Thortyan Food Structure

"It's easier to have an Engelian grow a strawberry from a block of ice than have him betray his country."

Isolated in the far north of Människar, Thortyr stands as a sleeping giant, a shadow of the former glory of the Engelian Empire †, harboring and feeding over 23 million people inside its borders, lying almost entirely in the permafrost regions of Människar. In order to produce enough food for such an immense population, which represents 46 percent of the continent's total, the autocracy has developed, since the days of the empire, several technologies to enhance the logistics and production of grain, meat and other sources of nourishment.

Given that most of Thortyr's arable land lies permanently under a thick blanket of snow, ordinary crops can't be cultivated in the open. To circumvent that, the Engelian Empire developed several strategies and innovations that are kept completely secret from the rest of the world. Amongst them, some stand out in terms of significance, such as the use of hyper-efficient greenhouses; modified grains and seeds that provide large amounts of nourishment and calories that rely on complex fertilizers; advanced techniques and additives for fungal farming inside caves and basements; algae cultivation inside underground pools and geothermal lakes that uses substances in the water to grow (instead of sunlight tuberous roots that grow beneath the snow when planted following a complex astronomical diagram and schedule; symbiotic association of crops grown inside greenhouses for further enhancement of yield. Academicists from the Vaults of Bratislen have some theories for how most of these technolgies work:

Greenhouses: Engelia managed to perfect the manufacturing of a special type of glass called Cetum (Ketum), which nearly nullifies heat transferring between the outside and inside of greenhouses and enhances the capture of solar rays, as well as for the metal alloy that composes the strucuture of such buildings, called Alcetum (Alketum). Such a combination allows for incredibly efficient greenhouses that are usually clustered together in specific districts of Thortyan cities, whose access is forbidden to most citizens and all foreigners.

Seeds: Harboring a great number of skilled alchemists, Thortyr has perfected the art of lineage-selection of crops, allowing them to selectively reproduce and create hyper-nutritious and resistant produce, which allows the kingdom to feed its population more efficienty. Moreover, in order to keep such seeds an exclusive property of the autocracy, those involved in the creation of these modified plants did so in a way that they rely on a specific formulation of fertilizers to grow, making it impossible for other kingdoms to simply steal the seeds. This is yet another secret that is utterly protected by the Kingdom. 

Fungi: Akin to the lineage-selection of plants, fungi were perfected and modified long before Engelia's downfall. Most, if not all of Thortyr's towns and cities have an intricate system of tunnels and mines beneath them, in which, along with other things, the cultivation of mushrooms and other fungi takes place. They're resistant to the cold and grow over a purified, rich substance that is spilled around. This medium is nearly entirely self-replicant, referred by Engelians as Bakterie. The fungi grow on top and produce large and nutritious mycelial formations that can be harvested quite frequently, due to its incredible growth speed. 

Research over algae, snow-buried tuberous produce and livestock is yet to yield valuable information. Cows, Pigs and Chicken are known to be kept inside buildings and be fed lower quality grain and hay, also in restricted areas of settlements. 

Because of such an intricate system for producing food, Thortyr employs a very efficient bureaucracy system for not only growing large amounts of food, but also to protect the secrets behind such techniques. The entirety of this pyramid is overseen by the Minister of Provision, which must always be a member of the Order. Under their responsibility exists a hierarchic Guild responsible for employing, training and educating civil servants that will personally work and supervise crops and other food-related trades. Members go under a strict selection procedure in order to guarantee the loyalty and efficiency of their work, in which meritocracy dictates their status inside the guild. This organization is known by foreigners as "the Matmakar", although its official name in Thortyr is the "Stor Engelian Fruktträdgard".