Imperium of Klygesh

The Raptor Banner

National Seal

-Imperator: Steven Stanton VI

-Imperatrix: Alice Stanton I

-Grand Marshall: Sam Hardin

-Grand Protector: Charles Blacksword

The **Imperium of Klygesh**, commonly known as **Klygesh**, is a great power in the Vailaska Cluster, being one of the "Big Five". Sharing its only border with West Sanctuary, Klygesh is a federal absolute monarchy comprising 23 systems, [x] planets, and [x] states. The capital system is Vail, while the capital planet is Vailon and the capital city is Kalton. The largest city is Great Majesty.

Founded from the Kingdom of the Klys in 875YL by King Joseph I, Klygesh spread across its homeworld Vailon in the Great Manifest Era and Crusades. War with the De'moc species led to Val's War from 1064 to 1067, ending with a Klyish-allied victory and the death of Imperator Steven IV. Following Steven V's reclaiming of his throne and defeat of the De'moc and Voltar in the War of the Heir, peace descended upon the nation until the Great Advancement.

Fending off four invasions from the La'ask Confederacy, Klygesh solidified its control of Vailon and took to the stars, obliterating the La'ask in one final war. Since the Kengari War in 1153, Klygesh has become a galactic power, rapidly expanding her borders and military, gaining a high level of influence in galactic astropolitics.

## Etymology

The first known mention of Kly peoples dates back to 8,000BL, in which the possibly mythic King Klydan of the also possibly mythic Daan Kingdom defeated an unknown enemy in a great battle. Klydan's men were so devoted to him that they came to be known as the Kly, a term which soon expanded to define a unique people.

### Pre-Vist History

#### The Origin of Klys (8,000 - 4,000BL)

Circa 8,000BL the area that is now the Dackam region was a mix of fiefdoms, tribes, and microstates fought over by petty kings. Around this time the Daal Kingdom was ruled by King Klydan, who's very existence is disputed but generally accepted. It is said that Klydan was such a great warrior that he conquered countless fiefdoms and expanded Daal all the way to the White Coast where present-day Kalton sits. Because of this, Kyldan's men began calling themselves Klys, which soon expanded to their wives and children, and all of Daal, spawning the Klyish ethnicity as it now exists. The Daal Kingdom is said to have fallen sometime around 6,000 BL, having contracted greatly from its height under Klydan.

By the time of 6,000 BL the Daal Kingdom had factured, with the most prominent state in the Dackam region being the Kingdom of Vastergotland, which is said to have followed a god called Vaadin. Vaadin's nature is disputed, with records being sparse and contradicting, but it is generally accepted that Vaadin was said to have created the world, sun, and moon, and that he had a wife, and his son Æmondgra was the first king of Vastergotland. Vaadin worship spread throughout the continent for about 1,000 years, with evidence of Vaadinist missionaries as far as Haldronia and Kengari, though the religion fractured and died off for an unknown reason from 5 to 4,000 BL. Vastergotland continued to exist, its faith eventually being supplanted by a series of old pagan faiths, which often changed depending on which sect of paganism the king belonged to. Today, Vastergotland lives on as a state of Klygesh.

#### The Founding of Kalton & the Age of Anarchy (4,000 - 3,000BL)

The Klyish race first encountered Sealazans around 3956 BL, during which horrible wars erupted. The exact date is remembered thanks to a remarkably intact Year's Summary founded by archeologists in Jönköping City. It tells of the war against the "beastly lizard men of the south", and how Sealazan women were presented to Vaster King Haakon, who proceeded to butcher the generals that suggested he allow slavery of said Sealazans. King Haakon is, indeed, noted as being "violently anti-slavery", frequently executing any who suggested any form of it.

During the war, Prince Ragnar Haakonson is said to have skinned the Sealazan King and worn the skin in battle, terrifying the enemies and making himself a legend. The war ended in victory for the Vasters, and spawned roughly 4,000 years of conflict betwixt the Human-Keida Klys and Sealazans. At some point, around 3923YL, a noble named Ælfred Kalls traveled to the White Coast with his family and built a keep that he named Kal, a word from Ancient Klyish that meant Safe. His eldest son, Alberic, upon inheriting the castle, began to build a village around it, attracting peasants to the new city of Kalton, or, in Ancient Klyish, Safeland.

