Olathe (oh-LAHTH)
Until recently, Olathe was a semi-autonomous principality overseen by the kingdom of Solisvar. But its place within Solisvar has never been a comfortable fit; Olathe had been a kingdom in its own right for many years before the rise of Solisvar, and Olathe had resisted colonization by Solisvar for centuries before the rise of the Circle of Nine. By the time that Solisvar was taking its place as an international power, Olathe’s rather isolationist foreign policy left it noncompetitive with its neighbor's martial might, and so it ceded to the multinational interests that desired to slot it into the lands of Solisvar. When Olathe finally acquiesced to annexation, it was with the knowledge that Olathe stood no fighting chance in the face of the might of the allied superpowers of the Circle of Nine. It received its unique status as a semi-autonomous territory of Solisvar because of its long history of resistance to Solisvaran rule, and for seven centuries, Olathe lingered on as a de jure part of Solisvar.
But Olathe is no longer under Solisvaran control. In the aftermath of the Severing, Olathe has gone from semi- to fully-autonomous. Under the leadership of an enterprising and assertive queen, Olathe declared its independence in 715, and Solisvar, decimated and scattered by the Severing’s chaos, wisely chose to put up no fight. Olathe remains unrecognized by the Circle of Nine, a state of affairs with which the Olathian crown is untroubled.
The split from Solisvar was hardly unprecedented; the people of Olathe maintained a strong cultural and national identity even 700 years after their annexation by Solisvar. In the years prior to Olathe’s declaration of independence, most Olathian people still regarded themselves as citizens of Olathe first and foremost. Across time, any attempts by Solisvar to weave Olathe into its own society have largely failed. Despite Solisvar’s original intent to integrate Olathians into Solisvaran politics, Olathe has generally resisted involvement in any Solisvaran politics that do not directly concern the annexed state. This lack of entanglement has served Olathe well, especially as it continues its separation from Solisvar.
History
The Kingdom of Olathe arose around 1000 YW in a tropical region historically known as the Land-Between-Rivers. Since its inception, Olathe has only ever been ruled by elves; as a result of the long lifespans of its dynasts, only four have claimed its crown in the 1700 years since its inception. Olathe, and its ruling dynasty, the House Uhl’Olathe, began with Atháia, First Queen of Olathe, a nigh-mythological figure who was a prodigy in the arts of martial necromancy and a brilliant diplomat who united several formerly-opposed clans of wood elves under one banner. Atháia was merely a hundred years old when she took the throne, and she would rule for the next 600 years. Her reign would be remembered as the first golden age of Olathe, and she would become the standard to which all her descendants were measured. To this day, she is beloved and revered as a true national icon. Atháia’s firstborn daughter, Fiaéain, took the throne in about 400 YW. On the heels of her mother’s long and prodigious reign, Fiaéain was a successful queen, but she was never loved or revered to the same degree. She ruled until her death only a few decades prior to the coalescing of the Circle of Nine; her young daughter, Fiaéain II, was left to deal with the threat to the nation’s independence. Though Fiaéain II would submit to the will of the Circle of Nine early on in her reign, shaking the nation’s trust in her, her lifelong insistence of Olathe’s independent identity and resistance to total absorption by Solisvar ensured that she would go on to be a well-respected monarch. Like her grandmother before her, Fiaéain II ruled for more than 600 years. Her life and reign was long enough that her own daughter, Fiaéain III, perished before ever ascending to the throne. When Fiaéain II died in 640 YC, her granddaughter, Fiaéain IV, took her place as Queen of Olathe. The throne belongs to Fiaéain IV to this day. She has proven to be an exceedingly popular monarch, particularly after asserting independence from Solisvar; in reference to her perceived role as a liberator and charismatic national icon, more than a few well-regarded Olathians have likened her to Atháia, her great-great-grandmother. Though she has welcomed this comparison, she has also sought to establish a unique identity of her own as a leader, which she has done in part by building up the nation's martial might, ultimately situating herself as a head of a true martial power. Public opinion of Fiaéain IV only grew in the aftermath of the Severing, as she led a highly organized and efficient campaign to bring the nation's infrastructure back online. Though Olathe was never impacted by the Severing to the same extent as many other places, its dramatic recovery was enough to boost the public perception of the queen to a level at which many consider her to be the first truly legendary ruler since Atháia.Government and Economy
Olathe is an absolute monarchy, but its monarch, Queen Fiaéain IV, is far from a tyrant. From the nation's inception, its rulers have followed the model set by Atháia, the first queen of Olathe and the direct ancestor of all queens that followed her. This model is one of true civil service: the role of an Olathian queen is, first and foremost, to ensure the well-being of the Olathian people, and the system of absolute monarchy is in place solely as a means to that end. By and large, all of Olathe's queens have taken this duty seriously. The abundant resources available to Olathe have certainly made the task of ensuring the nation's well-being easier. The geographical area occupied by Olathe is rich with valuable metals such as iron, silver, and platinum. Olathe's metal deposits are a source of vast wealth for the nation. Most of the work required to extract and refine these metals is done by undead laborers, resulting in a very low processing cost, and Olathe strictly controls the flow of its resources to outside nations, ensuring demand remains high and trade conditions remain favorable. Olathe's economy is not based solely upon these metals; rather, the Olathian metal industries demonstrate the nation's economic tactics better than nearly any other industry. Because of its resources and the careful management of its economy, Olathe is extraordinarily wealthy for its size. Though no precise figure is available to determine its level of wealth, the country's coffers are full enough that several non-Olathian scholars estimate that the nation's wealth exceeds several full-fledged nations of the Circle, all of which are several times the size of Olathe. Perhaps even more remarkably, that wealth is rather evenly dispersed across all tiers of Olathian society. While social stratification certainly exists within Olathe, and those at the top of the hierarchy tend to hold more wealth than those below, the position of those at the bottom of society is, on the whole, excellent. The standard of living is high throughout the nation; even the lowest echelons of Olathian society live comfortable lives.Demography
