Kaffspar

In the centre of Ilunia's landmass lies one of the pillars of the Confederation's power and influence: the Kingdom of Kaffspar (Slavmanic: Дас Кьониграйх Дер Каффспар, Latinisation: Das Königreich der Kaffspar). With a long history, much of it under Ostian subjugation, Kaffspar has recently entered a high point in its power after joining Antias in the Confederation of Human States. Now with the war against the Empire raging, Kaffspar finds itself with the most to gain territorially but also the most to lose, and in the games of the gods that humanity calls war, König der Könige Khanag Simeon and Generalfeldmarschall der Kaffsparische Streitkräfte Ivan-Alexander have an important role to play.

History
The territory that is now collectively known as Kaffspar has been populated by Humans for thousands of years. The earliest written accounts of civilization on the central regions, where the Slavmanic tribes of the plains. By the end of the first ages, the First Ostian Empire came to dominate the region after expanding through the Bavarrace (Баваракия) region into Balstria (Балстрия) conquering everything as they went. The Slavmanic people where helpless against the Ostian onslaught and eventually the whole of Balstria was conquered.

The Slavmanic people lived under the control of Ostia for centuries, but the former nomadic population could not continue its existence as "slave cattle" as they saw themselves. The Kaffsparian national movement represents one of the first examples of successful national resistance against Osian rule. It culminated in two mass uprisings at the beginning of the modern age, leading to national liberation and establishment of the modern Kaffsparian state. One of the main centers of this movement was the Weisheit (Вейсхайт), which became the core of the reestablished Kaffsparian national state.

A number of factors contributed to its rise. Above all the nucleus of national identity was preserved in the form of the Kaffsparian Boran Cult which remained in one form or another autonomous throughout the period of Ostian occupation. Adherence to the Boran Cult is still considered an important factor in ethnic self determination. Both of these entities preserved links with ancient Slavmatic tribes keeping the idea of national liberation alive.

The other group of factors stem from regional political events during the period of Ostian rule, the latter period in particular. Perhaps the most important factor was the immense rise in population humanity had been experiencing. It became much harder for Ostian forces to maintain a constant presence everywhere: as humanity grew, they gained control of resources at a much faster rate than the Ostians could. At the turn of the century the region of Weisheit had a relatively recent experience of almost continuous warfare, thanks to the unruly peasants. As a result, the Ostians never established full order in the region. The human peasant where a majority in the province, and small time rebellions where often. Furthermore, most of the leaders of future armed rebellions earned valuable military knowledge serving in Ostian irregular troops. The proximity of the Westhaven border provided the opportunity of getting the needed military material. Kaffparian national leaders could also count on financial and logistic support of fellow Slavmatics living in relative prosperity in Westhaven.

The immediate cause for the start of the First Kaffsparian Uprising was a small time peasants rebellion, which had become often in the province of Weisheit. The Peasants would have been stopped easily, if the local governor didn't decide to send the badly equipped irregular militia that was under his command, against the rebels. The militia was made up from humans and when it got ambushed by the peasants many quickly changed sides. Fueled by initial success the rebellion quickly grew to a fully fledged war of national liberation, with clear aim to spread armed struggle to other Ostian regions inhabited by Slavmatic population.

Though ultimately unsuccessful, this First Kaffsparian Uprising paved the way for the Kaffsparian Liberation war (Дер Каффспариш Бефройнгскрейг, Der Kaffsparische Befreiungskriege), which eventually succeeded in Kaffspar.

Resurrected Kaffspar would eventually become a center of resistance to Ostians, actively supporting liberation movements in neighboring Human lands. Kaffspar would go on to fight a series of, largely successful wars with Ostian empire culminating in the Human War of Independence.

Culture
Traditional Kaffsparian culture contains mainly Slavmanic heritage, along with slight Geldarian and Laverocci influences. Slavmanic artifacts include numerous tombs and golden treasures. Many of the archaeological discoveries date back to Slavmanic times, while ancient Laverocci have also left traces of their heritage in music and in early architecture. The Slavmanic tribal capitals functioned as the hub of culture during much of the Early Ages, exerting considerable literary and cultural influence over the northern world. The Cyrillic alphabet, used as a writing system for he Kaffsparian language, originated in Kaffspar durring Ostian Rule. A historical artifact of major importance is the oldest treasure of worked gold in the world, dating back to the dawn of human civilisation.

Society
Kaffsparian society is divided into two classes, General Population and Aristocracy, where family connections play a more important role than level of income. It is possible for a member of the general population to become an aristocrat by connecting his bloodline to a member of the aristocracy via marriage, but this is a rear event. The aristocratic families are usually direct descendants of revolutionary leaders. Old religious practices like the Boran Cult are dead, as replaced by newer religions like Mediacism.

Government
The Kaffsparian government has a double chambered parliament called Reichstag (Рейхстаг) and a King, called König der Könige (Кьонг дер Кьонге, King of Kings). The König exerts the ultimate authority over Kaffspar. The Chamber of Descendants (Kammer der Nachkommen, Каммер дер Нахкомен) is the first chamber, it is made out of members of the Aristocracy, which in turn are only descendants of the original Seven Slavmanic tribes. The König is chosen by the Reichstag out of the members of the Kammer der Nachkommen. The second Chamber, the People's Chamber (Volkskammer, Волкскаммар), it has the power to propose laws and regulations and also to bring up issues to the attention of the König, but ultimately the power to decide whether the laws and regulations will go ahead is at the hands of the König.