Kamakari Mandate
The Kamakari Mandate (/kama'kari/listen) is a collection of kamakari realms which are loosely bound together through their greater psionic network. The Mandate is a peaceful, non-interventionist empire, held together through the mutual interests of most kamakari rather than any political force. Even so, it has grown to a large size, the second largest of the known empires behind the Daren Hegemony.
Contents
Social Structure
The Mandate is a highly decentralized society, owing to the fact that all kamakari possess latent psionic abilities. When two or more kamakari come together, they form a subconscious psionic link with one another. Through this link, they can directly communicate with one another, transmitting precise concepts, emotions, and thoughts at a pace much quicker than non-psionic species are capable. These transmissions lack much of the ambiguity that speech holds, allowing kamakari to gain a deep understanding of what others are trying to communicate. As such, the kamakari have a deep empathy toward one another and largely work to improve the lives of their fellows. One kamakari's suffering invariably ripples through the community, causing all others to feel sadness, anger, pain, and other negative emotions. This psionic link also allows kamakari communities to quickly and efficiently self-organize to solve most issues. If a building needs to be built, this need will propagate through the psionic link, the kamakari with the skills to construct the building will gather together, and work will commence. No one is compelled to work, nor is anyone paid for the work. If enough kamakari don't want to do the work or do not think it's worthwhile, it won't be done. But if one or more people suffer from the lack of the building, eventually others will decide to allay that suffering through ensuring the building is built. The same happens with virtually every aspect of society; farming, education, health care, industry, and all other needs are communally handled according to need.History
Unlike most other empires, the history of the Kamakari Mandate does not begin with any single realm. Instead, several different realms dominated by kamakari entered the Sora roughly at the same time, approximately 500 years ago. Each of these realms had fairly similar histories, with the largely peaceful kamakari gradually coming to dominate their worlds due to their unity and lack of internal conflict. While some of these worlds contained other races, their nations slowly weakened themselves through infighting and other conflict, until eventually they came to rely upon the unified kamakari for survival. Each of these realms then discovered soratravel and began exploring the Sora. When they encountered one another, their psionic links overlapped and merged. Over time they continued to meet and merge with other kamakari groups, until they numbered about a dozen realms in total. They began to call themselves the Kamakari Mandate, with the goal of helping all other kamakari enter the Sora and grow together in peace and prosperity. At this point they began to encounter non-kamakari empires, beginning with the Koganusân Kingdom. As at least some of the constituent realms had non-kamakari natives, the newly-formed Mandate was ready to deal with them. The Mandate made sure to present a non-confrontational face, while also making their strength be apparent. The first major issue the Mandate faced was shortly after they encountered the Dranomyr Archive. Unlike the other empires, the Archive was opaque and mysterious to the Mandate. The lack of ability to read an Archivist, even by the most powerful psionics among the kamakari, worried the Mandate at large. However, as the Archive did not present itself as a threat, no action was taken. Then, roughly 425 years ago, a Mandate soraship exploring the Sora encountered a primitive realm populated mostly by kamakari. The psionic link of the sorafaring kamakari merged with that of the nearby primitive kamakari, inadvertently transmitting knowledge of the Sora to them before they would have naturally developed it. The Mandate, for its part, welcomed their brethren into the fold, helping them to reach the Sora. This violated the Archive's order of non-interference with primitive realms, but it was not truly an intentional action. In fact, it would happen whenever kamakari from the Mandate passed near a primitive ream with a kamakari population. The Mandate initially attempted to keep the knowledge of what happened from the Archive, believing that to be the only way to avoid conflict. The Mandate, however, was unable to avoid encountering other primitive realms with kamakari living on them and their core principles prevented them from simply leaving their cousins to face hardship alone. Thus the Archive soon uncovered the Mandate's deception. There was much concern among the Mandate that they would be forced into violence. After some deliberation, the Archive stated that because the Mandate could not prevent it, they were not at fault. Instead, it declared that because the realmbound kamakari technically reached out and touched the Mandate explorers, that they had "naturally" reached the Sora. But to prevent this from happening again, the Archive taught the Mandate how to suppress their psionic link somewhat, thus allowing them to explore with a much lower risk of exposing primitive realms. The Mandate, in an effort to avoid conflict, agreed to follow the Archive's wishes. While accidental exposure has happened from time to time since, it is much less frequent and the Mandate has been slowly expanding into the Sora since.Politics
