Malakmak

The **Republic of Malakmak**, generally referred to as just *Malakmak*, is a majority-Orcish republic spanning the archipelago between the Elven Islands and the Orcish subcontinent. The nation has historic roots as one of the early Clans of Ossarabia, beginning as a maritime empire that spread west after the Orcish world's Great Upheaval. Home to around 15 million people today, Malakmak gained independence after the Elven Civil War, transforming from an overseas possession of Masura into a free democratic government.

Modern rule of Malakmak, however, has been marked by corruption and power struggles with strong criminal syndicates across the country. Many of the islands under the legal control of the parliamentary government in Kalkorra are in reality ruled by local leagues of pirates, a direct consequence of decades of foreign rule. While sailors were a crucial group with the resistance movement against Adravin rule, some refused to let go of their local control to a new democratic government.

## History

### Great Upheaval and the Kingdom of Malakmak

See also: Great Upheaval, Ostrov Union

The origins of the Malakmai as a ethnic group are not well documented prior to 9000 PGF, generally suggesting that the clan was a relatively minor clan for most of their history. Many of the earliest records are from the perspective of foreigners and rivals like Khamur, who present them in the Late Classical Period as a "growing, but small clan in the far west of the island, with naval technology close to the cutting edge."

At the end of the Great Upheaval, Malakmak began to make its mark on the map. The Clans of Ossarabia were one of very few groups in the Orcish subcontinent that were not enveloped in over two centuries of continuous war, and the larger clans were able to capitalize on the chaos that swallowed the mainland to begin a period of rapid growth. Malakmak, as the westernmost major clan, was in an optimal position to conquer weakened lords on the southern coast, putting them in immediate competition with the menacing navy of an invigorated Khamur. Malakmak's new maritime empire also began sieges further and further west, becoming a local power in the Western Peninsula after taking the city of Ubraka, one of the few highland settlements on the lesser peninsula.

The early Kingdom of Malakmak was ejected from the East as the result of the costly Khamur-Malakmai War. This war left both countries in tatters, but Malakmak saw considerable losses of territory on the mainland and had its old capital on Osarabbia destroyed and captured by neighboring clans. The Kings of Malakmak had, at this point, already shifted much of their adminstration west away from their homeland, but this war cemented Malakmak's exit from the affairs of the Eastern Orcish world.

### Occupation by Masura

Masuran imperials were well aware of the presence of Malakmak in the islands of the Southwest. Some of the islands conquered by the Malakmai were previously occupied by a native Shakti Elven group, but this group was independent of the control of both Shaktana and Masura, and accordingly was left overwhelmed by the naval power of Malakmak. While undefended by Masura, the conquest of the local Elves by Malakmai Orcs became a political issue within the empire, with war hawks pointing to the conflict as an imminent threat. During a period of ineffectual rule that severed the Malakmak nation in two, Masura launched an invasion of the outlying islands and took them under imperial rule, becoming the State of the Orcish Islands. The Malakmai rump state around Ubraka would also fall during this downspiral, with the area being returned to the control of local hordes.

The early Masuran rule over the Orcish Islands saw harsh conditions for Malakmai Orcs, as much of the local government was controlled by ex-military leaders who had spearheaded the campaign for the region. The full story of the conflict only fully came out after decades. The Emperor that had championed the war, Emperor Racarus of Messoret, claimed that it was an act of self-defense, which had gave the war support by narrow majority of the nobility. Contrary to the statements of the Emperor, though, records released much later showed that Racarus fabricated an attack against an imperial ship in order to create a justification for war against the Orcs. Racarus would become one of very few Emperors of Masura to be put on trial for his actions, and during his final years of life the Council of Elders forced Racarus to abdicate the throne and face imprisonment under treason.

The trial of Racarus and his underlings also led to dramatic reform in the Orcish Islands, as the use of effective martial law in the state violated the rights that citizens of the Empire had during peacetime. The government instituted by Racarus had been filled with his generals, and these figures established an oppressive government in the region out of a fear that resentful Orcs would rise up in opposition of the Empire of Elves. These acts ultimately backfired, as every state within the empire was outraged by the level of tyranny the national goverment could establish. Modeled after the Revolutionary Government of Shaktana, the Malakmai Orcs established a democracy in their state to prevent similar events from happening again.

### Adravin Rule and the Elven Civil War

During the rule of Yurani Adravin, the Republic in the region was destabilized by the Imperial Army and replaced with an Adravin-aligned monarchy. The officially stated reason was to put down a fringe independence movement in the Orcish Islands, however the event also appeared to be one part of Yurani's goal to consolidate outlying regions of the Empire under the Adravin crown.

Just years before the beginning of the Elven Civil War, Adravin Heir Kashei intervened in local resistance to stabilize the government run by his brother Tartaro in the Orcish Islands. This notably inflamed tensions even further between the House of Adravin and Emperor Gaulta, and Malakmai historians see the Second Adravin Armada as the true start of the Masuran Civil War.

During the Masuran Civil War, the Adravin-run dictatorship facilitated harsh conditions in the Orcish Islands. Several islands were devastated by the conflict, and some islands saw ███ ███ ██ █████ █████ as a means to ████ ███ ███ █████.

### Independence and Post-War Malakmak

The modern state of Malakmak was founded after the Masuran Civil War, with revolutionaries in the Republic of Kalkorra being given legitimacy as the new government of the islands. This new independence has seen a period of prosperity for the Malakmai, as they are the trade link for the Elvish and Orcish Empires, the largest trade relation in the modern world. The rising industrial power of the Orcish Empire on the world stage and the commercial needs of the wartorn Elvish Empire have made these intermediary ports some of the most important in all of Parvolon.

Recent years have seen growing tension between Malakmak and the Orcish Empire, however. Imperial ambitions into the Western Peninsula have been met with distrust and anger at the Orcish Empire by locals, and the Republic of Malakmak has made alliances in the region with a goal of preventing further assimilation. The ascension of Ubraka into Malakmak, although done through diplomatic means and with the approval of the majority of locals, has made some locals question the intentions of the Malakmai in the region though, with bordering groups expressing concern that Malakmak is just another imperialist entering the region.

The main internal conflict for this period has been a struggle between the national government and pirate syndicates over control of the islands. It is common knowledge across the islands that not all members of the Republic answer to its authority, and organized crime groups control several islands within the archipelago directly. Some of these island communities hold genuine distrust of the state, as the abuses the islands saw under Adravin rule remain in living memory. These islands could be described best as pirate anarchies, local people trying to maintain autonomy and banding together in the fight against mercantilism and an imperial state. Other communities, however, are deeply unsatisfied with their pirate overlords, and want to fully embrace the new democracy. Islands close to the flow of trade have been more prone to falling into local profiteering, with these pirates aiming to insert themselves through force into the exchange.