The Republic of Kataria
Kataria is a nation renowned for its emphasis on education, intellectual pursuits, and a unique blend of government systems that promote intelligence and wisdom. It stands as a beacon of knowledge and learning in the world of Alathor, with its cities and institutions dedicated to the advancement of various disciplines and trades.
Demographics
Vast, broad breadth of species, ethnicities, wealth classes, professions - Kataria has attempted to base its entire economy and status on becoming a hub of education and learning, and so draws all sorts from all over the continent.
Government
Geniocracy - a system that is designed to select for intelligence and compassion as the primary factors for governance.
Noocracy - a form of government where decision making is done by wise people.
Three-party/council system. Everyone votes on local representatives, then reps vote on state leadership/representation, and then those reps vote on head council person. See "Guilds & Factions" section for information on the Three Councils.
Decisions of state are made by vote from the Three Councils. Each council must vote within itself first; i.e., the majority of the Common Council must vote "yes" before the council itself will vote "yes." Same with others.
This can cause things to move slowly, and not much changes over time, but usually moves quicker if a big even that threatens the integrity or safety of the state as a whole.
Everyone can vote, and to be among the chosen reps on each level of government is considered a public service and not meant to be a primary source of employment/income, but there are those who corrupt the system and attempt to gain and hang onto power for their own influence and ends.
Industry & Trade
The primary industry in Kataria revolves around education and the export of educated individuals. Graduates from Kataria’s institutions are highly sought after and often contracted out to other nations, cities, or states. This system ensures a steady flow of resources and maintains Kataria’s reputation as a center of learning and intellectual prowess.
Anyone can attend and attempt to earn a degree, certification, or membership from a school/guild. If they cannot pay, they are funded by the school/government. They then either pay it off by working for the school/government or by being contracted out to other nations/states/cities to work off their debt. It is not always a terrible deal, as long as they don't mind where they are going - it's when they are forced to leave family or go somewhere dangerous that it becomes more like indentured servitude.
Infrastructure
There are various schools and colleges for different disciplines and trades scattered throughout the nation state, sometimes because that location may be the best location for hands-on learning of that skill/trade. In general, however, the "biggest and best" of the colleges or guilds are in the capital city, Naka. Massive libraries, labrotories, citadels, training grounds, venues for competitions, stacked housing, and all of the small businesses that feed off of a college town inbetween.
Guilds and Factions
Multiple guilds, factions, colleges, and schools with their variable interactions, but most influential and those that run the country are the Three Councils:
Smarty-Party: These are the educated elite. Scholars, mathematicians, logistians, skilled guildsmen, etc (not all outright academic, as some of the colleges are for "practical" things - including military). These are representatives of their chosen field of study from amongst the great/accredited schools/colleges/universities across Kataria. Schools vote on representatives for their field of study from amongst professors/educators/guildmasters, then those vote for representatives from that school to rep them in state-wide matters. Of course, those reps largely come from the "bigger" and more highly renowned (ergo, more influential) colleges (think Ivy Leage in US), but this also allows smaller colleges/schools to have at least one representative present. On the outside, they appear to be intelligent, well-organized, structured, respectful, etc. But of course, always a lot of in-fighting, backstabbing, squabbling, and jockeying for position.
Wise-Guys: Representative of the "older" generations - while young may be smarter, stronger, faster, more inventive, clever, etc, this is founded on the belief that wisdom solely comes with age. While a lot of these members are former smarty-party members that aged out, it also includes some revered village elders/shamans/religious leaders/monks/philosophers. However, those in the latter categories, while given a seat of representation, are not often given the same degree of respect and influence as their counterparts that have moved directly from the smarty-party into the wise.
Common-Party: This is the only party with truly elected members. They can include older and educated members - ie, if someone tries to get into smarty or wise party and fails, they might try to get elected by the commoners; or, if they were previously a member of the smarty or wise party and get removed, they can try to get elected into the commoners; either is fairly frowned upon, but also still very common, and sometimes even supported by the other parties. For example: Joe, you're not good enough to be in the smarty-party, but the last thing we want is common people having too much of a say, so we will back your effort to get elected into the common party, and then you will owe us, and at least our motivations and beliefs likely align.
History
The geography of Kataria resembles a paradise - there is little danger from weather, flora, or fauna. The biome is abundant and varied, full of exotic, eye-catching wildlife and plantlife, sweeping vistas, beautiful beaches in the southeast and along the eastern cost, and peaceful forest and mountains as you move northwest where it borders the wilds of Alisnosia.
Because of this peaceful, paradise like atmosphere, this is where the elite and wealthy of the Nakhasi came for relaxation and contemplation. Great castles and halls were built, alongside experimental trades and great libraries. It was in this atmosphere where the [harmonious] belief system was first philosophized into life over civil conversation, discussion, and drink under peaceful, star-gazing nights and the rhythmic sounds of ocean waves. During the height of the Nakhasi Empire, it was, for some, the height of civilazation, representing an ideal that they hoped to spread empire-wide.
When the Empire began to collapse, it was also one of the first targeted as a source of dissent and cause of instability, and it was entirely defenseless. When the cracks of the Empire turned to fractures, most of the great cities, castles, and libraries were razed by the militaristic, conservative branches that were making their play for power in attempt to "hold" the Empire together. Much was lost, but as these scholars and philosophers posed little threat from a military standpoint, the military made its point with destruction and then with withdrew just as quickly to fight elsewhere.
