The Ayain-Valian Commonwealth

Founding

Up until this point Valian settlements and forts managed themselves separately from the Tepeu of Aya as their own polities, however as both these population’s grew they also grew harder to manage for the Arenian Empire. The solution that the Tiran came up with was to merge them into one state, with the Commandante of the Valians and the Tepeu of Aya leading their territories as partnered dictators called the Dos Líderes. This erupted a myriad of issues all at once, Commandante Supremo Teobaldo Ribeiro and Tepeu Iktan were described as water and oil by scribes. The Empire also increased their tribute obligations as a Vassal, expecting the combined state to be more efficient which only increased the internal turmoil within the partnered Dictatorship. The decisions that have had the largest impact on Aya would be what would go forward with land management and tax collecting.

Ayain territory being mostly jungle made it for poor farmland, even with assistance from the many Druids who lived there, leading to Ribeiro to reorganize much of the land to slash and burn swaths of jungles and using Ja’Kakaw and Ja’Aji to make cash crops. This angered Iktan as he claimed out loud in the presence of the Tepeu’s court that Ribeiro deceived him with what he was actually planning, and this also created unrest among Aayin's who saw their home being disrespected. Iktan himself would try to implement more efficient taxation, as tax evasion was very common, and to an extent was tolerated in Aya, to try and meet his new obligations to the Tiran. To do this he had to revitalize old institutions that haven’t had well trained workers in centuries and to make sure people didn’t simply not pay the collectors, the collectors would be warriors themselves. The natural conclusion was that confrontations with Tax Collectors at times would be violent and even deadly, especially with retired Valians who ran serfdoms and would lead to deaths. When information of the unrest reached the Arenian Empire the Primer at the time would be shocked, and would send military assistance to Ayain territory to control the situation which would also reduce their autonomy by adding a Tiran approved Primer with veto power on decisions. This would provide a band-aid for the situation, as the Primer would struggle to arbitrate between the two parties, but it did stop a full scale revolt with an Imperial Bureaucrat overseeing administration and Imperial troops keeping the peace. This would be the lasting dynamic between Aya and the Arenian Empire.