Waloed

Waloed claims the entirety of Ash, the eastern half of Valisthea, as its dominion. The kingdom's control of the continent has oft been tested by the orcs and other beastmen who make their home there, but the current ruler of the realm—Dominant of Odin, Warden of Darkness—has succeeded in quelling their rebellions. Using the power of the kingdom's Mothercrystal, Drake's Spine, this new king has built up a mighty army, with which he now seeks to test the borders of his neighbors.

Official description

The Kingdom of Waloed (ウォールード王国, Wōrūdo Ōkoku?) is a militarily advanced nation in Final Fantasy XVI whose lands are threatened by beastmen and the Blight. Their emblem is that of a six-legged horse and a shield. The Dominant of Odin, Barnabas Tharmr, leads the kingdom.

The main armed forces of the Kingdom of Waloed are known as the Royal Knights, or sometimes the Royal Guard. They take their orders mainly from their Lord Commander, who is subordinate to the King. These forces are made up of knights equipped with swords or axes, sometimes supported by magicians or mastiffs.

The elite of the Royal Knights form the Royal Cavalry, knights mounted on the backs of particularly fast chocobos. Waloed can also count on a powerful fleet whose flagship, the Einherjar, is a fearsome galleon. Thanks to its fleet, the kingdom can rapidly deploy its troops anywhere in Valisthea, and can also defend its coasts to ensure its dominant position on the continent of Ash.

The kingdom's elite unit, the Royal Intelligencers, is under the command of Benedikta Harman, the Dominant of Garuda. Unlike the Royal Knights, the intelligencers are only answerable to the King. This unit is mainly used for clandestine actions and incursions into the heart of enemy territory for a myriad of purposes, including espionage, sabotage, and assassination.

History

The Kingdom of Waloed was established in the Year of the Realm 843 by Barnabas Tharmr, who took advantage of the unrest caused by the war between the Kingdom of Veldemarke (who controlled Ash) and the Holy Empire of Sanbreque (who controlled northern Storm) and pacified the entire continent of Ash. He then destroyed the Kingdom of Veldemarke and established its remains as the Kingdom of Waloed. Stonhyrr, the capital of Waloed, was built on these remains, and was located on the coast of Frigg's Calm, Ash's northernmost bay.

Barnabas having united the warring tribes of Ash over a conquest that lasted sixteen years, and crowning himself as the King of Waloed, afforded him absolute dominion over Ash. With the people united under one banner, along with the power of Odin at his call, there were little means for resistance, and the encroaching Blight left precious little of the land. Waloed remained the only nation in the continent and its military supremacy only amplified when Barnabas made his allegiance with Ultima in the year 850. Barnabas, having turned Akashic (yet able to keep his sanity) was free to rule for the next 28 years without the injuries of time taking their toll. Waloed's militarism began to increase, with a strong navy and land armies supposedly able to contest any in Storm. Military organizations, such the Balmung Dark and Badbach Conservatory, were developed to exploit both Bearers and beasts of war, the former being a later organization, while the latter had ceased operations in 846. At an unknown time, Waloed instigated a blockade of the Strait of Autha. In 847, Waloed recruited Cidolfus Telamon as a soldier once he had awoken as Ramuh, and in 850 he had been promoted to Lord Commander of the Royal Knights. The year prior, 849, the Free Cities of Kanver tried to secede from the Dhalmekian Republic with the support of Waloed, who were supporting Kanver's efforts to establish a presence on Storm. Kanver gained its independence in 857.

In the Year of the Realm 860, Rosaria fell after the Night of Flames as part of Ultima's plan to awaken his Mythos. In the same year, Cidolfus Telamon saved Benedikta when she awoke as Garuda. When she was brought back to Waloed, Barnabas granted her a surname, "Harman".

The Battle of the Twin Realms occurred in Year of the Realm 865 between Waloed and the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, though the Dhalmekian Republic and the Iron Kingdom soon joined the fray. Sanbrequois forces, with the power of the Eikon Bahamut on their side, took the Strait of Autha back from Waloed, putting an end to the blockade that had lasted several decades. The Waloeders, looking to hold back the Sanbrequois advance by any means necessary, formed an alliance with the Dhalmekian Republic—who themselves were waging war against the Iron Kingdom on the western front—and prevented the empire from progressing any further. The Royal Intelligencers was also established with Benedikta Harman at its head.

