Kanda
Above Are The Longia Of Kanda (Excluding Distant Soterri And Navo Kanda)
The World Of Ta Mando is a large and fascinating one with many analogs to our own mundane Earth; four of which are considered "The True Civilizations Of The World!"
To the distant west there is the fascinating and foreign Western Kingdom; a land much like Earth's own Tang China!
As one travels east along the southern edge of the largest mountains in the world they can easily find their way into the glorious realm of Ditwala; a nation that seems like everything Hindu Mythos claims!
And Just south of them lies an Empire Upon The Waves; the enlightened naval empire of Ka Danti that somewhat resembles Classic Buddhist Lanka! However, all of these great nations are equally measured and judged by the last of the great Civilizations!
The Nation that dictates what makes one "Civilized" is the easternmost and final nation; they who know themselves as "Ta Mandia Socatus!" (The World's Civilization)
They call themselves "Ta Imbarom Do Kanda!" (The Empire Of Kanda) Persisting as a unified nation for nearly sixteen and a half centuries under a central leading family, The Empire Of Kanda is entering a great period of history that will either make or break the next millennium of their existence!
Struggling with rising Decadence, beset by enemies both foreign and domestic and sharing cripplingly long borders with hostile nations but also presently entering a golden age of heroes under history's most accomplished Kandar; The Empire is presently both at its strongest AND weakest!
At War in some capacity on all sides, there is no telling if they'll be able to handle the conflicts the future has in store for them! For if The Empire cannot pull itself out of the darkness it is sure to collapse under its own mighty girth...
As one travels east along the southern edge of the largest mountains in the world they can easily find their way into the glorious realm of Ditwala; a nation that seems like everything Hindu Mythos claims!
And Just south of them lies an Empire Upon The Waves; the enlightened naval empire of Ka Danti that somewhat resembles Classic Buddhist Lanka! However, all of these great nations are equally measured and judged by the last of the great Civilizations!
The Nation that dictates what makes one "Civilized" is the easternmost and final nation; they who know themselves as "Ta Mandia Socatus!" (The World's Civilization)
They call themselves "Ta Imbarom Do Kanda!" (The Empire Of Kanda) Persisting as a unified nation for nearly sixteen and a half centuries under a central leading family, The Empire Of Kanda is entering a great period of history that will either make or break the next millennium of their existence!
Struggling with rising Decadence, beset by enemies both foreign and domestic and sharing cripplingly long borders with hostile nations but also presently entering a golden age of heroes under history's most accomplished Kandar; The Empire is presently both at its strongest AND weakest!
At War in some capacity on all sides, there is no telling if they'll be able to handle the conflicts the future has in store for them! For if The Empire cannot pull itself out of the darkness it is sure to collapse under its own mighty girth...
Structure
While the organizational structure of Kanda is extremely complex, with many levels and all sorts of different ranks, titles and professions that carry differing pay, social position and political connotations, the overarching hierarchical ladder is relatively straightforward!
The Standard Ladder Of The Kandia Hierarchy Is As Follows In Descending Order:
The Kandar
The High Council
Ta Thinal
High Thinalaria
Longaria
Doglaria
Galaria
Sharlivia
Anaria
Gumenaria (Not Official)
Gumaria At the top of the hierarchy the Kandar is the leader of Kanda.
While he can technically carry out his will as any absolute monarch might, in actuality most Kandaria rely rather heavily not only on their high councils to advise them but on the rest of Ta Thinal to deliver the will of the people and make decisions for the whole of the Empire much like a modern congress or the Senate of the Roman Empire.
Below Ta Thinal itself are the vaunted positions of High Thinalaria, of which there are presently only 23 and of which must ALWAYS be populated by a prime number of individuals. (For Traditional Purposes)
While the High Thinalaria might not necessarily come from great ranks, they are afforded the authority to socially and politically outrank anyone short of another High Thinalar, known to publicly belay the orders of and deliver legal punishment upon even well established Longaria! After The High Thinalaria, the societal ladder grows considerably more understandable to the average person looking at Kanda through the lens of a scholar of the middle ages.
Longaria are the closest thing to Kings that the Empire has, with each ruling over what amounts to a kingdom's worth of land.
Suitably, Doglaria might as well be dukes, Galaria being Earls And Counts, Sharlivia barons and Anaria equivalent to lords.
Gumenaria, while functionally the same as Gumaria, rank just a touch higher on the local level thanks to the trust offered to them by the community which they oversee in exchange for the responsibilities of managing the area's supplies and maintaining peace and order between neighbors.
Finally, Gumaria functionally amount to peasants, each of which is usually granted around sixty acres of land as reward for their ten years of mandatory service to the state. While MANY other ranks of society exist within the organizational structure of Kanda, what really matters are the ranks above to determine how one lives!
Many Anaria from the core, for example, are quite wealthy and their homes house lavish ballrooms, magically self cleaning bathhouses, well stocked libraries and highly well designed gymnasiums!
However, as Anaria, their stations still lie below the lowest form of nobility in the Empire and even if they had more money than their presiding Sharliv cultural ranking dictates that they are limited in the scope of their civilian careers and sumptuary laws enacted for the sake of curbing societal decadence bar them from collecting too much money and/or too many resources above their station. Furthermore, it is also important to remember that Kanda's population is roughly 10% comprised of slaves and a certain unspecified portion of any civilian population invariably consists of "Reprimands" who have, for whatever reason, lost or were never granted the right to lease or own land.
These "Citizens Without Land Rights" and just plain non-citizens often live at the lowest rungs of society if they cannot fall back on some degree of foreign or community support.
Either legally owned by other people or left with little opportunities other than to work for those who do have land rights, these lowest members of society often live lives of quiet, if productive desperation and do whatever they can to buy their freedom (in the case of slaves) and have children which might be able to benefit from the status they were not afforded.
Even though foreigners who enlist in the Kandia military will only ever be regarded as "Citizens Without Land Rights" many still flood over the borders of Kanda every year knowing, after their ten years of service, that they will be able to have children who might one day themselves have land of their own which their fathers will have influence over.
The Kandar
The High Council
Ta Thinal
High Thinalaria
Longaria
Doglaria
Galaria
Sharlivia
Anaria
Gumenaria (Not Official)
Gumaria At the top of the hierarchy the Kandar is the leader of Kanda.
While he can technically carry out his will as any absolute monarch might, in actuality most Kandaria rely rather heavily not only on their high councils to advise them but on the rest of Ta Thinal to deliver the will of the people and make decisions for the whole of the Empire much like a modern congress or the Senate of the Roman Empire.
Below Ta Thinal itself are the vaunted positions of High Thinalaria, of which there are presently only 23 and of which must ALWAYS be populated by a prime number of individuals. (For Traditional Purposes)
While the High Thinalaria might not necessarily come from great ranks, they are afforded the authority to socially and politically outrank anyone short of another High Thinalar, known to publicly belay the orders of and deliver legal punishment upon even well established Longaria! After The High Thinalaria, the societal ladder grows considerably more understandable to the average person looking at Kanda through the lens of a scholar of the middle ages.
Longaria are the closest thing to Kings that the Empire has, with each ruling over what amounts to a kingdom's worth of land.
Suitably, Doglaria might as well be dukes, Galaria being Earls And Counts, Sharlivia barons and Anaria equivalent to lords.
Gumenaria, while functionally the same as Gumaria, rank just a touch higher on the local level thanks to the trust offered to them by the community which they oversee in exchange for the responsibilities of managing the area's supplies and maintaining peace and order between neighbors.
Finally, Gumaria functionally amount to peasants, each of which is usually granted around sixty acres of land as reward for their ten years of mandatory service to the state. While MANY other ranks of society exist within the organizational structure of Kanda, what really matters are the ranks above to determine how one lives!
Many Anaria from the core, for example, are quite wealthy and their homes house lavish ballrooms, magically self cleaning bathhouses, well stocked libraries and highly well designed gymnasiums!
However, as Anaria, their stations still lie below the lowest form of nobility in the Empire and even if they had more money than their presiding Sharliv cultural ranking dictates that they are limited in the scope of their civilian careers and sumptuary laws enacted for the sake of curbing societal decadence bar them from collecting too much money and/or too many resources above their station. Furthermore, it is also important to remember that Kanda's population is roughly 10% comprised of slaves and a certain unspecified portion of any civilian population invariably consists of "Reprimands" who have, for whatever reason, lost or were never granted the right to lease or own land.
These "Citizens Without Land Rights" and just plain non-citizens often live at the lowest rungs of society if they cannot fall back on some degree of foreign or community support.
Either legally owned by other people or left with little opportunities other than to work for those who do have land rights, these lowest members of society often live lives of quiet, if productive desperation and do whatever they can to buy their freedom (in the case of slaves) and have children which might be able to benefit from the status they were not afforded.
Even though foreigners who enlist in the Kandia military will only ever be regarded as "Citizens Without Land Rights" many still flood over the borders of Kanda every year knowing, after their ten years of service, that they will be able to have children who might one day themselves have land of their own which their fathers will have influence over.
Culture
First and foremost... the Kandia culture is shaped by their nature as a military one and one that shuns the concept of monarchy as an uncivilized bane on the foundation of any functioning society.
The Kandia hate the idea of Kings; possessing a strong distaste for the monarchy and for absolute rule, thus their reliance on the Democratic Nature of Ta Thinal Do Kanda.
Because of this, bowing is considered barbaric and any more than inclining your head in recognition of a man is considered rank submission at best and prostrating yourself in an uncivilized manner at worst.
You will NEVER see a Kandia bowing or bending the knee to the Kandar...
Instead those who do not know him might salute him or merely stand at the ready for his acknowledgment.
THIS IS BECAUSE THE KANDAR IS NOT THE RULER OF KANDA!
HE IS THE LEADER OF KANDA!
He does not give decrees...
HE GIVES ORDERS!
The men do not obey him because he has some monarchic power over them but because he COMMANDS them to do battle with the enemy; because he has trained them and because those he has trained have trained them!
The Kandar Is The General Of The Nation Of Kanda, Not Its King! Kanda is a culture of combat and military structure... and so its people do not show submission with a bending of the knee... but rather show attentiveness and readiness with a stern salute; a left fist to the heart, which is then lifted above the head... as one might lift a shield above the head at the command of their leader.
When armed and armored, one salutes by slamming their sword or spear against the center of their shield, then lifting their shield above their head. It is typical, when one visits the Kandar directly in court and knows him, to greet him with a shake of the hand or even an embrace or kiss on the cheek.
THIS is because soldiers are all equal in acquaintance!
They recognize each other as brothers and treat each other as family!
AT WORST one might simply salute the Kandar but, if one is of note and/or known to him, he may personally approach and embrace The Kandar; which is common among distant nobles that have come to show him respect.
It is not unknown for Kandar Lucus himself to step down from his seat and demand people NOT salute him... for they are all Kandia.
The Kandia hate the idea of Kings; possessing a strong distaste for the monarchy and for absolute rule, thus their reliance on the Democratic Nature of Ta Thinal Do Kanda.
Because of this, bowing is considered barbaric and any more than inclining your head in recognition of a man is considered rank submission at best and prostrating yourself in an uncivilized manner at worst.
You will NEVER see a Kandia bowing or bending the knee to the Kandar...
Instead those who do not know him might salute him or merely stand at the ready for his acknowledgment.
THIS IS BECAUSE THE KANDAR IS NOT THE RULER OF KANDA!
HE IS THE LEADER OF KANDA!
He does not give decrees...
HE GIVES ORDERS!
The men do not obey him because he has some monarchic power over them but because he COMMANDS them to do battle with the enemy; because he has trained them and because those he has trained have trained them!
The Kandar Is The General Of The Nation Of Kanda, Not Its King! Kanda is a culture of combat and military structure... and so its people do not show submission with a bending of the knee... but rather show attentiveness and readiness with a stern salute; a left fist to the heart, which is then lifted above the head... as one might lift a shield above the head at the command of their leader.
When armed and armored, one salutes by slamming their sword or spear against the center of their shield, then lifting their shield above their head. It is typical, when one visits the Kandar directly in court and knows him, to greet him with a shake of the hand or even an embrace or kiss on the cheek.
THIS is because soldiers are all equal in acquaintance!
They recognize each other as brothers and treat each other as family!
AT WORST one might simply salute the Kandar but, if one is of note and/or known to him, he may personally approach and embrace The Kandar; which is common among distant nobles that have come to show him respect.
It is not unknown for Kandar Lucus himself to step down from his seat and demand people NOT salute him... for they are all Kandia.
Public Agenda
The public agenda of Kanda is the same as the public agenda for any other unified nation within any standard world, let alone Ta Mando!
In short, Kanda's goals follow the basic "4x" Formula
To eXplore the world around them
To eXpand their territory and influence outward in all directions as far as possible
To eXploit any and all resources, cultures, technologies and opportunities that may arise
And to eXterminate those things that stand in the way of and otherwise hinder the progress of the previous three directives. However, as much of this has ultimately ended up reaching a sort of limit in the last twenty or so years, Kanda has perhaps added two new "X's" to their formula
To eXpedite all actions and interactions within the borders of the Empire
And to eXcogitate upon the potential future of being a nation forced into isolation by stubborn outside powers... and how to potentially break that isolation or adapt to it. Regardless, the politicians of Kanda seldom fail to emphasize the importance of Kanda's existence throughout the entire world as the Great Power that both dictates and upholds the rules that the other realms follow when dealing with each other.
Those that do not respect the standards put forth by Kandia Culture, at least in the eyes of Kanda itself, risk labeling themselves as savage and dangerous; a potential threat to Ta Kandia Pax and in need of being civilized or subjugated, whichever is more appropriate at the time.
On top of that the soldiers of Kanda are promised land upon the end of their tenure and thus Kanda is forced to always be on the lookout for more territory as payment for their service to the Empire; thus encouraging further expansion when domestic land cannot be rehabilitated for agricultural purposes.
