Sarolasta

Sarolasta (Saxon: "Moonlight") is a theme of the Kiravian Federacy comprising an island chain south of Crona in the Polynesian Sea, centred on the main island of Grand Sarolasta and including five smaller island groups to its north and south.

Sarolasta
Flag
Country	Kiravian Federacy
Capital	Sebiunuova
Population	8,341,536
President	D.H. Fanakatin
Chair of the Council	A.D. Vikontarév
Stanora seats	23
Official languages	High Coscivian
Postal Abbreviation	N/A

Geography

Sarolasta comprises 25 major islands and hundreds of lesser islets and atolls too small to appear on most world maps, most of which are not permanently inhabited but may be visited by humans for traditional ritual or fishing purposes, or for military, meteorological, or conservation activities. The islands are delimited into five cardinal island groups (deva-èsoxoron), listed below in order from north to south:

• Sarao (Saraö) - Four major islands
• Marian Isles (Varyaīonya) - Twelve major islands, subdivided among three subgroups
• Grand Sarolasta (Ambrisarolastaīon) - By far the largest and most populated and developed island, with outlying satellite islets
• Songva-Ngatra (Songva-Ēngatra) - Group of four major islands directly south of Grand Sarolasta's Tarunua Peninsula
• Katorue (Katoruév) - Remote group of three major islands far to the southeast of Songva, with which it is culturally and historically associated.

The archipelago spans approximately 1,430 miles (1,243 nautical miles) from north to south. This is roughly equivalent to the distance from the southernmost point of Great Kirav at Point Prevalka to Glenross, Devahoma.

The archipelago is of volcanic origin and composed primarily of igneous rock and coral. There are three active surface volcanoes in Sarolasta, all on Grand Sarolasta, as well as two known volcanically active seamounts in the thematic waters.

Straddling the equator, the entire archipelago has a tropical maritime climate, with high temperatures and heavy precipitation year-round. It is well-within the hurricane belt, and cyclonic tropical storms are a major natural hazard.

Provinces

Flag	Province	Class	Island Group	Capital	Population (2030 Census)
	Rakitea	Overseas State	Grand Sarolasta	Siguatera	1,251,230
	Central Sarolasta	Overseas Territory	Grand Sarolasta	Aseréxev	1,251,230
	Tanimbar	Overseas Territory	Grand Sarolasta	Ragatanga	1,251,230
	Leviti	Overseas State	Grand Sarolasta	Leviti City	1,251,230
	Tarunua	Overseas Territory	Grand Sarolasta	Mahavi	1,251,230
	Ngatra (Ēngatra)	Overseas State	Songva-Ngatra	Halotisar	1,251,230
	Katorue	Overseas Territory	Katorue	Taigovæloa	278,051
	Marian Isles	Overseas Territory	Marian Isles	Nív-Vincentius	278,051
	Sarao	Overseas Territory	Sarao	Tiuemuv	278,051

Natural Environment

Sarolasta is easily the most biodiverse region of the Kiravian Federacy, hosting a large number of endemic flora and fauna, in both terrestrial and marine environments. The balance between economic growth and environmental conservation has been a perennial political issue.

The waters around the outlying Katorue island group are noted for the unusually high frequency of wholphins (natural hybrids of Tursiops truncatus and Pseudorca crassidens) found there. The reasons for this remain mysterious and are currently being studied by the Mérosar-based Cetacean Institute.

History

Pre-Colonial

The islands that would become Sarolasta began to be populated by ancient Polynesians around 2400 BC. Racially and ethnolinguistically, the first wave of Polynesian settlers were of Little Polynesian stock. They were later partially displaced by a second wave of Greater Polynesian stock migrating out from what is now Stenza around 1450 BC. Greater Polynesians would conquer and settle primarily in modern-day Svonga-Ngatra, Tarunua, and Leviti State, and explorers from Svonga-Ngatra would later sail south to colonise the remote Katorue archipelago.

In the outer islands, geographic and ecological constraints arrested the political development of indigenous societies beyond the level of chiefdoms, and a relatively egalitarian society regulated primarily through kinship networks would remain in place there until the colonial era. On Grand Sarolasta, however, the more agriculturally productive areas of the island supported the establishment of more complex and stratified polities which Occidental scholars distinguish from mere chiefdoms as principalities.

