Unification
From FiranMUX
Contents |
Overview
The Firan people, long divided into separate autonomous clans, achieved political unification in the aftermath of the Great War. Under the pressures of invasion, and a struggle for survival, the Clan Council voted to form a Republic, led by a single ruler whose powers were strictly limited by the Constitution.
The Clan Council unanimously agreed that the first ruler of the Republic would be Elianos Firgalik. They gave him the title of Ranivor and called his wife Queen.
From that day forth, a new calendar was born, and that is why all Firan events are dated by years either B.U. (before unity) or A.U. (after unity).
Historical Attempts at Unity
Firan political unification was difficult to achieve, and is the subject of volumes of history. But one of the most famous attempts of the Firan Clans to unify under one government was in the year 16 B.U. During that year, Clan Leader Firgalas of the Gold Dragon Clan was a powerful ascendant figure. His monotheistic religious movement was sweeping the clans and his armies were crushing those, like the Griffons, who would not bow to his rule.
In a now famous meeting held at the Sacred Isle of the Clan Council, Firgalas was sure he had the votes to unify the Firan Clans into an empire that he would rule on both a religious and secular level. He was sure he had the votes, in part, because his son Elianos was the leader of the new Chimera Clan and had just been granted an official vote on the Council.
As it turned out, however, Elianos was in love with a young Bear Clan princess named Sabine. Sabine's mother, Clan Leader Aldrik offered Elianos her hand in marriage if he would vote against unification.
He did so, enraging his father, delaying unification for more than a decade, and setting off a chain of events that would rock the Firan world.
The Caldera City Accords
In the aftermath of the Shamibelian invasion which launched the Great War, many Firans fled in an Exodus to the Caldera City. Whilst military leaders like Nala, Elianos, and others stayed behind to fight the Shamibelians, the survivors tried to preserve what remained of the Clan Council.
It was during this time period that the flooding of Anish took place, the FFI was hard at work in guerilla warfare with the Shamibelians, and the dire circumstances gave rise to the Warriors of Three.
The Clan Council had discovered a safe haven in the Caldera City, but soon realized that they were not alone. One night, when Elianos had returned with more survivors, a Lanesh coup attempt occurred in the Caldera City palace. Under the leadership of Lannos of the Cockatrice Clan, agents crept in through secret passageways in the walls, and took many leaders hostage.
Among those hostages was Clan Leader Firgalas of the Gold Dragon Clan. Before an assemblage of the people, he was assassinated on a balcony for his supposed crimes by his wife, Lady Mosa. She stabbed him to death, pronouncing herself Empress of the Firans and her brother Lanester Emperor.
Before they could prevail, however, heroes like Garen the Archer of the Bear Clan, Admiral Zarid of the Eagle Clan, and Throg the Smith put the coup down. Among those killed in the melee was Elianos' brother, Trannos Firgalik.
In the aftermath of such political turmoil, the Caldera City Accords were called, and the Clan Council once again revisited the idea of Unity.
Leaders Who Voted For Unification
At the Caldera City Accords, the following Clan Leaders and/or proxies voted for Unification:
- Bannos of the Cockatrice Clan
- Neysani of the Eagle Clan
- Belik of the Hydra Clan
- Sabine of the Bear Clan
- Elianos of the Chimera Clan
- Judano of the Gold Dragon Clan
- Tazi of the Griffon Clan
- Torvahl of the Ticanee (The Ticanee Clan was not an official Firan Clan, but were admitted into the Constitution as such.)
Results of Unification
Once Elianos was named Ranivor, he was forced to give up his Chimera Clan medallion, as now he would be seen as the ruler of all the people, not just the Chimerans. He gave his medallion to Akinita Rissik, the daughter of his best friend Riss and the wife of Garen. Elianos would go on to found the royal Elianik Family.
In the aftermath of unification, Firan military forces were combined with ease, and Elianos led a counter-attack against the Shamibelians that drove them back from Firan lands, and ultimately won the Great War. Following, a period of relative peace and prosperity was enjoyed, though the threat of Shamibelian invasion looms still.
Religious Stories About Unification
It is said, amongst religious scholars, that the seeds of the Great War were planted in the historical inability of the Firan Clans to unify as one people. One famous story holds that Firanos the God of Peace made a bet with his father Zutiv the Sun God that the Firans would lay aside their differences and unite.
If Firanos won the bet, Zutiv would take Firans back into his graces as one of his favored creatures. However, if Firanos lost the bet, Drik the God of Hate would be unleashed upon the Firans to do his worst, and Firanos would be unable to do anything to help them without also creating equal harm.