In 867, when Harman was 22, Lord Commander Telamon fell out with King Barnabas and left Waloed; his post as Lord Commander was filled by Sleipnir Harbard. During the intervening years between 860 and 873, the Blight rendered several of Waloed's outlying territories, such as Thalan, nigh uninhabitable. The assumed loss of productivity in Thalan in particular meant that its exports of prized adamantite were either slowed or halted.

The Battle of Nysa took place 6 years later in 873, where Waloed and Dhalmekia parlayed in the nearby Zirnitra Stronghold. Waloed refused to grant military support to Dhalmekia to end their conflict with the Iron Kingdom despite their nominal alliance, forcing the Dhalmeks to field their Eikon, Titan. Waloed began to move in earnest to King Barnabas and Ultima's design soon after, upon learning of contact between Cidolfus Telamon, Dominant of Ramuh, and Clive Rosfield. Orchestrating the movements of the Royal Intelligencers and the Royal Guards, Barnabas used Waloed to bring several Dominants into contact or conflict with Rosfield, such as Benedikta Harman, Hugo Kupka, and Dion Lesage.

Soon after the death of Benedikta Harman, the Battle of Belenus Tor between Sanbreque and Waloed took place during 873; having lost vital territory to Sanbrequois forces 8 years earlier in the Battle of the Twin Realms, the Waloeders launched an assault on the eponymous peak, looking to regain a foothold in the imperial lands on the opposite side of the Strait of Autha. Both sides fielded their Eikons, and in the ensuing showdown between Odin and Bahamut an entire Sanbrequois legion was lost, and the Waloeders regained their outpost on Storm.

Exacerbating the issue of Ashen dominance, orcs from surrounding areas in Ash escalated their attacks before being convinced to ally with Waloed, something that had never been attempted before as orcs were considered feral and unable to be cooperated with. The Waloeder incursions into Caer Norvent, Rosalith, Dalimil, Drake's Fang, and Kanver did not go unnoticed by Clive Rosfield's party, who, after overcoming the Eikonic onslaught brought on by Waloed from 873–878, chased Tharmr and the Einherjar across the Naldia Narrow with the ultimate goal of destroying the only Mothercrystal left: Waloed's Drake's Spine.

When Primogenesis engulfed Valisthea after the Rise of the Wyrm and devastation of the Crystalline Dominion in the Year of the Realm 878, Ultima's use of Waloed for his own ends was almost complete. He and King Barnabas conspired to turn the nation of Waloed into an Akashic horde, which converted nearly all of Waloed's citizens into unwilling slaves of the god. Citizens with extenuating circumstances, such as Edda, were spared, but most of the citizens who survived the initial wave of Primogenesis did not last much longer without outside interference. As Clive Rosfield and his party journeyed through Ash to reach Stonhyrr, it became apparent that the nation had fallen, with the only living things left either left close to death, insane, or outright hostile. Barnabas Tharmr himself perished in a duel with Rosfield on the heights of Reverie, marking the decapitation of any leadership that Waloed had left.

Following Barnabas's death, what was left of Waloed fell into chaos. With the king having been the only thing that kept them in check, the orc rebelled, killing off the Kingdom's remaining human soldiers who had not already turned Akashic. Any remaining communities were silently turned Akashic, marking the end of the Kingdom of Waloed, rendering the continent of Ash an uninhabited wilderness once more, with the country's sole known survivors being a widow Gav retrieved from Eistla and a Bearer girl Clive rescued from Balmung Dark.

Culture

Ash's relative isolation from Storm meant that Waloed developed several unique facets of its culture. Ultima's connection to the continent is second to none, and is heightened through the following of King Barnabas Tharmr. A savior cult—an offshoot of the ancient Circle of Malius, whose followers worshipped Ultima as a god—arose in recent years in Ash, popularized by King Barnabas, who spread its prayers and rituals among his people. Believers in the savior cult see becoming Akashic as a means of achieving purity, and of being freed from the torments of the mortal realm. Mikkelburg in southern Waloed became a gathering place for followers of the savior cult.

The idea of Primogenesis occurring became something of a legend in Ash, where it was referred to as 'The Arche'—the coming of the cursed skies had long been foretold as a harbinger of the end of all things.

Politics

Founded in conquest, Waloed is a military dictatorship, with the monarch being its sole ruling authority. It is not apparent if there were other ruling bodies in Waloed, but as most of its identity is tied to the military, it can be assumed that nearly all authority is vested with King Barnabas Tharmr (and therefore Ultima) regardless.

