Republic of Matayan (Mah-Tai-Yahn)

Matayan was once the jewel of the Sunekan heartlands; a place for elites to send their children to learn in luxury, a place for fine art and beautiful museums. It was a hub of business and culture, a crucial hinge on which Sunekan cultural and economic history turned. It was secluded, beautiful, traditional, a paradise that was quirky but beloved.
Now, Matayan is a burnt out husk fought over by scrambling warlords. Since the Empire of Calazen invaded, the republic has struggled to recover its lost glamour and shine, but the last fifty years have been particularly unkind to this place. The wealthiest and most innovative elites have abandoned Matayan to its fate, resettling in the Republic of Akatlan while their old home burns. The mountain communities in the North struggle to survive amidst a spinning cycle of petty warlords, while the once-rich flatlands of the South are divided between a semi-competent foreign aristocrat and a psuedo-heretic with a cult following. The riches of the realm have been looted, the great vaults lie empty; the museums have been emptied as the community militias have hidden artifacts from looting mercenaries; the statues and frescoes are ash-stained and cracked from war.
The only thing Matayan has going for it now is that the war may end in the next few years. The old factions that started this war are either extinct or nearing extinction, and the new players are jockeying for that final race for the crown. The future of Matayan will be decided soon, by those brave enough to enter the fray. What heroes and villains will this final act bring?

Structure

Matayan is supposed to be ruled by a Tlakra, or elected leader, with support from a small congress of twenty elected leaders. According to the 1900 Constitution, the Tlakra serves for five year terms before re-election; according to the 1979 Constitution, the Tlakra serves for life. 
No Tlakra currently sits upon the throne. Instead, five would-be Tlakras rule from their corners of the realm, each backed by their own factions. 
Currently leading the pack is Temizen the Lion, a former Guardians of Hokzin that rules the Southeast (as well as a piece of neighboring Kiawa). Temizen has no claim to the throne but force, and they have extremely little popular draw, but their hold over their troops is almost magical. They are a heretic, according to many; a utopian Sunekan who sees the Sacred Assembly and heartlands republics as illegitimate. Temizen is something of a religious populist, who seeks to make all land perfectly communal under the watchful eye of an all-powerful military-theocracy. They back up this extreme ideology with intense charisma and a brilliant military mind - they are perhaps one of the finest strategists and tacticians alive, and thrive in all areas military. What they are missing is political allies, as the other factions have done well in keeping them isolated. Temizen has locked down one of the richest parts of the country, though, and seems to be expanding Eastward into Kiawa.
Behind Temizen's faction is the New Apatlia Faction, led by Tlakra Gezetza. This faction is theoretically the rightful government of Matayan, though they have been steadily losing ground and are now boxed into the Northeast. Gezetza is a respected priest with ample competency with both war and administration, and seems to be campaigning on a nostalgic return to the old Matayan. Once an idealist to the point of running their military campaign like a media campaign, they have since dug in and are hoping to outlast the other factions. 
Behind that is the Tezeteza Clique, supporting Tlakra Cheltzim. The Tezeteza are a religious mining consortium with very old roots, and have entrenched themselves in the Northwestern mountains. They are conservative, pragmatic, and well-funded by their iron operations; however, they lack population and struggle at many of the basics of administration, making them unpopular and giving them a tough time outside of their strongholds. Nonetheless, they have been throwing themselves endlessly at the surrounding factions, desperate to gain ground while they have any advantages left.
Behind that is the Atupan-ocupied puppet state, led by Tlakra Kimexo. Kimexo is wealthy, well entrenched, powerful - everything one might need for victory. They also lack any ability to move with Atupan's blessing, and have settled to just rule their corner in the Southwest. Rather than make any moves, they have just fortified their corner and seem to be waiting for Atupan to annex them. This attitude hasn't made them tremendously popular, and their military ineptitude has made it easy for the others to harass their merchants and forces.
At the bottom of the roster is the Yamakla Lumber Clique, supporting Tlakra Azelret. This is a faction in its death throes, desperately pushing for expansion wherever possible as their heartlands are being sacked and conquered by Temizen. Once, the Yamakla seemed primed to take Matayan for themselves entirely - but after several major defeats and wasting all their stored resources occupying abandoned Apatlia-faction land, they are spread thin and rapidly collapsing inwards.    At the heart of it all, where the factions meet, is a no-man's land of occupied territory rapidly changing hands.

