Azkali

Several terms redirect here. For other uses, see Azkali (disambugation), Azkali language.

Azkali, officially known as the Azkali State (азкалиден езтатен) (Azkali: Azkali Herria; Inori: Aścali Heriścae; Hakainaki: Afukali Etorifun), is a country in southern Ukilen, with an area of approximately [placeholder] square miles. Azkali shares borders with Sunteria and Baphia to the west and north respectively, as well as maritime borders with Loremesia and Hallei to the west and southwest. At its peak, Azkali had a population of over 42 million, concentrated mostly in the west of the country. Before the destruction of the city, the capital was the city of Chekearoa, and its largest and most influential city was Otzeipao.

The Azkali State was first established on the 19th of August 1967, following the unification of the three largest Azkali nations at the time: the Grand Duchy of Otzeipao-Chekearoken, the Independent State of Azkali, and the Azkali Republic in late 1966. The Azkali State was unstable, and faced several revolts and separatist movements, aswell as two civil wars throughout its existence. The Azkali State was a federative semi-presidential republic for most of it's existence.

The Azkali State was formed in 1966 following the unification of three Azkali states. The Azkali State's government was able to unify the several largest Azkali ethnic groups into one state; however, major ethnic revolts and allegations of corruption and a military coup d'etat caused the state to catastrophically collapse into a civil war in 1978. Fighting ceased suddenly as the 1980 Azkali Plague outbreak and 1st Baphian-Azkali War occured, causing the deaths of 65-70% of Azkali's population, between 3.5 to 4 percent of the global population, almost solely via disease. Following the widespread vaccination of the remaining Azkali populace, a majority of the remaning surviving population emigrated to various parts of the world.

Following the exfiltration of Baphian troops and the eradication of the Azkali Plague pandemic, any resemblence of a unified Azkali nation-state collapsed, as the former Azkali State entered into a decade and a half long period of fragmentation and warlordism, characterized by the flippant ignoring of sapient beings rights, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, mass murder, nearly all being of civilians, forced labor and relocation, and genocide. Following the unification of several Azkali warlord states and successor states, aswell as an invasion of seperatist nations in the East and North, the Azkali State was redeclared in 2006.

Throughout the next 17 years, the Azkali State was extremely unstable politically, and was preoccupied with repairing the effects of the 1980 plague outbreak. The disease had depopulated swathes of the interior and coast, and had caused countless cities to become abandoned. Under the presidency of Maishi Tortauzer, from 2006-2012, countless abandoned cities and settlements were either demolished or repopulated by ethnically Azkali immigrants. In 2011, General Akele Koraz Eimalotz launched a coup d'etat against the Azkali government, establishing a military junta alongside several of his officers and relatives. During this time, Azkali was renamed to the Azkali Legionary State. In 2013, Akele was assasinated by General Telamon Ekeizassodho, and took control of Azkali, holding the first democratic elections in two years several months after.

In late 2023, the Azkali State was couped by paramilitary leader, author, and cult leader Korru Mezenas Naaru. His brief two and a half month reign as the dictator of Azkali saw the destruction of virtually every city in Azkali, the attempted genocides of the Hakainaki, Inoriz, and Protiheuserkali, as well as a delibrate, and planned democide against the Azkali people themselves. His reign saw the murdering of approximately half of all humans within Azkali, aswell as the enslavement of hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war, humans, Protiheuserkalis, Azkali citizens themselves, and foreigners. In addition, his rule saw the fleeing of approximately half a million Azkalis from Azkali to other nations, mostly Alloti and Loremesia. His reign also saw the start of the brief but devestating Suntero-Azkali War, 3rd and larger Azkali War - culminating in the collapse of the Azkali State and "Directive 92", the planned mass murder of all Azkali citizens.

