Duarchy of Kotimaa

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One of the Successor States, occupying the regions of Dreamshore and Kotimaa.

Major Cities

Economics

Exports/major production
wood products, fruits, wool, artifacts, leather/fur
Imports
grains, spices, dyes, worked metal

Government

Two equal leaders, one for each region. Kotimaa is a racially-federal republic, while Dreamshore is a feudal semi-federal state.

Layers

The top layer of the government are the Duarchs--two individuals (one from each region) who serve as the chief executives and moderators. The Kotimaan duarch is also the Chancellor; the Dreamshore duarch is the reigning Lord/Lady.

Kotimaa

The highest level of the Kotimaan government is the Parliament of Free Peoples. It has 3 representatives from each of the racial and factional groups (listed below) and elects a Chancellor to serve as the executive. The Chancellor has a veto, but otherwise does not vote. The parliament is also the supreme judiciary committee.

Below the Parliament are the individual factions that have seats. Each one has a different method of selecting their representatives. Also noted for each one is their location and major political leaning. Expansionist groups want to grow, conquer, and increase their interactions with other nations and peoples; the Isolationists want to stay independent of and unaffected by other nations and want to focus on building inward strength rather than pushing the borders of civilization. Currently there is a relative balance, with Isolationism slightly dominant.

Faction Race(s) Location Political Leanings
Dominion hell-bred orcs, humans, half-orcs Godsfall (Elysium/Arcadian Fields) Expansionist
Isshin isshin (subterranean "monsters") Godsfall (Elysium/Abaddon) Isolationist
Kindred shifters, sher-ka Godsfall (Abaddon/Acheron) Isolationist
Merchant Collective mixed Dispersed. HQ: Godsfall (Brightwater) Expansionist
Orcs (Tribal) orcs North-western forest lands Expansionist
Puun Ihmisia puun ihmisia Eastern forest lands Isolationist
Sages mixed Godsfall (Brightwater) Neutral
Sinner's Tear humans, elves, halflings Godsfall (Elysium), True Hold Isolationist
Wall-builders humans, halflings Sea of Grass Expansionist
Watching Eye orcs, puun ihmisia Godsfall (Green Zone) Isolationist

The current Chancellor is Iseis, formerly of the Godsfall Champions.

Dreamshore

The region of Dreamshore has much less racial and factional diversity. After the Guildmasters plot, the citizens of Dreamshore formed feudal territories under notable wealthy individuals and land-owners. They selected Lady Coldwind as their unifying leader, much to her chagrin and over her strenuous objections. Most of the power still rests in the feudal nobles, however.

Council of Nobles
The dukes (a total of 6), Lady Coldwind, and the lord-mayor of Baile Craan. They are the main "legislative" body, although they mostly coordinate between the dukes (who represent their vassals as well as their own interests).
The Six Dukes
each of these nobles is, in effect, a king. They claim areas of the nation and then delegate partial control to lesser nobles
  • Duke Eastmountain (Eastmountain Dutchy): The least "real" of the duchies, this family was chosen by the free mountain clans and villages stretching from Baile Craan east to the Giant Spine Mountains to be their representative. The current Eastmountain is a middle-aged human woman whose primary objective is to puncture the inflated egos of the other nobles.
  • Duke Eastwalk (Eastwalk Dutchy): Ruling over the plains in the south-east sector (east of the last river but north of the Holy Kaelthian Republic border, Eastwalk is a highly conservative human male. It's believed that he has strong ties to the Republic.
  • Duke Farthingale (Farthingale Duchy): Of the Bradavon Farthingale halfling clan, Duke Rakel Farthingale is a classic halfling matron. Arch conservative (especially where gender roles are concerned), extremely dismissive of all males, extremely religious. Her family's wealth comes from the apiaries which supply much of the region with honey. Her heir was Nyx Astra until she fled after being accused of participating in the destruction of the Cherry Blossom Temple.
  • Duke Pactum (Pactum Dutchy) Least conventionally religious of all of the dukes. Has strong ties with Pactum Grove. Human female, early 20s (attained her majority only two years ago taking over from a regent after her parents died in an accident).
  • Duke Rabbit Lake (Elfhame Dutchy): Most people call her a pirate. Rabbiton is home to sailors, fishermen, and unsavory folks, as well as heavy mixing with Kotimaa proper. Half-elf (earthblood), middle aged. A striking beauty, except for her foul mouth and scars.
  • Duke Westmountain (Westmountain Dutchy): The other "mountain" duke is an oddity. He's a half-orc who won his position by outthinking his competitors. Extremely non-traditional, he rules very lightly and is working to increase industry (especially mining and logging) in his area.
The Yarls
each of these nobles controls a county with one or two significant towns and the surrounding villages.
  • Yarl Westmarch. An ihmisi woman who holds court from an ihmisi village on the edge of the woods. Not too concerned with what's going on outside the ihmisi-claimed woods.
  • Yarl Goldmountain. A dwarven man, one of the elders of a lesser dwarven clan in the Westmountain Dutchy. Mining focused. Only very lightly supervises his non-dwarven barons.
  • Yarl Lillian Farthingale (of the Bradford Farthingales, not the main line). Rules over Bradford and its wool trade. Devoted to Sakara and the patron of the Cherry Blossom Temple nearby. A kindly, but elderly woman, she's relatively progressive when it comes to gender roles. Killed in the destruction of the temple by raiders in 250 AC. County Bradford currently ruled by Betsy Farthingale-Azur.
The Barons
each of these control a barony with a few villages.
  • Baron Sumpter : rules Cragdale and Honedaxe. Answers directly to Yarl Goldmountain and then to Duke Westmountain. Made his fortune by inventing a better suspension for carriages and owns a significant interest in the Dreampost, a fast-courier service that runs coaches with mail and people throughout the area. Bought his title from the previous Baron who had fallen desperately in debt, in part due to penalties levied against his bastard son.
  • Baron Silverpeak : A courtesy title without lands. Related to Duke Eastwalk, but spends his time in Baile Craan looking after his commercial interests in the hauling business.
  • Baron Nyx Astra : An assumed name, her real name is Nyxianalara-lee Rumptwist (of the Bradavon Rumptwists). She's an aggressive, power-hungry young female halfling who made her name in repelling ogre-kin raids on the eastern frontier and has been adopted into the Farthingale clan as the next heir (since the rest of the Bradavon Farthingales are unmitigated nitwits). Exiled after the destruction of Cherry Blossom Temple and then later killed by her estranged husband Tsun Azur during her assault on the dragon graveyard in the Dragonreach.

Demographics

Kotimaa

  • Orcs (tribal and hell-bred) 45%
  • puun ihmisia 40%
  • humans (wall-builder) 10%
  • sher-ka & shifters 3%
  • Other 2%

Population Distribution:

  • Godsfall ~20k
  • Rabbiton ~6k
  • villages ~30k
  • tribal ~50k

Dreamshore

  • wall-builder humans 60%
  • wall-builder halflings 35%
  • puun ihmisia 5%

Population Distribution

  • Cities: 30k
  • Towns and villages: 90k
  • Rural/pastoral: 30k

Religion

Mostly kami-based in Kotimaa proper, although there's heavy ecumenical Congregation-worship in Godsfall.

Dreamshore is a mix--many of the wall-builders still follow the Seasonal Four but are no longer in full communion with the Temple at Kaelthia. Others have drifted into syncretic mixes of congregation worship, kami propitiation, and ancestor veneration, especially among the mountain folk.

Culture

  • Highly individualistic/family based.
  • not particularly coherent as a nation, mostly just united against outsiders (especially Holy Kaelthian Republic)

TODO