Article Written: 13 December 1492
The Maritime State of Sayleron: Establishment
On a strip of land along the Ancondrian Antarctic Coastline facing Remikra stands a series of small fjords, the greatest of which is home to the Isle of the Heart in its center. This Fjord branches into smaller Sub-fjords: the Western Sub-fjord and the Eastern Sub-fjord. And this region, in the time leading up to the year 1032, was home to two native Ancondrian groups: the Maneraks, who lived along the Western Sub-fjord; and the Takriems, who lived along the Eastern Sub-fjord. The two groups used to be rivals as they fought over the Isle. In the early 1000s, they came somewhat to terms with a treaty by oral vows. However, tensions and occasional skirmishes between the two groups continued.
In 1032, a group of religious Edoran expatriates, dominated by the extended Wellerton family of Tandeiyah, arrived here and settled. Intent on leaving Greater Circlaria (Remikra, Canticula, etc.) behind for good and to start a new life, they were one of few Circlarian groups to have traveled to the continent of Ancondria, and, like the others, never went back or made contact with Greater Circlaria. And such would be the case with all Circlarian settlers here until the 1260s. In 1036, after a standard of language translation had been firmly established, the Wellertons served as a diplomatic mediator between the two native Ancondrian groups as, together, they established a survival infrastructure consisting of a system of fishing, a system of mining, and a system of seed vaults.
On 15 March 1045, the Wellertons, Maneraks, and Takriems signed a treaty that established the Maritime State of Sayleron. Each of the involved entities had its own set of piers and ships as well as a Chapter within the Maritime State. The name, Sayleron, was based upon the Ancondrian native deity: Saylerona, the Goddess of Ice and Fire. A certain branch of the Alconist faith, brought over by the Wellertons, served as the official religion for the Maritime State until the year 1326, when the Maritime State abolished religious mandates.
The Foundation Era: 1045 to 1165
List of Foundation-Era Sayleronian Consuls
*1051 to 1056: John Daniels (Wellerton)
*1057 to 1062: Kelly Parsons (Wellerton)
*1063 to 1068: Mylla Eridus (Sayleron)
*1069 to 1074: John Corma (Manerak)
*1075 to 1080: Giselle Fray (Takriem)
*1081 to 1086: Richard Blane (Wellerton)
*1087 to 1092: Orie Tenom (Aremae)
*1093 to 1098: Arya Mackwell (Sayleron)
*1099 to 1104: Jarren Kaersta (Manerak)
*1105 to 1110: Alda Blake (Takriem)
*1111 to 1116: Stephen Almers (Wellerton)
*1117 to 1122: Sophie Goda (Aremae)
*1123 to 1128: Marya Teric (Sayleron)
*1129 to 1134: Godric Fayne (Manerak)
*1135 to 1140: Keri Abson (Takriem)
*1141 to 1146: George Marcus (Wellerton)
*1147 to 1152: Ellea Ferrin (Aremae)
*1153 to 1158: Brenda Tormin (Sayleron)
*1159 to 1164: Mark Reddings (Manerak)
The Great Flagship housed the government seat of the Sayleronian Maritime State. Chapter Sayleron had ten other ships, while the Wellerton, Manerak, and Takriem Chapters each had five. Each Chapter elected its own Governor and fifteen Representatives to the Grand Legislature aboard the Great Flagship on a three-year cycle. Said Representatives would, every six years, elect a Consul, the Chief Executive of the State.
On the Southern tip of the Isle of the Heart was established Port Wellerton; in the Western Sub-fjord was established Port Manera; and in the Eastern Sub-fjord was established Port Takrie. In 1060, Chapter Aremaea was established, with Port Aremae located on the tip of the land between the two Sub-fjords. This Chapter, like the other four, was given five ships.
Officiated in 1060 was the Sayleronian Statute of Principle, which mandated that no person could serve more than one six-year term as Consul, and that the Consulship was required to rotate between a successive incumbent of each Chapter. This happened during the tenure of Consul Kelly Parson, who was succeeded in 1063 by Mylla Eridus. Starting with Eridus, every Consul during this era would fulfill a campaign promise to add ships to the Maritime State as a whole. With Eridus, three ships were added to Chapter Sayleron while one ship was added to each of the other four Chapters. By 1164, with Consul Mark Reddings in charge, the Maritime State consisted of 112 ships for Chapter Sayleron and 70 ships for each of the other four Chapters.
