The Kalae Sama Empire

Scope

Occupying almost the entirety of a Temperate/Sub-tropical continent and it's neighboring archipeligae, the Kalae Sama (People of The Sword) were originally a human island tribe of warrior/fishermen.

To the West of the Empire lies the Nevida Ocean, which remains largely untraversed, due to its breadth and lack of intervening land. The western border of the Empire is an extremely high and nearly impassable mountain range unsettled by humans. The northern border consists of a large frozen sea and to the south lies a desert expanse which has thus far attracted no interest in exploration.

Environmental Profile

Society Age

The culture of the Kalae Sama is one of the elder civilizations; the first Emporer was crowned 1500 years ago. After many generations of relatively continous warfare with the other island tribes, a a young warrior/priest of the local war god decided to invade another island, rather than simply attack their boats. This revolutionary tactic took the islanders completely by surprise. His success brought followers and converts from some of the other tribes as his campaign expanded. After conquering a little more than half of the archipeligo, he named himself Orisama (Emperor) and built his palace on his home island, where it stands to this day. He then dismissed almost 80% of his army and decreed that the only standing army would be the Sakaloe (warrior/priests). This was met with some resentment at first, but was soon accepted as the Sakaloe demonstrated more discipline and milder temperment than the general soldiery.

The second emperor murdered his brothers in order to ensure his attaining the throne, thus setting the precedent for the inheritance rights of the nobles of today. He then proceeded to conquer the remaining independant islands. The third emperor expanded the empire onto the mainland. This established a pattern whereby each successive emporer secured the support of the other Lords by expanding the empire, with at least one neighboring culture being conquered each generation. He also suppressed the worship of all gods except the patron of the Sakalanea and declared that the emporer was the mortal avatar of this god.

After about 400 years, the first imperial dynasty was overthrown by a coalition of the more powerful Lords. The new emporer immediately ordered the deaths of his "allies". His second decree was to weaken the warrior/priest caste by forbidding clerical/magical training to the warriors (Sakalanea) and weapon training to the clergy (Saneasama). The imperial family, however, still practices the ways of the Sakalaloe and are thus are yet well versed in both arms and magic. He thereby established the tri-lateral power structure of the Emporer\Church\Army.

The empire continued to expand in this manner for the next 750 years. With each expansion, any military technology which had been particularly effective in resisting their advance was quickly adopted by the empire. Thus, although the majority of their technology has stagnated, they are notably effective in battle.

The last three emporers have been unable to successfully expand the empire through the mountains to the west due to the presence of a dwarven culture who have proven undefeatable to the forces of the Kalae Sama. In order to belay the ambitions of the lords, the current monarch is looking to the sea in search of lands to aquire, but has so far, found only a culture of Sea Elves whose naval technology and tactics have overmatched those of the Empire.

To further add to his troubles, a renegade cult of warrior/priests in the style of the Sakalaloe have recently come to light. These holy swordsmen are viewed by the Emporer, the Lords and the Clergy as a serious threat to their way of life, but they are received with great respect (and sometimes appreciation) by the common people of the Empire.

Philosophical Orientation

The Kalae Sama maintain an Orientation of Conquest with an Active Stance. The people see themselves as culturally superior, and believe it is their destiny to rule the entire world. They are a fighting culture and fight amongst themselves constantly, keeping their military and political skills sharp. While there is an effort to expand via the sea, the Kalae Sama currently have no neighbors upon whom they might prey. The Kala Sama Empire has Orientation Aspects of Acquisition (Lands), Acquisition (Military Technology), Conviction (Religious), Conviction (Cultural Superiority), Tradition (Warfare), and Stagnation (Non-military Technology).

Isolation and Interaction

The Kalae Sama Empire is almost completely inaccessible; the only routes into or out of the empire are through the dwarven held mountains, across the desert to the south or across the ocean. The Kalae Sama Empire is also seldom interactive with other cultures except through warfare.

Technology

The Empire has developed its material technology to the point of developing steel, but has not developed carbon control. Their military technologies are somewhat more advanced due to their willingness to assimilate any technology having to do with weapons. Architecture, agriculture and transport technologies lag considerably behind due to a lack of emphasis, but transport technology, particularly sea travel, is beginning to increase in importance in the eyes of the Emporer. The rate of technological advancement is slow. Though quick to assimilate military technology, their rate of assimilation is also slow overall.

Subsistence and Mobility

The Kalae Sama are insipient agricultural, with primarily sources of diet being crops and cattle but fishing and hunting being a significant supplement. They are a sedentary society, with great cities and townships and many outlying communities.

Political Infrastructure

The Empire is strictly tyrannical, with all Nobles owing allegiance directly to the Emporer. All landed nobles have swordsmen directly loyal to them. The one exception to the tyrannical structure is the Clergy.

Most of the major races of the world are represented in the Empire. Elves proved remarkably difficult to conquer due to their long lives and inherently magical natures, but in the end even they fell to the persistance of the Empire. Many noble houses are elven and several are orcish. Both races have proven to be quite adept at the ways of war, and have contributed greatly to the expansion of the Empire.