As the rest of the world went to war, Kataria began to quietly rebuild itself. It was done slowly, with tribute and fealty being promised to whatever power came checking over the years. As their schools and tradeschools rebuilt, they began to export their graduates to cities and states that formed after breaking free from Emperical control, and so also began to build their economy on doing so.
While the ideal of a harmonious and educated society remained, its founders had become jaded and cynical, the original razining of their schools and libraries made them realize that they required defenses beyond just hope and good intentions. While the Nakhasi Empire was gone, and in its place new sovereign territories vying for control and power in their immediate areas, Kataria had now desire to join (willingly or otherwise) and needed a way to protect itself. Specialized military training schools were added over time, ranging from basic infantry to covert operations, intelligence gathering, subterfuge, and control, whose graduates could then be outsourced to create tendrils of influence and spies or, in emergency, utilized by Kataria itself - though they never thought to create their own standing army, instead tending to only train the armies of others. They felt that they were secure enough in what came to be considered their greatest defense: as a hub of education and training for all peoples across the world.
As things across the continent cooled and began to rebuild, word of Kataria's schools spread, resulting in a mass influx of peoples of all cultures, races, and ethnicities, sending their best and brightest in hopes of having them trained and educated at one of those prestigious schools. Kataria gladly soaked them all up, as it provided them with resources and education from areas far beyond their borders, filled their coffers, and helped establish positive relations with all of the other newly formed states. This last would give them a position of neutrality and became their greatest defense, as no one state would dare attempt to conquer them for fear of repercussion from the rest.
New generations began to elect leadership from the more powerful schools, which eventually lead to a drafting of the government constitution that created the two-party system - officials chosen by their peers from each of the schools, the number of representatives equal to the size of their student bodies, and the second party chosen from elder generations. The elders were generally over a certain age, and often were merely smart-party members who were leaving their position in a school and would migrate into the wise-party at the behest of their former constinuents, so as to keep providing their services to the good of all.
Over-time, though, those chosen began to form their own political parties to ensure that only representatives that met their agenda would become chosen, and what began as a virtuous ideal became corrupted in its own way, and large parts of the population were forgotten in favor of the more powerful and wealthy schools pursuing their own interests.
The divide grew over years and years, as the focus of the wealthy and powerful became more on themselves and those on the outside felt more and more under-represented, if not represented at all. There were ripples of dissent and rumors of revolt that may have seen Kataria razed again, this time by its own hand, but a larger threat forced them back into cohesion.
A new empire, calling itself Aurorum, headed by a council of New Zunist fanatics calling themselves The Exalted, were quickly conquering the rest of the continent and now had their sights on Kataria. Members from both parties began to call on "the commoners" to stand and fight to defend them, but found their pleas falling on deaf ears.
Instead, it was one of the commoners, a world traveler named Alden Olamide, who had returned home, that united the common people into their own voice and took it to the two-parties. There, he expressed what he had seen - resistance on all fronts, but failing - and proposed that Kataria use its relationships with the other states to form a coalition. Helpless, they could do nothing but agree. It is was this smart, wise decision, to listen to the interests of all their people - not just the elite - that united them and saved them.
Alden developed a means to share information with his contacts in various parts of the world: In the state far to the west, called Yeoria, who had found themselves with new leadership under the sudden appearance of a young Nakhasi woman with unexplainable power, whom other small states were gathering under to resist; An an odd uniting between the giant, nomadic, warrior-like but peaceful natured people of Virondia in the northwestwest with their mysterious, reclusive neighbors further northwest, the Pukta of Helvania.
Through this connection, and with the powers found there, he was able to strategize and create an agreed upon pincer attack, where all would push in against Aururom relentlessly, no matter their own losses, and find either victory or subjugation under Aurorum.
It was devastating, but it succeeded. Alden was lifted and praised by all, with both smart-party and wise-party clamoring for him to join their ranks. Instead, his final proposition, final legendary act, was to propose a third-party derived of "commoners" like himself, to be the heart of Kataria, to work in synergy with mind and soul.
It was agreed upon, and is the basis of the current three-party system of government that holds into the modern world.
Geography
Most of Kataria is some manner of paradise, whether its the idyllic beaches along its eastern coast, the pastoral sweeping plains that begin at its southwestern border with Aurorum, the mighty vistas and majestic peaks of the northwestern mountains bordering Fuentesia and Aurorum, or the northeastern forests that rise up as you move west from the coast.
Climate
Most of Kataria has always been temperate in climate, with the southern section more to the liking of savannah, open plains, and rolling hills as one moves north. From there, deciduous forest begins to perk up as things get a little cooler and with more frequent precipitation. Temperatures throughout are kept fairly stable year-round thanks to its proximity to the sea and long eastern coastline, with the northwest only starting to cool and ever show any evidence of snow as the great mountains there influence and create their own climate.
Like most of Alathor, however, there has been a steady increase in year-round temperatures in the last 100 years. Some of the coastline has begun to disappear as a result, and beaches that were once placid and pleasant seeing the rare but more frequent rise of strong coastal storms. The southwest, which was once all sprawling and beautific savannah, has begun to shrink, as if the plains and grasslands themselves were retreating from Aurorum, and their retreat has caused the forests of the northeast to begin doing the same. Where they've departed, arid desert has begun to creep in, marching itself further north and east every year.
Inhabitant Demonym
Katarian
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Owning Organization
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