The First Era of Darkfire: 1165 to 1237
List of First-Darkfire-Era Sayleronian Consuls
*1165 to 1170: Baeres Torm (Takriem)
*1171 to 1176: John Mack (Wellerton)
*1177 to 1182: Aerda Maurik (Aremae)
*1183 to 1188: Lesa Veren (Sayleron)
*1189 to 1194: Aereden Mors (Manerak)
*1195 to 1200: Adryan Tenec (Takriem)
*1201 to 1206: Aaron Shaw (Wellerton)
*1207 to 1212: Kara Mornings (Aremae)
*1213 to 1218: Monika Ferring (Sayleron)
*1219 to 1224: Godric Martins (Manerak)
*1225 to 1230: Colleen Thomas (Takriem)
*1231 to 1236: Peter Breeson (Wellerton)
Until the 1160s, the ships of the Sayleronian Maritime State took after their Great Northern counterparts, as steam-powered vessels running on blue-diamond coalsand fuel. There was a small reserve of blue-diamond coalsands near the Fjord. However, not only was the reserve too small to last the ever-growing demands of the Maritime State; some Sayleronians, especially those of the Takriems and Maneraks, were concerned for the environmental impacts.
Devin Klamer, in 1163, led a group of Sayleronian miners, one from each Chapter, on an expedition beyond the region of the Fjord, originally with the intent to seek additional coalsand reserves. On 2 November of that year, they delved under the ice and discovered a darkfire quarry instead. Klamer would announce her discovery to the Sayleronian public. And by Sayleronian principle, any resource previously unknown or unclaimed was to pass to the trademark ownership of the discoverer. Sayleronian trading guilds volleyed for purchase of this quarry from Klamer, offering her competitively high prices. However, Klamer turned ownership of the reserve over to the Sayleronian government. Though she received handsome compensation for the transaction, her intent was for the government to subsidize the reserve as a public good.
Another invention brought over by the Wellertons was the classical airship, an emerging part of common infrastructure in Northern Remikra. These vessels, however, floated with either hydrogen, helium, or hot air, all resources considerably more difficult to obtain in the Ancondrian Antarctic.
The darkfire quarry discovered by Devin Klamer was abundant in its resources, including xelox, which Merdon discovered to be a good flotation agent. The only drawback was that without aviator input, an airship floated by xelox tended to drift toward the darkfire quarry hub, meaning that it had gyro-forces. However, the Sayleronians were able to harness this force, becoming one of the first societies, unknown to Greater Circlaria, to do so with aircraft.
In 1166, the Maritime State added its first airship to the fleet. During Consul John Mack's tenure between 1171 and 1176, one airship was built for each Chapter. By the end of Consul Peter Breeson's tenure in 1236, the Maritime State had 130 airships, and thus an enhanced capacity to expand on exploration and trade.
The Expansionist Era: 1237 to 1369
List of Expansionist-Era Sayleronian Consuls
*1237 to 1242: Ellwyn Summs (Aremae)
*1243 to 1248: Samara Cagle (Sayleron)
*1249 to 1254: Brandon Ericson (Manerak)
*1255 to 1260: Vera Nams (Takriem)
*1261 to 1266: Gerald Wilcox (Wellerton)
*1267 to 1272: Nicole Simms (Aremaean)
*1273 to 1326: Brosnan "Bros" Nalek (Sayleron)
*1327 to 1332: Erin Maye (Liberal)
*1333 to 1338: Godiva Towers (Conservative)
*1339 to 1344: Marc Ordings (Conservative)
*1345 to 1350: Mara Konwich (Liberal)
*1351 to 1356: Nicole Moors (Liberal)
*1357 to 1362: Dave Gibbons (Conservative)
*1363 to 1368: Marina Coleman (Liberal)
On 8 December 1235, a native Ancondrian group known as the Maysalyns carried out spellfire attacks against numerous Sayleronian ships and ports. They were an enemy difficult to contend with as their guerrilla tactics were superior to those of the Saylerons. However, Jason Moore of the Chapter Wellerton invented what came to be a mounted airship cannon, which could overcome the guerrilla fighters from above. With this new device, the Maysalyns were brought to heel in on 13 January 1237. Instead of total defeat, however, they Maysalyns were made to sign with the Sayleronians a Treaty of Acquisition. The Maysalyns had ports in other Fjords; these now fell under Sayleronian jurisdiction.
Consul Ellwyn Summs, serving between 1237 and 1242, built two additional ports for Chapter Aremaea, one on each side of the Fjord Juncture. The next Consul, Samara Cagle, added five ports for Chapter Sayleron and three ports for each of the other Chapters.