The psionic abilities of the kamakari allow two or more to form a subconscious link and make a decision about any issue facing them. The kamakari thus govern themselves by consensus, with groups making decisions about issues that concern them nearly instantaneously. Those with more powerful psionic talents have greater influence in these decisions, thus giving them more sway. This is not a conscious act, rather happening as needed, with their decisions happening on a subconscious level. All kamakari involved in the decision effectively know what it is instantly. Groups of kamakari up to the size of an entire realm can make decisions these ways, though this requires a large issue and a fairly densely populated world. This means that political divisions don't truly exist in the Mandate. Everyone votes based on their own desires and, since it is subconscious, the trading of votes as happens in other empires simply doesn't happen. A kamakari couldn't convince another to change their vote in exchange for the promise of a future favorable vote on another issue, because neither can purposefully act against what they truly believe. One could convince another to change their underlying beliefs, however, which would thus change how their subconscious chooses.Government
The Mandate is not ruled by a traditional ruling body. Instead, the Mandate is governed by the same latent psionic link that kamakari use to organize their settlements. Unlike individual settlements, the psionic network doesn't allow instantaneous decision making, as the distances between realms and even large cities upon realms is too great. Instead, it functions on an empathic level, allowing all kamakari to sense the general mood of the Mandate as a whole. As decisions are made by different settlements and groups, their sentiments are transmitted into the empathic field and propagates throughout the Mandate. This impacts the general mood and disposition of kamakari, based on their individual personalities. This in turn reflects back into the field, eventually reaching back to the original decisions makers, though this can take weeks or months depending on the size of the settlement and their distance from population centers. No actual decisions are made through this empathic field. Instead, kamakari instead know how their decisions are evaluated by their fellows. Due to their pacifistic and communal nature, kamakari try to do things their fellows would approve of. Individual settlements and communities are thus allowed to act mostly autonomously, with their decisions subsequently approved or disapproved of by the Mandate at large. Disapproval tends to lead to the settlements changing their decisions, if possible. This system of governance does have the side effect of disenfranchising non-kamakari. Those few with psionic powers can participate somewhat, though their influence in group decisions are limited. For those who lack psionic powers, the kamakari tend to allow them to govern their enclaves as they see fit. The Mandate only intervenes in cases where its core values are being violated, such as slavery.Laws and Criminal Justice
Crime is relatively rare within the Kamakari Mandate due to their psionic link. Any member of the link who wanted to commit a crime would have to deal with experiencing the overall reduction in happiness the crime would introduce into the link. Additionally, they run the risk of revealing their guilt into the link, making getting away with crimes far more difficult. Most kamakari would be unwilling both to introduce harm into the link and to need keep their guilt hidden for the rest of their lives. Those kamakari who do have a proclivity for crime tend to leave the Mandate and act elsewhere. That does not mean crime is unknown to the kamakari, however. Not every citizen of the Mandate is a kamakari or possess psionic abilities. Those communities have higher rates of crime due at least in part to the lesser difficulty in getting away with a crime. As such, the Mandate does maintain a judicial branch to handle the enforcement of laws and punish criminals. Investigations are carried out by kamakari volunteers, much as with any other work, though they realize that an untrained amateur will do a poor job and leave those involved unsatisfied. Thus most investigators have significant training and are skilled with using their psionic powers more actively to conduct their investigations. Mostly this is to detect lies and read surface thoughts, but more powerful kamakari are able to peer directly into minds to ascertain guilt. Such psychics are not common, thus most investigations do not involve them. The Mandate tends to punish criminals based on the amount of unhappiness caused by their crime as well as the amount of unhappiness cause by the punishment. As such, theft from someone with a lot is punished less harshly than theft from those with little. Taking something with extreme sentimental value from someone will be punished more harshly than taking something with high monetary value that has little emotional worth. If punishing a person would cause significantly more unhappiness to the community than the crime caused (for instance, if the only healer in a community