Ever eager to utilize whatever works, Kandia make no secret that they are always on the lookout for new tactics and technologies to adopt into their own culture; having in just the last two centuries incorporated the Tuniswe into their societal infrastructure alongside various magics incorporated from the frontiers of their contiguous territory. Finally, since Kanda has been isolated for an entire generation, they have begun to work harder and harder at maintaining a sort of market of convenience within their own borders.
Despite the fact that the empire's contiguous territory is a truly gigantic display of land that straddles numerous different climes, the Kandia maintain good roads, breed all sorts of high performance animals and are ever on the lookout for new methods of transporting goods and rendering services over great distances without trouble or delay.
As they are unable to take advantage of the other cultures of the world and the commerce therein, Kandar Lucus has used his administration to build a Kanda where the average citizen's life is more convenient and their opportunities more diverse than ever before... and so long as the isolation remains, Kandar Lucus has maintained that the most important thing to do is to increase the internal performance of the Empire in preparation of a greater catastropher wherein the realm will have little choice but to break out of its momentary geopolitical prison.
To eXplore the world around them
To eXpand their territory and influence outward in all directions as far as possible
To eXploit any and all resources, cultures, technologies and opportunities that may arise
And to eXterminate those things that stand in the way of and otherwise hinder the progress of the previous three directives. However, as much of this has ultimately ended up reaching a sort of limit in the last twenty or so years, Kanda has perhaps added two new "X's" to their formula
To eXpedite all actions and interactions within the borders of the Empire
And to eXcogitate upon the potential future of being a nation forced into isolation by stubborn outside powers... and how to potentially break that isolation or adapt to it. Regardless, the politicians of Kanda seldom fail to emphasize the importance of Kanda's existence throughout the entire world as the Great Power that both dictates and upholds the rules that the other realms follow when dealing with each other.
Those that do not respect the standards put forth by Kandia Culture, at least in the eyes of Kanda itself, risk labeling themselves as savage and dangerous; a potential threat to Ta Kandia Pax and in need of being civilized or subjugated, whichever is more appropriate at the time.
On top of that the soldiers of Kanda are promised land upon the end of their tenure and thus Kanda is forced to always be on the lookout for more territory as payment for their service to the Empire; thus encouraging further expansion when domestic land cannot be rehabilitated for agricultural purposes.
Ever eager to utilize whatever works, Kandia make no secret that they are always on the lookout for new tactics and technologies to adopt into their own culture; having in just the last two centuries incorporated the Tuniswe into their societal infrastructure alongside various magics incorporated from the frontiers of their contiguous territory. Finally, since Kanda has been isolated for an entire generation, they have begun to work harder and harder at maintaining a sort of market of convenience within their own borders.
Despite the fact that the empire's contiguous territory is a truly gigantic display of land that straddles numerous different climes, the Kandia maintain good roads, breed all sorts of high performance animals and are ever on the lookout for new methods of transporting goods and rendering services over great distances without trouble or delay.
As they are unable to take advantage of the other cultures of the world and the commerce therein, Kandar Lucus has used his administration to build a Kanda where the average citizen's life is more convenient and their opportunities more diverse than ever before... and so long as the isolation remains, Kandar Lucus has maintained that the most important thing to do is to increase the internal performance of the Empire in preparation of a greater catastropher wherein the realm will have little choice but to break out of its momentary geopolitical prison.
Assets
Kanda is easily one of the most resource rich realms in the world, as far as practical, material assets go!
Trading in everything from hardwood to vinegar, steel to leather, donkeys to sailing ships, from the divine tears of long dead deities to the sweet but mundane materials of Jade and Diamonds, Kanda bases its economy in the security of all manner of commodities from magical to mundane! Possessing over two million Leconia, Kanda has the single largest military in the world, while still arming and armoring less than half of what their population dictates they should have in active military service!
With that military force alone requiring no less than 1.2 million pack donkeys, Kanda also possesses the single largest population of beasts of burden of any realm and their total population of working animals may eclipse several other world powers combined!
Alongside this hilarious military force is a functioning, world class navy that doubles as a means of fishing the vast waterways Kanda is home to. While castles never truly developed as they did on Earth, most cities are built around a Castan, or the night fort of a traveling Letanis on the march to their next location.
Because Letania at this point in the Empire's history tend not to have permanent stations, most of the Castania from previous generations have been left standing at regular distances from each other and cities have grown around them in beautiful grid networks that maximize efficiency and connectivity to all portions of the community; with the average Castan Based city populated being no less than ten thousand civilians.
Trading in everything from hardwood to vinegar, steel to leather, donkeys to sailing ships, from the divine tears of long dead deities to the sweet but mundane materials of Jade and Diamonds, Kanda bases its economy in the security of all manner of commodities from magical to mundane! Possessing over two million Leconia, Kanda has the single largest military in the world, while still arming and armoring less than half of what their population dictates they should have in active military service!
With that military force alone requiring no less than 1.2 million pack donkeys, Kanda also possesses the single largest population of beasts of burden of any realm and their total population of working animals may eclipse several other world powers combined!
Alongside this hilarious military force is a functioning, world class navy that doubles as a means of fishing the vast waterways Kanda is home to. While castles never truly developed as they did on Earth, most cities are built around a Castan, or the night fort of a traveling Letanis on the march to their next location.
Because Letania at this point in the Empire's history tend not to have permanent stations, most of the Castania from previous generations have been left standing at regular distances from each other and cities have grown around them in beautiful grid networks that maximize efficiency and connectivity to all portions of the community; with the average Castan Based city populated being no less than ten thousand civilians.
History
Roughly 1650 years ago, in the shadow of the Bronze Age Collapse brought upon by the Sea Peoples' escape from The Emperor Of Calamity in what is now known as The Ducky Isles, a collective of refugees from numerous societies found themselves arriving on the southern shores of the Kandia Peninsula.
At the time an untamed, near uninhabitable landscape covered in overgrowth and populated by horrific monsters, greedy dragons and enigmatic non-human natives, Kanda was no place to make a home and the thousands of refugees that crashed upon the shore gradually dwindled over several years, struggling by along the coastlines and trying to get settled to no avail.
After half of their number had been taken from the wood some of them banded together and tried to fight back against the wilds.
However, this assault ended in tragedy, with the slaying of nearly half of the remaining number of their men and the capture and kidnapping of nearly half of their remaining women.
The people despaired as the forest closed around them, eyes hungrily waiting to devour them in their moment of resignation. If the stories are to be believed, however, a pair of children... a boy and a girl from different kingdoms, stepped forth together into the center of the community and spoke unto the people as they held hands in solidarity.
"We are, all of us, a divided people!" They told the many adults that had struggled for several years to maintain stability and build upon the shore.
"We come from different ways of life and we fight with different methods, think with different perspectives. As much as we try to work together, we are not one people... we still fight from day to day, assign blame to each other and have no leaders to bring us to peace and safety. For that we must sacrifice something dear to us... we must accept that we are no longer children, no longer refugees of disparate and collapsed petty kingdoms but the founders of a new civilization... we must make the final sacrifice that will save us all... we must sacrifice our cultures and become as one... we must let our blood flow together and only then shall the gods answer our prayers and bestow upon us our saviors." And so, with their free hands, the two children pulled forth knives and stabbed each other in the throats.
As they fell their blood mixed together and, with their dying breath, they called out to the gods to show pitty on the refugees of the shoreline and to give them salvation... to save the people from the monsters and help the refugees build a nation that would live on into eternity. And The Gods Listened!
Alongside Deus, with his great power and influence over the other deities, came The Father Of War to train the first Leconia and do great battle against the monsters of the peninsula so that the people could be safe!
Alongside Venara, with her lust for life and passion for the goodwill of mortals, arrived The Bringer Of Fertility to make the people happy, to help them cultivate the land, to train the first Prosernia and to encourage the Kandia to grow large, tight knit families while begging the Father Of War to return with the best animals to tame and breed!
Alongside Ermas, with his understanding of travel, languages and inventories, appeared The Counter Of The Earth to take note of everything that The Father Of War came across, to measure and prospect the land and to arrange a system of weights and measures as he trained the first Kensaria.
Alongside Otuna, with her assertive demeanor and love of creative ventures, approached The Mother Of The Arts to train the first Partanaria and guide the early women of Kanda in the feminine arts so that the supplies brought back from the Father Of War's Conquests could be made into useful things.
Alongside Ipula, with his love of medicine and cleansing light, manifested The Maiden Of Health to ease the pain of those who expanded the borders of kanda, to train the first Enthiria to bond with the gods and to teach the ways of hygiene and disease prevention to all Kandia
Alongside Vista, with her domestic focus and practical ideas of home and hearth, turned up The Builder Of Cities to take advantage of the land cleared by the Father Of War and cultivated by the Bringer of Fertility, to train the first Siviandia and plan the first large communities, erecting the first walls.
Alongside Ustis, the great figure of honesty and duty to the people, arose the Speaker Of Truth to write the first laws, preside over the first trials and train the first Scurilia to maintain the peace and stability of the Kandia governmental system.
And Alongside Parana, beautiful and terrifying with access to all of the world's most forbidden knowledge, entered The Teacher Of Scholars to train the first Mysteria, build the first schools and teach all of the people a single tongue which would eventually become what is today the Kandia Language. Together, with the power bestowed upon them by the gods, they selected a single leader and named him The First Citizen Of This Land...
The First Kandar Of The Empire Of Kanda!
And with that power he was told he would strike with the force of every Kandia citizen in unison!
He would speak with every voice of every citizen within the borders of his realm!
He would be able to wield their power not figuratively... but in a very literal sense of the word! And for three centuries The Founders Of Kanda oversaw a golden age of expansion and stability the likes of which has not been seen since.
Personally advising the Kandaria and managing over their respective domains within the realm, The Founders slowly brought the people to a level of technology that rivaled even the most powerful factions in the rest of the known world.
With the power of modern steel the Kandia could resist the sharpest of arrows and pierce the thickest of shields!
With the benefit of modern medicine the Kandia lived long and healthy lives of productive fitness and activity!
With millennia of civil engineering at their disposal they were able to make efficient, clean and secure cities to defend them from the outside world!
The Gods, working alongside The Founders, had a considerably greater presence in the lives of the common folk and The Empire Of Kanda grew from one end of the great sea to the other; old places long lost to the Sea Peoples being rediscovered and resettled with the no expenses spared in resurrecting the old cultures of the past!
And, throughout all of this time, Kanda grew not merely through conquest and self proliferation... but through cosmopolitan acceptance of others! Because Kanda was founded by many fractious groups of refugees from many different cultures it was natural that they accepted others into their midst with open arms!
Citizenship was not decided by one's place of birth or station but rather by their service to the state.
The benefits of the state, therefore, were only granted to those who benefited it in return.
Land, though rewarded to those who served, was too important to rely on the next generations to simply take it and leave.
Instead it was decided that land ownership would be a generational process that involved five full generations of stewardship to stake a claim on the land itself, thus ensuring that a family had a vested interest in serving so as to keep the same plots and thus develop a love of and desire to protect Kanda as a whole!
Over the course of centuries, the average citizen grew attached to this idea of service for security!
More and more ended up enlisting for military service so as to secure themselves rights to vote and to land... and eventually, toward the end of the Founders' time in Ta Mando, it was decided that ALL grown men, upon reaching the age of adulthood, would be given two years to join the military and thereafter would have to serve twenty-five years. (Though Later On This Single Twenty-Five Year Term Would Be Broken Up Into Two Ten Year Terms And One Final Five Year Term, Of Which Only The First Term Is Mandatory) However, all good things must come to an end and so, after just over three centuries of careful administration and watching over the people they'd helped survive... The Founders disappeared without a trace.
All at once, in a single night, they abandoned their posts and seemingly ceased existing entirely.
If the gods themselves knew where The Founders had gone, they would not tell any mortal ears...
And the foreign forces of the world around them soon swept in to take advantage of their absence! For centuries Kanda held their ground and expanded through a doctrine of retributive defensive wars; striking back and demanding harsh reparations from those realms that assaulted their borders alongside numerous preemptive attacks against those the Kanda had good evidence were preparing to strike.
Due to the good preparation by their Founders, the people of Kanda were able to face the future with dignity and power but, tragically, The Founders were limited by the knowledge of their own time and they were not able to leave an impression so lasting that it would usher the Kandia into the Post World War Future that they desired.
Instead the foundations of greatly advanced concepts like Germ Theory, Physics, Electricity and Modern Psychology were lost over time to neglect and ignorance while the Kandia struggled along against dangers both foreign and domestic.
Eventually what lessons they did teach became stories, some of which are still told today and others which have been discarded thanks to the short memory and contradictory nature of mortal lifespans. As these great boons were slowly lost and forgotten, Kanda grew more and more preoccupied with their mission of World Imperium; the advantage they had received from the Founders allowing them to push far past the limits of other nations at the time!
With a good skeleton for their society, they took the meat from all of the other cultures they subjugated and added it into their own, eventually syncretizing with so many others that they could scarcely be recognized as the unfortunate mass of thousands of refugees from disparate, isolated regions of the known world. After just over a thousand years the Empire had reached true standardization; with the Kandar at the time deciding that the reliance on individual wealth overwhelmingly held the military down.
Instead, following drastic tax reform that nearly broke Kanda's economy and almost split the empire into multiple pieces, the military would benefit from every soldier receiving a state sponsored kit of personal equipment that included everything from good shoes and clothes to solid armor and weapons!
From there it took only a few hundred more years for the ancestral "Leconis System" to evolve numerous branches that grew to include specialized cavalry doctrines, scout and spy structures and mobile engineering institutions that continue to advance the way that Kanda slowly takes over the world to this day.
