Posting to watch, and tentatively reserving an empire spot.
Name of Empire : The Sixfold Council
Name of Ruler : Councilman Siver Three-Eye
Empire Start : Mostly lush tropical rainforest, once full of dangerous predators and deadly plants but now mostly tamed. Though the nation is small, it has been carefully placed by the Council to cover a broad range of terrain types; the south-east border is coastline, the north-east border is an impassable mountain range, the western border is a vast desert, but the centre of the nation in geography, population and culture is the rainforest.
Empire Culture : Formed over a century ago by refugees from several warring nations, the Sixfold Council has historically been a melting pot of cultures, from human to elven to even dwarven and koboldish. However, in recent times the Sixfold Council has begun to create its own identity, setting up harvest festivals every two months, implementing a state religion, and creating art and trade schools.
Much of the rainforest has been cleared for use as farmland, growing both crops and valuable medicinal plants native to the rainforest. Many of the farms are home to single families, but occasionally a small town will spring up around a particularly large or successful one. The main exports of the nation are small amounts of crops like mango and sugarcane (most goes to the Seven Shining Cities) and medicinal plants, like the haver leaf, an herb known to remedy many minor ailments, like the cold. Chief imports are stone and various metals, which are hard to find within the nation's borders unless one braves the harsh north-eastern mountains.
Clothing is simple, consisting of trousers, shirts, and shoes for both genders. Clothing is woven from plant fibre, and so is generally various shades of brown, but well-off citizens may wear dyed cloth, and the very rich may be seen wearing imported cotton or silk.
The Seven Shining Cities are the cultural hubs of the nation, arranged geometrically by the Council so the Central Shining City, Ciravem, is surrounded at equal distances by the Shining Cities of the west, north-west, north-east, east, south-east, and south-west (Myvall, Haver, Afentine, Borev, Fino, and Cern, respectively). The six surrounding cities are each ruled solely by a single member of the council (Siver Three-Eye's city is Haver), and Ciravem is ruled jointly by the Council and functions as the capital of the nation.
Though generally subjects of the Sixfold Council count in base-ten, a few priests and some of the upper class prefer base-sixty. The nation uses a twenty-four hour clock with hours divided into sixty minutes, and minutes theoretically split into sixty seconds each though there's no reliable way to measure seconds. Being a tropical land the nation prefers sundials, with clocks being a rare imported curiousity. The calendar is lunar, with twenty-eight days to each month and twelve months to the year, resulting in a discrepancy of nearly a month compared to the solar calendar.
The number six is considered sacred within the doctrine of The King, and much of the nation is formed around this number. Examples include the number of councilmen on the Sixfold Council, the number of Shining Cities surrounding Ciravem, the number of different coins used in their currency, the dominant shape in their architecture (the cube), and the dominant shape in their art (the hexagon).
Dominant Religion : Though traditionally the Council has advocated worship of a great being known only as The King, with the Sixfold Council as its high priests or prophets, with Siver's rise to power there has been a gradual shift to worship of the Councilmen themselves. Regardless of direction, the worship is low-key and unobtrusive: Icons representing The King on the currency and above doors, a bimonthly festival, and a simple prayer at noon.
Empire Rule : The Sixfold Council is a council made up of six people. Every three years, and whenever a councilman dies, there is a public election by every citizen of the nation (a citizen is defined as any person, regardless of age, race, or gender, who has paid a Citizenship Tax for at least three years straight). When a councilman is elected to replace a dead one, things continue as usual, but every three years, when a new councilman is voted into power, the seven vote amongst themselves as to who should step down from the position.
The Sixfold Council collectively make national-level decisions, under the guise of proclamations from their god, The King. In addition, six of the Seven Shining Cities are ruled solely by a single councilman, while the Central Shining City, Ciravem, functions as a capital where the Council rules jointly.
Recently, one of the councilmen, Siver Three-Eye, discovered the secret of immortality. He decided to use this knowledge only on himself, and used its existence as a carrot for the rest of the council, influencing their decisions with bribes of a year or two at a time of extended life. Though his goal is personal power he does not intend to kill the rest of the Council, at least as it stands now, considering them to be easy pawns and good company. The rest of the councilmen will not make a move against him, at least as long as he continues handing out the extra years.
Empire Architecture : Architecture in the nation of the Sixfold Council is rather simple, based on basic cubes and squares. Building materials are mostly wood, with important buildings made of whatever stone can be imported. Roads between settlements tend to be dirt, if well-maintained for dirt roads, with very major roads paved with rough stone.
Above door- and gate-ways can be found Icons of The King, representing that whatever is behind the portal is under The King's protection. Exactly which Icon is engraved has no significance, though families that own multiple properties will prefer to have different Icons on each of their properties.
The rainforest is not cut down except where necessary to expand a settlement or build a farm. This means that a visitor is often treated to the sight of a city seemingly suddenly rising up out of the rainforest as they approach.
Empire Flag/Insignia : The Aspect of the Sixfold Council is six white, six-pointed stars arranged in a hexagon around a seventh, many-pointed white star, against a black background. Variations on this theme are common, and can be found everywhere from standards to currency to the layout of the Seven Shining Cities.
The Icons of The King are holy symbols representing the Sixfold Council's god. There are, of course, six, almost always found separately, though a particularly holy relic might feature all of them. The Icons are The Throne, The Crown, The Sceptre, The Sword, The Robe, and The Scroll, but what these exactly look like is left up to the artist to decide. The Icons are usually found carved above doorways, in religious art, and on the back of currency.
Last Notes : The population of the nation is concentrated in the Seven Shining Cities, with a third of all subjects of the Sixfold Council living in the Central City and half living in the other six Cities. The last sixth of the populace lives in the dozens of lesser towns and farms throughout the region. Two-thirds of the population are human, with elves and kobolds making up a sixth each. Various other races make up under one percent of the population. The Council generally represents these demographics, usually consisting of between three and five humans, one or two elves, and occasionally a kobold.
The military is small, used more for defending the Shining Cities from dangerous wildlife than any real military work. In times of war, mercenaries are hired to accomplish offensive aims. The military mainly consists of footsoldiers clad in heavy armour and wielding spears, and lightly-armed and stealthy archers wielding the newly introduced longbow.
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Topic: Empires & Heroes : 999 AD [SLOTS ARE OPEN] (Read 7739 times)