Vastallosi Alliance of Western Rathnir

The Vastallosi Alliance of Western Rathnir (abbreviated the VAWR) was an alliance of independent and sovereign nations, originally on the continent of Vastallos, but later expanded to include distant nations such as Uldarash and Sironia. Eventually, the alliance was disbanded after a majority of member states became disillusioned and surrendered their membership. The reason for this is debated and explanations include foundational organisational faults, lack of participation from members, the expansion of membership allowing non-vastallosi nations to join, accusations of Machiavellian behaviour as well as the exploitation of the induction process by bad-faith actors.

Summation
The alliance formed originally from the minor nations on Vastallos (Formerly Alteniquia Minor) at the Grand Meeting Hall at Carvay. The nations of The Blessed Diarchy of Neos Knossos, The Serene Republic of Carvay, The Chiefdom of Kawalapua, and the Holy City of Stensta, the Lordship of Volandia, and the then VIR territory of Tlahatl were present. These 6 nations were invited by Neos Knossos and Carvay to form a defensive union to ensure all members' independence and sovereignty from external and internal forces, and to prevent colonization by any Eastern empires. Their agreement was codified as the Treaty of Carvay. Meeting on October 15, 2020, the Alliance was ratified at 10:22 AM EST.

The ideals upheld by the Alliance are the sovereignty, independence, and security of all nations in the West. The Alliance seeks to resolve disputes through negotiations and diplomacy, rather than through conflict, but is prepared to defend itself should it be attacked. Due to an abundance of small city states, and the constant expansion westward by the empires of the east, in order to defend themselves the nations of the Vastallos region created the alliance. Any Western nation may join this alliance, and no one nation, or person shall speak for the alliance.

Record of Events
On October 21st, the Alliance was declared to the world.

The 7th member of the Alliance, The Corporate Union of Masons (then known as Cobblework Mines), was invited shortly after. The membership of The Corporate Union of Masons was ratified on Friday, October 23, at the Alliance's first official meeting.

On November 4th, early in the morning, the alliance held an emergency meeting due to the brewing Great Golden War between its observer nations, the Republic of Bardonia and the Empire of Uldarash. The VAWR agreed to moderate the war to make sure no fighting occurred, but when Uldarashi troops fired the first shots, the alliance immediately sided with Bardonia and fought with them to victory.

The 8th member, The Kingdom of Sironia, was welcomed into the alliance at the VAWR meeting on November 14, 2020. They were formerly sponsored by Carvay. On the same day, Carvay announced the annexation of Neos Knossos into its republic (as requested by Neos Knossos), reducing the member nation count of the alliance by one. Also on the same day, it was agreed that due to the lack of activity from the members of Stensta, they would no longer be a voting member of the alliance, although they always retain the option of taking back their seat if they return. Ironically, the activities of this day technically reduced the member nation count of the alliance back to its original six.

On November 28th, the VAWR officially accepted the Empire of Uldarash (formerly sponsored by Tlahatl) and the Republic of Griffinview (Formerly sponsored by Carvay) into the alliance. Additionally, Carvay sponsored the Kingdom of Reyllea, Sironia agreed to take up Neos Knossos's sponsorship of the Republic of Bardonia, Tlahatl agreed to sponsor the Cluckonic Order, and the Corporate Union agreed to sponsor Neos Asturcia.

On December 5th, 2020, the VAWR convened for a meeting, where they agreed to hold war games in order to train their members. Additionally, the nations agreed to honor their mandatory defense pact and defend Sironia against bandits, who had declared war on Sironia a few hours earlier. The Alliance also accepted 2 new members, the Cluckonic Order and the Kingdom of Reyllea. Due to Neos Asturcia not attending, their membership was tabled until next the next meeting. Earlier on the same day, Uldarash agreed to sponsor the Confederacy of Ryzan as an observer in the Alliance.

On December 19th, 2020, the VAWR convened for a meeting. They decided on policy in relation to the newly arisen Soleannan Empire. Additionally, they reformed their observer nation system, accepted Neos Asturcia as a full member into the alliance, and considered changing the name of the alliance.

On December 29th, 2020, the Huitca Federation held a vote on whether to leave the VAWR. The result was overwhelmingly in favor, with 7 members voting to leave and only 2 voting to stay. One of those two agreed with leaving the VAWR but wanted to wait on leaving. Later that day, the Huitca Federation's Cihuacoatl announced publicly the Huitca Federation's departure from the VAWR.

On January 2nd, 2021, Carpicious declared war on Escharien and to an extent, signalled the mobilization of Yimmu-Audal's allies. Although slow to respond, the Ambassadors of each state unanimously elected to support Yimmu-Audal in their war against the Trillium Alliance.

On January 10th, 2021, the Coalition forces were defeated when the Yimmu-Audal forces surrendered before a deciding moment in the battle. Many VAWR member states were severely disappointed and voiced their frustrations at the surrender. Carvay's soldiers who had fought in the vanguard were furious as they felt they had been robbed of an imminent victory due to the disconnect between the Audalad and VAWR forces. The Doge of Carvay 8jaaroud called an impromptu senate session where the senators unanimously decided to withdraw from the VAWR immediately, citing the repeated failures of the VAWR to competently mobilize. In a radio interview on Apollo, the Doge furiously ranted against the Coalition's embarrassing conduct and claimed "all [the VAWR] has done is drag us into wars that we have no business being a part of[...]".

