Otoerm Coil
by hughpierre
Structure
There is no fixed place of power for the Otoerm Coil. The effective capital city is rotated among the major settlements that make up the coil. However, circumstance have arose many times in the past where a single place held power for longer than normal. Whether officially or unofficially.
| Letchworth | Welwyn | Huexotzingo | Cholula | Moor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Times as the Capital | 18 |
15 |
14 |
9 |
5 |
| Predominant Contribution | Intelligence Gathering | Water Management | Martial Tradition | Food Security | Territorial Buffer |
| City Sigils |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Public Agenda
The 'Coil' in the Otoerm Coil is in reference to the defensive posture a snake takes when threatened. It is a culturally specific term which denotes a defensive alliance that ties military and trade subsistence together as necessity dictates. For many years, they have sought to resist the sang and Sangsalgu and would continue to do so, with the ultimate goal to cast them down.
Assets
The most important facilities of the coil are the ancient construction projects during the alliance age that further healthy living and defend the state.
Table Channels and Wells
The channels are man-made underground waterways, cut into the bedrock, that carry water filtered through limestone from sources atop the Step to gardener cities and serviced through deep dug wells.Man-Made Rolling Hills
Piles of dirt, seeds, pieces of pottery and general wastes from long ago have morphed some parts of the plains of dragonsgrave to grow long, round-top embankments 30 feet high and trenches in-between, 25 feet deep.History
There have been many military alliances seen throughout the grave's history. Otoerm Coil has had many spiritual predecessors; too many to count. But those have always been comparatively small and limited; and had been formed to contend with other garden cities.
Cocao War
The Eben alliance was a collapsing coalition that was re-energized in responding to a common treat in the form of the Sang. It was the last hurrah of the preeminent border state that successfully fended them off. The victory inspired other alliances and city states to coalesce and decisively drive them out. Poised to defeat them once and for all after a particularly fatal sang misstep, torrential rains began to fall that carried the Matlazahuatl which devastated the populations in dragonsgrave and forced the combined armies to disband. After this, Eben effectively ceased to exist. The Sang's successful resurgence after the plague ran its course led to them overextending themselves which resulted in their total defeat. Due in large part to the timely intervention of the Mountain and River Toiks that discredited the Sang as a further treat; and led to the formation of new Coils and further intervention of outsides forces.First Flower War
Undoubtedly, the worst times the Garden has had with Sang has been after periods of plague. After one particularly bad drought, came Cocoliztli and a desperate people. Sangsalgu's emperor Haldon and other city leaders sought to appease the gods in a wide spanning tournament: the first Flower War. Human sacrifice was an old custom to valley folk- primarily used during times of strife. But sang priests wanted to assure the favour of the gods, so petitioned to continue the tournament year after year. And the Coil has been their garden ever since. The Coil system was revived to counteract the repeated wars and on a larger scale any other that came before it. Five preeminent gardener kings at the time had declared their territory the "Otoerm" Coil after the famous law writer and philosopher of their collective past.Demography and Population
The population is spread across major and minor settlements. Most large communities encircled by dragon walls or stone walls that consists between 12000-32000 people; are orbited by smaller ones of 100-500 people.
Major and Satellite Settlements
Ebenezer
Epexos
Tlalmixiq
Taltepec
Welwyn
Ximchica
Chimala
Oacapan
Coatenocht
Iloc
Huaca
Letchworth
Canautla
Huacamixc
Ixquian
Cholula
Tehalca
Tequiaco
Chenalco
Tepexpec
Copeca
Huexotzingo
Tlumanang
Tepexpec
Xiquiaco
Huetula
Epec
Tenaloya
Moor
Tlumixac
Camixco
Tepeco
Unwin
Atlixco
Chalca
Minor Independent Settlements
Tlahueximch
Mestepec
Colmixca
Tepoxtla
Chuetepec
Malanayuc
Antehuan
Huaxtumba
Taltepan
Hichuaco
Chuaxtalte
Tenango
Territories
The territory of the Garden Plot is a collection of small to medium sized cities in north and middle parts of Dragonsgrave. It is completely surrounded by its arch enemy: the Triple Alignment and has been under total alignment blockade for the past two generations.
Military
City Guards
These are the cities' garrison permanently stationed inside the Dragon Walls of those who can maintain one. Guardsmen who originate from the minor settlements are allowed to bring their immediate families into the major ones with them. There is fierce competition between individuals to prove their worth and secure a future for their families via the feats during Flower Wars.Shadow Guard
Named by their enemies for their exploits. The shadow guard are a covert group, unrecognized by any coil city, specialized in espionage and sabotage. There is little else known of them, cept that they likely have operatives in many corners outside of Otoerm Coil territory.Religion
The cult of the dueling snakes originates from the prior civilizations, now fallen, who populated the valley. It mentions the duel entities of Massy and Set, the contesting entities of the cosmos:
All of the Garden Cities incorporate the black and white dueling snakes in some way into their city sigil. For the religious temples, the mark of two snakes consuming each other is carved into places of prominence.
