Kyldigard

Commonwealth of Kyldigardian Cantons Kyldigard
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Our Pride is in our People"
Capital and	Muremysct
Official languages	Garderruth
Recognised national languages	Garderruth, Scizcian
Ethnic groups	Kyleth (94%), Scizc (6%), Kitan (0.0015%)
Religion	Relejanism
Demonym(s)	Kyldigardian (citizen); Kyleth (native species)
Government	Temporary Military Dictatorship
• Premier	Uaderim Vijaroscij
Legislature	N/A
Establishment
• The Grand Kyleth Slave Revolution	414 AR
• The Kyleth-Kveutonian War	501 AR - 530 AR
• Establishment of the Commonwealth	634 AR
• End of Segregation	1535 AR
• Revolution of 1613	1613 AR
Population
• 1611 AR estimate	~27,000,000
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Per capita	21,132,151 Ching (42,349 USD)
Currency	Ching (CNG)
Date format	yy/mm/dd/hh

Kyldigard (Garderruth: Kyldigard [kɪldiɡäɹd]), officially the Commonwealth of Kyldigardian Cantons, is a country located in northwestern Pelia, strattling the edge of the Clastoclites. To its west is the Kesper Sea and to its north is the Wintry Ocean. Its capital city is Muremysct, and it has a population of about 27,000,000 Kyldigardian citizens and residents, of which 94% are of the Kyleth majority species, less than 1% are of the giant Kitan minority species, and 6% are of the minority Scizc species. The Commonwealth is made up of 19 cantons and 1 colonial territory, West Yeverekev. Although Kyldigard's governing body, which is currently a military dictatorship, is very benevolent in their application of Kyldigard's de-facto state religion, Relejanism, the vast majority of Kyldigard's Kyleth population considers themselves highly devout in the faith.

Etymology

The exact creation and origin of the name "Kyldigard" is unknown, however the name "Kyldigard" is nearly an exact translation from Garderruth as "Kyld eg gard" (literally "land of Kyld", with the words land and Kyld being swapped in location due to Garderruth grammatical rules). It is likewise unknown why the slight spelling change between "Kyld eg gard" and "Kyldigard", especially in regards to the switching of the central "e" for "i" and the abbreviation of the two "g" consonants into one, came into being.

History

Antiquity to Settlement Era (150s-420s AR)

Genesis of the Kyleth Species

Around 150-200 AR, scientists from the Empire of Kethes began experiments in the field of synthetic evolution, eventually leading them to produce the genetic ancestors of modern Kyleth to fill a niche role of servitude for the upper and ruling classes of Kethes. By 250 AR, a stable population of approximately 100,000 Kyleth was being maintained in Kethes. Due to selectively evolved docility, the first several generations of Kyleth were submissive to the wills of their creators. Due to explicit requests by their owners, the Kyleth Species were also at some later point biologically altered to be reproductively compatible with multiple other species found in Kethes at the time. Although the exact date is unknown, it is well known that by 380 AR, most of the Kyleth population had devolved the docilifying traits and developed the ability to feel and understand complex emotions and abstract concepts.

4th Century Kyleth Slave Unrest & 5th Century Revolts

Due to perceived cruel treatment of Kyleth slaves by their Kethesian masters, the Kyleth planned and on many occasions failed small local slave revolts. Underground Kyler societies began to form which rallied for liberation, with some radical sects even calling for the extermination of their Kethesian overlords. At midnight in the winter of 414 AR, after being planned for decades, the Great Slave Revolution brought the mass slaughter of around 120,000 slave-owning Kethesians, leading to a royal decree that permanently banned Kyleth production and slavery and exiling all Kyleth currently residing within Kethes.

Grand Migration and Early Territorial Wars

Due to the harsh desert terrain outside of Kethes, the Kyleth people migrated northward, discovering magic and art during the 5th Century AR on their way to what is now modern Kyldigard. Around 501 AR, the Kyleth encountered the Kveutonian Empire, sacking it as it collapsed in on itself and pushing the prior Kveutonian residents out of their cold yet fertile northwestern and north-central lands. Due to no de jure treaty having been signed, the Commonwealth of Kyldigardian Cantons was still de facto at war with Kveutonia until the Revolution of 1613, although no actual conflicts had arisen since 1308 AR.

The Kyleth settlers in the former Kveutonian Empire made easy allies with nearby indigenous clans and tribes in the pre-nation's early days after the fall of the Kveutonian Empire, however after disputes arose regarding territorial ownership and plundered wealth ownership, the two peoples would abandon being allied and go to war with each other multiple times for territory and superiority. Eventually, the much less physically powerful Scizc species accepted defeat, their society completely torn to ruins as they became nothing more than slaves to the early Kyldigardian clan people.