Prehistory

Kali Migration to Azkali

Modern day Azkali has had occupants for between eight and ten thousand years. One of, if not the oldest example of writing in the continent of Ukilen, and perhaps the world was discovered at the Atsokorrol Site in 2019, being at least 7000 years old. The writing at this script is theorized to be a very old form of the Azkali alphabet; however, there is no clear path of development between the writing found there and the current script today.

Azkali civilization, with brief interruptions from 1985 to ~2000, has been in existance for 8000-9000 years: this makes it one of, if not the oldest civilizations on the planet.

Modern History

Main article: History of Azkali (1967-2024)

Formation

The Azkali State was formed from the short lived Azkali Provisional Government (1966-1967), which controlled the areas held by the Grand Duchy of Otzeipao-Chekearoken, the Independent State of Azkali, and the Azkali Republic following their unifications in November of 1966. Elections were held on the 20th of August 1966, and the first president, Ari Kaiskahouta, running under the newly formed Social Democratic Party of Azkali, was sworn in on the first of January of the following year.

1980 Plague and Societal Collapse

Warlord Days

Main article: Warlord Days (Azkali)

Popularized by the future president Maishi Tortauzer, the warlord days were a period of time lasting a decade and a half, from 1985 to 2000. following the end of the plague outbreak. During this time, Azkali was fragmented into countless hundreds of warlord and secessionist states. The average life expectancy during this tumultous time was one of the lowest in the world, and a further hundred thousand people - mostly civilians - were killed via fighting. The 1989 Hotzoru Earthquake, the most severe earthquake in world history, caused the further destruction of urban centers and a further ten thousand deaths.

Korru M. Naaru coup d'etat

Main article: Naaruan Azkali

A segment of a panorama of the whole of Chekearoa showing the parliament building. Taken c. January 20th, photographer unknown.

On the 24th of December, 2023, Korru Mezenas Naaru, alongside the paramilitary and cult group he ran, the Society of the Yellow Dragon, performed a coup d'etat on the Azkali government. The parliament building and presidential estate in Chekearoa were all shelled by tankfire, in addition to most of the other important Azkali government ministries. Meanwhile, government ministries and some foreign embassies in other cities, such as Otzeipao, Tautauzi, and Harrikam were occupied by armed militants. Government resistance was virtually absent during this fighting, allowing the militants to establish a government over the following hours and days with virtually no resistance.

On the next day, of which has been colloquially termed The Day of Trauma, approximately 58,000 Azkali citizens - just above one percent of the population of Azkali, were murdered - consisting of university students and professors, teachers, ethnic minorities, humans, members of the old government and of city governments, foreign ambassadors, and so on. Although mostly commited by members of the Society of the Yellow Dragon, hundreds of Azkali civilians not connected with the organization commited murders as a part of the frenzy. This group of people have been colloquially known as kohoseki kalereinti (those who [commit] genocide). The violence continued from the 25th to the collapse of Korru's government in February. Most of the murders victims were not ethnically Azkali, however - most of the death toll of ethnic Azkalis resulted from starvation, disease, though a significant amount was due to execution.