Proclaiming himself Kæsar of Kalton, Alberic began his expansion. He conquered lands up and down the White Coast under the banner of the Kingdom of the East Dackans, becoming a noted power in the region. His main rival was the Kingdom of the North Wødens, which soon grew to rival his own kingdom in size. Alberic died in 3904, leaving the kingdom to his son, Åke. Kæsar Åke fought the Wødens in an ill-understood war known as the War of the Bloody Sand, so named due to it being fought primary on the beaches of the White Coast. Legends say the war turned the sand red for decades. The war lasted from 3902 to 3899, ending with a draw of some kind, though any peace deals are lost to time.

The Kingdom of the East Dackans remained an unusually stable regime for the time, controlling sixteen villages and significant tracts of farmland. The kingdom managed to survive until 3793, when it and the rest of the region was beset upon by a Sealazan army. This war, known as the Grand Horde War, began after a sealazan horde spent an entire year traveling from King Joseph's Sea (period names for the sea are unknown) to Dackam, where they fought Vastergotland. Being defeated soundly, the broken horde traveled east and found a multitude of petty kingdoms and tribes, including the East Dackans, Wødens, Särites, and Jans. Raiding and pillaging, the horde managed to destroy many villages (the exact number is estimated to be between 18-23) and kill several kings and reiks (tribe leaders).

In Kalton, then-Kæsar John Kalls saw his kingdom collapsing, leading him to forge an alliance with the Wødens and Jans. Together, they destroyed the reptilian horde at the fabled Battle of Cold Ground, however, John died in battle, and his kingdom collapsed. Anarchy engulfed the White Coast for two centuries, as the destruction wrought by the sealazans could not be easily reversed by tiny statelets and villages. The ensuring Era of Anarchy is one of the least-understood periods of pre-Vist history, due to the lack of period sources. Almost nothing was written in the era, which lasted into the 3500s. Order began to return around 3523, when House Kalls, led by Lord Stenkil Kalls, managed to reclaim several inland villages, though there was no overarching state beyond the rule of House Kalls. Lord Stenkil's territory was kept intact for the next several centuries, as the White Coast came to be ruled mostly by noble families and not any kind of kingdoms. Vastergotland attempted to conquer the region in the 3300s, but is said to "have lost as the wolf does to the swift deer" by a period source.

Vastergotland itself remained a thorn in the side of the coastal lords, repeatedly attempting to annex the area, whether by brute force (War of the Crying Widows, 3367-3360, King Halsten's Last Stand, 3254, Lord Inge's War, 3221) or by careful bribery (The Greatest Betrayal, 3333). However, these attempts usually gained them little land or were open failures, contributing to the steady decline of the kingdom. In 3199, an orcish horde from the south found its way to the White Coast, however, it was defeated by an alliance of Vastergotland and the coastal lordships, ironically achieving more for the Vasters' dreams than any war of conquest could.

Lord Canute Kalls, who reigned from 3185 to 3173, was noted for his cooperation with Vastergotland, leading to him becoming a vassal of them in 3180. It is suspected his love affair with the Vaster king's daughter may have influenced this choice, but regardless, the alliance stuck. Canute's heir, Sverker, murdered his father in 3173 and renounced the alliance, and Vastergotland itself could do little. Lord Sverker proceeded to annex neighboring tribes and lordships, earning him the name Sverker the Conquerer. He died in 3150, having one of the longest reigns in the history of the region.

#### Age of Pain & the Rise of Thracia (3,000 - 2,000 BL)

The Kingdom of Vastergotland began to contract in the 2900s, leading to an emergence of two new powers: The Osan Empire and Aldanish Realm. The Osans and Aldanish, both Klyish peoples like the Vasters, were sworn enemies, and their conflict inevitably spilled over into the White Coast. House Kalls, which had become the dominant force in the region, became little more than a proxy zone for the two enemies to battle in, and a series of weak, incompetent, or just plain bad Lords only furthered this decline.

The Osans and Aldanish slugged it out for centuries, while Sarran raiders from Narrask began to make themselves known, and orcish invasions were regular threats in south Dackam. Vastergotland's slow demise led to a rise in highway robberies, prostitution, slavery, and general disorder in western Dackam, with Jönköping City itself being reduced to rotting longhouses patrolled by criminals by the 2600s. This era of decline and misery is known as the Age of Pain, and lasted multiple centuries. By the 2400s it had gotten so bad that many peasants revolted, all the way from Dackam to the White Coast. The revolts were varied and not consistent, the entire thing lasting decades.

