Empire of Oriaka
Structure
Politically the elves remained a feudal, traditionalist, elitist and close to nature empire. They have a currency called the eleï, made entirely of paper notes of different value. The elves live on the basis of a predominantly fixed caste system. In the region of Arthreos, where most of the nobles live, they speak a language called ëlfalen, where the peasants of Araka speak Karaï. The structure of the government is simple: the emperor rules with an iron fist, his sons are generals, the eldest is promised to the throne unless there is a disgrace or a daughter, in which case she will be married to the next emperor. Thereafter each region and each city is ruled by a member of the tribune caste, usually installed in power by wealth and links with the emperor or other tribunes or ëlfalen.
The landless, the beggars are at the lowest, once treated as slaves they are now protected and helped, especially by the nobles who are obliged to do so, to make them become servants or citizens.
- The servants are the farmers, who work for the upper classes, owning their own houses on the land of a lord above them, which they are obliged to maintain, or even exploit. They do not have much active political participation.
The average citizen has the right to own not only a house but also a small piece of land, which they usually exploit themselves, or rarely with no more than two or three servants. They have an obligation to participate in political life, such as voting (under penalty of sanctions) and can work in many trades, but they are not allowed to open businesses in their own name unless they are just a shop to sell the fruits of their land, without employees.
The foreigners, more exactly the non-elite citizens of the empire, mostly human descendants of slaves, have become a somewhat privileged caste today. Considered to have the same rank as elf citizens, they are exempt from political participation (they have the right to vote but not the duty to participate) and do not need to buy a licence to open a business, but are bound to remain local, not to create a business, and have no access to merchant guilds.
Patricians, are the elite citizens who have been able to buy a commerce licence and open a business. They can be locally elected, open several businesses in several towns, and belong to a guild. They are also obliged to have a quota of employees from the landless and servants.
The nobles are divided into three circles: aristocrats, mystics, and magistrates. The first are nobles by birth, or rarely an heir of a very prosperous merchant family (letter of nobility), they are forbidden to work but may own shares or be the owner of one or more merchant businesses. On the other hand, they have important political obligations, particularly military obligations (compulsory service of five years, in high positions of course).
Tribunes are members of the political and judicial caste, direct representatives of the imperial power. The executive is generally a profession given to the citizens; the legislative and judicial is a noble duty. Tribunals are directly attached to the emperor by oath, becoming his representatives in the country. In theory, anyone can become a tribune, but it is often an aristocrat or merchant who has already been elected locally. A few rare citizens can become a tribune, for example a judge of a small town court or a lawyer, but the money to be spent on training is such that it is often the patronage of a nobleman or merchant.
The mystics, before the fall, were the religious caste, having in the past had great power over the lives of others, more important than the other caste, and could even crush the emperor. Now that magic exists, the mystics are content to stay away from others in their monasteries, far from any politics, to concentrate solely on their talents and research. Their duty to the empire is only to protect the country and to fight in case of war.
Culture
Their architecture is very square, with recessed floors and many triangular embellishments. A clear dominance of white marble and painted wood, and a choice of paper doors and windows on simple sliding wooden frames. Many important buildings, especially religious ones, were also erected in a spiral pattern around a central tower.
They forged straight single-edged swords, daggers with curved blades, and specialized in archery, but did not touch crossbows. They have a great attraction for culture, arts, traditions and magic. These include painting, abstract drawing and paper folding.
The elves have two languages: Karai, the language of the people, walks by ideograms, by assembling sound. The second language, Elfalen, is a language reserved for the high castes and is written with runes, it is also used to create magic.
Mystical art already existed before the fall, elven were connected with outer plane for obscure reasons. The body of elven are naturally in equilibrium with surrounding thauma, every elven children is born with magic forces that await puberty to be used, yet unusable without help. The magical power of an elf is determined by their age and hormones, young elven discover their power at the same time as puberty, and grow until adulthood (aroun d 25 years old). To be able to use their power, they need a way, like dance, forming specific signs with their hands, or understand and remember magical drawings called glyphs to make them appears later by thought.
In any case elven magic at it’s full potential can’t be as powerful as a young human mage, but have the advantage of quick regeneration, without need of help like energy crystals or potions. The things can even be the opposite of good to them, as it can break the equilibrium between their inside thauma and the outside one. For an elf to hope surpassing a mage, they need to possess powerful secondary medium (collars, rings and other enchanted object boosting magical power) and a pact with dawn or dusk spirits, or the use of a terminal glyph, forbidden shapes, way to powerful.
History
Historically, elves have been at war with humans for a long time, holding them in slavery until the day of their downfall. The elves established a great empire over all of Meridia, going so far as to conquer part of the dwarf territory, with two capitals: Elianen, in the heart of the forest, is the imperial city, still today. The religious capital, it was located in the west, in a fertile region of the dwarf state called Riadretahn, the plain of a thousand rivers, which was indeed a swamp before becoming a desert. Today this city is in ruins, in the eye of an impenetrable magical cyclone.
Religion
Today's elf religion is only focused on the veneration of the spirit world and the magical creatures living in trees, under rocks and behind waterfalls. This was not always the case, and if today they reject any theistic religion, it is for historical reasons.
Before the fall and the appearance of magic, the elves worshipped gods they could hear and see in their dreams; these gods turned out to be Athrians. The special bond led the elves to believe that they were superior to humans, which led to almost two centuries of wars and slavery. Since the beginning of the Blood Age, the Athrian cult was banned and the elves only worshipped nature, the world of the dead and magic.
The elf religion consists in believing that there are three versions of the world, two mirror copies of reality that intermingle and meet in many sacred or forgotten places, behind waterfalls, under tree stumps, ruins reconquered by nature, or even cemeteries and temples. The first mirror, that of dawn, shelters many spirits of nature, creatures that have always been here and live in harmony with the world around them. The mirror of dusk is the kingdom of the dead, the souls of the dead pass through it to be reincarnated as spirits, often vengeful.
Agriculture & Industry
Elves
Infrastructure
The capital, Elianen, is reputed to be the only large city in the arthreos forest. Ideally situated in a natural clearing (even if an artificial enlargement is suspected) and crossed by a large river, cut in half in the centre of the city by an artificial island, on which the imperial palace is built.
Ildéa, built in the basin of an ancient volcano, is known to be the largest rice producer in the region, taking advantage of the crater transformed into a lake to make rice fields with steps. The salt content and the quality of the water allows them to produce one of the best rice, especially in the form of alcohol.
Oyaza, a town with a strong development in the fabric industry (silk satin and woollen coat) and scholarship, due to its position, ideally situated on the northern coast of Oriaka, just on the edge of the forest; directly connected to the dwarf ports of Septrial, less than a day's journey away.
Honour and purity, the empire is eternal.
Founding Date
too long to be remebered
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Alternative Names
elven empire
Demonym
Oriakese
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Palace economy
Currency
The Eleï is made of six paper banknotes, each having different colours and imageries. In the lowest to highest: hun, yeul, beok, cheon, meun, sumeun.
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
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