Kingdom of Tikra

The petty kingdom of Tikra is a relatively recent experiment, a new and quirky player to the scene of Feywilds politics. The Tikran project hopes to merge the raiding spirit of the Southern Feywilds with the disciplined militarism of the Mathari to create something that can not only survive but thrive in the cut-throat world of war, raids, and bloodfeuds.
Tikra's monarchs try to control the land and its people more directly than most other Feywild states. Family and community identity is broken apart when possible; loyalty to the monarch is everything when it comes to success here. The aesthetics of the Mathari and their religion are everywhere, and the royal warriors often bear serpents or plague-gem weapons.
Tikra is one of the Feywild powers that has been extending their power into the borderlands and is one of the easiest ways for travelers to enter the Southern Feywilds. All traffic is directed through a large Border-castle known as the Green Gate or the Southern Gate.

Structure

The monarch of Tikra is known as the Aspet, and has unlimited legal and military power. 19 tribes rule on the ground, and each provides hostages to the Aspet as a show of loyalty. Beneath the Aspet is the Rukolom (the crown heir) and the Magister Militum (in charge of the military). 
The current Aspet is Agara I, a seasoned veteran and Dryad that claims to be descended from an ancient Mathari dynasty. Agara is a young and idealistic warrior-queen, who is constantly overshadowed by her father and previous king, Azerad.

History

Ancient Tikra

Tikra was once a sleepy and isolated land of shepherds and gardeners. In 480 ME, the land was conquered by the Kingdom of Okina, but remained on the periphery until the border castle of Green-gates was built as an Okinan trade post in 590 ME. Tikra became a land of merchants whether it wanted it or not, and many people from the Borderlands were forcibly resettled in Tikra by the Okinan government. When the resettled Desmians and Okinans fought in 850 ME, much of the violence took place here.
Tikra was under Okinan domination for many centuries and mostly operated as a peripheral trading province. Many dryads from the Mathari were resettled there by the seers, as a kind of anti-Desmian counterbalance. In 1490 ME, Tikra was seized by the Empire of Nefka - straight from one empire into another. Nefka invested heavily in Tikra to fortify the land against Okinan counter-invasion. The land was hyper-militarized and made into a march province, but it flourished. 

Independent Tikra

When Nefka fell in 1850 ME, Tikra was finally free to govern itself for the first time since the 400s. Initially, the independent kingdom of Tikra was a puppet government of the Dusk Travelers that seemed destined to be reintegrated into Okina. But, in 1942, the Nefkan merchant company known as the Violet Company led a coup of the Tikran government and seized the throne for Nefka. Okina threatened to invade, and launched their own counter-coup in 1945 - but the coup failed and threw the government in absolute chaos. An old warrior of ancient Mathari blood by the name of Azerad Tonethzar marched his warband to claim the throne for himself - and the desperate Violet Company warriors were willing to support him. Azerad opened Tikra to both merchant companies and sought to turn Tikra into a strong independent neutral party, based on the Mathari. 
For a time, Tikra truly was a neutral space. But after the Dusk Travelers were caught trying to assassinate Azerad in 1982, the old warrior gave special privileges to Nefka and the Violet Company - and now Tikra is an established Nefkan ally.

Demography and Population

About 80,000  humanoids live in Tikra. 40% of the population is Human, 40% is Dryad, and 20% is Vesper.

Territories

Tikra's lands are about 40 by 40 miles of hills and valleys that wind from the Impossible Mountains to the West, through the Feywilds, all the way into the fey borderlands. The Kingdom's influence extends about five to ten miles into the Borderlands.

Military

Tikra's military is a combination of Feywild warbands and a centralized royal military. The warbands are mostly autonomous, and are organized by war-leaders with royal dispensation (kinda like privateers on land). The royal military, meanwhile, is a small but disciplined force. Tikran warbands specialize in mobile forces such as light infantry, archers, and light cavalry. The royal guard train in spears and archery to act as flexible heavier infantry.

Religion

Tikran religion adopts many of the aesthetics and names of the Mathari faith of Alkara, but is ultimately still Zirun in most ways. Halcyon is worshipped as a supreme deity, but worship of Tonia the Earth Mother and Erezgo the Healer is common. Worship is flexible, and the priesthood is largely disorganized and family-based.

Foreign Relations

The Kingdom of Tikra curates very good relationships with the Empire of Nefka and the Mathari Empire. They have extremely poor relations with their immediate neighbors of Palava and Okina, though.

Agriculture & Industry

Tikra is most agrarian than most other minor Feywild states. Many Tikrans farm wheat, fodder, rice, yams, potatoes, apples, carrots, and squash, and many others herd sheep and goats. Some mine and lumber as well. The Western fringes of Tikra are more pastoral than agrarian, and most industry is concentrated in the East. 
Tikra also engages in "gem farming": purposefully infecting captives with Gem Plague in order to create plague-gems, which are then cut into jewelry, tools, weapons, and armor.

Trade & Transport

Like many places in the Feywild, raiding parties and trading parties here. The Violet Company has an extremely strong presence here and is favored by the monarch, though the Dusk Travelers have a lot of local influence as well.

"The Tempest of the South"

Founding Date

1945

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Demonym

Tikran

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Federation

Currency

Gold Dragons, Silver Eagles, Copper Bulls

Major Exports

Lumber, gems, mercenaries

Major Imports

Steel, stone

Official State Religion

Zirun

Location

The Feywilds

Neighboring Nations

• Serene Principality of Okina
• The Federated Lands of Palava

Related Plots

• Entering the Nightmare