Celestial Empire

The Celestial Empire of the Moon, Stars, and Sea Ik' Ka' Ek' A Kai Malama Apetu'a Akai
Flag
Motto: Kaole matou ke iloa hea ke holau, 'ae matou ke aru
File:Work In Progress
Capital and largest city	Makuahine
Official languages	Yocatullic (Western dialect)
Recognized languages	Yocatullic (Southern), Yocatullic (Eastern), Fatafafoluan, Iwikuamoan, Kakanuiean
Ethnic groups	Sublustrian (100%) [ESTIMATE]
Demonym(s)	Yocatullic
Government	Tribal confederation
• Ari'i Tapairu	Malama Kai La'au Yocatul
Legislature	Tribal council
History
• Founding	14th century(?)
Area
•
Population
• 2015 estimate	3,000,000
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	1 Billion USD
HDI	0.4 low
Currency	Kalaka (KLK)
Driving side	right

The Confederation of the Moon, Stars, and Sea (Common Yocatullic: Malama apetu'a a kai IPA: [malaːma apeːtuʔa a kai]), officially The Celestial Empire of the United Yocatullic Isles of the Twelve Tribes of the Moon, Stars, and Sea (Common Yocatullic: Kotahi A'ua'a Hona Yocatala Motu'a Te'arua Hapu'a Malama Apetu'a A Kai), often colloquially referred to as the Celestial Empire, or Sublustria, is a sovereign tribal confederation located throughout the southern Vehemens ocean. It holds a small population of some 3,000,000 estimated indigenous individuals, spread across several archipelagos with strong regional identities. The main population center is the capital city of Makuahine, one of the most dense areas in the country, with a population of about 150,000.

The Celestial Empire's founding is hotly debated, due to a mixture of incomplete records and competing definitions. One school of thought considers the Empire a continuation of the Yocatullic Confederation that united the Celestial Isles in the 10th century, while others consider it a distinct phenomenon that only began to gain ground in the 12th or 13th century. The Empire was administered as a series of tributaries and feudatories up to the Yocatullic Civil War, which caused a sharp decline in imperial influence throughout Sublustria. Following the centralization reforms that came as a result of the victory of Makuahine in 1630, the Empire was reconsolidated and rebuilt under more strict conditions. This reconsolidation effort formed the basis for the modern Empire, although archaic tributary rituals and terminology is still used regardless of the evolved relationship.

The Celestial Empire today retains its tribal confederate government, with highly autonomous regions characterized by distinct languages and cultures. Indigenous culture flourishes under imperial leadership, as the Empire successfully resisted foreign colonization and established itself as a legitimate international entity in the early period of foreign contact. As a result, indigenous customs, languages, religion, architecture, and attire is dominant throughout. The consequence of this resistance, however, is that the Empire is severely underdeveloped with most regions lacking reliable access to modern amenities and resources. This is in stark contrast to neighboring countries such as Mihi Mai Ra and Valentir.

Detailed statistics from the Celestial Empire have traditionally been difficult to produce due to the decentralized nature of government and the lack of infrastructure to properly record data. Moreover, the government has been historically apprehensive of foreign influence and interference, and would hinder attempts by outside agents to conduct particular studies and surveys. Since the turn of the millennium, however, the imperial government has become much more open, and has taken steps toward positive interactions with foreign agents, governments, and organizations.

Precise dating for much of Sublustrian history is difficult, as the Yocatullic Calendar was not prioritized for record keeping purposes until recent centuries. For most of imperial history, time was instead reckoned by generational counts. Due to the family-oriented, clan-based, and tribal society that dominated, and still dominates, this part of Sublustria, distance of generations and relatives was deemed a more important factor in determining the importance of events, the severity of feuds, familial status and caste, and other matters of tribal life. In this sense, the early records of the First Confederate Council, evidently written only a few generations after the events described, were celebrating the passing of the alliance unto children and new generations, rather than celebrating landmarks in time elapsed. The consequence of the viewpoint of such things as essentially timeless and dependent upon the passing of generations is that dates are imprecise, with any given generation having a potential gap of decades not only in a standard definition, but from one generation to the next.