Kartash Overview
Kartash is the largest kingdom on the continent covering large swathes of land all the way from the equatorial mountains to the edge of habitable land where it is cold enough to freeze blood inside of a naked hand. The central lands are flat plains that are often covered in shallow snow in winter. To the west is the great forest, the border of the Empire, while to the east is the frozen ice shelf; a death trap to any who walk across it. The south east is home to hills filled with precious metals, gems and the rare ice crystals while north is the mountains that block any progress further. Nearly all towns are built using stone as wood is too difficult to obtain, fires burning on mix of dun and peat that holds chemicals which burn slowly are tendered almost all year round with only the very rich using real wood. Due to the size of the Empire most towns are self-governed, taking care of most matters including tax, however the military is the domain of the crown and it is their might that has bound the lands together for almost 300 years. Travel is a dangerous pursuit with little protection on what passes for roads, still there is a constant flow of trade across the empire as no single town can be self-dependent anymore; so bound together they have become.
The racial stock of Kartash has little variety, the main type being tall, about 5'10, with a broad face, while to the north they become slightly shorter, about 5'8 and the west being a mix of most types, having bred with the natives of the great forest and Belgrave conclaves. The southern reaches have no native variance as the lands to the south are too harsh for anyone to have survived on their own. To the far north, beyond the mountains are the crow barbarians who, from post mortem examinations seem to be of a similar type as northern Kartashians, although that could be due to the fact that all bodies obtained were of fighting men, and no women have ever been sighted, leading to some rather foolish urban legends.
Towns in Kartash are easy to recognise due to a couple of consistencies when designing them. First is how all the buildings will be very tall, often rising to four stories even in the poorest sections, with slanted roofs that are so close together that the gap between them is normally only a couple of hand spaces wide; this is so that any snow remains in the centre of the streets as well as keeping large amounts of heat within the buildings. Second is how all but the most western towns are made of stone due to the cost of wood as trees rarely grow outside the great forest. Finally due to the cold, increased by the openness of the landscape, all settlements have large underground complexes, some being so great that whole areas have been lost over the years.
The current Emperor of Kartash is Thurlaw the third, who is 42 with no heir and sickly. His younger half-brother, Prince Lantakas, on the other hand is very different, a passionate man he leads the military in the north and has shown himself to be very loyal to his elder brother. Still with the Emperor so ill and his brother often putting himself at risk the current political climate is a deadly balance with the no clear line of succession after Prince Lantakas and rising tensions between the Church of the Ice Gods of Winter and the University of Zoffany. The world will watch Kartash in the coming years with a close eye, to see if the first empire of the world will last to see 300.
Towns of Kartash
Name of town: Rakgal
Industry: Trade, farming (vegetation and livestock), religion.
Geography: Rakgal is situated on the only hill as far as the eye can see, not that the hill is high at all, with the Citadel in the middle. Because of the flat land all farming is done within the city using small plots covered by Ice Mirrors that keep the heat inside as well as letting light through. As the city is the largest congregation of humans in the world it's also has an extensive underground cave system, developed by smugglers, sewers workings and secret paths, meaning that there are a number of wild animals in the city.
Description: Rakgal has been the capital of Kartash for years, renamed in 50FF, it has been the centre of an empire for the last 300 years and this shows. The buildings near the centre are huge constructions that have little defensive use. As you walk away from the centre the buildings at first get older and older, showing little change aesthetically, tall with slanted roofs that jut out from the walls in the traditional way. However this changes once you reach the city walls and beyond. These buildings are newer, shorter houses that often have flatter roofs due to the difficulty in building the steep ones that are more traditional; they also crowed together however every now and again you would find an empty plot where the locals produce their crops. It is here you can find the Grand Temple to the Ice Gods, built within its own wall so that from the outside it looks like a second town with richer neighbours however once inside you would find one of the most impressive buildings ever; having taken 121 years to build it's the largest temple in the Empire.
Name of town: Zoffany
Industry: Crystal mines, magic research
Geography: Zoffany is the most southerly of all towns in Kartash, lying right at the southern border of the Empire; however it is not a border town like you would think. Yes it has remained inside its walls for the most part, however for the entire history of the Kartash Empire it has never been attacked by an outside force of humans. Instead its foe is the ice and cold of the south where for most of the year it's snowed in. Perhaps then it is only natural that it is here that the crystals that let a man use powers that go beyond logic reside, where the minds of lesser men would shatter from the challenges of living here.
History: In 200FF the University of Zoffany was built to research the crystals that had been found nearby. Although it was once out of grace with the crown it has remained thanks to the great minds that have created wonders within. The town reflects this by being the centre for new discoveries with the streets lit by Ghost Fire and the houses warmed by technology not found anywhere else. The streets, like all in Kartash, are often narrow with the tall buildings towering over the inhabitants yet unlike the capital the roofs do not jut out as far, instead leaving plenty of natural light to reach pedestrians.