Following the simple but elegant rules left down by The Father Of War and The Counter Of The Earth, the Empire was always able to stay ahead of the worst tragedies and repair the damage before it became too much!
And as time went by and the population of Kanda rose to never before imagined heights, The Kandar's Strength grew to such levels that a sitting Kandar would very seldom die from anything short of illness, curses or old age. But one day all that had to stop...
One day even Kanda's expansion had to reach its end.
For The Force Of Kanda always passed down to the best choice of successor; the most just, honest, forthright and responsible!
But it did not account for a dreadful lack of options... Due to a shortage of imperial heirs and a disease that swept through the upper ranks of society (suspected to be sent by the Early Eldinia) The Force Of Kanda went several generations with only one or two potential options to succeed the previous Kandaria.
While some of them tried, few of them were truly capable rulers and the expansion of The World's Civilization slowed and eventually stalled entirely.
With Trade facilitating peace with the largest realms of the world and the easily conquered domains having already been absorbed into the Empire, Kanda had few options remaining for expansion and a military that needed land rewards more than ever.
For some generations the Empire rotted from the inside... and then foreign powers, sensing weakness, struck from all directions.
For two centuries Kanda struggled to maintain its borders against the growing Eldinia, the violent Salvinia, the independent and free spirited Elbatinia and the advance of The Great Curtain Desert itself; all whilst trying to juggle their new colonies throughout Ta Puna Tonalusia and Ta Fanusia Hyanus!
Something had to be done or the growing powers of the rest of the world, now having finally adapted to Kanda's advanced start, would tear the Empire to shreds and divide up the spoils just as it was reaching its zenith. Mercifully, a new Kandar rose with the power to bring stability to the borders by force!
Cutting his losses where he would, Kandar Tiberos Primusad Nervantonin took the reigns of the fallen nation and spurred it back into action against the advance of foreign powers!
Leading from the front and seldom returning to the core except when absolutely required, The Late Kandar Tiberos sustained decades of strong war in all directions, shaping Ta Milotia Do Kanda into a force the likes of which the entire known world talked about!
He secured trade with the west and fostered in generations of peaceful travel through the Strait Of Youth, exporting iron wares and hiring out mercenaries to the three other civilized nations of the world.
He personally toured the many islands of Kanda's waters to make sure that they were properly maintained and their environments nurtured and kept stable for the benefit of the people's consumption.
He settled numerous disputes with potential rivals and reached across the ocean to start the first trade missions to The Spirit Isles.
And he personally adopted numerous warrior traditions, weapon styles and military doctrines into Kanda during his advance on the borders! However, one day he would die and one of his sons would become a False Kandar, relying on fel powers from otherworldly entities to convince the world that he possessed The Force Of Kanda when, indeed, the power to lead had fallen on the least likely of people.
A bastard farm boy born to a woman who had only met Tiberos a single time, the man who would be Kandar Lucus grew up in an unassuming little Gume on the northern borders of Kanda's Core; a good child that worked hard and wanted nothing more than to live the normal life of a Kandia Leconis.
When he received the power to lead he did not yet know what needed to be done... In time The False Kandar Aldamos Tiberosad Nervantonin went to greater and greater lengths to secure his reign; going so far as to wear a crown in public, ban Ta Thinal from passing legislation, find and kill all but three of his father's sons both known and unknown, refusing funding to public religious institutions that did not openly stroke his ego and even announce himself as "Absolute King Of The World; Superior To All Of The Gods Above And Below."
To make matters worse, his hubris had driven him to declare war against The Ducky Isles, mistreat Kanda's warlike neighbors to the north and encouraged Eldin to begin bulking up for another southward advance into The Strait Of Youth!
Clearly something had to be done. So, after the bloodiest civil war in Kandia history, Kandar Lucus Tiberosad Nervontonin settled in as the present Kandar of Kanda!
Much like his father before him, Lucus focused on what he could control!
Ending the Ducky Island Wars with an acceptable, if not preferable outcome, he quickly welcomed The Former Ruler Sobuka Of Wing Root into his High Council as the new Master Of Exotic Peoples.
Recognizing the presence of over fifty million idle women in his Empire and with a near constant temptation to comically flout the standard social conventions, he elected to name a woman his High Scurilos; the first woman to ever receive a position in the high council other than Master Of Exotic Peoples or High Enthiros.
Weathering a new age of isolation brought upon him by the Eldinia taking the Strait of Youth and the Unification of Vaennland, Lucus has carried out numerous state projects with the help of Philanthropus Domitad Magnomus so as to secure the safety and wellbeing of his Empire, bolstered the internal infrastructure of the realm and even expanded the borders of Kanda as a whole by colonizing Soteri and even rediscovering The Lost Expedition from just over a century ago! Now, as even Lucus' hard work cannot keep Kanda from slowly collapsing under the weight of its own hilarious girth, The Empire Of Kanda is at its greatest time of need!
Just as the stories said they would, this need has been answered by the return of The Founders; reincarnated into new forms that better fit this tumultuous era of rising heroism and escalating international tensions!
Not only here to solve Kanda's problems but clearly to entirely redesign the system the Kandia have grown so used to, The Founders Returned have already shown themselves to be anything from harmlessly malicious to unknowingly criminal, from slavishly loyal to the rehabilitation of Kanda to all but dangerously independent and spurnful of certain foundational qualities that make The Empire's Culture what it is! With so many new events unfolding independent of each other, there is little telling what will become of Kanda after these new Founders are done with it!
While some are excited for the return of those who saved their ancestors from extinction, others feel that Kanda's time is coming to an end and the Founders have arrived too late...
Worse yet, some of the new generation are too busy seeking personal decadence and fame, too busy avoiding their responsibilities to the state to consider that they are part of the problem; uncaring if the realm they find so comfortable collapses around them so long as they can retain a degree of their prestige after the fall and a degree of comfort regardless of external stressors.
At the time an untamed, near uninhabitable landscape covered in overgrowth and populated by horrific monsters, greedy dragons and enigmatic non-human natives, Kanda was no place to make a home and the thousands of refugees that crashed upon the shore gradually dwindled over several years, struggling by along the coastlines and trying to get settled to no avail.
After half of their number had been taken from the wood some of them banded together and tried to fight back against the wilds.
However, this assault ended in tragedy, with the slaying of nearly half of the remaining number of their men and the capture and kidnapping of nearly half of their remaining women.
The people despaired as the forest closed around them, eyes hungrily waiting to devour them in their moment of resignation. If the stories are to be believed, however, a pair of children... a boy and a girl from different kingdoms, stepped forth together into the center of the community and spoke unto the people as they held hands in solidarity.
"We are, all of us, a divided people!" They told the many adults that had struggled for several years to maintain stability and build upon the shore.
"We come from different ways of life and we fight with different methods, think with different perspectives. As much as we try to work together, we are not one people... we still fight from day to day, assign blame to each other and have no leaders to bring us to peace and safety. For that we must sacrifice something dear to us... we must accept that we are no longer children, no longer refugees of disparate and collapsed petty kingdoms but the founders of a new civilization... we must make the final sacrifice that will save us all... we must sacrifice our cultures and become as one... we must let our blood flow together and only then shall the gods answer our prayers and bestow upon us our saviors." And so, with their free hands, the two children pulled forth knives and stabbed each other in the throats.
As they fell their blood mixed together and, with their dying breath, they called out to the gods to show pitty on the refugees of the shoreline and to give them salvation... to save the people from the monsters and help the refugees build a nation that would live on into eternity. And The Gods Listened!
Alongside Deus, with his great power and influence over the other deities, came The Father Of War to train the first Leconia and do great battle against the monsters of the peninsula so that the people could be safe!
Alongside Venara, with her lust for life and passion for the goodwill of mortals, arrived The Bringer Of Fertility to make the people happy, to help them cultivate the land, to train the first Prosernia and to encourage the Kandia to grow large, tight knit families while begging the Father Of War to return with the best animals to tame and breed!
Alongside Ermas, with his understanding of travel, languages and inventories, appeared The Counter Of The Earth to take note of everything that The Father Of War came across, to measure and prospect the land and to arrange a system of weights and measures as he trained the first Kensaria.
Alongside Otuna, with her assertive demeanor and love of creative ventures, approached The Mother Of The Arts to train the first Partanaria and guide the early women of Kanda in the feminine arts so that the supplies brought back from the Father Of War's Conquests could be made into useful things.
Alongside Ipula, with his love of medicine and cleansing light, manifested The Maiden Of Health to ease the pain of those who expanded the borders of kanda, to train the first Enthiria to bond with the gods and to teach the ways of hygiene and disease prevention to all Kandia
Alongside Vista, with her domestic focus and practical ideas of home and hearth, turned up The Builder Of Cities to take advantage of the land cleared by the Father Of War and cultivated by the Bringer of Fertility, to train the first Siviandia and plan the first large communities, erecting the first walls.
Alongside Ustis, the great figure of honesty and duty to the people, arose the Speaker Of Truth to write the first laws, preside over the first trials and train the first Scurilia to maintain the peace and stability of the Kandia governmental system.
And Alongside Parana, beautiful and terrifying with access to all of the world's most forbidden knowledge, entered The Teacher Of Scholars to train the first Mysteria, build the first schools and teach all of the people a single tongue which would eventually become what is today the Kandia Language. Together, with the power bestowed upon them by the gods, they selected a single leader and named him The First Citizen Of This Land...
The First Kandar Of The Empire Of Kanda!
And with that power he was told he would strike with the force of every Kandia citizen in unison!
He would speak with every voice of every citizen within the borders of his realm!
He would be able to wield their power not figuratively... but in a very literal sense of the word! And for three centuries The Founders Of Kanda oversaw a golden age of expansion and stability the likes of which has not been seen since.
Personally advising the Kandaria and managing over their respective domains within the realm, The Founders slowly brought the people to a level of technology that rivaled even the most powerful factions in the rest of the known world.
With the power of modern steel the Kandia could resist the sharpest of arrows and pierce the thickest of shields!
With the benefit of modern medicine the Kandia lived long and healthy lives of productive fitness and activity!
With millennia of civil engineering at their disposal they were able to make efficient, clean and secure cities to defend them from the outside world!
The Gods, working alongside The Founders, had a considerably greater presence in the lives of the common folk and The Empire Of Kanda grew from one end of the great sea to the other; old places long lost to the Sea Peoples being rediscovered and resettled with the no expenses spared in resurrecting the old cultures of the past!
And, throughout all of this time, Kanda grew not merely through conquest and self proliferation... but through cosmopolitan acceptance of others! Because Kanda was founded by many fractious groups of refugees from many different cultures it was natural that they accepted others into their midst with open arms!
Citizenship was not decided by one's place of birth or station but rather by their service to the state.
The benefits of the state, therefore, were only granted to those who benefited it in return.
Land, though rewarded to those who served, was too important to rely on the next generations to simply take it and leave.
Instead it was decided that land ownership would be a generational process that involved five full generations of stewardship to stake a claim on the land itself, thus ensuring that a family had a vested interest in serving so as to keep the same plots and thus develop a love of and desire to protect Kanda as a whole!
Over the course of centuries, the average citizen grew attached to this idea of service for security!
More and more ended up enlisting for military service so as to secure themselves rights to vote and to land... and eventually, toward the end of the Founders' time in Ta Mando, it was decided that ALL grown men, upon reaching the age of adulthood, would be given two years to join the military and thereafter would have to serve twenty-five years. (Though Later On This Single Twenty-Five Year Term Would Be Broken Up Into Two Ten Year Terms And One Final Five Year Term, Of Which Only The First Term Is Mandatory) However, all good things must come to an end and so, after just over three centuries of careful administration and watching over the people they'd helped survive... The Founders disappeared without a trace.
All at once, in a single night, they abandoned their posts and seemingly ceased existing entirely.
If the gods themselves knew where The Founders had gone, they would not tell any mortal ears...
And the foreign forces of the world around them soon swept in to take advantage of their absence! For centuries Kanda held their ground and expanded through a doctrine of retributive defensive wars; striking back and demanding harsh reparations from those realms that assaulted their borders alongside numerous preemptive attacks against those the Kanda had good evidence were preparing to strike.
Due to the good preparation by their Founders, the people of Kanda were able to face the future with dignity and power but, tragically, The Founders were limited by the knowledge of their own time and they were not able to leave an impression so lasting that it would usher the Kandia into the Post World War Future that they desired.
Instead the foundations of greatly advanced concepts like Germ Theory, Physics, Electricity and Modern Psychology were lost over time to neglect and ignorance while the Kandia struggled along against dangers both foreign and domestic.
Eventually what lessons they did teach became stories, some of which are still told today and others which have been discarded thanks to the short memory and contradictory nature of mortal lifespans. As these great boons were slowly lost and forgotten, Kanda grew more and more preoccupied with their mission of World Imperium; the advantage they had received from the Founders allowing them to push far past the limits of other nations at the time!
With a good skeleton for their society, they took the meat from all of the other cultures they subjugated and added it into their own, eventually syncretizing with so many others that they could scarcely be recognized as the unfortunate mass of thousands of refugees from disparate, isolated regions of the known world. After just over a thousand years the Empire had reached true standardization; with the Kandar at the time deciding that the reliance on individual wealth overwhelmingly held the military down.
Instead, following drastic tax reform that nearly broke Kanda's economy and almost split the empire into multiple pieces, the military would benefit from every soldier receiving a state sponsored kit of personal equipment that included everything from good shoes and clothes to solid armor and weapons!
From there it took only a few hundred more years for the ancestral "Leconis System" to evolve numerous branches that grew to include specialized cavalry doctrines, scout and spy structures and mobile engineering institutions that continue to advance the way that Kanda slowly takes over the world to this day.
Following the simple but elegant rules left down by The Father Of War and The Counter Of The Earth, the Empire was always able to stay ahead of the worst tragedies and repair the damage before it became too much!