was found guilty of theft), they may escape punishment altogether. For crimes against kamakari, ascertaining the amount of unhappiness caused is straightforward. For non-kamakari, however, the task is more difficult. Those with psionic powers can temporarily tap into the kamakari link to add their emotional weight to it, but the kamakari don't take this at face value. Not only do the kamakari have to make a more concerted effort to evaluate the emotional state of non-kamakari, this link is typically an active effort on the aggrieved 's part, meaning their emotions are considered less trustworthy. Thus investigators use their psionic abilities to monitor the victim for an extended period to monitor their average level of unhappiness. The kamakari believe their system is the best in the Sora, but others are far more critical. Many other cultures consider the forcible reading of a mind to be a seriously immoral act, thus the investigative techniques are considered unjustified. Additionally, the focus on unhappiness in punishments means that some individuals who are individually important receive light punishments even for serious crimes. A well known case involved an elven enclave, where the town druid was murdered by his apprentice. With the death of the druid, the apprentice was the only one who knew the proper rites to tend to the town's sacred springs. The murderer was thus only given a few months of house arrest by the kamakari authorities, as they found that the loss of the spring would cause far more distress to the community than the murder of the druid did (even though the later was extreme). When the community eventually found a replacement who could administer the rites, the murderer had already served his punishment and was allowed to walk free.Diplomacy
The Mandate maintains peaceful relations with virtually all other empires in the Sora, though these relations are not always pleasant. As a whole, the Mandate refrains from any offensive stances, instead only fortifying its own realms and leaving the other empires to their own business. However, it only interacts with those empires who meet at a minimum set of standards. This includes lack of aggression, lack of forced servitude, freedom of movement, and equality of justice. This specifically keeps it from dealing with the Álfuríki, Confederation of Doflein Realms, or Koganusân Kingdom. Its closest ally is the Bláthaofa Kingdom, though the two merely engage in mutual defense. Both utilize lepicephs for travel, which makes joint operations between the two more effective.Territory
The Mandate is an expansive but dispersed empire, consisting of numerous disconnected clusters of 289 realms and 346 minor realms. These clusters exist across the Sora, usually consisting of groups of roughly a dozen realms. These mostly tend to be centered around a kamakari-inhabited realm which joined the Mandate, along with other realms and minor realms which have been colonized. Due to the psionic field the Mandate creates, kamakari on primitive realms often become vaguely aware of sorafaring kamakari as they pass by or settle near their realms in larger numbers. With repeated contact, the link becomes stronger, eventually bringing the realmbound kamakari into the Sora. These realms then join the Mandate instinctively. The Mandate doesn't generally annex non-kamakari realms, though a few exist within their territory. These are realms which, for whatever reason, petitioned the Mandate to join and were accepted beneath their aegis.Trade and Economy
The Mandate ensures the basic needs of all of its citizens are met, ensuring they have sufficient food, water, shelter, security, safety, clothing, education, and other essentials. Those who are able are expected to contribute to their best ability, handling tasks that are necessary as they arise. There are no private businesses as such, but rather self-organizing groups who work together to achieve something. These groups take up tasks depending on the skills of the individuals involved, working toward doing whatever jobs are needed. For instance, when a building needs to be constructed, a dozen or so kamakari who have experience building will band together, with one naturally taking the supervisor role, directing the others and overseeing the work. The workers receive no compensation for their work, but can expect that when they need something of their own, they can get it merely by asking. Non-kamakari are also expected to contribute the same as kamakari, though they have to more actively attempt to get involved, since they lack the connection to the kamakari psionic link. The Mandate itself does not use money, though it does understand the concept. Those citizens of the Mandate who deal with other empires often keep money for buying things externally. The Mandate is largely self sufficient, thus does not require much trade with others, but it does buy a limited amount of things from empires it is friendly with. It exports a small number of goods as well, with Kamakari silk being particularly valued for its strength and fine texture.Demographics
Just over 387 billion individuals live within the Mandate. Most are kamakari, accounting for 271 billion (71%) people. The majority of the rest of the population are a variety of other insectoid species, primarily borsangri (12%), deng-i (8%), and luu (6%). Minor insectoid species make up 2% of the rest, while the final 1% are other species.Languages
