Kingdom: Taknier

Taknier

Hierarchy | Pride | Intellectualism

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OVERVIEW
Located to the east, the massive Taknieri Empire comprises most of the known Draconic kingdoms. They hold a close alliance with their smaller sibling nation of Manthir on their southwestern border. The nation is comprised of numerous Provinces, almost separate nations and cultures unto themselves, all bound to the Emperor, ultimate ruler and a god among men. Social status, power, and connections to spiritual life are important to the people here. In the wake of the death of two of his sons, the Emperor has made some questionable decisions, casting doubts and rumors about his sanity and the future of the empire. He has yet to declare a new heir or provide any answer to Manthir for requests for aid.

The kingdom's colors are cobalt and silver, and their symbol is a horse. They are inspired by a mix of middle ages French and Japanese culture and aesthetics. People of Taknier are Eurasian in appearance. While there is a lot of variety, all of them have dark hair.

The people of Taknier are of a large variety but are also surprisingly insular. While they welcome others to share in their own culture, they are prideful and dedicated to each other and their kingdom. Even outsiders recognize Taknier as a pinnacle of civilization.

History
Taknier and Manthir were once sister tribes from a culture of nomads in the north. In the ancient past, a plague spread across the north, killing many, especially children. Taknier was led by an influential ruler and doctor, Alix Revelyan, who sought to consolidate power in order to provide for more people. Many swore loyalty to Revelyan in order to save their people, to varying degrees of respect. She settled the first city, Eloy, which was the capitol for a long time as the plague came to an end with the empires advances in medicine.

She bore many children, but her oldest, twins Laurent and Valan, inherited the empire together. Though united in their goals and desire to grow the empire, they did so through force and successful conquest. Manthir was one of the largest tribes and the last remaining to be pressured to bend to the empire. When they refused, war was declared, but it only lasted for three days. The leader of Manthir promised his daughter to Laurent and abandoned their original lands to secure lasting peace with the kingdom. In a show of good faith, Taknier opened their doors to Manthiran students of both war and medicine. Relations between the two remain strained, but they recognize cultural similarities and shared history.

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GOVERNMENT
Empire - god king. His word is law. Her gaze is an honor. As a god, however, he has many attendants and advisors and a council which deal with much of the day to day. Some Emperors are more hands on while others are not. In general, the emperor does not fraternize with the lower class.

Social Services
Everyone in the empire is expected to pay taxes to their lord and, in turn, the emperor. The exact amount is set per each Province by their ruling lord, but there are regulations to ensure amounts(monetary or goods) are based upon actual incomes. In turn, the empire provides its citizens with many services. There is a public mail and delivery system that extends through most of the land. There are public hospitals and very basic healthcare is free. Daycare and schooling for children is free as well, ensuring as many children as possible survive the harsh climate and are prepared to serve and defend their homeland. There are also many major paved roads to support travel and trade.

Taknier is broken up into major Provinces, each run largely independently by a clan. Each Province handles law and order in their own way, though generally there are magistrates and courts. For criminal cases, only a magistrate is required. For civil cases, a panel of magistrates is often used, and while rare, lawyers may help present someone's case. For extreme cases or simply those the Emperor takes an interest in, he may serve as the ruling magistrate.

Exile
While prison time and community/military service is common, so is exile, especially for political crimes. Although still considered citizens and therefore bound by laws and rights, exiled Taknier are no longer allowed into their homeland. Often, exiles serve as border guards, so that they can still be close to their families. These individuals are commonly those that did not agree with current politics and all are still fiercely loyal to their homeland, if not those in charge. The punishment for breaking exile is death. The only one who can overturn a ruling of exile is the Emperor himself.

Exiles surrender their clan name and the right to enter Taknier. Most take a variation of the ruling clan's name, a common one being Valier. Some wear it as a badge of honor, others as a sign of disrespect. 

