The Kingdom of Mistral

The Kingdom of Mistral is one of the four major states within Remnant, and the most populous of the four Kingdoms.

History

Key Dates

-Mythical founding of the First Empire of Heian: April 2nd, 2704 BGW [Historical accuracy unclear)
-Reorganization under Emperor Wu Tang: June 9th, 1337 BGW
-Creation of the Ozma Archive: February 9th, 919 BGW
-Dual Monarchy/Musean Unification: August 31st, 689 AGW
-Vytal Reforms: Jaunuary 1st, 1 AGW

Early History

Mistral is an ancient Kingdom, but while it is not truly the oldest it is the largest, the most populous and arguably the most diverse, uniting many disparate peoples under its banner. The History of Mistral, like the other Kingdoms, was profoundly influenced by its geographical features. Like Vale and Vacuo, Mistral has strong, natural borders, with its heartland comprising the Isthmus of Dracona between the Bay of Fengbo in the East and Lake Matsu in the West. The isthmus is dominated by the Lóngshān Mountains, which carve numerous small valleys across the landscape. The eastern half of the Isthmus is warm and wet, with winds from the Sea of Fūjin bringing clouds and warmth that are trapped by the high peaks of the mountains. The western section of the Isthmus, by contrast, is colder and more arid, but through Lake Matsu has connections to the interior of Anima. These climatic differences would prove decisive in the colonization of the region by different peoples.

