Upper Atrassic Crona

Geography
Upper Atrassic Crona encompasses the northeasternmost corner of former Varshan. Most of its western border, with Xisheng and the Kiravian Occupation Zone of Varshan, runs along the peaks of the Mountains of Terror, from the Yaviža Gap to Mount Ba Atžol. It's eastern and northern border is with Telonaticolan, roughly along the [physical feature], and it borders the [New State] to the southeast, and a short boundary with the Copacaban Republic in the north.

History
Archæological and anthropological studies of the Upper Atrassic region have been, until very recently, precluded by the reclusive and obscurantist Varshani régime, and by the region's natural remoteness and inaccessibility. With the toppling of the Zûrg and advent of Kiravian control, new studies, mostly Kiravian and government-sponsored, have been planned but have yet to report findings. As such, little is known with reasonable certainty about the region's early history. The highland areas that would become Upper Atrassic Crona share a common elevated, rugged terrain, and have been the home of ethnic minorities, often termed "hill tribes" (Varshani: tàriq !oža, Kiravic: alteryamin) that have, relative to lowland peoples, succeeded in maintaining a measure of their autonomy and cultures in this state-repelling landscape. Although the distance of the region from the historical core of Varshan, its treacherous terrain, and its low economic utility shielded the hill tribes from total subjugation and destruction by Varshan, they were nonetheless subject to frequent slaving raids and military forays. As reported by T.L. Námkéag, a Tîkonderogan brave and Kiravian auxilliary officer and corroborated by medical examinations of survivors, the Varshani military tested chemical weapons on mountain villages during the 1980s and early 1990s.

Some Kiravians and Occidentals travelled through the region during the Bootleg Wars, and operated smuggling networks through the mountains.

Deluge
During the Final War of the Deluge, the region became engulfed in the Mountains of Terror Campaign. Faced with a gruelling tug-of-war against a robust Varshani defence in the Yaviža Gap and Zenoctalan Plateau, the Kiravian Army sought to create new pathways into Varshan through the Mountains of Terror, hoping that Kiravian air superiority, experienced and well-equipped Kiravian alpine regiments, and hostile local populations would deliver an advantage over the Varshani. This plan immediately saw setbacks as Kiravian aerial assaults proved less successful and more costly than anticipated, forcing High Command to confront more seriously the issue of how to conduct ground troops to Varshani positions overland.

General V.R. Ẍusyk, placed in command of the mountain campaign, looked to the local indigenous communities for help, and forged a series of alliances with the hill tribes to coöperate against Varshan. Kiravia provided humanitarian and medical assistance to hill communities and armed tribal militia who were loaned out as auxilliary units. The Army also recruited volunteers to serve as scouts, guides, interpreters, and commandos, embedded in Kiravian regular units. The hill tribesmen (and -womxn) serving with the Kiravian forces took on the moniker "Hailstorm Warriors", in homage to the worship of hail deities common among the hill tribes and suppressed by Arzalist Varshan. This coöperation dramatically improved the mobility of Kiravian troops through the mountains and the reliability of supply chains, and increased the success rate of strikes on Varshani positions.

This rapid loss of Varshan's previously absolute confidence in the Mountains of Terror as a barrier against a Kiravian incursion forced the Varshani military, already under severe strain from Occidental and Corummese advances on other fronts, to divert some troops from the Yaviža-Zenoctalan lines to the Nužul Plateau and the rim of the Širaq Basin. It also put the Varshani expeditionary force in Telonaticolan at risk of being cut off.

[Eventually Kiravians and Hailstorm Warriors push through the two passes, after which the Varshani defence begins to fall apart, The End.] Kiravian military sources have unanimously credited the Hailstorm Warriors and support from native civilian populations for the success of the Mountains of Terror Campaign and, by extension, for victory on the Eastern Front of the war.

