Dhalmekia

The Dhalmekian Republic is a nation in the world of Final Fantasy XVI. Their emblem shows a warrior surrounded by the five elements of nature, which represents the five states that make up the realm. The Dominant of Titan, Hugo Kupka, has a large part in the governing of the republic as a special advisor.
== History ==
Dhalmekia's predecessor nation was established in the year of the realm 210, and the republic came into being in year 500. In the year 840, civil war broke out in Dhalmekia with the Kingdom of Veldemarke (the kingdom preceding Waloed) supporting one side and Sanbreque the other. In 842, following the Dhalmekian civil war, the Kingdom of Veldemarke blocked the Osa Strait from Sanbreque, leading to war between the two countries. In the Year of the Realm 849, the Free Cities of Kanver sought to become independent from the Dhalmekian Republic with the support of the Kingdom of Waloed, who were supporting Kanver's efforts to establish a presence on Storm. In 850, Dhalmekia allied with Rosaria against Waloed, and almost won before Dhalmekia's best soldiers abandoned the battlefield. Sanbreque, Dhalmekia, and Rosaria come together in an agreement to prevent another city like Kanver looking to become independent, and the state leaders met in an event. The pact soon fell apart and the empire annexed the duchy in the wake of the Night of Flames, and in 865 the Battle of the Twin Realms broke out across all the nations.Final Fantasy XVI Ultimania, Timeline
In 873, the republic defended their territory from the Iron Kingdom in the Battle of Nysa.
== Culture ==
== Politics ==
Dhalmekia is an alliance between multiple city-states scattered throughout its desert territory. 
== Geography ==
Occupying the southern regions of the continent of Storm, Dhalmekia is mostly composed of deserts, canyons, and savannas, with ruins from the Fallen civilization scattered throughout the landscape.
The Republic remains relatively unscathed by the Blight, but the land is already fairly inhospitable.
Drake's Fang is the nation's Mothercrystal, found inside a mound that rises from the otherwise flat landscape. The other notable landmark in Dhalmekia is the Dzemekys Falls, a circular canyon carved to the southeast part of the Republic where the ocean water perpetually flows into a seemingly bottomless chasm.
== Military ==
The Republic's military force is called the Men of the Fist.
Hugo Kupka, likely the richest man in the Republic, also employs his private army, Men of the Rock. The men of this force were originally employed by the parliament to guard Drake's Fang, but Kupka co-opted the bulk of the force when he seized control of the Mothercrystal.
== Foreign relations ==
One of the three great powers on the continent of Storm, Dhalmekia has a vested interest in maintaining cordial relations with its neighbors, since they are an alliance founded on trade. Being relatively unscathed by the Blight, the Republic had no incentive to expand its borders, and instead focused on keeping out invaders. In seeking to maintain the status quo, they also disapproved of other nations' imperialist ambitions.
=== Waloed ===
Dhalmekia was the only nation on the continent of Storm to possess somewhat positive relations with Waloed. This relationship dated all the way back to the country's founding. Not getting along with the nation's previous incarnation, the Kingdom of Veldermarke, the Republic supported Barnabas Tharmr in his conquest of the continent of Ash, and continued to maintain close ties afterward. 
Unfortunately, Dhalmekia's closeness to Waloed was one-sided, with the latter only maintaining friendly relations as a formality. In fact, the Waloeders undermined the Dhalmekians by conspiring with Hugo Kupka, and by 878 their continued manipulation of the latter even allowed them to effectively take control of the Republic's Mothercrystal. Following the Akashic outbreak, Dhalmekia lost contact with Waloed after the latter effectively ceased to exist when all its inhabitants were turned.
=== Crystalline Dominion ===
Sharing the Republic's eastern border, Dhalmekia has strong ties with the Dominion and the two nations trade with each other. Because of this, the Republic disapproved of Sanbreque's illegal occupation of the city-state in 873, and besieged the city to liberate their ally. However, Gav believed that this was only a front and, had the Republic successfully liberated the Dominion, they would then have occupied it themselves.
