The Circle of Nine

For most of Aotra's history, the planet was divided amongst independent states and kingdoms; sometimes tens of isolated powers vying for resources, sometimes hundreds, sometimes thousands. Ever-changing, unstable, and war-torn, these nations rose and fell like the suns. In some eras, empires like the Ceth Tseket dominated large swathes of the planet, while in other eras, no single great power could claim global authority. War became a throughline threading together all eras.
When peace finally came, it was a masterwork of multitudes of people striving to end the cycles of short, tentative peace and drawn-out, meaningless war; it was also not insignificantly a matter of luck. Some alignment of fortune drove the major powers of Aotra—at the time, there were five: the ancient twin lake-faring states of Norsivar and Solisvar; the bastion of Dichotomism, the kingdom of Elasiril; the massive confederation of Lar Aslaki; and the then-new nation known as the Federation of Vay— into the hands of farsighted, steady-minded leaders willing to collaborate. It was far from a momentary, single-minded decision. Some of those heads of state took longer than others to join in the collaborative efforts toward peace, but collaboration did occur in time, and finally, after a nearly twenty-year-long process of deliberation, concession, failure, and adjudication, a global treaty was drafted and signed.
That treaty, called the Circle of Nine—a name which grew to be used interchangeably for the treaty itself and for the government and nations formed by it—marked a moment so influential as to be a turning point in Aotran history: nothing more or less than world peace. The Circle of Nine (abbreviated Co9) proved its staying power over the next few centuries. Of course, it was not a perfectly smooth process, but it stands as testament to the Co9's success that no war has been waged on Aotra in the seven hundred years since.

Nations of the Circle

Of the nine nations that make up the Co9, only some existed in their current states as political powers at the time of the formation of the treaty. Others were intentionally shaped into larger nations through the conglomeration of smaller political powers: a web of micro-alliances woven into a single state.

Pre-Existing Nations

Those that existed more or less true to their current form at the time of the treaty include Norsivar, Solisvar, the Federation of Vay, Elasiril, and Lar Aslaki.
Norsivar is an ancient state spread across broad swaths of the northern jungles of Aotra, a nation which has long claimed the northern half of the Great Reservoir, the largest body of water on Aotra. The Northern Capital, a palatial government building that houses the representatives from each nation that meet as members of the Co9 for international governance, is located in Norsivar. This state has existed in its contemporary form longer than any other Co9 nation; it was ancient even when the Co9 was formed, though for most of its history it has been a smaller state than it is now. Norsivar is also a center of Dichotomist faith, and its politics and culture have massively influenced that of the Circle of Nine at large.
A centuries-old treaty divides the Great Reservoir between Norsivar and its sibling nation, Solisvar, also quite an old state. Spanning terrains as diverse as mountain ranges, vast deserts, lush jungles, thick swamps, and rich grasslands, Solisvar's unique ecology and historical relevance have drawn at least as many vacationers as scholars to it. Solisvar is a martial state whose military, the Royal Defense Force, is to be called on when martial power is required to enforce the law of the Circle of Nine, though this has rarely been the case over the last seven centuries. Solisvar has recently been shaken by tribulations from within, as the autonomous region of Solisvar known as Olathe has taken advantage of the disorder caused by the the Severing to attempt to remove itself from Solisvaran control.
Norsivar shares a long stretch of its borders with the Federation of Vay, a much newer nation. United as a federation only a few decades before the birth of the Co9, the Federation of Vay quickly made a name for itself as a true political power. Investing like no other nation into education, research, and technology, the Federation curated a reputation as a hub for arcana and artifice. In the aftermath of the Severing, the Federation fell into a period of chaos that would last three years; the death of the ruling Magelord of Vay unearthed a terrible truth that she had no obvious successor, and several possible future Magelords produced valid claims to a right to head the nation's government. The political chaos was only resolved when the Vayan Grand Court instated the next Magelord, Novia Celsa, in late Nightwinter of 717. Madam Celsa's early reign as Magelord has been marred by scandal and political turmoil, leading many of her fellow Co9 Representatives to doubt her ability to keep her nation under control.
A relatively small equatorial nation, Elasiril has survived nearly a thousand years as a united nation within a cruel desert region through a combination of religious fervor and autocratic government. By many accounts the birthplace of the Dichotomist faith, Elasiril is a bastion of religious culture; many of the global meetings of Dichotomist pastors have occurred within the nation's bounds. Only months before the Severing, Elasiril fell into political turmoil for the first time in nearly a thousand years, when a group of nobles openly seized power from an ailing king on his deathbed. Though now the transition of power is more or less complete, rumors have began to swirl that the dead king is actually very much alive.
Some of the oldest civilizations on Aotra began in Lar Aslaki, a vast nation sprawling across the southern polar jungles. A historic alliance of several clans forms the basis for the nation's government. Home to a vast network of lakes nearly rivaling the Great Reservoir, Lar Aslaki is a particularly lush land, its natural wonders eclipsing even its ancient architectural wonders. The Southern Capital, an alternative center of government that houses meetings of the heads of state of the Co9, is located in Lar Aslaki. Many regional cultures within Lar Aslaki tend to value druidic magic over arcane magic, and Lar Aslaki has much less arcane-technological infrastructure than most other nations of the Circle. As a result, Lar Aslaki was affected rather mildly by the Severing, and the Severing-related loss of life in Lar Aslaki is estimated to be lower than almost every other nation.