And as time went by and the population of Kanda rose to never before imagined heights, The Kandar's Strength grew to such levels that a sitting Kandar would very seldom die from anything short of illness, curses or old age. But one day all that had to stop...
One day even Kanda's expansion had to reach its end.
For The Force Of Kanda always passed down to the best choice of successor; the most just, honest, forthright and responsible!
But it did not account for a dreadful lack of options... Due to a shortage of imperial heirs and a disease that swept through the upper ranks of society (suspected to be sent by the Early Eldinia) The Force Of Kanda went several generations with only one or two potential options to succeed the previous Kandaria.
While some of them tried, few of them were truly capable rulers and the expansion of The World's Civilization slowed and eventually stalled entirely.
With Trade facilitating peace with the largest realms of the world and the easily conquered domains having already been absorbed into the Empire, Kanda had few options remaining for expansion and a military that needed land rewards more than ever.
For some generations the Empire rotted from the inside... and then foreign powers, sensing weakness, struck from all directions.
For two centuries Kanda struggled to maintain its borders against the growing Eldinia, the violent Salvinia, the independent and free spirited Elbatinia and the advance of The Great Curtain Desert itself; all whilst trying to juggle their new colonies throughout Ta Puna Tonalusia and Ta Fanusia Hyanus!
Something had to be done or the growing powers of the rest of the world, now having finally adapted to Kanda's advanced start, would tear the Empire to shreds and divide up the spoils just as it was reaching its zenith. Mercifully, a new Kandar rose with the power to bring stability to the borders by force!
Cutting his losses where he would, Kandar Tiberos Primusad Nervantonin took the reigns of the fallen nation and spurred it back into action against the advance of foreign powers!
Leading from the front and seldom returning to the core except when absolutely required, The Late Kandar Tiberos sustained decades of strong war in all directions, shaping Ta Milotia Do Kanda into a force the likes of which the entire known world talked about!
He secured trade with the west and fostered in generations of peaceful travel through the Strait Of Youth, exporting iron wares and hiring out mercenaries to the three other civilized nations of the world.
He personally toured the many islands of Kanda's waters to make sure that they were properly maintained and their environments nurtured and kept stable for the benefit of the people's consumption.
He settled numerous disputes with potential rivals and reached across the ocean to start the first trade missions to The Spirit Isles.
And he personally adopted numerous warrior traditions, weapon styles and military doctrines into Kanda during his advance on the borders! However, one day he would die and one of his sons would become a False Kandar, relying on fel powers from otherworldly entities to convince the world that he possessed The Force Of Kanda when, indeed, the power to lead had fallen on the least likely of people.
A bastard farm boy born to a woman who had only met Tiberos a single time, the man who would be Kandar Lucus grew up in an unassuming little Gume on the northern borders of Kanda's Core; a good child that worked hard and wanted nothing more than to live the normal life of a Kandia Leconis.
When he received the power to lead he did not yet know what needed to be done... In time The False Kandar Aldamos Tiberosad Nervantonin went to greater and greater lengths to secure his reign; going so far as to wear a crown in public, ban Ta Thinal from passing legislation, find and kill all but three of his father's sons both known and unknown, refusing funding to public religious institutions that did not openly stroke his ego and even announce himself as "Absolute King Of The World; Superior To All Of The Gods Above And Below."
To make matters worse, his hubris had driven him to declare war against The Ducky Isles, mistreat Kanda's warlike neighbors to the north and encouraged Eldin to begin bulking up for another southward advance into The Strait Of Youth!
Clearly something had to be done. So, after the bloodiest civil war in Kandia history, Kandar Lucus Tiberosad Nervontonin settled in as the present Kandar of Kanda!
Much like his father before him, Lucus focused on what he could control!
Ending the Ducky Island Wars with an acceptable, if not preferable outcome, he quickly welcomed The Former Ruler Sobuka Of Wing Root into his High Council as the new Master Of Exotic Peoples.
Recognizing the presence of over fifty million idle women in his Empire and with a near constant temptation to comically flout the standard social conventions, he elected to name a woman his High Scurilos; the first woman to ever receive a position in the high council other than Master Of Exotic Peoples or High Enthiros.
Weathering a new age of isolation brought upon him by the Eldinia taking the Strait of Youth and the Unification of Vaennland, Lucus has carried out numerous state projects with the help of Philanthropus Domitad Magnomus so as to secure the safety and wellbeing of his Empire, bolstered the internal infrastructure of the realm and even expanded the borders of Kanda as a whole by colonizing Soteri and even rediscovering The Lost Expedition from just over a century ago! Now, as even Lucus' hard work cannot keep Kanda from slowly collapsing under the weight of its own hilarious girth, The Empire Of Kanda is at its greatest time of need!
Just as the stories said they would, this need has been answered by the return of The Founders; reincarnated into new forms that better fit this tumultuous era of rising heroism and escalating international tensions!
Not only here to solve Kanda's problems but clearly to entirely redesign the system the Kandia have grown so used to, The Founders Returned have already shown themselves to be anything from harmlessly malicious to unknowingly criminal, from slavishly loyal to the rehabilitation of Kanda to all but dangerously independent and spurnful of certain foundational qualities that make The Empire's Culture what it is! With so many new events unfolding independent of each other, there is little telling what will become of Kanda after these new Founders are done with it!
While some are excited for the return of those who saved their ancestors from extinction, others feel that Kanda's time is coming to an end and the Founders have arrived too late...
Worse yet, some of the new generation are too busy seeking personal decadence and fame, too busy avoiding their responsibilities to the state to consider that they are part of the problem; uncaring if the realm they find so comfortable collapses around them so long as they can retain a degree of their prestige after the fall and a degree of comfort regardless of external stressors.
Demography and Population
While one might imagine most of Kanda's population consists of caramel colored people with dark, curly hair and generalist body types that would only be the case when one considers the core ethnic foundation of the Empire.
Over a millennium and a half ago that might well be the standard appearance one might expect from the average Kandia.
However, nowadays Kanda is an absolute giant of global society, territories spreading far and wide throughout the hemisphere with previous diplomatic ties to the three most well known civilizations of the world!
Just in the last twenty years Kanda's population of refugees from The Western Kingdom and their descendents alone has grown to over a million souls!
And, of course, that doesn't even begin to cover the other minorities that gladly call the Empire their home! A truly cosmopolitan society, Kanda has always made a serious effort to establish that being a citizen has no ethnic requirements... but rather cultural and occupational ones!
Kandia nowadays come in all shapes and sizes, colors and creeds!
In the Core of Kanda, a true melting pot, one might expect to bump elbows with seven foot tall, dark skinned giants from the borders of Ta Fanusia Hyanus just as readily as with six foot tall northern Salvinia or three and a half foot tall, shimmering skinned Puna Tonalusia.
And ALL of them would speak Kandia with native proficiency, have served at least ten years in the military and would greet you with a classic Kandia Salute of greeting alongside a familiar "Uwe!"
While certain Longia are more inclined to be populated with one shape, size and color than another, being Kandia is and always has been defined by one's accepted language, clothing, laws and service to the state. Similar to most realms in the classical era, Kanda has a very high infant mortality rate compared to the modern day, especially in the cities; the Imperial Average being as high as 15% of all children dying over the course of their first year of life.
And as much as 30% of all children, especially outside the core, can be expected to die before their tenth birthday.
While this might seem high, it is exceptionally low compared even to the other civilized realms of Ditwala, Ka Danti and The Western Kingdom; who all have mortality rates in the first ten years numbering up to 50%.
The Average Mother has something around a 2-4% chance to die in childbirth and only the highest aristocrats with access to well trained divine practitioners to help the delivery can get the average death rate down to 1-2%. In most of history, the larger the community the higher the average death rate compared to the average birth rate.
Kanda is no exception to this rule, with cities largely being gigantic, smelly, cramped sections of the landscape full of disease and crime which only have access to clean water due to the millennium and a half of building fantastically complex aqueduct systems that provide them with fresh replenishment.
Wherever bribes can be granted to those in charge to look the other way at basic sleights they are and hygiene is forgotten in preference to productivity and profit! Out in the country, however, average age of death is much higher and people live healthy rural lifestyles.
Children raised in such circumstances tend to be stronger, healthier and more inclined toward the difficult but structured life of a soldier that will invariably come calling for them upon reaching adulthood.
People out in the country are generally more friendly and inclined to give the average person a chance if they prove themselves potentially useful or entertaining.
Most people who live out in the country like this live in small family units spaced out in roughly sixty acre lots called Gumia.
With their families and neighbors they work together to cultivate the land and provide for their loved ones, instilling in them the skills necessary to serve the state in order to keep said land in the family.
After five generations of faithful service to the state, the sixth generation of the family to apply to hold the land after their tenure will be granted the land in perpetuity and it will pass down through their family, after which time their descendents may work toward the ownership of other properties alongside the one already presently in the hands of the family.
The same rules of inheritance and ownership apply to any and all larger plots of land granted to any and all citizens legally permitted to own and lease land unless otherwise stipulated by Ta Imbaromia Censaria.
Over a millennium and a half ago that might well be the standard appearance one might expect from the average Kandia.
However, nowadays Kanda is an absolute giant of global society, territories spreading far and wide throughout the hemisphere with previous diplomatic ties to the three most well known civilizations of the world!
Just in the last twenty years Kanda's population of refugees from The Western Kingdom and their descendents alone has grown to over a million souls!
And, of course, that doesn't even begin to cover the other minorities that gladly call the Empire their home! A truly cosmopolitan society, Kanda has always made a serious effort to establish that being a citizen has no ethnic requirements... but rather cultural and occupational ones!
Kandia nowadays come in all shapes and sizes, colors and creeds!
In the Core of Kanda, a true melting pot, one might expect to bump elbows with seven foot tall, dark skinned giants from the borders of Ta Fanusia Hyanus just as readily as with six foot tall northern Salvinia or three and a half foot tall, shimmering skinned Puna Tonalusia.
And ALL of them would speak Kandia with native proficiency, have served at least ten years in the military and would greet you with a classic Kandia Salute of greeting alongside a familiar "Uwe!"
While certain Longia are more inclined to be populated with one shape, size and color than another, being Kandia is and always has been defined by one's accepted language, clothing, laws and service to the state. Similar to most realms in the classical era, Kanda has a very high infant mortality rate compared to the modern day, especially in the cities; the Imperial Average being as high as 15% of all children dying over the course of their first year of life.
And as much as 30% of all children, especially outside the core, can be expected to die before their tenth birthday.
While this might seem high, it is exceptionally low compared even to the other civilized realms of Ditwala, Ka Danti and The Western Kingdom; who all have mortality rates in the first ten years numbering up to 50%.
The Average Mother has something around a 2-4% chance to die in childbirth and only the highest aristocrats with access to well trained divine practitioners to help the delivery can get the average death rate down to 1-2%. In most of history, the larger the community the higher the average death rate compared to the average birth rate.
Kanda is no exception to this rule, with cities largely being gigantic, smelly, cramped sections of the landscape full of disease and crime which only have access to clean water due to the millennium and a half of building fantastically complex aqueduct systems that provide them with fresh replenishment.
Wherever bribes can be granted to those in charge to look the other way at basic sleights they are and hygiene is forgotten in preference to productivity and profit! Out in the country, however, average age of death is much higher and people live healthy rural lifestyles.
Children raised in such circumstances tend to be stronger, healthier and more inclined toward the difficult but structured life of a soldier that will invariably come calling for them upon reaching adulthood.
People out in the country are generally more friendly and inclined to give the average person a chance if they prove themselves potentially useful or entertaining.
Most people who live out in the country like this live in small family units spaced out in roughly sixty acre lots called Gumia.
With their families and neighbors they work together to cultivate the land and provide for their loved ones, instilling in them the skills necessary to serve the state in order to keep said land in the family.
After five generations of faithful service to the state, the sixth generation of the family to apply to hold the land after their tenure will be granted the land in perpetuity and it will pass down through their family, after which time their descendents may work toward the ownership of other properties alongside the one already presently in the hands of the family.
The same rules of inheritance and ownership apply to any and all larger plots of land granted to any and all citizens legally permitted to own and lease land unless otherwise stipulated by Ta Imbaromia Censaria.
Territories
The territory of Kanda is truly vast both in its North-South dimensions AND its East-West dimensions!
At their northernmost extend the Empire Of Kanda reaches the frigid southern borders of Vaennland, where growing seasons are short and winters are long and harsh.
Most people there live off of livestock and fish; known as gifted sailors and craftsmen! Eastward the contiguous territory of Kanda extends to the farthest coasts of Ducky Island and along the interior of Ta Orana Pariptia; their border extending from frigid and wet northlands all the way down into the Greatest Desert the Kandia have ever known! To the far west Kanda's land border rubs against the fanatical lands of the Eldinia with their artificially constructed deserts and savannah; blocking off all contact to the west even through Kanda's own Strait Of Youth! Southward, however, is a stranger story!
Kanda's contiguous territory extends south via the Goat Mountains And Ta Sigam Vastutos.
However, this cannot be said to be their southernmost holdout; QUITE the opposite! Even centuries ago the Kandia had managed to sail along the mountainous coasts of the Southern Continent; eventually finding a gap in the southern range!
They quickly colonized the sparsely forested coastlines where the relatively cool sea air coming into The Gap blows away the biting insects and disease of the deeper jungles.
Now "Ta Fanusia Hyanus" (The Stopping Gap) is considered one of the farthest reaches of Kandia Territory! ... Or WAS until 1630, wherein a privately funded venture by High Thinalar Philanthropus Domitad Magnomus was sent to colonize the southernmost point of the world and attempt to establish a trade route to the west that might replace that of the twenty years blockaded Strait Of Youth! As of 1632 The Empire Of Kanda has extended its influence over five thousand miles south of its capital, to the base of the Southern Continent; a colony now known as Longo Soteri...
