Katsuko

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Katsuko is an old nation situated on the coast of the Sea of Hope and occupying the exit from the Central Lakes of the New World. It's a nation of peace-loving cat people called Katta, united by a sole desire: freedom. Despite their friendly and kind outward appearance and generous behavior, they are by no means a weak nation. Every single citizen is ready to grab arms and defend their freedom without hesitation or mercy and their strategic and military capabilities forces others to think twice before deciding to invade.

### People

The Katusko people or Katto are a species of humanoid mammals closely resembling human beings. Their most prominent defining features would be the cat-like ears and tail protruding from their scalp and lower spine respectively. On closer inspection, you might see that their canines are enlarged and resembling those of cats'. Their nails are capable of enlargening and becoming claw-like and sharp and strong enough to cut through thin sheets of metal. They have slit pupils akin to feline most mammals and have excellent night vision, which incidentally also give them a bit of a shine in the night. It is not uncommon for Katto to have short stripe-like pigmentation markings on their appendages.

## History

### Origins

The history of Katsuko can be traced to an ancient civilization of Katto people with commonly known as either the Ancients or Katsuko Prime. Though the exact knowledge of the Prime has been lost to time and heavy censorship, it it widely believed to have been a very developed nation that was controlling the territories of the New World and a large portion of the Old World before disappearing.

The first ever recovered record that mentions the nation of Katuko dates to around 10,000 BCE and is highly fragmented. From bits of informations, it seems to be a set of laws from the ruling king Khourt-Dak. There are many speculations regarding this king. Some believe Khourt and Dak to be two separate individuals that have ruled simultaneously as a duumvirate, others think that one of the two was in fact a spiritual being or a deitiy that was supposedly given the other a divine basis for ruling, the rest think that Dak was a form of an honorific or a title that meant king, ruler, or high priest.

Through legends and strands of written records, we can assume Prime has been forced to split into two - Western Prime and Eastern Prime - around 8,000 BCE because of unknown reasons.

It is unknown if there was a major armed conflict between the two parts, but if legends if to be believed, no wars were waged. Eastern Prime is believed to be explorers, daring to set sail en mass to explore and colonize Old World, settling on multiple islands and coasts along their distribution. The new territories of the East Prime were too widespread and within a span of a century from 7,600 to 7,500 BCE, the nation broke down and split in miniature city states.

The fate of the West Prime, however, is more obscure. There are no records of either major armed conflicts nor inner squabbling within the mighty nation, however, around 7,000 BCE, the records suddenly stop in all cities within a period of 25 years. There are two main theories regarding the sudden disappearance of such a large civilization. First one explores the possibility of a large cataclismic event of unknown origin like a large-scale famine, drought, earthquake, hurricane, etc. The second theory imagines that a plague had passed through the lands, wiping out the densly-populated cities of the Western Prime. Both theories have met criticism. The latter theory is generally considered to have more basis for truth. Though these two theories are the main candidates for the truth of the matter, there are people who believe the sudden end of the civilization had an extraterrestrial or divine component to it.

The Era of the Ancients has been a source of many myths and legends aimed to be percieved metaphorically or allegorically as well, making this nation the one of Biblical importance.

### Dark Millennia

The period that follows the disappearance of the Western Prime and up to the re-establishing of the Katsuko is commonly known as the Dark Millennia and mostly focuses on the Eastern Prime remnants. Not much is known about the Dark Millennia outside of early records of several city states' records.

The early history of this time period is currently known as The Sunset. Soon after the split of the Katto people into separate polises, the technological advancement of the people was halted due to the harsh environmental factors of the new territories and the limited resources. This also caused the polises to become much more isolated, no longer capable of supporting large-scale trading between cities. The record-keeping has suffered as a result, thus giving the name for the era.

After a while, the city-states of the former Western Prime had begun to suffer from raids of the newly formed nations, thus beginning the The Night or Era of Demise. This is a period of time of continuous re-emergence and destruction of Katto settlments and mass enslavement of the people. This is also the time period that can be characterized by an absence of a set borders for the Katto people. As the result, the record-keeping had suffered even more and has met a wave of heavy censorship and cultural errasure from the host countries. This is also believed to be the era in which Proto-Katonic religion was formed as an attempt to preserve historical knowledge through verbal carriers.

Late period of the Dark Millennia is commonly known as the Katonic Spark or The Sunrise. The name is derrived from the formation and rapid spread of the Katon religion among the Katto people living all over the world. It is also defined by the start of mass revolutions of Katto people against oppresive regimes of various empires that held them in slavery in the name of the Fire God.

### Second Realm

Modern Katsuko (also known as Second Realm or simply Katsuko) has been established several centuries ago as the union of 12 Main Clans of the Katto have settled on their ancestral lands on the Eastern Continent, thus granting the people the first geographical borders since the Fall of Prime. Since then, more and more clans have moved in and expanded the nation, bolstered its defenses, resources, and versitility.

Due to the sudden mix of ideas and technologies from all over the world, new, unique tactics, martial arts, and machines have been developed. These new warriors have since been acknowledged around the world as a neigh-unstoppable force to feared if attacked. Though Katto have also established themselves to be among the kindest, sweetest, and most generous people if treated with kindness.

## Geography

Katsuko is predominantly situated on plains of both green and steppe with little to no elevation differences with the exception of several region around the capital where hilly terrain is dominant. There are large patches of tall fast-growing forest around the lands with varried wildlife and vegetation in and in between.

