Ultaru Province
The rolling fields of Ultaru Province stretching out in all directions produce food that is shipped out to all corners of Kelbonnar, making it one of the most important assets of the Empire of Turelion. It’s proximity to the Imperial Province makes it a prosperous land that is looked on with favour by the Imperial Authorities and many members of the Imperial Court have second homes in the Province.
Structure
Like all provinces with the Empire of Turelion, the administration of the Province is overseen by a Satrap, who is theoretically responsible for management of all areas of Ultaru. To aid them in this, the Satrap of Ultaru Province has a staff of provincial officials and administrators who oversee the bureaucracy of all things, from the state of the road network to the taxes levied on fish imported to the province.
Demography and Population
As it is part of the Empire of Turelion, the vast majority of the Province's population are of the Turelite ethnicity.
Unusually, especially for a land the is the source of so much agricultural wealth, there is a much smaller percentage of those who would be regarded as 'upper class' by the Imperial Bureau in Ultaru than there are in other provinces. The reason for this is that the majority of those considered to be of the the upper class represent the landowners who own the myriad agricultural concerns across the province, but who do not live there permanently. Most of the landowners, including those that own the biggest percentages of Ultaru's land actually reside permanently in neighbouring Turelion Province, and only visit their concerns in Ultaru for a few weeks or months each year.
Of the rest of the population, the majority, around 80% are classed by the Imperial Bureau as being ‘lower class’ and predominantly work in agriculture or its associated industries. About 15% are considered ‘middle class’, which tends to represent merchants, skilled craftspeople and those who work in administration of the agricultural assets of the Province's absentee landlords.
Territories
Ultaru Province is considered to encompass all of the land of the Relialo Plains, which extends from the borders of the Wyld Woods in the west to the foot hills of the Spears of Astartes and the edges of the Destra Wetlands in the east; and from the shores of the Icefang Ocean in the north to the flow of the River Cormarron in the south.
Military
Like all Imperial Provinces, Ultaru has access to its own standing army of Provincial troops, who are dispersed across the province in garrisons, ready to be called upon as needs be. For the most part, these troops act as town and city guards and police forces for the areas they are stationed to. In times of crisis, the Satrap can mobilise units in the Provincial Army from their garrisoned stations to become mobile units that can be deployed were necessary. The Provincial Army has units of infantry, cavalry, artillery and Firewings at its disposal, as well as a dedicated naval force to protect its coasts. The Command Headquarters for Ultaru’s Provincial army is in the Provincial Capital Mystirion.
Religion
Much like its neighbour Turelion Province, Ultaru’s religious make-up is characterised by a strong adherence to the The Imperial Church of Astartes in the south, closest to the border with the Imperial Province, which steadily gives way to a more polytheistic approach the further north one goes.
As so much of the life and work of the province is geared towards farming, there is a strong community of worship geared towards the Divine Persephonell, whose domains are spring and farming. Indeed it is thought that regardless of what the Imperial Church of Astartes say, there are more dedicants of Persephonell than Astartes in the province.
Agriculture & Industry
Ultaru Province is not referred to as the ‘bread basket of the Empire’ for no reason. Of all of the provinces it produces the highest amount of agricultural produce per square mile and the provinces produce can be found on tables throughout the Empire of Turelion. In particular, Ultaru is known for its production of cereal crops, wheat, barley, corn and oats which cover the landscape in vast swathes of green in the spring and gold in the summer. Alongside this, Ultaru also has a thriving cattle production industry, with great tracts of the northern Relialo Plains given over to the rearing of cattle.
Tied to the province’s agricultural prowess, Ultaru has a bevy of secondary industries, primarily the milling of grains into flour, packaging and processing of beef and dairy products, the production of cheese and also the production of raw leather and leather goods from the hides of slaughtered cattle.
Trade & Transport
The best connections exist between Ultaru Province and Turelion Province and there are a plethora of land routes connecting Ultaru with the Imperial Province via a well maintained and protected road network, designed to take the heavy traffic of the plethora of large wagons and carts bringing agricultural produce to the Heart of the Empire.
More widely, the Province is well connected to the rest of the Empire of Turelion and the other geopolitical entities of the Centric Sea via the harbour of its provincial capital Mystirion, and it is well connected through its northern port of Allerium to the northern reaches of Kelbonnar's Material Plane.
Education
Even though Ultaru is a province rooted in agricultural labour, its proximity to Turelion Province means that it benefits from a much greater provision of schools throughout it than most other provinces. Part of this greater availability of education is down to the fact that many noble families from the Imperial Province choose to have second properties amongst the rolling hills and fields of Ultaru Province, and therefore want places that their children can be educated. Educational establishments for children aged 4 – 18 can be found, therefore in most towns and cities across the province, though almost all of them are only accessible to the upper and upper middle echelons of society, due to their cost.
There are as well several Houses of Learning in the province, most of which are located in the southern reaches of the Relialo Plains, so that they attract potential scholars from across the border in Turelion Province as well. In addition, the Imperial Flight College, the main training facility for the The Imperial Air Corps is located in the province at the town of Allerium.
Type
Geopolitical, Province
Capital
Alternative Names
Bread Basket of the Empire
Demonym
Ultariot
Power Structure
Semi-autonomous area
Economic System
Mixed economy
Official State Religion
Parent Organization
Related Ranks & Titles
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Related Ethnicities
Related Myths
Comments