Immediately northwest of the newly established Longo lies the century separated colony started by the famed Lost Expedition that has persisted in enemy territory for generations without contact!
With the addition of Longo Soteri and Longo Navo Kanda the empire now stretches from the southernmost point in the world to very near the northernmost points in the world, with only a single known nation above them on the map. Altogether this makes The Empire Of Kanda over six thousand miles from its southern to northernmost points and nearly five thousand miles from east to west at its widest dimensions!
And, so far as the people of Kanda are concerned...
It's STILL Not Enough!
Most people there live off of livestock and fish; known as gifted sailors and craftsmen! Eastward the contiguous territory of Kanda extends to the farthest coasts of Ducky Island and along the interior of Ta Orana Pariptia; their border extending from frigid and wet northlands all the way down into the Greatest Desert the Kandia have ever known! To the far west Kanda's land border rubs against the fanatical lands of the Eldinia with their artificially constructed deserts and savannah; blocking off all contact to the west even through Kanda's own Strait Of Youth! Southward, however, is a stranger story!
Kanda's contiguous territory extends south via the Goat Mountains And Ta Sigam Vastutos.
However, this cannot be said to be their southernmost holdout; QUITE the opposite! Even centuries ago the Kandia had managed to sail along the mountainous coasts of the Southern Continent; eventually finding a gap in the southern range!
They quickly colonized the sparsely forested coastlines where the relatively cool sea air coming into The Gap blows away the biting insects and disease of the deeper jungles.
Now "Ta Fanusia Hyanus" (The Stopping Gap) is considered one of the farthest reaches of Kandia Territory! ... Or WAS until 1630, wherein a privately funded venture by High Thinalar Philanthropus Domitad Magnomus was sent to colonize the southernmost point of the world and attempt to establish a trade route to the west that might replace that of the twenty years blockaded Strait Of Youth! As of 1632 The Empire Of Kanda has extended its influence over five thousand miles south of its capital, to the base of the Southern Continent; a colony now known as Longo Soteri...
Immediately northwest of the newly established Longo lies the century separated colony started by the famed Lost Expedition that has persisted in enemy territory for generations without contact!
With the addition of Longo Soteri and Longo Navo Kanda the empire now stretches from the southernmost point in the world to very near the northernmost points in the world, with only a single known nation above them on the map. Altogether this makes The Empire Of Kanda over six thousand miles from its southern to northernmost points and nearly five thousand miles from east to west at its widest dimensions!
And, so far as the people of Kanda are concerned...
It's STILL Not Enough!
Military
Ta Miloti Do Kanda ("The Military Of Kanda") is largely considered one of the most advanced and complex military institutions in the known world!
Given a strong foundation by The Father Of War, personally reformed by The Counter Of The Earth, using tried and true methodology from across numerous worlds and adapted over the course of sixteen and a half centuries to incorporate all that is good and shun all that is not useful; Kanda's Military resembles a sort of hyper caffeinated, foresight induced, ultra modern example of the military of Classical Rome.
Unlike most of the rest of the world, The Kandia Military is a professional force of warfare and engineering specialists that spend no less than a decade in service to the state to ensure its continued successful existence!
Compared to the largely levy composed bulk of most of the world's armies the fighting men of Kanda are well trained military men who have grown up knowing that their time of service is coming and getting ready for the inevitable day when they have to face the enemy eye to eye; a culture of dedicated soldiers prepared for war from a very young age and studied in its nuance and complexity! Despite being a professional force, however, Ta Miloti Do Kanda is NOT a volunteer one!
When a boy becomes sixteen years old he is considered a man grown and, once a man, he has until his eighteenth birthday to turn himself in to a local registration office (Usually near any community's town hall for the sake of efficiency) and must there submit himself to be weighed and measured for service.
If the young man is found to have no higher talents, such as a higher capacity with numbers, a mind for inventories and production, a love of the sea, a keen eye for the wilderness or even The Gift, he still might be disqualified from standard duty provided he is too short, too skinny, too unfit or otherwise incapable of maintaining a strong shield wall or enduring the difficult lifestyle of a Leconis. In such instances, however, the man is not given an exception; his talents may have given him such a benefit but his shortcomings do not!
Instead those disqualified from standard service are usually relegated to other services or, if need be, educated personally by Kanda's Military to be a capable and worthwhile member of the army!
Those aspirants who show themselves to be far too small often find themselves quite welcome in the Imperial Scouts while those who show a propensity to endure inclement conditions and unstable footing are often considered for the navy!
Regardless of their end position, even those rendered largely incapable of standard detail are given something to do for their citizenship and, by and large, it is considered a sacred duty to make sure that every single man has a position regardless of his fitness that helps the Empire as a whole!
Though many legitimately crippled individuals such as the maimed and blind have good reason to take their exemptions, it is not unknown for such people to still have some form of gainful employment in the military and, at the end of their tenure, benefit fully from the rewards of their service.
If one wants to do the best they can for the Empire that, after all, is not something that Kanda is in the position to refuse! After the filter that sorts a man out into the various nonstandard positions in the military, the remainder become Leconia; the standard fighting men of Kanda!
Before a man can be considered a Leconis, however, he must go through basic training; a grueling, mandatory period of 25 weeks during which time his every weakness will be identified and eliminated if at all possible, his every strength will be isolated and built upon and any of his shortcomings will be trained out of him by extremely strict and often violent military tutors!
Those who are not equipped with the appropriate skills to maintain even this sort of training are taken in by the Military Scurilia And Censaria and taught to read, write, manage mathematics and other such basic skills that all boys are supposed to be taught by their parents.
Depending on how bad the situation is, this extra academics period might last for up to six months!
Importantly, a man in training is NOT a man in service!
One's tenure in service to the state does not officially begin until they are trained to carry out such duties.
Suitably, many aspiring young men train from childhood onward so that they can quickly push through the individual training period of Basic and move on to more group oriented activities where they might earn notoriety and increased rank upon official entry into the army. Basic Training takes part in three separate stages; Individual Training, Small Group Training And Field Training
For the first ten weeks of Basic an aspiring Leconis is pushed to their personal limits; run to the very furthest boundaries of their body and thoroughly broken by their tutors and overseers to completely reshape their identity to one fit to fight for Kanda; one of many near identical soldiers on the field of battle, working together as a single unit!
The Average person in Kanda is nothing compared to the overwhelming, unified cooperation of the group!
A single Ethnically Kandia Man is seldom more than five and a half feet tall, gifted with only a fairly generalist build and capable of carrying no more than his own weight for any extended period of time.
The first two months of training drills this thoroughly into their heads; to get strong but remember that, compared to the whole, they are nothing!
Just as much to break their minds as their bodies, most aspiring Leconia leave the first stage of Basic with the HOPE that they can finally start relying on others to help them get through the day... In the second stage of their training the Leconia are trained to fight in small units at the Kinatis level and below; nothing larger than a hundred men!
Learning field commands and how to fight alongside each other is a fairly short affair of only seven and a half weeks. Finally, in the third stage of training, recruits learn to do battle on the field; to work as giant groups over a thousand strong, cooperate with cavalry and exercise combined arms doctrines alongside scouts, archers and engineers with field artillery.
It is during this phase that full sized mock battles take place where all combatants use wooden weapons and are overseen by multiple scores of trained medics and referees.
While it is rare that this phase of training is elongated, it is not unknown for some less than pleased commanders to hold back entire classes of recruits for up to ten more weeks to ensure they have learned everything their tutors feel they need. Once out in the field, the Kandia Military takes the role of not only an army but a multi-faceted international instutiton that manages the infrastructure of the nation and even doubles for transportation and resource gathering forces when needs must!
In recent years many youths, particularly orphans, have taken advantage of the new program by Kandar Lucus to incorporate children into the military as warfield clean up crews and post combat medical support.
Boys in this institution have almost universally experienced considerably safer and more productive military careers after their graduation into adulthood, though many throughout the Empire have concerns about the ethics of employing innocent youths in the infrastructure of war. Every night a force of Letanis Size or greater builds itself a night fort, known as a Castan. (Or uses one that happens to be nearby, if possible!)
These Castania act as large, capable defensive structures for the forces that erect them and stay nestled within.
However, after they vacate them, cities often appear around the well constructed defensive sites populated by camp followers that were led by the army to that location.
The walls of all Castania are armed with ballistae, mangonels, numerous firing positions and rock piles to throw down on advancing enemies; always populated with at least enough engineers to man the artillery and for every twenty feet of the wall to be overseen by at least two trained archers.
Though the average Castan is rectangular, recent experiments by Kanda's own Highest Military Leader Of The Exterior: Scipio Magnusad Pompi have shown that there might be a benefit to having forts with spearhead shaped extensions jutting out from the main walls to allow for overlapping fields of arrow and artillery fire. With the main force of the army bolstered by an highly capable scouting branch, overseen by tens of thousands of censaria and scurilia to maintain their supplies and numbers, transported over rough seas by sturdy ships and assisted in both their defense and assault by entire bands of well trained engineers with powerful machines of death, Kanda's military is an extremely diverse and well equipped institution that shows few signs of truly weakening as the introduction of Roxanne Flagrare: The Returned Counter Of The Earth has brought the inner workings of the military bureaucracy directly under her control...
And she has since revealed to The High Council that Kanda's Forces, under her careful administration, will only grow stronger and more numerous over the next few years, expected to double in size by 1635! A well trained and professional military, Kanda's army is standardized to the man as you can see in the "Leconis" Article where the lowest rank of the Kandia military is covered! While there are many other parts of the military that could be invoked here, they will instead be linked into this article in the future as they are finished just as the Leconia Article is linked above.
Given a strong foundation by The Father Of War, personally reformed by The Counter Of The Earth, using tried and true methodology from across numerous worlds and adapted over the course of sixteen and a half centuries to incorporate all that is good and shun all that is not useful; Kanda's Military resembles a sort of hyper caffeinated, foresight induced, ultra modern example of the military of Classical Rome.
Unlike most of the rest of the world, The Kandia Military is a professional force of warfare and engineering specialists that spend no less than a decade in service to the state to ensure its continued successful existence!
Compared to the largely levy composed bulk of most of the world's armies the fighting men of Kanda are well trained military men who have grown up knowing that their time of service is coming and getting ready for the inevitable day when they have to face the enemy eye to eye; a culture of dedicated soldiers prepared for war from a very young age and studied in its nuance and complexity! Despite being a professional force, however, Ta Miloti Do Kanda is NOT a volunteer one!
When a boy becomes sixteen years old he is considered a man grown and, once a man, he has until his eighteenth birthday to turn himself in to a local registration office (Usually near any community's town hall for the sake of efficiency) and must there submit himself to be weighed and measured for service.
If the young man is found to have no higher talents, such as a higher capacity with numbers, a mind for inventories and production, a love of the sea, a keen eye for the wilderness or even The Gift, he still might be disqualified from standard duty provided he is too short, too skinny, too unfit or otherwise incapable of maintaining a strong shield wall or enduring the difficult lifestyle of a Leconis. In such instances, however, the man is not given an exception; his talents may have given him such a benefit but his shortcomings do not!
Instead those disqualified from standard service are usually relegated to other services or, if need be, educated personally by Kanda's Military to be a capable and worthwhile member of the army!
Those aspirants who show themselves to be far too small often find themselves quite welcome in the Imperial Scouts while those who show a propensity to endure inclement conditions and unstable footing are often considered for the navy!
Regardless of their end position, even those rendered largely incapable of standard detail are given something to do for their citizenship and, by and large, it is considered a sacred duty to make sure that every single man has a position regardless of his fitness that helps the Empire as a whole!
Though many legitimately crippled individuals such as the maimed and blind have good reason to take their exemptions, it is not unknown for such people to still have some form of gainful employment in the military and, at the end of their tenure, benefit fully from the rewards of their service.
If one wants to do the best they can for the Empire that, after all, is not something that Kanda is in the position to refuse! After the filter that sorts a man out into the various nonstandard positions in the military, the remainder become Leconia; the standard fighting men of Kanda!
Before a man can be considered a Leconis, however, he must go through basic training; a grueling, mandatory period of 25 weeks during which time his every weakness will be identified and eliminated if at all possible, his every strength will be isolated and built upon and any of his shortcomings will be trained out of him by extremely strict and often violent military tutors!
Those who are not equipped with the appropriate skills to maintain even this sort of training are taken in by the Military Scurilia And Censaria and taught to read, write, manage mathematics and other such basic skills that all boys are supposed to be taught by their parents.
Depending on how bad the situation is, this extra academics period might last for up to six months!
Importantly, a man in training is NOT a man in service!
One's tenure in service to the state does not officially begin until they are trained to carry out such duties.
Suitably, many aspiring young men train from childhood onward so that they can quickly push through the individual training period of Basic and move on to more group oriented activities where they might earn notoriety and increased rank upon official entry into the army. Basic Training takes part in three separate stages; Individual Training, Small Group Training And Field Training
For the first ten weeks of Basic an aspiring Leconis is pushed to their personal limits; run to the very furthest boundaries of their body and thoroughly broken by their tutors and overseers to completely reshape their identity to one fit to fight for Kanda; one of many near identical soldiers on the field of battle, working together as a single unit!
The Average person in Kanda is nothing compared to the overwhelming, unified cooperation of the group!
A single Ethnically Kandia Man is seldom more than five and a half feet tall, gifted with only a fairly generalist build and capable of carrying no more than his own weight for any extended period of time.
The first two months of training drills this thoroughly into their heads; to get strong but remember that, compared to the whole, they are nothing!
Just as much to break their minds as their bodies, most aspiring Leconia leave the first stage of Basic with the HOPE that they can finally start relying on others to help them get through the day... In the second stage of their training the Leconia are trained to fight in small units at the Kinatis level and below; nothing larger than a hundred men!