=== Sanbreque ===
Another of the three great powers on the continent of Storm, the Republic once enjoyed cordial relations with the Empire. However, they seemed to have fallen out following Sanbreque's occupation of Rosaria in 860, but ultimately accepted the new status quo in order to continue trading with them. However, following the Empire's conquest of the Crystalline Dominion in 873, the Dhalmekians could no longer tolerate their expansionism and went to war with them to liberate their ally. Relations between the nations' citizens had also reached a low-point, with the Dhalmekians not even wanting to trade with imperial merchants.
Despite launching a lengthy siege on the occupied city-state, the Dhalmekians ultimately accepted the Empire's claim on the Dominion and withdrew its forces following the loss of their Dominant and Mothercrystal. Ironically, many citizens would also start fleeing to the Dominion in search for Crystals. After the Dominion lost its Mothercrystal as well, however, the Republic and Empire would start to rebuild relations to quell the subsequent civil chaos.
=== Iron Kingdom ===
The Republic's neighbor to the west, like the rest of mainland Valisthea, Dhalmekia does not get along with the Iron Kingdom and regularly has its ships raided by the islanders. In 873, they faced a full-blown invasion from the Ironborn that devastated the Republic, with the enemy nearly making it all the way to the capital until the Dhalmekians resorted to sending in Titan. Though the final battle ended in a draw, the Iron Crusaders withdrew after their enslaved Dominant escaped, effectively ending the war in Dhalmekia's victory.
=== Kanver ===
Dhalmekia's relations with the Free-Cities are rather complicated. Originally, Kanver was one of the city-states that comprised the Republic. However, in 849, they sought to become their own nation. Not allowing this, Dhalmekia tried to forcefully suppress them, resulting in a war for independence. In the end, however, Dhalmekia lost and was forced to recognize Kanver's independence. Afterward, despite the bad blood between them, the Republic maintained cordial relations with the Free-Cities for the sake of trade.
=== Rosaria ===
The Republic's neighbor to the north, Dhalmekia enjoys cordial relations with Rosaria and the two nations frequently trade with each other. The two nations entered the Southwestern Alliance in 850 with the aim of preventing the Free Cities of Kanver from claiming independence from the republic. (The alliance eventually became a three-way affair when Sanbreque joined.) The bonds between the Dhalmeks and the Rosarians were particularly strong, with Rosaria sharing the vital techniques such as irrigation, and the free flow of various diplomats between the two nations.
The Republic falls out with Sanbreque in 860 when the empire annexes the duchy. However, the Dhalmekians ultimately accept the empire's occupation of Rosaria to continue trading with the two. In 878, the Republic's relations with the duchy sour when Hugo Kupka attacks the ducal capital with his private forces, not distincting Rosarians from imperials. After the empire withdraws from Rosaria, Dhalmekia begins rebuilding relations with their neighbor, beginning by forging an alliance to quell civil unrest.
=== Northern Territories ===
Due to the geological distance between them, and the fact that the Northern Territories effectively ceased to exist after losing most of their land to the Blight, the Republic's relations with the nation were virtually non-existent.
== Known locations ==
* Ran’dellah (Capital)
* Drake's Fang (Mothercrystal)
* Kanver
* The Velkroy Desert 
* Northern Velkroy Desert 
* Southern Velkroy Desert
* Dalimil 
* Doeznov Terraces
* The Jaw 
* The Sickle 
* The Fields Of Corava
* The Gilded Path 
* Titans Wake 
* Rymasov Flat 
* The Krozjit Echoes 
* Drakos Deep 
* Laetnys Cleft 
* Cerdras Thread 
* Steps Of The Forgotten 
* Boklad
Fallen ruin in Velkroy Desert from FFXVI.png|Velkroy Desert.
FF16 Hugo's Castle.jpg
FF16 Drake's Fang.jpg
Dhalmekia Concept Art.jpg
Ran’dellah Concept Art.jpg
FF16 Tabor Concept Art.jpg
==Behind the scenes==
The primary real-world inspirations for the republic is the Middle East.
==Citations==
de:Republik Dhalmekia
ru:Дальмекия
Category:Locations in Final Fantasy XVI
Category:Organizations in Final Fantasy XVI
Category:Nations in Final Fantasy XVI