In its early years, Olathe was a relatively homogenous kingdom made up primarily of the Lathléar people, one of the first extant ethnic groups of wood elves. Over time, other groups have established themselves within Olathe. Originally, many were from ethnic groups native to Solisvar, but as anti-Solisvaran sentiment grew following the forced annexation, many with Solisvaran heritage left Olathe to return to Solisvar. Presently, ethnic groups native to Solisvar make up a very small percentage of the Olathian population. At present, the Lathleár people remain a plurality in Olathe and a majority among the aristocracy, but several other ethnic groups—many Elvish, but some others, too—have a significant presence among the population. Approximately 30% of the Olathian population are ethnically Lathleár, roughly 10% are wood elves of other ethnic groups, and about 5% are other elves. Humans constitute about 20% of the population, and orcs about 15%. Approximately 20% of the Olathian population is of mixed heritage, and it is likely that more than half the human population has at least one elven great-grandparent.Culture
Two major themes define the cultural landscape of Olathe. The first is the presence of a strong national identity that unites Olathians of all sorts under the nation's banner. The second is widespread faith in a mysterious but self-evident magical force within the region that the people of Olathe refer to as the Moon Spirit.National Identity
Patriotism and national identity plays an important role in Olathe: many Olathians identify more strongly with their nationality than their ethnicity. In part, this bond of commitment to the nation originated from the forced annexation by Solisvar; Olathians' perceptions of themselves as members of an underdog nation struggling to maintain its identity in the face of absorption by an international power inflamed a strong civic pride. The overall high regard for the nation's government is another contributor to Olathian patriotism. Not a single one of the four queens of Olathe has been worse than decent, and the monarchs' record of genuine, effective commitment to the nation's wellbeing has been repaid with widespread trust and loyalty. Perhaps the most important contributor to the united national identity is a form of spirituality unique to the region, one that focuses on reverence of an active magical phenomenon that seems to exert power solely within Olathe's borders. A cornerstone of Olathian is worship of this mysterious but undeniably-real entity, something known only as the Moon Spirit. Though the true nature of the Moon Spirit is unknown, its works make its presence known throughout the nation.The Moon Spirit
Orbs of silvery-white moonlight hang in the air across Olathe, some as small as marbles and others as large as great cathedral bells. Some stand alone, and others hang in great constellations mere feet above public squares, bustling taverns, or private hearths. Sometimes they move, sometimes they gently spin upon an invisible axis, and sometimes they hang motionless in the air, shedding their perfect moonlight upon the land. They appear and disappear frequently enough that trying to count them is a fool's errand, but one could fairly estimate that at any time, tens of thousands of miniature moons populate Olathe. These intangible floating moons are, to the people of Olathe, a creation of the Moon Spirit and a reminder of its omnipresence. The Moon Spirit bestows sorcerous power; it literally and figuratively lights the way for the lost; it grants luck to those who need it most; and of course, it produces those thousands of miniature moons and their cold, gentle light. Its ability to bestow magical power is one of the most obvious indications of its presence. Many lineages of Olathians bear some amount of what is known as the Lunar Gift, a sign of the Moon Spirit's favor that imbues a person from birth with sorcerous power and an appearance marked by the silver of moonlight. The House Uhl'Olathe are known for their uniquely strong Lunar Gift, but they are just one lineage marked by its presence; many other Olathian family lines have long histories of sorcerers that draw power from the Moon Spirit. Its omnipresence, rendered so obvious by those countless moons, is familiar for many Olathians, who frequently attribute luck, fate, and cosmic justice to its guidance. The miniature moons serve as a constant reminder that a unique magical power dwells within—and perhaps even favors—this land. The nature of that exact power is a topic of much debate among scholars and theologians. Its origin is somewhat clearer, attested in oral histories dating back from the earliest days of the peoples that would become the founding elven tribes of Olathe. These oral histories describe a great dragon descending from the heavens and bringing with it the magic of moonlight, which it divested unto the land before its death. An ancient tomb seems to bear this legend out: contained within the tomb are the silver-white bones of an impossibly large dragon. This mausoleum, referred to as the Grave of the Ancestor, is widely regarded as the holiest place in Olathe, and most Olathians make a point to pay respects at the tomb at least once a year. While it is inarguably true that worship of the Moon Spirit is a foundational part of Olathian culture, their worship of it is very different than the deity-worship of many other faiths. Olathian Lunar Faith, as some scholars have termed the worship practice, is based upon the recognition and remembrance of the Moon Spirit's presence, and it does not require the denial of other cosmic powers. For this reason and others—including the undeniable existence of the magical force that produces the spectral moons—reverence for the Moon Spirit has spread quickly to the other peoples that have established themselves in Olathe. Many cultural groups that originated outside of Olathe carried in their own longstanding religious practices; several faiths co-exist with worship of the Moon Spirit, and it is common for individuals of other religions to still engage in worship of the Moon Spirit. Its presence, as such, has served as another unifying touchpoint for the diverse peoples of Olathe. All Olathians, regardless of origins or beliefs, live under the soft light of countless tiny moons.
The flag of Olathe bears the distinctive insignia of the House Uhl'Olathe, a symbol known as the Trilune. It is said to represent the three domains of the Moon Spirit: the rational, the worldly, and the expressive.
Maps
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Olathe
The nation of Olathe sits upon a geographical region known as the Land-Between-Rivers, or the Lathléannach, the ancestral homeland of the Lathléar People.
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Demonym
Olathians
Leader
Ruling Organization
Leader Title
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Location
Related Ranks & Titles
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
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