Empire of Calazen

The Empire of Calazen is eternal. The Gods will not let it die, and it has become such a fact of life that it seems likely that the people of Inahng would resurrect it even if the Gods were absent. Calazen has existed for almost four thousand years, and while it has collapsed into civil war many times it always returns. It proudly proclaims its immense legacy, with emperors still tracing their descent directly back to the demigod Ghavi. Ancient ornaments of flint and bronze are cherished beside marvels of steel and electricity, with past, present, and future intermingling. To those within it, it truly is the heart of the universe.
Calazen is highly stratified, highly performative, but ultimately tolerant of those who are willing to accept the system. The Emperor is a divine figure, but one of mercy and tolerance for their obedient subjects. And the Emperor is ever-present, with massive stylized statues of ancient monarchs rising over rural bridges and city market squares. Every emperor is The Emperor, regardless of the individual sitting on the throne: they are but a piece of the eternal lineage, a face for the system to wear. If an emperor does not place their name into the Great Web, a massive monumental family tree that looms over the imperial palace and capital city, they are not the emperor. And behind the Imperial Throne always sits the Lunar Goddess Jade, the eternal Queen-Mother who is often shown at the emperor's side. Without Jade's assistance, the Emperor could not pilot the complex imperial system- they are one with each other, with the empire, with the river, and with the land.

Structure

Calazen has 14 social classes, 3 branches of administration, and 5 regional governments. Buckle Up!

Social Class

There are three main legal categories that stratify Calazan society: Blooded, Raised, and Common people. Blooded folk are those who have papers tracing their exact descent from Ghavi (or at least claiming to), and whose family has been recognized as official descendants by the government. Raised are 'common folk' whose family has been raised as an example of noble blood by the government. And common people are just subjects of the emperor. Within those categories, there are thirteen social classes that are legally distinct. Each social class contains innumerable semi-legal "subcastes" that are difficult to distinguish from guild or professional identities.
Blooded:

• Divines, or members of the ruling dynasty
• Imperials, or members of one of the great houses
• True Nobles, or members of one of the illegitimate houses (descended from illegitimate children recognized posthumously)

Raised:

• Lesser Nobles, or title-holders whose authority comes only from imperial benevolence
• Knights, or warriors with lesser titles who earn their authority in service to the emperor
• Familiars, or personal attaches or non-blooded 'adoptees'; often sorcerers who lack family documentation or recognition
• Equites, or wealthy merchants with expanded involvement in city governments and more military expectations

Common: Invested, Freeholder, Free, Peasant, Indentured, Bound

• Invested Commoner, or a large landholder that lacks a formal title
• Freeholder, or a small landholder
• Freemen, or a commoner without land or obligation
• Peasant, or a commoner bound to a particular noble title or parcel of land via generational contract
• Foreigner, self explanatory
• Indentured Servant, or someone in contractual slavery for a period of time
• Bound, or someone who is in lifelong (non-hereditary) slavery, typically for crimes committed

Branches of Government

There are 3 Branches of government through which land is parceled by the emperor: the Bureaucracy, the Nobility, and the Clergy. These branches all have great power but are also kept in competition with the others, theoretically allowing the Emperor and Jade Atharzen to control the government. 
The Bureaucracy is made of Four Ministries that report directly to the Emperor: the Ministries of Revenue (taxes and trade), Public Works (irrigation and roads), War (the imperial guard), and Thought (the academies and art patronage). The Ministries tend to focus on towns and cities as well as noble-less crownlands. A small group of Imperial and True Noble families that are largely low on land or unlanded entirely operate the Ministries, though the rise of major academies have led to more and more Lesser Nobles, Familiars, and Equites entering the bureaucracy. 
The Nobility is a hierarchy of families that hold land on lease from the state, though these leases are often automatically renewed. Generally, there is a divide between the Upper Nobility (usually Imperials and True Nobles) and the Lower Nobility (Lesser Nobles and Knights), with the Upper Nobility operating out of estates in or nearby cities and with Lower Noble families managing their lands for them in the countryside. 
The landed Nobility and Bureaucratic Nobility fight for dominance in the cities through Client Families - lower-born families that are aligned with a specific noble house. Noble houses often feel obliged to provide their client families with perks, from status elevation to public feasts to lower taxes. 
Mediating between the hostile Ministers and Nobles is the Clergy. The clergy is somewhat independent of blood, focusing instead on skill and knowledge. The clergy act as judges, lawyers, investigators, and ritual leaders- monitoring society and keeping it stable. The clergy owns the least land- though not insubstantial amounts. Urban land is often run by the formal priestly hierarchy, while rural land is often run by Hero Cults. Hero Cults and monks alike dissolve class entirely within their ranks, basically forming tiny societies of their own. 

Regional Governments

In order to manage local affairs, the Emperor appoints five sub-monarchs that work with the regional directors of each ministry to make sure that local affairs are in order. These are the Vice-monarchs of Atharat in the far West, the holy mountains of Athasha, the rocky riverlands of Orsara, the heartlands of Yenesa (typically given to the heir of the emperor), and Shinarsa in the far East. Each vice-monarch is of the ruling dynasty and are often monitored for signs of disloyalty by the Bureaucracy and Priesthood.

