The Federation
For seven hundred years, the nation known as the Federation of Vay was one of the most influential nations in the Circle of Nine. Ambitious policy initiated by the very first Magelord secured the Federation’s place as a hub of scholarship, arcane and otherwise, early on in the nation’s lifetime. As such, the Federation was able to built a place for itself at the heart of the Circle of Nine: it quickly became the lead producer of the arcane technologies—aerorail, arcanitecture, and mythallars, to name a few—that other Co9 nations wanted but mostly lacked the facilities and know-how to produce for themselves.
As a center of production for much of the arcane technology that kept pre-the Severing Aotra running smoothly, the Federation occupied a unique place of importance within the Circle of Nine. Centuries of airtight and iron-fisted policy from the Federation's succession of Magelords ensured that the Federation's place within Aotra's global economy only grew with time. But the dependence of other nations upon the Federation was far from uncontested and uncontroversial. In the seven centuries since the founding of the Circle of Nine, others attempted to join or challenge the Federation in its dominance over arcane industry, with varying degrees of success; in recent years, the nation of Kassaan, is the only genuine threat to the Federation's monopoly over the production and distribution of arcane technology.
Many outside the Federation believed that because of the Federation's importance to the global economy, the Circle of Nine has been lenient in its judicial treatment of the nation. For many years, rumors circulated that just beneath the nation's surface was a web of exploitation and violation, pervading its culture of discovery and polluting its veneer of achievement. But the nation's progress was allowed to proceed more or less unchecked for centuries, until national turmoil forced the curtain back.
In the aftermath of the Severing in 714, chaos overtook the Federation's carefully-maintained stability and control. When the consuls confirmed the death of the previous Magelord, Madam Astoria Nethrani ce'Vay, only a day after the Severing, and it was realized there was no one able to resurrect her, a terrible truth became apparent: the young and healthy Magelord had no plans in place for a successor. Five plausible claims to power arose, and the government fractured, flailing amidst the chaos of disaster and response. A cold war of intrigue between claimants to the title troubled the Federation for years, with branches of government taking sides and vast webs of loyalties forming. By early 717, only three of the original five individuals still sought claim to the title; of the others, one, a former consul, was assassinated, while the other, Consul Anastasia Djernina, quietly withdrew from the conflict in 715.
Three years of deliberation by the Grand Court finally reached a resolution in mid-717, when on the 25th of Nightwinter, the Grand Court announced it would move forward with confirming Novia Celsa ce'Vay as its next Magelord. Many Federal citizens hoped that the installation of the new Magelord would put the nation on a path to recovery. The trajectory of her administration is clear, and it has already improved lives across the Federation, but it is nowhere near a return to the pre-Severing Federation: Madam Celsa has thus far used her administration to enact radical reforms intended to entirely restructure the nation’s government. While the population of the Federation, exhausted by three years of leaderless turmoil and desperate for a unified response to the post-Severing humanitarian crisis, largely supports the new regime, it is undeniable that her revolutionary goals and methods will ruffle feathers in the Circle of Nine.
The Celsa administration took control of the Federation at a particularly volatile time, and Madam Celsa has also had to lead government responses to major tumultuous events beyond her control, including namely the arrival of the God Machine and subsequent annihilation of Vay Proper in early Dawning of 717. The chaotic and rapidly-changing nature of the nation at the moment has led many people in the Federation to refer to current events as "the Troubles of 717," or simply "the Troubles," reflecting the ongoing existence of Troubles in 718.