Over the Consulships that followed during this era, more and more ports were added. By 1272, under Consul Nicole Simms, each Chapter had twenty-five ports. However, between the late 1260s and early 1270s, Gamroan expatriates established a series of settlements along Fjords East of the Eighty-Fifth Meridian. Consul Simms signed the Eighty-Fifth Meridian Treaty with them in 1272, which stated that the Sayleronians would remain on neutral terms and not to expand Sayleronian trade or jurisdiction past said Meridian.
Expansionist Era: "Bros" Nalek - 1272 to 1326
The Expansionist Era brought more contact with sea traders from further afield, and, starting in the late 1260s, more interest from Greater Circlaria in Ancondrian territorial claims. The year 1272 was an election year for the Consulship, which, per the Statute of Principle, would be awarded to a candidate from Chapter Sayleron. Jara Faraqor was running as one of the said candidates, upholding the tradition of having a woman serve on behalf of the Sayleronian Chapter.
However, the 1272 election cycle was different, in that Faraqor's opponent was a man named Brosnan "Bros" Nalek. Nalek campaigned on the notion that the economy had been stagnating over the previous years, that the Gamroan settlements marked the beginning of imperialism from Greater Circlaria, and that Faraqor was part of the "old Sayleronian establishment" and was therefore a beneficiary of alleged corruption. With these claims, bountiful promises, and a unique air charisma, Nalek won the Consul Election of 1272.
At the beginning of his tenure in 1273, Consul "Bros" Nalek established Sayleronian ports East of the Meridian, in intentional defiance of the Treaty previously signed by Simms. When the Gamroans voiced contempt, Nalek made a public act of proposing to trade with them. When the Gamroans rejected this proposal, Nalek imposed certain terms on them, including the establishment of "gate-keeper" ports in front of each Fjord housing a Gamroan port, and charging "passing tolls" on Gamroans, both in their Fjords and the ones belonging to the Sayleronians. The Gamroans retaliated by attempting to persuade other trading partners to boycott the Sayleronians. Nalek responded to this, in 1278, by ordering the Gamroan settlers to withdraw from all of their Ancondrian settlements or face military force.
This began the Crisis of 1278, during which Nalek announced that he would seek an unprecedented second term as Consul of the Sayleronian Maritime State. The Captains in Justice, serving as the judiciary of the Maritime State, declared Nalek an illegitimate candidate, as Nalek had already served. The Captains moved forward to have two other candidates, of Chapter Manera according to the Statute of Principle, campaign for the role. The 1278 election cycle saw, officially, Arya Ericson running as a candidate for the newly-formed Liberal Party, and Tom Ormindson running on behalf of the newly-formed Conservative Party. Ormindson vowed to continue Nalek's policies. Meanwhile, Ericson vowed to reverse Nalek's policies but not all of them; and she also promised that she would refrain from prosecuting him for his many Statute of Principle violations thus far.
However, there were many people within the Maritime State who felt that both aforementioned candidates did too little too late to resist and reverse the regime imposed by Nalek. They backed Erin Sanders, a Liberal Party member, who violated the Statute of Principle by starting her own campaign as a write-in candidate late in the electoral cycle. The Captains in Justice ruled Sanders to be illegitimate as a result. On 11 June 1278, four days before the election, her supporters retaliated by storming the Great Flagship. Nalek dispatched forces which overcame the attack; and immediately afterward, Nalek declared emergency martial law over the entirety of the Maritime State. Nalek would postpone Consul elections indefinitely. Elections would not be held again until 1326.
Over the years that followed, Nalek's regime controlled the movement of both groups and individuals between ships and within ships, instilled universal conscription for those able-bodied between the ages of 18 and 35 years, instilled job assignments and prohibited individuals from voluntarily switching jobs, imposed wartime taxes on businesses except those in the business of war, imposed taxes on those not fit for military service, and imposed tight restrictions on the press and freedom of speech.
Nalek imposed a deadline of 23 February 1278 for the Gamroans to vacate all of their Ancondrian posts, an order which the Gamroans defied. Nalek, on 2 March, declared war, thus beginning the Sayleronian-Gamroanian War.
The War was in a gridlock between March and June 1279 as neither side gained nor lost a ship or base. In September 1279, Nalek launched an offensive that overcame all Gamroan bases, and afterward issued a demand for statements of surrender. The Gamroans refused this demand; furthermore, the External Founding Entities of Manera, Takriem, and Wellerton (those not Chapters of the Sayleronian State) formed an underground alliance with the Gamroans against Nalek. In January 1280, the Gamroans and allied Founding Entities pushed back and took the contested Gamroan bases. Chapters Manera, Takrie, and Wellerton also withdrew support from Nalek against his orders. In response, Nalek began a crackdown during which key officers and outspoken critics were demoted, imprisoned, or even executed.
