United Cities
Peace Through Prosperity
The United Cities, known as The Empire internally, is a feudalistic slaver society that controls large portions of land across the continent. Most notably within The Great Desert and its surrounding regions as well as having a southern enclave encompassing the southwestern coastline. Ruled by Emperor Tengu and the Noble Nine, they are a highly corrupt empire and monetary worth is the prime measure of a person in their culture.
Culture
Though the United Cities are a patchwork of cultures and races, society is sharply divided by class and species. The nobility is dominated by Scorchlander and Shek, while Hivers are far more likely to be found toiling as peasants or chained as slaves. Non-humans are openly mocked in state-run papers and often targeted by roaming vigilante mobs known as City Heroes, who claim to uphold civic pride through violence. Yet in the UC, prejudice always yields to profit. A full coin purse commands more respect than blood or birth, and even a Skeleton with wealth may dine beside a noble. Poverty itself is a punishable offense, and those found starving in the gutters may be “processed” into the Empire’s ever-churning slave network, where labor becomes the only acceptable currency.
Tech Level
While the United Cities are far from technologically advanced, they boast a booming scrap economy driven by constant salvage and opportunistic tinkering. Skeletons are tolerated, though never truly trusted, many are lured into scrapping rings run by the Tinkers Guild, dismantled piece by piece under the guise of employment. The Second Empire, viewing these acts as desecration, remains in a quiet state of war with the UC, and a 200 Cat bounty is offered for the head of the Tinker Guild’s elusive leader. Despite the brutality, the nobility of the UC crave luxury and spectacle. Cities gleam with flickering neon, moving-picture theaters, and lavish dens of entertainment, indulgence, and excess, built not to last, but to dazzle.
The United Cities are the only place left on Kenshi where moving pictures are available to the public.
Laws
Three Pillars make up the governing council of The United Cities.
The First Pillar
The Sonae, the military branch of the UC, responsible for the defense of the Empire and the enforcement of its laws. Directly loyal to Tengu himself The Sonae stick to a code of absolute obedience to the Emperor and will sacrifice their lives to any cause in the name of Tengu.
The Second Pillar
The Traders Guild, responsible for maintaining the vast road network of the Empire. The guild brings vast wealth to the Empire through trade and distribute of "product". While the Traders Guild is a pillar of the United Cities they are an independant guild with their own finances and motivations.
The Third Pillar
The Noble Nine, comprised of Governors of every UC city, a cabal of extremely narcissistic, cruel, and entitled lords and ladies, led by Emperor Tengu himself, aloof and often found drunk. Many believe he was placed in power as a sort of puppet. Whatever the case, his authority is absolute and it is a crime punishable by death to look him in the eye.
Southern Cities
"Here in the South? We bow to Tengu, but we listen to Slim."
The Red Rebellion
In the year 193 A.E. The Southern Cities were drought stricken and peniless. The increase in refugees from Fishman Isle mixed with cut supply lines by Dust Bandit raids, left the South and Clownsteady in particular, in a precarious position.
"It was the Year of the Harvest when the droughts hit the southern plains, but society remained complacent. The Traders Guild would surely lend their aid, they'd never failed us before after all.
But, days rolled by into weeks and the aid never came. Opportunistic rogues had blocked the paths of the Traders Guild caravans and the Empire citizens were left starving and panic stricken.
The few rations that the Empire finally received were snatched up by the most powerful of us. It was then that we shut ourselves off from the outer dregs. This was everyone for themselves now, there was no room for charity or pity. But disaster struck, and for the first time in our lives, desperation and death-fueled fear reared it's ugly head. The power of the nobles was under threat as a violent revolt ensued.
The ground ran red with blood and, like drowning rats clawing at a sinking ship, the desperate souls dragged us all beneath the waves."
-Tanaka, Lady of Clownsteady
The rebellion of the lower classes in the Southern Cities sparked a war that lasted nearly two decades, ultimately ending with the death of Emperor Anzai and the inauguration of a far more ruthless,
Emperor Tengu.
Emperor Tengu.
Tengu aligned himself with the Traders Guild and Southern Hive bringing forth a swift end to the rebellion and an era of unmatched slavery and oppression within the United Cities.
Predecessor Organization
Permeated Organizations
Controlled Territories
124 AE
Free Cities Unite
Free Cities Unite
193 AE
The Red Rebellion
The Red Rebellion
The Gurgling War
A grim mockery of its name, the war is so called for the drowning cries of soldiers and slaves alike as the Fishmen drag them beneath the waves, never to surface again.
No one remembers the first raid. No scholar has recorded the moment when the Fishmen of the southern waters first clawed their way onto the shores, dragging screaming villagers into the surf. Yet, for as long as the Southern Cities have stood, they have fought against the tide of the Gurglers, a war unrecorded in history books, yet written on the faces of the Southern Cities people.
On the surface, it is a war that the United Cities have never lost; their armies, bolstered by war machines and slave legions, drive the creatures back time and time again. Yet, despite these victories, the Southern Lords know the truth, this war is a slow death. The Gurglers do not fight as individuals, but as a tide, an unknowable swarm with a strange and terrible unity. Every raid carves away another piece of the south, cutting supply lines, starving cities, and leaving settlements gutted. The evacuation of Fish Isle is only the latest in a long string of retreats, turning Lure into a makeshift haven for those who made it off the Isle.
And yet, the rest of the world turns a blind eye. To the nobles of Heft and Stoat, the war is a distant problem, a curiosity at best. The Holy Nation scoffs, seeing the plight of the Southern Cities as divine punishment. The Tech Hunters, the Shek, the Swampers, none rally to their aid. But those who have fought in the south know the truth. The Gurglers are learning. Their attacks, once random and mindless, now strike deep, cutting off food shipments and crippling defenses.
The tide rises. The walls crumble. And the Southern Cities stand alone.
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