Clandom Era and Golden Age (430s-1190s AR)

Era of the Clans

From the 500s to the 610s AR, Kyldigard was an assortment of hundreds of warring independent clans, mostly divided by ethno-racial identity and regional cultures, and to some extent religious schisms within the Relejenist faith. The clandom era of Kyldigard saw many foreign raids on the coast, mostly by human and other pirate raiders. This led to the people of the north developing a more fortified and seafaring coastline and learning to raid, while the south stayed mostly agricultural, leading to closer cooperation and less infighting between clans in the region. In Njovusc (Novus) of 590, the Kingdom of Vrezcijev (a union of three southern kingdoms consisting of large portions of Vrezcij, Rrynjr, and Both ethnic groups in what is now multiple southern cantons) and the city-state of Athalox (one of many Gjenj-controlled trade cities) in what is now the canton of Blezcev went to war over control of the Gizcazc River, ending in an unexpected victory for the city-state and the formation of multiple allied republics, most of which constituted Athaloxian puppet states.

Late Incursions and Kyldigardian Unification

After a brutal series of incursions from seafaring raider clans in the early 7th century, the Kyleth clans were forced to cooperate in order to properly defend their lands. By the early 630s AR, the governmental systems of the clans had been diplomatically intertwined so heavily that they no longer functioned independently, and after what is commonly seen as the first meeting of the Council of Wardens in 634 AR, the first constitution of the Commonwealth of Kyldigardian Cantons was passed and Kyldigard was established as a single legal entity.

The Commonwealth, while changing government types and names several times from its establishment to the discovery of magic, remained prosperous and isolated for nearly a millenia, causing rapid technological and social progress as the years went on, slowly taming the warlike culture of Kyldigard as centuries of racial intermingling and without significant conflict shaped the Kyleth culture.

Catastrophe Era (1200s-1387 AR)

First Great Catastrophe, 1269 AR

After the discovery of both indigenous and foreign magic by a partially industrialized Commonwealth of Kyldigardian Cantons, a massive spell was cast to strengthen the Kyleth species even further against the cold, inspired by Kethesite genetic experiments in an attempt to create the "perfect species". Catastrophically however, this spell unintentionally created an epidemic of cancer which wiped out a tenth of Kyldigard's population in just twelve years. This cancer outbreak is commonly known as the Great Ice Plague, despite not technically fitting the definition of a medically-recognized "plague". After this, safety measures were put in place to restrict magic to more competent mages, however, after seeing great success in modifying the genes of the 90% of the population that remained (as well as the very small number of individuals who survived the near-fatal cancer), the government gave the go-ahead to magical experimenters to experiment with more alteration magic in the future. This would soon lead to the creation of multiple artificial fruit trees, which expanded the Kyldigardian diet massively and helped solve a food crisis at the time.

Second Great Catastrophe, 1281 AR

In an attempt to breach the psionic barrier that allows only specific zealous individuals to communicate directly with the Relej, a psionic, ethereal being oftentimes worshiped or revered in Kyleth religions, a massive experiment involving 10,000 individuals in a desolate facility was undertaken, in an attempt to greater bond the individuals to the Relej. However, the Relej rejected this attempt and deflected the attempted spell. With this option out of the way, the mages instead attempted to forge their own psionic network between the individuals without the involvement of the Relej. This led to the creation of a hive mind of the 10,000 individuals, which seemed promising but to the dismay of the government mages, these individuals' physical bodies began to break down and turn gelatinous and amorphous due to the spell's side effects, resulting in the emergence of the Manguwerigj Hive Mind. After the news broke of their creation, people began to attack it relentlessly, fearing its possible spread into the rest of Kyldigardian society. However, after many tests (as well as a multitude of citizen arrests after further violence against the Manguwerigj) it was proven that the Hive Mind was incapable of spreading without direct intention on part of the Hive Mind itself, which at this point in time it did not wish to involve itself in doing. After witnessing violence against itself and watching its drone population get slaughtered multiple times by Kyldigardian civilians, the Manguwerigj burrowed into the deep crust of Sparkalia, where it settled in multiple connected Hives deep underground, away from possible surface-dweller interference. Over time, their bodies continued to deteriorate until the Hive Mind was a singular, amorphous mass capable of splitting itself apart without dying or losing neural connectivity, peacefully leaving alone all surface dwellers who do not come down to interfere.

