The Ak'aaran League

The stated goal of the Ak'aaran league is to resist the invasion launched on their lands by the Merchant Republic of Arba, and eventualy push them back into the ocean. However, each city-state also has it's own objectives, which may or may not go against the main goal of the alliance. Only time will tell.

The region has a long history of developement and downfall, with numerous city-states that have risen and fell. Countless wars wer fought between them, allowing only the strongest amongst them to survive to this day. For centuries, their biggest enemy was themselves, or the kahl'cha tribes of the south, composed of Lizardfolk Shapeshifters, who would periodicaly unifie under a war chief into a formidable force.   1000 years ago, the Ayoxal, or "homeland" was split into a northern and southern half by a religious conflict. Civilised Lizardfolks primarily inhabited the south, and their city-states would eventualy unified into a single kingdom called Ak'tolok. The north meanwhile, inhabited primarily by Humans and other non-reptilian mages, would stay divided into independant city-states who would fight each other constantly.   However, this changed around the year 150 bc, when the Western Esnian empire invaded the city of A'anora. The city-state had already been a vassal of the Eastern Esnian Empire for about 2 centuries, but now it became an imperial province, and other cities to the south were now also vassalized. To counter this, the leaders of the remaining independant city-states came together in the City of Noamarù and proclaimed the Ak'araan league.   This league was not a cohesive organisation in most aspects, and conflicts even broke out within the league at times, but the one thing it was good at, was keeping the Esnian empire from annexing any other territory in the region. It even sucessfuly helped a rebellion in the city of Belmakù, allowing it to gain it's independance once again in 110 bc.   Eventualy, both halves of the Esnian Empire would crumble and collapse thanks to decades of internal problems and the rapid and destructive expansion of the blight. The city-state of A'anora, and the vassalized cities of Arapan and Kaltùpan were invaded by forces of the League in 32 bc, and the empire was too weak to mount an effective defense, leading to all three cities being liberated that same year.   With the Esnian Empire gone from the continent, the league quickly lost it's purpose, and started loosing members. By the start of the Third Age, only 3 city-states remained allied: Noamarù, Toapek, and Xhelan, and the alliance itself would become nearly entirely dominated by Noamarù. This smaller alliance would survive until until the year 217 Ac, when Toapek, the 2nd most powerful city in the alliance, suffered a coup. The powerful city-state of Belmakù allied itself with Toapek's new king, making it impossible for Noamarù and Xhelan to easily restore the deposed king.   A cold war ensued between both alliance, which provoqued many wars, some of which being quite bloody and which involved many other city-states, such as A'anora and Madjarù. In 272 Ac, even the kingdom of Ak'Tolok, the country to the south inhabited by Lizardfolk Shapeshifters, began launching raids on Xhelan territory, breaking the centuries long truce between the two. Noamarù helped Xhelan defeat them, but asked to station their own troops within Xhelan territory, who were too weak to refuse what essentialy amounted to annexation.   While the league still existed on paper, it had become essentialy an extension of Noamarù's growing power. This made all the other city-states worried, but talks of a counter alliance would circulate for a century with no progress, in part thanks to Noamaru's diplomatic efforts. Then, in 367, the Merchant Republic of Arba came to the continent. They arranged for a coup in the city of A'anora, and quickly invaded it, before expanding into the interior. The rest of the city-states were horrified, and so Madjarù, Kaltùpan, Belmakù and Toapek instead created their own alliance, called the League of northern Ayoxal.   They were quick to deny Noamarù's offer to join them, fearing the city's power would undermine them. Unfortunatly, they alone weren't strong enough to push the Arbitians armies back, and were even being pushed back in places, while Belmakù faced devastating sea bombardments. In early 369, the cities of Noamarù and Xhelan both rejoined, which was then renamed back into the Ak'aaran league. With the most powerful city of the region joining the League, Arba began to be pushed back north. Eventualy, a stalemate was reached just south of the Nohlù hills. The war rages on to this day as both sides attempting to break the stalemate.

The League's millitary forces may be divided, but are nonetheless formidable. While the alliance doesn't have any winged ships, and only a small navy which the Arbitian forces made sure to destroy when they first invaded. What makes the league strong enough to resist them is the force of their infantry. Their warriors, human, elemental mages, and shapeshifters form their own social class, and are all highly trained, espcialy Xahkùm's Legion, who are on the front lines pushing against the foreigners. This, coupled with the harsh geography and climate of the region, means that the massive Arbitian firepower advantage amount to very little when both forces clash along the frontline.

The territory of the Ak'aaran League is large and crossed with dangerous rivers and thick jungles. Most cities in the region have ports on a river, or connected to the sea, allowing ferry to transport people and merchandise between most cities. For land trade, large paved roads were elevated above the ground by stone mages, allowing Occomor Chariots, loaded with goods to travel between cities or wage war on them.