Massy
One; bone white with piercing red eyes and bathing in light so bright, it is rarely even possible to be seen.Set
The other, pitch black; and forever hooded in shadows. It is said to be found wherever one finds the orbs glowing softly in the night. These are the gods' eyes.Dragons of Yin and Yang by JoJoesArt
Foreign Relations
Triple Alignment
Sang
UnfriendlyThe Coil is a defensive alliance that formed to counteract Sang expansionism and are opposed to nearly everything Sangsalgu does.
Step Folk
FavourableStep folk unaffiliated with their government discreetly trade or smuggle goods that are desperately needed for special arrangements and profits. They are especially valued due to the blockade that totally encircles the territory.
Toiks
NeutralIt is thought that college is a source of some materials that have entered the coil. Though they have historically fought together against the Sang, the relationship soured after they joined the Sang alliance network.
Agriculture & Industry
Narcotics
It is all but confirmed that mass farms and distilleries are privately and publicly run deep inside Otoerm as part of a mix terror/force multiplier strategy against their foes.Dammed Rivers
Most of the rivers that flow towards Sangsalgu Proper flow through Otoerm Coil which has given them considerable bargaining power in the past when they divert the water else-wheres. More insidiously, the river water have been contaminated in the past to poison alignment citizens.Farming
The cities and lands in the Coil are not the most fertile in dragonsgrave; inpart because of the split dragon blood. Land workers are even further stymied, however, since every seasonal flower war disrupts harvests. To compensate for the inevitable loses, a farmer collective cooperates to compensate those most affected in raids in the form of alternative food stuff. Cholula, in particular, possesses the most arable land; so is charged with managing these assurances and distributing food to the areas most troubled.Trade & Transport
There are several established interconnected foot paths between the cities and settlements of the Garden. But usable pathways leading outwards and through the imposed blockade are secret; and are jealously guarded by the few and the powerful, as a means of smuggling goods in and out.
Underground
The hundreds of wells that control the Coil's extensive irrigation system also lead through several underground waterways, some of which branch outside Otoerm's territory towards abandoned wells.
Overland
Many clandestine units, sponsored by several garden cities inside and private enterprises outside use clever disguises, ruses and secret agents to bypass the alignment's blockade.
Blood Suspicions
Mountain Blood
It has been long thought that tunnels from the olden times of giants worm their way underneath the ground leading towards valley floor and that secret organizations use.
College Suspicions
College
Given the continued resource findings within the Garden Plot at random points in Alignment/Coil relations. It is already widely held that individual private parties violate blockade policies; most prevalent from Long Step. However, given the insular nature of Toikorien, it is unlikely certain items would have found their way without state sponsorship.Infrastructure
Dragon Walls
Dragon walls are the preserved bodies of the fallen dragon corpses with their feathers still in place and organs removed. Their serpentine bodies are painstakingly positioned to wrap around the perimeter of the old city limits oftentimes requiring 3 or 4 dragons at the least to be considered complete. In spite of the feather walls' pristine form, they are actually older than most of the cities. The dragons having been gutted and maintained by an ancient preservative by an ancient people. The exact details of how to properly construct a wall from a dragon is long lost but pre-alliance conquerors used to steal away the dragon of vanquished states to incorporate into their own. A practice that is now impractical, but old and minor cities still gripe about the lost dragons of their homes still serving the major settlements.Lolth's Web
Named after the spider goddess of judgement, the web consists of the various river waters that flow from the snowy Step that can be redirected via dikes and dams into areas such that the landscape can be unrecognizable to enemy maps. The web can introduce obstacles and traps to hostile forces that entered the territory. The problem is that it is a complicated system dependent on timing, predictive reasoning, field coordination and luck to work as intended.But when done succinctly, armies have been blocked, rerouted, trapped and drowned thanks to Lolth in her judgement.
Type
Political, Confederation
Alternative Names
- Garden Plot
- Plot
- Coil
Predecessor Organization
Training Level
Semi-professional
Veterancy Level
Experienced
Demonym
Government System
Oligarchy
Power Structure
Transnational government
Economic System
Command/Planned economy
Currency
Major Exports
Jax, Dragon Feathers, Unskilled Labour
Major Imports
Silver Silk, Fungal Fabrics, Snow, Cacao beans, Bird Feathers
Legislative Body
- Conciliatory
Judicial Body
- Judicatory
- Arbitrary
Official State Religion
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Related Professions
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Manufactured Items
Related Ethnicities
Quotes about Coils
No war has been won fighting defensively
If these coils have been so useful, why were they destroyed so spectacularly?If I had said pathetic, what would you have said?Because it had needed to be spectacular to destroy them.If a coil was lost to something pathetic, it was not a coil.
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