Vezdulan Bajorates

In times past the Szlata tribe, a nomadic group of horse riding humans were forced out of their homeland by a series of volcanic eruptions which they interpreted as a message from their gods to find a new homeland. After years of wandering, a leader arose from the ranks of the young warriors by the name of Samogita. His feats of heroism inspired the shamans of the fractured tribe to name him Kunigai or “unifier”. He quickly organized the tribe under more militant lines breaking the ancient clan system by mixing the Szlata of all ranks and rewarding position based on the merit of their martial prowess. 

The greatest warriors and strategic system he named as Bajories or captains of his forces. Kunigai Samogita expertly lead his forces away from large Elderkin strongholds and into the Vezdulan plain between the Elru and Goru rivers. From this base he struck out and conquered the various Lesserkin tribes of the region. Many theorised he chose his people’s new homeland between two dwarven powers because he knew they would be slow to stop his army so long as he avoided their mountain homes. The choice could also have been military as the generally flat land of the Vezdulan plain and much of the surrounding land benefited the superior Szlata horses and cavalry. 

By the time of Samogita’s death, the Szlata had effectively transformed into the nobility of the region. With the death of Samogita many of his lieutenant tried to seize the title of Kunigai but a Bajori named Eguloy rallied many of the lesser Bajori to depose the would-be Kunigais and declared that the Bajories would rule Greater Vezdula as a council since only Samogita could ever be the Kunigai. 

While Eguloy was able to lead the council and expand the domains of the Szlata he was unable to stop the Bajori from becoming a new upper nobility with the remaining Szlata becoming a sort of lower nobility, swearing loyalty to their Bajori instead of to the council. Not long after Eguloy’s death the council declared the Argenic Liberty, meaning the council could only pass resolutions by unanimous decision. This crippled the council but allowed the Bajories to reign supreme over their fiefdoms. Soon the council became meaningless. 

As time moved on the Szlata faded as an ethnic group, instead becoming the name for the nobility. The people who inhabited the upper and mid Elru and Go rivers and the Great valley between the Great Holds. Slowly the Elruth Empire and the Union of Great Holds began to conquer the Bajorates on their border until much of the Great valley and the mid Elru was conquered. Squeezed between the two dwarvish powers, the remaining Bajories came up with a solution to keep some of their independence. They recognized the rivalry between the Elruth Empire and the Union of Great Holds and offered the service of their cavalry, to one to protect them from another. 

This began the system known as the Vezdulan joust. Since the Dwarves rarely had an effective cavalry force of their own, the dwarves readily accepted the Vezdulan scouts and Szlata heavy cavalry.  The remaining Vezdulan Bajories ruled as willing pawns of one power or the other, flipping allegiances as readily as the wind changed direction. This system held firm for centuries until the collapse of the Elruth Empire. The collapse of the Elruth Empire and the formation of the Elruth Marcea Commonwealth destabilized the entire system. 

Peasant revolts raged across the Bajorates and toppled the nobility in the northern Vezdulan plain, the region nearest the Commonwealth. The Bajories of the southern Vezdulan plain and Go river have begun to cling to the Goruth and the Union of Great Holds to preserve their power.

Work in Progress. 

The Vezdulan Bajorates are a loose collection of petty noble domains connected by a common cultural heritage among the noble classes. Each Bajorate is ruled solely by its Bajori. Each Bajori has a group of Szlata sworn to them which are colloquially known as their cohort. The Szlata act as a combination of armed forces, police officers, and administrators, especially for the further out villages and hamlets. The Bajori’s power is absolute in their realms though tradition states that the peasants have the right to move to another Bajorate if they are mistreated. 

This creates an incentive for the Bajories to treat their peasants just well enough as to disincentive moving. In recent years tension has been increasing between the peasants and the nobility as secret organisations have spread among the common folk. The most powerful of which are the human supremacist New Dawn Accord, the partisans for the Elruth-Marcea Commonwealth known as The Masked Concord, the Vezdulan nationalist organisation called Nev-Svlata legion, and the Anti-noble society known as The Orange Bloom. 

The New Dawn Accord is strongest on the upper Go river and has secret connections with Istunia. The Masked Concord focuses its actions on the Commonwealth's border region. The Nev-Svlata has made gains along the border regions with Goruth and the Union of Great Holds and among the reform-minded young Svlatas and even Bajorirs and is concerned with the revitalization and unification of Greater Vezdula. It’s the Orange Bloom which is the most widespread. Named after the orange flowers of the Ludzie fruit tree native to the Vezdulan plain, this organisation’s primary goal is the overthrow of the aristocracy and the introduction of democracy. 

They care very little if that democracy is as part of a larger nation or as a small Vezdulan state, they simply feel that it is the aristocracy which has caused Vezdula to fall into it's current backwards state. Because of this narrow goal the Orange Bloom has become widespread but highly decentralised, local leaders often act independently. Most of the Bajorates are political aligned with either the Union of Great Holds or the Goruth, who is aligned with who is based almost entirely off of a constantly shifting web or rivalries, noble feuds, honour duels, and scheming. 