Learning field commands and how to fight alongside each other is a fairly short affair of only seven and a half weeks. Finally, in the third stage of training, recruits learn to do battle on the field; to work as giant groups over a thousand strong, cooperate with cavalry and exercise combined arms doctrines alongside scouts, archers and engineers with field artillery.
It is during this phase that full sized mock battles take place where all combatants use wooden weapons and are overseen by multiple scores of trained medics and referees.
While it is rare that this phase of training is elongated, it is not unknown for some less than pleased commanders to hold back entire classes of recruits for up to ten more weeks to ensure they have learned everything their tutors feel they need. Once out in the field, the Kandia Military takes the role of not only an army but a multi-faceted international instutiton that manages the infrastructure of the nation and even doubles for transportation and resource gathering forces when needs must!
In recent years many youths, particularly orphans, have taken advantage of the new program by Kandar Lucus to incorporate children into the military as warfield clean up crews and post combat medical support.
Boys in this institution have almost universally experienced considerably safer and more productive military careers after their graduation into adulthood, though many throughout the Empire have concerns about the ethics of employing innocent youths in the infrastructure of war. Every night a force of Letanis Size or greater builds itself a night fort, known as a Castan. (Or uses one that happens to be nearby, if possible!)
These Castania act as large, capable defensive structures for the forces that erect them and stay nestled within.
However, after they vacate them, cities often appear around the well constructed defensive sites populated by camp followers that were led by the army to that location.
The walls of all Castania are armed with ballistae, mangonels, numerous firing positions and rock piles to throw down on advancing enemies; always populated with at least enough engineers to man the artillery and for every twenty feet of the wall to be overseen by at least two trained archers.
Though the average Castan is rectangular, recent experiments by Kanda's own Highest Military Leader Of The Exterior: Scipio Magnusad Pompi have shown that there might be a benefit to having forts with spearhead shaped extensions jutting out from the main walls to allow for overlapping fields of arrow and artillery fire. With the main force of the army bolstered by an highly capable scouting branch, overseen by tens of thousands of censaria and scurilia to maintain their supplies and numbers, transported over rough seas by sturdy ships and assisted in both their defense and assault by entire bands of well trained engineers with powerful machines of death, Kanda's military is an extremely diverse and well equipped institution that shows few signs of truly weakening as the introduction of Roxanne Flagrare: The Returned Counter Of The Earth has brought the inner workings of the military bureaucracy directly under her control...
And she has since revealed to The High Council that Kanda's Forces, under her careful administration, will only grow stronger and more numerous over the next few years, expected to double in size by 1635! A well trained and professional military, Kanda's army is standardized to the man as you can see in the "Leconis" Article where the lowest rank of the Kandia military is covered! While there are many other parts of the military that could be invoked here, they will instead be linked into this article in the future as they are finished just as the Leconia Article is linked above.
Technological Level
Ta Mando's Technological Level amounts to everything that every Romaboo loves about the Pax Romana but pushed to eleven; Everpresent Aqueducts to carry water from fresh mountain springs to community fountains for all to enjoy, capable metalworking that matches the best of most other nations, incredible water powered mills able to mass produce flour or boards for the empires's industry and greenhouses made of selenite and clear cast glass capable of growing produce even during the height of winter!
Large, well maintained bathhouses dot every district of recognizable size.
Scurilia and Censaria have nearly modern organizational systems for their inventories and the Empire Of Kanda uses the modern imperial standard of measurement; feet, miles, inches, etc.
The Children of Ta Milotia Criatosia, since their founding, have even come to revive the old military tradition of morse code with their state granted signal whistles! With the introduction of magic, Kanda has access to even more modern utilities like refrigeration, sound and image recording and simple devices that function much like tablet computers!
However, even though Kanda has these technologies it does not mean that they are common.
Such magical technologies are often kept in highly expensive specialty markets reserved for the aristocracy or special craft fields that require them to maintain their markets.
Simple Coolers to keep potions fresh and cold are often limited to a Liv's personal Mysterios or Tuniswe; certainly not something you would see at any given village market.
Magical Forges are reserved for large operations in the cities or on the frontier.
And Special Viewing Pools for Enthiria to divine the future over are normally built only in lofty temples to the gods. That all aside, it is important to remember that Kanda is NOT a "High Fantasy" Society.
Rather Kanda is gradually entering the boundaries of a "Wide Fantasy" society!
What this means is that much of their society has decided that simple magic should be dispersed among the people; such that it is quite difficult to find a Kandia Citizen who is not at least versed in enough magic to make every day life a bit easier!
The average housewife, hard pressed to convince her husband to spend on any slaves or family servants in THIS economy, is certain to know at least a few spells to remove unruly stains, push the shuttle of her loom faster than her hands and have the dishes wash themselves.
Unsurprisingly, this extends to life in the military, with any good Letanis possessing a Mysterios that stocks the Leconia of the unit with "Blast Tokens" and "Flash Tokens;" Ceramic bulbs about the size of a man's palm that can be partially crushed or twisted in the hand and thrown at the enemy to either explode next to them or create a bright light that blinds them.
Once expended the remains of such a token might be returned to the unit's Mysterios and repaired for future use.
In fact, "Token Magic" is so common in Ta Miloti Do Kanda that many Leconia spend good money on extra tokens so that they can always be prepared for unexpected groups of enemies. Not only does this Wide Magic philosophy extend to simple trinkets but large siege weapons and groups of ammunition; with Kanda sporting everything from Flashing Signal Bullets for their slings to "Spellbreaker Bolts" for their field artillery capable of harming and incapacitating lesser deities.
Some special ships are built with enchantments carved into their masts entrapping identity-less spirits from the world around them to inspire the wind to always fill their sails no matter what direction the world bids it to blow. Recently, shying away from the tried and true of the exterior, Belisarus Hanibalad Sula; Highest Military Leader Of Kanda's Interior has begun work on infrastructure and defense experiments involving gearwork, mobile defensive structures and the power of steam.
While Kanda might seem like they're stuck in a strange, early medieval stasis, the fact of the matter is, despite the fact that they are modeled after the classical era and hold onto many such traditions zealously, Kanda is entering a heroic age of internal consolidation, expanding understanding of the world around them and personal luxury wherein the average person has far more time on their hands to mill about with new ideas and inventions.
While money is tight and the economy is starting to struggle, the cultural urge to invent new things and perfect those things that have been adopted from others has grown more powerful than ever! And, of course, none of this begins to consider the addition of new forces entering the world and altering the technological advancement of The Empire Of Kanda!
Unbeknownst to the bureaucracy, a small team of young women in The Core has been working on a self motivating vehicle that requires no beast of burden to push it forward.
Deep in the distant south, at the bottom of the world, a think tank of Koboria consider how to start long term domestic fish cultivation to combat the ever problematic food shortage suffered by Longo Soteri.
In Longo Ta Geta an orphan teen adopted by a strange couple from another reality has started to rise to social prominence among the local leconia for her capacity to monitor and maintain large bunkers of ice year round.
And all over the Empire select individuals, notably those who pay attention to the the medical ramblings of The Enthiros Sarbarina Of Shar Essaro, strange ideas of "Living Particle Philosophy" have started popping up; the terrifying notion that beneath the notice of the humble human eye lies an entire realm of tiny living particles that get inside of people and make them sick.
While much of the world has no awareness of the developments happening under their very noses, special agents trained and fostered by incoming Primes And World Changers like the Founders Of Kanda Returned have already started to take the next steps into a new technological era that is certain to shake Ta Mando to its core!
Large, well maintained bathhouses dot every district of recognizable size.
Scurilia and Censaria have nearly modern organizational systems for their inventories and the Empire Of Kanda uses the modern imperial standard of measurement; feet, miles, inches, etc.
The Children of Ta Milotia Criatosia, since their founding, have even come to revive the old military tradition of morse code with their state granted signal whistles! With the introduction of magic, Kanda has access to even more modern utilities like refrigeration, sound and image recording and simple devices that function much like tablet computers!
However, even though Kanda has these technologies it does not mean that they are common.
Such magical technologies are often kept in highly expensive specialty markets reserved for the aristocracy or special craft fields that require them to maintain their markets.
Simple Coolers to keep potions fresh and cold are often limited to a Liv's personal Mysterios or Tuniswe; certainly not something you would see at any given village market.
Magical Forges are reserved for large operations in the cities or on the frontier.
And Special Viewing Pools for Enthiria to divine the future over are normally built only in lofty temples to the gods. That all aside, it is important to remember that Kanda is NOT a "High Fantasy" Society.
Rather Kanda is gradually entering the boundaries of a "Wide Fantasy" society!
What this means is that much of their society has decided that simple magic should be dispersed among the people; such that it is quite difficult to find a Kandia Citizen who is not at least versed in enough magic to make every day life a bit easier!
The average housewife, hard pressed to convince her husband to spend on any slaves or family servants in THIS economy, is certain to know at least a few spells to remove unruly stains, push the shuttle of her loom faster than her hands and have the dishes wash themselves.
Unsurprisingly, this extends to life in the military, with any good Letanis possessing a Mysterios that stocks the Leconia of the unit with "Blast Tokens" and "Flash Tokens;" Ceramic bulbs about the size of a man's palm that can be partially crushed or twisted in the hand and thrown at the enemy to either explode next to them or create a bright light that blinds them.
Once expended the remains of such a token might be returned to the unit's Mysterios and repaired for future use.
In fact, "Token Magic" is so common in Ta Miloti Do Kanda that many Leconia spend good money on extra tokens so that they can always be prepared for unexpected groups of enemies. Not only does this Wide Magic philosophy extend to simple trinkets but large siege weapons and groups of ammunition; with Kanda sporting everything from Flashing Signal Bullets for their slings to "Spellbreaker Bolts" for their field artillery capable of harming and incapacitating lesser deities.
Some special ships are built with enchantments carved into their masts entrapping identity-less spirits from the world around them to inspire the wind to always fill their sails no matter what direction the world bids it to blow. Recently, shying away from the tried and true of the exterior, Belisarus Hanibalad Sula; Highest Military Leader Of Kanda's Interior has begun work on infrastructure and defense experiments involving gearwork, mobile defensive structures and the power of steam.
While Kanda might seem like they're stuck in a strange, early medieval stasis, the fact of the matter is, despite the fact that they are modeled after the classical era and hold onto many such traditions zealously, Kanda is entering a heroic age of internal consolidation, expanding understanding of the world around them and personal luxury wherein the average person has far more time on their hands to mill about with new ideas and inventions.
While money is tight and the economy is starting to struggle, the cultural urge to invent new things and perfect those things that have been adopted from others has grown more powerful than ever! And, of course, none of this begins to consider the addition of new forces entering the world and altering the technological advancement of The Empire Of Kanda!
Unbeknownst to the bureaucracy, a small team of young women in The Core has been working on a self motivating vehicle that requires no beast of burden to push it forward.
Deep in the distant south, at the bottom of the world, a think tank of Koboria consider how to start long term domestic fish cultivation to combat the ever problematic food shortage suffered by Longo Soteri.
In Longo Ta Geta an orphan teen adopted by a strange couple from another reality has started to rise to social prominence among the local leconia for her capacity to monitor and maintain large bunkers of ice year round.
And all over the Empire select individuals, notably those who pay attention to the the medical ramblings of The Enthiros Sarbarina Of Shar Essaro, strange ideas of "Living Particle Philosophy" have started popping up; the terrifying notion that beneath the notice of the humble human eye lies an entire realm of tiny living particles that get inside of people and make them sick.
While much of the world has no awareness of the developments happening under their very noses, special agents trained and fostered by incoming Primes And World Changers like the Founders Of Kanda Returned have already started to take the next steps into a new technological era that is certain to shake Ta Mando to its core!
Foreign Relations
While once a bastion of globalism and cosmopolitanism, Kanda has fallen a long way from their former position as the trade power that bound together the other civilizations of the world.
Just over twenty years ago The Theocracy Of Eldin captured the Strait Of Youth and cut off transit to the nations of the west; leaving the rest of the world stuck behind a curtain of frozen bogs, harsh deserts and well guarded grasslands.
Around that same time The Ducky Island and Salvin Wars were ended and communication with both Wing Island and The Salvinia has halted entirely.
The people of the grasslands south of the great desert have never cared to play nice and around a decade ago the northerners of Vaennland cut off contact and all trade with people of the south to consolidate their resources and isolate themselves from outside influence. While their economy once relied on interactions with those outside their own borders, Kanda has been forced for over two decades to live as a semi-isolationist state; sustaining their economy by drastic internal action and desperate political maneuvering with newer, more dangerous powers. Along the southern coasts on the way to Ta Fanusia Hyanus the Kandia have long since had good dealings with the Marca Isles (So Long As Their Port Laws Are Respected!) and several lords of the isles have recently sent their children off to the core of Kanda for quality Kandia educations.
Father east from the Marca Isles, along the equator, the broken continent known as The Spirit Isles waits with all manner of exotic goods, hardwoods for ship building and foreign commodities that mirror the treasures of the west that the Kandia have so longingly pined for since commerce was shut down.
South of the Band Of Green the jungles of The Pro Simian Confederacy hide a contemplative society of sapient apes that have been doing business with Kanda for generations, though hiding it behind simple trading posts populated entirely by clever human tradesmen that have given the Kandia the opinion that the Confederacy is a primitive, tribal coalition who live a simple, ignorant existence.
However, recently the Pro Simian Confederacy has been sending out caravans not only to Kanda but to the rest of Ta Mando in an effort to establish a presence on the world stage. As for the western powers beyond the veil of snow and sand, Kanda always had amazing relations with the Western Kingdom, Ditwala and Ka Danti; regarding them as the only three other societies that could be called "Civilized."
