Endless Blue – Week 119 – Governments of the Fluid Nations – Chelon Sea

Politicology

Governments of the Fluid Nations: Chelon Sea

The Great Chelonite Empire of the Endless Blue
Aliases: The Old Empire, The Birthwaters
Region: Periphery
Capital: Arce Novum, the City of Spires.

The Chelon Sea is located eastward from the Cetacean Ocean and is bordered to the west by the Yaun-Teel Bights northward and the Mer Currents southward. It is mostly Shoal to Shore depths waters with only a few area deep enough to be considered the Shelf.

The original capital of the Chelon Sea was Arce. A place of splendor, the city was the traditional place for the Emperors of the empire to construct their Spire — essentially the mausoleum where their body was to be interred upon death. Over the centuries, the city grew as Emperor after Emperor had their monument constructed, each more lavish than the last. In a seeming never ending parade of rivalry, the Emperors poured their resources into the dissipation for their final resting places.

As a result of their indulgences, much of the nation’s wealth amassed in these Spires, and being erected in the homesea’s capital meant their contents could be guarded by militaristic might. But no Empire lasts forever, and despite their resistance, the capital was razed by the Kraken during the initial expansion of the Kraken empire. Much of their collected wealth was plundered.

With the end of the Occupation, the significantly chagrined Chelonite Empire rebuilt upon the ruins of the old. Founding Arce Novum, or New Spire City, the Chelon began the arduous task of rebuilding back to their former glory. Only a few Emperors have passed since the reconstruction, but the ways of the Old Empire are hard to forget, and tradition demanded that the institution of constructing Spires continue.

Society

Demonym: Chelonite
Population: 7,270,000
Races: Chelon (3,250,000), Orcan (700,000, 135,000 of which are Narwahl), Kouton (440,000), Locanth (600,000), Lumulus (10,000), Mer (1,150,000), Sahaguin (70,000), Yaun-Teel (1,050,000)
Other: Ceph (35,000), Kelpygmy (unknown).

The Chelonite Empire is mired heavily in a caste system. The aristocracy lives a separate life than the hoi polloi, reveling in a standard of living bordering on decadence. The “hoi ollogi” are treated as preferential citizens, while the rest of the populace receives second class treatment.

As a modern nation, the Chelon Sea is mix of ethnicities. However, rarely is any species other than Chelon vested with official title or land. Since it is the will of the Emperor that any individual is gifted with title, the aristocracy is constantly curries for favor, and those of other races soon face the poisonous treachery of court life.

Religion

Official Religion: Ahto
Accepted Religions: All other religions, while not prohibited, are generally looked down upon and treated as a second class.
Alignments: Neutral Good.

The Emperor serves as both the governing political power as well as its religious head. Effectively, the Emperor is Ahto’s sire, able to trace back his or her lineage back to the beginning of life on Elqua, when the Pantheon first populated their water world. The Emperor chooses a Minister of Theology to head the official state church, but the position is little more than a mouthpiece of the Emperor’s will.

All positions in the church are inherited titles bestowed by the will of Emperor, so loyalty to church and Emperor are one in the same. Religious rank equates to aristocratic standing, and thus membership of the Ahtoan clergy is almost exclusive Chelon.

Ahto is seen as the “Indifferent Sophist”, meaning He takes a passive role in Chelonite affairs. Reflecting this and the puppet nature of its priesthood, the Church is resistant to change and clings desperately to the old ways. Thus the lower congregations do little to change things for their parishioners and reinforce the supremacy of the Emperor’s will.

Commerce

Imports: granite, marble, gems
Exports: Coral, abalone, pearl, jade
Currency: Dram (50 dram = 1 gp), gelding (2 gelding ≈ 1gp), rand (.5 rand ≈ 1 gp) 1 rand = 20 gelding = 240 dram,

Chelon coinage is tied heavily to their ruling party, and in many ways assists in understanding the races’ calendar.  Coinage is minted yearly, with the reigning sovereign on the obverse and some symbology on the reverse commemoration some event or decision made during that year of their reign.  As the year goes by, the populace is encouraged to turn in their old coinage in exchange for the new ones, and at this time a portion is kept by the government as a form of paying taxes.

The Chelonite Empire exports precious and semi-precious luxury materials such as pearl, abalone, and rare corals. Generally, the government in more concerned with the importation of building and infrastructure materials than the well being of the second class citizenry.

It is little surprise that, due to the sporadic yet recurring Shellback Wars, the Chelon Sea has established a long standing trade embargo with Lumulus Basin. Lumulus goods such as smithed metal and manufactured items brought into the Chelon Sea face stiff tariffs, even confiscation by the government.

Politics

Government Type: Monarchy (autocratic — tzarist)
Ruler: Emperor/Empress
Selection Process: By the whim of the Emperor/Empress, then inherited.

As a tzarist autocracy, the Chelonite Empire rules through the absolute will of the Emperor/Empress. This Emperor distributes the wealth and power of the nation as he sees fit, bestowing rank and privileged to the few whom form the aristocracy.  However, through the years, the political and martial might of the once Mighty Empire has faded.

Now, petty bickering between lords has eroded the autonomy of the Emperor and diluted his power.  Regional aristocracy have become complacent and lazy, blaming the waning of the once Great Chelonite Empire on weakness of the Emperor. Each successive Emperor brings haughty claims of restoring the glory of the homesea, and when they inevitably fail, are blamed for being ineffectual. This cycle has reinforced a longing for a return to an older time, when the Empire was a force to be reckoned with and feared across the waters, that can no longer be reached.

Military

Name: His/Her Majesty’s Royal Armada
Organization: A senate of Legates that oversee the deployment of Legions.

The Chelon navy is formally referred to as Her/His Majesty’s Royal Armada, or HMRA.  It is comprised of a number of legions overseen by tribunes, whom in turn report to the legate placed in charge of them by royal decree. Of all the aristocratic titles most often bestowed on non Chelon, the martial title of Legate is the most common. This form of aristocrat takes their place along side the forces they command, and thus have a very high mortality rate.

A legion is six cohortes, which in turn is broken into six centuries of 60 to 180 legionnaires.  These centuries are divided into a number of ranks dependent on the current military objective, a designation that refers to the ordered arrangement of legionnaires into lines.  Each line is the equivalent of a unit of soldiers.  A Senate of Legates oversees the direction and deployment of the legions.

“The Birthwaters were once the glittering jewels
in the crown of the Great Chelonite Empire;
the Emperor, the last in an ancient bloodline of global conquerors.
Now? The throne caters more to feasts and fantasy…”
— from Nikolaos Palamarelis,
disgraced former Legate of Legion XIV Testudines