The Volkovo Directorate is the oldest and most heavily militarized warlord faction operating within the fractured Valkari States. Headquartered in the ruined, historic provincial capital of Volkovo in the eastern steppes, the Directorate claims to be the sole legitimate successor to the Vosti Empire’s military administration in the region. In reality, it functions as a brutal military junta, controlling less than 30% of the Valkari territory.
Composed largely of the descendants of Vosti imperial officers and irregular cavalrymen, the Directorate is defined by its archaic martial pride and its profound reliance on foreign proxy funding. For decades during the mid-20th century, it was massively subsidized and armed by the Federation of Boskenmark to wage a low-intensity border war against the Divine Republic of Kresimiria. Today, severely weakened by internal corruption, the rise of the Zelen Cartel, and the disastrous 1998 “Blueprints Scandal,” the Directorate operates primarily as an illicit arms-trafficking syndicate and a buffer force on Kresimiria’s southwestern flank.
Origins and the Great Collapse (1918–1922)
Prior to 1918, the city of Volkovo was the administrative heart of the Valkari March, a heavily fortified frontier zone designed to protect the Vosti Empire from western incursions.
When the Empire collapsed in November 1918 due to the Kruhlstutt naval blockade, the central authority in Volkovo instantly evaporated. The highest-ranking surviving officers formed a provisional military council, which they dubbed the “Directorate,” intending to maintain martial law until a new emperor could be crowned in Vost.
However, as the Unification War consumed the continent, it became clear the Empire was dead. Rather than unifying the province, the generals in Volkovo turned on one another. During the “War of the Five Atamans” (1918-1931), the Directorate was forced to violently subjugate rival cavalry commanders simply to maintain control over the immediate ruins of the capital, permanently losing the northern and western steppes to nomadic banditry.
The Boskenmark Proxy Era (1940s–1970s)
The Directorate’s survival throughout the 20th century was entirely dependent on foreign intervention. Following the Unification War, the revanchist government of Boskenmark recognized the strategic value of keeping Kresimiria’s western border permanently destabilized.
Under the authoritarian rule of Bosken President Nielz Metzger (1948–1969), the Federation of Boskenmark began funneling massive amounts of covert military aid, artillery, and untraceable cash across the southern border to the Volkovo Directorate. The Directorate’s leader, Ataman Ilia, effectively transformed his faction into a heavily armed proxy militia for Vost.
Throughout Kresimiria’s Iron Era, the Directorate launched relentless, harassing raids against Kresimirian border outposts in Zahodecelska. This forced Kresimirian Chancellor Kresimirovic II to permanently station tens of thousands of Council for Defence troops in cities like Ozla, draining Sinj’s military resources and preventing Kresimiria from fully crushing the BRC-21 insurgency in the south.
Decline and the Narco-State (1980s–Present)
The Directorate’s golden era of proxy funding ended with the liberalization of Boskenmark under Ivan Piltz in the 1970s, which drastically reduced the flow of heavy weaponry to Volkovo.
Simultaneously, the Kresimirian economy isolated itself under Chairman Ljubo Sanjakorin. Desperate for revenue to maintain their aging arsenals, the Directorate’s commanders turned to extortion and illicit smuggling. However, they were slow to adapt to the changing criminal landscape. By the 1990s, the Zelen Cartel had industrialized the production of synthetic opioids (“V-Dust”) in the north. The Cartel’s staggering narco-wealth allowed them to purchase modern Kruhlstutt-manufactured weaponry, completely outgunning the Directorate’s aging, Bosken-supplied Imperial-era artillery.
The 1998 “Blueprints Scandal”
In a desperate bid to reclaim military supremacy over the Cartel and remain relevant to Boskenmark, the current leader of the Directorate, Ataman Branko Kuras, attempted to purchase highly classified, modern artillery schematics from corrupt military officials in Vost.
The illicit transaction was exposed in 1998 by Kaskivian intelligence. The resulting “Blueprints Scandal” caused a massive international uproar, severely humiliating Boskenmark and directly contributing to the sudden resignation of the socialist Bosken President, Jannik Vorreich, despite Vorreich allegedly not having knowledge of the purchase.
Modern Status and Relations
Today, the Volkovo Directorate is a shadow of its former martial glory. While it still controls the ruined capital and exacts brutal “tolls” from smugglers crossing its eastern territory, its military capacity is severely degraded.
The Directorate maintains a tenuous, highly corrupt diplomatic backchannel with Kresimiria’s Council for Foreign Affairs. Kresimirian intelligence often quietly bribes Ataman Kuras to utilize his remaining forces as a physical buffer against the Zelen Cartel, essentially paying the warlord to keep the drug convoys away from the fortified walls of Ozla.