Culture

The Quiet Beauty of Matayan

Matayan's reputation, modern events aside, is that of quiet and secluded beauty. Tourism and national pride were both based on this reputation once upon a time, and the architecture and city planning certainly displays this. Under the war damage and decay are beautiful buildings gorgeously painted and lovingly carved monuments and statues. The buildings mix sharp angles that boast their architect's precision with organic-style curves, intended to balance each other out to give the buildings a sense of "balance and harmony". And while the buildings and monuments may not be built or maintained like they once were, the attitudes remain in the people: calligraphy and basic poetry knowledge are considered important skills for community leaders, a peaceful path to harmony that is taught even after decades of war and want. Leaders are held to higher standards - they must be refined and artistically capable to be respected here. Using printed text for anything else than mass pamphleteering is considered crude and embarrassing, and local Matain printers have worked to create a font of block text that is more 'refined' to compensate. Not that many opportunities to use this currently exist.
Paired with this is a famously nostalgic attitude and more introverted social norms. People are a little more quiet here as a norm than most other Sunekan lands, particularly towards strangers. There is greater respect for the privacy of strangers and a sense of polite distance. A Matain rarely speaks of themselves unless it is to a friend or for business purposes (though a little moreso in the North than South). As for the nostalgia, there are a number of sayings and minor attitudes that reflect a conservative fondness for past. Ancient ruins are unusually preserved, museums are unusually common, old architectural styles are imitated, and old literature and poetry endures. None of this is particularly deviant from the Suneka, but it is a regional quirk that is well known across the heartlands.

Cantons and Cuisine

A political quirk that is on thin ice with the priesthood is the canton system: local communities, particularly in the mountains, form their own social pacts (called constitutions here, but not to be mistaken for the legalistic papers of our modern world) with each other and the ruling elite that grant special community-wide privileges to resources and lands in exchange for greater community responsibility. Being part of a canton means having hunting, grazing, planting, or foraging rights beyond the strict borders of the community, and also grants rights to greater social status and freedoms of speech. That said, canton membership also means militia service and greater labor taxes for community buildings or institutions (labor taxes being taxes paid in labor). Not all communities are cantons, but those that are have great sway over local politics.
Matain food is a wonderful mixture of traditions made over the years by a meeting of the Southern flatlands, the colder North, and foreign students. The key to Matain cuisine is dipping things: it is considered refined and even fun to dip foods, despite the mess and inconvenience. Dipping baked or roasted yams in spiced sauces and dipping butter-milk-bread in sauces or cheese are very normal food activities. Dipping soft butter-milk-bread into chocolate for dessert. Dipping cheese and vegetable dumplings into soup. Fondue! All are Matain mainstays.

History

Early History (-400 - 550)

The valleys of Matayan were on the Eastern edge of the early Sunekan culture of the Divine Era. They were a buffer area that insulated those early cities and kingdoms from the far Eastern coast, and provided mercenaries and trade. It wasn't until the droughts of the -400s DE that the tribes of Matayan began to truly embrace Sunekan city planning and culture, and Sunekan cities sprang up along the river from -400 DE to 100 ME. These early kingdoms and oligarchies began to collapse in the early 100s ME from a series of small crises that snowballed into a disaster: displaced peoples from the East were invading, nomads from the West known as the Kunonek were invading, the Sunekan cities were fighting one another, and failed attempts to dam and control the river were causing flooding and ecological problems.
While many of these early cities were wiped out during the 100s, the wars and river problems eventually stopped and the Matain were able to slowly rebuild. Two large Sunekan states re-emerged as dominant powers in the 200s and 300s - the Southern oligarchy of Amaradi, which held the delta and was closely connected to other Sunekan states in Atupan and Gwalan, and the Northern kingdom of Yikesa, which was a more isolated state that preserved the older Matain culture of the late Divine Era.
The twin kingdoms of Matayan were allied for much of their history against the surrounding unincorporated tribes, outside of a few skirmishes in the late 400s. In 550 ME, the Great Spiritual Empire of the Suneka swept through the region - easily absorbing Amaradi and using their connections to quickly conquer Yikesa. The unincorporated peoples of the valleys were forcibly captured, mixed together in classic Sunekan style, and settled as farmers, ranchers, and miners for the Empire. Matayan was given its own regional government and became an autonomous vassal republic under the rule of the Gwalan Republic in 605 ME.

