Koa

"A knight knows how to swing a spear. A Koa knows when to."
The planet Sera has been host to dozens of civilizations with greater survival prospects than the Koa. The Naga were plucked into the skies one-by-one when a flight of roc decided their drifting cities would make for good nests. Even the Ifrit thunder cannons would not halt the armored kilopedes’ slow march. That’s not to mention the countless societies who turned the weapons they built to slay Sera’s giant fiends on themselves.
Koa hegemony over Sera, and until recently the entire system, is largely attributable to their industry. The discovery of an artifact is not just a single treasure hunter’s random stroke of fortune but an opportunity for complete societal transformation. All artifacts found on Sera [except by corsairs!] are sent to artificers to be studied, tested, taken apart, and eventually replicated. Adherence to this practice over the centuries has shot their civilization’s technology level well beyond that of the other races, even if such progress is rooted more in simulacrum than science.
The Koan republic is an egalitarian society made up of industrious frog people. While the Koa are a physically unimpressive race, with average specimens only a few inches over 3’ tall, they have a knack for finding, duplicating, and integrating artifacts into their society. Koa cities are brass steam-powered marvels that keep the mega-fauna of their swampy planet at bay. It’s no wonder their species ruled Source and thus the entire system for the three hundred years prior to the Alliance’s formation.
If you want to make a Koa blush, mention their chivalrous spear wielding knights who are dedicated to promoting a culture that is as tolerant and progressive as it is technologically advanced. If you want to make one angry, remind it of the species’ affair with despotic imperialism prior to the formation of the Alliance.

The Koa do not treat their culture as a separate cloth from industry, but rather as another step in the invention process. Artifacts are not replicated on an industrial scale until the Senate determines that the laws and social customs will allow citizens to use them effectively and responsibly. If a Koa says an artifact is “broken” he may either mean its component parts do not function or its misuse poses an unacceptable threat to Koan society in its current state.
This Senate is made up of the revered order of knights, who are charged not only with embodying the laws of the Republic, but also with the more daunting task of understanding the countless constitutions, manifestos, and proclamations that make up its labyrinthine government. Even though they are afforded a great degree of power to implement these laws, the Koa rely on the knights to protect them from the fiends that lurk both outside and within their society.
Given this reliance, perhaps it is not surprising that the last people to realize the Koa Republic had gradually mutated into a cruel interplanetary empire were the Koa themselves. It was The Undying Empress and her regime’s abuse of powerful weaponized artifacts that gave rise not only to the formation of the Chimera Alliance, but also a return to the Koa’s chivalrous roots.

Physical Characteristics

Koa are a slender race of frog people that range from 3’-4’ tall. Most have green skin, but occasionally Koa will be born with brilliant blue, yellow, or red tree frog-like patterns.

Racial Edges: Small. -1”to movement speed.
Amphibious. Koa receive a +1 bonus to swim checks and can hold their breath for up to three hours without injury.
Spring Legs. Koa begin play with 1d6 agility and receive a +1 bonus to acrobatics checks.
Leap (Sprinting Edge). The Koa’s powerful legs are better suited to launching them through the air than running. When sprinting, a Koa may move their pace as aerial movement. Each sprint comprises a separate leap, meaning the Koa must touch the ground in between sprints when sprinting multiple times in one turn.

Backgrounds

Knight

Knights serve ten year terms and receive their positions by election. In addition to protecting their constituents from physical danger, they are also responsible for administering the Republic’s complex body of law. While knights are technically supposed to memorize the entire legal code in order to resolve disputes between citizens, most are able to squeak by just knowing the “ethics”: short one or two sentence aphorisms that capture the spirit of important concepts to Koa culture such as egalitarianism, republicanism, freedom of expression.
Knights are prohibited from serving as corsairs during their terms, however squires seeking knighthood, disgraced knights, or those unable to get elected for political reasons make great candidates for corsairs because of their skills in diplomacy and combat. Many former or prospective knights seek corsair positions to atone for (or perhaps reclaim) the tyranny their government exerted over the other alliance nations during the Empire’s reign.

Background Skills: Diplomacy 1d4, Spears 1d4, Block 1d4
Background Edge:My Reputation Precedes Me. Even during the days of the Empire, Koa knights were respected for their strict code of honor even to the point where “frog law” became a colloquial term for chivalry. Knights receive +2 bonus to charisma. They lose this bonus if they ever become infamous.

