Kratiros
The oldest surviving empire in Exokkos, Kratiros can trace its history back all the way to the time of the Council of Tollania that drew the borders of the first nations of the New Era. The borders of the empire have expanded and shrunk in the millennium since, but the empire has endured in one form or another for the entire time.
Government System
Kratiros is a feudal empire, which makes the nobility key to the functioning of the nation. Local nobles are the governmental hubs around which the wheels of society turn. A local landlord will typically be an investor in local commerce and enterprise, an arbiter of justice, an authority figure in times of crisis, a military leader and more as the situation calls for it. What sets Kratiros apart from other feudal kingdoms and empires, at least in Exokkos, is the willingness to recognise the titles of conquered nobles. Although high titles such as overall governance of a province or command of armies in a region are usually reserved for noble houses from Kratiros itself, local nobles can and often do retain prominence in their local areas, and some even become powerful across the empire.Executive
As an empire, Kratiros is ruled by an emperor. His formal title is Protos Archontas , which means First Lord in Thalassan and he occupies the seat of power known as The Lion Throne. Traditionally, the mantle is passed along a family line but the title is formally conferred by acclamation from the noble houses of the realm. Thus, while it is expected that a son will inherit rule from a father, there is the possibility of a transition of power that encourages power-sharing and competence. From the Protos Archontas, power is devolved to a number of provincial governors (formally titled Protatos Eirenos; meaning Peacekeeper), who serve as administrators of large swathes of territory, and generals (formally titled Strategos), who command garrisoned military forces across the empire. Each province of the empire has both a Protatos Eirenos and a Strategos assigned to it. These individuals, in turn, select trusted subordinates to support them in carrying out their policies and orders in their assigned territories. Beneath these regional governors are the local nobles that oversee the local areas of the empire. Many of these noble families have held their titles for a thousand years or more, regardless of whether this has been under the empire or under nations that were ultimately consumed by the empire in one of its several expansionary periods. Censuses of these families and their holdings are taken regularly for taxation purposes, and at last count, there are just over a thousand noble houses across the empire.Judiciary
Judgement of disputes and ensuring the punishment of crimes are among the many duties of local nobles in Kratiros. In more cosmopolitan locations, such as the empire’s cities and major towns, this most often takes the form of a city courthouse and a rota of judges drawn from the local elite alongside a force of city watchmen. In more rural areas, the most common agents of justice are the local noble and their force of men-at-arms.Legislature
Kratiros has no formal legislative body. The power to make laws rests with the Protos Archontas and policing these laws is one of the duties of the Protatos Eirenos. Regional and local laws are permitted, so long as they do not conflict with imperial law, and where these exist they are made, administered and reviewed by local powerbrokers such as city councils, local landowners and Protatos Eirenos.Currency
The prytas is the basic unit of coinage throughout Kratiros. This is a lump of obsidian, usually cut into a tetrahedral shape about an inch in diameter, and is regarded as a fair wage for two days of unskilled labour (such as farmhands, porters or water carriers) or a day of semi-skilled labour (butcher, baker or tanner). For smaller, day-to-day transactions such as the buying of food, the Kratirans make use of smaller cut pieces of obsidian that are hexagonal in shape, about half the size of a prytas called a prytanon. Twenty prytanons are equivalent to a single prytas and a single prytanon is usually enough to buy a loaf of bread or equivalent staple produce.History
Kratiros is one of only three remaining nations in all of Exokkos that can trace its history all the way back to the Council of Tollania that finally ended the Mage Wars. The land was originally claimed by one of the prominent generals of the Great Rebellion: Stylianos Kosmiadis, who may have been a native of the region. Whatever the reason, he and his men laid claim to the land along the full length of the Brocheros River, with the Kanossos Forest as the northern border and the Taygetos Forest as the southern border. Their claims were honoured by the Council, and a new nation was born.
For two hundred years, Kosmiadis and his descendants worked to stabilise a new nation. New towns and fortresses were built to accommodate the newly invested nobility, most of whom were officers in Kosmiadis' army. In many cases, these officers intermarried with local pre-established nobility to secure their hold over their new land grants. Kosmiadis' famed Clawed Battalions also
In that time, their success also led to the first major expansions of the empire. The Pareiran War was the first significant piece of territorial expansion undertaken by the empire, and this led in its turn to the
In 913NE, the empire was plunged into a succession crisis by the death of
Demography and Population
At present, Kratiros is a relatively strong and stable nation with a population of approximately seventy million people. The vast majority of the population are Thalassanos in origin, but there are strong minorities of the rest of the human race found across the empire. The distribution of these minorities is often down to local circumstances that attract people of the other races. For example, towns and cities near the Oreinos Mountains often include communities of Maronites or Faroese, the descendants of mercenary companies employed to campaign in the mountains against the Undead and who have been offered places in these places as part of their payment.
