Falla

Falla is a country located in the former territory of the Republic of Alabren. It is run by the military, with a reputation as authoritarian and insular.
The country originated during the chaos of the splintering Republic of Alabren. The Forest and the uhaaki decimated the population, overtook entire villages, and cut off supply lines. General Fal, one of a handful of commanding officers from the Republic's army, secured a fortress, defended it against uhaaki and human scavengers alike.
More and more refugees were accepted into the fortress, until the military was forced to expand their controlled area to accommodate them all. As the world began to calm down, their expansion did not. This region of Alabren was already surrounded by rivers, so a campaign a few years after the Forest arrived to dig canals connecting them created a large island that they could defend. Subsequent military campaigns brought the straggler survivor groups living throughout the connected Lake Joema into Falla's control.

Structure

Outsiders have described Falla as reinventing feudalism. The feudal system had died out in Veiama several centuries earlier, but General Fal revived its concepts to exact control over his territory. Rather than relying on heredity to establish social rank, Falla is ruled by the military, and the military is the only avenue for social mobility.
Estates are the basic administrative unit in Falla. Each estate consists of at most one town and a few small villages. Each estate is ruled by a captain, who assigns lieutenants to oversee particular settlements. Civilians are not allowed to travel away from their estate without a permit, and may not move to another estate unless entering into a marriage (which also requires a permit).
Residents within an estate, and those with merchant permits travelling between estates, participate in a free market. From them, a heavy tax is levied that goes straight to the highest level of the military treasury. From that country-wide budget, salaries are provided all military members. For the higher officers, that salary can be quite substantial.
Captains answer to a colonel, who oversees multiple estates in a region. The next level up are the Major Generals, who each control one of the five provinces.
The head of the military, and of the country, is the general. He has typically chosen a successor for death, but even then, there is always a brief period of unrest during the turnover period as the rest of the top brass decides if they will support the chosen successor or not. In Falla's 120 years of history, there has been one civil war fought over the ascension of the general.
In addition to a financial tax, all residents of Falla are required to enlist in the military at the age of 18 and serve until they are 20. After that, they may either choose to stay in the military, or be discharged. Upon discharge, they are sent to whichever estate could use more labour, which is very rarely the one they grew up in. Those who choose to remain in the military have the opportunity to rise in the ranks, and with each rank, have more freedom and options.

Demography and Population

The majority of the population, at 65%, is Vaunen. Vaunens are a Veiamic people related to Tarkalas and Karuvians, who make up 15% and 10% of the population, respectively. Non-Alab Veiamic people are secondary citizens within Falla. In the military, they may not be made officers and they may not enter marriages with Vaunen people. There are Karuvian and Tarkalan residents in all estates. They are generally accepted by the common folk and in most estates, the discrimination they face is only on the government side.
The final 10% of the population are Manashins. Manashins are not Veiamic - they speak a distinctly different language and physically stand out, with darker skin and eyes. The northern province of Falla, which contained the uppermost islands in the northern tip of Lake Joema, have a majority Manashin population and were taken into the country by force.
Manashin people are only assigned to estates in this northern province. They are rarely given permits to travel to any other region. They are still required to enlist in the military, but will never be promoted beyond corporal.

Founding Date

613

Demonym

Fallan

Government System

Stratocracy

Official State Religion

Old Religion

Official Languages

• Veiamic Language

Neighboring Nations

• Kingdom of Kaleina
• Manashin Confederation

The Republic of Alabren

Alabren was an expansive country with a rudimentary democracy. It was led by a Chancellor, and had elected representatives. The right to vote was limited to male land owners.
The republic began in the city of Alabren after merchants overthrew the local lord for overtaxing, and eventually covered several hundred square miles of eastern Veiama. Its dominant ethnic group were the Vaunen people. The republic splintered with the coming of the Forest.