Salan Aatan

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Aatan Province (#71)
Origin of Province name: Aatan means "Land of Aat" in Zekresh. "Aat" means "Mountain Goat" in the language of the Aat Elden (Mountain Goat People).
Provincial Capital: Renifar
Estimated Population: 150,000
Population at last census: (no census taken)
Year annexed to Empire: 10 Cledman V (45 years ago)

Ulor (governor): Wanderjar (appointed 25/7/40 Cledman VI)
Political Alignment of Ulor: Neutral
Ethnic background of Ulor: Aat Elden
Ulor's primary advisor: Jezefar
Ethnic background of advisor: Aat Elden

Popular Support for Empire: very low

Economic Development: The main economic activity in the province is hunting, followed by sheep herding and subsistence farming. The economy is almost completely undeveloped.

Imperial Military Garrison: 3 phalanxes of infantry
Governor's Guards: 50
Civilian officials and their servants: 108

Estimated Average Annual Tax per Person: 2 baylo

Govt Finances: The provincial government is current on tax collections and remittances to Zekran as well as payments of its debts, but its budget is small. Taxes are lower than in the rest of the Empire. Previous governors suspended the normal tax on farms to encourage agriculture.

Land and Climate:
Aatan Province is a vast amount of land between the Blue Mountains in the West and the White River (and the North River) in the East. It is heavily forested with good rainfall, and one of the coldest climates in the Empire. The population is relatively sparse.

Description:
The province is one of the most recently annexed provinces in the Zekresh Empire. It is also one of the least civilized provinces.

Ethnic Groups:
Aat Elden people make up about four fifths of the population of the province with more in nearby provinces and a few North of the Imperial border and over the mountains to the West. The second largest ethnic group in the province are the Trond or "Giant" tribe who have at times been enemies of the Aat Elden and are the majority in neighboring Helmarie Province. They are called this because they are typically very tall. There is virtually no ethnic Zekresh population in the province. Only a few soldiers and administrators. Even the Ulor (governor) is Aat Elden. This is because the Aat Elden keep to themselves and are notoriously uncooperative with outside authorities. They are virtually ungovernable by anyone but one of their own people. Previous governors of Aatan have also been Aat Elden in recent years.

About one tenth of the population is neither Aat Elden nor Trond. A few are of mixed ancestry, some are members of small local ethnic groups, but most of them are Foerfen, or Baaniferians. A few are people from more distant parts of the Empire, mostly from nearby provinces and Verronese who have come as merchants. A smaller number are people from outside the Empire who are not from any of these ethnic groups. Most of the people in this province who immigrated from outside the Empire are Tronds. This is alarming to the majority Aat Elden population.

Recent actions by the provincial government:
No recent actions.

Apparent consequences of provincial government policies:
No recent actions.

Situations which may or may not have resulted from government policies:
There is open hostility and occasional violence between the two main ethnic groups in the province: the Aat Elden and the Trond tribes.

Trond tribesmen live on both sides of the Imperial frontier and move back and forth across it as if it didn't exist. So do the Aat Elden, especially in the Blue Mountains. Many Trond chieftains are openly hostile to the Empire and their entire tribes refuse to pay any taxes and will attack any Imperial officials or Zekresh people who come to their territory. Separatists openly plot secession from the Empire and the establishment of an independent Trond kingdom and war against the Glant Ogra tribes. Secessionist plans have been delayed because the Tronds can't agree on who should be their king. There are conspiracy theories that even high Imperial officials in neighboring Helmarie Province support secession and nearly all such officials, civilian and military, are Tronds.

Among the Aat Elden, separatism is a fact of life, not just a conspiracy. There are many areas in the Blue Mountains where Aat Elden clans completely ignore Imperial authority. The most notorious of these is the headwaters of the White River on the Northern frontier. The Aat Elden people there consider themselves independent and no Imperial officials dare to go there. Since the annexation of Aatan province, rebellions and defiance by Aat Elden people in the mountains has been endemic. The White River headwaters has been conquered and abandoned to the natives and reconquered seven times. Imperial officials who understand the problem do not think it is possible to maintain Imperial authority there permanently and do not wish to lose any troops imposing it temporarily. It is difficult enough holding the other two large mountain valleys in the province despite chronic rebellions.

Aat Elden means "Mountain Goat People" in the Aatan language. The Aat people are called the Mountain Goat People because they seem as much at home in the mountains as mountain goats. This has saved the Aat Elden from extinction on at least two occasions, an ancient invasion by the Foerfen and a not so ancient invasion by the Trond tribes. Invading armies find that the Aat Elden retreat to the mountains where they are essentially unbeatable. The Aat people for the most part detest the Zekresh and their empire, but they are more loyal than might be expected because they fear the Trond tribes in the North and the Foerfen in the South who are usually allies of each other and sometimes enemies of the Aat Elden. The empire has kept these hostile tribes peaceful.

