Kuateoha

Location of Kuateoha

### Ethnicity

Almost exclusively Kuahi Orcish, small Ruawi minority in the south and Miari minorty in the north-east

### Religion

Predominantly Morrokhian, significant Geranite and Muslim minorities

Kuateoha is a federal elective monarchy within the Nesarian Empire. Its head of state is the High Chief, a position elected from amongst the lower Chiefs, who are all hereditary monarchs - a system partly inspired by the similar systems of Saveria and Dungoria. Its state religion is Morrokhism. It is the only country within the Empire to not have an official national animal.

The commonly used name of Kuateoha is lifted directly from the local language, translating as "green-country". Elvic speakers often mutate the name into Cuatora, Cutora or Catora, but it is officially known in Imperial documents as Kuateoha - making it the only non-Elvic country of the Empire to be officially recorded as its native endonym. Whilst the demonym of Kuateoha is Kuateohi, the language they speak is typically known as Kuahi (also often rendered as Kuāhi), and the term for the denizens of Kuateoha is often shortened to Kuahi in informal speech.

Kuateoha has the smallest population of any country in the Empire, numbering 9,991,457 at the 2018 census, despite having a landmass larger than several more populous countries. This is due to the jungle which covers the entire country, which ranks as the densest jungle on the planet. The thickness of the rainforest and the constantly hot and humid environment makes developing civilisation a challenging enough task, but further challenges to expansion are presented by the extremely dangerous, hostile and aggressive wildlife.

The sparse and disparate tribes of Kuateoha found different ways to adapt to this hostile environment; some built great stone walls to keep out the jungle and purge with fire any unwanted plants or creatures, others built their homes underground, and others constructed vast networks of treehouses. Kuateoha is lacking in infrastructure due to the difficulty of the environment, and only the largest cities are completely supplied with electricity and internet access. Functional tarmac roads and railways are also sparse throughout Kuateoha. The supply of clean freshwater, though, has never been an issue in Kuateoha, as it is plentiful throughout the country.

Most Kuateohis take pride in their difficult way of life, which in comparison to the rest of Inecuria is very primitive. Kuateohi culture strongly adheres to the philosophy that hard places make hard men, and they believe that their home, certainly the most difficult place to live on Inecuria, makes them the strongest warriors and survivors on the continent. Most other Imperial folk are not inclined to disagree; Kuateohi soldiers have a well-deserved reputation of courage and ferocity in battle.

Kuateoha has a particularly violent and notorious history. Much like any other civilisation of Inecuria before their unification under the Empire, the tribes of Kuateoha often fought amongst themselves, but the Kuahis were historically notorious for their frequent raids into the neighbouring countries of Roulonne, Kalzuranur and Chalparna, where they would loot every treasure they found, take everyone strong enough to serve as slaves, and sacrifice any resistance to their supreme deity, *Kahura Taikahi* - known to most of the world as Morrokh. Kuateoha's nature as a jungle bordering several countries made it essentially the perfect raiding base, since the Kuahis could easily strike out from their home to raid, but the jungle was near-impassable for anyone except the Kuahis themselves, who were the only ones who knew how to traverse through and survive in the hostile environment.

Kuateoha was also feared across the continent for its practice of assembling mighty Warpaths; colossal nomadic campaigns where the Kuahis would set out not merely just to raid and return to their home with plunder, but to glorify *Kahura Taikahi* through war and sacrifice. Many Warpaths were deliberately led to destruction rather than returning home with the plunder they accrued, since the purpose of a Warpath was not to enrich oneself or one's country, but rather to win the favour of *Kahura* through blood and battle; most members of a Warpath, especially the Warmaster who led it, set out with the intent to die in battle.

he majority of Warpaths therefore simply kept marching onwards until they were destroyed, and the warriors who marched in a Warpath were not easily routed, since they had psychologically prepared themselves for death in battle. A Warpath was therefore a profoundly dreaded thing; they could not be bargained or reasoned with, and they could not be stopped except by completely wiping them out - and, most terrifying of all, they could carve a bloody path hundreds or even thousands of miles across the continent, for their only objective was to continuously make war.

## Flag

The flag of Kuateoha is a white tree on a white-rimmed black shield, atop a yellow background.

* The tree represents the huge trees of the jungle, in particular the Kuahi Tower.
* The black colour of the shield represents warriors. The white colour of the tree and the shield-rim represents purity and truth. These combined with the shield shape imply virtuous warriors defending their jungle home.
* The origin of the yellow background is unknown, but the banners of Kuateohi tribes often used yellow as a background, which was carried over to the flag.