Empire of Eketen

The Empire of Eketen is a relatively recent state founded less than two hundred years ago. To many, it represents a bastion of order and safety in a hostile world. To others, it is a monument of tyranny that seeks to conquer and subdue cultures it does not understand. Until relatively recently, the empire appeared flawless and impenetrable in its power, but death of the last Empress twenty years ago has left the empire divided. It stands now more as a concept than a coherent organization, held together by more vision than substance. The stable and prosperous future has dissolved into panic and uncertainty, and it is up to the new generation to decide if it is time for the empire to return or die for good.

Structure

In theory, Eketen is an absolute monarchy backed by three foundational pillars: a strong standing army to protect the land from monsters and reclaim irradiated territory, a strong aristocracy to manage existing land and provide emergency military forces, and a strong series of semi-public merchant corporations to extract profit from crownlands to help fund the military.
In this structure, the following would serve as a basic hierarchy of the imperial court

• The Emperor/Empress of Eketen, a hereditary monarch with absolute power
• 3 Grand Marshals who manage the standing military
• The Grand Dukes, a group of 10 major landholders who manage the lower aristocrats
• The Speaker of Commerce, representative-leader of the great merchant corporations
• The Governor of Kasteny, who manages the affairs of the occupied Southern territories
• The High Priest of Uvara, in charge of ritually purifying the court and coordinating the many temple communities

Military ranks in this structure are given with preference towards aristocrats and wealthy self-supplying individuals, but allow for a certain amount of social mobility that is not available in most parts of society.
This system has been breaking down in the last twenty years, as bursts of civil war have led to areas of social breakdown

History

Pre-Imperial Eketen

Eketen began in 200's as clusters of refuge-cities formed in response to the Ederstone-tainted Cursed Storms. Originally, Eketen was three disconnected segments in the West, middle, and East, connected in trade by the Rolden river. These three regions remained culturally and politically separated from one another for centuries, and only really began coming together when the Courier Confederation (an extranational cooperative against Kivishta and Ederstone related threats) organized a series of outposts, fortified ports, and roads to better connect the three regions in the 970s. In the late 1100s, the three regions finally bordered one another, leading to the Bayanol Accords of 1210 in which the many kingdoms of Eketen agreed to work together to keep the roads and waterways between the three regions safe.
Even with trade and transit secure between the three regions, they remained culturally distinct for much of their history. The West was always the least secure- fluctuating from monster attacks and bandit raids. The West had a more militaristic-mercantile system based around jointly-owned merchant plantations operated by debt serfs and guarded by a standing mercenary army and was culturally closer to Kasteny than the rest of Eketen. The Center was, for most of its history, mostly inhabited by semi-nomadic pastoral tribes of humans, starspawn, and kobolds that cooperated to patrol the plains while small trading fortress-towns cropped up along the river. The East, meanwhile, was highly developed and populated. Huge strings of manned walls and fortresses through the mountains protected the agricultural heartland and bustling cities within. The East was also more culturally connected with distant Inahng, which it traded with up the river.
For much of history, it seemed the West and East would drift away to different spheres entirely. In 1380, the wizards of Eastern Eketen connected with the magical teleportation circle network of the Empire of Calazen, encouraging intermingling of high-level magicians and leading to the introduction of Sudraco and Divine Blood Sorcery. The West, meanwhile, was outright invaded and integrated into Kasteny in 1415- an occupation that lasted until revolts and monster attacks made the region overly costly, leading to its abandonment in 1490.

