Luconia (The Kalmar Union)

Luçonia' is an Asian archipelago in the Western Raosjoinn formed of several thousand islands. The islands are divided into three 'zones', the Kingdom of Tondo; an autonomous province of China, centred on the island of Liu-Sung, Brunei; which administers the southern islands as an integral part of its territory, and the Federated States of Luconia; a loosely federated group of island states between the two.



The name Luconia once only referred to the northernmost island of Liu-Sung, Luson, or Luçonia. However mapping errors by Castillian and Portuguese explorers in the 16th century gradually led the name being given to the entire island group.

Largely jungle-covered, the islands developed rich civilisations on its coasts. The early city-states of Luconia were dependant on trading links with the much larger thalassocracies of Sunda, Majapahit and Brunei whilst others looked to mainland Asia for protection. During this period the islands embraced either Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism or entrenched their own Madja-asian religion and largely set the scene for their future tripartite division. As the fortunes of their protectors rose and fell so did the tiny kingdoms hugging the Luconian coastlines and allegiences constantly shifted.

The arrival of Castillian explorers, trickling in from the onwards forced the varied states to co-ordinate their activities. Eager for safe ports in the orient to cement their growing trading empire Castille seized Aklan in 1601 fending off several waves of retaliation from the neighbouring Sultans and Datus and using it to grab a wide spread of islands out into the Roasjoinn (such as the Loaisa Islands and Ternate). Equally however the deepening ties to China, Brunei and Champa (and their growing military power - thanks to Portuguese and Dutch technical assistance) stopped more of the Luconian islands falling to Castillian control. Castille would be forced to cede Aklan to Aragon in 1767 and Aragonese holdings were in turn lost during the Iberian revolution, never to revert.

Tondo
The northern Kingdom of Tondo reached its independent apex in the late 14th century as it could impose its dominance on the other city-states of Liu-Sung after an alliance with Brunei gave it the upper hand in trade links. As Brunei fell into a dynastic power struggle that pulled in European interests Tondo's trading empire was left to ruin. China eventually supplanted Brunei, placing it into its protection as Castille moved into the archipelago.

Tondo wares were well-sought after, especially in western Leifia and all parties became rich on the proceeds. The protectorate was formalised with the Luconia Treaty of 1842 and the island's sterling defense during the horrifically bloody 'Great Eastern War' (1961-1967) against Japan, convinced China to cede it more powers over its own affairs. Since granted autonomy the kingdom has struggled somewhat with militia forces from the peoples of the interior, who are largely denied the advantages of those on the coasts, and also with falling trade receipts as the coffee and sugar crops that has long supported the economy have become cheaper elsewhere.

Federated States of Luconia
Built on the medieval 'Confederation of Madja-as' the current Federated States is a collection of ten republican island states comprising all the Luconian islands not incorporated into either Tondo or Brunei.

Founded by nine rebel Datus fleeing Brunei in the early 1200s the confederation soon became the major power of the central Luconia, raiding and warring with the sultanates to the south and the trading city-states to the north. The comparative richness of the islands attracted many settlers from other lands and Japanese were well represented in the trading ports. It reached its apex during the reign of Datu Padojinog in the mid-1400s after which pressure from mainland Asia started to brought to bear on the islands.

Champa, China, Brunei and the other Bornean sultanates began to vassalise the islands leading to chronic instability within the Datu dynasties as power hungry nobles fell over each other to placate their overlords repeatedly. Eventually Castille seized Aklan largely ending Madja-as's 'middle period' and the confederation finally collapsed into total servitude to their protectors.

After Aragon's holdings in Luconia were stripped during the Iberian Revolution Aklan fell into anarchy and the diminished Champa Kingdom briefly moved in. Once Champa had been annexed completely by Viet Nam in 1832 the islands largely reverted to independence. The Luconia Treaty made sure neither China nor Brunei would claim overlordship over the central islands and Viet Nam signed the treaty too, in return for fishing and guano mining rights (shared with China) in the Hoang Sa/Xisha Islands. This cleared the way for the full independence of the central islands.

A decade of semi-despotic noble rule led to rebellions on many of the islands and in 1868 a grand alliance of the states formed a united army which quickly defeated one rebellion after another, whereas the separate armies may have taken years to achieve the same outcome. On the back of this the islands formalised their federation in 1875

Each island effectively rules itself however the central government allows the islands to act in concert, sharing armed forces, medical training and railway building. It ensures the smaller islands are not overwhelmed by the larger ones and the offices of President and Prime Minister revolve around the states ensuring no island gains political dominance. There is no constitution and islands are technically free to leave the federation at any point.

Brunei
Brunei inherited the Sultanate of Maguindanao in 1837. This gave it a more permanent foothold on Luconia as its previous claims to its neighbours was merely as protectorates. The Luconia Treaty with China soon followed which divided up the islands between them. Wars against Sulu and Cebu who fell into its 'zone' cemented Brunei's hold on the south during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Brunei has kept the local rulers intact to help with the administration of the islands but all practical governance is subordinated to Bandar.