The kamakari of the Mandate typically communicate to one another psionically, not needing a true language. However, they are aware of their need to communicate with other species and have thus developed Kamakari. This language is the most common by far in the Mandate due to the large kamakari majority. Other languages tend to be spoken only in small numbers in minor enclaves, though a few have spread to a small degree. The largest of these is Beyida, a borsangri language which has just over a billion speakers, followed closely by Khisori, spoken by around 800 million luu. Translators are readily available in the Mandate to facilitate communication between individuals who do not share a language. The majority of these translators are kamakari who, rather than vocally translating, act as a psionic intermediary that essentially projects the concepts and meanings from one mind to another. The minds of each naturally interpret these psionic signals into their own language, reducing the chance of misunderstanding.Religion and Education
Kamakari in general hold a highly philosophical outlook on life which often borders on religious. This philosophy centers around achieving inner peace, the rejection of negative emotions, continual learning, mindfulness, and embracing community. There is no official worship related to this philosophy, but numerous temples and shrines exist where those who are most devoted to their philosophy come together to meditate and learn together. At times, these temples are tied to various gods who serve as patrons. Numerous different philosophic traditions exist, varying in innumerable different ways. In all but the largest cities, all kamakari in a settlement tend to follow the same tradition, communally decided upon by the inhabitants. The differences between these traditions can lead to intense debates between devotees, though to outsiders the distinctions can seem insignificant. Several temples can be found in any large Mandate settlement and even smaller towns and villages have at least one. These temples serve as centers of learning for the kamakari. Young kamakari, fresh from nurseries, venture to them to learn history, mathematics, philosophy, psionics, and many other subjects. The temples frequently offer a broad basic education, with more advanced subjects being taught as students age and discover what specialty interests them. These temples do not hold classes as recognized by other species; rather, they are more akin to free-flowing discussions which can shift topics suddenly. Both students and teachers drift in and out of lessons, picking up information in a seemingly piecemeal fashion. This education is free and any citizen is welcome to learn as much, or as little, as they wish. Many kamakari spend their entire lives learning at the temple, either honing their skills in their areas of focus or broadening their knowledge of a variety of subjects. Other species within the Mandate are welcome, though it is up to the individual to choose if they wish to attend or not. Those without psionics are accommodated through verbal lessons and discussions, though many times the kamakari students can inadvertently exclude others. Thus many smaller schools exist inside enclaves for other races which provide them with educations of various qualities.Military
Owing to the peaceful nature of the kamakari, the Mandate does not maintain an official military. Instead, any of its people can be called upon to serve in the event of conflict. Unofficially, there are organizations within the Mandate which are dedicated to its defense, though numbers are difficult to come by. Rough estimates run between 400 to 800 lepicephs of various types, though this estimate only includes those which are controlled by combat-ready kamakari. The full number of lepicephs which could be mobilized in the event of an actual invasion is much larger, thought to number in the several of thousands, making any invasion of the Mandate one of the most well-protected nations in the Sora.
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Capital
Government System
Democracy, Direct
Power Structure
Confederation
Economic System
Traditional
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Non-aggression pact
The Kingdom appreciates the reverent ways of the Mandate, though they wish they could be more pious. The Mandate considers the Kingdom mostly harmless and better than many of the other empires out there.
Trade partners
The peaceful Mandate makes a good customer to the Syndicate. They Mandate itself doesn't have quite an appreciation for the Syndicate, but have no complaints about what they're buying.
Friendly
Of all the nations in the Sora, the Suzerainty and Mandate are perhaps the most alike in values.
Dislike
Both sides consider the core values of the other to be anathema. The Hegemony considers the Mandate weak and conciliatory, while the Mandate finds the Hegemony violent and tyrannical.
Belligerent
Neither empire cares for the other. The kamakari hate slavery and constantly try to undermine it, often attacking Confederacy ships traveling close to their territory. The Confederacy fine the kamakari wholly unsuited to slavery and believe they should be wiped out. Open warfare seems likely in the near future.
Hatred
The Álfuríki sees the Kamakari as hideous moralists, while the Mandate cannot fathom the cruelty of the Álfuríki society.
Comments