Culture

A Stratified Society

Calazan society is deeply stratified based on wealth and lineage. Every slice of the social layer-cake is another social world, with its own laws, etiquette, fashion, and hierarchies. Interactions between classes is highly formalized and often engrained in law. Within classes, 'sub-classes' or 'sub-castes' have formed around specific professions; brewers, smiths, plasterers, and carpenters all have their own style of dress and subcultures. While not formally part of imperial law, cities often recognize these sub-classes as full legal and social categories.
It is theoretically impossible to change social classes, as they are one's born destiny, though it happens fairly regularly anyways. One of the greatest channels for social mobility is the temple of Nedira, who have their own hierarchy outside of the class system. The priest-judges and monks are something of social outsiders while they practice, moving between classes fluidly and policing instances of improper class interactions. This system theoretically goes both ways, with rudeness or abuse from upper class people being just as criminal as the reverse. It very much depends on the priest and people involved, though; while priests are incentivized to investigate richer families via a cut of the convicted person's wealth, some upper class people are still able to use their influence to 'pocket' the investigators. And while the priesthood is full of potential social mobility, the upper priesthood is overwhelmingly upper class, as it is difficult to pay for a good education and to make good connections when poor. 
Cities in Calazen feel particularly divided along class lines, with different classes living entirely different lives in often class-segregated spaces. Every cross-class interaction is so formalized and potentially dangerous that these are avoided whenever possible. Places and times of social subversion are particularly noticeable for this reason: Jester-Manors and Tishalla's Night most of all. Jester-Manors are essentially class-ambiguous spaces run by Comedy Magicians, known commonly as 'Street Jesters'. Jester-Manors are general places of debauchery, acting as casinos, brothels, drug dens, and general seedy locales. State-sanctioned Jesters, Street Jesters and High Jesters alike, have special legal exemption from class-etiquette laws regardless of location. As for Tishalla's Night, it is the largest holiday of the year and features mass class and gender swapping rituals, where everyone dresses up and acts what they aren't. Lesser local festivals also often include class-reversals or class-play, but none are as common or radical as Tishalla's Night. The rural countryside of Calazen is less rigid in its class divisions and tends to be more family-focused.

Art

Calazan art is the best art, the art of the Gods. It must be more than inferior "art": it must be grand, it must be accurate, it must be mean something. Art generally adheres to the rules of 'symbolic realism', in which realistic depictions of the world are important in terms of shape and proportion, but the actual style and content can be modified heavily by the symbolic and the unreal. Animal parts, words, and religious symbols are mixed with stylized landscapes and people. Craftmanship and imitation of reality are important, but so is style.
Calazen art is also unique in that it is intended to appeal to human and Prism audiences equally. Prisms cannot see color but can 'hear' texture and composition, making the physical feel, shape, and material of the art as important as the colors. A common element that pairs well with this is synesthesia: art that overwhelms through multiple senses. Paintings that use enamel and warped stone to physically texture the painting with light 3-d elements, manipulation of glassworking to create art that changes color, and generally mixing textures, colors, and materials as fluidly as possible are all common elements of Calazan statues and painted works. Presentation has become part of art, with certain pieces giving the illusion of movement under low, flickering lighting, and often including incense or paired music to create an overwhelming multi-sensory experience. High art in Calazen aims to lure the viewer in as a participant rather than an audience, conjuring an alternate reality that envelopes the viewer.
This style of sensory overload art peaked in the early 1900s ME, when they began dabbling in full-on performance art that was as much ritual and spectacle as piece. The most infamous example of this was the 1940 ME memorial to the Emperor, in which the artist created a massive semi-divine statue of the reigning emperor that used hydraulics to slowly move towards the audience. The space had been built to echo and overwhelm, dancers in elaborate costume had been hired to surround the audience, and magical lighting was employed through heavy magical fog to create a veritable vision of paradise. Several audience members had seizures, and the planned ending of pyrotechnics went awry and launched shrapnel into several audience members. This injuries opened the piece up as an empire-wide scandal and inspired several movements away from this level of opulence.
New-wave artists have sought other paths, but only fringe artists have entirely left the tradition bounds of artistic beauty and value. Some have turned to mimicking ancient art, some have turned to the use of perfume, and some have sought to more direct realism. In the East, the Block-Ink School has risen as a controversial and subversive new movement, which seeks to introduce art to the common masses and find "sparks of divine destiny" in lower-class individuals. These pieces often seek beauty in humble materials and focus on large scale engagement rather than extravagance. This ranges from public statues that incorporate day-to-day materials, to "Fudge-Books": mass printed art handed out or sold as pamphlets, often forming stories and incorporating 'high art' styles of stylized proportions or half-symbol people. In the West, an equally controversial and provocative school has emerged, associated with the kingdom of Sikrek, which focuses on shape and material over direct realism.

Food Culture: Divided We Eat

Food culture, like all of society, is class-divided and region-divided. Shinarsan Bricklayers have their own recipes and dishes that other Shinarsans and other bricklayers do not. The lines between these dishes is often slight, or even imaginary - oftentimes groups eat largely the same thing but present or name dishes differently. That isn't to say that every guild has a different word for 'bread', but that they often have specialty dishes they consider their own. Generally, the West eats cheese-heavy dishes and drinks tea, the Center eats a lot of bread and lobster and drinks beer and pomace-brandy, and the East eats a lot of flatbreads and meats and drinks wine. 
The upper echelons, however, live in a world altogether divorced from reality. Space and time mean nothing to them. To the greatest, food is a spell, a symbol of charismatic power composed of discrete components. The emperor must consume food from across the empire to reign over it- just as they must feed the Gods food from across the empire for communion to be pure. The Blooded elites often try to imitate this when they can.

