Elenrian Groups Of Interest

[StaolDerg]

Free Royal Army of the Elenria (FRAE)
Royal Republic of the Elenria Crown (Defunct)
Head of State: Akel I, (Deceased) Akel II (De Facto Defunct)
Leader: "High Command" (Generalissimo Haprin Kalpes)
Number: estimated ~220,000 to ~3,250,000
-Semi-Active-

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The spiritual successor to the late army of 1784 founded by Akel I, the Free Royal Army represents the underground royal forces of the Elenria, those unbound by the oath of allegiance sworn to Empress Reitō, whether by luck and chance or by deliberate political maneuver and prior allegiances. Members make use of ciphers and code names to blur identities and communication, so little is known about their goals other than speculation with given information. By hiding within Elenrian society and abiding by standard Kumonian demands on the surface level, they blend into the population, further clouding their identity. Nevertheless, many clues include the suspected membership of pre-Kumo military personnel who rejected the notion of Kumo rule, as well as everyone from ultranationalists and common thugs to local fighters who just want control of their communities back.

Due to the careful nature of their activity, it is difficult to exactly pinpoint their numbers and activities, but the FRAE are suspected to be linked to both sabotage and espionage of military installations, in addition to multiple counts of violence and assassinations against Kumonian collaborators. The only confirmation of their existence is the presence of propaganda posters encouraging citizens to strike for fair trading deals and tax rates, as well as spreading news and information about Kumo sentient livestock farms.

In the shadows, the FRAE are responsible for skirmishes with the Territorials over everything from villages and mines to the ancient ruins of old days long gone. Though poorly armed, they are well-led in comparison to reserve Territorials that they face in backwater outposts they pillage for arms and bullets. Smuggling is another venture that they partake in: often in the hands of crime families, great amounts of stolen goods taken from Kumo tax trains are looted and diverted to pay for the organization's operations. While this makes them as much a villain in many eyes, others would consider the vicious grasp of the Kumo upon Elenrian economy and nation more a threat than a comparatively minuscule group of vigilantes.

[StaolDerg]

Elenrian National Civil Organization for Reform (ENCOR)
Kumonian Elenria
Head of State: Akel II, Empress Reitō
Leader(s): Capien Ven, Tas Kalpiet-Verran, Merithan Abrin
Number: 7,420,000 registered members
-Active-

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Popularly known as simply "Encore," ENCOR is a civil organization within the Elenria that openly campaigns for fair taxation and Elenrian representation in the superior government beyond the control of the Governor. The end goal is an eventual independent state where Elenria emerges as a unified state with the ideals of nationalism, welfare, and service. Depending on the local debate groups, this can range from a fully republican state in alliance with fellow Touli nations to a restoration of the Queen's Grand Republic and a strong relationship with Kumosenkan.

Tactics include sit-ins, small-scale strikes, and other forms of public demonstrations, not limited to distribution of media and literature. Membership itself is made mainly of students and intellectuals, miraculously with a mix of both Greatfern and Crown ethnic groups operating together as a single body. While numerous, its effectiveness is very much debatable, with most members taking part anonymously in order to evade arrest by the Takpoe authorities. Thus, they are often easily depicted as troublemakers and/or foreign agents by the Takpoe government. As a result, their numbers are limited to those within their own intellectual circles and sometimes certain family and friends, limiting their support base. In addition, heavy punishments are often levied upon Encore members if caught- thus volunteers for demonstrations, or at least those who willing stay to be arrested often simply disappear from society.

Despite the best efforts of its leadership, it isn't uncommon for violence to break out anyway. Encore members tend to arm themselves with improvised projectiles, such as bricks and stones, but more planned resistance has occurred as well, usually as a contingency plan in the case of a violent suppression by TAKPOE forces, usually by equipping homemade firecrackers and throwing them at the Territorials lined up against them. This is not the limit however, as more violent confrontations have occurred where Encore demonstrators have seized government firearms and attempted to fight back with them with varying degress of success, only to be fiercely crushed by whatever reserve units are in the vicinity.

Beatdowns and brawls in public places are common, with Encore supporters often wearing masks and face wraps to conceal their identity while they struggle with police and often Greatfern supporters. It is not unusual for petty gangs to be involved with the Encore, either supporting or opposing in varying ways. Nevertheless, though Encore may not be effective in direct application, its very much popular ideals may prove vital for other movements, should the time arise.