Colonial

In 1564 AD, the Imperial Bank of Kintær's Austral Ocean Armada under the command of Levar Trimartolon anchored at Kapenga Island in modern-day Sarao, lingering for several weeks to make repairs, replenish supplies, and sample the local flavours. Trimartolon claimed Kapenga for the Marble Emperor but did nothing to secure this claim before continuing on his journey. Over the next several decades, further Kiravian expeditions were dispatched to the archipelago. Samarius Tulorikvan circumnavigated Grand Sarolasta and led an expedition that explored the coasts of eastern Tanimbar, Rakitea, and Tarunua in 1570. Kiravian colonisation of Sarolasta began in earnest in 1572 AD with the construction of a stockade by Ivo Siguatera on the site of modern-day Kanoka Point in Tarunua, followed shortly afterward by the establishment of Dun-Kurrengev by the Kerēgulan Merchants of the Tropics. The farming societies of the coastal lowlands were prolific producers of yams, both normal yams and the purple variety. The former were desirable as a nutrient-rich food source for oceangoing vessel crews and plantation workers in Vallos and South Crona, and the latter fascinated Kiravians with their rich and unusual colour, positively mesmerising these beleaguered sailors from a grey and hazy boreal homeland.

On non-company lands, on Grand Sarolasta Kiravian authorities implemented the iktarsér system, revived from the Kiravian fœdal era, designating colonial notables, servitors, and coöperative local chiefs or petty kings as iktarnur who were responsible for collecting taxes in kind and maintaining order on behalf of the Confederation and Emperor. Absentee landlordship by individuals and families was forbidden, the Colonial College having observed from experience in South Crona that ownserhip of colonial land by Kiravians residing in the metropole was inconducive to stability and did not encourage permanent settlement or efficient land use. The indigenous population, in turn, was subjected to forced labour by the iktarnur to make the heavy tribute payments. Kiravian missionaries, particularly members of the Jesuit, Franciscan, and Augustinian orders, played a crucial role in the colonisation process. They engaged in extensive missionary activities, establishing churches and missions throughout the archipelago, and converting the local population to Christianity. This religious conversion became a cornerstone of Kiravian influence, intertwining spiritual practices with the dynamics of colonial rule. The rich imagery and pageantry of Catholic liturgy and strong social incentives to gain access to the colonial society's dominant institutions were major drivers of conversions, as were the humanitarian works of the missionaries, who were often the only Coscivians to whom the natives could turn to for protection from abuses and excesses on the part of other colonising forces.

On the outer islands, colonial rule was much more relaxed: the Kiravian presence in the outer isles during this time was not characterized by large-scale settlements or extensive colonisation efforts, unlike their endeavours in South Crona or on Grand Sarolasta. Instead, it was more focused on establishing a religious and cultural footprint in the region, oriented toward maintaining social stability and encouraging local loyalty to the Emperor in order to help retain strategic control of the islands and make them less likely to fall into the hands of rival powers. In the outer isles, as on the "Big Isle", the establishment of missions, though not without challenges, led to the conversion of local populations to Catholicism. The Kiravian influence in the outer isles during this period was largely centred on these religious and cultural undertakings, as well as the erection and garrisonment of defensive works. Missionaries also contributed to the documentation of the Songvan-Katoruegian and Lesser Polynesian languages, creating grammars and dictionaries that remain valuable historical primary sources. The New Testament was first fully translated into an i̳ndigenous Sarolastan language - Wūjae - in 1636 AD, albeit an indirect translation from the High Coscivian.

The superposition of Coscivian languages and literary culture, Coscivian Catholicism, and Coscivian customs (such as tuva) had a profound impact on Sarolastan society, shaping not only the religious and cultural landscape but also influencing governance structures and societal norms. The process of Kiravian colonization established a framework that endured for centuries, contributing to the complex amalgamation of i̳ndigenous and Coscivian influences that characterize modern Sarolastan identity.

In August of 1664 by the Gregorian calendar, the Siege of Dun-Kurrengev began, lasting for over a year until late 1665.