The Rise of the Empire

In 1810, 3 major kingdoms dominated the Eastern region. Richest and most influential of the 3 was the kingdom of Kiozen-Itzanka. In the spring of 1810, Avenek I succeeded to the Kiozen-Itzankan throne. Avenek was a Half Prism magician with great ambition and martial prowess. Avenek was inspired by his travels East at a young age, and had returned with a vision: of a great bastion of safety for all peoples of Southern Stildane, where all could feel pride and safety under a united banner. This vision inspired and energized his diplomats and soldiers as it grew more and more real. Avenek's ambition saw the East quickly united under a single banner- and from their combined wealth came an immense inertia that Avenek rode from conquest to conquest. As he conquered, his army became more professional and varied. He sought to be more than an Easterner, but a leader of a force as diverse as the lands he ruled. His charisma and power had a kind of gravity- no one could say no to him. By 1840, he had done what no warrior or king had: he had conquered all of Eketen.
But his vision was not limited to the Rolden river valleys. He developed and ordered his new state as he eyed the rich lands of Kasteny to the South, which were overtaken by infighting. In 1851, Kasteny fell into what looked like a minor civil war, but in early 1852 it began wildly escalating. Avenek knew that to hold Kasteny one had to conquer and hold the impenetrable city of Selvergen - and the City of Solidarity had cracks forming. In summer of 1852 Avenek raced Southward and bribed his way into Selvergen, quickly conquering the city. By the summer of 1853 all of Kasteny was occupied. He divided the territory among his aristocrats, left a garrison, and returned to Eketen to begin the project of making Eketen eternal and unshakeable.

Crisis in Kasteny

Kasteny is culturally quite different from Eketen- and unlike their cousins in West Eketen, central Kasteny has extreme cultural expectations for "Federal Rights". There is a very firm tradition of local government and community rights that did not sit well with Avenek's hyper-centralized vision. This immediately led to a series of bloody rebellions in both the cities and countryside. Avenek's hand-picked Governors, while brilliant, were given orders to force local communities to conform to imperial standards- an impossible order they predictably failed at. Only after a very close call in 1870 that almost led to a military revolt did Avenek finally relent.
The Governors restored the federation rights and hammered out a new system that would be more acceptable to the Kasten population. This was quickly implemented in the cities, but the rural Eketeni aristocrats found that a brutal reign of terror was far more profitable and efficient and quietly ignored these new orders. The rural revolts continued and began to undermine the sense of law and order. The lord governors, themselves very precarious, had to needle and bully these new lords into giving up their powers. The governors began pillaging the coastal monster-hunter garrisons of their money and manpower to coerce the aristocrats into behaving. During the 1940s and 1950s this had begun to really work, and the rebels were almost sated and removed. Then came the disastrous civil disorder of 1960. Civil war broke out in the North, drawing off troops and funds. Chaos and panic spread. The rebels began picking up speed again, and aristocrats were beginning to ignore the governor's orders again. The Kasteny garrison was deployed in full to handle this- leaving Selvergen vulnerable. The Sisters of Bain, a monster-hunting group native to Kasteny that managed much of the monster-hunting trade the governors had looted launched a coup to restore Old Kasteny- and were put down only by a rural duke (who may have been in the city for their own intended coup) who assumed total control of Kasteny. That ducal family has since begun their own reign of terror and fashioned themselves Kings in Kasteny- a dangerous trend that threatens Eketen's hold over the region.

The Family Divided: Problems at Home

While Kasteny was always rebellious and was managed primarily by Governors, Eketen itself seemed impervious under Avenek. Society, culture, politics, all began gravitating around him. Standardized language, laws, religion, and administration was implemented across Eketen. But Avenek I was not immortal, and his son Avenek II did not share his vision. Avenek II wanted a more cosmopolitan focus, more centered in the East- safer, more traditional, less militarily challenging. As Avenek I grew old, the two fell apart in private- but Avenek I refused to ever show weakness and disavow his heir and blood. But, on his deathbed in 1920, the old emperor wavered as he saw his son so close to reversing some of his reforms. In his last days, he suddenly changed everything- he cut Avenek II out of succession and named his young nephew, Nanikem, heir. Nanikem was a loyalist, a soldier, and a fanatic disciple of Avenek I and as soon as the emperor was dead, Nanikem moved to take his place as emperor. As Avenek II rode to rally his loyalists to challenge Nanikem's succession, Nanikem had the dragoons of the standing army arrest Avenek and have him imprisoned indefinitely. The capital was also moved Westward in 1922- away from the disloyal aristocracy and towards the HQ of the army.
Avenek II was not killed, but put safely under house arrest- where he prepared in secret for his young son to seize control. Nanikem prepared as well, integrating his daughter deeply into the military establishment for a safe succession. But Avenek's son, Avenek III, waited patiently until Nanikem died in 1960 to claim the throne, with an army of nobles at his back. Nanikem's daughter, Kudana, brought her own forces for what was meant to be a quick arrest- but spiraled into a civil war. The bloody civil war was mercifully brief, ending in early 1962 with Kudana I's victory. But when she settled to rule, she found that the Grand Marshals she had relied on to defeat the rebellion were unwilling to relinquish their power. Kudana had to fight tooth and nail to have any say in her own centralized government as the War Council quietly seized control.