Third Great Catastrophe and Kitan War, 1334-1387 AR

Once again attempting genetic perfection, government mages attempted to create a superior version of the Kyleth species. This version of the Kyleth species would have had greater psionic potential, a longer lifespan, greater physical strength, slightly larger average height and mass, and long-term survivability in bodies of water without the constant need to surface for oxygen. The spell at first succeeded, creating three individuals with most of these capabilities, however, two of the three died young and the third committed suicide due to depression from poor living conditions in the experimenting facility. Upon trying again with much more ambition, a magical accident occurred, transforming a multitude of test subjects into titanic specimens of an unintented 90-200 feet tall (25-60 meters). Alongside other effects such as a more carnivorous diet and heightened primal senses, most of the objectives were fully or partially fulfilled, with the exception of unlocking further psionic potential, which failed to manifest in any of the test subjects. Due to their size, it was not long until Kyleth citizens spotted and began attacking them, only for the titanic Eof species (informally named "Kitan due to their similarities to Kyleth and titanic size difference) to quickly become startled and defend themselves for their lives. Soon, conflict broke out on a national scale, with Kitan assailants leveling cities and killing thousands of people, and large mechanical weapons being forged in order to strike down the Eof, although not all Eof were involved in the war, which became clear when many Kyleth government mages, convinced in their creations' supremacy, as well as several pacifist Kitan, convinced of their fellow species' wrongdoing and unethical measures of retaliation, switched sides in the war, leading to many Kyleth realizing the error in attacking the Eof en masse and a more coordinated effort to defeat the attackers, which soon led to the Kitan assailant army's surrender at the Battle of Muremysct [1387] and later the Treaty of the Wintry Ocean, in which the government jailed all traitorous mages and all assailant Kitan were to be relocated to newly-established island colonies in the Great Ocean off the Bone coast, which were soon abandoned in favor of the oceans themselves surrounding them.

End of Kyldigardian Segregation and Kitantite War of Independence (1388-1456 AR)

Revolution of 1400 and Kitan Cultural Schism

Because many Kitan stayed in Kyldigard rather than leave to Kitantis, the cultures of these two groups quickly diverged, with settler Kitan embracing the "Kitan" label and forging a highly intertwined, chauvinistic society around the isles, and the Kyldigardian Kitan rejecting the term for their true species name, "Eof". During this period, Kyleth society started to evolve around having these beings in their land and in some areas, even embrace them to help with the industries of fishing, farming, and building. Because of this social cooperation, many of the other aspects of Kyldigardian society were called into question, namely gender segregation, which led to the end of the andrarchy (androgynous-dominated governmental structure and societal rules) at the hands of violent action on part of the radical feminist and radical masculist movements, both of whom suffered long at the hands of Kyldigardian lawmakers' outright refusal to grant equality. After the end of segregation by forced demand to the Council of Wardens, the Council of Wardens immediately repealed the act the next day, which led to their deaths and the Revolution of 1400, in which all political parties were banned an an experimental syndicalist confederation was formed in place of the old aristocratic federative government.

Kitantite Declaration of Independence and Second Kyldigardian-Kitantite War

After continued exploitation of the colonies on part of the old Kyldigardian government, the colonies of the Great Ocean declared independence (and soon thereafter, unification) from Kyldigard in 1398. However, in a positive turn of events for them, after only two years of conflict, the new Kyldigardian government immediately granted their request for independence, shunning colonialism in favor of internal improvement. However, the announcement of an absolute monarchist, ultranationalist state in the former colonial territory resulted in a new declaration of war in 1436 by the first new-era Grand Warden of Kyldigard, Gijeng Bajij. This led to the Second Kyldigardian-Kitantite War, which resulted in a resounding Kyldigardian defeat abroad in 1456, solidifying the two independent nations as ideological and political rivals for the forseeable future.

Pre-Revolutionary Modern Period (1457-1612)

Prestorean-Kyldigardian War, 1494-1508 AR

In 1494 AR, Kyldigardian privateers attacked a Prestorean naval fleet, acting against the wishes of the Kyldigardian government. In retaliation, the Kingdom of Prestore declared war on Kyldigard, starting the Prestorean-Kyldigardian War. The war was heavily supported by the populations of both sides, which both felt like they had been wronged by a deviant foreign power. This war was significant due to it being the first time a major exercise of the recently-expanded Kyldigardian national navy. Several pirate bands were disowned by the Kyldigardian Council of Wardens, only for them to create their own short-lived landless pirate republics aboard their own individual privateer ships. The rebelling pirates were defeated by the Prestorean navy but Prestore took major casualties, allowing Kyldigard's navy to defeat Prestore at the critically important Battle of Basclmscyvev Bank [1507 AR] and then the final fight of the Skirmish of Kesper Sea [1508], which resulted in the Kingdom of Prestore suing for peace out of humiliation. No land transfer took place during the peace treaty, and neither did any transfer of wealth or other sorts of power, which meant that although technically "winning" by sheer luck and smart battle planning, the Commonwealth of Kyldigardian Cantons came out of the war without any compensation, a pyrrhic victory, and with its important privateer fleet destroyed and disbanded. The effects of this war led to the reorganization of the navy and the establishment of the Anti-Piracy Organization in Kyldigard to combat any possible future wars over similar incidents.