Thus, it is said that when Elianos rejected Unity in favor of marrying his lady love Sabine, that Drik began raising a dark army of Shamibelians to crush and enslave the Firan race. Firanos was unable to do anything to warn them without doing them harm. To solve this problem, Firanos let loose the Great Beast who wrought a path of destruction through the lands each year, in the hopes that the Firans would follow, and be forewarned of the army amassing against them.
It is said by many of the older citizens of the realms, that when the Firans did unite, the Gods showed them favor, and banded together to help them. Some say that there was an eclipse, while Unot the Moon God wrestled with Zutiv so that he could not prevent the pantheon from helping the Firans against the Shamibelians.
To this day, elderly Firans swear they saw Srenna the War Goddess on the battlefield, grappling with Drik. They swear that Kamnestra, Goddess of Crafts slew the enemy with her war hammer. They claim to have seen with their own eyes Soli the Earth Goddess open the ground and swallow their enemies whole. They tell tall tales of Uf, the Goddess of Winds and Dreams sending tornadoes to fell the Shamibelian griffons from the sky, and they swear on a holy stack of scrolls that Zin, Prince of the Seas swelled the rivers so the Shamibelians could not cross. These and other tales of Elik, Lord of the Seasons sending vines to clog and topple Shamibelian seige machines have made it into the popular mythology, but the generation of today, particularly the monotheists, think that this is all metaphor or senility.
Threats to Unification
Nationalism
Every Clan Leader is zealously protective of clan autonomy. After all, the Firans united under a Republic, not a Monarchy. As such, from time to time, Clan Leaders come into conflict with the Republic, and some conflicts can be tense. Elianos was usually able to navigate some conflicts due to the respect that the Clan Council and the people afforded him. Vahlgellan was unable to navigate those conflicts, and the Alliance War was the result.
Since then, the power has shifted back to the Clan Council who consider themselves on an equal footing with the Viceroys they appoint from time to time to fill the role of Ranivor. Some Viceroys have been more successful than others in navigating the political minefield of getting eight independent nation states to cooperate.
Withdrawal
After Elianos had left with the Heroes, but before Ranivor Vahlgellan and Queen Eliana were installed as Republic rulers, a dispute with Clan Leader Belik led to the Hydra Clan leaving the Republic.
As it turned out, this move proved to be more disastrous to the Hydra Clan than it was to the Republic as a whole, but it still produced dramatic losses at the war front, and threatened the peace and stability of the realms.
Civil War
From time to time, civil war breaks out amongst the Firan Clans, or even within the Firan clans. At times like these, the Republic can often be an unthreatened bystander and mediator, or it can be directly put at jeopardy. Firan Unity was most threatened during the Alliance War which pit four clans against one, with several staying neutral, and with the Republic sitting out entirely. It was under the leadership of Ranivor Vahlgellan that this came to pass, and his inaction cost him the throne. Somehow, due to a patchwork quilt of treaties and sheer force of will, unity has survived under a Viceroy.
Most recently, the Scirlut War was the result of Gold Dragon Nationalists called Blood Dragons making war on the Griffon Clan when it tried to reclaim its city. Though it was initially treated as an inter-clan dispute, the Republic eventually did get involved. Viceroy Taleo Teranzik brokered a deal that split the city of Scirlut in two halves, stationing Republic guards to keep the peace inbetween.
Lapse of the Constitution
Because the Firan Constitution was originally drawn up for a period of twenty years, it actually expired while Elianos was away on a mission in Vreland. As such, he ceased to be Ranivor at that time, though all the people thought of him as such. With no solution in sight and the Hydra clan having just walked out of the Republic, the Clan Council saw no other option but to draw up a new constitution and to choose a new Ranivor. Legend holds that during that tense meeting, the sun was eclipsed by the moon, and the young Bear proxy that would later be Clan Leader Fidelia tore the constitution off the wall to emphasize it was no longer in effect. Legend also holds that Clan Leader Zeysani never forgave her for it.
They chose Prince Vahlgellan Elianik, one of the twin sons of Sabine and Elianos. The Clan Council claimed that the eclipsed ended just as they proclaimed Vahlgellan Ranivor, but it was not necessarily an auspicious omen. A new Constitution was drawn up with a shorter five year period, but due to the Alliance War it didn't last even that long.
Though the Clan Council behaves as if they nominally had a constitution that they obey--and indeed, Clan Leader Fidelia once famously tacked it back up on the wall in the Unity Building--it has never been re-ratified, nor has a new one been drawn up.
Categories: History | Theme | Government | Religion | Clan Council
