Corumm

To them, there are no states, only zones and territories, Peeter explains. Russia sees itself as being surrounded by vassals and ancillaries – there is no third option.

They’ll never come to terms with the breakup of the USSR,“ Mežviets says. As Russia’s leaders themselves have declared: Russia ends where it is stopped.

 

==Levantine Exploration==

Kiravian explorers were the first "occidentals" to make contact with the peoples of modern Rusana however from their introduction in the 1500s to the establishment of the Martillian Protectorate over the Kingdom of Lakadu it was often overlooked compared to the riches of Daxia. The Ularien Trading Company of Martilles first established contact with the Kingdom of Lakadu in 1616. With Kiravias well established trade with Daxia for far eastern goods the Martilliens negotiated a treaty with the Lakadui to secure ports at first for raiding Kiravian shipping as it passed westerward, laden with Daxian goods but eventually the privateers sought more. They obverved the resentments that the Lakadui held for their neighbors in Barpubad and offered to supply them with mercenaries and to instruct their armies in the lessons learned from the Great Confessional War. Throughout the 1620s and 30s the Lakadui and Barpubadi clashed in minor skirmishes in which the Lakadui became increasingly victorious. While the Levantines did not offer a superiour military product their doctrine of war was so foreign to that part of the world that it proved shocking to the Barpubadi. In a series of violent battles the Lakadui made massive gains into the islands south of Barpubad's coast. These islands long contested between Barpubad and Daxia were captured and an emissary was dispatched to the Emperor's court and a back to the King in Lakadu. In a master stroke the Martillien mercenaries sold the inner ring of islands to Daxia and formally opened relations with that nation, and also demonstrated to the King of Lakadu what could be achieved if he remanded more power to the Martilliens. In this masterstroke the Martilliens secured their future in the region and became friendly with the greatest power in Alshar, Daxia. Whereas the Kiravians were merely traders, the Martilliens offered concrete results to the Imperial Daxian Court. In 1650, the Kingdom of Lakadu was formalized as a protectorate of the Duchy of Martilles. This was only possible by brokering a treaty with the Daxian Court that recognized its sovereignty and promised to support Daxia in the event of an invasion from Barpudad, Ghanim, or the as yet unexplored Tanhai. For as long as the southeast coast Levantines maintained colonies in the area they respected this treaty, one of the only in that time.

With the Great Slavery Revolt on the western shores of Alshar the various colonial administrators had to make a choice as the revolt became a full-scale war, one that the Levantine colonists were losing badly. Would they cast their lot in with their fellow colonists, draining the defensive resources from their own colonies, ignore the plight of their brethren, try to balance both, or abandon their colonial ambitions altogether. The viceroy of Pyrithi Colony attempted to find a balance.