Most of the shifting is in response to the realignment of one of the five Wuzi Balori (grand Bajori) while their rank technically isn't any different from any other Balori they have the largest amount of territory, though even they don't rule over much more than a handful of towns, with the exception of the Bajori of Samog-fel who rules the only true city in the Vezdulan Bajorates. The other four are the Bajori of Priyat, the Bajori of Zlatost, the Bajori of Eguloy-hegda, and the Bajori of Markovo.

When it comes to technology the Vezdulan Bajorates could be charitable described as dependent and could be accurately described as mired in the past. The only industrialization in the entirety of the Bajorates is the secret factories and workshops kept by Bajori Fedori Vasyn of Wynopal and his allies in the Nev-Svlata. They hold a complete monopoly on the only technology that can be said to be truly Vezdulan, the Zelazo Krol (basically heavily armoured off-road motorcycles). They are the only faction that can come remotely close to arming themselves with modern firearms in the Vezdulan Bajorates. 

This is not to say that the Bajories are without any technology, many Bajories and even some Szlata own armour or weapons crafted by the expert smiths of the dwarves, either from purchase or from the valorous service of one of the warriors of their lineage. These most important Bajories even have runic magic imbued into their weaponry. Despite the war of Dawn and the revelation of the power of industry the Vezdulan Bajorates remain a place stuck in the glories of their martial past and the economies and society of their ancestors. 

The dominant culture of the Vezdulan Bajorates is the martial culture of the Vezdulan Szlata. The Szlata value martial prowess above all other pursuits and of all skills horsemanship ranks the highest. A Szlata warrior is primarily defined by their skill in the saddle, the quality of their mount, and their skill with the mounted bow and/or the lance. This is symbolized in the most common symbol in the heraldry in the Bajoric houses, the White Steed of Samogita, which is a stylized and angular rearing white cavalry charger. While all of the Vezdulan Bajorates officially subscribe to Sagiraism, an animist religion with a grand prophetic tradition, they often aren’t very devout. 

Despite this the most important events to the Vezdulan Szlata are the 7 annual great jousts. The great jousts are great festivals and sporting events and are traditionally celebrated by all Szlata not currently at war. Three celebrate the three most important events in Vezdulan history, the Crowning of Samogita, The conquest of the Vezdulan plain, and the Victory of Eguloy at Vlazgo crossing.  The other four are officially dedicated to the 4 great cardinal lords of the sky tribe of the spirits: the Snow spirit, the Rain spirit, the Lightning spirit, and the Cloud spirit. 

These spirits are often considered the most powerful spirits in Sagiraism. All Bajories are expected to show up to the 7 great jousts unless they are engaged in warfare outside of Greater Vezdula. There are other jousts, often held officially to celebrate specific prophets or spirits, however they hold a distinctly political purpose as a way for influential Bajories to demonstrate their power and rally their support. Joust generally are comprised of a series of martial competition, especially fencing and archery, capped off by a jousting tournament in the afternoon. After the final joust the host is obligated to host all present Szlata for a great feast. 

Most of the peasants belong to the Vezdulion culture. Formed from the traditions of the conquered human and beastkin tribes that inhabited the region before the conquest by the Szlata. The majority of the land still controlled by the Bajorates was formerly inhabited by the agrarian Kingdom of Bohalion. The Bohalions held a deep reverence for the spirits of animals, plants, and the earth. This has carried over to the Vezdulion culture as the peasants often perform rituals to ask for forgiveness from the spirits before beginning any work which could harm animals, plants, or the earth; such as hunting, butchering, reaping, tilling, etc. 

There is also a tradition of praying for honour from the spirits of the plants and animals before any meal. The Vezdulion generally take Sagiraism much more seriously than their Szlata overlords. They believe deeply in the covenant between the spirits of the world and sentient life. While the Szlata prefer their jousts, the Vezdulan peasants often prefer the feasts of the prophets. In the past century the feasts of Kashandara Telugu, Gerell Raphul, and Helgana Adinov have risen to a special status. These prophets are collectively known as the Martyr-Prophets. It is said that all three foresaw their own demise but also foresaw that their causes would succeed because of their sacrifice. 

With the rapid growth of the revolutionary secret societies such as the reformist Nev-Svlata, or anti-aristocratic Orange Bloom, human supremacist New Dawn Association, and the partisan Masked Concord this shift could mark a sort of cultural and religious preparation for revolution. In the Vezdulion culture the most important symbols are the Ring-horned Ram which is said to represent bravery, stoicness and strength; the Elruic Corvid which is said to represent intelligence, cunning, and freedom; and the orange Ludzie flowers whose beauty and fruitfulness is ascribe to Vezdula and the Vezdulan people in general.

Work in progress. 

• The Vezdulan Bajorates were created by Sorcerer chap.

• As there are multiple Bajorates, there are multiple different Vezdulan flags, though swallowtail designs are generally preferred. Some Vezdulan nationalists have proposed a flag for a unified Vezdula which features a rearing white horse on a black shield, placed in front of an orange field. Though because this movement is so disorganized there are many variations.