Kilia
From Himitsu no Sensou
Kilia is the smallest country in Eire, and the only country that is completely landlocked. Very little is known about the country outside of Kilia itself. It is governed by the Seven Clerics. The capital is Taln.
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[edit] Basics
Kilia is the smallest country in Eire, and the oldest as well. It's sandwiched between Hanalan, Atsiria, Dentoria, and Korin, protected by incredibly high mountains with few passes. Kilia is completely covered with thick mist, and is forested from one end to the other. It is widely known for being secretive and inhospitable towards outsiders, shunning tourists, immigrants, ambassadors, merchants, and even priests. Its entire socity is fixated on the study of magic.
[edit] History
Kilia’s history is vague and secretive even to those who live within the country. It’s the oldest country in Eire, established and known at least centuries before the second oldest, in a time before memory, all record of which do not seem to exist. The only thing resembling History that does not relate to magical discoveries made in the past several hundred years are millenia-old myths about the Seven Clerics defeating great terrifying monsters which threatened the fabric of existence itself, and then bringing down the mists and the great, thick mazes of dark forest to protect Kilia from future attack. Whether one believes these myths as truth or not greatly depends on what kind of person they are, and whether they believe the Clerics are actually immortal, or merely men and women raised to take the name and the office. For the most part, however, myths are myths, and while Kilians take these tales as an important part of their folklore, it’s mostly only the isolated and old-fashioned who believe they hold more than a grain of truth.
Since Kilia never engages in wars, both civil and interkingdom, their government and nobility may as well shaped of steel, their international relations never change, and they’re isolated from the rest of the world, Kilian History may as well not exist, aside from those shady myths that may or may not hold and truth whatsoever. The Kilia of today and the Kilia of four hundred years ago is the same place.
[edit] Magic
Why exactly are Kilians so fixated on magic? Really, they couldn’t tell you if they tried to. It’s as engrained into their cultures as religion is to Megam, agriculture is to Hanalan, and structure is to Dentoria. None could say why it is that almost every Kilian alive has some measure of skill with elemental magic, whether it’s something in the water, or the genetics of the race. Since immigrants to Kilia are exceedingly infrequent, as few can stand the cold treatment and near hostility of the natives for as long as it takes before they’ll welcome you as their own, it’s difficult to test.
Regardless, Kilian culture and society revolves around magic. All subjects studied by scholars are related to it, all education provided by the government is completely centered on it, all research conducted is to somehow study it ...
Lack of magical talent is embarrasing, freakish, and a bit disgusting. While Kilians have no contempt for nonKilians without magical prowess, it’s considered an entirely different matter, on an entirely different plane. Those with aptitude in other magic types and none in elemental are considered strange, but it’s more of a curious anomaly than the disgust harboured for those with no skill at all.
Elemental magic is the focus in Kilian culture, but there’s no problems with those who choose to follows another magic discipline, and as such, there are a fair number of primarily dark and light magic users in Kilia.
[edit] Government
Kilia is ‘ruled’ by the Seven Clerics, Fionn, Danu, Ness, Athairne, Dian, Ferdiad, and Ethniu. They have a status to Kilians very comparable to the Saints of the Catholic religion, mixed with a fair share of celebrity treatment. These mysterious men and women are both known like family and not known at all to the Kilians. Their personalities are legendary, their looks are memorized, myths and legends of their individual accomplishments are known to Kilian children across the country. However, the only times they are ever seen publically are on the holidays of their birthdays and the Day of Mists, and that is for the most part from a distance. There are none permitted to speak to them face to face but their representatives; one male and one female for every Cleric, and all other government officials working under that Cleric report to the representative. Erin and Justin, for example, despite being high on the ladder working under Lord Ferdiad, have never actually seen the man face to face.
Each Cleric leads up a particular area of government. As follows:
Lord Ferdiad - monitoring and encouraging the research and study of elemental magic and elemental magical items and artifacts, a study so large he has no other duties. Lord Fionn - curiously, he heads research in dark magic as opposed to Lord Ferdiad, as well as law enforcement. The latter duty is surprisingly small. Kilia is mostly peaceful, and the crimes that do happen tend to be swept under rugs rather than punished. Lady Ness - heads research in light magic, as well as, amusingly, being the leader of the army that Kilia does keep in case of the worst happening. Lady Danu - in charge of all facets of religion and of healing magic, which does not have controlled studies like the other types, due to have differently it works. Lord Athairne - in charge of all facets of philosophy and all branches of knowledge not directly and centrally related to the concrete, direct study of magic. He also controls Kilia’s education system. Lord Dian - serves as a link between the people, the Clerics, and the nobility, is the bookkeepers of Kilia’s treasury, and the figurehead of what Kilia does have pertaining to foreign affairs. (The most popular Cleric by a large margin.)