History

Ancient Calazen

The glorious empire of Calazen has humble beginnings. First, there was the Etezja tribe - a small group of Humans in the modern day region of Yenesa. They were just one group of river people out of the many who migrated seasonally along the banks. The Etezja rose to prominence as master irrigators and agriculturalists during a great drought in the early Divine Era. The tribe was besieged on all sides by enemies, when Yena, the daughter of the greatest matriarch of the Etezja, led the Etezjan warriors in a great pacification campaign. Yena was blessed by The Chimera, who rose from the depths of the river to provide her with a massive Sudraco and The Saltspear. Armed with great weapons and artifacts, Yena's pacification campaign turned into imperial conquest. Her newly conquered subjects built great dams, canal systems, roads, fortresses, and temples. The Chimera visited her again in humanoid form and from their union a demigod child was born: Ghavi. Ghavi conquered far and wide, establishing the empire as we know it. His battle-partner and queen, Jade Atharzen, ascended to The Lunar Pantheon after death, and their union produced a line of Half Prisms capable of magic.
For several centuries, the direct descendants of Ghavi and Jade ruled as sorcerer-emperors. But this system could not last - the family became too numerous, while the direct line of Ghavi could not continue uninterrupted forever. Eventually, infertility and infidelity turned family drama into a succession crisis where diverging accounts and relentless intrigue muddled the clarity of the divine line. The extended family organized into Cadet Branches - sub-families that were still members of the greater "Othghozi family" but were de-facto their own clans. The first branch to seize power was the Baoja cadet family, a close branch with a very clear claim to the throne. The Baoja continued the policies of the late Divine Line, keeping the empire essentially feudal and decentralized. One thing the Baoja did introduce was formalized hero cult, a system that would eventually become the Ikito religious tradition.
After about 200 years of Baoja rule, many in the greater dynasty began to worry about some of their more lenient policies: the feudal lords were still descended from the Divine Family, but were increasingly more loyal to local elites than the empire. The Baojas also seemed to favor the Eastern human territories, which were easier to communicate with. The Prisms in the West were restless, and in -850 DE were able to launch a coup to seize power from a particularly weak Baoja ruler. The Prism branch, or Redukem, returned to family loyalty above all else. This was a more centralized and West-favored dynastic period, but also a very inefficient and nepotistic era. In -700 DE, the Balazir branch were able to quickly depose the Redukem and establish what many consider the first "true" branch since the Divine Line. The Balazir saw family loyalty and power as important, but temporary and self-defeating if not supported by a strong system of governance. Their ruling philosophy was to make laws, schools, and judge priests to manage the tedium of the empire in a flexible but centralized way. The Balazir preferred to sit neutrally in the center, intervening only when they saw the system as corrupted or broken. Their ruling philosophy helped shape a small but powerful religious tradition: that of Daripar, or Divine Legalism.
The Balazir likely would have ruled for many more centuries if the climate had not turned against them. Harsh and dry winters in the -400s DE devastated crops, created conditions for plague, and led to invasions and migrations from the North. The branch was delegitimized by their own rules as the system seemed to come crashing down. A militarist branch known as the Dagrin rose as the Balazir fell. The Dagrin instituted a harsh legalism based on Balazir philosophy and merged much of government with the army.

The Weeping War

The Dagrin saved the empire, made Daripar a permanent institutional religion, and continued much of what made the Balazir unique. They did not understand the Balazir's neutrality or leniency policies, however. And as more emperors continued meddling in local affairs and trying to outdo each other with new layers of law, the system became harsher and more unstable. It all came crashing down during the Weeping War of 155 ME, also known as the crisis of three crowns. The Weeping War, which began as a relatively simple succession contest between a child ruler and their regent, spiraled rapidly into a dynastic free-for-all. Three main regional alliances emerged: The well-armed but low-population West, the magical but disloyal Center, and the wealthy but distracted East. A fourth power briefly emerged after the Central alliance, close to victory, broke into a civil war between two cousins: Mikara and Itesra. Itesra was married to the strategic mastermind of the alliance, Maela, and demanded Mikara offer her co-rulership for her contributions to the war effort. Mikara tried to assassinate Itesra with The Saltspear in response, leading to Maela going rogue. Maela's guerrilla war led to Mikara inviting desert nomads into the war as allies and mercenaries. The resulting infighting led to the nomads going rogue themselves as a fifth faction and several of Calazen's largest cities being razed. Itesra was forced to abandon Maela and flee East, where she remarried to the Eastern candidate as a desperate bid to survive. Maela, in her own desperate bid, was able to steal The Saltspear from Mikara- only for the soldiers carrying it to defect and flee the war entirely. Ultimately, Mikara and the Western federation joined together to either pardon or crush the remaining factions. Tragically, Maela was used as a scapegoat for a number of groups and was executed, becoming a Ghost that haunts the ruins of her home-town to this day. Honorable or divine-blooded ghosts in the Empire are allowed to enter honorable exile with Maela to this day, and her town has become known as the City of Ghosts. The Weeping War came to a close in 180 ME when the Saltspear was returned to the co-empresses by a dashing paladin of Jade. The War is considered a turning point by Calazen's media and historians, a cosmological event that shifted the world from the ancient age to the classical age. The ancient age (to Calazen) was a time ruled by the Gods themselves, a time of mythical heroes of impossible skill and vision shaping the world to their whims through raw force of will; the classical age (to Calazen) is a time ruled by the Lunar Pantheon, where great individuals were acted upon by systems, policies, and lesser gods.