On January 16th, 2021, the last remaining active member of the VAWR, Waferknight of Cobbleworks, declared the alliance as dead. No one responded and the correspondence means were destroyed. The VAWR had effectively been disbanded and all former member states became variously affiliated, notably Carvay's expansion across Vastallos and the strong ties of the various states on Alteniquia Minor

History
As the VAWR existed in various forms, the members of the organisation are generally split into three stages.

Foundation
The Vastallosi Period is generally regarded to be the most peaceful, with no significant conflicts to speak of. The VAWR at this stage was in reality a preventative measure to avoid the enormous upheaval that the Jagdasian Empires in the east were experiencing, and was mostly regarded as a 'minimum-participation required ' type of organisation. The intent of the VAWR lies in its namesake. The Vastallosi Alliance of Western Rathnir was the mutual assurance that war in Vastallos would never occur between the small city-states of the sub-continent. As such, the alliance was built on the intention of fostering ties with small neighbour states.

The foundation of the VAWR on the 15th of October included 5 signatory members and the representative of Tlahatl which at this time was still under the rule of the Valdreach Imperial Republic. Excluding Tlahatl, the founding member states were:


 * The Serene Republic of Carvay (later renounced membership after the Great Rathnir War)


 * The Blessed Diarchy of Neos Knossos (later annexed by Bardonia)


 * The Holy City of Stensta (abandoned in the Jagdas plague, later land annexed by the Cluckonic Order)


 * The Huitca Federation (later voted to leave by a 7 to 2 majority)


 * The Chiefdom of Kawalapua (later annexed by Carvay)
 * Free State of Volandia

The alliance immediately ran into issues as there was no central document or body that policed these ideals and as such member states quickly began sponsoring states outside of Vastallos to join the alliance. First, Tlahatl, now known as the Huitca Federation, who was present at the drafting of the Treaty of Carvay, joined after securing independence from the VIR. Shortly thereafter, Cobblework Mines, a small city-state on Alteniquia Minor, was sponsored by Neos Knossos to join, and because of their close ties with other Vastallosi nations, were promptly accepted. This followed a quick expansion of membership. The list of states joining the alliance during this period is:


 * The Kingdom of Sironia,
 * The Kingdom of Reyllea,
 * The Republic of Griffinview,
 * Neos Asturcia,
 * The Corporate Union of Masons.

This granted the VAWR considerable weight on the stage of international affairs.

Without a central authority there was no leadership to capitalise on the exponentially complexifying geopolitics of the alliance, and thus the VAWR in reality was a directionless and ineffective body, worse than the sum its parts. Despite this, some members were able to organise the alliance into war which triggered a new era for the alliance.

Interventionist Period (Great Golden War Age)
This period lasting from roughly early November to late December 2020 is generally categorised by various attempts by internal and external forces driving the VAWR to hostilities with foreign nations. Most scholars agree that the Great Golden War dramatically changed the way member states saw the alliance and consequently attempted to use the combined strength of the nations for individual goals.

Pre-Golden War membership list
Full Membership:
 * Serene Republic of Carvay
 * Blessed Diarchy of Neos Knossos
 * Holy City of Stensta
 * Huitca Federation
 * Chiefdom of Kawalapua
 * Free State of Volandia
 * Kingdom of Sironia
 * Kingdom of Reyllea
 * Corporate Union of Masons

Sponsored for Membership:
 * Empire of Uldarash
 * Republic of Bardonia

Despite fighting the VAWR in the great Golden War, Uldarash later became a full member of the alliance while Bardonia chose to remain an observer nation. The status of observer nation was initially created with the expectation of the VAWR never outgrowing its continental boundaries. It allowed foreign nations to attend meetings while not attempting to gain membership. Bardonia later openly admitted to using this position to gain information as it deliberately broke the terms of the Treaty of Carvay and sought alliances with Escharien and the Silver Coalition, which would later form the Trillium Alliance.

This period included many minor conflicts for which the alliance was called to arms such as for the Battle of Sironia. This was an early cause of general displeasure with the alliance as soldiers were repeatedly mobilised to defend against insignificant bandit robberies in far-away lands.

During this time, new states emerged on Vastallos, all of which joined the VAWR in quick succession. This includes the Cluckonic Order, Neos Asturcia and the Republic of Griffinview, bringing the total amount of members to 11 due to the disappearance of the entire Stensta Government in early December and the Huitca referendum to leave the alliance after Bardonian pressures in late December.

The Escharien annexation of Yimmu-Audal triggered another mobilization of VAWR soldiers who were to prepare and await orders after the initial Audalad skirmishes. The Skirmish of the Valley was a crushing defeat and did not do much to inspire the VAWR soldiers.

The Collapse
From the last days of December to the 16th of January, the Alliance was a shadow of its former self. Ambassador participation was at its lowest and the complete failure of the Audalad leadership in preparation and planning for the Great Rathnir War resulted in the VAWR being left out of many information channels causing extra confusion. Additionally disagreements between Arbiters caused the resignation of Baekry and informal resignation of Spacebeing J, which fueled previous accusations that Essendor was using the role to exert influence on member-states. Tensions within the alliance were high and almost every member state was unhappy with the current state of the alliance but all reforms were on hold for the Great Rathnir War.

The VAWR fought alongside the Yimmu-Audal forces during the Battle of Urnu-Arrak, where the predominantly Vastallosi vanguard claimed the Audalad surrender was cowardly and had robbed them of victory. This prompted the second referendum of a nation to leave the alliance after the Huitca neutrality referendum, which began the snowballing lethargy of states participation. Other states officially declared to leave the alliance but the majority simply stopped correspondence.