Colonial Commerce

As the Age of the Sail unfolded, the ports of Sarolasta became wealthy entrepôts in the long-range trade routes linking Great Kirav to Alshar, Audonia, and the Post-Stenzan space. Strategically positioned in the Polynesian Sea, Sarolasta's ports served as conduits for the trade of silk, spices, porcelain, and other luxury goods from Audonia, and the reciprocal flow of liquor, ice, firearms, asbestos, precious stones, glasswork, more liquor, and other manufactures from Kiravia.

There was also extensive bilateral trade between Sarolasta and Tierrador during the colonial period. A significant share of the surplus value derived from trade in the colonial ports went toward purchasing various provisions from Tierrador.

Sunderance

After the Socialist victory in the Kiravian Civil War, Sarolasta remained in the hands of the Federalists and would form part of the Kiravian Remnant. Orthodox Marxism and Kirosocialism, with their urban-industrial proletarian focus and anticlerical tendencies, never caught on in the Catholic agrarian archipelago. However, in its weakened state the Federalist government of the Remnant feared that anti-colonial nationalism, liberation theology, and the designs of rival colonial powers threatened its control of Sarolasta. Sarolasta was now more important to the Kiravian overseas network than ever before: After Æonara and Kiravian Cusinaut, it was the Remnant's third most populous region, held important natural resources, and helped strategically maintain communications with Cusinaut and the Saxalins. The need to bolster Sarolastans' loyalty to the rump Federacy formed the impetus behind the Sarolasta Reform Act, which transformed the position of the Sarolastan provinces from a subordinate colonial relationship to one of integration into the National patrimony. Colonial governments were semi-democratised, greater authority was devolved to the provincial and local levels, a schedule for the admission of the larger provinces as full states of the Federacy was set. Perhaps most interestingly, the Act directed the Prime Executive to exercise Imperial prerogative in order to declare the majority of the native population as Coscivians. That is to say that native tribes who practiced monogamy and monotheism and adopted the Four Rites and Four Precepts were to be reclassified as Coscivian tuva. Their chiefs would be recognised as vassals of the Marble Emperor, and they would be enrolled in one of the Seven Nations and become Kotakoskem. The Act also removed a number of legal disabilities applied to the remaining non-Coscivian native populations.

Post-Reunification

It was after Kiravian Reunification in 1985 and implementation of the Restoration Constitution that the provinces of Sarolasta were organised into a theme and given the collective title of "Commonwealth" within the Kiravian Federacy. This allowed for Sarolasta to be treated as a special and distinct unit for the purpose of extension of federal policies such as customs and migration.

The 1990 AD eruption of Mount Pelé in Central Province was a major disaster for the region, killing a confirmed 912 people and wreaking havoc on local agriculture, infrastructure, and ecology, destroying twelve villages and thousands of kektares of farmland and biodiverse tropical highland forest. The eruption triggered the largest-ever mobilisation of the Kiravian Civil Defence agency to manage its aftermath, an effort complicated by the impact of volcanic ash on aviation. Many Sarolastans living in the vicinity of Mount Pelé were critical of the federal response, putting forward demands for more funding to be devolved to provincial emergency management agencies. Nonetheless, despite governmental shortcomings, strong Kiravian media attention to the eruption and an outpouring of donations to the relief effort from Kiravians in other regions is believed to have strengthened Kiravian-Sarolastan solidarity.

Contemporary Sarolasta remains the poorest and least-developed of the Kiravian themes, though its growth indicators and standards of living have been steadily improving. It is considered a better investment area than Sydona (where economic growth is carried by the energy sector) and many inland provinces of Great Kirav. It struggles with high rates of emigration to more developed parts of the Federacy, resulting in brain-drain that hinders its progress in entering more knowledge-intensive industries.

Greater freedom of public expression since Kiravian Reunification has opened discursive spaces to Polynesian Sarolastans challenging the prevailing capitalist order, the hegemony of kotakoskix identity, and the legitimacy of Kiravian sovereignty over the archipelago. All sectors of Sarolastan society have welcomed the cultural dimension of Polynesian Revival to one extent or another, though political manifestations of this movement are more controversial and divisive.

