Empire of Karnon

The Empire of Karnon is the most central nation on the continental mainland of Vishan.

## Politics

### **Government**

Karnon is a constitutional elective monarchic plutocracy, governed by a monied nobility. The king holds sole executive power, and is elected by the nobility as a whole, while the legislature consists of the Synedrion, a group of the 10 nobles with the greatest wealth.

The King is appointed from graduates of the Citadel, a military academy which drafts the eldest child of each Duke at birth. The military academy is rigorous, with a high mortality rate, and its existence gives the lineage of any given king a degree of anonymity, with the hope being that his rule will therefore be fair. Each Citadel graduate is considered a member of the royal family, and they all refer to each other with familial pronouns, with the king referred to as "father". The members of the royal family may not hold titles of nobility but do draw a stipend from the state for their lifetime and tend to have a sense of camaraderie with their fellows. Their children are drafted into the citadel as well

Titles of nobility grant the holder certain privileges, including entitlement to a small stipend (monthly income equivalent to Resources 2) from tax revenues, and conferment of voting rights. They may be attained in one of two ways. First, with majority consent of the Synedrion, a person may be granted a title of nobility by the King - this is usually reserved for those who perform exceptional feats for the good of the Empire, and adds to the existing number of nobles. Second, titles of nobility may be transferred as a form of property, and thus may be bought, sold, or gifted, though like any other form of property, they revert to the state upon the death of the bearer. It is stipulated in the law that if there are ever less than 100 nobles, new nobles must be selected from the extended royal family.

### **Law**

Karnon uses a civil legal system, in which laws are passed by the Council of Dukes and interpreted and enforced by the King.

### **Foreign Relations**

Karnon has relatively good relations with

### **Military**

While definitely crippled by the Succession War, the military of Karnon is still the most powerful military of Vishan by a wide margin. Their might is largely due not to any particular ferocity amongst their soldiery but rather a technological dominance that, while reduced by their loss of the Leyline Generator, is still leaps and bounds beyond their competitors. In particular, their vast fleet of airships, while reduced by the dearth of magical resources brought on by the crisis, still gives them almost unchallenged mastery of the skies, and their use of artillery, while reduced in capability and accuracy, is still far more than most armies can muster.

### **Government Finance**

Karnon was the source of plentiful, cheap magic for nearly three hundred years. Because of their control of this resource, they were able to draw capital and other resources from the rest of the world for a very long time, and both militarily and financially were the capital of Vishan in a number of senses. Because of this long history of financial dominance, the effects of the crisis were mostly blunted for Karnon, and while their populace has had to endure increased taxation, they are having something of a "soft landing" from the crisis.

Karnon's official currency is the Tetradrachm, which is composed of Mythryl. The Tetradrachm coin is an equilateral triangle, with three grooves molded into it, allowing it to relatively easily be broken into four equal triangular pieces called Drachma, which serve as small change. A decent meal will generally cost two to three Drachma.

## Economy

In the days before the Cataclysm, the economy of Karnon was mostly based on exploitation of their monopoly on the Leyline Generator at Mt. Aten. However, with the detonation of the Generator, they have been forced to return to reliance on their substantial natural resources. This has caused a great deal of discontent in the population, with various groups openly rebelling against the established order as manual labor becomes the norm again for the once metropolitan culture. Nonetheless, Karnon is still the capital of Vishan in terms of technology and finance. Their primary exports are gadgetry, lumber, and capital.

## Culture

### **Character and Values**

The people of Karnon are a cosmopolitan and idealistic people. They see themselves as blazing the path for all other peoples to follow to advancement and understanding. While they are well intentioned, they often come across as arrogant, and the destruction of the Leyline Generator has not helped their image amongst their critics.