Classical Calazen

The branch that took over after the Weeping War, the Yezeba branch, was also uniquely artificial. It was not a natural descent directly tied to one of Ghazi's direct descendants, but a strategic hybrid made to fit a fragile peace. Some saw this new branch as inherently illegitimate, leading to a revolt in the East in 282 ME by an old claimant from the Dagrin branch. But the Yezeba held on for some time anyways. In 400 ME, a migration from the South began intensifying, and the Yezeba's heavy handed and inconsistent responses created widespread discontent. In 410 ME, an attempted military coup of the current emperor led to the empire once again fragmenting into factions. It seemed destined to spiral into yet another Weeping War, when a miracle occured: in one fell swoop and brief battle, the dark horse priest-candidate Miziva Onokem was able to capture the other claimants as well as the Saltspear. Miziva's secret? A combination of great skill, great luck, and unusual allies. Miziva had enlisted a group of exiled Eastern Solars to bolster her forces and secure the administration, and these exiles known as the Kifirem were a rare source of stability and true loyalty in an otherwise cut-throat bureaucracy. And so the Onokem branch period began, lasting from 410 ME to 980 ME.
Miziva I, upon taking the throne, promised to reform the law to better accommodate new cultures and species such as the Kifirem solars. Unfortunately, her solution was a species-based caste system. It was more humane than the heavy-handed mass imprisonments, enslavements, resettlements, and massacres of the late Yezeba, but it did not take long to become apparent that these caste-laws targeted certain newcomers and welcomed others. The Onokem's reforms were incredibly popular among the already-established majority human and prism populations, but the injustice of the caste system drew divine ire. In 515 ME, Jade's paladins acted to install their own candidate on the throne - a pious and impressionable Onokem of her choosing by the name of Eshalba. Eshalba removed the caste laws, empowered the hero cults into a major branch of government, and installed a representative of Jade as a supreme advisor and cleric. For a time, this new order was good- Jade, the hero-cults, and the emperors were able to steer the empire together. And to make this rule eternal, Jade instituted the Rule of Tradition, that forbade all changes to the existing law and privileged the old (made by her) over the new. But the Rule of Tradition was ultimately turned against Jade, as any changes she made were deemed as "corruptions inspired by false visions of the Goddess" - while corrupt administrators were able to quietly rewrite history to make their own changes appear as tradition. Attempts by Jade to root out corruption and lies were complicated by other Lunar Gods jumping into Calazan politics, stirring general chaos and leading to mortals gaining more and more power apart from any divine force.
It was in 650 ME that Jade lost her most reliable allies in Calazen: the old Prism clans of the West, whose long memories and fierce loyalty to their ancestors made them natural allies. The Western tribes had long used a system of extended reincarnated leadership, where leaders of particular popularity would be elected to "live beyond their bodies". That leader would reproduce asexually to create a clone-child, who would then be raised to replace them upon retirement. These children would be "perfect vessels" for the souls of their clone-parents after death. In this way, ancestral lines of "perfect vessels" created a sense of coherency, timeless leadership, and closeness to the divine. However, even these asexually produced children were still liable to mutate slightly just like any other creature- and these imperfections had slowly become evident in certain lines. West Calazen's rule over the tribes had relied on their ability to protect and manage a roster of perfect vessel ancestors- but obvious, visible differences had crept into the "stock". Accusations of non-asexual reproduction, spiritual uncleanness, and impostership abounded. Some vessels began to try and take the positions of others. In 650 ME, an attempt to purge certain "impure" vessels while granting the Calazan government total authority to determine "purity" led to a crisis- and the crisis became a war. Clans turned on each other, government agents fought. The system was melting down, and the convoluted nature of Prism clan politics made solutions difficult. After fifteen years of on and off conflict, Calazan control had become weak. The rising regional power of the Kedijah Confederacy, having just looted West Calazen's traditional rival of Sonisha, turned on Calazen. In 665, they launched a massive invasion- to which the rest of Calazen responded in kind. The war was brutal, but ended in Calazan victory- order had been imposed in the West. And as East/Central Calazen rebuilt the West, they stripped the old Prism traditions and imposed their own style of governance. The new order was in complete control- and Jade, whose lack of relevancy had been on display since the clan wars began, was now fully curbed in influence.
Unsurprisingly, castes returned not long after this. The new caste laws of 685 ME were cultural-based rather than on strict species lines, but as culture was partially defined by food, it was de-facto species-based. The caste laws were partially in reaction to a new migration that was on the rise: a great number of Starspawn and Kobolds from Stildane. The new Kobold arrivals brought immense chaos to the caste system created to control them, as their intermarriages with locals created species-random children. The system only cracked down harder on this new chaos, leading to internal corruption and dissent.
Sensing a Westward pivot and internal strife, Eastern scavengers began picking away at Calazen's trade and fringes. The sea peoples of the islands to the East had formed a vast alliance, which they used to demand better trading agreements with Calazen. After Calazen refused, this alliance- known as Shirmarsa - began openly raiding Calazen's Eastern coast and harassing their merchants. For 50 years, Calazen's outdated and under-invested fleet struggled to fight back- ending with the total destruction of the Calazan navy. And at the same time, a foreign solar began organizing the Kifirem and causing even more administrative chaos. To make matters even worse, a blight arrived from the far West known as the Sand Blight that afflicted crops and dryads alike with equal measure. Dryads, already facing legal oppression, began rioting. Everywhere the priesthood and government was being discredited. One of the Onokem dynasty turned against the rest, arguing that drastic reforms were necessary lest they too be overthrown. This young reformer, Itshenpo, radicalized in the face of opposition and called for the end of the Rule of Tradition and the entire religious order. Itshenpo gathered a coalition of dissenters- Kifirem, kobolds, Jade paladins, and heretics- and went to war to overthrow his uncle. In 885 ME, he captured his uncle on the field of battle, seized the saltspear, and crowned himself emperor of Calazen. Itshenpo brought with him a young prophet- a Prism monk by the name of Marasa that envisioned a new cosmic order- who he tasked with overhauling the empire. Their collaboration produced the religion of Nedira - which remains the dominant religion on the continent to this day. Itshenpo also ended the caste system and brought much-needed reforms to the administration.
For a century, prosperity reigned and the new order became the status quo.

