The Gillad Alliance

Excerpt

From "The Gilded Age", by Zhoram Kandess (646 GE)

The Gillad Alliance was born from the ashes of the Age of the Axe (or the Eon War), a period of frequent wars and shifting alliances. Widespread wars raged around the globe from 172 to 0 BGE (Before the Gillad Era). The bloodiest wars were between human nations, but racial violence flared frequently as well with elf, dwarf, and orc/goblinoid armies rampaging for decades at a time. Historians disagree about what started this era of violence. While many conflicts claimed to be about self-defense, territorial expansion, access to sea lanes or natural resources, etc., by the later stages of the Eon War it was obvious that retaliation and greed were primary motivations. While the origin is lost to time, most agree that Cyric, Myrcul, and Shar played an active role in keeping the conflicts roiling.
Beginning around 12 BGE, a charismatic half-elven philosopher began to gain international influence with his message of peace. Where many had cried out for peace, Gillad Plowright had a coherent plan of how it could be achieved. In 8 BGE he began to send his followers to infiltrate governmental organizations, increasing his influence and ensuring that nations seeking peace would have at least one friendly ear in the court of their adversaries.
While nations and peoples began to seriously consider peaceful alternatives for their disputes, little tangible progress was made until the final year of the previous epoch. On the spring equinox, Lord Ao allowed a group of deities to intervene on the material plane. The group, led by Helm, descended onto battlefields all over the globe, with legions of celestial warriors at their sides. They brought an immediate halt to the hostilities and convinced the leaders of each nation to come together in a negotiation that would create lasting peace.
Having initiated the negotiation, the deities returned to the outer planes at Lord Ao's command. Only Torm remained, with orders to slay any who disrupted or abandoned the talks. The result of this negotiation created a Union of Nations that vowed to keep their armies within their own borders or face retaliation from the rest of the Union. Grievances that were once settled by war were to be brought before an impartial council for arbitration. The obvious choice to lead this council was Gillad. The Eyarth Unification Pact was signed shortly after the winter solstice, marking the first day of the year in the new calendar.
While individual nations retain broad sovereignty, they are subject to the guiding principals laid down in the Pact and enforced by the Gillad Alliance. There are some nations that never joined, or have lost membership in, the Alliance, but the vast majority of the globe follows some version of these basic tenets:

• Wars of aggression will not be tolerated.
• If your neighbor is attacked, it is your sworn duty to take up arms in their defense. All member nations are responsible for deterring/punishing aggression and supporting the attacked, but logistically speaking the burden is understood to lie most heavily on neighbors.
• Grievances shall be presented to the Gillad Council for peaceful resolution. Barring any equitable solution, the parties to the conflict may request a license to settle disputes by war without being branded as "aggressors".
• Acts of provocation are considered aggression; inciting war is as bad as starting war.
• All civilized races shall be treated equally under the law.
• Members of the Gillad Council renounce any patriotic ties to their home nations, instead becoming global citizens owing fealty to none**.

While there was initially some difficulty enforcing some of these tenets, member nations quickly grew attached to the economic benefits of membership. The label of "aggressor" is now quite damaging, so tests of enforcement have become less common.
The term "civilized race" is carefully avoided in the actual bylaws, but is used in this summary because this is the way the rule is most widely interpreted. The notion of declaring some races to be more civilized than others is of course a great cause of tension. The Council has avoided ruling about civilization by simply accepting any sentient race that has language and is willing to abide by the terms of the Treaty. At present, this includes Humans, Elves (though notably not the Drow), Dwarves, Halflings, Gnomes, Lizardfolk, Kuo Toa, and _technically_ illithids. The treaty as written pertains primarily to nation-states, however. This leaves the status of many "stateless" or diaspora species somewhat ambiguous, and local protections vary. Common examples include half-orcs, dragonborn, centaurs, and tabaxi. While these are generally understood to be protected under the spirit of the law, they are still marginalized or actively persecuted in some regions. In other places, even orcs, ogres, and hobgoblins have been granted citizenship in human nations, citing this precedent; essentially, "if they are willing to abide by our laws they may become our citizens".
In the first few decades of the Council, there was some difficulty ensuring impartiality of the Council members. While they _officially_ owed no allegiance, this was no guarantee of impartiality. Current policy is to automatically recuse council members from issues pertaining to their home territory, and most members are taken from clergy who are currently perceived as being impartial because their loyalties lie outside national borders. Furthermore, avatars representing Tyr or Torm have occasionally "checked in", and have shown no mercy for council members who they perceived to be self-serving. The first such, Harrol of Nylium, gives rise to the term Horroling -- a now common form of public execution too vile for discussion in this venue.
This Council has their own small territory, only about 30 km^2, around the site of the negotiations. This is defended by soldiers from Alliance member states. It is said that the gods placed enchantments on the region to smite any aggressor. The truth of this is uncertain -- certainly there are protections against scrying, teleportation, and so on -- but there is no record of any with the courage (and poor taste) to test it. This site sits at the border between Dornia and Thuland, on the coast of the Spiral Sea. As such, their security is very much dependent on these two nations -- the resident international Gillad garrison could not oppose the full force of either. This leads to the general feeling that the Council would not cross these two, which gives them greater political and economic influence (hence the nickname of "Gilded States"). All nations are equal, but some are more equal than others. Because this arrangement has been very profitable for the Gilded nations, they in turn are unlikely to bite the hand that feeds them, and support the Council lavishly. This mutual self-interest has created a surprisingly stable system.

Type

Geopolitical, Magocracy