The State of the Nation
When the Celsa administration took power, the Federation was utterly ravaged by the Severing, and the lack of a head of government over the past three years resulted in complete failure of the government to enact any unified response to the humanitarian crisis. The impact of the Severing upon the Federation was particularly severe due to the sheer prevalence of arcane technology in its urban centers. Its four metropolises—Auria, Caelus, Cethandir, and Vay Proper—became utterly uninhabitable post-Severing due to their physical destruction and contamination with unstable wild magic. The Federation is estimated to have lost nearly 70% of its population due to the Severing, one the highest Severing-related deaths of of any Co9 nation. In addition to the ongoing crisis of the Severing, several major events have rocked the Federation in the short period since Madam Celsa took office. These recent and current events are detailed below.Arrival of the God Machine
In early Nightwinter 717, a bright point of light, noticeable but far smaller than even the smallest moons, became observable in the starless night sky. The point of light grew in size until 3 Dawning 717, when an impossibly large, incomprehensibly complicated machine fell from the sky and landed atop the downtown area of Vay Proper, which was rendered uninhabitable by the Severing three years ago and was still utterly abandoned. As such, it is believed that no civilian deaths were caused by the machine’s annihilation of Vay Proper. However, the soul-repositories of the undead Judges of the Grand Court had been stuck in Vay Proper until the city was safe enough to retrieve them, and the repositories were destroyed in the impact; the nine Judges are therefore the only known casualties. The machine that descended upon Vay Proper takes the general shape of a flattened torus with an outer diameter of approximately five miles and an inner diameter of one mile. It uses no detectable magic and is far beyond the capabilities of any existing Aotran machinery. Its provenance is entirely unknown. From its inner space, a great pillar of light rises into the sky and spreads out into an intricate lattice overhead, large enough to be visible throughout the Federation. A swarm of smaller machines surround it, most of which appear to perform tasks and serve purposes, though their purposes are unknown. Some automatons released by the machine upon its arrival have demonstrated ability to communicate with people through various means, including by producing written messages and by "speaking" in mortal languages. Those that do communicate have referred to the massive central machine as "the God Machine," but attempts to elucidate its purpose or function have thus far been unfruitful. One thing that is clear is that the God Machine, though it makes use of no detectable magic of its own, is affecting the Myth in an inscrutable but profound way. In the time since its arrival, the effects of the Severing have been partially reversed: long-absent wild magic has reappeared, some casters who have been unable to cast since the Severing have regained their abilities, and some suppressed magical effects have risen from dormancy. The zones devastated by the Severing remain magically hostile; some of the worst-affected spots may even be more magically active than before, meaning that they remain profoundly dangerous. Incursions from the Otherworld remain frequent. Nevertheless, many feel that the apparent revitalization of the Myth is a good omen, despite the consequences that come along with it. This effect spreads throughout the Federation, but early reports indicate it may go beyond the Federation's borders.Federal Human Rights Abuses Revealed
On the 31st of Dawning, 717, Madam Celsa released vast amounts of documentation detailing egregious human rights abuses perpetrated by the Federal government against its own citizens. Many of these abuses had to do with the Federation's system of requiring its lower classes to participate in scientific experimentation officially judged to be uninvasive. The reports confirmed that severe and invasive experiments occurred both as part of this official program of human experimentation as well as through shadowy, highly secretive programs such as Project Vanguard, a Department of Weapons initiative led by former consul Eridanis Ūdris which produced biochemically- and surgically-augmented Otherborn supersoldiers subjected to constant psionic control. The discovery of these abuses by the people of the Federation quickly turned public sentiment against the former Vayan administration and improved public perception of Madam Celsa's revolutionary regime, which made ending Federally-sponsored human experimentation one of its first legislative acts. In Cethandir, the Vayan-loyalist Tetrarchs at the head of the Cethandiran government attempted to suppress information about the human rights abuses and the steps taken by the new regime. In response, city-wide riots in Cethandir erupted, which resulted in the toppling of the Tetrarchy and the rise of a representative-democratic coalition government.Political Restructuring