Economy

Waloed is renowned throughout Valisthea for its ore mines, which house high-quality metals found only on the continent on Ash. Following the nation's founding it went into isolation, effectively cutting its economy off from the other nations.

Geography

Drake's Spine.

Compared to the more urbanized Storm, the continent of Ash, which Waloed occupies, mostly remains an untamed, mountainous, and swampy wilderness, with its most developed parts being just the areas around the capital.

It is difficult to enter Ash (and therefore Waloed) due to violent currents surrounding the continent combined with most of the outlying areas, such as the Shadow Coast, being marked by sheer cliffs and sharp rock formations. This is a double-edged sword for Waloed; these areas being so dangerous enables them to act as covert staging grounds for daring adventurers used during incursions into the kingdom, as no one in their right mind would dare traverse them.

Drake's Spine is a towering violet Mothercrystal that rises over Stonhyrr, the capital city of Waloed. The skies above are perpetually stormy, seemingly due to the crystal's influence.

Reverie artwork.

Reverie is an impossibly tall tower in central Waloed described to pierce the very heavens. The few followers of the Circle of Malius remaining on Ash believe it to have been built by the gods, who would one day pass their final judgment from its heights. It has long been considered hallowed ground, whereupon mere mortals fear to tread. In truth, it was indeed built by Ultima, who used its heights to determine places of great aether flow that would soon be locations for his Mothercrystals.

Military

Waloed's flagship, the Einherjar,

A product of conquest, Waloed is a heavily militarized nation, with the entire country revolving around maintaining its armies. According to Vivian Ninetales, Waloed's military would not lose out to any nation on the continent of Storm and is well regarded for its powerful navy, especially its flagship: the Einherjar.

This militarism extends to the nation's policy toward Bearers; whereas the other nations mostly use them for mundane tasks, Waloed drafts them into their military, where they undergo grueling training to be used as expendable soldiers. The Badbach Conservatory was used to horrifically experiment on Bearers to turn them into into fearless weapons of war, a process few survived. Balmung Dark was used to train untrainable beasts of war, like behemoths. When Waloed fell to Primogenesis and Ultima's machinations, the Bearers sent to the Dark were left to starve or used to feed the Kuza Beast still left inside.

Foreign relations

The sole nation on the continent of Ash after its founding, Waloed exists a state of isolation from the rest of Valisthea. while it has a vested interest in maintaining some influence on the neighboring continent of Storm, the nation overall uninterested in outside affairs, causing its relations with other countries to varry wildly.

Dhalmekia

The Dhalmekian Republic and Waloed have relatively good, though strained, relations. In 873, King Barnabas headed to Nysa for negotiations with the leaders of the Republic when the Iron Kingdom attacked the Republic by deploying the Dominant of Shiva they had enslaved. The meeting does not result in any agreement, but Waloed maintains relations with the Republic through Hugo Kupka.

Sanbreque

Waloed and the empire are long-time rivals, with the two competing for control of new territories, including in the Battle of Belenus Tor.

Iron Kingdom

Due to their geographical distance between them, Waloed does not seem to have a formal relationship with the Iron Kingdom. Still, they recognize the threat that the island nation poses, enough to meet with Dhalmekian leaders after the Republic is attacked by the barbarians. Waloed ultimately never takes military action against the Iron Kingdom, however.

Crystalline Dominion

Though the Dominion is their direct neighbor, Waloed never makes any complaint to Sanbreque's illegitimate claim to the nation nor do they try to conquer it themselves.

Rosaria

Due to the sheer geological distance between them, Waloed's relationship with Rosaria appear to be non-existent. However, in 878, a force led by Lord Commander Sleipnir Harbard himself attacks the duchy's capital to help their Dhalmekian allies escape following their failed invasion.

Northern Territories

Due to the geological distance between them and the Northern Territories effectively ceasing to exist after losing of most of their land to the Blight, Waloed's relationship with the them is seemingly non-existent.

Known locations

• Stonhyrr (capital)
• Drake's Spine (Mothercrystal)
• The Shadow Coast
• Skaithfarr
• The Angry Gap
• Eistla
• Halfcombe
• The Edge Of infinity
• The Mother's Mines
• The Great Southern Gate
• Kritten Hollow
• Garnick
• Badbach Conservatory
• Vidargraes
• Thalan
• Mikkelburg