The attempted transformation of Azkali from a (albeit unstable) democratic republic to a state following Naaruism and Korruvian thought started immediately after the takeover of the government. Starting from the 27th and continuing until the collapse of the Korru government, most urban centers of population within Azkali (save Chekearoa and several interior cities) were evacuated, in accordance to the "ideal Azkali society" described in Korruvian thought, and concretely in the Orange Book of Azkali. Their residents were forced to march into the countryside of Azkali, into designated zones; those who were unable to walk - i.e the elderly, sick, newborns, and so on, were murdered or abandoned to die. Following the emptying of most cities, service buildings such as hospitals, schools, infastructure such as motorways and bridges, and later on all buildings were targetted for destruction, being either manually demolished by slaves or lower members of the Society of the Yellow Dragon, or via explosives. Once in their designated zones, people were forced to construct estates for higher-up members of the Society of the Yellow Dragon (often being called Mokozen, a word roughly corresponding to prince or priest) of which they would work for little or no pay (essentially becoming the level of serfs) on plantations in exchange for free housing, food, and safety. This class of people, estimated to become the majority of people, were referred to euphamistically by members of the Society of the Yellow Dragon as Taiko (a neologism coined around 2010, meaning to drone (in the context of sound, i.e a drone in music)). Some civilians were chosen (mostly nepotistically) to become Nakorrinez, a word roughly corresponding to duke or count. These Nakorrinez all oversaw the work of the serfs and were responsible for punishing or executing those who disobeyed the Society of the Yellow Dragon or commited crimes, such as stealing food, refusing to work, etc. These Nakorrinez were often awarded with a small entourage of slaves and extra rations in exchange for their compliance; they were often allowed to hold small gardens of which they or their slaves would tend to. This system was to be abolished, in Korru's estimates, "about 15 or 20 years, once our rule has been absolutely established as right (...), once our dominance over humans and other species has been put in place", and was considered a completely temporary measure.

This system, in Korru's own words, was "designed to cause the mass deaths of many of people [sic], which I [he] intend[ed] fully. In order to create a new, and objectively better society, the previous one is to be completely uprooted, and all remnants to be superseded by trauma - in other words, the people who have witnessed the previous society can not be allowed with living [sic]". Quotas for food production were raised to be impossibly high, and those who were unable to fufill them - whether they were Taikos or Mokozen - were murdered. This system was delibrately designed and coordinated so as to cause fear and terror in the Azkali populace, in order to "prevent a revolution". If left to continue, it is estimated that half of all Azkalis living in Azkali would have been killed by roughly January of 2025, contradicting Korru's own estimates.

Preperations for armed conflict with Sunteria started almost immediately after the takeover of the Azkali government. A few days before the invasion of Sunteria, Baphian forces started a preemptive invasion of Azkali, and this somewhat delayed the preperations for the coming war. However, in the early hours of the 24th of January 2024, skirmishes occured along the Azkalo-Sunterian border; the next day, a full blown military offensive occured, aswell as the declaration of war upon Sunteria by Azkali. This ninvasion, despite the public nature of Korru Mezenas Naaru's and the Society of the Yellow Dragon's ideals, took most of the world by surprise, and global support for Sunteria flooded in almost immediately after the war's start. The offensive initially succeeded, and territorial gains extended ca. hundred kilometers into Kalilonde for the first week of the invasion. Based on the principles of Naaruism and Korruvian thought, an attempted genocide of the indigenous Protiheuserkali and Oikan population occured within their occupied territories, claiming the lives of approximately 14,000 people - essentially all civilians. In addition, an estimated 10,000 Protiheuserkali-ethnic civilians (and some 500 Oikans) were kidnapped by armed forces of the Society of the Yellow Dragon, aswell as a limited amount of members of the Azkali Armed Forces and transported to Azkali to become chattel slaves.

Remnant of a bombed out bridge in [placeholder], Kalilonde, Sunteria. Photograph taken 16 April, 2024.

Starting with the 2nd week of the invasion - the 1st week of February, the invasion turned catastrophic. The Azkali frontline stalled (it's westernmost extent being around the town of [placeholder]), before utterly collapsing following the Battle of [Placeholder]. With this defeat, fighters along the front retreated en mass, implementing a limited scorched earth policy as it went, razing several towns and cities along its path. Meanwhile, Baphian troops had advanced with virtually no resistance and had approached the outskirts of Okotsi and Chekearoa. On the 6th of February 2024, in the palace he had ordered to be constructed in Chekearoa, an attempted assasination attempt occured against Korru.