The peasant revolts only worsened things, with farmland being destroyed and cities reduced to ruined piles of wood. Sometime in the 2410s Dänjoka, a Vaster scholar, described the revolts as "Never ceasing chaos with no order, no leader, no goal, no grand plan, only a bloodlust and desire to satiate it." Famines swept the continent, and trade with far-off Sotensala collapsed. Advancements made by the major kingdoms were lost, and most cities collapsed into villages or were completely destroyed. It is here that the Age of Pain becomes the Great Exodus, as the concept of the city vanished from the common mind and the three largest cities in the region -Jönköping, Akersund, and Kalton- became little more than shoddy collections of longhouses and farmlands. Because most buildings at the time were made of wood, almost all traces of fallen cities described in ancient texts are gone, with experts believing up to two dozen urban centers have been lost to time.

Trade and travel became alien concepts, as central order fell apart and people left the dying cities. Vastergotland, which had stood for 3,000 years, collapsed, with the name being kept alive thanks to the Dukes of Jönköping. The Osans abandoned their empire and took to raiding and nomadism, and the Aldanish vanished from history. By the 2100s, after five hundred years, the great Thracian Empire had risen in the south, and begun to make its way north.

The Thracian Empire, rising from the shores of King Joesph's Sea, were said to have been founded after four brothers established a city, however, could not agree on a name, thus, one brother slew the others and proclaimed it Jallesyaland. The Thracian Empire rose from it, and soon had conquered many sealazan nations. The Thracians took a distinct interest in the Klys and their land, and began to make plays for the region. Seeing the Klys as unadvanced and weak, they believed they could control the region.

## Government

Klygesh is organized as a federal absolute monarchy with strands of theocracy and stratocracy. The Imperator, as monarch, has absolute power, while the Grand Marshall serves as head of the armed forces and second-in-command to the Imperator. The Grand Protector is the only elected high office in Klygesh, being chosen by the Imperial Senate. The Imperator position is passed down to the firstborn son of the current Imperator, though the Imperator may select a different Crown Prince.

The Imperator is advised by the Imperial Council, which comprises the head of each Command, military departments that act as the administrative arm of the Imperator. Commands are headed by Commandants selected by the Imperator, and these Commandants serve at his will. While the Crown Prince has no official government office, it is common for him to be assigned mentors from each Command (usually the Commandants themselves) to teach him how to govern.

The Imperial Council also comprises Imperial High Command, a body of heads from each military branch appointed by the Grand Marshall himself. The Grand Marshall is appointed by the Imperator, and typically serves as a counterpart to the monarch. In case of an Imperator dying with no heirs, the Grand Marshall assumes the monarchy and his family becomes the new royal family. This has happened twice in Klyish history, with King Robert Storm assuming the throne after King Oscar Kalls died childless in 841, and Imperator Christopher Stanton taking the crown after Imperator Andrew Storm died heirless in 928.

The Grand Marshall is a six-star officer in every branch, and is head of High Command. He also wields significant non-military power, and is able to overrule any military order. The Grand Protector serves as head of the Imperial Congress, commanding the Imperial Senate and Assembly of Delegates.

### Politics

Klygesh is a multi-party state, with two central parties, the Imperialist Party, and the Chartist Party, which represent the Vailist and Chartist ideologies, respectively.

### Military

Klygesh is protected by the Grand Klyish Armed Forces, which comprises the Grand Imperial Army, Grand Imperial Navy, Grand Imperial Marine Corps, Grand Imperial Air Force, and Grand Imperial Cosmic Guard.

### Foreign Relations

Klygesh is a member of SCION, an international alliance and defensive pact.

#### Klyintern

The Klyish International, or Klyintern, is an organization of Klyish vassals, protectorates, and aligned regimes.

## Astrography

Klygesh occupies 39 systems in the north of Vailaska. Its Vailist Kingdoms add another 12 systems.

## Demographics

### Species

The dominant species in Klygesh is the Klyish Human, a type of Human native to Vailon.

### Religion

Klygesh's official religion is Vistanism.