Shortly after her inauguration as Magelord, Madam Celsa announced a plan to transition the Federal government away from its autocratic model and formed the New Federal Committee. Notably, the committee includes the kalashtar revolutionary Daigonis Ūdris, a survivor of a 20-year-long program of human experimentation that began in early childhood and the grandson of former consul Eridanis Ūdris who directed the experimentation on his grandson; several lifelong activists for causes such as the abolition of the Vayan class system; and Ocelotl Ollin, a representative from the unrecognized court of the neo-Tseketon monarch Valissia ce'Xalotl. Madam Celsa also packed the Council with new consuls ostensibly sympathetic to her revolutionary goals. In late 717, she commenced her efforts to decrease the amount of power in the hands of the consuls and the Magelord, and the New Federal Committee is working to hold elections in 720 to allow the nation choose the first democratically-elected committee representatives. Currently, Madam Celsa sits on the Committee as a voting member and a representative of the Federal government, but she has no special powers over other representatives, and the powers held by the Magelord have been transferred to the Committee. The restructuring of the Federal government has been met with significant support from a large segment of the population, but the upper echelons of Vayan society by and large remain loyal to the previous regime; this attempt at change has not gone unchallenged. Furthermore, the regime's connections to revolutionaries, radicals, and the unrecognized state of New Xalotl have proven worrying to many outside the Federation watching from the perspective of the Circle of Nine. The extent to which the changes to come will be accepted within and without is yet to be seen.Rise of New Xalotl
In Nightwinter of 717, the army of the previously-hidden city of Toluca defeated an elite legion of the Federal Military in a battle at the Wildwood Site. Shortly thereafter, Valissia ce'Xalotl, the Queen of Toluca, marched her army to Caelus and offered a deal: her army would rebuild Severing-shattered Caelus and resettle its population, and in return, the Caelusian government would secede from the Federation and become a part of her new unrecognized state. The Caelusian government accepted, New Xalotl was born, and in the first month after the agreement was made, the Tolucan army rebuilt and resettled nearly 30% of urban Caelus. In early 718, following the revelations about the Vayan government's human rights abuses, the people of rural Cethandir voted to secede from the Federation, and they promptly joined New Xalotl, adding a large but sparsely-populated swath of land to New Xalotl. New Xalotl is an explicitly neo-Tseketon state that openly presents itself as Co9-separatist. While its rise has been recent enough that little international notice of it has yet occurred, it is undoubted that its very existence will eventually be challenged by the Circle of Nine. Though the governments of each territory New Xalotl holds joined this empire of their own free will, the authority of New Xalotl over land judged by the Co9 to belong to the Federation will inevitably be called into question. While New Xalotl remains unrecognized, its administration and the Federal government have agreed to adopt a policy of remaining "internally separate and internationally united." Neither state shall interfere with the affairs of the other, and both recognize the other's sovereignty, but on the international stage, they shall act as a unit until the sovereignty of New Xalotl is no longer in question.Terminology
When the nation was established in 33 YW, it was called the Federation of Vay, and it has gone by that name for the past 750 years. The new administration has elected to abridge its name to the Federation for several reasons: firstly, because its previous name elevated Vay Proper above the other cities in its importance within the nation, a hierarchy the new administration wishes to dissolve; secondly, because of the simple fact that Vay Proper has been annihilated, and it appears unlikely that it will return to being a major population center in the forseeable future, so the de facto capital is now Auria; and finally, to symbolically draw a line between the reformed nation and its past. The name "the New Federation" has become a popular way to refer specifically to the Federation as it exists under Madam Celsa's administration. While "Vayan" has historically been used as an adjective applied to cultural characteristics of the Federation (e.g., Vayan etiquette, Vayan art), as of recently it has come to designate the pre-revolutionary incarnation of the Federal government (e.g., "the Vayan government" refers to the government of the Federation prior to Madam Celsa's administration). Similarly, rather than referring to inhabitants of the Federation as "Vayans," the term "Federates" has become fashionable. Wherever it may be unclear from context, this article uses "Vayan government," "Vayan administration(s)," and "Vayans" to refer to the Federal government, its various regimes, and its people as they were before the ascesion of Novia Celsa and the restructuring of the nation's government, and it uses "New Federal government," "New Federal administration," and "Federates" to refer to those things as they are after.The Federation
Structure
From its creation until it was ravaged by the Severing, the Federation's government was an aggressive and competitive meritocracy, headed by the Magelord, an autocrat who earns their title through sheer arcane prowess. The Magelord was granted final vote on any issue of Vayan policy and was responsible for ensuring that the nation's laws remain efficient, relevant, and well-enforced. Twelve consuls formed the Council, a board of advisors to the Magelord, and each consul also acts as a head of one department within the Vayan government, such as the Departments of Diplomacy, Infrastructure, or Education. The Magelord was granted the right to appoint and remove consuls at will.