Demographics

Population

The population of Azkali in 2023 was approximately 5.68 million, not accounting the population of the Eastern Indigenous States. Following the Azkali War, the population was reduced by approximately 1 million, most fleeing internationally before the start of the Suntero-Azkali War. Between 250,000 and 500,000 Azkali citizens were murdered during the course of the conflict. During 1978 to 1985, roughly 25 to 28 million Azkalis died via the 1980 Azkali Plague - one if, if not the most deadliest disease outbreaks in world history. Due to this, Azkali is one of, if not the least densely populated regions on the planet.

The highest total Azkali population as an ethnic group was in 1912, where there were an estimated 63 million Azkalis spread across 15 nationstates. The highest total population in one Azkali nation was in 1976, during the reign of the Azkali State, where it was approximately 46.74 million. At this point, approximately one quarter of Azkalis had emigrated from Azkali to various places across the globe, mostly to communities in Baphia and Sunteria. This "first wave" of Azkali migration is partially responsible for the Azkali Diaspora.

Population of the Eastern Indigenous States

Photograph of an unnamed shootoff range of the Erioka Mountains in Southeastern Azkali.

The total population of the Eastern Indigenous States is, the tribal quasi-states dotting the foothills of the Erioka Mountains in Eastern Azkali, is unknown. Estimates range between 600,000 at the low end to perhaps 4 million: higher estimates have estimated that perhaps 6 million indigenous people, straddling the border between Azkali and Baphia. People residing as a part of the Eastern Indigenous States are not citizens of the Azkali State, instead being “aligned” as whatever tribe, chiefdom, or kingdom they belong to.

Before the onset of the 1980 Azkali Plague, the population in the Eastern Indigenous States was estimated to have been to be between 7-8 million.

Languages

Between 12 and 14 languages are natively spoken in Azkali. The largest is Azkali, being the official language and de jure only official language in the nation. The speakers of Azkali, along with Hakainaki and Inori - collectively the 2nd and 3rd most spoken languages in Azkali respectively - account for 97% of Azkali's popuation.

Religions

Turruism is the most followed religion in Azkali, with around 58 percent of the population claiming "active membership" in the faith. Of that, approximately 23% believe in the Koltleki sect of Turruism. 12% follow the Notlezeki sect, with approximately 3% claiming adherence to various other different sects. 20% follow a nonspecific variety of Turruism. The second most followed religion, being followed by roughly 7% of the Azkali population is Loremesian Saulism, mostly due to trade and extended contact between Azkali and Loremesia. Approximately 5% believe in Totezkalen.

Infastructure

Transportation by Road

Motorways

A segment of the Azkali motorway system in Central Azkali. Everything from the paint used, width, and so on are unstandardized, and vary between province.

The Azkali Motorway System consists of approximately 927,000 kilometers of motorway, a vast majority of which is unpaved. The vast majority of the system is abandoned and or in severe disfunction. A majority of the paved highways are around the Chekearoa and Otzeipao metropolitan areas.

The Azkali Motorway System is unique in the world for its relative lack of standardization. There are no official standards for lane sizes, shoulder sizes, and so on. In addition, driving direction can often vary between (and inside, even) provinces; it is not uncommon for lanes to switch several times within province. As such, Azkali has one of the highest rates of car crashes in the world (though this record is also caused by lax safety regulations regarding obtaining a driver's permit).

Transportation by Air

Formed in 2012, the largest airline in Azkali is AirAzkal. One of the worlds largest airlines, AirAzkal serves flights from Azkali to every nation on the planet. However, the largest airline in Azkali by the amount of passengers transported per year is the low-cost airline AeroToztan, of which serves nearly solely domestic flights.

Culture

Opera

Main article: Azkali opera

Marching Band

Marching band is one of the most popular forms of music within Azkali. The world's earliest marching band, the Western Otzeipao University Dragon Band, was formed in 1892, in the then Grand Duchy of Otzeipao-Chekearoken. Within Azkali, all middle and high school marching bands, in both private and public schools, are governed by the International Marching Corps Association, formed in 1969. This organization also governs competitions outside of Azkali - in Sunteria, Baphia, and Loremesia.