In November 1280, Nalek pushed back and overtook two-thirds of the contested Gamroan ports. And in February 1281, the Gamroans and their allies counterattacked, taking half of Nalek's November 1280 gains. In March 1281, Nalek launched another offensive which gave him control over half of the contested bases; and this would begin a gridlock that lasted till October 1286.
In November 1286, the Gamroans and their allies launched an offensive that gave them 75 percent of the contested bases, which was followed by a gridlock that lasted till January 1289.
In January 1289, the Gamroan settlers received a call to return to Canticula in order to help in the coalition effort against the Lykian Republic. In response, Aremae and the Founding Entities formed a coalition which took over the ports previously held by the Gamroans. However, this holding was weak; thus, Nalek saw an opportunity to recapture the bases as well as all the ports held by the External Founding Entities, which he succeeded in doing on 17 March 1289. Thus the war ended that day with Nalek victorious.
Over the following years, Nalek had all Sayleronian ships modernized, all airships upgraded to gyroplanes, and had the Maritime State acquire numerous piers along all coastlines of the Antarctic Plateau. After 1300, the Maritime State began expanding its business into the Carricon Isles. Throughout this era of hyper-expansion, there arose occasional conflicts between the Maritime State and various sea guilds. However, with Nalek's continued conscription, wartime tax, and speech restriction policies, the Maritime State was able to overcome all. Nalek would remain in power as Consul until his death at the age of 85 years on 3 May 1326.
Expansionist Era: Reformation Years - 1326 to 1369
Upon Nalek's death was released his will, which included a nomination for Nalek-loyalist John Portland to become the next Consul. However, such a transfer of power would never materialize.
Established in 1291, the Underground Democratic Society of Sayleron was, in 1326, under the leadership of Josephina Arrenmore. Arrenmore had initially planned to have the Society work to reconcile political power back to the voting population through peaceful means following Nalek's death. However, Arthur Kibbins, a wartime veteran and member of the Society, wanted to take swifter action and sink the Great Flagship in order to erase the memory of Nalek's regime. Arrenmore gave permission for this; and on 17 May 1326, the Flagship was torpedoed and downed. Shortly thereafter, a New Flagship was proclaimed as the Statute of Principle was amended to remove the entity rotation requirement for Consul candidacy as well as to end official religion designations and religious mandates.
Arrenmore declined to run for the Consul position, endorsing Erin Maye, of the Liberal Party, instead. Maye would win the 1326 Consul electoral cycle, the first carried out since 1272.
Consul Erin Maye was known for signing the Sayleronian Maritime State into Deep-Trade Motion Three with the Silver Spades Maritime Guild, who had helped the Underground restore the Sayleronian Maritime State as a democracy. Under Consul Godiva Towers, a Conservative, serving as Consul between 1333 and 1338, the Silver Spades began a brutal debt collection policy, causing abrasion with the Sayleronians. Towers signed compromises with the Silver Spades with the hope of ending the problems associated with the the Silver Spade agenda.
Marc Ordings, also a Conservative, became the next Consul, serving between 1339 and 1344, during which Sayleronian citizens rose up against the lax policies with the Spades. A general strike was carried out by the citizens in 1341. However, Ordings responded to this by signing yet more favorable compromises with the Silver Spades. Mara Konwich on behalf of the opposing Liberal Party became the next Consul, as a result. In 1345, she terminated all trade deals with the Silver Spades, who responded with a declaration of war. The resulting conflict was long and brutal, outlasting Konwich's term. Nicole Moors, after becoming the next Consul in 1351, sought support through diplomacy with enemies of the Silver Spades, and launched a conjoined offensive against them in 1352. In January 1353, the Silver Spades signed terms of surrender and acceptance of severance with the Sayleronians. However, this war was costly, leading to inflation in the Sayleronian economy. Dave Gibbons, running for Consul on behalf of the Conservative Party in 1356, promised to lower market prices of staple goods and commodities. The election that year was very nearly evenly split. But Gibbons' promises gave him the thin majority he needed to win.
It became apparent by the end of Gibbons' first year as Consul, however, that his promises would never materialize. Furthermore, in 1361, the Sayleronian Maritime State entered Deep-Trade Motion Three with the Makrean Maritime State, a motion advocated by Marina Coleman. Coleman would win the Consul election of 1362.