Kyldigardian Revolution of 1613

After years of growing government corruption and "corporatization" of the formerly left-wing and cooperative trade unions, as well as the growth of a new economic class system in most of the nation, an unknown foreign journalist leaked many censored details of the harshness of Kyldigardian society, causing the Council of Wardens to declare martial law, suspend foreign relations, and de facto self-coup itself in order to disrupt the Constitution's provisions and appoint the Council member Euguth Detax to office of Grand Warden. Six days after her ascension, she was assassinated by Kurejij Kledugang, a former factory worker-turned Gym Kluk radical guerilla fighter. This turmoil allowed for followers of the popular public figure Uaderim Vijaroscij to storm the capitol and bring down the former government, creating a temporary military dictatorship under Vijaroscij's guidance until a new Constitution could be written. Kledugang was sent to execution prior to these events but was saved by the oncoming revolutionary forces, being pardoned and given a heroism award for his act of "valiant defense of Kyldigardian democracy against a rogue Council of Wardens".

Geography

Physical Geography

Kyldigard is a geographically diverse land with many different biomes, although the majority of the country resides in subpolar tundra. Due to genetic and magical immunities, the Kyleth and Eof species are a unique form of extremophile, allowing them to thrive in this climate. Other biomes are represented in large portions of the country as well, such as the cold desert biome, which is mostly found in the country's easternmost incorporated canton, Blezcev, with small areas of Vangev being affected as well. The rocky Clastoclite Mountains serve as a large resource reservoir for both Kyldigard and the surrounding peoples, oftentimes being the cause of many archaic wars in the Kyleth clandom era. Overall, Kyldigard is notoriously cold and hard to grow crops in, in part due to the extreme cold climate of most of the country excluding the more temperate southern cantons and border cantons, and in part due to the lack of fertile soil available in large enough areas to have organized farms. Because of this, Kyldigardian lifestyle has adapted to be largely carnivorous with the exception of foreign imported luxury crops, underwater plant farms, spices, and for kyleth citizens, oils and lead.

Geology

Kyldigard, especially offshore and in the southern and western cantons, is rich in minerals such as silver, tin, and lead. Due to the Kyleth species' physical strength and ability to consume the mineral lead as a food source, lead mining is the second largest economic factor in Kyldigard behind kraken oil harvesting. Kraken oil is an economic boon to Kyldigard and grants immense economic value to both Kyldigard and other nations. Most of northern Kyldigard is thought to still be rich in minerals and precious metals, but with the exception of areas around modern major settlements such as Scimji and the Bucjal Island peninsula whose temperatures are unusually high, current technology in Kyldigard is unable to mine deep enough to retrieve it without the equipment freezing in the north's extreme winters.

Volcanism

Offshore volcanoes erupt erratically and to different degrees of strength. A notable eruption is thought to have occurred before the Kyleth settlement of Kyldigard during the reign of the Kveutonian Empire about 100 metres offshore, which left a sizeable rift in the ocean floor which continues to be a fascination of Kyldigardian and foreign ocean scientists to this day. Offshore volcanoes can more easily be studied by the Kyleth species due to natural qualities but most other species are in significantly more mortal danger when in proximity to these volcanoes due to radiation and lack of long-term lung capacity.

Seismic Activity

Earthquakes are regular in the north due to offshore volcanoes, although large earthquakes are still fairly uncommon.

Hydrography

Kyldigard has several rivers and lakes, with the most notable being the massive Gizcazc-Vrezcyth river system, which stems out of the large Guwuk Lake in the southeast canton of Gyscizcev and into the three primary rivers of the Gizcazc River in the north, the Vrezcyth River in the west, and the Gyzcecc River in the east. The Wintry Sea north of the country is very cold, reaching subzero temperatures very often, however it is still livable for some creatures. The Kesper Sea to the west of the country is contested with Prestore due to its much more ideal resource capacity and temperatures.

Ecosystem

Biomes

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Politics

Foreign Relations

The Commonwealth of Kyldigardian Cantons positions itself against its political rival, the Enlightened Kingdom of Kitantis, but mostly has neutral relations with most of the rest of the world, with relations leaning slightly negative (but mostly cooled off) towards Prestore. Due to being the creators of the Kyleth species, Kethes feels obligated to attempt to contact Kyldigard, however, as Kyldigard is unaware of Kethes' progress since then, they have not successfully been able to recieve a response from Kyldigard that isn't a statement of warning.

Military

Kyldigard maintains a massive, state-of-the-art navy and a moderately expansive, mostly modernized army to defend itself and go to war with. Most of Kyldigard's military tactics are unusual due to its independent development of its own military strategy, however, many wars with outside forces (including the Kingdom of Prestore) have taught valuable military strategies to the Kyldigardian army and navy, formulating a fusion of Kyldigardian and other military traditions.