There is a private official ceremony held, in which the individual is sentenced to exile. They are made to swear an oath of silence of their past life. This is completed by touching a magical artifact and swearing to never claim their clan name and family as their own, along with any rank or privileges that might have been allotted to them. Once sworn, the artifacts seals this promise with a mark on their skin and they are unable to speak of the specifics of who they once were, even under compulsion.

Notable figures of higher rank are written into the history books as dead. Families often hold funeral ceremonies for their now removed family members and referr to them in the past tense in public.

Only those who have given and those who have taken the oath understand how it works, though it is widely suspected ancient magic is involved.

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ECONOMICS
Taknier is a massive empire which both produces and consumes. It has relied on an expansionist culture in the past but now has become largely stable, if massive. There are still merits to expanding through war and colonization. they have an extensive trade empire both over land within their own provinces, and over seas with Manthir, Zahn, and the Sundown Commonwealth.

Major Exports: Ice, Knowledge, Medicine, Weapons
Major Imports: Ore, Luxury Goods

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SOCIETY
Taknier has a highly stratified class system. While education is equal between all to a point, wealth and military power is a dividing factor for many of high society. Those with more money can own land and rent it out, making serfs out of those below. The kingdom is known to be very particular about how people are addressed and treated depending on their rank.

There are seven Provinces in Taknier, each lead by a ruling family with the rank of Prince/Princess. These families are often large and sprawling, some with relations to past or present royalty, but not all. The people of each province were once unique tribes, but have become much more mixed these days and are considered equals throughout the kingdom.

Nobility Ranks
Royalty
All ranks are traditionally inherited by their firstborn child only.

Emperor/Empress | Addressed as "His/Her Imperial Majesty" or "Your Majesty"
First, Second, Third, (etc) | The following children of the current ruler, as termed by the order of their birth. Addressed as their title upon first meeting, "Your Imperial Highness" thereafter. Children are also often granted provinces or duchies to govern when they come of age

Primarium
The upper echelon of Taknieri nobility. These are typically large, older families whose rank is derived from royal ancestry or previously being the heads of one of the ancient tribe that swore land and loyalty to the first imperial family.

Prince/Princess | Addressed as "Your Highness", governs a "Province" (not necessarily related to royalty)
Duke/Duchess | Addressed as "Your Grace", governs a "duchy"

Secondarium
The lower echelon of Taknieri nobility. These are the "newer" noble families whose rank is derived from official service to the empire or letters of nobility but can also be self assumed. This also includes the children of Primarium ranks that do not inherit, marking them as less important than their parents and inheriting sibling.

Marquis | Addressed as "My Lord", governs a "march", functions the same as a count but entrusted with border security and therefore slightly more important
Comte | Addressed as "my lord", governs a "county"
Viscomte |
Baron |
Chevalier | addressed as "sir", non-hereditary, granted by membership to an Order

There are a plethora of Chevalier Orders in Taknier, each with differing values. The older Orders are more respected than others but are also much harder to join. Most noblemen are a member of one order or another.

The majority of the people are commoners or serfs, those who work the land and perform much more physical tasks.

Gender
Men and women can hold equal positions in government and military, as well as education and sciences. There have been just as many Empresses of note as Emperors and not for their gender but for the work they completed and the respect they earned as an individual. 

Sexuality
Sex and sexuality, however, are very traditional. In ancient times, the northlands were a harsh place to live, necessitating male and female partners with many children simply to ensure some would survive to further the tribe. Religion reinforced this heavily and still does to this day. It is considered a sin to have sex outside of marriage or to have same sex relations. 

Marriage
Marriage is a sacred union. When young women come of age and complete their journey, they are courted by young men. Every spring and summer there are festivals encouraging and celebrating love and marriage and the nobility often host extravagant parties. It is not uncommon for children of higher ranks to be engaged from a young age to strengthen ties with other high ranking clans. Lower class citizens often have more freedom. Men and women of higher ranks that fail to find a suitable spouse by the age of twenty are viewed as undesirable and sometimes considered leeches to society.

