E-Ra'aayaa is the name of a semi-mythic figure in Vakil culture, it is also the name given to the leader of their modern tribal confederation. The name originates from the Vakil Homeworld of Aqilmendî during its co-colonisation by the Temple. The Vakil view this period of tension and conflict as the birth of their national identity. Following Temple expansion into a contested archipelago chain a oyster diver called E-Ra’aayaa protested by blocking a shipping lane with their harvesting bathysphere. Their actions inspired other dissatisfied Vakil and soon a blockade of thousands of civilian vessels cordoned the Godwien straights stymieing Temple colonial efforts.
Temple Settlements in the region became financial unviable by being forced to rely on expensive air lifts for even basic subsistence. Temple attempts to break the blockades were met with escalating hostility from the Vakil. It is unclear how the Vakil-Temple war began but E-Ra’aayaa was said to have played a pivotal role in the first battle of Godwien straights. Each Vakil tribe recounts events differently as do temple records but E-Ra’aayaa’s ferocity, leadership and cunning led to the worst defeat in temple history. The Vakil seized a number of temple military civic vessels and then used these to conduct further campaigns into temple territory. Until this point the Vakil had no formalized military, each tribe tended operate independent war bands which only coordinated loosely prior to major offensives. After the Victory of Godwien Straight many of the Vakil began to follow E-Ra’aayaa instead of their tribal, familial or clan leaders. This brought the Vakil militaires under one chain of command and swelled its numbers to far exceeding that of the Temple. The Vakil-Temple conflict and the following 8 year war were the legacy of E-Ra’aayaa but since then the name has come to represent hopes for Vakil restoration.
The end of the 8 year war saw the dispossession and disarmament of the Vakil, the various tribal territories were incorporated into the Temple with little consideration their linguistic and cultural composition. The Vakil were permitted to practice the faith but were forbidden from independent governance were now subject to temple law as full citizens. Much of Temple law was based was incompatible with the tenants of Ophidian Scripture. The bifurcation of tongues, ritualistic scale scarification of skin along with Ophidian banking and butchering practices often partially prohibited or not accommodated under Temple law. These traditions continued largely in secret until space flight was regained in earnest and the Vakil diaspora began. The cluster offered the Vakil offered far greater autonomy and the means to spread their faith.
Vakil populations grew and spread across the cluster settling into planetary and orbital communities that mutually supported one another. Over generations 2 groups formed, Golvakil who resided on planets coexisting with local populations and the Asuvakil who were largely gravity affected nomadic space farers. The Golvakil and Asuvakil were comprised of countless tribes and linguistic groups that shared a greater culture and faith but lacked a unified law and homeland. Many Vakil nationalism and restoration movements grew out of existential pressures faced by the gravity affected Asuvakil. Stories of E-Ra’aayaa and bitter memories of the ceding of Aqilmendî to the temple spurned many contemporary Vakil to action.
Disparate movements slowly coalesced around a central experienced core of key political figures that levied their influence or finances to advocate for Vakil restoration. The Temple largely ignored Vakil protestations as tensions increased. Boiling point was reached when Temple operatives raided Lemonwind an Asuvakil flotilla that was hosting delegations from the Venti Republic and Lunar Union. The Temple were erroneously operating under intelligence that the flotilla was aiming to secure arms for an attack. Vakil Restorationists viewed this as a thinly veiled attempt to disrupt steps towards the establishment of a Vakil territories and government. The flotilla Cinnamonsun hosted new Venti and Union delegates the following year and held a summit asking for the temple to recognise Vakil independence and release captives of the Lemonwind. The Vakil Confederation was created during the Cinnamonsun summits with its seat of government to be Tosa Bikano. The Union and Venti ceded the contested colonial territory on the core world of Tosa to the Confederation. Though relatively diminutive compared to the planetary or interplanetary territories of other nations it was the first legitimately recognised holding since the 8 years war.
Today the Vakil Confederation has grown its territorial borders many times over since its founding. Gains have been made almost exclusively in the frontier and the Vakil people are now the most populace group since the Calamity on Castigor. The Temple regards the Confederation as a terrorist organisation citing its origins, aims and alleged ties to Vakil insurgency on the Temple homeworld of Aqilmendi. Political and religious killings are common across the cluster but larger scale land, naval and aerospace engagements occur with greater frequency in the frontier. The Vakil Airforce and submariner corps are renowned throughout the cluster but Armournauts have a long tradition spearheading amphibious attacks and covert operations for the Vakil.