The Empire in Crisis

In 970 ME, a terrible tragedy struck Inahng and overturned the brief Calazan golden age. A terrible series of Earthquakes struck the Adira Mountains, burying tens of thousands of prisms and destroying many great cities. Most tragically, the Demigod Mavara was buried in her own temple along with the crushed bodies of her entire family and entourage - including Emperor Menmasir X. The saltspear, the head of government, and a number of critical nigh-immortal power players were instantly taken away. And when Calazen rushed sorcerers and soldiers to recover whomever and whatever was possible, they immediately came into conflict with the local ruling Sonishan government. Powers across Inahng flocked to the holy mount to fight for the right to excavate Mavara- for whomever rescued the Goddess would surely be given eternal youth and the saltspear, emerging as God-rulers of the continent. But the excavation proved difficult for all parties, especially since the eartquakes continued. Floods and hurricanes also began to hit the continent. Mavara and the spear were not recovered by anyone- instead, every government involved collapsed like dominoes. After it became clear that the excavation would not be easy or short-term, Calazen turned on itself. The resulting civil war became known as the War of Cosmic Tragedy, as it was seen as a sign of the end-times. The Empire was divided into four pieces when the dust finally settled in 1010 ME. The Divided States Period, four hundred years of Calazen-less world, began.
The West, now the Holy Empire of Athasha, was stuck in perpetual war with Sonisha (and often itself). While large-scale war ended after Sonishan armies were driven out of Athasha in 1080 ME, small-scale conflict dragged into the 1200s. The central heartlands had their own fights, between themselves and the desert nomads. The Kedrazir dynasty emerged in the heartlands, and were able to slowly build legitimacy apart from Gods or artifacts. By 1105, the Kedrazir had reunited the old heartlands province of Yenesa; by 1160, the Kedrazir had expanded their influence across the desert nomads; and by 1210, they had brought the West under their rule as well. With a more peaceful, strategic approach, the Kedrazir were able to extract the Saltspear from the Sonishan excavations in 1310 ME (also finally freeing the immortal Mavara). The Kedrazir then pivoted to reconquering the East, which was complete by 1410 (despite interference from the Shirmarsan island coalition in the late 1300s).