School and Education
In the past, each tribe raised their children communally. The weather was harsh, illness common, and birth difficult in the north and it was easier for the tribe to raise children as a whole, regardless of parentage. It also spared the families some pain when raising their children from a distance, considering half of them would not make it to their tenth birthday. Now, with modern medicine, better roads, and a central government, most children survive, but the concept of collective childcare perseveres. At the age of five, all children live in and attend school together, regardless of gender or rank. They are all taught by dedicated teachers and instructors in history, language, culture, mathematics, arts, military training, and various manual labor skills.

By age ten, most children of commoners are beginning to diversify and start apprenticeships in the occupation of their choosing, while the children of the noble ranks are learning more about politics and social status. Those that show particular aptitude and desire are encouraged to become doctors, or researchers, or teachers, regardless of birth. By fifteen, those that desire can dedicate themselves to the military as full fledged soldiers. At this age also, children are fully claimed by their parents, though nobles must first complete coming of age journeys to prove their value to their families. What this journey is exactly depends entirely upon the clan and the individual, though there are many traditional quests still in use. Many consider this an archaic practice, but it has been maintained nonetheless.

Adoption
Adoption is common place. Orphans are raised along with the rest of the children. Those who excel are often claimed by the families of those they befriend. Others are welcomed warmly into the family of the military into various roles.

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CULTURE
The bulk of people in Taknier are working class, specifically farmers. 

Clothing
Masks and veils have always been a major form or expressing rank, individuality and privacy in the kingdom, especially among nobility, but their use was made even more widely popular by the late First Prince. The young man was never seen in public without a veil, mask or both. Rumors abound as to why, be it because he was shy, of poor constitution, or even that he was simply too beautiful for the mortal eye to look upon. 

Both men and women wear similar clothing, incorporating robes, pants, and other ceremonial dress. The difference between the two is largely the style and prints of the fabric, with women wearing brighter, more dramatic colors and designs and men wearing more muted, simple patterns.

Art
Tapesty and fabrics, painting, gardening

Core Values
Hierarchy - order among all things, accepting social role, status as natural, 
Formality and Courtesy - offering proper respect to status, hospitality
Empathy - embracing emotions, connecting with others, bonding
Harmony - with others, with nature
Pride - in their work, in their culture, holding knowledge and skill above others
Artistry - artistic expression in all aspects of life and work
Intellectualism - the pursuit and practice of knowledge

Language
Taknieri are taught both Imperial and their native tongue. Through the educational system, nearly all citizens are literate. Taknieri is a complex and difficult to master language, not taught to outsiders. While it is not entirely forbidden to speak it in front of foreigners, teaching it to them is heavily discouraged for the simple reason that knowledge is power. That said, while Taknieri has a unique alphabet, only the royal family and archivists are taught to read and write it. Normally, Taknieri uses the Imperial alphabet.

Religion
The official religion of the empire is Soliancy, worshipping the all-powerful spirit of both the sun and the earth, similar to the Old Gods. Although the focus is on a single god, there is a pantheon of spirits beneath them. Much of the religion is based in these old ways, where people are free to pray to and make offerings to any of the numerous spirits of the land. While not entirely at odds with Cardinalism, less emphasis is placed on the four spirits of the wind, with many spirits and beasts venerated for different reasons. The leading disciple and voice of the god of the Sun is the Emperor himself and many pray directly to him. It is not uncommon for people to journey to the capitol at least once in their life in order to see the emperor in person, even from afar, and offer praise and prayer.

Cardinalism
While there are many different beliefs besides the official religion, many of Taknier still focus on the spirits of the land. Most are welcome to practice as they see fit and venerate specific spirits above others. There are only four true "gods," however and these are commonplace here and in most other religions of the world. In Manthir, their main appearance is represented each by an animal and their names have become the Cardinal directions. Hence why they are often termed the four "cardinals."
Stag | North Wind - god of death, time, and karma (order)
Tiger | South Wind - god of destruction, nature and freedom (chaos)
Dragon | West Wind - god of protection, knowledge, and law (father figure)
Phoenix | East Wind - god of fertility, growth, and beauty (mother figure)