There are many traders coming in and out of the province, mostly Verronese. High taxes are levied on goods brought into the province and furs and wool exported from the province because this indirectly taxes the local people who buy the products and sell the furs and wool even if they refuse to pay any direct taxes. Smuggling by Verronese merchants and Foerfen tribesmen from the South is common to avoid these taxes.

Products from the Empire are often taken North and West, out of the Empire, by Aat Elden and Tronds for resale in the wildlands to their kinsmen there. This trade is supposed to be taxed, but isn't because of lack of cooperation by the Aat Elden and the Tronds and lack of control of the Northern frontier and the Western mountain passes by the Empire despite the presence of three phalanxes of Imperial troops normally stationed in the province.


History:
According to legends of the Aat Elden, these lands have belonged to them since the beginning of time. According to the legends of the Red Hand tribes far to the East, the Eastern portion of these lands once belonged to their kinsmen, the Yellow Hand tribes and that the rest of it belonged to the White Hand tribes, also their kinsmen. This same legend says that in ancient times, an alliance called the tribes of the five hands fought and lost a war against a horde of animals from the north including snakes, bears, moose and wolves. This alliance included the tribes of the Red Hand, the Yellow Hand, the White Hand, the Black Hand and the Green Hand. It is said that the tribes of the Black Hand and the White Hand went to live in the mountains of the West while the tribes of the Green Hand fled South and the few survivors of the tribes of the Yellow Hand were scattered. Some of the Yellow Hand survivors are said to have come to live with the Red Hand tribes. To this day, a few members of the Red Hand tribes live in the province, especially in the Southeast. Further in that direction lies Glantogran Province in which the Red Hand tribes are the majority of the population. Glantogran province is also named after the Red Hand tribes. In the language of the Red Hand tribes, "glant ogra" means "red hand". There is an ancient enmity between the Red Hand tribe and the Foerfen people, modern day descendants of the ancient Wolf People of legend. The Trond tribes are related to the Foerfen and there is a more recent animosity between the Red Hand tribes and the Trond tribes. This animosity led to several wars before the Zekresh even came to this region. In recent times the Aat Elden and the Red Hand tribes have tolerated each other or at times have even been allies.

In the last century of the Larinyva Dynasty of Zekresh Emperors, over two hundred years ago, Zekresh armies began to advance up the North River as far as the lands of the Foerfen people. Trond tribesmen came down from the North to join the Foerfen and attacked the Zekresh Imperial Army. This was not forgotten by the Zekresh, nor forgiven. After the conquest of the Foerfen lands led to the creation of Foerfen Province, there was a pause in the advance of Imperial forces for about 200 years due to the end of the Larinyva Dynasty and other priorities for the empire. During this time, intermittent warfare continued between Tronds and their enemies, the Red Hand tribes. The Red Hand tribes were sometimes aided by the Mountain Goat People (Aat Elden) of the Blue Mountains in the West. Eventually, the Empire was ready to march North again and in the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Cledman V, a general named Falimuk was placed in command of an army of conquest and sent up the North River to bring the Trond people and the other tribes there under the dominion of the Empire. Falimuk readily enlisted the assistance of the Red Hand tribes and the Mountain Goat People (Aat Elden) for a war against the Trond. While the Mountain Goat People attacked from the West, Falimuk's Imperial soldiers marched with Red Hand tribesmen from the South and met the main force of Trond tribesmen in battle beside the great North River. The battle was called the Battle of Riverside and in that battle, Imperial forces and their allies were victorious and crushed the Trond horde.

Falimuk advanced far to the North, but bad weather, continuing Trond resistance and the vast extent of Trond lands prevented him from annexing all the Trond lands. Today, some Trond tribes live North of the Imperial frontier. Helmarie province consists of only the portion of the Trond lands that Falimuk conquered and it is still one of the largest provinces in the Empire in land area. With the Tronds conquered, the Red Hand tribes had no hope of remaining outside the Empire and willingly submitted to Imperial rule on the condition that they not be part of the same province as the Trond people. The Mountain Goat People refused to agree to be annexed and Falimuk invaded their lands and annexed them easily the following year except for some holdouts in the mountains who continued to resist for decades to come.

The first three Imperial governors (Uloro) of Aatan province met with a profound lack of cooperation by the Aat Elden people and continuing armed resistance from the Tronds. The fourth Ulor, Jelifar, was an Aat Elden clan leader and was able to bring some semblance of Imperial rule to most of the province. The next two Uloro since Jelifar were, Danifar and Olajar, both Aat Elden. Olajar is known for encouraging sheep farming. Then came the disastrous rule of the Zekresh Uloro Kalimuk, Ponyva and Klemt. Ulor Klemt managed to survive the longest by interfering only a little with the local people, but it was clear he despised them. He was replaced with Ulor Emufar, an Aat Elden Ulor who was extremely popular, but was unable to continue to carry out his duties. He was replaced by Ulor Wanderjar, also an Aat Elden.

