Chakailan

Free State of Chakailan Cha'kail'aanan Nes'thuz'aa
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Suvwi'ad go'vad suvwi'an tu'lu ("Light the torch to freedom")
Capital and largest city	T'laa'nah
Official languages	Hieratic Varshani
Demonym(s)	Chakailani
Government	Your government type
• Your head of state	Joe Blow
• Your head of government if applicable, otherwise a legislative leader	Jane Blow
• A legislative leader of a different house, if applicable	Georgw Blow
• Upper house	Your upper house
• Lower house	Your lower house
Establishment
• Treaty of Electorsbourg	2024
• Basic Charter of Government adopted	2026
Population
• Estimate	282,401
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$288,613,822
• Per capita	$1,022
Currency	Cronan lira (de facto)

Chakailan, officially the Free State of Chakailan, is a country in Crona. It is neighbored by Varshan, Titechaxha, Telonaticolan, and Mid-Atrassic Crona.

The nation was established by the Treaty of Electorsbourg as an independent nation at the end of the Final War of the Deluge. The territory was part of Varshan prior to the conflict, and its history is inexorably linked to that of Varshan and slavery within Varshan. Prior to its incorporation into Varshan, the land was sparsely populated territory of the people of Telonaticolan, to whom the original tribes of the area were distantly related. However, the local mountain tribes often interacted with runaway slaves, and this area became well known as a slave escape route out of Varshan in the 19th century. A strong local culture between the tribes and slaves was established. Reduction of fugitive slavery became a top Varshani priority and the land was taken along with the other Telonaticolani lands in 1894. The area continued to be a choice area for the Anzo government to enslave and also a location where many slaves unable to work - such as the elderly or crippled - were deposited in the rare cases where they were not exterminated. The area became home to a unique people and culture with global influences due to the reach of Varshani slavery.

Geography

Chakailan occupies a mountainous position east of Varshan and west of Telonaticolan, occupying one of the central mountain ridges that divides north central Crona. Accordingly, the country is primarily comprised of mountains and highlands and has a relatively cool climate with strong winds blowing over much of the country. The mountains form a "V" shape at the southeastern and southwestern border of the country, separating it from the eastern highlands of Varshan. In the middle, a relatively flat but elevated region exists where most human settlement occurs.

History

Pre-Varshani history

Little is known about the people and history of the area of modern Chakailan other than it was largely under the influence of the more numerous and prosperous Telonaticolan people, and most maps up until the Varshani integration of the territory include it as part of Telonaticolan. Genetic testing and scholarship have shown that its original tribal inhabitants were distantly related to the "mainline" population of Telonaticolani people and the area was likely settled by proto-Telonaticolanis during antiquity. Much of the history of the region is known by reputation. Both Telonaticolani and Varshani histories make note of the ruggedness of these mountain nomad tribes, with individuals from the area making excellent scouts and guides through the central mountain ranges of Crona. Efforts by the Telonaticolani to pacify and more directly incorporate the region failed in both the 1820s and 1840s, as they were repulsed by means of large and well set ambushes and rudimentary but well located static defenses. The relative separation from Varshan but few passes that existed made it a popular area for slaves to flee from Varshani control, and the accounts of escaped slaves from the period indicate the tribes were receptive to these people and even welcomed some into their tribes. Several Varshani raiding and slave hunting parties entered the region throughout its history, with most being repulsed. As early as 1860, Occidental visitors who traveled to the remote area that would become Chakailan noticed many non-indigienous among them and even one Occidental escaped slave having been incorporated into the local peoples, leading modern scholars to suspect that the unique cultural interchange that formed the modern Chakailani people began well before the Varshani occupation.

Annexation into Varshan

Slaves began exiting Varshan through Chakailan in increased numbers in the late 1800s spurned on by increasing disloyalty to Anzo from Telonaticolan, whose people began to openly welcome escaped slaves and began to settle them throughout the country. In 1891, Varshan invaded Telonaticolan, burned its capital, enslaved most of its army and political leadership, and annexed the teritory of Chakailan and other territories in western Telonaticolan. The tribes of the Chakailan area fought bravely and inflicted significant casualties but were defeated by overwhelming Varshani force. Many of the men and warriors of the tribes were sent into slavery, leaving behind the women and children. Many of the Telonaticolani slaves who were too weak or sick to continue on were left behind by Varshani forces in the care of the Chakailan-area tribes.

Independence

Chakailan was established as an independent state by the Treaty of Electorsbourg with an explicit recognition of the unique culture that emerged in the territory with further expectation of additional slave resettlement in the future. Following its independence, it became geopolitically aligned with both Kiravia and Urcea.

Culture

Chakailani culture is an eclectic blend of many different cultural traditions, with local tribal customs forming a cultural baseline on which the traditions of many different groups of former enslaved people from across the world have introduced new traditions and mores.

Symbols

The torch and torches are used in Chakailan as a symbol of liberation, as paths lit by torchlight are associated with the road to freedom from slavery. Accordingly, torch imagery has become closely associated with Chakailani culture and is pictured on the flag and coat of arms of the newly established state and is also alluded to in the state's motto, "Light the torch to freedom."

Demographics

Linguistic Demographics

The majority of residents of Chakailan speak a lower caste variant of Hieratic Varshani, though a handful of native languages which are related to it are spoken by isolated mountain tribes.

Religious Demographics

Religious affiliations in Chakailan (2028)

  Solar Arzalism/Heliolatry (38.7%)

  Folk Atheism (22.9%)

  M'acunism (15.6%)

  Catholic (7.6%)

  Various folk beliefs (15.2%)

The Chakailani people have a wide variety of religious beliefs as a result of their historical ties to servitude in Varshan. A plurality of the people are adherents of a folk variety of Solar Arzalism, though scholars believe a separate heliolatristic folk religious tradition may be included within these statistics. The second largest group of people are what can best be described as "folk atheists" - a position with no definitive philosophical or scientific arguments against the existence of a God, but rather a lived experience leading to religious nihilism. Among the relatively small but growing educated classes of Chakailan, an effort to import M'acunism into the country is underway, though some former slaves and mountain tribes are also original adherents of the faith. Catholic missionaries made minor inroads with both the native population and returning slaves during and after the Final War of the Deluge, contributing to a small but notable Christian population in the country. The remaining part of the population - about 15% - adhere to a wide variety of folk mythologies, slave religions, obscure tribal faiths not yet categorized by Occidental sociologists, and other various local traditions.

Economy

Chakailan has a very small economy, and its people are considered among the poorest in the world. The primary sectors are subsistence agriculture and nomadic pastoral herding. The economy of Chakailan is such that its government is not sufficiently strong enough or have enough credit to issue a currency. In the more remote parts of the country, barter is the primary form of exchange, but the government uses Cronan lira as its de facto currency for internal and external transactions. Chakailan is very under-urbanized, with a large, central city only presently under construction as a project of the new state - T'laa'nah, which means "liberty", - which also serves as the nation's capital. Few transportation networks or systems allow travel throughout the country, with a highway and rail network system emanating out of the city of T'laa'nah, which is under construction.