Kelpeater Empire
The First Colonial Empire on Waking Materia; The Promise Kept
Also known as the Kelpeater Dominion or the First Extraplanar Empire, sometimes simplified to the Dominion or the First Empire, the Kelpeater Empire was a multi-continent spanning theo-necrocracy under the God-Emperor Inum'indiron'aravaut (sometimes shortened to Ina'ut) on the plane of Waking Materia. As the name indicates, they were the civilization to arrive on Materia from off-plane.
The Kelpeaters originated from the faraway plane of Lorgain, a relatively advanced world nearer to the multiversial hub of the Eridún Crux. Its capital on Materia was Alanthan'aravaut. The Empire's demonyms are most often Dominion, Empyreal, Kelpeater, Thaulan or sometimes Alanthian.
Though highly authoritarian and with a tightly-controlled culture in many respects, the First Empire was a cosmopolitan, multispecies alliance, more diverse than most Third Age Materians could even fathom. It is named after God-Emperor Ina'ut's native people, the Ula'thau'la, and the unique, blood-red kelp that formed the basis of their diet and gave their skin its distinctive coppery colour.
Nearly all of the Dominion was annihilated by the Deluge. Empyreal survivors lucky enough to be on the unaffected, upland fringes of terrestrial Materia were either assimilated into other cultures or began new ones increasingly divorced from Kelpeater culture. Much of the knowledge that remains of the empire is blended irreperably with hyperbole, outside folklores and simple mistellings.Description
See also: Imagery of Alanthan'aravaut (External)Kelpeater architecture was generally geometric and brutalist, with Ina'ut and his various puppet royalties favouring colossal ziggurats, pyramids and other polygonal structures for their bases. They appeared to exalt artifice over nature, preferring their buildings to stand out among the surrounding valleys, jungles and inland seas of young Waking Materia.
As the plane was still a waterworld even before the Deluge, massive canals and aqueducts were built to feed the generally centralized settlements. Plant life was common and robust even in the most metropolitan areas, providing much-needed shade from the heat and readily-available fruits and vegetables in all seasons. Lakes and inner seas were often converted into massive, floating farms for their coveted Thaulan kelp. Exceptional breeders and biomancers, the flora and fauna created by the Empire spread and sometimes intermingled throughout Materia, leaving it difficult to know which species are truly indigenous.People
See full article: Sapient Species of First Age MateriaAlanthan'aravaut included dozens of species from several planes, spanning the distance between Lorgain and Materia. The ula'thau'la comprised the core of the Empire since its origins as nautical reivers in northwest Lorgain. Prior to defecting from their home plane, the empire recruited (by force or finance) other Lorganite species such as the ghent, the aikyo and the heartlanders, as well as common multiplanar settlers like halflings, dwarves, aselu and the like. During their travels from Egwain to Materia, they also formed fragile cultural partnerships with the qufit, onidoshi and pukwudgies.
Rule
For more on Kelpeater government, see full article: Alanthan'aravaut
For more information on individual godlords, see the full article: Colonial Gods
The Kelpeater Empire was a true necrocracy and an absolute monarchy, ruled unquestioningly by a heirarchy of Lichlords, called Šaru'um ("Great Lords") with their Šar'šara'ani ("Lord of Lords"), Ina'ut, at the summit. The Šaru'um were the only members of Dominion society given some leeway to act as they please, but even then were obligated to align with Ina'ut's dictates at all times.
Caste
The Kelpeater Empire had a heavily structured society, with colour being an important cultural method of signalling rank, caste, occupation, et cetera. For example, any scarves or hats you might buy could only be "below" your rank (determined by several factors) on the linear colour gradient. They had been able to do this without issue on Lorgain as materials for dye were easy to come by, but such materials were rarer on Materia. In fact, the demand for the ula'thau'la to keep their literally colourful practices drove up the price of dye materials astronomically, generating a moderate-sized multiplanar market centred around Materia and a series of years-long trade conflicts known as the Dye Wars.Modern Legacy
Of course, an empire of such collossal scale as this has left a substantial mark on dozens of Modern cultures, even through the Deluge and nearly four thousand intervening years.The Yasnan Calendar
The arrival of the Kelpeater Empire would mark the transition from Materia's "Dawn Era" to "The Early Meranthic Era" or "The First Age of Man" (often shortened to simply "The First Age"). Their arrival is therefore designated I.M. 0 (zero years Intra-Merantha) on the Yasnan Calendar, named after its Lorganite creator, Yasna Edea-Zageznatir.Kelpeater Genes
Modern Meranthic Peoples on Waking Materia almost invariably have a shrunken, vestigial, second pair of arms, for most little more than a second set of shoulder blades. This is due to lingering ula'thau'la genetics in the gene pool. Though the growths are easy to hide, this is a distinguishing feature of Materians on other planes, and can be used as such by spies or forensicists.Surviving Infrastructure
Nearly all of Alanthan'aravaut, which spanned much of central Materia, was destroyed by the Deluge. Recognizeable Alanthian ruins—let alone intact buildings or infrastructure—are rare, confined mostly to a scattered ring around the Voidward edges of the plane. Much of that ring, in turn, is found on small, isolated islands far out into Materia's haunted, kaiju-ridden oceans, out of reach of all but the luckiest (or unluckiest) of explorers. Modern population centres nearest to intact ruins include the Petal Cities of Marai, the Ong & Oronaga cities of the Emerald Expanse, Furia & Emeralda of Khayyam and Greysigil on the Firstsong Islands.
Certain important ruins are also guarded by the Dragon Knights of Tallarax, the knight-sages of the Duskscape Regent or secrets, Tallari-Anaviri-Irallat. They seem to be preventing the discovery of important lore or technology originating from Furia's original God-Lord, Na'ashu.Iyō and Modern Marai
Another of Inum'indiron'aravaut's elitemost servants, the Lichlord Io'a, would eventually defect to lead his own nation of Iyō, which would war with but eventually be subsumbed by what is now Marai to the east and Khayyam to the west. Ancient Iyō culture is especially apparent among the far-western Chiyō and Oronaga clans of the Emerald Expanse. These descendants of the Iyō are among the most direct descendants of the Kelpeaters, as the Iyō split from the Dominion only shortly before the Deluge came.The Great Fractionation
The great nation of Iyō and its separation from the Kelpeater Empire was only foreshadowing to a much greater loss for the Kelpeaters, known as the Great Fractionation. After a devastating and inexplicable event known as the Darkest Decade, in which the entire plane was enveloped in ceaseless night for nearly ten years, Dominion resources were decimated and unable to provide for many of their peripheral nations, thus forcing them into independence. These nations include modern-day Furia, Emeralda, Skandavat and Kintyria-Mors, among others.
Profile: A Kelpeater ishka'ri warrior with their vestigial arms grown to full size.
Profile art credit: Chase ConleyBanner art credit: G liulian
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