Sunekan Occupations (550 - 1300)

After the decentralization of the Spiritual Empire, dissent began to creep across the valleys. Many communities resented Sunekan rule, and drew closer to the non-Sunekan tribes of the Adira Mountains for support. In 680 ME a political crisis among the Matain elites offered these communities a chance to rebel, and the first vassal republic of Matayan fell into civil war. The governate's military ultimately won the day, subjugated the Northern communities, and deposed the ruling oligarchs; but they went too far when they tried to quietly secede from Gwalan. Gwalan invaded, won, and reincorporated Matayan directly in 700 ME.
For centuries, Matayan was ruled by other Heartlands republics - Gwalan from 700 to 1035 ME, and then Atupan from 1035 ME to 1200 ME. While Gwalan ruled directly and with an iron grip, the Matain elites were able to secure local autonomy during the switch to Atupan in 1035. And from 1035 to 1200, autonomous Matayan flourished. Rich iron deposits were discovered in the mountains in the 1100s, and both Gwalan and Atupan granted Matayan generous territorial control over lands to the East, which the Matain elites used to further develop the valleys. Art, culture, and education all flourished, and Matayan became a prime location for foreign elites to hide wealth and educate their children.
The late 1100s began to see a decline. Plague ravaged the land, foreign investment dwindled, and the holdings in the East drifted away. Still, Matayan was insulated enough to escape the worst of it. In 1200 ME, a rampaging rogue army from the collapsing Republic of Akatlan broke Atupan's control over its Northern vassals and holdings. The Eastern lands, unified into the kingdom of Kiawa, seized parts of the coast and extracted tribute from the struggling, now-independent state. The more vulnerable and connected South began increasing taxation and conscription in the North, which led to a civil war in 1290 ME. The civil war splintered Matayan into pieces, and from 1290 to 1460 Matayan fell into fragmentation and foreign partition. For a century, Matayan fell into decay.

Matayan the Revolutionary (1300 - 1600)

The Northern valley of Yikesa, always the most insulated from the rest of the world, fully reunified and began reaching out to the South again in the 1400s. The Northern two valleys formed back into a unified state in 1460 and declared themsel ves to be the Republic of Matayan, but they only reintegrated the South in 1550. The retaking of the South generated immense enthusiasm and religious fervor, calling back to the days of prosperity and the Spiritual Empire of old. This spirit of religious revolution and patriotism was put to the test not long after unification: in 1580 ME the massive Empire of Amatka (a rising state from the far East that had unified much of the Eastern Sunekan coast), arrived with its armies at Matayan's Eastern border. Amata claimed to be the heir to the Spiritual Empire and hoped to conquer the heartlands to solidify that claim - and Matayan is the gateway to the heartlands. The empires of the heartlands (notably Atupan) rushed to Matayan's aid, and the newborn republic was able to lure the invaders into the mountain passes the Matain are so good at defending. Amatka's initial invasion went terribly, and with other Sunekan navies defending the coasts the invaders struggled to bring reinforcements. In 1585, after a second failed campaign, Matayan was able to negotiate a white peace. The republic emerged as a shining star of Sunekan diplomacy and military power, and as the formal line between Eastern Suneka and heartlands Suneka.
Matayan, while exhausted from the wars, was not particularly devastated as neither side had turned to destroying civilian industries or communities. If anything, Matayan actually saw an injection of foreign support that allowed it to prosper after the war. And the idealism and sense of unity that it produced kickstarted a major cultural movement: priests and common people alike agitated in the streets for more involvement in government, citizen militias became common features of city life, and communities began going into the countryside to forcibly scramble insular deviant communities along the country's borders. The government, weakened by the war and still quite young, granted many of these demands. Matayan became a hotbed for cutting-edge religious theory and discussion, and revolutionaries and controversial priests from across the heartlands flocked to it. Many of these revolutionaries would go on to start similar movements in their own countries - notably, anti-foreign revolutions in the Republic of Tuzek, Etska, and Republic of Akatlan. Matayan did not start these revolutions, but it did give the international movement a sanctuary to organize in.