The lowlying coastal plains and valleys of the East were perfect for the cultivation of rice- which offers a higher yield than competing crops such as wheat, and can be 'double-cropped' in some regions, allowing for much higher population densities than in other parts of Remnant. For over 10,000 years comparatively large agricultural settlements were found in these areas, but expansion into the highlands and across the mountains in neighboring valleys was very slow- expansion of this civilization to the north and south was also halted by the harsh cold of the north and the drier plains of the south. Labor intensive terracing of nearby hills and mountains under the growing states in the region further expanded agricultural yields and promoted a strong, centralized organization of society. The people of Heain, as they would come to be known, would become very numerous, but their western frontier was always sparsely populated.
Mistral can be contrasted with Vale in many ways: rather than one large valley, Mistral's heartland was compromised of many smaller valleys, which were isolated from one another. While Vale had smaller barriers promoting political separation, Mistral's internal borders were harder, and different Eastern Mistrali varied phenotypically and culturally much more from their distant cousins than Valeans separated by similar distances. Rather than fragmenting into hundreds of small statelets, the people of Heian were never split among more than 2 dozen states, and by the time of the Empire had solidified into a mere 17. Furthermore, while no single Valean Fief ever had enough power to fully subdue the others, one Eastern State always held supremacy over the others. The Valley of Heian, for which the empire and its people would get its name, is far larger than any of its counterparts (more populous and massive than its next five rivals combined), and with unusually fertile soil and easy access to the sea, it quickly established itself as the economic and cultural juggernaut of the nascent Kingdom. Once its navy was large enough to have undisputed control of the Bay of Fengbo, it rapidly took control of the coasts of the Kingdom, with its armies slowly expanding inward.
The First Jade Emperor supposedly led a campaign to subdue all of Eastern Mistral as early as 2704 BGW, though the details of these exploits are lost to time. The first 11 Jade Emperors are themselves semi-mythical figures, with no contempoary records and absurd accomplishments under the names- an unbroken string of so many Kings ruling for decades each is unparalleled in recorded history and is widely believed to be a simplified and sanitized account of the Kingdom's early years. Subsequent history suggests that the dominion of Heain over its rival states was largely symbolic, with the divine Emperor receiving tribute while his vassals continued to war amongst themselves. The mountain passes connecting the various valleys were small and easily defensible- the most populous valleys near the sea were under more firm central control, but so long as taxes were paid to the Jade Throne, the Emperor generally left his lords alone to do as they pleased. Many rulers were happy to recieve imperial honors and an excuse to tax their people- during this period regional lords 'taking some off the top' of the imperial revenue was common practice. Within the valleys, highly stratified and politically corrupt despotic rule was the norm. The rugged moutains and isolated passes were favorite haunts of bandits, who formed small settlements of their own, outside the law, as the terrain made organized campaigns to eradicate them difficult. These patterns, too, would hold for the coming millenia: Mistrali society is characterized by great disparities of wealth and power, with elites dominating the government in the core while a criminal underground dominated the periphery.
This loose Imperial touch would fall out of favor, briefly, with the migration of the Museans. The imperial fringes in the west were invaded by raiders and settlers from Western and Central Anima. These peoples came from settelements across Lake Matsu, and this gave them a massive military advantage: Heian had to march its armies across the harsh rugged lands of the Lóngshān, an arduous process which could take months, while the invaders could sail reinforcements and supplies to the front in days or weeks. Worse still, the new settlers came with crops like wheat and barley, which were far better suited to the western climate. Had progress not been stalled by the now absent Creatures of Grimm, this migration may have well taken place millenia prior, but as it were by 1300 BGW Heian had lost complete control of the Western backwaters, which were no longer backwaters but formidable and well connected polities in and of themselves.
Western Mistrali, at this time known as Museans, or 'Mediterraneans', as they sometimes called themselves', were distantly related to the fair people of the North and West, such as Valeans, Ilosians and Fjordsmen, though they were more closely related to the people of Central Anima and somewhat darker in complexion than their cousins further north. They would go on to found 9 city states near the coast of Lake Matsu, named after the 9 Muses, goddesses of art and creativity that were central to their culture. The perpetual threat of Imperial Invasion led to the formation of the 'Kingdom' of Musea, a military alliance that would frustate Heian's expansion for over half a millenia. Emperor Wu Tang, sensing the danger, radically reorganized the remaining realms of Heain, constructing garrisons and fortifications at the most important passes
While the rival proto-Kingdoms vied for supremacy, both faced violent incursions from powerful Faunus tribes just outside their borders, with Musea temporarily becoming a tributary state of the mighty warlord Aquila the Mad, (between 770 and 749 BGW), but, as was often the case across Remnant, the more powerful and consolidated the Human states became, the more Faunus were expelled from their borders. The fierce Feral Wars throghout much of this period are thought to have contributed to especially virulent anti-Faunus sentiments in the region.
By the 7th century before the Great War, however, the balance of power shifted once again. After a decisive victory at the Battle of Kikyo Pass, the young Emperor Sengoku came to Musea to negotiate peace terms. There, he supposedly came across Princess Mystra of Erato, who was renknowned as an exceptionally gorgeous and charming woman, bathing in a nearby hot spring. Smitten with the girl, the Emperor made her hand in marriage a condition of the treaty. Her father, King Rhodes of Erato, who had emerged as the de facto leader of Musea, was happy to comply, and did him one better, suggesting that a beauty such as Mystra was the rightful Queen of all Museans. If Sengoku assured their independence from Heian, Rhodes would convince the Museans to recognize Sengoku and Mystra as the Emperor and Empress of both Kingdoms. The Faunus were once again organizing and a united front of the Great Human Kingdoms would be invaluable. Whether or not Rhodes engineered the entire encounter to sway the hormonal young ruler or whether he happened upon an exceptionally lucky break is up for debate, but whatever the case Rhodes was able to convince both the Emperor and his allies, conniving his bloodline's way into the greatest Imperial Dynasty in world history.

