Ketnah

According to legend, prior to the arrival of the first spacefarers from Estvoled, the people of Ketnah were abominable in the sight of all other nations in Raljikka. The land was said to be cursed by the gods for the original settlers' inhospitality and cruelty to others, and consequently, only the lowest of the low would dwell within Ketnah's borders, living in anarchy and fear of which of their neighbors would attack them next. For their sins, the gods took away all rainfall from the nation.
Upon seeing people from other planets for the first time, however, it is said that the greatest oracles of Ketnah saw this as a herald of change. Centures-long struggles ensued between the lawless who rejoiced in the "curse" on Ketnah and those who wanted to have the curse lifted by giving a new home to people who had come from far worlds. The old cities of Ketnah are built upon the ground, and new, post-Godbomb cities are constructed literally on top of them to symbolically bury their old, shameful past.
Presently, Ketnah's government maintains a firm quota on how many people of a given nationality and race may legally dwell within the country borders, and preference is given to non-Raljikkan nations of origin so that, according to the distant oracles' prophecy, Ketnah may redeem itself and be a home to all strangers. Population control is enforced rather strictly, and individuals desiring to have biological children must go through government approval to legally have a child. Illegal children must be kept secret, often in the underground old cities that see little sunlight, lest the government send them away to an orphanage in another country or force the family to leave. Other criminals, often of native Ketnahn descent, lurk in these underground cities, far out of the government's reach and sometimes dedicated to toppling the government entirely so that they might "reclaim the sun" from the foreigners.
Ketnah's government consists of democratically elected officials who aid, advise, and protect the All-Oracle, a diviner chosen and raised from birth to guide Ketnah on a path of removing the curse that has blackened its earth and made its waters run red. The oldest prophecies state that when the curse is lifted and the rains return to Ketnah, the waters will be pure once again, the desecrated earth beneath the cities will flourish, and all of Ketnah will know the kindness of the gods.
Category:Ealdremen Nations
Category:Raljikka
Category:No Spoilers