Kinship

The Empire is rigidly patriarchal.

Lineage is also patriarchal. Cultural emphasis is placed on tracing lineage through the father. Inheritance is technically impartible, with all possessions going to the eldest offspring. Amongst the nobility (including the imperial family), inheritance is determined by martial (and, in the case of the imperial family) contest to the death, with the sole survivor inheriting the titles and estate of the father.

The pattern of residence is the extended family.

Economic Exchange System

The Kalae Sama Empire mints its own currency, from non-precious metals, which is backed by the imperial treasury, and currency is by far the most commonly used system of exchange. It is uncommon for weights of precious metals to be used as only the Emporer is permitted to own gold and the other precious metals are used, primarily, for jewelry. Barter is used extensively with the poorer castes and in the agricultural market. For extremely large purchases or for individuals who wish to travel light, letters of credit are frequently used.

Economy Type

The economy of the Empire is mainly mercantile, focused mostly on military privileges and technologies.

Resources

The Kalae Sama Empire has adequate natural resources. The soil is very fertile, supporting all manner of agricultural efforts, including both farming and herding. The woodlands are extensive, and though many are reserved for noble or imperial use, there are still abundant lumber resources available. Rich lodes of various minerals can be found in the area's few mountainous regions. The Empire possesses great human resources; the professional and artisan classes have grown in status and wealth based on their skills, and the guild systems have aggressively recruited to increase productivity.

Exploitation

The Empire has, until recently, been an aggressively expanding society, so their level of exploitation of their available resources is relatively high. The Kalae Sama exploit 60% of their available resources and can shift into a higher production mode. Currently, production is aimed at bolstering military readiness and supporting exploration.

Trade

The Empire engages in no trade at present.

Military Infrastructure

The military body of the Kalae Sama Empire is composed of three force types. Each Lord maintains a standing army of swordsmen (Sakalnea). These warriors are highly trained and very well equipped. Each Lord also maintains a force of house troops; within their lands, these would be considered standing forces, but at Empire level, these are provisional, called into service at times of need. In addition, each Lord has an obligation to conscript a certain number of men from the general populace during times of war.

The Empire does not maintain a military navy; maritime forces have been unnecessary until now and are only beginning to develop.

Religion

There is only one religion practiced in the Empire, the worship of the divine emporer. Although there has never been an imperial decree forbidding the practice of other religions, there is only one practiced by the Kalae Sama. The religion of the empire teaches that, while the souls of the people are subject to a reincarnation cycle, the soul of the emporer merges with the deity upon death and becomes part of him. So, in a very real sense, the emporer is god to the Kalae Sama.

Clergy are highly respected by all. Clergy of the official religion are especially respected and occupy positions of honor within society. Younger offspring of the gentry and the wealthy, unlikely to inherit, often join the clergy.

Arts and Scholastics

The popularity of the fine arts varies. The nobility has great interest in the fine arts and are expected to be artists of various types in their own right. A talented common artist can find a comfortable niche, either as freelance talent or as a sponsored artist in a noble house. There are actually more people with some amount of talent than the economy supports, so the talented, often follow other pursuits and practice artistic expression either as a pastime or in conjunction with their craft. For example, an armorer will also richly decorate his armor and shields in enamels for nobles wishing to extravagantly display their colors.

Scholastics are more highly valued by the society of the Central Kingdoms; it is recognized that there are very few professions that are not enhanced by the additional knowledge available from study. Imperial government and the Church offer free education to younger children from age six to twelve. After age twelve, families are expected to enter their children into either an apprenticeship or some other vocational training. Beginning work on farms is considered vocational training. Teachers and professors can earn a comfortable living in education, but the most lucrative position is that of the house mentor, a sponsored academic. A house mentor teaches the children of his noble patron, and performs research in his spare time. A wide array of academic disciplines is available, with various schools of thought within the individual disciplines.

Magic

Practitioners of magic are shunned within the Empire, except those trained by and serving as members of the clergy. Magic is unpopular, and few people care to be around it, unless cast by a priest. Alchemy is popular, however, particularly in the field of health care. An alchemist's shop is usually a large, well appointed one, with many wealthy patrons.

Hierarchy of Social Estates

There are only three unfree classes in Imperial society, serfs, slaves and women. Slaves have almost no personal freedoms. Slaves are allowed limited personal privacy and may not be used for breeding purposes. Slaves may be allowed to mate with another slave, but their children will be free and considered the children of the owner in terms of legal responsibility. Serfs have more extensive personal freedoms, but may be physically exploited, and may not own arms or slaves. Serfs also have no political freedoms except military service. Anyone who is not a slave may serve in a house army, and a serf becomes a freeman after serving for a minimum of ten years. Women have no personal freedoms, are not permitted to own anything other than personal effects (combs, brushes, etc.), are not allowed martial training, have no political freedoms and no personal geograhic mobility

The freeman class technically includes everything between serfs and the gentry, including merchants, professionals, free farmers, artisans, etc. The freeman and serf classes together make up a legal category of commoners.

See summary page for breakdown of social hierarchy.

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© Copyright 1999 Donald Qualheim & David Lawson