The City of Mystra was created as a symbol of this union: an archictectural marvel, spanning the two mountains above the pass. Strategically, it controlled the major throughline between the Eastern and Western Kingdoms, but culturally it became a melting pot and an opulent center of wealth and commerce. The Chrysanthemum Palace would remain the crown jewel of Empire for the remainder of its history. Sengoku and Mystra had a fruitful, and, especially unusual for an Emperor, faithful marriage. After their nuptials, Sengoku took no other consorts, and he and Mystra both proved to be able partners, rulers and administrators, fostering trade and expanding the borders of their empire. Domestically, Heian and Musea remained distinct, but the city and the legend spread beyond the Kingdom's borders and the Empire became increasingly idendified with its growing capital, Mystra... which, eventually, morphed into the name Mistral.
Sengoku's successors would not follow their forefather's example: under his grandson, Kai, it once again became standard practice for the Emperor to maintain an Imperial Harem. This took on political dimensions. While there was no limit on the number of concubines, the Emperor would take 26 wives, each a daughter of the ruling lord of each province. The ‘wife’ doubled as a hostage should their family get any traitorous ideas.
As the carrot to this metaphorical stick, however, any son of one of the Emperor's wives could inherit the throne. This provided great incentive for regional lords to jockey against one another for imperial favor, so that their ambitions would center on getting their own families in power rather than breaking from the system. Hypothetically this selection mechanism would ensure only the best man would become the King, but in practice it led to massive corruption and court intrigue, as wealthy nobles and merchants would buy offices for their preferred candidates to advance their political careers. A large bureacracy, composed largely of the Emperor's legitimate and illegitimate offspring, was formed to administer the growing Empire.
And grow it did. In the subsequent centuries Mistral's armies marched across the continent to assert dominion over its neighbors. By the middle of the 200s BGW, all of Anima bowed to Mistral.
While most of the outlying territories were treated as second class citizens, a notable exception can be found in the Varun. The Bay of Varun was home to a distinct and ancient people group: the jungle landscape of the lush area near the equator fostered many diseases which Mistrali had no immunity to, making penetrating the interior or founding permanent Mistrali settlements extremely hazardous. Furthemore, separated by vast mountains and deserts from the Mistrali core, when the first Mistrali explorers reached this area it had already become a well established civilization in its own right. Varun was never unified under a single government, instead being a network of city states, such as Aryas, Kadai, N'Goto, Cholo, etc, each with their own customs, religions and languages. There was a great demand for Varuni goods in the wealthy centers of Mistral, so trade between the two centers became vitally important, but the Mistrali were able to use their influnece to play the rival cities against one another, to ensure favorable trading terms and prevent any would be unification efforts from coming to fruition. The city states of Varun would enter the Mistrali Empire first as a treasured ally, then as a largely independent vassal, and finally as an honorary 'Third Kingdom' within the empire.
If the Varun were the most favored subject people of the empire, the Faunus were the least.
Hostility towards the Faunus has not been rare in Human history, but Mistral especially deserves mention for its cruelty. Anima is thought to have been the first destination of Faunus migrants from Menagerie millennia ago, and the Faunus tribes of Anima had their own complex histories and customs... which we will never know, because the Mistrali systematically destroyed all their records and sacred sites, and punished recitation of Faunus hymns and sagas by ripping out the speaker’s tongue. The Faunus had been the dominant players on the continent for millennia, raiding Human settlements for mates and supplies, and vengeance was ruthless.
The Faunus were traditionally nomadic hunter gatherers or herders because their additional traits required higher nutrient levels than early agricultural staples could provide, but they were forced to abandon their ways after being conquered, resulting in widespread plagues, famines, and malnutrition. ‘Faunus’ became synonymous with sickness and filth, and no respectable people wanted to live near them. Many of them were sold into slavery- they were the favorite export for the hazardous mines of Mantle and its overseas possessions, and strict limits were placed on where they could live, what they could teach their children, how often they could have children and what kind of jobs they could hold.
None of this is entirely unique to Mistral, but the consistency of the abuse was. Mating with a Human was a death penalty offense for most Faunus in Remnant (although in practice this was mostly enforced on males), but under the Mistrali Empire both the Human and Faunus involved were publicly tortured before being executed, with the Faunus’s immediate relatives being killed as well while the Human family paid a hefty fine. Other Kingdoms had riots against the Faunus- Mistral had state sponsored pogroms whenever they needed a scapegoat for a bad situation ( a military defeat, a natural disaster, a bad harvest, all could be blamed on the beast men). The Mistrali elite went so far as to keep Faunus in zoos and publicly display them in festivals as exotic beasts.
