Violet Coast empire

The Violet Coast empire, officially the Court-land of the Violet Coast, was a nation in the Violet Coast which existed from about 2000 HE to the Last Division of the Nation in 4435 HE, which saw the empire get split into the Violet Coast Triumvirate and the High Kingdom of the Violet Coast. In 5831 HE, decades of nationalistic ideas and movements led to the Unification Campaign and the formation of the Neo Violet Coast empire, which sought to emulate the old empire.
The Violet Coast empire was consolidated around 2000 to 2250 HE from Violet Coast People tribes which had been present in the area since at least 1500 HE. The people of the empire were primarily agriculture-based, and often cultivated crops high in the mountains, as well as built cities at high altitudes, carved into rock.
The empire was sometimes divided into three along Faction lines, and was periodically united again. When united, it was de jure centralized on the mountain-city of Bluefeather Peak, where the Three Factions held the Court in the Mountain, but the provinces of the nation were led, to a certain degree, by their own provincial courts. When divided, each Faction controlled and governed a part of the empire, while still communicating and leading the nation as a whole together, but loosely. In any case, the empire was led by the Three Factions: the Faction of the Bat, the Faction of the Moa, and the Faction of the Albatross. Each faction held dominance over another faction and was itself subservient to the other: the Moa Faction bested the Bat Faction, which bested the Albatross Faction, which bested the Moa Faction.
The Violet Coast empire held a large amount of prestige during the Classical Era, and was considered by later scholars as one of the three Great Nations of the Classical Era, along with the Great Harmony and the Tyrant Kingdom.

The divided Violet Coast empire at its territorial extent, just before the Last Division of the Nation

by DetectiveAmandaCC

Geography

The Violet Coast empire encompassed the region of the Violet Coast, and was thus comprised of two major climates: mountains and forested areas. Its land was interspersed with large fjords. Settlements existed both high up in the mountains, such as the capital of Bluefeather Peak, and along the base of mountains or near the coast. Agriculture was done in both climates, even in high-altitude areas, with the help of gigantic terrace gardens and farms.

History

Consolidation of the nation and Early History

Not much is known or recorded about the consolidation of the Violet Coast empire. Violet Coast tribes probably formed the predecessor of the empire around 1900 HE to 2000 HE and the Court in the Mountain around 2200 HE.
The territory of the Violet Coast empire was acquired progressively during the early third and fourth millenniums HE. Laws surrounding the Court in the Mountain, provinces and the Three Factions were also created or consolidated around this time.

First Divisions

According to the Violet Coast oral traditions, the practice of dividing the nation into factionlands--three territories which were controlled by each Faction--started in 2801 HE, after the Crisis of the Three Factions. The empire was unified again in 2890 HE, and was divided again in 3109 HE for only nearly twenty years.
The practice of dividing of the nation was legally codified in the 37th century HE, and the territory of the Violet Coast empire had been divided and reunited a total of 12 times before it ceased to exist.

Kindmountian Occupation and Northern Campaign

Starting around 4230 HE, Kindmountian expansion encroached on north-eastern Violet Coast territory. Divided and weak at the time the Violet Coast could not effectively respond.
Later, however, when he took power, the Titan Irontalon the Retaker, leader of the Moa Faction and thus leader of the affected Moa factionland in the north, did not stand idly by. In 4274 HE, he undertook the Northern Campaign, a series of battles and skirmishes on the occupied territories, which bore fruit immediately: Violetian warriors periodically took control of Kindmountian camps before retreating, drawing constant attention and resources from Kindmount.
In 4286 HE, shortly before the end of the Kindmountian-Harmonic War, Kindmountian forces retreated from all their occupied territories, resulting in the total success of the Northern Campaign.

