Volenaran League
The Volenarans are former colonists of Volenar from the Kalmasan Samraj who, with the help of the native ejdehan tribes, achieved independence from the Samraj and established their own government. The Volenarans are mostly tlanelolli, people of mixed Eshtem and Calmaxtec heritage. There are also growing ejdehan communities who have turned away from traditional life as well as varhani Volenarans who have been attracted by the excellent pay Volenaran merchant captains pay to their sailors.
The Volenaran League is composed of five independent cantons. Each canton sends elected delegates to represent them in the Volenaran Council, which negotiates with outsiders, declares war and collects tariffs and duties from foreign traders. The League itself does not have a standing army, but instead relies on standing militias maintained by each canton. This arrangement as well as matters of trade, tariffs and taxation are laid out in the Volenaran Charter.
The five cantons have different internal governmental structures. Each is almost completely autonomous, yielding autonomy only in the very exclusive provisions laid out in the Charter. Though Volenar is now recognized as a free country by the Samraj after the Treaty of Ekara, many Volenaran leaders believe the Samraj only agreed to the treaty to give itself time to regroup and to end the relentless attacks by skilled Volenaran privateers on their merchant vessels.
Aside from the Samraj, the League currently enjoys a good relationship with Brynheim, Jonagval, Neztlalpan and some of the Thalkunir kingdoms.
The five Cantons of Volenaran League and their governmental type are:
- Nixtal - meritocratic kingdom
- Anahuetlan - elder council
- Pranesh - democratic republic
- Anjara - democratic republic
- Mahran - democratic commune
History
Kalmasans first came to Volenar as explorers and colonists early in the period of Kalmasa’s campaigns for expansion. They fought the coastal ejdehan clans for years, eventually winning swathes of land in the southern and eastern coastal plains. Soldiers retired from service were allotted land and many became farmers or sold their stake to invest as traders or builders.
Over the years, trade relationships developed between these settlers and the Ejdehan Nations. Volenaran humans grew into a fiercely independent people who began to resent the authoritarian control of the Kalmasan Samraj, which governed Volenar with ineffectual governors whose sole interest seemed to be lining their pockets until their stint in the colonies was up and they could return to ‘civilization’.
Local leaders from different communities began to meet in secret to discuss the possibility of independence from the empire. Soon after independence was declared and the War of Sovereignty was declared, they enlisted the aid of the Ejdehan Nations by signing a peace treaty with the Internation council where they agreed to recognize ejdehan ancestral territory. With the aid of the fierce ejdehan, the Volenarans succeeded in pushing out the empire through a series of decisive battles. Through negotiations, the Volenarans made it clear to the Samraj that it had more to gain through a trade relationship than through expensive war.
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