The Illud

The Illud Republic is a Kua Toa nation that broke away from the Deluvian Empire about 300 years ago and has been fighting a civil war ever since. Its current territory includes all of the ocean near the east and south-east of The Middle Kingdom as well as the Illud Highlands (which hold the capital city of Tor Gulut), with its control ending at the underwater Leviathan mountains. The Illud rebellion was was a reaction to the monarchical, theocratic and brutal nature of the Empire and sought to reform Kua Toa society. To this end, the Illud republic has rejected monarchy, the role of priests in government, the worship of Blibaal and ritual sacrifice of sentients.
Despite its republican government and rejection of ritual mass murder, the Illud Republic is not a democracy and is highly reliant on the enslavement of multiple sentient aquatic species for use in both the millitary and agriculture. This latter practice has greatly strained relations with the Republic's allies, especially the Elves, leading to Illud being commonly seen as a threat or "lesser evil" among terrestrial races despite their overall conciliatory stance. In theory, the Illud do not restrict the worship of any god besides Blibaal, however Larethal worship is the state religion and has been adopted by the vast majority of Illud Kua Toa, with other sects looked on with suspicion by the wider populace.
== History ==
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==Foreign Relations==
The Illud government has made significant attempts to gain and maintain allies among the terrestrial nations of The Middle Kingdom, as they have relied upon the assistance of established allies to prepare and launch their insurrection. In the time since then, relations with said allies have become increasingly strained, especially over the issue of slavery. Although the Illud have promised to abolish slavery should they win the Kua Toa civil war, they have not taken any steps in moving towards abolition in the last 300 years. While they have been eager to offer promises of peace and freedom, the motivations and intentions of Illud leadership are openly questioned by their increasingly hesitant allies, with the fear that the Illud will abandon such pretenses in the event of their victory.
The Illud relationship with the Elves of Telaras has been long and conflicted. Seeing the threat posed by the rise of the Deluvian Empire, Telaras saw fit to support the Illud conspirators in their rebellion in the hope that the result would be a more agreeable Kua Toa regime or at least a weakened Empire. Despite increasingly strained relations, the Elves still reluctantly support the Illud in their war against the Deluvians and hold yearly summits with their nominal allies at Blue Mountain while heavily criticizing their lack of progress on slavery and hoping to influence the direction of their government.
The Illud Government's attempts at establishing favourable international relations have arguably borne the most fruit with the Dwarves of Tarq, with whom they have established embassies and lucrative trade deals allowing the exchange of enormous wealth and novel trade goods. Meat products from the continent are particularly prized as delicacies by the Illud population and Illud military forces are frequently deployed to escort dwarven ships carrying valuable cargo along the Tarq coast. However, despite the Dons' focus on commerce, their relationship with the Illud is seemingly not without controversy. The "Hero Tale" series of pro-Illud propaganda comics that was produced for dissemination among Dwarven children was suppressed by the dons, who did not appreciate the attempt to influence their people, suggesting that Tarq's interests are not always alligned with the Republic's.
== Governance ==
Illud politics are heavily influenced by the familial "houses" to which all Kua-Toa (barring priests and monitors) belong, a feature of their society that the Illud share with their Deluvian counterparts. Some houses, through their wealth, power or size are influential enough to be considered "great houses" and have outsized influence in the Republic's government. The houses all govern their own affairs to an extent and all do so in their own way, with leadership roles mostly being determined by internal political machinations.
The governing body of the Illud Republic is the Council, with each house appointing a single representative of its choice. Actual political power rests with the representatives appointed by the great houses, as they fill ministerial roles within the Republic's executive apparatus. The great houses also collectively decide upon a prime minister who acts as head of government. It is not known if Illud has a separate head of state such as a president, if the input of all "great" houses is weighed equally or what if any role is actually played by the representatives from the "lesser" houses. In summary, while much less autocratic than the Deluvian Empire, the Illud Republic is perhaps best described as a parliamentary oligarchy, with little to no public participation in politics, let alone democracy.
Category:Factions
Category:Nations