Laeklunders

### Skills

Engineering, Manufacturing, Architecture, Diplomacy, Trade, Administration, Warfare

## Appearance

### Physique

Average build, Average Height

**Laeklunders**, also commonly referred to as **Khagoans,** were the peoples native to the wealthy and urbanized land of Laeklund, named after the four small seas surrounding it called the Great Laeks. Most well known for being the dominant people of the powerful Khagoan Empire, the Laeklunders were shrewd diplomats, colonists, and conquerors. Laeklunders were renowned for the versatility and adaptability, traits which allowed them to create the largest empire known to man since the Beforetimes. They were a very innovative and hard working people, always looking to learn new things from their enemies and allies alike.

## History

Laeklunders originated after the end of the Summer, after they became a distinct group of survivors who inhabited the extremely fertile plains and forests of Laeklund, which in the Beforetimes was believed to be the industrial heart of the ancient Empire of Uesay. In fact, the Laeklunders soon came to worship the statues of men who had constructed the great ruined factories and foundries which littered their homeland, such as the God Forhd, their deity of craftsmen and production.

Khago emerged as the most powerful Laeklunder city and came to rule the entirety of Laeklund, establishing the Khagoan republic, which was ruled by the Aldermanry, a council of the wealthiest families of the city. After a civil war the republic was transformed into an Empire ruled by a supreme leader known as the Don, a title taken from the first emperors name, Don Wabbash. Under the Empire Laeklunder veterans and traders created colonies all across their Empire in new lands or pre-existing cities, with their language eventually becoming the lingua franca of the empire.

The Empire reached its peak during the latter part of the Epoch of Empires, and began to slowly decline across the Epoch of Transformations until its fall at the end of the era. Laeklunders then came to be under the rule of the Arkivist led Provostic State surrounding Khago, and the Miszegonian Empire which ruled over the rest of Laeklund.

## Culture

Laeklunders are widely considered to be industrious and clever, placing their faith in hard-work, determination, discipline, and the rule of law. Laeklunders generally allowed their subject peoples to retain their cultures, customs, and religions so long as they remained loyal to the empire and did not interfere with its interests.

Laeklunder society is heavily class based, with the super-wealthy families of the Aldermen at the top making all important decisions, the minor families below them whom serve as officers in the military or members of bureaucracy, and the masses of common citizens who had to be kept entertained by the elite with violent games and races to prevent them from rioting, something they were prone to doing, and at last at the very bottom the foreign slaves imported from the Legions countless conquests which did all the dirty work. In general Laeklunder elites were very conservative and looked down upon for exotic and liberal customs of the peoples of the far west such as the Xalifaunian's, but in secret the elite and commoner alike would indulge in the more hedonistic aspects of life. Laeklunder society was mostly patriarchal, with men holding most positions of power and women expected to submit to the will of their husbands.

Laeklunders were known for their highly urbanized culture, especially when compared to the standards of the rest of the post-Summer world. A large portion of Laeklunders lived in large cities which dotted their homeland, the largest by far being Khago with just over one million souls living within its city walls. The vast majority of the city folk would live in crammed tenements with barely enough space to sleep, to avoid their cramped living quarters they would venture outside where countless peddlers, merchants, and pickpockets roamed the feces ridden streets. High above the stench of the lower city in towering structures known as Tower-Palaces lived the elites of the city, with each prominent family occupying a tower with their slaves and servants. Here they would relax in their garden vistas or lavish penthouses, and travel by way of slave powered gondolas which allowed them to travel to the other tower-palaces without having to encounter the rabble below them.

Despite their urban nature the majority of Laeklunders still inhabited the countryside, working on family farms which struggled to survive in markets dominated by the massive slave-estates owned by the aldermen. These rural Laeklunders were considered much more naive when compared to their city counterparts, but much more morally restraint and hard-working, more focused on providing for their families than getting drunk at brothels or wasting time watching the incessant violence of the games.

## Religion

Main Article: Khagoan Pantheon

The Laeklunders worshiped the Gods of the Khagoan pantheon. The deities of this pantheon were based on actual figures who lived during the beforetimes who were misinterpreted by their worshipers to be actual gods or giants. The gods of their pantheon embodied the average industrialist of the ancient times, innovative, wealthy, and ruthless. Major Deities included Forhd, Bessamer, the twin deities known as the Wroight brothers, Karneegy, and the trickster deity of the underworld, Kapone.

## Military

Main page: Khagoan Legions

The Khagoan Legions were known for being the most formidable and organized fighting force in all of Maer'Ka. The Legions were organized from whole Legions down to the individual soldier, and every Legionary had the same standardized equipment and armor. Legionaries often formed shield walls to hold off assaults, threw volleys of javelins, then charged their enemies with their swords. The brutal discipline of their officers prevented any form of cowardice or carelessness, and offenders would often be executed on the spot by their superiors. The Legions were experts at both field battles and siege warfare, and had a multitude of siege engines and catapults to support their assaults. The Legions completely consisted of Laeklunders who held citizenship and were mostly drawn from the poor who hoped to improve their social standing. Legions were also supported by Auxiliaries drawn from the non-citizen native peoples of the provinces who specialized in areas where the Legionaries were lacking, such as archery and cavalry.