[StaolDerg]

Organization Greatfern

Elenria Sespara (Defunct)

Head of State: Elector Pai Isnevira

Leader: Marshal Iusiov Kelian

Number: estimated ~120,000 to ~1,300,000

-Active-

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Beaten but not defeated, the Greatferns are the inheritors to the Elenria Serene of the Third Gloryheight, the war that cost Elenria its strength and left it defenseless against the Kumo in only a succeeding decade. A faction of those who once served the Elenrian nobility that Akel the First cost her life to uproot, their existence as a political faction was a brief but blazing inferno that torched Elenria in seven years, aiming to replace an Akel II with a more sympathetic monarch. Led in the birthing years of their existence by the more belligerent and hawkish military and noble elements who sought to change Elenria from the then isolationist power to a more expansionist ideology. Though they failed in the face of royal muskets and swords, their far more aggressive approach to politics kindled the fire for expansionist and vengeful remnants of the Elenria after Kumosenkan's annexation. Where isolationism once held, the Greatferns call for a grand expansion to take lands of Franerre and return what they consider rightful Elenrian territory of the Yasuhiro Mountains and all territory north of the Aviat River bordering Franerre.

Even though their attempts to take the throne from the Alpla Inselni failed, the legacy of their campaigns lives on- the officers and successors, even the opposing commanders of the original revolt carry on their ideas, aspirations, and plots to Elenria's political landscape. From the bitterness of defeat to the humiliation of being second-class, the Greatferns very much can find sympathies in the long and stormy memories of their fellow Elenrians.

[StaolDerg]

Nests of Elenria

The walled cities of Elenria, and more importantly, their massive citadels, are more than a home and symbol of prosperity for their inhabitants. The citadel communities, or Nests, as more commonly referred to by their inhabitants, represent Elenrian civilization’s many communities that historically struggled with one another for control of the region prior to the existence of the Queendom. Within these cities, the Elenrian community blossomed into three distinct classes- the Expeditions, who dealt in trade and matters outside of the city including defense, the craftsmen, who worked and maintain the industries of the city itself, and the scholars, who studied and planned how to improve the city and its people, as well as managed the city’s bureaucracy. These were supplemented by the farmers, who fed the city from their farms outside the walls, the laborers, who worked in the mines to provide the bricks and physical building blocks of the city, and the Sanitarians, who kept the city clean and emptied everything from garbage to cesspits. These various classes were united and led by community representatives from the first three classes, who worked in councils to decide the course of the city-states as an oligarchy.

Citadel organizations, more accurately the organizations of specialists that are housed in the great buildings themselves form the influential leaders within the Nest, ruling as a local nobility over both the city proper and the area feeding it. Members are ascetic, considering their positions vital to the Nest and its peoples’ well-being- leadership must be by example and excess must be purged. Anything or anyone that could hurt or influence their ability to lead, or their appearance to lead is severely punished and or suppressed. Within their responsibilities are that of directing the maintenance and improvement of the Nest, which includes the industrial production of the region. As time went on, the citadel complexes themselves became synonymous with their occupying residents, thus granting the title of Citadel. Though the Elenrian Queendom would unify these Citadels under the Queendom and later the Sanshan Empire, their political influence remained stalwart and was never replaced, only generally directed by the governors that Kesternrim dispatched to command them and then later by the Takpoe-appointed Mayors.

These ancient Nests, fueled by the tireless labor of multiple generations of many communities, constructed the great pagoda-complexes that are called citadels for the population to perform their most valued activities, whether it be worshiping gods on the highest story, or trading upon the lower stories. As the threat of war and conflict erupted between disagreements and ambitions of other cities, so too did their accompanying urban countermeasures grow in the storm of strife- great brick and stone walls were erected first as palisades around the walls, only for the timber to be used as supports as stone faces replaced wooden surfaces, themselves used as the foundation for brick architecture as years passed. The growing consequences of urbanization with the spread of disease led to developments of sewage networks that delivered waste out of the city, perhaps through a complex mechanical system that siphoned water from local water sources powered by oxen, or simply by forcing all citizens to only use public restrooms that could more easily divert waste away from the city rather than dumping it in the streets.

In these modern years, the Citadels and the communities still hold significant political importance, for their loyalty and politics directly influence and reflect Takpoe's ability to control domestic policy. Should a Citadel's domestic politics become violent, the consequences will be nationwide, and if not addressed properly and quickly, may very well attract the unwanted attention of the Kumo Imperial Governor.

