Jazir-e Kreyak

Maritime Free Republic of the Jazir-e Kreyak
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Capital	Bandar-e Kreyak
Official language(s)
Official religion(s)	Pallisican Religion Stripping Path
Demonym	Kreyak, Free Mariner
- Adjective	Kreyaker, Kreyak Islander
Government	Articles of Association (Satellite state of the Confederacy of the Dispossessed, claimed by the Suren Confederacy)
- Captain-General	Yakub Akbar
- Legislature	General Court
Establishment	1722 AN (defacto independence from the Khan of Shahpéo)
Area
Population	8,111,525
Currency
Calendar
Time zone(s)
Mains electricity
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National website
National forum
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Abbreviation

The Jazir-e Kreyak is the collective name given to an archipelago of islands located off the coast of Norasht in the Gulf of Zinjibar, which is to be found in north-eastern Eura. Noted as a bastion of the Pallisican Religion and the haunt of a thriving community of corsairs and smugglers, the Jazir-e Kreyak is claimed by the Suren Confederacy in consequence of the Norasht campaign, however owing to the failure of that attempted conquest, undertaken during the Wars of the Disinherited, the islands remain, as of 1722 AN firmly in the possession of forces loyal to the Confederacy of the Dispossessed. The main settlement and anchorage to be found in the isles, established in proximity to the ruins of the Krey'Aken monastery, is Bandar-e Kreyak.

History

Babkhan era

For the majority of the Babkhan period the four northernmost islands of the archipelago were ruled from the Jazire-ye Bâgh by the agents of the Satrap of Shahzamin whilst only the fifth isle was controlled by the Satrap of Norasht. The difference would become moot after Shahzamin was itself made subject to the Emir of Norasht during the era of the Harmonious Society.

Bassarid era

The following is a digest of Bassarid accounts concerning the archipelago of the Jazir-e Kreyak.

The Hostlands are regions or cities which are regarded as being sacred to the Host Spirit. It is in these areas that practitioners of the Pallisican Religion believe it is possible to experience direct, physical encounters with the Host Spirit itself. The second of the officially recognized Hostlands is the Gulf of Zinjibar. Here - in particular in the waters which separate the islands of the Krey'akusu Archipelago - the Host Spirit can sometimes be encountered in the form of a woman riding in a chariot driven by a pair of satyrs, and pulled across the sea by a pair of golden Arslahni Horses.

The waters surrounding the ruins of Krey'Akusu, also known as Krey'Aken (Monastery), are said to bubble in anticipation of the arrival of the Host Spirit. Scientists, however, believe that the bubbling is an as-of-yet unknown physical phenomenon which corresponds to the movement of storms through the region. The oracle, according to the Pallisican Religion, is an individual who maintains a close, personal, spiritual connection to the Author of the Pallisicans, or the Host Spirit. This individual, it is believed, derives the right to rule the Pallisican nation from their close connection to the Host Spirit, which is itself demonstrated through miracles. Queen Esper, for her part, was recognized as an oracle after apparently being miraculously conceived in the Monastery of Krey'Aken.

Located at the mouth of the Gulf of Zinjibar, in northeastern Eura, the Krey'Akusu were islands originally claimed by the New Zimian Temple Authority, which used the archipelago as the center of its operations across Eura. The archipelago was formally abandoned by the Temple Authority, however, in 42.73 PSSC, following a protracted blockade of the islands spearheaded by the New Zimian War League, which sought to eliminate foreign and outside, domestic support for rebel paramilitary groups operating in the region. In the Krey'Akusu - located in northeastern Eura - non-practitioners of the Stripping Path or the Pallisican Religion slaughter local monks and nuns by the dozens while temple leadership sits idly by, blaming the Empress as the devout are killed en masse. Following the collapse of insurgent forces in the Pach Monastery, the Empress personally oversees the ritual sacrifice of all confirmed and suspected rebel leadership. The newly appointed King of Euranidom seizes upon this authority granted to him by the Empress, immediately launching a full scale blockade and amphibious assault against the Krey'Akusu Monastery, in northeastern Eura. This operation results in the near complete destruction of the monastery, and in the deaths of nearly all monastery leaders, regardless of their support for or opposition to the Empress. This event comes to be known as the Sacking of Krey-Aken, and is regarded as one of the most violent campaigns ever perpetrated against native Bassaridians in their homelands. Despite the devastation, rebel forces persist in their fierce resistance. Following its abandonment by the Temple Authority, the archipelago was placed informally under the administration of the New Zimian Merchant Marines.

Originally established in 32.01 PSSC as an auxiliary of the New Zimian War League, the New Zimian Merchant Marines were in in 35.95 formally recognized, after years of lobbying, as the primary Regional Investor of all citizens of the Haifo-Pallisican Imperial Trade Union who are actively employed as merchants by the companies featured on the Port of Vines. The Merchant Marines, to this end, are responsible for providing stipends to the nation's merchants as they transport goods from location to location across the Imperial Trade Association. In exchange for these stipends, which are provided in addition to the regular stipends provided by an individual's primary regional investor, those supported by the New Zimian Merchant Marines may be called upon to defend the nation's interests at any moment.

The Akusu Regional Highway Fund is responsible for the construction and long-term maintenance of a network of roads and ferries which connects the islands of the Krey'akusu Archipelago to one another, and to the mainland to the north and south of the Gulf of Zinijibar. Since 38.42 PSSC the Krey'Akusu Regional Highway has been used to bypass Constancian territorial claims in central Eura.

Recent History

Following the collapse of the Bassarid Empire and the disintegration of the Eastern Eura Trade Association in the face of Raspur Pact aggression, the islands, in common with much for the Norashti portions of the Association, would align with, and ultimately pledge themselves to, the Confederacy of the Dispossessed. As a consequence of the Norasht campaign, the islands found themselves under blockade by naval forces organised by the Trans-Euran Command of the Raspur Pact whilst in turn being the primary base and sanctuary for corsair raids launched into the Gulf of Zinjibar against trade fleets bound to and from Nivardom. The islands indeed count as amongst the last safe anchorages available to the Dispossessed.

After a lull in hostilities during 1722 AN, the islands would become the epicentre of the Gulf of Zinjibar campaign which commenced in 1723 AN.

Government

The islands came under the control of the Maritime Free Republic, organised in accordance with the Articles of Association, after it generally came to be acknowledged that the Khan of Shahpéo had lost his authority over what remained of the Eastern Eura Trade Association following the Norasht campaign and the rising of formerly servile populations on the mainland. The system of government, somewhat dubiously inspired by the legacy of the Maritime Free Republic and the misadventures of the late Walter Poldark, rested upon a system of free association where the remnants of the Euran War League and Bassarid Merchant Marine in the islands had elected their own captains and quartermasters, who in turn were to elect from amongst their own number the Captain-General and the Quartermaster-General of the entire enterprise.

General Court

The General Court was established as a syndicate of captains, both mercantile and military, who were active in the islands and whom, having been elected by their respective companies and crews, had signed up to the Articles of Association. Amongst duties assigned to the General Court included the arbitration of disputes, the punishment of offences against the Articles of Association, the custodianship of the common fund, into which was to be paid a third of all plunder and tribute taken by the captains, as well as ten percent of the wealth of all islanders now subject to the Maritime Free Republic, with the latter to be paid as an annual poll tax.