The Matain Renaissance (1600 - 1870)

The 1600s through 1800s have been called the "Matain Renaissance", as the country experienced an extended period of prosperity and cultural innovation as well as intense nostalgia for the "classic Suneka" of the 500s through 1000s. In many ways, this "rediscovery" was more about branding and nostalgia (as well as a rejection of the occupations and fragmentations of the past) than reality, but it did provide traditionalist legitimacy to the technological and institutional innovation of the time.
In 1650, the small merchants that had dominated during the fragmented period of the 1300s through 1500s were gathered into an official holy order: the Apatlia Bank and Exchange Group, which was intended to be a guiding cult that could coordinate large numbers of merchants without causing major disruptions to local organization. The Apatlia Group sought to keep the merchants loyal and connected to government by also making them priests - it created a spiritual personification of commerce (named Apatlia), which it sought to create ritual and theory for and to which merchant elites would be loyal to. But, in doing so, it allowed for some of the more innovative and taboo commercial practices (such as fractional reserve banking) to gain religious legitimacy and state backing. The merchant elites were drawn away from local rulership, but they transformed into a powerful new force of finance. The Apatlia group became a major force in the Sunekan heartlands in the 1700s and early 1800s - by storing the money of Sunekan power cliques from across the heartlands and then using that money to make absurdly large loans, the Apatlia group was able to kickstart the steel mills of the Gatrev March and newborn proto-factories of the 1800s. While the technology has yet to reach a full industrial revolution, virtually all Sunekan experiments that have meddled with mass production in recent years have been made possible by the Apatlia's financial systems.
The 1600s and 1700s were also a time for cultural exploration: Matain poetry and art from that period is still considered incredibly valuable and skilled, and the 1600s in particular saw a flurry of experimental theology and literature that (while verging on heresy at times) has become quite popular across the heartlands. The 1700s were less open than the 1600s - rising heresy led to crackdowns, and the government reigned in some of its more daring reforms. The late 1700s and 1800s also saw the rise of great cliques of landowners, who were able to use the growing financial institutions of the Apatlia group to buy out many smaller communities. Enormous lumber consortiums and mining cliques began influencing the republic, and barriers to voting and political participation rose to lock out populist threats. Tensions between the communities and the cliques rose, just as tension between the cliques did. Only sustained growth and prosperity kept these tensions in check - but perpetual growth is impossible. Even in the 1800s, fights between communities and cliques were breaking out, and the government was only able to maintain the peace by offering reforms that barely addressed the root problems: education reform and a massive increase in spellcaster training (specifically in bards) to better increase crop yields for farming communities.

The Calazan Invasion (1870 - 1900)

This fragile stability was shattered when, in 1870, the Empire of Calazen invaded the Sunekan heartlands through the neighboring region of Ikatlan. Matayan was able to last an unexpectedly long time in the face of overwhelming force - the South took until 1873 to be fully occupied. After the South fell, Calazen spent two years sending expeditions North to conquer the rest, but these never reached much further than the end of the head of navigation (the length of the river that can be effectively traversed by large boats) and struggled to make much headway inland at that. In 1876, Calazen's attempts at controlling the river failed and imperial forces were pushed back to the South. Rather than try to fling more resources at the entrenched Matain military, Calazen simply hired local Adiran mountain tribes to harass and distract them while Calazen fortified and moved to easier conquests. 
Calazen eventually returned with forces better equipped for mountain combat in 1881, and was able to cut through Matayan's defenses. The Empire captured the Republic's civilian leadership and attempted to force a surrender, but the communities and business cliques kept fighting across the North. Rather than continue wasting resources on these tenacious Sunekans, Calazen simply burnt what it could and returned to the fortified South. In 1890, Calazen created a puppet government in the South and handed off control of the region to them. From 1890 to 1900, the Northern cliques invaded and worked with guerillas in the South to retake the region, and by 1898 the Southern government had effectively fallen despite its superior wealth.