The Second Era of Darkfire: 1369 to Present
List of Second-Darkfire-Era Sayleronian Consuls
*1369 to 1374: Marya Blane
*1375 to 1380: Adrienne Kornick
*1381 to 1386: Nicole Eri
*1387 to 1392: Marcus Toms
*1393 to 1398: Rebecca Marris
*1399 to 1404: Gina Morsk
*1405 to 1410: Karlina Torrings
*1411 to 1416: Arnold Blunt
*1417 to 1422: Kara Blunt
*1423 to 1428: Orima Reading
*1429 to 1434: Karla Morrison
*1435 to 1440: Rachel Thomas
*1441 to 1446: Stephanie Verings
*1447 to 1452: Kelsey Arrington
*1453 to 1458: Arya Henry
*1459 to 1464: Colleen Harper
*1465 to 1470: Tom Perrings
*1471 to 1476: Heather Wharlings
*1477 to 1482: Rachele Beccis
*1483 to 1488: Erica Kornwell
*1489 to 1494: Nara Jane Masters
Darkfire compartmentalization is an unconventional practice that gives plentiful yields in the darkfire industry. The Sayleronian Maritime State had carried out experiments on this practice shortly before the Expansion Era. And such experiments would resume in 1367. Marya Blane, a leading figure in this effort, succeeded in having the Makreans partake. Receiving credit for these efforts, Blane won the 1368 Consul elections.
Upon the beginning of her tenure in 1369, Consul Blane signed a Darkfire Mutual Partnership Agreement with the Makreans. Shortly afterward, in an effort to stem lobbying in the legislature, Blane signed an amendment to the Statute of Principle to abolish political parties in the Sayleronian Maritime State. To note, this has since been deemed a controversial act. In 1373, the Sayleronians and Makreans joined the Open Trade Federation of Circlaria. Five years later, the Netaros Maritime State joined the Open Trade Federation of Circlaria and entered into Deep-Trade Motion Three with the Sayleronians and Makreans, partaking in the compartmentalization experiments as well. The next Consul, Adrienne Kornick, signed the Carricon Isles Trade Expansion Act, which granted capital to Sayleronian, Makrean, and Netaran businesses to establish contracts with the numerous businesses in the Carricon Isles Federation.
Thus, the Sayleronian Maritime State entered into a long period of relative stability and prosperity.
In 1408, during the tenure of Consul Karlina Torrings, the Netaros Maritime State proposed to have the Sayleronians and Makreans accept another sea guild into Motion Three. However, the Sayleronians and Makreans rejected the proposal on the basis that the sea guild was a designated terrorist organization. The following year, the Netaros State voted to exit Motion Three. The economy throughout the Sayleronian and Makrean Maritime States struggled in the years that followed. However, Consul Arnold Blunt reversed such consequences with the signing of the Economic Rehabilitation Act in 1411.
In 1431, the CAD Virus Pandemic began, originating in Greater Circlaria and reaching Ancondria that same year. Incumbent Consul Karla Morrison imposed strict quarantine measures and travel restrictions, which stood in effect until the end of the Pandemic in 1443. Consul Stephanie Verings signed such repeal measures in that year. And two years later, she signed the Second Economic Rehabilitation Act.
In January 1476, during the tenure of Consul Heather Wharlings, the Sayleronian Maritime State inducted the Independent Commonwealth State of Retun into the ongoing Motion Three arrangement. That year, the election yielded Rachele Beccis to be the next Consul. In 1477, Beccis oversaw the lobbying of the Retunian Commonwealth to vote itself a darkfire open-trade entity, and of the Retunian Commonwealth approving the trade of darkfire stones with unconventional scripts. Between 1478 and 1479, Beccis actively led the effort to have the Retunian Commonwealth re-establish its lightfire trade industry. And in 1479, Beccis lobbied the House of Masons in Combria to retire its Patriarchal Stone and adopt a new Matriarchal Stone.
Conflicts of interest led to civil unrest between the Sayleronians and Makreans between 20 and 22 December 1482. That year, Erica Kornwell was elected the next Consul, and, at the beginning of her tenure in 1483, she sought to maintain diplomacy with the Makreans while continuing the effort by the Sayleronian State to lobby the Retunian Commonwealth on darkfire, deep-trade, lightfire, and House of Mason reforms.
Such efforts have been continued by Nara Jane Masters, serving as Consul since 1489.