The New Empire

After the last of the regional pretenders was extinguished in 1420 ME, the New Imperial Era Began with the Kedrazir dynasty at the helm. The early Kedrazir was a period of great restoration, rebuilding, and meddling in foreign affairs- the dynasty was pragmatic and diplomatic but absolutely willing to go to war when it suited their interests. For the first half of the Kedrazir period, the empire was a patchwork of different regions with their own rules and relationships under a centralized imperial structure- very flexible and powerful at its best, but unwieldy and disruptive at its worst. Each region had its own set of social classes enshrined in law, its own titles, and its own systems of land administration- each with its own nuances and laws. This began to show signs of weakness in the late 1500s, leading to a major re-assessment of this imperial structure.
In 1600 ME, the reigning Emperor Toriskem V launched a massive purge and restructuring of the administration known as "The Great Re-Ordering". To eliminate all resistance and prevent possible civil war, Toriskem ordered the greatest paladins, assassins, and agents into a secret police known as the Virtue-Keepers of Daiboshdir. The Daiboshdir were extremely effective at suppressing factions, but the massive changes upset so many groups so quickly that Emperor Toriskem was forced to keep the secret police as a permanent institution. While inquisitors and spymasters had a long history in Calazen targeting threats to the emperors, the Daiboshdir had significantly more resources and sway than past 'secret police' groups. This proved problematic in the reign of the following monarch, Balahar III, who had much less control over the Daiboshdir leaders. Balahar attempted to disband the Daiboshdir at the end of his reign in 1660 and the Daiboshdir refused to leave, choosing to try and coup the empire themselves instead. This was also a failure, leading to cooler heads on both sides negotiating a compromise rather than provoke civil war. The Daiboshdir were humiliated and reduced, and the empire began to return to normal- but many regionalists had become paranoid and radicalized under the last 60 years of terror. One such group were the Masafi, a popular mystic movement in Eastern Calazen inspired by Dryad folk religion and local Nediran hero-cults. The Masafi had their own local religious structure prior to the Great Re-Ordering, and lost immensely at the hands of the Daiboshdir. The Masafi radicalized into a full-fledged resistance movement by 1660, which saw the valiant emperors taken hostage by wicked spymasters. When Balahar III retired in 1680 to be replaced by his son, Burkedran, the Masafi interpreted the abdication as another Daiboshdir coup and took to the streets in rebellion. A small clique of Masafi militias allied to Lily of Red, Theia the Liberator, and Hiku Matsune took control of the mania, introducing their own radical theologies to the mix. An alliance of elites (many of which had turned to those same Luna Gods in desperation) joined in the rebellion with their forces.
By the time old Balahar reached the rebels to assure them no coup had taken place, the rebel's demands had changed: now, they wanted a reversal of the Great Re-Ordering, which was clearly a Daiboshdir plot. Even worse, the militia were able to kidnap Balahar after a carriage crash as part of a "rescue attempt", triggering a series of copycat abductions of local popular politicians. The young emperor Burkedran delayed deploying deadly force on the rebels, fearing both for his father and the consequences of butchering protesters in the streets - and while the emperor dawdled, the situation deteriorated. Local opposition groups began to form their own militias in the countryside to rescue Balahar from his other "rescuers". The Masafi formed their own "provisional government of the East" and began holding placing unpopular politicians on trial. The Masafi Revolution had begun.
From 1680 to 1704, Masafi forces, government forces, and oppositional militias fought one another for dominance. What began as a local Eastern particularist rebellion escalated into a full-fledged religious civil war. Ultimately, the Masafi leadership was exiled, the oppositional militias were crushed, and the empire was restored. Masafi heretical cults and revolts would continue to pop up and be eradicated through the 1700s, but the main movement lost its momentum when the revolution was crushed.
The Revolution did see the end of the Kedrazir branch, though- Burkedran was killed in the fighting, and the resulting succession crisis discredited the dynasty entirely. An allied branch, the Ziriba dynasty, seized control by the end of the revolution. The Ziriba were less ambitious during the 1700s, preferring to rebuild, repair, and reform. The Ziriba emphasized peace, learning, and public works. The most famous of these early emperors was Empress Itesra the Poet, a famous patron of art, the natural sciences, and great academies that allowed even the lower nobility to receive great magical and philosophical training.

Calazen Ascendant

The greater access to magical education introduced by the Ziriba proved all too effective when it allowed one lesser noble to rise beyond their station: Esam the Great, a lesser Kedrazir that was able to fight his way to the top at a young age. He was a master of intrigue, magic, and rhetoric who abandoned his family to join the Ziriba as an adopted son and eventual emperor. His ambition was endless, his methods were ruthless, and his power seemed heaven-sent. He ascended to the throne through guile in 1828 ME, but he kept the throne through violence and charisma.
Esam inherited a stable and prosperous empire as well as weak and unstable surrounding states to exploit - but he also approached conquest with a very non-traditional level of bloodlust. Long-term stability seemed less important to him than glory and wealth. Much of Inahng fell to Esam's conquests, kingdom by kingdom from 1828 to 1860 - after which he turned the Empire West, to Suneka. These endless wars were overwhelmingly victories for Esam, but they dragged on and on - and the Sunekans were relentless, even after decades of defeats. Esam's thirst for glory slowly died, just as the wars and rebellions slowly turned against the empire. By 1910, Esam had given up the conquering game and focused on consolidating what he still had- which was still pretty considerable. Not every occupied territory integrated quietly- Shirmarsa, the island confederation that has always been the thorn in Calazen's side, waged war against Esam from 1948 to 1953 and was the last state to acheive independence. But even after the Shirmarsan war, Esam left Calazen more dominant than ever. The empire was more than an eternal institution now- it was to lead the world, or conquer it.
The empire since Esam has been quiet, recovering from the immense effort of his conquests. But the great wealth diverted into the empire's cities by those conquests have allowed them to flourish. The latest empress, Kitiva V, was hand-picked as a young woman to lead the Empire by Esam, and studied under him personally as a child. She is seen as a true second coming - a powerful sorcerer, charismatic speaker, and competent administrator. What she envisions the empire to be is anyone's guess.

Demography and Population

80,000,000 humanoids: 30% Hybrid, 20% Human, 20% Dryad, 20% Prism, 5% Kobold, 5% Other

Territories

Calazen is around 2,100 miles across East-to-West and around 400 to 800 miles across North-to-South. It is best understood through its 3 climatic zones: Athasha, a mountainous province of the Adira Mountains in the West; Yenesa, a massive desert of dunes and salt flats with intense settlement along the riverlands and oases in the center; and Shinasa in the East, which are semi-arid grasslands and forests fed by seasonal coastal rainstorms. 
The mountain province of Athasha can be broken down into 3 subdivisions: the intensely mountainous True Athasha, the hilly and arable Orisha, and the uneven peaks and valleys of Atharat.

