Hal'uka'awe

The Hal'uka'awe are a volcanic island chain. These dozens of small islands emerge from deep waters. Each is independent of each other.

Geography

The Hal'uka'awe islands are steep, conical, and skirted with fertile slopes. Many have a low level of constant volcanic activity, oftentimes tied to a God or Elemental Font.

Politics

Fractious and fiercely interdependent, the islands of Hal'uka'awe stand alone amongst each other. While most have resisted Protectorate expansion, a few have gone over to the Protectorate. In response the Sultanate has expanded their efforts to create a buffer between them and the Protectorate by bringing more of the Independent Kingdoms into the fold.

Independent Kingdoms

Each kingdom encompasses an island. Historically there have been those who have thought to expand their territory to multiple islands, but such expansion rarely lasts more than a few decades. Each though they share a common language each island has their own cultural identity. As such how they raise a person to kingship is as varied as there are islands. Some are pure democracies raising a leader to kingship by popular vote, others are hereditary monarchies where each king is revered as semi-divine in life and death.

Sultanate Influence

As the Sultanate has sought to create a buffer between it and the Protectorate, they have been making alliances among the Hal'uka'awe. They have done this openly through trade and politics. And they have done this surreptitiously through manipulation and regime change. As each island comes under Sultanate control they are assigned an Ayaht to administer the territory on behalf of a Sultan. These suborned kingdoms are used by the nobility of the Sultanate as an additional power base beyond their Familial Tribes.

Coalition Emergence

In response to both the Sultanate's and Protectorate's expansion into Hal'uka'awe various factions are coalescing to resist them. One of these, King Halunu’koa of Amal’ukoa Island, has been gaining traction and he has become the center of northern coalition building between Lassam and the Bastinari Archipelago.