Ideological conflicts and Last Division of the Nation

Even during the early 45th century HE, Tyrantian influence began to permeate the Vast South. Additionally, harmonic golden age philosophy had spread across the nation for over a century. Both influences pushed society towards forms of Linear hierarchy. Still divided, the Court-land was weak, embroiled in political disputes between the Factions.
The southern administration, the Bat factionland, was particularly disliked by its inhabitants as it was known to conduct internal espionage and enacted harsh censorship laws. Seen as the total opposite to the triumvirate, linear and strict hierarchical modes of governance like those found within the Tyrant Tribes were widely advocated for, especially in the south, and mainly by the youth. These young Kea came to be known as Fisher's Children, after the charismatic priest-general Earthgift Fisher, who was one of the most important figures advocating the Tyrantian model.
This culminated in brief Southern Riots, which saw Fisher's Children occupy key cities in the south, including the southern capital of Tallbird's Town. The Perceptive One, head of the Bat factionland, was caught fleeing the capital and was executed on the spot. The riots prompted the gathering the Court in the Mountain, a meeting of the heads of the three factionlands, to discuss the situation. The summit lasted two months, during which the national government sought ways of ending the conflict whilst keeping the empire intact as well as the triumvirate.
Ultimately, they realized they were too weak, politically and militarily, to enter into a conflict with the ever-growing, well organized and well led southern army. Earthgift Fisher was summoned to Bluefeather Peak to negotiate with the Court, and after only ten days of talks, the Last Division of the Nation was enacted in 4435 HE, according to which the High Kingdom of the Violet Coast in the south would break away from the nation. While the government still existed in the north, the Last Division of the Nation is considered the end of the Violet Coast empire.

Politics

The Violet Coast alternated between periods of being politically united, in which the Three Factions reigned as one political body over the nation, and times during which tensions between the Factions led to the nation being split into three Faction-led regions.

The Three Factions

Every noble and aristocrat belonged to one of the Three Factions: the Moa Faction, the Bat Faction, or the Albatross Faction. Each Faction was "subservient" to one of the other Factions and "dominant" to the other, creating a non-linear cyclical hierarchy within the Court in the Mountain. The Factions were led by their respective Faction leaders, each with its own title: the Titan led the Moa Faction, the Perceptive One led the Bat Faction, and the Purest Bird led the Albatross Faction.
Each Faction leader also had their own specific duty outside of the Court in the Mountain: the Titan appointed the Priest-Generals that led Violet Coast armies; the Perceptive One appointed the Ears, internal spies which answered to the Faction leaders alone and reported on province loyalty and the happenings around the country; and the Pure Bird judged the national trials that were somewhat rarely held.

United

Court in the Mountain and the Three Factions

Organigram of the functioning of the Court in the Mountain

by DetectiveAmandaCC

The Court in the Mountain was comprised of nobles from the Three Factions, and was lead by the Factions as a sort of triarchy. There was no set number of court members per faction, but generally each Faction had around 16 to 20 members which formed their Faction delegation. The Faction dominance system acted in practice as veto power. Indeed, the Court in the Mountain held legislative power, and proposed laws, but these laws could be vetoed by the Faction leader that was dominant over the Faction of the proposing member: the Moa Faction could veto the Bat Faction, who could veto the Albatross Faction, who could in turn veto the Moa Faction.
Faction leaders were elected from within the Faction nobles, and usually formed a dynasty, as familial prestige was very important within the court.
Laws would typically be proposed by a Faction member and be shot down, only to be re-proposed by a member of the same Faction with amendments which aimed to make the law more amenable to the Faction leader with veto power. It was considered prestigious, and rather rare, when a law went through on the first try. A court-member who could pass or law or treaty through on the first try held the title of Crossweaver (as they "weaved" across faction lines), and held great prestige in the court.
War declarations or laws relating to trade were drafted similarly, but only between the Faction leaders: lower courtbirds could not propose such laws. Treaties with other nations (rare as they might have been, due to the self-isolating nature of the empire) on the other hand, could be proposed by any courtbird.

Provinces and Provincial Courts

The empire was divided into large territories known as provinces. While the Court in the Mountain acted as the court of the capital province, each province had their own provincial court. Each functioned very similarly to the Court in the Mountain, but the Factions were instead the most powerful local noble families, and were headed by the matriarch or patriarch of the ruling family in question. Provincial courts wrote and enforced local laws and edicts, and were largely autonomous from the Court in the Mountain.

Divided

When the empire was divided into three Faction-led territories, called factionlands, the Court in the Mountain's power heavily diminished, and met less often. It acted more as a discussing forum and a place for coordinating military actions or economic plans on a national scale.
The factionlands were headed by their own courts of their Faction. These courts still instituted a non-linear cyclical hierarchy, and placed the most powerful noble families of their respective Faction as the three new "Factions", thus acting more like a provincial court.
Provincial Courts within factionlands usually held less power, as power was concentrated in Faction courts. Sometimes, Faction courts replaced the heads of provincial courts under their control with families of their choosing, in order to squash dissent and be assured of province loyalty.

Type

Political, Triumvirate