Name of town: Veraid (Ver-raid)
Industry: Livestock, fishing, mining
Geography: Veraid is situated at the mouth of the river Ve, the largest river in Kartash it is frozen over for most of the year like the eastern sea. However for two months at the height of summer it becomes water and is home to a huge number of fish. It is thanks to this yearly melt that Veraid is one of the richer towns in the Empire. To the south of the river there are endless hills with minerals that let the towns people survive the colder months as they are not as far south as Zoffany.
History: Varaid was the capital of Krushen, home of Princess Farnedis latter queen to Uorek FrostFire and it was here that the destiny of Uorek CoRakgal first became possible as with the kingdoms aid he was at last strong enough to wage war on the world. The financial and economic power of Varaid cannot be ignored, even though there has been plenty of competition for its metal export in more recent times. It was the seat of the oldest family, whose blood still resides on the throne.
Name of town: Kerdren
Industry: Mining, livestock
Geography: Kerdren is just on the edge of the northern hills and is the last town of real importance soldiers see when heading towards the mountains. As such it has become the centre of military training due to its proximity to the only real front for the last 50 years. The rocky hills are filled with valuable metals and gems, as such making it home to the largest mines in Kartash.
History: Kerdren is the youngest of the great towns and as such has little in the way of history, however as the times change it is likely that it is here that change is likely to be born.
Name of town: Kirnash
Industry: Livestock, crops
Geography: Kirnash is one the many central towns which lie in the plains that make up the majority of Kartash. With little in the way of hills it's only thanks to the creation of Ice Mirrors in 250 that Kirnash is of note. Thanks to these the entire area around the town is used to produce grain, vegetables and cotton for the whole empire. This has led to the city resembling a bee hive with a large number of underground areas due to a demand for space.
History: Kirnash came to prominence in the 3rd century when a group of merchants and noblemen came together and purchased a contract with the University of Zoffany for the exclusive use of the new creation of Ice Mirrors. Buying up most of the land around the small town of Kirnash they installed the first plot after a single year and followed this by installing another nine quickly after. After only a short while they began to receive profits which they used to extend their contract and expand productions, however the Thrown interviews in 270 at the request of the noble house owning most land in Tevulra, Grevan and Curgila still by this point the town of Kirnash was too powerful to be stopped and is now home to some of the most powerful families in Kartash.
Name of town: Tevulra
Industry: Livestock, Crops
Geography: Unlike Kirnash, Tevulra is hillier with poor soil; the town is a typical settlement with tall buildings close to each other with small gaps for streets. Of note is the castle in the centre of town and the smaller satellite castles around which keep the local populace in check.
History: Tevulra is the historical home of agriculture in Kartash, having been the home of land barons for years, its conquest was the moment that other kingdoms started to fear Uorek FrostFire. Over the next 200 years it remained very much unchanged till the rise of Kirnash as a rival town. After the crown helped remove the monopoly on Ice Mirrors the Lords of Tevulra expected that they would return to the top, however the greater amount of snow in winter as well as the poorer soil meant that it was pointless to build the Ice Mirrors there. Instead over the last 50 years the areas around the town have been forced to specialise in more livestock, resulting in a reduction in the people and money of the area although this has begun to pick up.
Name of town: Grevan
Industry: Trade, wood
Geography: Gervan lies on the edge of the plains bordering forests. Although the Great Forest, the boundary of Kartash, is still further east the smaller woods around the town are enough to heat the air by a couple of degrees, making it one of the warmest parts of the empire in the summer although due to its distance from a large body of water in winter it gets far colder. The trees in the woods are mostly soft evergreens that have been cultivated for hundreds of years.
History: Grevan is one of the oldest trade towns in the world, having always been on the boundary of the Great Forest it has supplied wood for years to the east and has sent metals and gems to the west. Because of this it has a wide variation of races, whether the board faced, tall Eastern-Kartashi, the shorter northern-hills man, famed for their beards, from the west the stocky forest man and the short and slim trader from Belgave with the natives being a somewhat middle ground of all. In more recent years Grevan has become the centre for crops heading to the west due to its closeness to Kirnash. This has led to tensions within the upper merchants and the nobility as they attempt to obtain advantages in trading deals; made more difficult by the now wide spread use of Ice Mirrors meaning that dealing with two people can place you in the middle of a cold war.
Name of town: Curgila
Industry: Trade, lumber, Crops, smuggling
Geography: Culgila is on the edge of the great forest, the boundary of Kartash, this high density of foliage is enough to heat the air by a couple of degrees as well as making the terrain ideal for some of the rarer delicacies although winter can be very harsh like in most southern towns. Â The town is, unlike most others, made predominately from wood due to it' affordability; although richer sections of town often have stone buildings as a show of wealth, not to mention the advantage when a fire gets loose in the settlement.
History: Curgila was the home to the resistance that killed Emperor Goktad and as such has never been graced by the good will of the throne. As such it's one of the poorest towns in Kartash even though it has an excellent location for trade due to Zoffany and some southern forest towns being closer to it than Grevan. Like most towns the buildings are tall with slanted roofs leaving only a thin gap of sunlight able to reach the streets bellow.