Nations Created Under the Circle of Nine

Four nations were drawn up by the treaty, their borders defined and their governments prescribed: Oristhane, Sarland, Kassaan, and Ceryx.
Formerly known as Lischia, Oristhane is the heart of relatively new religious movement known as the Cult of Istha to outsiders and simply as the Faith to believers. The Faith stands as nearly the only challenge to the Dichotomist hegemony of the government of the Co9, and as a result, Oristhane's culture runs against the grain of most other Co9 nations. The rise of the Faith gave this new state, formed of a handful of scattered desert communities across a broad swathe of mostly-uninhabitable terrain, a strong national identity for the first time. It has unified the nation's people and given Oristhane's government a raison d'être. But theirs is an identity which, as it strengthens, has chafed within the Co9, and presently, Oristhane stands uneasily with most of the other nations.
The sparsely-populated Sarland is another nation carved out of the desert. In large part, only two groups of people live in Sarland: the Sarlani, humans whose ancestral homeland is the mesas at the heart of the country, and the Elasi, a nomadic group of dark elves. The relations between the group have always been strained, but the chaos of the Severing has only driven tensions higher and higher. In all but official declaration, Sarland is at the brink of a civil war. Its situation has only escalated since Sarland's prime minister, Cahaya Rahet, disappeared in late Dawning of 717; he is widely presumed to be dead.
Unique among the nations of the Circle is Kassaan, for Kassaan is the only sovereign state governed entirely by elves and orcs. Within this haven for non-humans, Kassaan's population formed quickly into a tight-knit community with a strong patriotic bent. Originally, a council of Dichotomist Ministers were installed to head the government, but over time, Kassaan has slipped into the control of an oligarchy made up of its new-money aristocracy. Closely located and allied with the Federation of Vay, Kassaan was known as a hub of innovation and learning before the Severing; now, it stands as one of the nations most devastated by it.
The nation of Ceryx was drawn up under the treaty from a segment of land heavily contested for thousands of years; martial conflict mars the lush and verdant landscape of central Ceryx, scars of former nations battling for control of hospitable land. This conglomeration of formerly-disunified states struggled to find a sense of national identity after the formation of the Co9. The Severing disrupted any unity developing within the nation; now, the land stands as a cluster of isolated communities as separate from those outside it as ever before. The head of the Ceryssian government, Minister Esrana Nahlar, went missing during the Severing and was only confirmed dead in mid-Dawning, 717. In her absence, the Ceryssian government floundered; now that she is known to be dead, there is little government remaining to host an election for a replacement, and for all intents and purposes, Ceryx has descended into anarchy.

Diplomatic Relations

Representatives of the Circle of Nine

One head of state from each of the nine nations meet as the international government of the Co9. Though each nation's structure is different from the others, and each has their own process and criteria for deciding who represents them as a part of that international government, every nation ultimately has some system for delegating a representative. Below are listed the current representatives of the Circle of Nine for each nation.

• Ceryx: Formerly Minister Esrana Nahlar, the now-deceased head of the Ceryssian government. No replacement representative has been selected.
• Elasiril: Lord-Minister Valar Indalin of Beveret, the head of the Elasirilian Aristocratic Council.
• Federation of Vay: Madam Novia Celsa ce'Vay, the Magelord of Vay.
• Kassaan: Lady Alaria Celander, a Kassaani oligarch.
• Lar Aslaki: Representative Kisin As-Kianto, elected representative of the Aslakan Senate.
• Norsivar: Minister Senya Do'hirin, the vice president of Norsivar.
• Oristhane: High Priestess Marini of Khara, the religious and political leader of Oristhane.
• Sarland: Formerly Prime Minister Cahaya Rahet, the official head of Sarland's government. His status is currently unknown; he is missing and presumed dead. No replacement representative has been selected.
• Solisvar: Queen-Mother Ohtli Ahuilan, the mother of the reigning king of Solisvar.

For Those Beyond Our Time

Founding Date

1 YC

Type

Alliance, Generic

Alternative Names

The Circle, the Co9

Power Structure

Transnational government

Official State Religion

Dichotomism