Territories
Kratiros stretches from the Isio River in the north to the Tenekros Hills in the south and occupies all the land east of the Oreinos Mountains to the shores of the Kratiran and Krasiskot Seas. This vast swathe of land is difficult to measure accurately, but most agree that its area is approximately 880 thousand square miles. Most of this land is relatively temperate grassland, although the empire encompasses a number of forests, both greater and lesser as well as groupings of hills and mountains.
The empire is divided into 11 provinces, each of which is centred around a river or system of rivers. The heartland of the empire is divided into the Lower and Upper Brocheros Provinces. The other provinces were formed as the empire conquered or incorporated neighbouring nations and have occasionally been redrawn in response to major events such as secessions by border territories or the ascension of new families to power.
Military
The Kratiran military is as large and diverse as the empire itself, with multiple different elements and unique regional flavours to its makeup. The backbone and staple of their army is the Clawed Battalion, which is a professional fighting force that can be found across the empire. These battalions are placed under the direct command of the provincial Strategos and are typically used for garrisoning key locations and conducting campaigns to secure border territories.
Supplementing the core force of the Clawed Battalions, every noble family is expected to maintain a fighting force of their own to keep the peace on their land and to contribute to the empire's defence when called upon.
Religion
The current official state religion of the Empire is the Church of the Light of Beruzen. This has been the case for about three hundred years, since the ascension of House Endrai, although Beruzen missionaries began appearing in Kratiran territories about five hundred years ago.
Prior to this, the Kratirans had been devotees of Elunakhi
Foreign Relations
Kratiros has become the largest nation on the continent, but that does not mean that it is without rivals. Iskotauros, to the east, is a rising power whose access to the wealth of oceangoing trade with the rest of the world has allowed it to become a credible threat.
To the south, Noteiobas is a trading partner and cautious ally while the Nations of the Flame are bitter enemies thanks to the empire's conversion away from Elunakhi.
Infrastructure
The territories of Kratiros are criss-crossed by a network of roads known as the Imperial Highways. These roadways are built by the Kratiran army to help facilitate the conquest of territories and then expanded and improved upon by civilian authorities over time to facilitate trade and communications between the empire's various urban centres as well as to provide easy marching routes for the redeployment of military forces to respond to threats. As such, the Imperial Highway system has justifiably been called the lifeblood of the empire; a resource without which Kratiros would likely lose both territory and influence.
Political Influence & Intrigue
With over a thousand noble houses spread out across the realm, the politics of Kratiros are as expansive as they are intricate. Relationships, both good and bad, have been built in numerous directions by every house over the course of the empire's history. There are, however, several alliances to which individual houses can pledge their support, and it is these alliances that are the key to securing sufficient power to rule the empire.
The Militants are an alliance of houses that advocate for improving Kratiran military strength and then using that strength to engage in wars of pacification or conquest with the empire's enemies and rivals.
The Hegemonists are an alliance of houses that support the build-up of both military and economic power and leveraging these to dominate rivals through politics and diplomacy, leaving the military free to focus on the Undead.
The Businessmen are an alliance of houses that are focussed on developing business and commercial enterprise across the empire as well as establishing and maintaining trade relations with other nations.
The Traditionalists are an alliance of houses that believe in the superiority of traditional Kratiran culture and resist efforts to make the empire a more cosmopolitan place.
There are also those houses who have become part of the Knights of the Burning Hand, but these houses are essentially sidelined from politics due to their religious fundamentalism except in rare cases where their ideals and interests align with The Traditionalists.
Maps
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Kratiros
A map of Kratiros c.1250NE.
Founding Date
6NE
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Capital
Alternative Names
Kratiran Empire
Demonym
Kratiran
Ruling Organization
Leader Title
Government System
Monarchy, Elective
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Mixed economy
Currency
Prytas, prytanon
Executive Body
Protos Archontas, Protatos Eirenos, Strategoi
Official State Religion
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Related Ranks & Titles
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
Comments