Artificer

"A Koa is entitled to what they make, not what they find."
Artificers are in charge of the Republic’s entire collection of artifacts from its drifting cities to its fleet of submarines. Part engineer, part archeologist, part censor, artificers are responsible for repairing, studying, and at times even destroying ancient technologies for the benefit of society as a whole. They are often attracted to Corsair positions because it affords them an opportunity to circumvent Alliance imposed restrictions on the use and study of certain classes of ancient artifacts and seek out artifacts on other spheres.

Background Skills: Engineering 1d4, Identify 1d4, Use Artifact 1d4.
Background Edge: Artificer’s Instinct. Any time an artificer identifies an artifact, automatically gain three affinity points to spend toward that artifact.

Vandal

Some Koa choose to eschew the technological benefits of the Republic along with the social restrictions that accompany them. The Vandals are tribal societies that worship the Naga; an ancient civilization of snake people that once inhabited Sera. At certain points in history the Vandals posed a threat to the Republic, frequently attacking its citizens for inhabiting the drifting Naga cities which the Vandals believe to be sacred. More recently, peace treaties have mostly eased relations and Vandal now honor the Naga cities from afar by serving as artifact scavengers and lookouts for approaching fiends.

Background Skills: Survival 1d4, Sneak 1d4, Bows 1d4.
Background Edge: Sleeps with Snakes. +4 to checks to resist poison.

Politics

“A nation ruled by one Koa, dies with one Koa.”
The Koan Senate governs the Republic as a whole. Each district within the Republic elects a representative to carry out their interests on the Senate floor. The Senate passes legislation through staged combat in which every knight may elect to participate. Therefore, the conviction of each knight to risk injury (or sometimes their life) may be just as decisive in getting a law passed as its sheer number of supporters.
While not officially part of the voting process, Knights generally align themselves with one of the major political parties of the Republic. The Patrician Party is the oldest party and advocates for a strong centralized government. They prefer to place the reins of power in a few, qualified individuals, and advocate isolation from other nations.
The Plebian Party arose half a millennium ago as an opposition movement to the encroaching Koan Empire. They advocate spreading power and wealth among all of the Koan people and maintaining cooperation with the Republic’s allies.
The largest shift in political power in recent years was the fall of the Koan Empire and formation of the new Koan Republic. This momentous event not only freed the inner spheres of the system from Koan control, but also shifted power in the Senate away from the Patricians’ toward the Plebians— a change signaled by famous knight, Sir Reglas, changing his political affiliation during Nasser Graham’s Rebellion.
The end of the Rebellion also brought strict sanctions against the Republic, including restraints on the size of the navy that the country is permitted to maintain. Despite these restrictions, the technological advantages of the republic—particularly its access to submarines—has allowed them to maintain naval superiority over other nations, even if total re-conquest of the spheres remains out of reach.

Economics

The most controversial economic force in Koan life is a system of multi-generational reparations instituted after the fall of the Empire. All wrongs committed by a Koa must be repaid, and such debts do not expire upon the death of the wrongdoer. Given the atrocities committed by the Koan Empire on the system as a whole, a substantial amount of Koan wealth each year flows off-sphere to the Empire’s former colonies. Heavy reparations have swallowed the once-prominent Patrician families of Balphuran, leaving them in perpetually bankrupt dynasties surviving on subsistence stipends and their deteriorating, mansion homesteads. That the Koan economy thrives in spite of these historical burdens is due largely to its burgeoning artificing industry. A substantial sector of Koan workers dedicate themselves to studying and copying ancient artifacts for use in every-day life. Creations that are approved by the city’s Board of Artificers enjoy exemption from the Alliance’s Artifact prohibitions and can be sold freely on the open market.
However, the process for such approval is stringent, requiring a determination from the Senate and Board of Artificers that widespread use of the artifact will not harm Koan society as a whole. Many begrudged Koan citizens see artificing restrictions as nothing more than another self-imposed stricture handicapping the Republic from assuming its rightful place as a dominant force among the spheres.

Culture

The Republic’s reformation brought with it a commitment to old Koan values of egalitarianism and self-determination. Any Koa, no matter the circumstances of their birth, enjoys the right to vote and the potential to become a member of the City’s ruling class. These values are offset by historical inertia of living three-hundred years under an Empire with a rigid class-system propagated through eugenics.
Under the old regime, the Empire capitalized on the Koa’s biological ability to externally fertilize female eggs to create “egg farms” that sired and raised thralls of genetically- tailored laborers and soldiers. The last generation of artificially bred Koa have come of age and found themselves emboldened (or burdened) with self-determination. For the successful, this has led to social mobility and the accumulation of wealth. For those less successful, it has left them with a yearning for a return to the society that carved out a place out for them.