Governance and Politics

Rakitea State Capitol building in Siguatera

Sarolasta is one of five themes of the Kiravian Federacy and Collectivity, the alongside the Federation, South Kirav, Sydona, the Melian Isles, and the Overseas Regions. The states and territories that make up Sarolasta have, by compact, created a Commonwealth Council and President of the Commonwealth to exercise thematic functions. The Commonwealth Council comprises the ranking members of the state and territorial legislatures, as well as the relevant subset of provincial cabinet officials relating to each issue under consideration by the Council. The President of the Commonwealth is elected by plurality vote every 42 months. To secure election, a candidate must secure at least one-quarter (250‰) of the vote in at least six out of the nine provinces; if no candidate achieves this, a runoff among the three highest-polling candidates is held. The President of the Commonwealth has some *pro forma* duties regarding the certification of federal electoral votes and thematic resolutions, in addition to serving as a public advocate for the people of Sarolasta. The Presidency and Council are both based in Sebiunuova, Leviti.

Due to its strong adherence to Catholicism and demand for higher social spending and development aid, Sarolasta is a stronghold for the Caritist Social Union in elections to the Stanora, often electing candidates of a pronounced Social Christian ideological bent that reinforce the fiscal left wing of the caucus. Indeed, during the Sunderance the Christian Democratic Party (predecessor of the CSU) vote was concentrated so heavily in Sarolasta that the CDP came to be seen as a de facto Sarolastan regional interest party within the National Reunification Front. The two main anti-integration parties in contemporary Sarolasta are the Polynesian Union (Catholic-socialist and autonomist) and the Tutuola National Front (Micronesian-socialist and sovereigntist).

Public Order, Security, and Defence

Policing and public order are the responsibility of the individual provinces. Each province has a provincial police force. In Katorue, the Marian Isles, Ngatra, and Sarao, this is the only police force, whereas in the Grand Sarolastan provinces there are local police departments at the countyship level as well, and in Rakitea there are statutory provisions for municipal and village police.

The Sarolastan Commonwealth Navy, an interprovincial agency established by compact, serves as the common coast guard for the entire archipelago.

Society and Culture

Ethnicity and Ancestry

The majority of the Sarolastan population is of indigenous Austronesian stock with some degree of colonial Coscivian (farakoskix) admixture. 25-32% are fully or primarily of "Sea Coscivian" ancestry. There are many specific kolakoskem ethnicities formed by intermarriage between one Coscivian subgroup and one indigenous people, in a fascinating confluence of the Coscivian tuva system with indigenous tribal networks. The largest of these hybrid communities are the Paisonic-Aymang and Paisonic-Ailmao. The Sea Coscivian contribution to the Sarolastan cultural mélange is provided mainly by Paisonic, Lusan, Kastrovan, Eskean, Tebnan, Kerēgulan, Vèuskan, Kalvertan, Marine, Lúnstan, Æonaran/Umcaran, and Westcoastmarine/Serradan Coscivians. There is also a degree of Tierradorian admixture in some kolakoskem populations.

Unmixed Austronesians account for most of the remainder of the population that are not part of the Coscivian macroëthnicity. Most of the populations of the outer islands (except the Katorue archipelago) remain fully Austronesian in terms of ancestry, identity, and culture. On Grand Sarolasta, pockets of pure Austronesian habitation are found in certain areas, often coastal and invariably rural.

Beyond the Coscivian and indigenous populations, various minority groups exist. The largest of these is made up of Sarolastans of Daxian or mixed Daxian-Austronesian descent, followed by Sarolastans of Tierradorian or mixed Tierradorian-Austronesian descent outside of the Coscivian matrix. Metzei and Sarpo-Levantine people (a plurality of them Sintalians) can be found in major urban centres.

Immigrant communities of Polynesians with roots outside the archipelago have also settled in Sarolasta. For example, some 1,896 ethnic Loa belonging to the Uelamanpu'ue Clan live mostly in Leviti. Sarolasta also harbours a significant share of the Polynesian Sea Muslim diaspora.

During the exile period, the Federalist government implemented major reforms on Sarolasta to prevent separatism and rebellion. This included recognising all native and miscegenated communities practicing monotheism, monogamy, tuva, and other essential Coscivian cultural hallmarks as Coscivians before the law, and inviting their customary princes and chieftains to pledge fealty to the Basswood Emperor. As such, there is something of a discrepancy between the robust majority of Sarolastans administratively classified as Coscivians and the share of Sarolastans who perceive themselves as socially integrated into Coscivian-Sarolastan society.