While not strictly reliant on any of them, trade goods flowed through all borders and brought all four nations great wealth and notoriety; the absence of which has considerably lowered the prestige and cosmopolitanism of each of them in turn, with The Western Kingdom only now finally starting to feel the true impact of Kanda's isolation from the rest of the world. Finally, Kanda is, in many ways, surrounded by lesser powers that either repel diplomatic advances, maintain secrecy or otherwise just keep to themselves!
While they have never been aware of it, The Kandia have been unknowingly interacting with the Saraviit of Ta Orana Pariptia for over a thousand years; the hunkiest men that pass through the area being squirreled away in the night and on foraging missions into the Bewebbed Foothills by the sexy spider women of the region's peaks and cliffsides!
The "Paradisaria" as they are known in the stories of Ta Puna Tonalusia have known of Kanda for many centuries but ultimately maintain a near utopic isolation that has only recently been broken by the Eldinia who seek to overtake the Strait Of Youth and turn the Forests Of Paradise to deserts and grassland for their religious mission.
South of The Band Of Green and between the realms of The Forests Of Paradise and The Pro Simian Confederacy the Kandia of Soteri have only recently become aware of The Hoard Principalities; a fractious realm of would be draconic monarchs who once fled from the advance of the Kandia nearly a millennium ago; having set themselves up as absolute rulers of the tribal people of the region and demanding tribute from all they can strongarm into submission! Beyond even these remote powers there are still more cultures and realms that Kanda knows very little about... such as the lizardfolk of Azshruu-Noor, the neandersovans of The Forever North, the Thunderers Of The Storm Watcher Isles and the enigmatic, mask wearing denizens of The Land Of Shells.
While the Kandia have not been able to explore too far beyond their borders in just over twenty years, The Age Of Heroes is upon them and The Founders have returned in Kanda's time of greatest need.
Soon Kanda hopes to rebuild diplomatic bridges to the North and make use of The Southern Passage to The West via Soteri.
The newly opened war against Eldin encourages them to smash through the deserts and make way for the coming of a new era of Kandia expansion!
Soon Kanda will be able to reach out once again and take its place on the World Stage! The Question Remains, However...
What Will They Do When This Comes To Pass?
Just over twenty years ago The Theocracy Of Eldin captured the Strait Of Youth and cut off transit to the nations of the west; leaving the rest of the world stuck behind a curtain of frozen bogs, harsh deserts and well guarded grasslands.
Around that same time The Ducky Island and Salvin Wars were ended and communication with both Wing Island and The Salvinia has halted entirely.
The people of the grasslands south of the great desert have never cared to play nice and around a decade ago the northerners of Vaennland cut off contact and all trade with people of the south to consolidate their resources and isolate themselves from outside influence. While their economy once relied on interactions with those outside their own borders, Kanda has been forced for over two decades to live as a semi-isolationist state; sustaining their economy by drastic internal action and desperate political maneuvering with newer, more dangerous powers. Along the southern coasts on the way to Ta Fanusia Hyanus the Kandia have long since had good dealings with the Marca Isles (So Long As Their Port Laws Are Respected!) and several lords of the isles have recently sent their children off to the core of Kanda for quality Kandia educations.
Father east from the Marca Isles, along the equator, the broken continent known as The Spirit Isles waits with all manner of exotic goods, hardwoods for ship building and foreign commodities that mirror the treasures of the west that the Kandia have so longingly pined for since commerce was shut down.
South of the Band Of Green the jungles of The Pro Simian Confederacy hide a contemplative society of sapient apes that have been doing business with Kanda for generations, though hiding it behind simple trading posts populated entirely by clever human tradesmen that have given the Kandia the opinion that the Confederacy is a primitive, tribal coalition who live a simple, ignorant existence.
However, recently the Pro Simian Confederacy has been sending out caravans not only to Kanda but to the rest of Ta Mando in an effort to establish a presence on the world stage. As for the western powers beyond the veil of snow and sand, Kanda always had amazing relations with the Western Kingdom, Ditwala and Ka Danti; regarding them as the only three other societies that could be called "Civilized."
While not strictly reliant on any of them, trade goods flowed through all borders and brought all four nations great wealth and notoriety; the absence of which has considerably lowered the prestige and cosmopolitanism of each of them in turn, with The Western Kingdom only now finally starting to feel the true impact of Kanda's isolation from the rest of the world. Finally, Kanda is, in many ways, surrounded by lesser powers that either repel diplomatic advances, maintain secrecy or otherwise just keep to themselves!
While they have never been aware of it, The Kandia have been unknowingly interacting with the Saraviit of Ta Orana Pariptia for over a thousand years; the hunkiest men that pass through the area being squirreled away in the night and on foraging missions into the Bewebbed Foothills by the sexy spider women of the region's peaks and cliffsides!
The "Paradisaria" as they are known in the stories of Ta Puna Tonalusia have known of Kanda for many centuries but ultimately maintain a near utopic isolation that has only recently been broken by the Eldinia who seek to overtake the Strait Of Youth and turn the Forests Of Paradise to deserts and grassland for their religious mission.
South of The Band Of Green and between the realms of The Forests Of Paradise and The Pro Simian Confederacy the Kandia of Soteri have only recently become aware of The Hoard Principalities; a fractious realm of would be draconic monarchs who once fled from the advance of the Kandia nearly a millennium ago; having set themselves up as absolute rulers of the tribal people of the region and demanding tribute from all they can strongarm into submission! Beyond even these remote powers there are still more cultures and realms that Kanda knows very little about... such as the lizardfolk of Azshruu-Noor, the neandersovans of The Forever North, the Thunderers Of The Storm Watcher Isles and the enigmatic, mask wearing denizens of The Land Of Shells.
While the Kandia have not been able to explore too far beyond their borders in just over twenty years, The Age Of Heroes is upon them and The Founders have returned in Kanda's time of greatest need.
Soon Kanda hopes to rebuild diplomatic bridges to the North and make use of The Southern Passage to The West via Soteri.
The newly opened war against Eldin encourages them to smash through the deserts and make way for the coming of a new era of Kandia expansion!
Soon Kanda will be able to reach out once again and take its place on the World Stage! The Question Remains, However...
What Will They Do When This Comes To Pass?
Trade & Transport
Despite being truly phenomenal in size, Kanda is able to maintain its amazing girth through well guarded caravans, transport ships and low rank internal trade missions; almost all managed and administrated by a network of truly skilled and fanatically dedicated individuals in the ranks of the Imperial Censaria and Scurilia.
Tens of thousands of clerks and recordkeepers constantly keep track of different shipments across the waters and along the roads; monitoring food, water, spices, construction materials, soldiers, fodder, tools, textiles and anything else one can think of that needs to be kept track of.
Though this complicated bureaucracy may presently be in a slow phase, recent happenings in and around the borders of the Empire have started encouraging a widespread reform in the way Kanda does trade and there's no telling how they will advance into this new era of escaping isolation! Kanda is littered with countless road networks and perfectly gridded cities to better facilitate the proper transportation of important goods.
Carried along by donkey drawn wagons, Kandia roads facilitate the distribution of over 126 billion pounds of foodstuffs every year... and that isn't even including the wine!
Measuring twenty imperial feet of width to a "lane" when straight and forty feet to a lane when turning, most Imperial Highways are extremely standardized and extend as straight as possible whenever the engineers in charge have any say in the matter.
Constructed from Roman Style Concrete, it lasts for an incredibly long time even under adverse conditions and gets stronger when subjected to the presence of water. (Especially Salt Water!) Perhaps more importantly, the Core of Kanda sits around a great sea; the waves of which Kandia ships are always plying!
Huge Navosia of all different shapes and sizes deliver cargo from the core all the way out to Ta Fanusia Hyanus, The Spirit Isles and recently have started all the way out to Soteri!
Meanwhile, much smaller Simbia skip along the waves everywhere from the Strait of Youth in the southwest to the Glass Channels of the Northeast!
Thanks to the latterly intervention of The Bringer Of Fertility, even the most militarized vessels have been recently pulled into the business of fishing and transporting food and vital supplies to all parts of the empire not otherwise landlocked; overcome by a concern for Marek Of War-Saw's predicted "Year Without A Summer" and made to bolster an already completely packed system of regional warehouses and storage facilities.
Ships once dedicated to bringing iron wares and precious gems to the west through The Sea Of Youth now instead bring in great hauls of fish and sea plants while trading vessels that once carried hardwood and slaves from the Spirit Isles now instead transport overstuffed holds full of fruit preserves from the tropically verdant shores of Ta Fanusia Hyanus!
While most ships are quite mundane for the time, if hardier than one might expect from their 9th century earthly counterparts, some Kandia ships have been enchanted to always have a localized breeze at their backs, pushing them along in even the most unpleasant of seas!
Tens of thousands of clerks and recordkeepers constantly keep track of different shipments across the waters and along the roads; monitoring food, water, spices, construction materials, soldiers, fodder, tools, textiles and anything else one can think of that needs to be kept track of.
Though this complicated bureaucracy may presently be in a slow phase, recent happenings in and around the borders of the Empire have started encouraging a widespread reform in the way Kanda does trade and there's no telling how they will advance into this new era of escaping isolation! Kanda is littered with countless road networks and perfectly gridded cities to better facilitate the proper transportation of important goods.
Carried along by donkey drawn wagons, Kandia roads facilitate the distribution of over 126 billion pounds of foodstuffs every year... and that isn't even including the wine!
Measuring twenty imperial feet of width to a "lane" when straight and forty feet to a lane when turning, most Imperial Highways are extremely standardized and extend as straight as possible whenever the engineers in charge have any say in the matter.
Constructed from Roman Style Concrete, it lasts for an incredibly long time even under adverse conditions and gets stronger when subjected to the presence of water. (Especially Salt Water!) Perhaps more importantly, the Core of Kanda sits around a great sea; the waves of which Kandia ships are always plying!
Huge Navosia of all different shapes and sizes deliver cargo from the core all the way out to Ta Fanusia Hyanus, The Spirit Isles and recently have started all the way out to Soteri!
Meanwhile, much smaller Simbia skip along the waves everywhere from the Strait of Youth in the southwest to the Glass Channels of the Northeast!
Thanks to the latterly intervention of The Bringer Of Fertility, even the most militarized vessels have been recently pulled into the business of fishing and transporting food and vital supplies to all parts of the empire not otherwise landlocked; overcome by a concern for Marek Of War-Saw's predicted "Year Without A Summer" and made to bolster an already completely packed system of regional warehouses and storage facilities.
Ships once dedicated to bringing iron wares and precious gems to the west through The Sea Of Youth now instead bring in great hauls of fish and sea plants while trading vessels that once carried hardwood and slaves from the Spirit Isles now instead transport overstuffed holds full of fruit preserves from the tropically verdant shores of Ta Fanusia Hyanus!
While most ships are quite mundane for the time, if hardier than one might expect from their 9th century earthly counterparts, some Kandia ships have been enchanted to always have a localized breeze at their backs, pushing them along in even the most unpleasant of seas!
Education
Much like in most of the classical world, education in Kanda is not to be considered a compulsory institution; quite the contrary!
The average citizen of Kanda will most likely be born on or around a farm and should expect their parents to teach them whatever they need to know to become a responsible adult!
This includes but is not limited to the following;
Reading And Writing
Mathematics
Basic Heraldry
Basic Fitness And Combat Or Feminine Skills
And Whatever Their Particular Family Already Works In!
While this list is not necessarily guaranteed for every naturally born Kandia child it IS expected of any good Kandia parent to provide such an education for any children they might have!
Particularly well to do layfolk will be able to afford a tutor for their children or might even buy a scholarly slave to live with them and tend to the family education without any chance of distraction!
Especially well connected Gumaria and Anaria might even be able to hire personalized tutors for each of the subjects they wish their children to learn, though this is certainly the exception and not the rule!
Even if an individual is irresponsibly not given this simple of an education by their parents, at least all men will be expected to have a comprehensive understanding of the above and will be educated by Ta Miloti Do Kanda after they enlist upon becoming grown men. The Nobility And Upper Classes, in stark contrast, have no shortage of options available to them for academic upbringing!
Dedicated aristocratic parents often hire out a revolving door of tutors for their children, each and every one specifically chosen to unlock the child's potential to the fullest.
While every tutor is different and has different methods of teaching, wealthier children invariably get better educations than the common folk; with exception to dedicated specialties, which almost seem just as common in the poorest ranks of society as they are throughout the aristocracy!
Given the resources to travel much farther in search of education, aristocratic children and those belonging to well to do merchant families often speak several different languages, know how to read maps and get the opportunity to gain a small repertoire of magical tricks even when they do not possess The Gift. Childhood aside, most Kandia are of the opinion that REAL education begins in adulthood; a place of experiential learning rather than the safe, isolated nature of the home's comfortable library.
While there are few facilities throughout all of Kanda that offer much in the way of children's education, adults are known to frequent numerous colleges, universities and trade schools, known as Acedimia and Ladosia.
At these locations one might be able to pay to sit in on lectures and classes held by professors and scholars that have themselves paid or been paid to speak. Home to a thriving Apprentice System, the average Kandia tradesman is loathe to let even the poorest of potential students pass them by (ESPECIALLY in THIS Economy!) and Kandia children found to have a talent in almost any field are all too often picked up by interested parties even before their tenth birthday.
More or less adopted into their teacher's household, these children are subjected to a variety of harsh or preferential treatment, entirely depending on the individual who has taken them under their proverbial wing.
While some tutors fostering these talented children encourage them and do whatever they can to help the youths blossom into functional members of society, it is just as common for their teachers to squander the authority the have over these children; forcing them into servile roles that lack not only the legal protections of slavery but also the educational benefits of direct tutelage.
That being said, those that do benefit from education by caring or at least dedicated masters stand to gain much both in direct knowledge and experience as well as the potential reputational benefits of having graduated from the instruction of a well established tradesman!