In the New Federal administration, most of the governing power once in the hands of the Magelord has been allocated to the New Federal Committee, a deliberative body created to better represent the interests of the Federation's diverse population. Now, the consuls serve as advisors to the Committee, on which Magelord Novia Celsa sits as a representative with voting power no stronger than any other representative's.
The judicial side of the Vayan government was the domain of the Grand Court. While the Magelord was the ultimate ruler of the Federation, the power of the Grand Court was at least as significant, for it was responsible for approving succession to the title of Magelord, and it had the ability to remove a Magelord from power. Nine Grand Judges made up the Court, and like the Magelord, the Grand Judges must be arcanists, but for a practical reason: the Grand Judges are ancient beings, having accepted undeath to act in eternal service to their nation. The soul-repositories that held the undying souls of the liches on the Grand Court were destroyed in the annihilation of Vay Proper, as were the Grand Judges. The New Federal Committee is presently drafting a plan to implement a more democratic justice system, taking advantage of the opportunity to replace the Grand Court altogether.
By the laws of the agreement that formed the Federation seven hundred and fifty years ago, each of the four metropolises that make up the Federation—Auria, Caelus, Cethandir, and Vay Proper—have the right to maintain their own local government, and as a result, the government of each is unique. The same law built the provisions for secession that recently allowed Caelus and rural Cethandir to secede from the Federation and join New Xalotl.
Vay Proper before the Severing. The Monument of the Eagle overlooks the heart of Vay Proper. In the back, the Monument of the Hawk sits atop the Grand Courthouse.
Culture
The Federation has a robust majority that has defined its national culture: the culture of the the Dimira people, who form the bulk of the Federation's population, and the Zaimaris people, an elven ethnic group with values and customs very similar to the Dimira, together form the roots of the Vayan culture. Three primary traits have historically defined that culture: meritocracy, patriotism, and honor. Each value is obvious in aspects of Vayan society. The Federation is known across Aotra for its uniquely rigorous academies, elite schools of arcane study, and unparalleled invention firms, and Vayans place great importance on success within these systems. As Vayans see it, to achieve in academics and arcana is to serve one's homeland, ensuring prosperity for the Federation while earning status for oneself.
Religion in the Federation
Like the Circle of Nine at large, the Federation of Vay is technically a Dichotomist state, though the religion permeates the government and legal system of the Federation far less than several other nations of the Circle. In the past, the Dichotomist church has even occasionally contested aspects of the Federation's driven culture of merit and success, and the Magelord's rule requires no assent from any Dichotomist authorities. The widespread culture of the Federation is, at best, disinterested in piety. But despite Vayan ambivalence towards Dichotomism, the Federation has still firmly resisted the influx of followers of Istha from the neighboring state of Oristhane.Class in the Federation
The Federation's culture is traditionally stratified, and intricate codes of etiquette reflect these social strata. Vayan society recognizes four social classes, and this class system was codified into law from the nation's beginning until Madam Celsa's administration abolished the class system in early 718.History
The Federation was originally an alliance of four large and well-established cities: Auria, Caelus, Cethandir, and Vay Proper, formerly known only as Vay. Long before their confederation, these four metropolises shared a bond of diplomacy and trade, and their geographic closeness to each other allowed for easy transit between them. In 33 YW, as vicious wars spread across the neighboring territory now known as Sarland, a charismatic and ambitious leader, Lord Cassius Bellator ce'Vay, stepped up with a proposal: unite the cities for the sake of better defense, should the wars sweep closer. As the city of Vay was both from whence the proposal came and the most centrally located of the three, it was in that city's name that a federation was formed.
Urban centers still contain the vast majority of the Federation's population. When the Circle of Nine drew global boundaries across Aotra, the Federation ended up with a vast swath of sparsely populated desert lands tacked onto it. Most of those lands—largely on the southwestern side of the nation—are under the local rule of Cethandir, it being the southernmost of the four.
