship. In general most Vaothani atheists trend towards the latter stance.

The prohibition on religion has had little impact on the nagaji of the South Vothani Hills and the Island King dwarves of Emperor's Island, who each continue to maintain their own traditional faiths.

Languages

Timakal, Sangiran, and Common are all spoken in Vaothan.

Architecture and urbanization

The largest cities in Vaothan are concentrated along the coasts. Most are built in typical Kea Rachan styles, brought to the region by those who arrived in the days of the Sangiran Empire.

Since independence parts of the interior of mainland Vaothan have become somewhat depopulated as people move to the wealthier, and generally safer, coasts, leaving their towns and villages to be returned to the tropical forests.

Food and cuisine

Vaothani cuisine is broadly similar to that of Langkha, Sangiran, or elsewhere in Kea Racha. Even after the collapse of the Empire the nation remains very reliant on agricultural imports from the Gardens of the Suzerain in Langkha.

Fashion

As a melting pot of Kea Racha, Vaothani clothing shows influence from across the island. Colorful garb with detailed beadwork is typical, drawing upon traditional Sangiran, Langkhan, and even Lelwani designs. Still, Vaothani fashion long ago became distinct in its own right. Rather than the sandals common to Kea Racha, in Vaothan shoes of woven grasses are preferred. Many people wear distinct headwraps, a remnant of the pre-Sangiran cultures of the region, each of which communicates family ties through their patterns and colors.

Tattoos, particularly yet not entirely on the arms and hands, denote status, personal achievements, and one's role in their community.

Government

See also: Circle (Vaothan)

Modern day Vaothan is ruled by the circles, as the descendants of the factions from the civil war are known. Between them, the Kaluran and Ketek circles rule the vast majority of the population of Vaothan, both oligarchic council formed of influential individuals and military commanders. The Zaman circle on Timutara is instead a republic, with their council elected from amongst the people of the island. Family ties remain crucial to all circles, and it is rare even in Zaman for a political outsider to rise to power.

Aside from the circles, functionally many aspects of pre-independence Vaothan remain intact. The courts, for example, continue to administer rulings largely derived from Sangiran law, and each individual city and town are still led by imperial-like bureaucracies, albeit ones appointed by the circles rather than by the dragon god's administrators.

The nagaji mage-kings, as well as the dwarves of Emperor's Island, remain functionally independent.