Curiously, Lady Ethniu does not seem to directly handle any branches of government, aside from an extremely minuscule but of work in the arts, but she is the most heavily guarded of the Clerics. Many say this is due to her fragile nature.
But as said before, while these Clerics handle these branches of government, they are never seen actually involved in any of these affairs. All orders and communications from them are handed down from their representatives.
The Clerics live in a great, old, beautiful palace in Taln called the Citadel. It’s the most heavily guarded fortress in Eire, none allowed inside but the representatives and the Clerics. All government affairs that are conducted as publically as anything is ever done in Kilia are held in a nearby Great Hall, still impressed, but dwarfed overall by the Citadel.
Kilians don’t for the most part, know how their government works. They know the basics, officials deal with “things” assigned to them by the Clerics, they know the basic chain of commands. They know that being a government official is a respected and difficult profession. They know that things get done. Very few ever ask the details, or even have any desire to know them. They know it’s there, they know it works, they respect the Clerics unconditionally, and that’s all they require.
[edit] Culture
Kilian culture is essentially divided into three parts, the urban Kilian, the rural Kilian, and the noble Kilian.
Urban Kilians live in a society more “enlightened” that most of the rest of Eire. They’re advanced engineers (some areas of Taln have developped rudimentary indoor plumbing), and are the only country with any kind of structed, standardized educational system for common born children. They appreciate philosophy, knowledge, research, and advanced thinking ... they also have a very socialist perspective on life. “Rich” families are rare, aside from nobles, as are “poor” families. Wealth is shared.
There are three cities of any sort of note in Kilia, where this culture persists. Taln, Tiranoe, and Tarra.
Taln is the largest city in Kilia, one of the largest in Eire, and the oldest city in existence. While not shockingly beautiful the way Razen, Cleraine, Milesia, or the City of Light are, there is a sort of etheral beauty to Taln. It’s built from stone, pine, and, in the larger, more important buildings, precious ores mines from within the country, including a sort of milky, solid, durable crystal called aurae, which is mined in abundance in the mountains surrounding Kilia, but curiously, only on the Kilian sides. The Citadel is covered with a multitude of cracked, old, beautiful gems. Every road in the city is paved with aurae. Despite the sheer size and developpment of Taln, towering pine, strong oak, and slender birch seem to grow from every unpaved place in the city, streams, some shallow, some deep, run through iy – often with trees growing up and out from them – and the mist curls through every street and hands on every bough. The result is a beautiful combination of civilization and wild forest, and while few outsiders come to Taln, those who do leave impressed.
Tiranoe and Tarra are essentially smaller (but nonetheless VERY large) versions of Taln, lacking the Citadel and the Great Hall. Tiranoe has more rivers and magical universities, while Tarra is built on a high hill often all the Hill of Kings for some indeterminate reason. The roads between these cities are well travelled and kept. Essentially all Kilians living in Tiranoe and Tarra ride to Taln on the Clerics’ birthdays and the Day of Mists, creating great congestion.
Rural Kilians are a different breed. Many live in small towns, many alone in the forests with only their families and whoever they may happen to know within reasonable riding distance. They live by their own rules, may never see the Clerics, and while they maintain the focus on magic, the Saintlike adoration of the Clerics, some of the same vague moral and ethical values, and the secrets, very little else of their city cousins remain. They’re taught magic by their parents or extended families, or in some smaller towns, by a designated teacher in the community, although this is rare, rather than in the schools of the city. They also tend to marry the first members of the opposite sex they enjoy being around who will have them, after a natural courting period.
The law is absent here. Strange things are rumoured to go on in rural Kilia, and Taln never lifts a finger to stop them ... mostly because combing the thick, misty forests for unmonitored settlers who may or may not have done anything wrong is a bit ludicrous.
But they are not wild. The collect books, study and develop magic of their own, a few wander into the larger cities when needing supplies or desiring entertainment, and the smaller towns feel very much like some developped Dentorian towns ... with mist, trees, magic, and a whole lot of secrets.