The Ghost of a Dream

With Kasteny in flames and barely under control and a military oligarchy having seized control of the empire, things began to deteriorate. Aristocrats and merchants alike began to do business not with the state, but with developing powerful cliques of officers within the military. These cliques vied for power, each hoping to replace the aging military oligarchs. As the old generals retired, these cliques crystallized into large military factions, with Kudana I desperately breaking them up as fast as she could. In the 1990s, these cliques and factions began to autonomously run entire provinces without state interference. These factions cooperated to thwart royal intervention and only went underground when confronted by the Empress. In 2000, while personally touring the countryside to enforce a series of centralizing reforms, Kudana I was assassinated. Her only direct heir was an infant, and the alternative was a series of distant relatives with no clear choice.
From 2000 to 2014, candidates of royal blood were picked up as figureheads in what became an inter-factional military civil war. By 2014, most of the competent candidates had been killed and the empire seemed on the verge of collapse. Monsters were penetrating deeper into the countryside. Emergency ceasefires were called. Peace was attempted, but failed. War periodically started and stopped on and off again from 2014 to 2020 as dozens of young officers envisioned themselves as the new Avenek I. And maybe one of them will be that. Or, maybe, none of them are and the Empire is nothing but a ghost now. With Kasteny breaking away slowly, the countryside sick and tired after two decades of war, and monsters rampaging through the Bastion of Order, this is it. It is sink or swim. Either the experiment of Eketen is over, or it is reborn in flame and glory. What is done in the next few years will decide everything.

Demography and Population

5,800,000 humanoids; 20,000 cats; 60,000 aquatic. The majority of the humanoid population is Dryad, Human, Starspawn, Prism, and Kobold- but exact numbers vary dramatically region to region.
Of the humanoids, 2,000,000 live in the occupied region of Kasteny. Of these, 30% are Dryad, 25% are Human, 25% are Starspawn , 10% are Kobolds, and 10% are others
Within the region of Eketen, the vast majority live in the Eastern third- 2,500,000 of Eketen's 3,800,000 live in the East. East Eketen is 20% Dryad, 20% Prism, 20% Starspawn, 15% Human, 10% Half Prism, 8% Kobold, and 7% Other. Central Eketen is the second most populous at 950,000- 25% Human, 25% Kobold, 25% Starspawn, 15% Dryad, and 10% Other. West Eketen is the least populous, at 350,000- 30% Starspawn, 25% human, 25% dryad, 10% Kobold, 10% Other.

Territories

The heartlands of Eketen are in the North, around the Rolden River. The Rolden is 700 miles long running East from the Adira mountains, with several large mountain valleys shielding it from Ederstone deposits to the North and South. These same mountain valleys make the Western and central heartlands fairly arid, with scattered forests and lakes sustaining small scattered forests. The East has far more humid subtropical forests (verging on temperate from the higher elevation). The imperial lands of this region measure roughly 57,000 square miles.
Along the western coast to the South of Eketeni heartlands is the conquered and occupied land of Kasteny. 26,000 square miles of coastline and lucrative farmland around the 131-mile-long Darness river, Kasteny is overwhelmingly subtropical forest and marshland.
Two of the largest and most dangerous Ederstone wastes border Eketen: to the North are the Deverkel Wastes, and the Agrimir Wastes separate Kasteny from central Eketen. To the Southeast, several Ederstone wastes meld into one massive wall of monstrous chaos.