The Second Realm is sitting on the coast of the inner freshwater sea of the Western Continent with a large river that drains the lake splitting the lands half. There are also several small islands dotted along the coastline.

Water flora and fauna is developed and varried as well.

## Languages

The language of the Katto people is Kata.

## Politics

### Government

Kastuko doesn't have a socio-economic split within its culture with closely-intertwined communities of people belonging to various trades and crafts.

The govenrment consist of an elected governor called that holds the title of the leader for 15 years until new elections are held. This government is meritocratic by nature with military and civil achievements contributing to the social status of the individuals. It is commonly believed that the leader must be highly-literate, beloved by the people, possessing a great tactical mind, capable of defending the nation both behind the desk and on the battlefield, and having the interests of the country and people above all else. Though, this is a rather idealistic set of attributes, all of these must be met to some extent at least, with the current geo-political situation influencing the exact preferences in the leader.

The governor and their office is not the only governing body, however. Besides the governon and their office, there is also a Council of Elders that acts as an advisory body to the leader (mainly in civil issues). The Council consists of representatives from each region in order to ensure all people are heard and accounted for.

Every settlement has monthly gatherings with occasional emergency gathering where all adult members discuss formed issues in order to get them resolved, share crucial information, and establish a common direction to follow until the next council is held.

## Religion and culture

### **Moral values and gender roles**

Katsuko is a meritocratic nation that values art, knowledge, and family bonds above all else. Being a nation originated by people who freed themselves from shackles and prosecutions of other nations, as well as many tribes oppressed by their neighbors, Katsuko is a nation formed around the core principle of freedom and thus strongly opposes slavery.

There is no great divides within gender roles within the Katsuko society with the belief that, if a person can perform the task at hand, then it doesn't matter what sex or gender they are. This is also somewhat true for the labor split within the family itself, though it is much more common for men to work in the field or workshops while for women to be responsible for housework like cooking, textile-making, taking care of children who require large amounts of attention. Everything else within both the housework and essential crafts can be done by either or both sexes.

There is a cult of respect of elders that has formed around the premise that people who have lived for long enough have gathered enough knowledge and wisdom to be a valuable source of insight and information despite no longer posessing the physical ability to work. The elders of the family are also commonly responsible for a large chunk of education and upbringing of the children as the parents usually work in order to feed the family and are unable to spend much time with the children.

Katto believe that respect and kindness is universal and should be given not only to one group of people but to every group of people within community regardless of gender, age, achievements, etc. It is aslo not uncommon for the orphaned children to be either adopted by a single family or be supported by a community as a whole. Widows are also often supported by other members of the settlement.

Marriage is considered important in Katto society and if a spouce is unfaithful, it is generally punished severely by the community at large and can vary in severity from public shaming or physical punishments to exile and excommunication or even death. That said, divorce also exists within the society and though it is generally frowned upon it is considered that a couple is better off divorcing than ruining their lives and the lives of their children (which is why it is believed that it is not the divorce itself that is disliked, but the fact that people hadn't found the right ones for themselves the first time around). It is also why, despite also being frowned upon, bastard children who were born without there first being a marriage, as long is it didn't come from adultery, is considered to be worthy of a good life and is treated either as a child of a widow or an orphan. However, there can be only one marriage and the couple can no longer re-marry anyone after the divorce (this doesn't mean they cannot live with another person, just not in an official relationship).

Since verbal tradition is essential for the survival of the culture and people as a whole, a separate job has emerged in the Katto society: Knowers. These are people whose sole purpose is to gather as much information as possible and distribute it verbally through either storytelling or reading acompanied with simple instrumental support. It is also not rare for them to have some form of injury or defect that makes it hard for them to work in a regular way.

### Naming System

Katto each have one True Name, one Family Name, and one Personal Name.

True Name is the first name that the child ever recieves. This is also known as a Secret Name as there are only 4 people in the lifetime of a person who know it: parents, the person themselves, and their first and only spouce. During the wedding, the True Names of each spouces is whispered to each other, thus finalizing the process.

Family Name is a much more common and widespread name. All family and/or clan members share this name and are reffered to it by others with an addition of an appropriate honorific.

Personal Name is the one the person chooses themselves once they've reached adulthood and/or a major point in their life. This name is used by the closer friends or public, if the person has become known (usually alongside the Family Name). Personal Name could change during the lifetime of a person, however, it is widely frowned upon by the general populous. The only reason the Person Name may change is because of a major revelation about oneself or a major change in life.

### Religion

Katon is a monotheistic religion that has the Fire God, also sometimes reffered to as the Sun God, as the central figure, as well a lot of spirits as supporting deities/spiritual beings. Despite this religion having a god, it focuses on the self and the community more than on the spiritual.

Unlike many religions, Katon doesn’t claim that God has created the universe and instead was once a man that walked the earth and achieved spiritual ascension through meditation, kindness, generosity, battle prowess, and understanding of world and self. They consider that the question of the creation of the universe is not the religion’s job to answer but instead the job of science.

Katon, however, does provide an explanation of the afterlife. If the person has achieved enlightenment, they ascend to the Fire God and either become a part of them or come back to the world as a spirit. However, if the person has not achieved enlightenment, they are destined to reborn again to the world. If the person has been bad, they first go through Hell that is situated on the surface of the Sun, where they suffer and pay for their wrongdoings. But as soon as their sins are burned away, they are reborn like everyone else. It is also believed that the better the person is without achieving enlightenment, the better the abilities (metnal, physical, social, or other) they'll possess after rebirth.

Holy symbol: Fire.