Military

Tactics and Approach

Calazen's military is large, varied, and theatrical. It is a mixture of old and new, with ancient regiments and practices preserved for their own sake alongside cutting edge technology and magic. The army is organized into 3 major branches, all of which are encouraged to be varied and local in dress and style. When they all come together (often with hosts of mercenaries as well), the desired effect is an image of the entire world marching against the foe. This media projection boosts morale, shakes enemy soldiers, and pairs well with the Empire's accommodation strategies: hijack local elites at every turn and seek to make your enemy's armies your own. Welcome the captured or intimidated foe into your ranks, and create a diverse-seeming army so they do not feel out of place doing so. 
The theatrics of war also take place on the battlefield. When Calazen marches, they always seek overwhelming force (or at least the appearance of it). The strategy is often to strike out, hit first, and hit hard: attack relentlessly and focus on initial strength and mobility to defeat the enemy on the field in their own territory early on. Once the enemy is disorganized and terrified, use fear and diplomacy to capitalize on the victory quickly. If the war does drag on, the focus is on maintaining that image of power through big, flashy field victories. Use of dramatic experimental weapons is common, often with the illusion that there are many more of these in storage (for example, the war of 1870 to 1900 against the Sunekan coalition saw the use of massive napalm-throwing artillery pieces, which were only ever a few in number- but many fake copies were made and posed throughout the armies to terrify the Sunekan warriors). Rebels and occupations are best handled by mercenaries or local allies. 
The theatrics of battle and the actual strategies overlap - the focus is on mobility, disrupting enemy formations and communications, and dissolving enemy morale. Large contingents of Sudraco knights famously dominate the battlefield. These knights are a combination of Paladins, Sorcerers, and ordinary heavy lancers. Ordinary horse-knights and horse archers often ride alongside these Sudraco-knights, protecting the knights and harassing foes. Overwhelming use of magic (bardic, wizarding, and sorcerous most often) is also a mark of Calazan's armies. Recently, artillery has become an important part of the mix, with Zeruan smoke rockets, Sunekan cannons, and traditional Calazan trebuchets (often loaded with napalm or acid). Light infantry and skirmishers often seek to surround the foe while a heavy infantry line keeps the enemy in place. In short, the general goal is to control the battlefield and break up the enemy army so that the cavalry can destroy it piece by piece. 

Organization

As for how the army is actually organized, the 3 fundamental divisions in the army are the Imperial Guards, Aristocratic Levies, and Hero-Cult Divisions. The Imperial Guards are a permanent standing army managed by the bureaucracy, and supply many of the elite cavalry, artillery, magicians, common infantry-units, and engineers. These are often based out of and around cities, and tend to manage the larger city guard organizations and the protection of the imperial family. They are a combination of locally-trained city recruits and military regiments given in tribute from Calazen's many tributary states. The Aristocratic levies are private warbands authorized by the state and run out of rural estates - these often supply the common horse and sudraco cavalry. And the Hero Cult divisions are operated by church-regulated cults, and often have communities of hereditary warriors that are given land along the borders. These divisions are largely apart from society and often operate as fort-towns with their own distinct identity and cult practices. These divisions produce a large number of skirmishers and heavy infantry. 
Having the army operate in 3 parts has major pros and cons. The system envisions a divided military that cannot revolt and coup the government easily - but can be unified under a charismatic emperor. In the hands of less-competent administrators, though, the army is a disjointed mess. So when it works, it really works, but when it doesn't, it really doesn't. Less-militarily-competent emperors often rely on mercenaries to circumnavigate the whole mess, which often works well enough for small conflicts. 
Local cities, academies, cults, and regiments are encouraged to both preserve their old ways and experiment according to their leader's whims, producing a military that has incredible variety and flavor. Some of these groups are famous; others have failed so incredibly that they've been dissolved and replaced; and some are simply "eccentric". For the best of the best, one can turn to the Invincible, a group of Paladins of Jade Atharzen often regarded as some of the finest knights and warriors of Inahng, and pinnacles of chivalry. One could also turn to the Wall-breakers, a group infantry of Prisms from West Calazen famous for their large warhammers. One could also turn to the Imperial Grenadiers, soldiers armed with grenades and axes from the East. In terms of eccentricity, the Zealots of the Word and the Peacock Brigade take the cake. The Zealots of the Word tattoo or carve the holy law of Nedira into their flesh, and are said to enter blind rages in battle - their commanders often make a show of their rage by keeping them on rope leashes when in enemy cities. The Peacock Brigade are colorfully dressed halberdiers known for only accepting the tallest recruits possible and dressing in incredibly large hats to appear even taller.