Despite their current decay, the Directorate’s brutal history occasionally produces individuals of terrifying competence. The most famous example is Nino Arh, the billionaire CEO of Kresimiria’s DecelChip monopoly, who began his life as a conscripted militia soldier for the Directorate before deserting and fleeing the failed state in 1984.
Retrospective Updates
To be added to the “Key Factions and Territorial Control” section: The most historically significant warlord faction in the region is the Volkovo Directorate. Claiming to be the legitimate military successor to the fallen Vosti Empire, the Directorate controls the ruined eastern capital of Volkovo. Throughout the mid-20th century, they operated as a heavily armed proxy militia for Boskenmark, waging a grueling border war against Kresimiria. Today, their power is severely degraded. Outgunned by the staggering narco-wealth of the Zelen Cartel, the Directorate survives primarily through extortion, illicit arms trafficking, and accepting quiet bribes from Sinj to act as a buffer against drug convoys.
To be added to the “The Silent War” section: Metzger’s aggressive containment of Kresimiria extended far beyond simply funding the BRC-21 insurgency in the south. Recognizing the strategic value of the collapsed Valkari States, Metzger authorized massive covert military aid to the warlords of the Volkovo Directorate during the 1950s. By flooding the lawless eastern steppes with Boskenmark weaponry, Metzger successfully weaponized the failed state, ensuring that Kresimiria’s western border remained a permanent, bleeding wound that constantly drained Sinj’s military resources and distracted them from the Bosken uprisings.
To be added to the “The 1998 Resignation” section: The sudden, humiliating collapse of Vorreich’s socialist administration in 1998 was directly triggered by the disastrous “Blueprints Scandal.” Kaskivian intelligence exposed that corrupt military officials within the Boskenmark defense ministry were secretly selling highly classified, modern artillery schematics to the Volkovo Directorate, a desperate warlord faction in the Valkari States. The revelation that Vorreich had entirely lost control of his own military establishment to illicit arms traffickers caused a massive national uproar, forcing his immediate resignation and allowing the liberal opposition to retake power.
4. Nino Arh
To be added to the “Early Life and Escape (1962–1984)” section: Arh’s legendary, ruthless corporate discipline was forged in the absolute brutality of the Valkari civil wars. As a young man in the 1980s, he was violently conscripted into the militia of the Volkovo Directorate, forced to fight in the grueling, archaic artillery skirmishes that defined the eastern steppes. Recognizing that the Directorate was slowly losing its military supremacy to the rising Zelen Cartel, Arh deserted his post in 1984. He utilized the warlords’ own illicit smuggling routes to successfully flee the failed state, eventually arriving in Kruhlstutt as a refugee.
5. Ozla
To be added to the “Geography and the Border” section: The massive, automated border wall protecting the southern limits of Ozla was originally designed not to stop drugs, but to stop artillery. Throughout the mid-20th century, the city was subjected to relentless, harassing raids by the Volkovo Directorate, a heavily armed warlord faction funded by Boskenmark. While the Directorate’s conventional military threat has since degraded, Kresimirian intelligence now quietly bribes the Directorate’s aging commanders, paying them to utilize their remaining forces as a physical buffer to keep the much wealthier, more dangerous Zelen Cartel away from the city’s walls.
Additional Articles to Update (Context Only):
- 6. Zelen Cartel: Add a note detailing the Cartel’s brutal, ongoing turf war with the Volkovo Directorate, noting that the Cartel’s massive profits from synthetic opioids have allowed them to easily purchase superior Kruhlstutt weaponry, rendering the Directorate’s aging imperial tactics obsolete.
- 7. Vosti Empire: Mention that the only political entity on the continent that still absurdly claims to represent the unbroken, legal continuity of the Vosti military administration is the Volkovo Directorate, operating out of the ruined imperial garrison in the Valkari States.
- 8. Council for Foreign Affairs: Detail the extreme, cynical pragmatism of the Council, noting that Kresimirian diplomats frequently meet in secret with Ataman Branko Kuras of the Volkovo Directorate to negotiate off-the-books bribes for border security.
- 9. Federation of Boskenmark: Briefly note that while modern Boskenmark politicians publicly deny any association with the warlords, the Volkovo Directorate’s survival for the last century was entirely dependent on the millions of marks funneled to them by Vost during the Cold Peace.
- 10. Council for Internal Affairs (CIA): Mention that the CIA’s paramilitary border guards frequently find themselves in a three-way standoff, forced to monitor the skirmishes between the Volkovo Directorate and the Zelen Cartel while preventing the violence from spilling into District VIII.