Kilian nobles are, like the commonfolk, divided into two, urban and rural.
The urban nobility make up the upper class. They name their families, pass on their line, but do no governing of their own and hold no power aside from that which respect and wealth conveys, living as normal, if rich and more prominent citizens.
Rural nobles generally preside over the small towns, or even live in their own manors alone in the forests. Those who “rule” their towns act like the lower levels of Dentorian nobility, with less power and haughtiness. The “Forest Nobles” as they’re often called are no more than reclusive, wealthy old families who want to be left alone and remain a mystery.
[edit] Climate and Environment
Kilia has a semiNorthern climate of four seasons that is surprisingly temperate. Winters are cold and plants die, but, except in the moutanins, are rarely harsh. The climate does lean to cool, however, average temperatures in each season being (In celcius, sorry americans) -6 in winter, +9 in spring, 15 in summer, and 7 in autumn. Snowfall tends to begin in December, and end in late February, rarely with accumlations over 8 centimetres, with the exception, once again, being the mountains. Against all science and logic, the mist persists through every temperature.
Thick, dizzying forests grow everywhere in Kilia, from every nook and cranny, thick as walls sometimes in the deep. Not all of Kilia is mapped, as travelling through some of the forests is quite impossible. It has deer, squirrels, porcupines, skunks, bears, and other typical animals for the region. There are several large farms where most of the cities get their produce and meat, while the countryfolk make their own.
[edit] Religion
Religion in Kilia is unique from the rest of Eire. While the Dragons are worshipped as devoutly and persistently as anywhere, Kilia has no priests, and while they are respectful and appreciative of them, they staunchly refuse to allow those with chaplain ranks station in any churches. Kilians worship in their churches as an individual action, without any priests giving guidance. They also refuse to listen to any of Megam’s doctrines, taking their beliefs individually, directly from Scripture. It’s due to the lack of separation of the clergy, most believe, that more Kilians seem to focus their worship on the Dragons of Darkness, although the favour still does swing to the light.
[edit] Education
[coming soon]
[edit] The Mamkutes
The mamkutes’ existence is known only to the Clerics and their representatives. Some smaller communities have grown rumours of “winged folk” and “dragonkin” living in the deepest depths of the uncharted forests, but sightings are extraordinarily rare, and due to the isolated nature of these communities, these rumours are not prevalent with any sort of consistancy.
[edit] Characters of Kilian Heritage
[edit] Urban Kilians
- Catriona, an inventor.
- Erin, a government official under Lord Ferdiad. Wife of Justin, and sister of Liam.
- Hannah, a prodigy.
- Justin, a government official under Lord Ferdiad. Husband of Erin.
- Liam, a student. Brother of Erin.
- Muirne, an secluded middle-aged woman.
[edit] Rural Kilians
- Arius, a forest noble and researcher of magic.
- Arwen, a young woman obsessed with the memory of her "dead" brother.
- Connal, an aurae miner and passionate practitioner of light magic.
- Cordelia, a forest noble with a complex family history.
- Dalziel, a forest noble.
- Delial, a young forest noble who plays pranks on her step family.
- Donovan, a scholar.
- Gwenyth, a forest noble secluded from the world.
- Jayne, a forest noble. Sister of Oscar.
- Madison, a forest noble living with her secluded sister and crazy uncle.
- Mona, an amnesiac young woman who lives with her forest noble family in Talline.
- Oscar, a young man. Jayne's younger brother.
- Tory, a magicless forest noble ignored by his family.
[edit] Displaced Kilians
- Eden, a wandering genius mage. Known to be cold and arrogant. Apprehended by authorities of Dentoria, where she commited the murder of her sister, Raisie. Wife of Noel.
- Gabriel, a madman wandering the Korin snows.
- Illuse, a mysterious wanderer.
- Jonathan, a mercenary mage. Among the followers of Lord Lawrence of Franel.
- Karyl, a sadistic madman. Stalking Marias after having killed his lover Tori.
- Noel, a magicless Kilian long called a freak. Skilled with a sword. Husband of Eden. Died defending her. deceased
- Nyoka, a dual-personalitied performing mage.
- Raisie, once ran a magic shop in Rhia with her sister Tallys. Was killed by her sister Eden.
- Tallys, running a magic shop in Rhia, once shared with her dead sister Raisie.