The wealth of the Empire and the security of its core meant the noblest members of the Empire could spend their focus on various artistic pursuits, with entire families specializing in certain forms: one unique example, the Nikos family, specialized in the art of war, finding beauty in carnage and taking a more practical role in state affairs than most of their peers. Others instead focused on the commissioning of temples, and amphitheaters, the writing of great plays or love poems, or tributes to long dead ancestors.
For centuries, great advances in architecture, sculpture, literature, painting, and theatre were made- it was considered unseemly for a noble born person to do any kind of manual labor, which the servant classes were for, and prestige was garnered partly by what works of art a noble created, or at least purchased. The other major marker of status was how many other human beings they owned. Never the less, Mistral became internationally renowned for their fine silks, excellent aesthetic sensibilities, exquisite cuisine and extremely loose sexual morals.
The stereotype was somewhat exaggerated by Valean and Mantlian accounts, painting the strange Kingdom to the east as a sensual den of seductresses and degenerates, while the Mistrali stereotyped their detractors as stodgy prudes. It is also important to note that while polygamy and affairs of the heart were glorified by the Mistrali elite, everyday subjects were far more conservative and sometimes even celibate, partly on moral grounds and partly on account of not being able to afford sex slaves, which was an extreme luxury. However, there are credible historical accounts of an Emperor entertaining diplomats while a Faunus slave girl bounced on his lap, so rumors of public fornication were not completely without merit.
The diversity of a lord's harem was considered a status symbol as much as its size, with rarer, exotic ‘possessions’ being shown off as trophies. The Emperor was once said by a Mantlian General to have ‘a cunt from every corner of the world’ and even the hated Faunus were not excluded from this. Mistrali slavers paid premiums for foreign girls, and some especially impoverished groups raised their daughters to become harem girls, selling them into slavery to avoid starvation. New phenotypes even emerged as slave traders specialized in breeding rarer and rarer traits, creating new hair and eye colors in the process, such as pink, purple, blue and green shades of hair, or red, pink and purple eyes.
The Imperial Bureaucracy, often staffed by eunuchs or the illegitimate offspring of the Emperor, increasingly took on the responsibility of running the Empire, while their ruler remained as a national symbol of divinity and debauchery. Frequent gladiatorial games and chariot races, as well as minimal grain subsidies, kept the poor surrounding the capital entertained, but the imperial excesses were funded by high taxes on the provinces and conquered territories, and someone had to keep the money flowing.
The Empire began to expand beyond Anima in between 200-100 BGW, establishing outposts in Vacuo and parts of coastal Menagerie alongside other colonial powers. While initially small scale wars were fought between all three powers, in the century leading up to the Great War Mistral forged an alliance with Mantle, exchanging resources for guidance in settling the harsh cold of Northern Anima. The City of Argus was established by Mistral, with a large garrison of Mantlian troops, to serve as a joint control on the increasingly important trade between the Kingdoms.
Around the same time, Mistral increasingly came into conflict with Vale: the newest generation of Mistrali Colonies were founded on the islands, inlets and peninsula of Eastern Sanus... exactly where the Valeans were setting up new colonies. After a few decades of proxy wars and near misses, a conflagration on the island of Graecia sparked a chain reaction around the world: The Great War.
Mistral dragged Mantle into the war and at first experienced great success, pushing the Valeans back to the Alcyrenes and seizing many of their overseas territories. However, with the expulsion of Alliance Forces from Vacuo, Mistral was cut off from a major supply of dust, leaving its army undersupplied and overextended. Vale quickly recovered much of its former territory and the Mistrali took massive losses. The high death rate and economic toll let to domestic unrest and several uprisings, diminishing Mistral's value as a player in the war, and though their forces did rally for the Vacuan Campaign they were crushed alongside their allies in the Final Battle.
The Jade Emperors, who had ruled Mistral in one form or another for nearly three millenia, were removed from power. Democracy was instituted and slavery was abolished. Territories that had been under the thumb of the empire for centuries became independent, with even the Varun choosing to go their own way. Increased autonomy was devolved back to the provinces, but the division between local and national power remains more poorly defined in Mistral than in Vale. Racial tensions between the newly emancipated Faunus remained extreme, and an attempt to expel all Faunus from the Kingdom's territory in 54 AGW was the inciting incident that sparked the Faunus Rights Revolution. The war devastated the world economy but Mistral in particular, with massive street battles between rival militias and gangs that parts of the Kingdom have never recovered from. Mistral remains the most popopulous Kingdom and retains a great deal of international clout, but Mistral remains characterized by division, disparity and strife, and a gnawing fear that its greatest days may be behind it.

"Knowledge is Beauty"

Founding Date

(Mythical) April 2nd, 2704 BGW [Historical accuracy unclear]

Capital

Mystra

Demonym

Mistrali

Government System

Democracy, Parliamentary

Power Structure

Confederation

Economic System

Market economy

Currency

Lien (Ⱡ)

Land Area
608,914 sq. miles/1577080 km2
Sphere of Influence
Anima

Demographics

Population: 365,957,314

Density: 601 per sq. mile /232 per km2

Race: 95.3% Human, 4.7% Faunus