The Commonwealth of Valara

The Commonwealth of Valara is a union of states under the creed of The Sentinel Order, lead by The Valari. Each State answers to one of four Houses that lead each cultural group within Valara which in turn answer to the over-arching Administration established by The Sentinel Order.

## The Commonwealth of Valara

### Ethnic Groups

Lowlander: ~917,000 (33.9%)
Capuri: ~767,000 (28.4%)

Rhuari: ~628,000 (23.2%)

Valari: ~391,000 (14.5%)

## Geography

### Provinces

Valara has 11 provinces, each with unique geography, cultures and people. Each province has a degree of autonomy as each province is loyal to one of the four Consular Houses under The Sentinel Order, which lead each ethnic group of Valara.

#### The Vallands

The Vallands is the Capital Province of Valara. It is the 4th most populous region of Valara with a population of ~328,000 and is 5th largest at 62,000 square miles. It sits in the center of The Nation around Valara's arterial natural waterway: The Idonian River. This, as well as it's proximity to other major land-trade routes has lead it's (and the Nation's) Capital, Valstag, to become a massive economic hub and considered the central gateway between each of the four ethnic lands. It is primarily inhabited by The Valari but a sizeable minority of each other ethnic group does reside in the region as well, as it's significance has lead it to become very diverse.

## Ethnic Groups

Valara is inhabited by four primary ethnic groups who formed a protective alliance and eventually a confederacy of states with each other due to the rise of more powerful nationstate surrounding their lands began to create paranoia about the threat of invasion. While the Nation is officially lead by The Valari, as they brought The Sentinel Order to the other ethnic groups, this is intended to be temporary until all groups gain equal experience within the ranks of The Sentinel Order.

### *The Valari*

The Valari are the leading ethnic group of Valara, despite being the least populous. They are a spiritual-warrior culture with a zealous dedication to The Creed of The Sentinels, which is based on protecting the innocent from "conquerors" who may seek to exploit them. As a people, it is mandated within their culture that all Valarians be official members of The Sentinel Order, making every Valarian extremely well versed in the ways of The Sentinels.

#### History

The Valari are not originally from the lands now known as Valara, however they do consider themselves natives. They are descended from the Hyari people who founded the ancient precursor to The Sentinel Order in secret but were persecuted and exiled by other nations and peoples for their message of using one's own aptitudes in the art of The Mind, Body and Spirit to protect others from exploitation. This message threatened the social order of many other cultures and therefore, most tried to purge their lands of The Hyari. A mass exodus of The Hyari lead them to the lands of The Rhua inhabited by The Rhuari, the true native peoples of Valara. The Rhuari allowed the Hyari to take refuge in their highlands and establish settlements in exchange for their arcane knowledge and assistance in training them to become more adept at taming the mind, body and spirit. The Hyari established the province of New Hyaria and began to quietly rebuilt their society.

Years later, a schism among The Hyari people over how much they should be in communication with the outside world lead to a conflict which saw the rise of House Valara who advocated for diplomatic relations with other ethnic groups. The conflict was resolved and no official doctrine was established, leaving the Valari under House Valara and the Hyari to live in seperate societies. Eventually, the Hyari's isolationism ultimately became their downfall as they doubled down on their suspicion of outsiders, eventually causing their population to dwindle until it was small enough to be re-absorbed by The Valari.

The Valari, in the meantime, has established contact and trade with their neighboring provinces, assisting them in building more efficient and enlightened societies and helping mediate conflicts between them. Eventually, when the threat of outside forces began to threaten these provinces, The Capuri proposed the formation of a Confederation of States to strengthen the region as a whole. The Capurian plan for a confederacy, while well intentioned, was not structured enough to both account for individual ethnic groups needs as well as hold them accountable for not following the confederacy's constitution. The Valari were the ones to suggest that the provinces simply be incorporated into their already existing system under The Sentinel Order. While the provinces were hesitant to join a nation lead by a specific Ideological creed at first, upon further learning of the nature of The Order they soon agreed to join.