Religion

76% of Sarolastans adhere to the Catholic Church, overwhelmingly to the Coscivian Rite. Minority Christian sects include the Coscivian Orthodox and Independent Orthodox churches, Æglasta-i-Xristul, and Mormonism. Some Kastrovans and Kastrovan-Kolakoskem are Insular Apostolic. Among the Farakoskem population there are minorities adhering to Ruricanism, Iduanism, and Komarism.

Sarolasta has a multiethnic Muslim community that includes Kebavem (Coscivian Muslims), Loa Muslims, members of the Polynesian Sea Muslim diaspora, and several dozen families of Zhuhen Daxian origin.

Social Organisation

The Polynesian population of Sarolasta maintains a fairly standard system of kinship, tribalism, and chieftaincy similar to other indigenous peoples of the region. The native system of tribes and chiefdoms has been partially absorbed into the Coscivian tuva system among those communities who were naturalised during the mid-20th century pursuant to the Sarolasta Reform Act.

Polynesian languages of Sarolasta employ classical Polynesian kinship terminology, also known as a "generational system" of kin reckoning.

Language

Sarolasta is a highly multilingual and polyglot country. Among the most common mother tongues in the theme are the three to seven large indigenous Polynesian languages of Grand Sarolasta, each with several dialects. Polynesian languages with smaller speech communities - the local languages of Tarunua State and the outer island groups further contribute to the archipelago’s linguistic diversity. A collection of mixed languages and creoles arising from language contact between Polynesian and Coscivian tongues are spoken in particular microregions and mesoregions and serve as markers of local and *tuva* identity, particularly for kolakoskem and mestiśuya. Multiple languages of Kiravian origin are spoken among the farakoskix population. Finally, languages like Daxian, Trukese, Qabóri, and Metzei are used as home and social languages within their respective communities.

Most of the i̳ndigenous languages of Sarolasta belong to clades nested under the Lesser Polynesian phylum. These include the Tangilu language spoken mainly in Tanimbar, Wūjae spoken mainly in Rakitea, and Kurup̆u spoken mainly in Leviti State (considered by some to be three distinct languages). Songvan, the majority language of Ngatra, and the Katoruean language of Katorue belong instead to the Greater Polynesian phylum. Smaller Polynesian languages are in use in the Marian Isles to the north of Big Sarolasta (each atoll cluster having its own language), equatorial Sarao (Saraöese), and Tarunua (several languages).

Since 1972 at the latest, all of the Polynesian languages of Sarolasta have one form or another of official status in the provinces where they are traditionally spoken. In Sarao and the Marian Isles, the local language is used uniformly in all domains of life and is the language of local administration. On Grand Sarolasta, the major Polynesian languages coëxist and cross-pollinate with languages of overseas (that is, colonial) origins and with one another, forming a complex and fascinating linguistic ecosystem. Bi-, tri-, and multi-lingualism is very common among Sarolastans of all ethnic backgrounds - very few people raised on Grand Sarolasta are truly monolingual. Accordingly, one often encounters code switching and macaronism in everyday interactions. In such an environment, the choice of language to use in a particular situation is highly variable and context-dependent; nonetheless, the major Polynesian languages are widely employed in lower education, broadcast media, print media, popular literature, and local government.

A growing camp of linguists approach the major Polynesian and Polynesian-derived lects of Sarolasta as spanning an acrolect-basilect continuüm: Many observable gradations exist, without discrete boundaries between them, but for illustrative purposes, it can be said that the familiar “village speech” most reliably encountered in casual contexts in rural upland and fishing villages, or in the colloquial speech of the outer island groups, represent the most basilectal, most “purely Polynesian” registers, whereïn Coscivian influence is minimal and confined to clear lexical borrowings. Toward the upper-middle levels of the scale, one locates the “town speech” and “television/radio speech”, the koiné registers of the major Polynesian languages as used between strangers in the towns, and for more formal and mediatised communication with general audiences (au grand public). The modern literary forms of the major Polynesian languages most closely resemble “town speech/radio speech”. One particularly cunning linguist, Eironym Ithkuimaldrin, describes the Coscivian influence on “radio speech” thus:

Refer to the glossed and annotated morning news broadcast transcripts from Mangiláv Public Radio in Tanimbar State on pp. 67-71. This example is in the Tangilu language, but in the features with which we are concerned it is representative of all modern-formal-general Polynesian speech throughout Grand Sarolasta. As you will hopefully observe with the aid of my colour-coded bold annotations and the background knowledge of Coscivian sprachbund vocabulary that you would need to read this book in the first place, formal-general Tangilu undertakes wholesale borrowing of Coscivian words and whole phrases, as well as some clear absorptions of select Coscivian phonemes alien to the native sound inventory. Yet when we look beyond lexicon alone, we see that this borrowing is linguistically superficial: In virtually all cases of borrowing, Coscivian words are forced to conform to the Tangilu sound system in predictable, computable ways. Even more apparent is that the Coscivian languages have exerted virtually no effect at all on Tangilu grammar. Thus is is not only the skeleton of the language that has remained intact, as is often the case in the creolised dialects of colonised lands, but also a great deal of proverbial flesh and, even more importantly, connective sinews.

— Eironym Ithkuimaldrin, Sarolasta in Socio-Linguistic Profile

And yea I say unto thee, at the uppermost levels of the continuüm one finds the proper creoles of the large colonial urban centres, such as Sarolasdra, Mahavi, Sebiunuova. At this end of the spectrum, it becomes progressively harder to identify the registers in question as still belonging to the same language as the “village speech” and “radio speech” to which they are historically related and socially adjacent, on account of the more pervasive relexification by Coscivian and the preservation of Coscivian syntactic and grammatical elements in many fixed phrases.

Conceptually, one can also place at or near end of the continuüm the truly mixed languages spoken by the discrete mestiço tuva communities among the kolakoskem. However, locating these languages along the same axis as the previously described categories of lects is somewhat problematic for two reasons: First, from a sociolinguistic perspective, the native speakers of most of the mestiço languages constitute distinct speech communities separate from the those of their respective Polynesian “parent” languages. The two are mutually unintelligible, and fairly symmetrically so; bilingualism between a mestiço language and its parent is by no means uncommon, but it is invariably acquired by conscious effort and does not arise intuitively from an abundance of salient similarities. Second, studies agree that within a given mestiço language, there is no significant basilect-acrolect continuüm: Lexical variance among speech registers is statistically indistinguishable from what we see in “unmixed” languages, and there is no variation in phonology, grammar, or other linguistic aspects. Third, it can be difficult to compare lexical borrowing in the mestiço languages on one hand and the and “pure” Polynesian languages + urban creoles together on the other. This is because they borrow from different Coscivian source languages: Throughout the archipelago, there is a consistent pattern of the Polynesian languages borrowing from the same select Coscivian languages - Maritime Coscivian, High Coscivian, and Kiravic Coscivian - and drawing on each of those languages in much the same proportions at the same historical strata and semantic fields. Maritime Coscivian loans cluster in the earlier strata and in the fields of tradeable and practical objects, trade and occupations, and immediate social relations; direct High Coscivian loans fill out the middle strata dating to the main durée of the pre-Sunderance colonial period and dominate abstract nouns, academic terminology, literary and poetic synonyms, and of course the Christian religion; Kiravic loans become more frequent in more recent superstrata from the mid-20th century AD onward and account for the bulk of vocabulary related to high technology and mechanically reproduced mass culture. In contrast, the core Coscivian influences in mestiço languages come from or through one specific Coscivian ethno-regional vernacular, such as Paisonic, Kastrovan, or Eskean, with only secondary influences from the generalised acrolectic Sarolastan palette. Additionally, in the mestiço languages the Coscivian lexical contribution is more evenly distributed across semantic fields; for example, even in the most acrolectic Polynesian registers and the most heavily relexified creoles, terms related to agriculture, food, home life, family, and the natural environment are still nigh uniformly Polynesian in origin, whereas in the mestiço tongues a fair amount of Coscivian vocabulary can be found even in these domains.