Unsteady Recovery (1900 - 1960)

In 1900, Matayan's borders were officially recognized by the Sacred Assembly and elections resumed. The South had its population scrambled, and all traces of the Calazan occupation were scrubbed from the land. For several decades, Matayan appeared to be recovering far better than neighboring Gwalan, and the spirit of unity seemed to have returned. But underneath the bustling patriotism of the early 1900s, there were serious problems brewing. The cliques - notably the Yamakla lumber clique, the Tetetza Mining cult-consortium, and the Sateka farming and ranching clique - had come to rule the North as feudal lords during the occupation, and they extended their de-facto rule to the South during the peace. And with so much being rebuilt, these cliques were able to refashion the country as they pleased - taking all the land and all the power they could. The priesthood and the Apatlia Group opposed these cliques and kept the balance for decades, but their ability to do so declined over time - the Apatlia were largely unconcerned with the conditions of the countryside, and the priesthood was increasingly dependent on the cliques to root out heresy and deviancy. By the 1940s, the balance was severely tilting in the favor of the Big Three cliques. A populist political movement in the 1950s attempted to moderate their influence, but it was far too late for that; the political process was rigged beyond salvation. Many communities began to stew and militarize as their religious rights to democracy were denied, while others gave into despair. 
Having won, the Big Three immediately squandered their victory by competing for dominance. This escalated over time, until it finally boiled over in 1960. The Sateka farming clique, having the most control over the rural areas and water access, had gained enough political control to force a candidate only loyal to them into the Tlakra-ship. They marched their private army (a tradition from the Calazan war) into the capital and attempted to outlaw the private militaries and political influences of the other two cliques. War immediately broke out as the other Tlakra candidates called the election rigged and mustered their own armies. And as the political order collapsed, other groups threw their hats into the metaphorical ring: many populist groups rose up, heretics openly recruited their own militias, and the neighboring powers of Kiawa and Atupan sent interventions to drag Matayan into their spheres of influence. 

The Current Crisis (1960 - 2020)

From 1960 to 1979, the Sateka clique fought to hold onto power and was completely annihilated in the process. During this time, the Apatlia Group left the country entirely for the Republic of Akatlan, and wealth poured out of the realm. From 1979 to 2009, Matayan stabilized under a new Tlakra by the name of Kalakitzu, a war leader with ties to the Republic of Kiawa. Kalakitzu was everything needed to take of Matayan but nothing of what the republic needed then. They were selfish, imperious, autocratic, and curated a cult of personality. They prioritized the South at the expense of the North, was unable to bring the remaining two cliques to heel, and conducted large anti-heresy purges as a weapon against perceived rivals. Kalakitzu was a military officer who respected the army above all else (going so far as to use military-masculine pronouns in public, scandalous), and perhaps the best thing they did was create a military independent of the cliques.
While Kalakitzu was not the best leader, they did stabilize the country and allowed for some rebuilding to occur. In 2008, the aging Tlakra finally decided to retire - and set up their second in command, Imorza, as the next Tlakra. Imorza was far less competent than Kalakitzu and less respected - and at the start of 2008 was captured and killed in a coup by the Yamakla lumber clique. The war was back on!
From 2009 to 2014, Kalakitzu held the South, while the cliques fought in the North. But in 2014, something unusual happened - a rebellion in neighboring Kiawa broke out that included Kalakitzu's political allies. The rebellion of one country merged with the incumbent state of the other, and the war became much more complicated. In 2016, Kalakitzu finally died of old age right as their faction was on the cusp of victory - and everything fell apart again. 
Following Kalakitzu's death, their faction divided in half: one group, based around the river cities, was led by something known as the New Apatlia Clique - essentially, a group of Kalakitzu's political allies who had a nostalgic vision for a return to the old Matayan. The other group were the military officers who wished for more military rule. This military faction joined up with a group of Guardians of Hokzin who were assigned as peacekeepers to Matayan, and the leader of the Hokzin division moved to crown himself Tlakra (going rogue from the Guardians in the process). Seeing the situation dissolve, Atupan again invaded to secure a buffer zone in the West. It has since been absolute chaos.