[StaolDerg]

Alpla Dynasty
~? (TBD)PI - Current Day
Leader: Akel II
Members: 1
- Active -

Of the ten dynasties that have held the title of King or Queen of Elenria, The Alpla Dynasty is the oldest and most long-reigning of the lot, persisting from the first Queen, Alpla Sera Fei to the current ruling Queen of Elenria, Akel II. Interrupted multiple times from its position of rule during its ten-thousand-year-old lineage, it is said that no people perhaps upon all of Elenria or maybe even Touli are as patient as the Alpla, who always seem to return to the throne.

The Alpla are not a strictly blood-related dynasty. Because of the long reproductive cycles of inselni, court politics, the Convent of Paths, and just plain lousy luck, an heir’s survival was not guaranteed. For this reason, even before humans were brought to Touli, adoption was commonplace amongst the royal families, and the Alpla Dynasty was no different. The Imperial Libraries count around seven different branches of non-blood-related members amongst the Dynasty, but since the Sanshan Empire, the only legitimate way to be a member of the Dynasty is by being accepted as the official heir of the ruling King/Queen.

Historically, the Alpla Dynasty never consisted of more than three living individuals at one time: this was partially due to the base inability to have more than a very limited amount of children by inselni in the first place, but more a deliberate decision to exclude other blood-related families from trying to claim the throne upon a ruler’s death. (This was not a foolproof method, but worked well enough that it stayed in practice.) These members usually consisted of the King and Queen, as well as up to two children or heirs, one of whom would probably be excluded from the Dynasty early in life to be sent on an expedition instead. In fact, one of the more famous (or infamous, depending on one’s views) traditions of the Alpla Dynasty was to send its heirs, biological or adopted, on Expedition as early as possible, and more often than not this meant that if two heirs existed, one would be sent off in the hopes of either coming back as a well-seasoned Wanderer, while the other would reside in the court and study instead. If they perished during the Expedition— so be it, for the other heir still survived to rule someday, and the lessons of the first’s demise could be used to teach the second when they inevitably were sent on an Expedition themselves.

Still, the more often encountered situation was of a single heir, and while that did eliminate any future threats of a power struggle between siblings, it also made the protection of an heir a chief priority. Many stories, both fictional and biographical alike, give descriptions of heirs who spent most of their early childhood escorted by a retinue of guards wherever they went but were usually confined to the palace, where they spent much time interacting with the court and studying. After a certain period, roughly seventy years or so when tutors deemed the heirs sufficiently learned, they were sent on an Expedition based on the choice of the heir, usually in the form of military service, where their privileges and titles were stripped and they participated as an Expedition leader’s follower or apprentice until being deemed accomplished to be promoted to Expedition leader themselves.

(This phenomenon was unique amongst the Alpla, as the chances of an accident maiming or outright killing an heir was astronomically high over the 50-100-odd years it an Expedition could take, and many of the Library’s historians attribute pauses in the Alpla Dynasty’s rule to deaths of biological heirs while on Expedition, which tended to result in a scramble to adopt someone who was preferably a little more competent at being alive rather than qualified.)

Still, those who survived their Expeditions (and in time many rulers did implement precautions in an heir’s Expedition so as to prevent them from getting themselves needlessly endangered, such as embedding senior advisors and attaching elite guards to the force.) often returned well-versed in diplomacy and strategy, with firsthand experience leading anything from a mercenary army to a craftsmen’s guild. While such skills probably could’ve been obtained in a less self-endangering manner, firsthand experience and understanding every rank in society down to the footman and peasant was a skill that the Alpla was adamant about, and can attribute to their successes in the formation and leadership of the Sanshan Empire.

In the modern day, there exists a single member of the Alpla Dynasty: Queen Akel II, or in traditional Elenrian convention: Queen Alpla Akel Ai Lin the Second. In older times her mother would have served as her mentor, but since her death, a regency has existed to rule in her stead, for her age is considered adolescent for leadership. Traditionally Akel II would still be completing her Expedition to gain experience as a leader, but by order of the Regency, she cannot leave Kesternrim Citadel, and as a result, can do little officially for her inherited position. There are routes for her to take rule, but with Kumo rule in place, the whole ancient Dynasty and its legacy seem to be in doubt.