Such benefits can be so powerful that they can quickly catapult a simple child born to former slaves into a lifelong career of fame and easy work!
The average citizen of Kanda will most likely be born on or around a farm and should expect their parents to teach them whatever they need to know to become a responsible adult!
This includes but is not limited to the following;
Reading And Writing
Mathematics
Basic Heraldry
Basic Fitness And Combat Or Feminine Skills
And Whatever Their Particular Family Already Works In!
While this list is not necessarily guaranteed for every naturally born Kandia child it IS expected of any good Kandia parent to provide such an education for any children they might have!
Particularly well to do layfolk will be able to afford a tutor for their children or might even buy a scholarly slave to live with them and tend to the family education without any chance of distraction!
Especially well connected Gumaria and Anaria might even be able to hire personalized tutors for each of the subjects they wish their children to learn, though this is certainly the exception and not the rule!
Even if an individual is irresponsibly not given this simple of an education by their parents, at least all men will be expected to have a comprehensive understanding of the above and will be educated by Ta Miloti Do Kanda after they enlist upon becoming grown men. The Nobility And Upper Classes, in stark contrast, have no shortage of options available to them for academic upbringing!
Dedicated aristocratic parents often hire out a revolving door of tutors for their children, each and every one specifically chosen to unlock the child's potential to the fullest.
While every tutor is different and has different methods of teaching, wealthier children invariably get better educations than the common folk; with exception to dedicated specialties, which almost seem just as common in the poorest ranks of society as they are throughout the aristocracy!
Given the resources to travel much farther in search of education, aristocratic children and those belonging to well to do merchant families often speak several different languages, know how to read maps and get the opportunity to gain a small repertoire of magical tricks even when they do not possess The Gift. Childhood aside, most Kandia are of the opinion that REAL education begins in adulthood; a place of experiential learning rather than the safe, isolated nature of the home's comfortable library.
While there are few facilities throughout all of Kanda that offer much in the way of children's education, adults are known to frequent numerous colleges, universities and trade schools, known as Acedimia and Ladosia.
At these locations one might be able to pay to sit in on lectures and classes held by professors and scholars that have themselves paid or been paid to speak. Home to a thriving Apprentice System, the average Kandia tradesman is loathe to let even the poorest of potential students pass them by (ESPECIALLY in THIS Economy!) and Kandia children found to have a talent in almost any field are all too often picked up by interested parties even before their tenth birthday.
More or less adopted into their teacher's household, these children are subjected to a variety of harsh or preferential treatment, entirely depending on the individual who has taken them under their proverbial wing.
While some tutors fostering these talented children encourage them and do whatever they can to help the youths blossom into functional members of society, it is just as common for their teachers to squander the authority the have over these children; forcing them into servile roles that lack not only the legal protections of slavery but also the educational benefits of direct tutelage.
That being said, those that do benefit from education by caring or at least dedicated masters stand to gain much both in direct knowledge and experience as well as the potential reputational benefits of having graduated from the instruction of a well established tradesman!
Such benefits can be so powerful that they can quickly catapult a simple child born to former slaves into a lifelong career of fame and easy work!
Infrastructure
While Kanda is an empire in the lower middle ages it certainly would seem to many like it came out of the 13th century AND The Height of the classical era at the same time.
Many buildings feature fanciful roman archways alongside practical, solid architecture and all cities are built on precisely measured and lain out networks at the center of national road nexuses with external factory compounds just outside of every town; utilizing watermills to grind grain and cut logs into boards.
Aqueducts carry water for hundreds of miles, feeding reservoirs and cisterns for public and private communities alike and wells are dug over 300 feet deep with exquisite narrowness; though only where water cannot be imported!
In larger cities and in the core streets are lined with torches that never go out and every major community has a "Tuniswe" to make surprisingly palatable potions for the masses... for a mild but standardized price. Buildings are made of stone or brick more often than not, with firm foundations that possess central heating and cooling systems via pipes under the home.
Running water is a standard in almost every community; with a system of bathhouses that are well maintained by a special class of slaves trained and integrated into society for these very jobs.
Whenever possible; Cities are built in near perfect grids, have well lain out housing districts and recognizable commercial and industrial districts as well as impressive sewer systems! Sewers are one of Kanda's greatest concerns and EVERY sewer in EVERY community is wide enough to allow a cart on either side of a central sluice ditch so as to allow traffic both ways.
Considered a marvel by the rest of the nations of the world, Kandia sanitation methodology is second to none and their cities are regarded as the cleanest in the world because of this!
Possessing running water in most large communities by way of their impressive aqueduct system, pumps and even the occasional water tower; sewers regularly flow out into designated rivers or even great ditches built by the community to carry the waste away from most homes and into an acceptable place for Farterinia to collect the waste for fertilizer. Main Highways in Kanda are standardized, lanes being 20 feet wide when straight and twice that when curving.
In the bulk of a community the lanes are typically 40 feet wide since most communities are built in grids and turning is often required to get where one is going, necessitating much wider roads; though often only the farthest interiors of the roads are free of foot traffic.
Furthermore, Horses are not permitted to move at over a trot in such communities during daylight hours. Kandia Roads are very much what modern folk would regard as "Roman Roads."
Almost always at least started by soldiers; a Kandia road is made by leveling the path and digging two trenches alongside it for the sake of drainage on rainy days.
The center of the path is very slightly raised to ensure that water does not pool on the center of the road.
Border stones are placed on the edges of the path straddling the drainage trenches to provide structure for later construction as well as to properly mark where the road is, even from a distance.
If motivated and conditions are good a standard Kandia Dirt Road may be built at up to 1.5 Yards per Man Day.
A proper Letanis of well trained and provisioned soldiers may therefor prepare 2.8 Miles of road for graveling every day. After marching soldiers construct the basic dirt path, less mobile groups of soldiers carry gravel and flat stones along the marked paths to provide purchase and structure to what will be a solid Kandia road!
The flat stones are usually left alongside the path but lain out in available positions for future roadbuilders.
Soldiers generally stop here, though they are able to do the next part of the job if it's convenient.
Once graveled and stocked with flat cobblestone more practiced engineers come to the site and mix special cement to be poured over the gravel trail, using the border stones to keep it in.
When the gravel is completely inundated with cement, the cobblestones will be placed over the first layer of cement as tightly as possible.
After the stones are all down the engineers will pour more cement overtop of the first layers and smooth out the roads until they are as even as they can possibly get, merely possessing the smallest outward descent to keep water from pooling up in the center of the path.
Because the Kandia use volcanic sediment in their cement it is incredibly durable, waterproof and resistant to wear and tear over time; much like traditional Roman Roads. Properly maintained, some of the oldest Kandia roads have existed for a millennium and a half; planned out and overseen by the Builder Of Cities himself!
Many buildings feature fanciful roman archways alongside practical, solid architecture and all cities are built on precisely measured and lain out networks at the center of national road nexuses with external factory compounds just outside of every town; utilizing watermills to grind grain and cut logs into boards.
Aqueducts carry water for hundreds of miles, feeding reservoirs and cisterns for public and private communities alike and wells are dug over 300 feet deep with exquisite narrowness; though only where water cannot be imported!
In larger cities and in the core streets are lined with torches that never go out and every major community has a "Tuniswe" to make surprisingly palatable potions for the masses... for a mild but standardized price. Buildings are made of stone or brick more often than not, with firm foundations that possess central heating and cooling systems via pipes under the home.
Running water is a standard in almost every community; with a system of bathhouses that are well maintained by a special class of slaves trained and integrated into society for these very jobs.
Whenever possible; Cities are built in near perfect grids, have well lain out housing districts and recognizable commercial and industrial districts as well as impressive sewer systems! Sewers are one of Kanda's greatest concerns and EVERY sewer in EVERY community is wide enough to allow a cart on either side of a central sluice ditch so as to allow traffic both ways.
Considered a marvel by the rest of the nations of the world, Kandia sanitation methodology is second to none and their cities are regarded as the cleanest in the world because of this!
Possessing running water in most large communities by way of their impressive aqueduct system, pumps and even the occasional water tower; sewers regularly flow out into designated rivers or even great ditches built by the community to carry the waste away from most homes and into an acceptable place for Farterinia to collect the waste for fertilizer. Main Highways in Kanda are standardized, lanes being 20 feet wide when straight and twice that when curving.
In the bulk of a community the lanes are typically 40 feet wide since most communities are built in grids and turning is often required to get where one is going, necessitating much wider roads; though often only the farthest interiors of the roads are free of foot traffic.
Furthermore, Horses are not permitted to move at over a trot in such communities during daylight hours. Kandia Roads are very much what modern folk would regard as "Roman Roads."
Almost always at least started by soldiers; a Kandia road is made by leveling the path and digging two trenches alongside it for the sake of drainage on rainy days.
The center of the path is very slightly raised to ensure that water does not pool on the center of the road.
Border stones are placed on the edges of the path straddling the drainage trenches to provide structure for later construction as well as to properly mark where the road is, even from a distance.
If motivated and conditions are good a standard Kandia Dirt Road may be built at up to 1.5 Yards per Man Day.
A proper Letanis of well trained and provisioned soldiers may therefor prepare 2.8 Miles of road for graveling every day. After marching soldiers construct the basic dirt path, less mobile groups of soldiers carry gravel and flat stones along the marked paths to provide purchase and structure to what will be a solid Kandia road!
The flat stones are usually left alongside the path but lain out in available positions for future roadbuilders.
Soldiers generally stop here, though they are able to do the next part of the job if it's convenient.
Once graveled and stocked with flat cobblestone more practiced engineers come to the site and mix special cement to be poured over the gravel trail, using the border stones to keep it in.
When the gravel is completely inundated with cement, the cobblestones will be placed over the first layer of cement as tightly as possible.
After the stones are all down the engineers will pour more cement overtop of the first layers and smooth out the roads until they are as even as they can possibly get, merely possessing the smallest outward descent to keep water from pooling up in the center of the path.
Because the Kandia use volcanic sediment in their cement it is incredibly durable, waterproof and resistant to wear and tear over time; much like traditional Roman Roads. Properly maintained, some of the oldest Kandia roads have existed for a millennium and a half; planned out and overseen by the Builder Of Cities himself!
Ta Pipulia, Ta Fabilia, Ta Kandar, Ta Dausia!
Founding Date
0
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Alternative Names
Ta Mandia Socatus
Formation Type
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Veteran
Demonym
Kandia
Leader
Leader Title
Head of State
Government System
Monarchy, Constitutional
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Mixed economy
Currency
There are four standards of currency in The Empire Of Kanda:
While many more forms of coinage exist within Kanda, these are the most common forms of currency as well as being the ones that fit together most seamlessly in the parchmentwork of The Empire! Jade - For The Imperials ~ The Papyrus Note, the Sinter Bloc, the Jade Bead, the Jade Chip and the Jade Bar
1 Bar = 180 Chips
1 Chip = 10 Beads
1 Bead = 100 Blocs
1 Bloc = 1,000 Notes
1 Note = 1,000 Imperial Keys (Gold) Gold - For The Aristocracy ~ The Rose Jangle, the Tumba Horn, the White Disk, the Gold Star and the Imperial Key
1 Key = 100 Stars
1 Star = 50 Discs
1 Disc = 20 Horns
1 Horn = 100 Jangles
1 Jangle = 10 Foggers (Silver) Silver - For The Layman ~ The Billon Penny, the Sterling Gib, the Silver Jill and the Electrum Fogger
1 Fogger = 20 Jills
1 Jill = 50 Gibs
1 Gib = 10 Pennies Salt - For the Peasantry ~ Trade Grade And Below; Altogether Five Different Accepted "Grades"
Pure White (1st Grade)
Pink Salt (Temple Salt)
Off-White (2nd Grade)
Grey Salt (3rd Grade)
Sand/Dirt Salt (Unmarketable) A MUCH Larger explanation of the currency system will be explained in the future in a separate article.
While many more forms of coinage exist within Kanda, these are the most common forms of currency as well as being the ones that fit together most seamlessly in the parchmentwork of The Empire! Jade - For The Imperials ~ The Papyrus Note, the Sinter Bloc, the Jade Bead, the Jade Chip and the Jade Bar
1 Bar = 180 Chips
1 Chip = 10 Beads
1 Bead = 100 Blocs
1 Bloc = 1,000 Notes
1 Note = 1,000 Imperial Keys (Gold) Gold - For The Aristocracy ~ The Rose Jangle, the Tumba Horn, the White Disk, the Gold Star and the Imperial Key
1 Key = 100 Stars
1 Star = 50 Discs
1 Disc = 20 Horns
1 Horn = 100 Jangles
1 Jangle = 10 Foggers (Silver) Silver - For The Layman ~ The Billon Penny, the Sterling Gib, the Silver Jill and the Electrum Fogger
1 Fogger = 20 Jills
1 Jill = 50 Gibs
1 Gib = 10 Pennies Salt - For the Peasantry ~ Trade Grade And Below; Altogether Five Different Accepted "Grades"
Pure White (1st Grade)
Pink Salt (Temple Salt)
Off-White (2nd Grade)
Grey Salt (3rd Grade)
Sand/Dirt Salt (Unmarketable) A MUCH Larger explanation of the currency system will be explained in the future in a separate article.
Legislative Body
The Imperial System is overseen by thousands of Kensaria, Generals, Scurrilia, Siviandia, High Ranking Landowners and other state officials that represent popular demographics who often meet in a style not dissimilar from the Roman Senate. (Called Ta Thinal)
Judicial Body
Kanda is held up by an almost Imperial Chinese type of Bureaucracy with colleges dedicated to all sorts of legal ventures, judgments, memorization and the classification of old law into new systems.
Subsidiary Organizations
Deities
Divines
Official Languages
Related Ranks & Titles
Related Professions
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
Comments