Uniquely, High Coscivian is the primary literary language of Sarolasta. Whereas in other parts of the Coscivian world High Coscivian is widely and actively used as a classical, academic, liturgical, and legal language, and for other specialised but continually relevant purposes in modern times, and most university-educated people are literate in at least the Modern or Reformed register, national (e.g. Cape Coscivian, Kiravic Coscivian) and regional (e.g. South Coscivian, Eshavian Coscivian) vernaculars are the the main written language used in media/periodicals, business, literature, lower education, administration, and everyday life. In Sarolasta, however, High Coscivian (in a regional variation of the Reformed register) is used extensively in these same contexts, and most people with a secondary school education have at least an intermediate, working understanding of it. This came about as a result of several factors: the archipelago’s aforementioned diverse linguistic landscape and the absence of a single regional lingua franca before colonisation, the robust cultural and educational influence of the Coscivian Catholic Church and the centrality of its liturgy to communal life in converted localities, and linguistic diversity among the settler population and the lack of an ascendant ‘national’ language in Kiravia for most of the colonial period. Most native literary output during the earlier phase of colonial rule came from i̳ndigenous priests and seminarians, and later their own pupils in the formatories. Predictably, most of this corpus was written in High Coscivian, especially when writing in correspondence to clerics of different tribal backgrounds or for a tribally diverse public readership. Even when Sarolastans wrote in their native tongues, which they also did, as native literacy was a priority for the missions, they did so borrowing liberally from High Coscivian vocabulary. At first, these loans related mainly to semantic fields such as Christian theology, public administration, and technologies introduced by the colonists, but as time went on Sarolastan native authors were wont to pepper their prose with High Coscivian loans to signal their own erudition.

Cuisine

Breadfruit or "tree potato"

Taro

Purple yam

The cuisine of Sarolasta remains fundamentally and predominantly Polynesian in character, with moderate influence from Farakoskix, Daxian, and Vallote cuisine.
The staples of the Sarolastan diet are starchy tropical fruits and roots - chiefly breadfruit, known to Coscivians as errūēln or "tree potato", as well as taro, the charismatic purple yam, and coconut - alongside the main sources of protein, which are pork and (of course) seafood. This nutritional base is supplemented by greens, a wide variety of tropical fruits (including pineapple, mango, banana, eddoes, dragonfruit, and papaya), spices, and rice (mainly imported). Many of these essential foodstuffs are fermented or dried for preservation. Cooking traditionally takes place over an open flame or in an earth oven, though in modern times Coscivian-style charcoal stoves and modern gas-electric appliances are increasingly utilised.

Sport

Least athletic Sarolastan

Gridiron football is extremely popular in Sarolasta, and is played nigh-universally among males at every level from beachside pickup games to professional play. Sundays in Sarolasta revolve around Mass, large picnic lunches prepared by and enjoyed among extended families, and pro football. The archipelago is an enormous bench of talent, providing many players to professional leagues in Æonara, the Kiravian Mainland, and Tierrador. A regional professional league, the Football Championship of Sarolasta (FCS) meets the demand for high-quality ball in Sarolasta and its games are well-attended, though it is considered inferior to its counterparts in larger Kiravian regions, as the best Sarolasta-bred players tend to gravitate toward those leagues in search of better opportunities and higher salaries. Two college football leagues, the Landgrant League (made up of state universities) and the Catholic Collegiate League (made up of Catholic universities), play on Saturdays and are considered near-peers to the FCS.

Other sports popular in Sarolasta include rugby and more rugby.

Tanantovea, near Mahavi, has a curling club. Each season, the members of the club go to the local reservoir and toss a stone in to see if the ice is strong enough to play. Since the water never freezes, they go for brunch instead and raise the toast ‘We shall play one day’.

Kava

Kava culture is widespread in Sarolasta and is an important element of native community life, conserved even among the more thoroughly Coscivised segment of the native population.