The Severing altered Vayan history in a way so massive that no other historical moment can compare to its impact. As a nation founded on arcana and artifice, the Federation felt the impact of the disaster to a degree matched by few other nations. Its centers of population destroyed, the Vayan population plummeted. But not only did the Severing destroy infrastructure and decimate the population; it also threw the government into disarray when it was discovered that the previous Magelord, Madam Astoria Nethrani ce'Vay, who had ascended to office only seven years prior, had perished in the disaster. Madam Nethrani had not yet proposed a successor at the time of her death, as she was young and healthy, and by anyone's guess she had decades in front of her as Magelord. The government of the Federation came to a terrible standstill with the realization that nobody knew who would be the next Magelord of Vay.
As the Grand Court took control over the proceedings in the following months, five plausible candidates arose. Three were consuls at the time of the Severing: Lord Atilius Castran ce'Auria, the head of the Department of Research; Anastasia Djernina, the head of the Department of Energy; and Violeta Dufour, the head of the Department of Arcana. The two others are Lathlaer Mahr, an elven man descended from a family known for producing remarkable arcanists, and Novia Celsa, a young but already devastatingly powerful sorceress. Quickly a cold war of intrigue bloomed between the five contenders.
In mid-715, Lord Atilius Castran ce'Auria was murdered, a crime believed to be perpetrated by the assassin Anarch, thus removing Lord Castran from the pool of candidates. Within a month, Anastasia Djernina withdrew from consideration, leaving only three remaining claimants. The remaining three underwent intense testing, examination, and consideration by the Grand Court, until on 35 Nightwinter 717, the Grand Court announced it would initiate the confirmation process for Novia Celsa. Madam Celsa began her reign by replacing most of the twelve existing consuls, and then she initiated the ongoing reconstruction of the Federal government.
After Caelus seceded from the Federation and Vay Proper was destroyed by the arrival of the God Machine, the Federation is now essentially a conglomeration of Auria and Cethandir, and its de facto present-day capital is Auria.
Demography and Population
As is true of all Aotran nations, the demography of the Federation was massively changed by the Severing.
Pre-Severing Population
The Federation is one of the larger Aotran nations by population; as of 710 YC, thirty-two million people resided in the Federation. The overwhelming majority of its population were those dwelling in the four metropolises of Vay Proper, Auria, Cethandir, and Caelus. At the time of the 710 YC census, approximately twelve million people dwelt in Vay Proper, while about seven and a half million lived in Auria. Cethandir and Caelus each had populations of around six million, and the remaining one and a half million was scattered throughout its outlying desert lands.Post-Severing Population
While no comprehensive census has been done since the Severing, it is widely believed that the Federation suffered a proportionally greater loss of life in the Severing than any other nation, in part because its cities had so much arcane infrastructure. Its current population (including New Xalotl) is estimated to be nine and a half million, meaning approximately 70% of its population perished in the Severing. That proportion is not equal between cities; only 10% of the population of Vay Proper survived, while the survival rates in Auria, Caelus, and Cethandir are around 40%, 65%, and 25% respectively.Demographics
The Federation's population largely consists of humans and elves. Roughly 80% and 12% of the population is human and elvish, respectively, while orcs make up only about 8% of the population. As is true throughout Aotra, Otherborn make up a negligibly small portion of the population, less than a tenth of a percent. The large majority of the nation's human and elven populations are ethnically Dimira and Zaimaris respectively. See Ethnicity in the Federation of Vay for an in-depth look at the ethnic groups of the Federation of Vay.
Maps
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The Federation
The Federation is an economic superpower with a population clustered into a small number of dense metropolises. The Federation is only just beginning to recover from the years of turmoil it suffered in the aftermath of the Severing. Rising to fill the power vacuum, the neo-Tseketon unrecognized state of New Xalotl has recently claimed dominion over much of the western Federation.
Founding Date
33 YW
Type
Political, Federation
Capital
Alternative Names
The New Federation; the Federation of Vay (formerly)
Demonym
Federates; Vayans (formerly)
Leader
Leader Title
Head of State
Government System
Democracy, Representative
Power Structure
Federation
Economic System
Post-scarcity economy
Legislative Body
Judicial Body
The Grand Court (formerly)
Executive Body
Subsidiary Organizations
Official Languages
Related Ranks & Titles
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
Comments