#### Physical Appearance

The Valari are olive-skinned with hair that can range from dark brown to dirty blonde. They are known distinctly for their eyes which have a natural glow and glitter in the iris that is said to have to do with their arcane abilities. The Valari often wear their hair longer and dress in flowing earth-tone clothing. Due to the dedication to The Sentinel Creed, they are almost always extremely athletic and fit.

### *The Rhuari*

The Rhuari are a semi-nomadic peoples from The Great Plains of Yamga. They are less advanced than the other ethnic groups but that is partly by choice as such technology would not have much of an impact on their lifestyle. They are known to have deep tribal traditions and rituals which build close bonds between members of individual clans and are rumored to even give them mild magical abilities.

The Rhuari are known to be skeptical of outsiders aside from The Valari, as they feel that their lands have been encroached upon and that their lack of aggression against the Capuri and Lowlander settlers has caused them to lose much of their original lands. However, under The Commonwealth, The Rhuari have learned to tolerate and respect the Capuri and Lowlanders and have become more willing to share the land with them and to exchange cultural ideas with them.

### *The Lowlanders*

The Lowlanders earned their namesake mostly from the region in which they reside. In reality, they are not so much an ethnic group as a melting pot of settlers and pilgrims from other Northern Nations seeking refuge from war, persecution or simply just to build a new life. They are a pragmatic population who are very hard working and for the most part humble, though they will usually put the well-being of their kin before that of the community. Prior to unification, The Lowlanders lived in a variety of colonies and micro-states which after a few internal wars formed into larger states and Kingdoms. Once Valara was established, these States and Kingdoms were then absorbed either into Lorios, Eltos, The Vallands, The Rhua or The Stonelands. Lorios, Eltos and The Stonelands all fall directly under the Lowlander Consularship.

### *The Capuri*

The Capuri people are a culture of well traveled and wealthy descendants of the trade unions and empires of the south. When many a person found themselves able to grow rich off the rise of sea trade in The South, it was not uncommon for individual trade companies to seek their own colonies without the blessing of their home nation. This often angered their home nations which would dissolve the companies charters and exile the families who ran them. Luckily for these families, many had already established colonies along the southern shores of what we now know as Valara.

Over time, these colonies formed into city states that had a loosely shared culture that valued the finer things in life and were adept in sea-based trade. The name "Capuri" was never adopted by these peoples, but was instead what The Valari and The Rhuari to their north referred to them as, essentially translating to "Lofty People" or "High People." The Capuri eventually adopted this name that parodied their lifestyles of classy leisure and excess as a badge of pride, believing it to inherently be a compliment as it takes intelligence and hard work to build such prosperity.

Out of all the ethnic groups in Valara, The Capuri have the most contact and outside connections to other nations due to business commitments and established trading posts. This has lead them to become very educated on foreign affairs and cultures and naturally they grow to become very sociable people. The Capuri value their image, sometimes to the point of vanity. They have a reputation for being very attractive and charismatic, though with less stoicism than the other three ethnic groups and with more extroversion.

#### History

The southern shores of modern Valara have been inhabited by a number of groups over the years, but few have ever stayed and those who have were long since wiped out from ancient wars and famine. When The Rhuari started migrating livestock around the region to graze the land became a bit more enticing. When The Hyari arrived and re-introduced irrigated farming to much of the area, the land once again became arable. As societies began to pop up around the Southern regions of the world, any land along these shorelines became prime real-estate for settlement and trade.

As different nations subsidized trade companies to sail around the region, many people grew very wealthy. Some sought to establish their own colonies, angering their home nations who wanted a cut of the profit for helping charter many of these companies. So these wealthy families were expelled from their home nations, and in order to establish themselves in these new lands, had to battle with other trade companies and pirates for settlements.

Once established hese wealthy families moved to themselves and their servants to these colonies permanently, as well as sent out envoys to other cities around The Southern Sea to entice the local populations to move to these colonies with promises of untold wealth. While those who immigrated to these trade colonies did not always find vast wealth, they did find more opportunity for a more comfortable life and a healthy artisan middle class began to grow in these colonies.

As these colonies populations grew, they became powerful sea-faring city states who competed with one another.