Extracted from the root of the kava plant, Piper methysticum, the preparation of the kava beverage involves the manual grinding of the root with a volcanic stone mortar and pestle into a powder, which is subsequently mixed with water. The resultant concoction carries earthy undertones and, when consumed during ceremonies, elicits a mild sedative effect, fostering a calm atmosphere and acting as a social lubricant. Given these properties, it should be unsurprising that the preparation and consumption of kava is a communal affair for Sarolastans, and has taken on ritual significance. The preparation process, involving the sequential grinding and mixing, serves as a tactile ritual usually performed by a small group, usually bonded already by kinship ties. The kava beverage is presented and blessed by a chief or elder, and then served at their direction from a communal bowl to drinkers from a communal cup, usually fashioned from a coconut shell. Drinkers are seated in a circular arrangement on pandan leaf mats, and customarily accept the cup with both hands, drink in a single gulp, and then clap their hands together once in appreciation. This ritual is repeated as the bowl is passed around the circle until the kava is depleted or everyone passes out. The consumption of kava is accompanied by social interaction, with participants engaging in conversation, storytelling, or traditional chants. The communal setting fosters a sense of camaraderie and shared experience. The kava ceremony concludes with a formal acknowledgment or expression of gratitude. The elder may offer closing remarks, and participants may exchange farewells.

In Coscivian languages, kava is referred to using derivatives the Polynesian loans сакáуѵ or янгона, to avoid confusion with the common Coscivian verbal noun каѵа.

Economy

Sarolasta has a middle-income, newly-industrialising emerging market economy. With the passage of the Common Market (Sarolasta) Act of 2024, the provinces of the Sarolastan theme form a single market with one another. Due to its special development needs, Sarolasta is administered as a distinct customs territory from the main Kiravian Customs Area (which encompasses the Federation, South Kirav, Èusa, and Atrassica). Although it is the least-developed part of the Kiravian Federacy, it has a stronger growth prospectus than many struggling industrial and agricultural provinces in Second and Third Kirav.

Brain drain of educated Sarolastan professionals to other Kiravian regions and abroad has been a major drag on the region's economic development. This is a particularly visible phenomenon in the medical field: In Cascada State, Sarolastan-born residents account for 9.12% of registered nurses and 23.46% of licensed physician's assistants, but only 2.52% of the total population. To mitigate this, the Sarolastan provinces and members of the Federal Stanora are working toward a programme that will expand tuition subsidies in certain technical fields at Sarolastan public universities, contingent upon students' commitment to work only in the Sarolastan theme for 10 years or else repay the cost of their education.

Agriculture

Sarolasta's equatorial climate, plentiful rainfall, and year-round growing season provide excellent conditions for tropical agriculture, almost all of which is concentrated on Grand Sarolasta and Songva-Ngatra. Storm damage to crops and agrarian infrastructure (especially drainage systems and mechanised equipment) is the primary risk factor for farming in the provinces, followed by pests and disease. Around one-quarter of the workforce is employed directly in agriculture, which underpins local economies clean across the archipelago. Maintaining stable agricultural incomes is a high policy priority for provincial and fedderal authorities, who consider rural conditions important to maintaining social cohesion and stability on the islands. Important staple crops include breadfruit, yams (purple and otherwise), taro, and sweet potato. Swine account for the vast majority of livestock raised in Sarolasta.

Much of Sarolasta's agricultural productivity is concentrated on large monoculture estates dedicated to cash crops such as pineapple, rubber, abaka, cane, nanners, oil palm, and coconut (mainly for copra). These were traditionally owned by very wealthy Farakoskem settler families, but most are now either owned by or sell directly to agribusiness corporations, such as Bay Orchards SAK (part of the BayTrade Group) and the KMT Group.

Sarolasta is a world leader in the production and export of abaka. Tanimbar, Leviti, and Rakitea are the top producers of eddoes in the Kiravian Federacy, followed by the other Sarolastan provinces and Seváronsa. Tanimbar alone accounts for 46% of the national output.

Fisheries

Milkfish is a major fishery and aquacultural product of Sarolasta and an equally major ingredient in Sarolastan cuisine

Fishing has been crucial to livelihood of this island region from the arrival of the first Austronesian settlers to the rise of modern mechanised pelagic trawling.

Industry

A large share of the Kiravian textile industry has become concentrated in Sarolasta, mainly on account of its much lower labour costs in comparison to other Kiravian regions. This industry is a major source of employment, particularly for women. Most production is for the wider Kiravian market and dominated by apparel, with a smaller share of finished textiles falling into the home goods and furnishings category. There are concerns that economic integration of Mid-Atrassic Crona could cause Sarolasta to lose its advantage as a Kiravian domestic textile producer.

A chemical plant in Rakitea produces 86% of all vanillyl alcohol in the Kiravian Federacy.