Post-Liberation


The territory that would become Upper Atrassic Crona was contained within the Northern Division of the Kiravian Occupation Zone, later renamed the Highland Division, with Gen. Ẍusyk overseeing the division as military governor. Although now liberated from Varshani oppression, the region remained extremely impoverished and underdeveloped, with precious little in the way of modern infrastrucutre and no social or political institutions beyond traditional tribal structures. An International Reconnaissance Agency report produced in 2024 estimated that the Highland Division likely ranked dead last among the world's countries and comparable territories on most key development indicators. Recognising that the greater portion of the region had no viability as an independent state and could not be returned to any restored Varshani state, the Treaty of Electorsbourg assigned most of the region to permanent Kiravian administration. Also in accordance with the Treaty, Area A was separated from the Highland Division in 202X to become the Trust Territory of A, and Area B was separated as the Montagnard Transitional State in 202Y. The remaining area designated to remain under Kiravian sovereignry was then officially detached from Varshan and transitioned to civil administration as Upper Atrassic Crona.

Governance
UAC is a civil administration governed at the state level by appointees of the Kiravian government, with a bureaucracy staffed mainly by the Colonial Civil Service (Kiravian deployees), but with a growing contingent from the Upper Atrassic Administrative Corps (UAC natives, some of whom are also naturalised Kiravian citizens). Its basic law comprises the Atrassic Highlands Ordinance (a Collegiate order) and the Government of Upper Atrassica Act 2025.

The Governor-General (appointed by the K.F. Prime Executive) and the Executive Council, which is appointed by the Governor-General and comprises a Secretary of State, Secretary of the Exchequer, Secretary of Social Affairs, Secretary of Development, Secretary of Institutional Affairs, and Secretary of Veterans' Affairs, direct the civil government and promulgate laws.

At present, there are no deliberative or representative bodies with constitutional authority. However, two advisory, consultative assemblies exist as part of the political development and institution-building process in the territory, and a third assembly is in the works. The Great Conference of Elders represents the native population, and its members are elected from tribal councils from among their own number. The Transplants' Stanora represents Kiravian transplants living in the territory. A third body, the Great Lodge of Delegates, is intended to be directly elected by native people who have met the (still undecided upon) requirements to be granted the franchise, beginning with Hailstorm veterans and other natives naturalised by fiat. Howver, many important details of the Great Lodge remain to be settled.

Unlike its northern neighbour, Mid-Atrassic Crona, Upper Atrassic Crona is not divided into a patchwork of settler tracts, native autonomies, military districts, and tribal agencies, and has a less complex system of administrative divisions. Most of its area is divided into [ethnic banners or whatever] governed by traditional tribal authorities. The region's few preëxisting "urbanised" population centres and their immediate environs are governed as *municipalities*, and a select few areas are set aside as *neutral zones* and *development reserves*. The municipalities, development reserves, and neutral zones are governed directly by the UAC central government for the time being. The neutral zones mostly comprise high alpine lands with negligible permanent population and unclear tribal ownership.

[Polylaw]

Society & Culture
The native people of Upper Atrassic Crona belong to several different ethnic groups, with each ethnic group comprising several kinship-based polities (tribes). [List ethnic groups]. A sizeable Copacaban community live in the wee lowland part near the Copacaban Republic. There are also a few Telos there.

Varshani remains the most widely spoken language in the country. It is spoken natively by the ethnic Varshani population and many (though not all) non-Varshani former slaves, but is spoken as a second language with at least a moderate level of competency by a large share of the former [native]* population.

The religious demography of Upper Atrassic Crona is difficult to gauge and has yet to be comprehensively surveyed. It is generally accepted that a plurality of the population adheres to some form or another of Arzalism, with most of the rest adhering to M'acunism or to highland tribal religions, though the boundaries between these three traditions are not clear-cut and overlap is believed to be considerable. [The Hailstorm God of the tribes].


 * in the NS Raider theology sense

Economy
The tribal societies of Upper Atrassic Crona operate a traditional subsistence economy attuned to the particular conditions of local ecosystems. Although archæological evidence and oral traditions attest to the native peoples having developed more complex and stratified economic systems in the past, it appears that centuries of Varshani subjugation destroyed and have hirtherto prevented the reëmergence of proto-cities and long-distance commerce.

Settlements of Note

 * Akuaśikola (Aquashicola)
 * Neskuéhonin (Nesquehoning)
 * Vallenpápak (Wallenpaupack)
 * Hoptakóngarin (Hopatcong)