Kastovia - The Gilded Maze

“Every street hides a contract, every whisper a transaction.” — On Kastovia

Extracts from “A Survey of the Known World” by Captain Aderyn Vale of Cezorus, 3358 YL.

“Their towers touch the sky, yet their souls remain underground.”
A sprawling federation of city-states where guilds, coin, and bureaucracy rule — a power built on commerce and quiet espionage.

I. Core Identity

“In Kastovia, even the air obeys the schedule.”

Foundational Identity

Kastovia is an empire of order — a land where every clock chimes in unison and every citizen serves a defined function. Born from centuries of conquest and reform, the Kastovian state has transformed bureaucracy into a religion of efficiency. To its rulers, chaos is sin, and invention is virtue only when properly catalogued.

Military / Power Base

Kastovia fields one of the largest standing armies in Aesos, drilled to precision and supported by a logistics machine of terrifying competence. Their doctrine prizes control, attrition, and the power of overwhelming organization — legions that march like clockwork, supplied by rail and ledger.

Religious or Ideological Power

Officially loyal to the Church of the Lifestar, Kastovia interprets its doctrine through the lens of Law and Structure. The Church here resembles a civil service rather than a clergy — a bureaucracy of priests who audit sin as if it were tax.

Geography Overview

Kastovia spans the cold inland plains and fertile river basins east of Doroska and north of Neferkara. Its capital, Varrensgrad, is a sprawling metropolis of stone, glass, and smoke — its skyline pierced by chimneys and clocktowers. Vast canal networks and industrial roads tie the empire’s heart to its provincial marches.

II. Technology & Development Level

Varrensgrad and the Empire Proper

“Order is the engine of civilization.”
—Imperial Maxim engraved on every Kastovian courthouse

Magical or Technological Focus

Kastovia is the master of mechanical replication — mass-producing mundane machinery that rivals early Mana-Tech in precision. While true Mana use is limited, the empire channels Residual Ley Energy through mechanical converters, creating “pseudo-Mana” infrastructure that mimics the miracles of Leolin Bay without its soul.

Source of Power: Industrial alchemy, residual Ley conductors, and mechanical harnessing of heat and pressure.
Distribution: Widespread across the empire — from railworks to mills.
Control & Secrecy: Overseen by the Ministry of Mechanica, a monolithic bureau licensing every machine, patent, and refinery.

Applications

Military / Defense

• Clockwork Artillery: Gear-driven cannons powered by Ley-pressure cells.
• Rail-Legions: Mobile forces transported via continental rail lines.
• Administrative Warfare: Enemy nations collapse under Kastovian bureaucracy as much as battle — sabotage through paperwork.

Trade & Industry

• Factory-cities produce arms, tools, and industrial engines.
• Exported automata, mechanical presses, and clockwork components.
• State guilds manage monopolies on salt, coal, and iron.

Quality of Life

• Major cities run on steam heat and regulated public lighting.
• “Efficiency Boards” inspect housing, sanitation, and productivity levels.
• Strictly tiered citizenship grants privileges according to civic merit.

Sidebar: “The Ministry of Mechanica”
Housed in a single obsidian tower in Varrensgrad, this ministry governs all invention. Its inspectors are feared more than soldiers; an unlicensed machine is treated as heresy.

The Countryside / Interior Life

“The empire feeds its cities with the hands of its children.”
—Field report, dismissed for sedition

Kastovia’s rural heartlands serve as agricultural engines feeding the industrial north. Villages function like extensions of the state: every barn registered, every plough accounted for. Farmers enjoy protection from banditry, but at the cost of freedom.

Agriculture

• Massive state-run cooperatives cultivate grain and root crops.
• Alchemical fertilizers and drainage systems boost yields.

Craft & Production

• Independent craft guilds have vanished; all artisans now work under industrial syndicates.
• Rural mills grind both grain and ore, powered by mechanical wheels.

Lighting & Heating

• Coal and oil dominate. Ley-conduction lamps remain urban luxuries.

Transport & Communication

• Steam trams and iron rails link even small towns to the capital.
• Postal service doubles as a surveillance arm of the state.

Defense & Warfare

• Local garrisons man fortresses and checkpoints.
• Rebellion is rare and swiftly crushed by mobile “Peace Divisions.”

Medicine

• Alchemical antiseptics and standardized surgeries.
• Faith-healers licensed under imperial medical law.

The Creeping Reach of Progress

• Ley-Reactor Projects: Experimental Mana containment engines mirror Leolin Bay’s forges.
• Espionage Units: The Ministry of State Security runs foreign infiltration as a civil profession.
• Industrial Colonies: Kastovia funds expeditions to establish mining outposts abroad.
• Civic Conversion: Provinces absorbed through “infrastructure reforms” — railroads as instruments of conquest.

Rumors Among the People

• “The Ministry has built a machine that can dream of laws.”
• “Every street clock in Varrensgrad listens.”
• “A Ley Reactor went critical once — the smoke still glows at night.”

III. Economy & Trade

Premier Exports

• Industrial goods: engines, tools, and arms.
• Bureaucratic expertise: Kastovian civil engineers are exported as advisors.
• Processed iron, coal, and refined alchemicals.

Material Exports

• Steel, clockwork components, and fuel oils.
• Finished weaponry and siege equipment.

Agricultural Exports

• Grain, root vegetables, and animal feed.

IV. Imports

• Precious metals and Mana crystals from Cezorus.
• Exotic reagents and dyes from Sundaraal and Tzintava.
• Timber, tar, and naval supplies from Skjoldar.

V. Diplomatic Relations & Trade Partners

VI. Internal Tensions

• Bureaucratic Overreach: Ministries war over jurisdiction; innovation stagnates under red tape.
• Class Stratification: Citizens ranked by “Civic Efficiency Scores.”
• Religious Formalism: Faith reduced to bureaucracy alienates the populace.
• Worker Discontent: Industrial accidents and rationing spark quiet unrest.
• Espionage Paranoia: The state spies on itself as much as others.

VII. Summary

Kastovia is an empire of ink and iron, ruled by ledgers, driven by steam.
It marches to the rhythm of its clocks and prays to the god of order — yet beneath the gears, the machine strains. Someday, something within will jam, and all the empire’s perfect timing will fail.

“In Kastovia, rebellion needs no fire — only delay.”