Military

The main force of Eketen's military is a large standing army known as the imperial legions, whose primary job is to fortify and defend stretches of open chaos waste. Local aristocratic landowners are also expected to curate and sustain emergency levies and retinues to protect their lands and contribute auxiliary forces in times of crisis.
The legions of Eketen are diverse, purposefully mixing together soldiers from across the empire evenly. The officer corps is less diverse, as aristocrats and merchants who can purchase and maintain their own mounts and armor can usually start as an officer while recruits have to perform brilliantly to rise in the ranks from nothing.
Generally speaking, most of the legion is known for their heavy infantry, bowmanship, spell support, and artillery as they prefer fortifications and entrenchment to aggressive offense. There are a few exceptional groups within the legions that stand out.

• The Imperial Dragoons. These elite regiments, drawn and based primarily out of central Eketen, are highly mobile rapid-response units trained as both ranged cavalry and mounted infantry. Dragoons operate stations with specialized mounts in the interior of the empire, to mount up and ride to any emergency on the border. Preferring to either harass their foes from a range on horseback with bows or firearms or dismount to man fortifications, small units of dragoons are famed for their speed and efficiency. Within the military, they are quite prestigious.
• The Frontier Rangers. These squadrons of elite fighters work to scout and secure territory within the irradiated zones. Rangers operate outposts outside of imperial territory, prepare monthly reports on possible threats, and protect extra-national labor camps for Eketeni merchants.
• The Hunting Bands. The hunting bands are ancient groups of monster hunters that have long-standing contracts as mercenary workers in Kasteny and Western Eketen. Each band has its own identity, leadership, and hierarchy. Some are religious, some are culture groups, some specialize in specific arts. In all cases, these groups are quirky, independent, and usually wealthy from the sale of monster parts. They also tend to resent imperial authority, as there have been several failed attempts to integrate them into the formal military
• The Imperial Marines. Imperial marines protect merchants from sea monsters and pirates, and often have an unusual level of unit autonomy. They often work as government-based mercenaries for private companies or ships, with the understanding that they will return to the legion if the alarm is sounded.

Religion

Religion is mostly locally managed, with the imperial High Priest in charge of wrangling and coordinating the many regional temple communities. Religious toleration is the norm of the empire, with each regional community managing their own religious affairs and laws. Some regions have enforced Uvaran religion, while others also allow for Kivishta and Sunekan communities.
The primary role of religion in the government of Eketen is in training and tracking magic users. The empire has very strong laws against unlicensed spellcasting, and temples are given responsibility for educating and licensing druids, bards, warlocks, and sorcerers appropriately. They are also in charge of supplying magical levies to the military in times of crisis.

Foreign Relations

Eketen works maintains good relations with those that seem prohibitively expensive to conquer, such as poor petty kingdoms away from trade routes or lands across Ederstone wastes. Eketen has little pretense of friendship towards those prosperous regions it could conquer- lands to the South such as Arvarun in particular. This sort of "honest diplomacy" strengthens its friendships but produces very firm enemies.