Demography and Population

Around 6 million humanoids live in Matayan. The population is roughly 23% dryad, 25% human, 22% prism, 15% Hybrid, 5% Kobold, 10% Other.
Population statistics may be outdated, as the war and the collapse of the food-bureaucracy has undoubtedly reduced this.

Territories

Matayan is roughly 140 miles across and 470 miles long. The country is composed of twelve interconnected river valleys surrounded by the Yutara mountains (a subsection of the Adira Mountains ).

The lushest of these valleys are around the Sibara river. The climate around the river is warm temperate forest, though some of the valleys East of the river are arid shrubland.

Military

Matain armies are famous for their use of polearms and short-swords; the warriors of the land often train in a variety of polearms, including the partisan spear, the long-axe, and the pike. Warriors are traditionally mustered through a canton system, where local provinces or communities form agreements or constitutions that are respected by the greater republic in exchange for trained men-at-arms.
The current vying factions have had to compete for the allegiances of the local canton militias, which they use to augment their standing armies.

Religion

Matayan is a very Sunekan realm that has little tolerance for other religions. A century of harsh unequal regimes and civil war has not improved community's tolerance of outside faiths or cultures, as any threat to social harmony is seen as a dire threat to life itself. Bits of heresy have cropped up along the periphery of the land, particularly the Asuna Heresy.
In terms of cult, the Tezetezin Clique is very enthusiastic about the mountain spirit Teztin and are fairly close to the international holy order to Teztin. The priesthood has some elements of Gwalan's Cult of Chiun-Masri, a mystery cult skilled with bardic magic. 
Much of popular religion is fairly local, of course. Each valley and each canton community has its own spirit, which tends to be the most important in local religion. Matayan as a whole exists under the blessings of Sibateo, the river spirit who also exists as a religious personification of Matayan itself.

Foreign Relations

Prior to the collapse, the Kalakitzu regime had an alliance with the Republic of Tuzek, an alliance with a specific political party in Kiawa, and a rivalry with neighboring Atupan. Since the collapse, Atupan has occupied the West and the civil war has spread to Kiawa.

Agriculture & Industry

Matayan has traditionally been a major mining and smelting country, with sizable foresting and farming industries as well. Sheep herding is common, as is potato and yam farming. 
Traditionally, Matayan has also had a robust dye-making industry connected to the mines in the North, as well as a robust weaving sector in the South. Matain carpets and tapestries were in high demand not even a century ago, and many still feature in elite palaces across the Suneka. The war has put an end to some of that, though cottage industries in the more stable corners still persist.

Trade & Transport

Once, Matayan had a large trading fleet jointly owned by the Sateka farming clique and the republic. Nowadays, it is a free for all of foreign merchants and private interests.

Education

Matayan once had one of the better school systems, and some of those schools persist. Matain schools are works of art and centers of community expression - lovingly painted and adorned, demonstrations of community prosperity. The great colleges in the South, greatly reduced, still continue - though they no longer draw wealthy business and art students from across the heartlands.

"Beauty, Prosperity, Tradition"

Founding Date

1900

Type

Geopolitical, Country

Demonym

Matain

Government System

Democracy, Representative

Currency

Sunekan Currency: Golden Lions, Silver Foxes, Copper Stars

Official State Religion

Suneka

Location

Suneka (place)

Official Languages

• High Sunekan

Neighboring Nations

• Ayeto Republic
• Gwalan Republic
• Republic of Kiwa