Zimayik

**Zimayik** Principality of Grand Kalev, annexed during the last war. Famed for its artisans and craftsmen. Human and dwarf

Rahibato, Okiyassa and Hokira

Zimayik is a nation that has a history that dates back to the time of the elves, but the modern Zimayik bears little resemblance to its early origins. While most historians agree it was a place for the ancient elves to share its crafts, there is little material evidence to go on to back up this notion. In the last great war, Kalev’s first act of aggression was not against the early allied nations that had formed in the south west, but to invade and annex Zimayik, agree a surrender, and then turn force their guilds to manufacture weapons for the army of the bear. When Kalev and the army of the bear won the long war, King Khabarov declared that the invasion made Zimayik a principality of Grand Kalev and that all authority now came from the throne. Modern Zimayik is now a divided place, where half the populace are bitter of the oppression of their autonomy and the other half claim undying loyalty to Grand Kalev for continuing the patronage of the small nation of craftsmen and keeping them out of the worst of the last war.

Rahibato was the capital of Zimayik when they were permitted to hold a parliament. The parliament building is an elaborate and beautifully ornate which now holds the taxation offices and export commissioners. Tellingly, the front of guildhall is dominated by an enormous statue of King Khabarov Vladislavovich, staring from his throne with a hand on his greatsword. While the guilds have always been powerful in Zimayik, now the guildmasters are the closest thing the small nation has to a local government as they are in direct contact with the ministers of Grand Kalev. This has been especially successful for the growing merchant guilds who have over the years from the annexation been able to purchase craftsmen guilds and turn them into capital producing singular businesses. Much of the traditonal style of Zimayik decoration has been removed from Rahibato, the town sometimes referred to as Little Kalev. Instead, the buildings are covered in shields and heraldry of the guilds, long banners of names and colours from the roof and many have Kalev pleasing symbology. Rahibato makes no secret of its break from Zimayik tradition as it eschews the traditional goddess worship in favour of one large temple. The temple of the cog mothers is a new building funded by the merchant guilds of the ‘Rahibato concern’ and the ‘proudsinger forge sellers’ built in a distinctly domed Kalevian style and with dedications to Duke Vladimir Vladislavovich,

lady Jasteth Virtue, King Khabarov and Queen Kharislava Vladislavovich. It is illegal in town for any money to change hands outside of an official guild setting, something the guards of Rahibato strictly enforce. Therefore, Rahibato only has three official shops for goods, each cavernous buildings maintained by the Rahibato concern, A Etolik worshipping guild called ‘the Protection of the Collapsed’ and the ‘honour of the bear Dwarven mercantile traders.’ Bakers, costermongers, fishermen, butchers and the like are allowed to operate smaller businesses, but all are required to keep their guild allegiance visible and in date. The Guild of brewers and publicans operates two large alehouses, ‘The sword of king Khabarov’ and the ‘Rahibato coaching house and inn.’

Okiyassa seems like a large town to a traveller, but the majority of its space is taken by the guild-factories. A grand kalev backed project that hopes to speed up the process craftsmanship, seemingly inspired or stolen from their old enemy of the nation of Caraniv. While The Caraniv factories rely on automata and tinkering machinery, the Okiyassa version has taken the parts of assembly line work and increased the amount of staff tenfold. These factories are permitted to be under contract with multiple mercantile guilds at once. Just as the factory set ups eerily mirror those successful production lines in Caraniv, the products themselves that are produced in Okiyassa are seemingly identical to speciality crafts from across the cog. Okiyassa has a guild that is only mentioned in the most classified documents to Kalev, the innocuous sounding ‘Guild of the open eye.’ The open eye is a group of Spies, infiltrators and deceptive confidence tricksters who in peacetime attempt to find their way into the businesses craftspeople of Maligon and beyond to steal products, methods and designs so that they can be reproduced for Zimayik and Kalev. In their possession are the designs and secrets for Dinackluft repeaters, Mosstand explosives, labre pottery glazes, Pasgreseder brickworks, a library of suntij recipies and prototypes for devices not yet released. The Guild of the open eye was the personal project of Duke Vladimir Vladislavovich who was his brother the kings spymaster during the last great war and saw great value in maintaining a web of espionage after the battles had concluded. Many of those who know about the Open eye and those who simply realise that the Okiyassa factories produce patten marked forgeries of other crafts consider this an insult to the traditional works and crafts of Zimayik. The open head of this movement is Toshiro Kokonzima, a dwarf from a sixteen generation family of Zimayik metal workers who organises strikes and raids to destroy the copies. Kokonzima has been arrested several times for this and served prison sentences in Offzeitkrom but has mass public support and powerful guild friends who prevent his further imprisonment or execution.

Hokira is the smallest town in Zimayik and the one that does the most to preserve the original Zimayik culture, even if this has been punished. The town traditionally has a Magistrate governor, and one is still elected but not considered legitimate by the throne of Grand Kalev. The incumbent unoffical magistrate of Hokira is a human called Muto Shumei who serves as the head of the Zimayik independence movement. Construction of Kalevian style homes have been sabotaged for decades, so Hokira has squat buildings, no more than two stories, with heavy tiled roofs and wooden exteriors. There are no temples or churches in Hokira, and pilgrims or missionaries from Ragnnloth have been treated hostilely if passing through. The Zimayik tradition is to keep small shrines to the goddesses in ones home, and thank the goddesses in the forms of the world they take around you. Villagers make their livelihoods hunting and foraging in the Zima forest, as they do not receive the preferential treatment of their Zimayik neighbours from Kalev. Hokira’s unoffical government also includes a hereditary noble class of Knights, many of which have turned to outlaws on the roads that pass through the land, hoping to settle some score with any Kalevian who crosses their path.

Demographically, the majority of Zimayik are Dwarves, descended from a mysterious clan called the ‘mineless ones’ in the oldest Lumthonom documents. Second are the humans, many from the diaspora who served as workers for ancient Zimayik. The most noteworthy minority are the Centaurs, incredibly rare across the cog but who make their homes in the Zima forest or in the towns and as members of guilds. The animals of Zimayik include the jusadal rabbits that are invasive for much of the central region, brown bears, wild dogs are common, as are some of the larger and more fearsome predators of Zonamadaaman.