Religion

Calazen is very much a religious state infused with the Temple of Nedira. Calazen hosts the Divine, the head of the religion of Nedira; Nedira's philosophies define Calazen's government. Nediran religious courts dominate much of the government bureaucracy, and Nediran cults protect the borders.
That all said, Nediran religion is not mandatory in the empire. You must obey its laws, but you can worship whatever you please to as long as it does not insult or attack the empire, river, or emperor. The empire, imperial line, and river are all one, in the popular imaginary.
The defining holiday of Calazan Nedira is the autumnal Tishalyahgen or Tishalla's Night. The oldest holiday in the region, Tishalla's Night is said to have once had the Architects themselves in attendance. Cowry shells are thrown into the river and prayers are given during the day, and masks are donned at lavish public feasts and parties during the night. Social orders are ritually flipped and lines between classes are blurred and played with. The elaborate ritual of Tishalla's Night is seen as a requirement for proper flooding of the river and the growth of crops, and is a critical state function. Each town elects an emperor for that night to lead their ceremonies (acting out the origin myth of Calazen and giving sacrifices of shells, meat, and lettuce to the river) that dresses up and is deemed spiritually identical to the actual emperor for that night.
Small Sunekan, Uvaran, Ishkibite, Kivish, and Vetevic populations live in Calazen peacefully, though many of these communities are semi-Nedira in practice.  The heretical faith of Metena is banned from public ritual and is banned from many cities, though the Eastern ports tolerate them. A wide variety of folk religions persist in Calazen's borders as well.

Foreign Relations

Calazen dominates the continent of Inahng, and its influence and power extends far beyond its borders. The same dynasty that reigns in Calazen rules Sikrek, Sonisha, Lirasha, and Tarasa- creating a sort of "Greater Calazen" alliance that moves with overwhelming force across the continent.
If one were to include Greater Calazen as direct imperial holdings, a map of the continent would look like this:

Almost all surrounding states also provide Calazen with tribute and tolerate some level of Calazan political interference. The notable exception is Shirmarsa (the great island coalition of the Eastern sea). Shirmarsa remains a thorn in Calazen's side and has only survived the Empire's wrath through naval superiority.
In the West, the Sunekan republics also refuse Calazen tribute and harbor some resentment towards the empire.

Agriculture & Industry

Calazen is largely agricultural, with three different regions producing different kinds of food and goods. Small artisan collectives in the towns then process the raw materials, though large kilns and smelters have popped up in recent years that have started to challenge those artisan groups. Farmers, meanwhile, are protected by the 'Rule of Need': essentially a flexible rule of taxation that scales with the surplus, so higher taxes on good years and minimal to no taxes during bad harvests. The Rule of Need is ancient and ignoring it often provokes revolt; it also creates a more stable but less mobile rural farming class.  
The mountainous West produces cheeses of all kinds, yak milk, buckwheat, potatoes, high-altitude rice for food. The mining of salt, Prism-food, and Kilusha are massive industries, larger even than agriculture. Dye production and small-scale smelting and smithing are common industries alongside that mining, though the lack of large rivers or lakes forces surplus metal to be shipped East for smelting and manufacturing. Ice cutting
The central valleys are primarily desert and barren salt flats, with a large strip of fertile riverland in the center. Wheat, rice, beans, citrus, apples, lentils, dates, cotton, palm oil, and pomegranate are all harvested in the riverlands. Giant Lobster and Sudraco breeding is also a common river industry, as well as fishing. Mass smelting and huge pottery kilns process the mineral wealth of the West.
The East, meanwhile, grows wheat, citrus, olives, grapes and apples, ranches cows and sheep, and lumbers.

Trade & Transport

There are three layers to trade policy: imperial, regional, and local. Imperial policy is decided by the emperor (with close advisement from the Ministry of Revenue). Regional trade policy is decided by the Vice-monarchs, each of whom has a commission of trade, which works with each regional trade center. Local trade halls manage guild affairs and send stuff up to trade commission, and are located next to grain banks and mills. 
As for how trade works, ancient guilds operate like their own governments, cultures, and secret societies. These groups are deeply conservative, leading to relatively slow adoption of production technologies when they are not explicitly instituted by the emperor.

Education

Education in the empire is basically free if you are already wealthy- go figure. Large academies opened by the state train wizards, scholars, lawyers, sorcerers, bards, priests, and scientists from the Blooded and Raised class categories. As long as their family hasn't refrained from paying into these academies, they are extremely cheap to attend. 
For those of the upper-Common classes, some noble families have started to make their own private academies for client families that imitate these large state-sponsored schools. Merchant guilds have also opened their own independent of family ties, though these tend to be for guild-artisans only.
Indentured servants, Peasants, and common farmers are, in short, basically left to learn their trades through their families and communities.

"All the Cosmos, In Order"

Founding Date

-1400 DE/1810 ME

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Capital

Etezja

Alternative Names

Tishalik, Ghavarsa

Demonym

Calazan

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Unitary state

Economic System

Mixed economy

Currency

Calazan Gold Dragons, Silver Shells, and Copper Eyes

Major Exports

Salt, gems, dyes, Kilusha, stone, minerals, Sudraco, silk

Major Imports

Lumber, spices, tar

Official State Religion

Nedira

Location

Inahng

Official Languages

• Calazan Language

Controlled Territories

• Etezja
• Malka
• Odija, City of Lights

Neighboring Nations

• Kingdom of Sikrek
• Kingdom of Sonisha

Related Items

• The Saltspear

Notable Members

• Esam the Great
• Ghavi

Related Plots

• The Chimera's Law