Balake

Blake Olea, commonly referred to as Balake or Blade, is an Eldham military commander, entrepreneur, and statesman from the Zamotian city of Shirokaneza. A leader of Shirokaneza, the Zamotz Union, and Velerin at varying points, he is considered to be one of the most important individuals in Onthukhan and Eldham history.
== Biography ==
Born somewhere in the rural lands of northwestern Zamotz, Blake was raised by an indigenous Shirokanezan family with ties to the early leadership of the peoples of Shirokaneza. Learning from the regional politics, Blake lived through both the Tesutsayi and Tesumasima periods of the island prior to entering any major positions in politics. During this period, the city of Shirokaneza saw an exponential growth of both the city structure and the equipment of its army. Shirokaneza also successfully forced the United Burgamerian Socialist Republic to fully withdraw from the region and grant Shirokaneza independence, before shortly after joining the Zamotz Union on favorable terms.
=== Early political and military career ===
Under Prime Minister Joseph Richardson's tenure, Blake served as both a Shirokanezan soldier and as a diplomat for the Zamotz Union. Fighting as a soldier in the War of the Black Flag and leading the Zamotz Union into the United Nations of Eldham, Blake quickly distinguished himself as a competent soldier and negotiator who was simultaneously an outsider to the central Zamotian government, never serving as a minister in the legislature. With these credentials, Blake decided to register and run for Prime Minister, aiming to win both the support of Shirokanezans and Royalists.
==== The Shirokanezan Divide ====
The province of Shirokaneza was projected to be the largest in terms of voter count by a wide margin. Any candidate that would be able to win a majority of votes here would have the clear advantage in winning the general election, provided that they also obtain sufficient support from other parts of the country. 
As a native to the province, Blake had an advantage in Shirokaneza compared to most other candidates, but faced a significant challenge from another Shirokanezan. MrFlipkin, a Shirokanezan member of the national Council of Ministers with considerable wealth and influence in the Zamotian government, had formed the Shiro Party. Designed as a party made to appeal to Shirokanezans, the party's agenda largely focused on expanding Shirokaneza's autonomy and authority within the Zamotz Union, as well as other minor proposals that largely worked to appease the Shirokanezan citizenry. Much of the election week focused on Blake and Flipkin's struggles over winning the Shirokanezan vote which, once were counted, would be closely split between the two candidates. 
==== Uniting the Royalist Vote ====
In order to defeat MrFlipkin in the elections, Blake had to broaden his support across the rest of the Zamotz Union, something which Flipkin would struggle to do under the Shiro Party platform. The biggest voting bloc by ideology and the most inclined to vote for Blake were the Royalists, a previously disorganized group that had begun organizing itself shortly before the election season began. By the time election week had begun and all candidates had declared themselves, the Royalist bloc of the Zamotz Union consolidated into two parties: 
* The Zamotz Monarchist Development Party (ZMDP), led by BadHoax and the predominant Royalist party at the time.
* The Zamotz National Monarchist Party (ZNMP), led by zzzwrite, a major yet secondary Royalist party in terms of party registration. 
Both parties had few differences in their policies and, beyond some disagreements between the party leaders, were virtually identical. However, with both BadHoax and zzzwrite running, they had begun to split the vote between one another, and struggled to present a unified Royalist voting bloc to match the massive base that MrFlipkin and Blake could rely on. Blake, sensing an opportunity, began to appeal to ZMDP voters as BadHoax failed to launch a large campaign to secure his voters. Winning the endorsement of two triumvirs (Okomi and Draphonaris), Blake would easily sway the ZMDP vote to his side, and eventually, BadHoax would formally withdraw from the race and announced the ZMDP's formal endorsement of Blake following a meeting in which party policy was discussed. Zzzwrite, meanwhile, intended to stay in the race to pursue his own agenda, but realized that Flipkin's massive base could only be challenged by a united Royalist vote. In spite of the ranked choice system, it was significantly more likely for Blake to win if all Royalists voted for him as their first choice. As such, on the lead-up to election day, zzzwrite withdrew from the race and announced a merge between the ZNMP and the ZMDP, thereby endorsing Blake. 
Blake's success in both uniting the Royalist vote and gaining a large share of the Shirokanezan voting bloc, alongside considerable popularity in both conservative Suuntur and non-Island provinces allowed him to win the election by a comfortable margin. 
=== First term as Prime Minister ===
Blake's tenure marked a sharp contrast from the term of his predecessor, Richardson. Whereas Richardson favored a more cautious and reserved foreign policy, Blake oversaw a dramatic increase in Zamotz's foreign ambitions in the wake of the country's massive victory against the Barbossan pirates. Moreover, Blake also oversaw an increase in the Union's land area and population, at the expense of domestic policy proposals. 
==== Expansionist Policies ====
Blake's administration had inherited a growing crisis in the Duchy of Wolfswood, at the time under the Kingdom of Avaria. A separatist rebel movement in the northwest of Wolfswood sought aid from the Zamotz Union's government in exchange for their entry into the Union, and they quickly received support from Zamotians within the island. Supporters of the rebels noted how Avaria had previously invaded the island of Zamotz, destroying the country of Bibshmibbia and triggering a wave of panic across the island that culminated into the Tesumasima. Detractors, on the other hand, saw the move as an overtly aggressive action that would damage Zamotz's reputation as an anti-colonist country, as well as noting the lack of justification that the rebels had to secede. Individuals on both extremes called on Blake to either obliterate Wolfswood or completely ignore the rebel's pleas. Ultimately, Blake was able to satisfy both sides: by aiding the rebels in taking a portion of land in a diplomatic settlement without collapsing Wolfswood, the Zamotz Union scored a crucial diplomatic victory without any significant escalation.
Beyond the Avarian situation, Blake also allowed for the Triumvirate to enjoy a greater degree of autonomy. He authorized Okomi's interventions during the Phoenix Crisis, ultimately overseeing most of Phoenia's entry into the Zamotz Union under the Phoenian rebel government, as well as Draphonaris' deals in Rathnir, which ultimately saw Helmia's entry into the Zamotz Union and the territorial peak of the Zamotz Union.
==== Militarist/Interventionist Policies ====
Triumvir White_Ren and the Shirokanezans, for their part, continued to participate in global conflicts across Eldham and began to fight in Rathnir.
Category:Traveler's Era