Agriculture & Industry

East Eketen is predominantly an agricultural breadbasket with large urban industrial centers. Rice, millet, beans, squash, and wheat are grown in the river basin; iron, stone, gemstones, and mineral-feed are mined from the surrounding mountains; lumber mills on the fringes feed large paper mills and construction efforts. Magical supplies, spellcasters, food, weapons, and manufactured goods are all produced in surplus and exported throughout the empire from here.
Central Eketen is largely pastoral, with several major agricultural centers. Sheep, cattle, and Giant Lobsters are all herded in large numbers here. Massive amounts of wool and meat are then harvested and exported throughout the empire. Aside from ranching operations, vineyards and olive mills produce olive oil and wine. In the more forested regions, large estates grow rice, cotton, and wheat. On top of all of this, central Eketen is known for its specialty animal breeders. Giant lobsters, Sudraco, horses, and dogs are bred for war, transport, and racing here. Ederstone-mutated strains are used to breed some very unique specialty animals- the pride of Eketen.
West Eketen is a patchwork of agricultural, financial, and industrial areas. Rice and millet are grown, and luxury goods from monster hunts are produced in the fortified estates of West Eketen. Dye-making is one of the larger industries here.
Kasteny has large agricultural and production-based swaths of rural land that support centers of urban development. Lumber, iron, stone, wool, Kilusha, and food products are all mass produced in the safely guarded lands of rural Kasteny and brought into the cities for refinement. From there, massive numbers of potions, medicines, poisons, luxury goods, textiles, and ships are produced for export within the empire.

Trade & Transport

Guild artisans and merchants are expected to merge into large joint corporations in Eketen, which are often given special rights and privileges by the imperial speaker of commerce. These corporations often help run crown-owned land and fund expeditions- both for profit and military purpose. These corporations are where rich local merchants, guild artisans, aristocrats, and military officers meet. They have suffered greatly in the past twenty years of instability, as have most imperial trade programs.
Eketen also has a special crown-endorsed trade program for the Northern trade route to Hain. Always a dangerous route, corporate expeditions began mastering specific navigation techniques to avoid the worst of the irradiated waters. Special ships, known as Imperial Caravels, were commissioned to best exploit these developing routes from 1880 to 2000. Since 2000, few imperial caravels have been made, and foreign competitors are beginning to catch up.

Education

The education system of Eketen is robust but not equitable. At its heart is the wizarding academy system developed in the 1100s. All "true" wizards of Eketen are involved at some level with the wizard academies, who rank all licensed wizards annually within a twelve-tiered hierarchy. These academies are then ranked based on the level of their current staff as well as successful research, which is rated in Grand Conventions every five years. Much of this research is magical, but frequently overlaps with natural sciences. Thanks to imperial meddling, an increasingly large space for valid research into biology (leading to increasingly detailed analysis of Trait Theory and genetics in the 1900s). At the perpetual top of the hierarchy is the University of Kiazerov, one of the founding institutions for wizardry itself. While Eastern schools like Kiazerov have held a monopoly on higher ranks for most of Eketen's history, recent chaos has provided openings for schools in other parts of the empire to climb the tiers.
Non-wizarding education is based around the wizarding academy system, and follows similar rules. State and patron funded private training schools feed into a two track system: those with magical promise are sorted onto the wizarding track, while the rest are sent to non-magical colleges (traditionally run by Uvaran temples). Training schools and Colleges have their own rankings and tiers modeled after the wizarding system.
As for who gets to even attend training schools, the answer is money or connections. Children who can pay are entered without a fuss, while free ride scholarships are offered to those who receive a recommendation from a military officer or officially-ranked wizard.
Poor urban children in the East may also have access to basic education at one of the remaining public schools- in the 1950's, a series of aspiring wizards used their academic positions to open free public schools to potentially feed into teacher's schools or training schools. These have since largely closed, but a few stragglers continue.

Order, Safety, Prosperity

Founding Date

1840

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Capital

Balenhof

Demonym

Eketeni

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Feudal state

Economic System

Mixed economy

Currency

Sunekan Currency: Golden Lions, Silver Foxes, Copper Stars

Major Exports

Kilusha, lumber, stone, luxury goods, magical supplies, specialty animals

Major Imports

Magical components, tar, textiles, cloth, spices, silk

Judicial Body

Imperial High Court

Official State Religion

Uvara

Location

Stildane

Official Languages

• Kasten Language
• Wakingtongue language

Controlled Territories

• Balenhof
• Evantar
• Kiazerov
• Selvergen

Neighboring Nations

• Kingdom of Arvarun
• Kingdom of Aterek
• The Kingdom of Hain

Related Plots

• The City of Doors

Related Historical Events

• 1602 ME
  College of Stars moves to Akatlan