Kali-Matea
"Look, child! We are near the top of sacred Akahi-atla. The Temple of a Thousand Skies stands just over that ridge, and at dawn we will wash our hair and hands in its blessed waters. But from right here on the mountain, you can see almost all of the islands. Is it not beautiful? There is Batu-Ei, where your friend Kanda's clan is from. Just past it is Jeutaka. Do you remember the storyteller from last spring? The tale she sang of Rada Ymanna the Star-weaver? Jeutaka is where Ymanna slipped through the worlds to battle the Spirit-daemon that had stolen her wife. Yes, right there, at the edge of that mountain's ring. It is still dangerous there, still too easy to slip Between, and cruel spirits haunt it. That is why no tribe lives there. These are not just tales, my darling. Our people and these islands were made together, in the same moment. If we could climb even higher, fly up and see as the Sarka-Hawk sees, we would behold that these lands are like the ripples of a stone tossed in still water. And so they are- our spirit-ancestor's home was the stone, and Raen was the still water. And when the stone fell, it churned up the muck underneath, and the stuff that makes the many worlds was all mixed together. And so these islands were made solid, and we were made of the spirits who fell from the Heavens, and the spirits of the many worlds below, mixed together and given form. You will be Rada some day, my daughter. You must know these things. Come now. The sun will crest the horizon soon. It is time to show you the Thousand Skies."
The Isles of Silk and Spice
Kali-Matea is a massive, roughly circular archipelago south of Caladin and west of Xao-Shan.Structure
The Islands have a loose clan alliance: Some powerful clans control several islands, while some larger islands are often home to many clans. Large scale decisions affecting the whole of the isles are determined by a Passan, a gathering of representatives from all the tribes who wish to participate. Such summits are rarely held, and typically only for extreme circumstances (i.e., to briefly unite to repel a foreign invader, or to restrict the influence of a clan that grows too powerful or grossly violates ancestral law.)
Individual clans are traditionally matriarchal semi-feudal hereditary diarchies. The two co-rulers of a clan, called Rada (lit. "princess(es)"), are typically from strictly separated royal families; child-bearing intermarriages between paired houses were traditionally forbidden, though same-sex intermarriage is common and often encouraged. Many Rada are married to one-another, and in some clans it is a requirement at the time of coronation.
Some of the larger clans are incredibly wealthy and powerful, but within an individual clan there is rarely severe wealth disparity. The Matean culture is very much community-driven, and diarchs are expected to follow the will of their subjects and advisers.
While there are noble and royal casts, there are not strictly ratified lower castes, and social mobility is relatively easy. Individual Rada and whole Royal houses can be stripped of their title and position by community consensus, and families or individuals can be made Noble by a clan's Royal decree.
The organization in more isolated or much smaller clans more closely resembles a simple tribal structure, with a single or co-Rada (who are not always from unrelated families, and are not always hereditary), a caste of elders, and policy made by consensus within the clan.
In the few metropolitan areas in Kali-Matea, traditional clan structure also breaks down somewhat, as a city typically has members of many clans within it, and whatever clan rules the city must still recognize the sovereignty of the other clans within. This is handled a number of ways: Champak-Siri, the largest settlement in the Isles, is now an independent city-state with it's own laws and charter, ruled by a council elected to represent the many clans within; Rangna, a slightly smaller city, is divided in to three parts, each ruled by a different clan. Many Mateans within such cities do not strongly identify with their clan, and a sizable minority within major cities are clanless.
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Alternative Names
The Hundred Isles, The Formian, The Navel of the World, The Bitter Isles (outdated)
Demonym
Matean, Islander, Formian (exonym, sometimes derogatory),
Government System
Tribalism
Official Languages
Comments