Salan Helmarie

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Helmarie Province (#72)
Origin of Province name: Helmarie means "headwaters" in the language of the Trond people. The province includes the headwaters of the North River and the White River.
Provincial Capital: Kast Foramyva (named after the first Ulor of Helmarie)
Estimated Population: 150,000
Population at last census: (no census taken)
Year annexed to Empire: 9 Cledman V (46 years ago)

Ulor (governor): Esinie (appointed 1/1/40 Cledman VI)
Political Alignment of Ulor: Reformist Faction
Ethnic background of Ulor: Trond
Ulor's primary advisors: Gurok and Onasie
Ethnic background of advisor: Gurok is Slythian, Onasie is a Trond

Popular Support for Empire: very low

Economic Development: The main economic activity in the province is hunting, followed by subsistence farming. The economy is almost completely undeveloped.

Imperial Military Garrison: 5 phalanxes of infantry
Governor's Guards: 88
Civilian officials and their servants: 126

Estimated Average Annual Tax per Person: 2 baylo

Govt Finances: The provincial government is current on tax collections and remittances to Zekran as well as payments of its debts, but its budget is small. Taxes are lower than in the rest of the Empire. Previous governors suspended the normal tax on farms to encourage agriculture.

Land and Climate:
Helmarie Province is a vast amount of land between two mountain ranges, the Grey Mountains in the East and the Blue Mountains in the West. It stands at the headwaters of two major rivers. It is heavily forested with good rainfall, and the coldest climate in the Empire. The population is relatively sparse.

Description:
The province is one of the most recently annexed provinces in the Zekresh Empire. It is also one of the least civilized provinces.

Ethnic Groups:
Trond tribesmen make up more than three quarters of the population of the province with more in nearby provinces and North of the Imperial border. The second largest ethnic group in the province are the Glant Ogra or "Red Hand" tribe who are traditional enemies of the Trond and are the majority in neighboring Glantogran Province. There is virtually no ethnic Zekresh population in the province. Only a few soldiers and administrators. Even the Ulor (governor) is a Trond. This is because the last five Uloro (governors) who were not Tronds were assassinated by Trond separatists.

About 5% of the population is neither Trond nor Glant Ogra. A few are of mixed ancestry, some are members of small local ethnic groups, but most of them are Foerfen, Aat or Baaniferians. A few are people from more distant parts of the Empire, mostly from nearby provinces and Verronese who have come as merchants. A smaller number are people from outside the Empire who are not Tronds. Most of the people in this province who immigrated from outside the Empire are Tronds.

Recent actions by the provincial government:
Spying on separatists, opposing the dog tax, legalizing the public practice of unofficial religions, abolishing the requirement that provincial officials must speak the Zekresh language, and hiring 26 new bureaucrats at high salaries, most of them from outside the province.

Apparent consequences of provincial government policies:
Dog owners have renewed confidence in the Empire, separatists captured a government spy and the Ulor's advisor and held them for 25,000 baylo ransom, members of strange religions proselytize on the streets of the capital and much of the provincial government's affairs are conducted in the Slythian language which hardly anyone in the province or the rest of the Empire understands.

Situations which may or may not have resulted from government policies:
There is open hostility and occasional violence between the two main ethnic groups in the province: the Trond tribes and the Glant Ogra tribes.

Trond tribesmen live on both sides of the Imperial frontier and move back and forth across it as if it didn't exist. Many Trond chieftains are openly hostile to the Empire and their entire tribes refuse to pay any taxes and will attack any Imperial officials or Zekresh people who come to their territory. Separatists openly plot secession from the Empire and the establishment of an independent Trond kingdom and war against the Glant Ogra tribes. Secessionist plans have been delayed because the Tronds can't agree on who should be their king. There are conspiracy theories that even high Imperial officials in the province support secession and nearly all such officials, civilian and military, are Tronds.

There are many traders coming in and out of the province, mostly Verronese. High taxes are levied on goods brought into the province and furs exported from the province because this indirectly taxes the Tronds who buy the products and sell the furs even if they refuse to pay any direct taxes. Smuggling by Verronese merchants and Foerfen tribesmen from the South is common to avoid these taxes.

Products from the Empire are often taken North, out of the Empire, by Tronds for resale in the wildlands to other Trond tribes there. This trade is supposed to be taxed, but isn't because of lack of cooperation by the Tronds and lack of control of the Northern frontier by the Empire despite the presence of three Imperial forts on the Northern Frontier and three phalanxes of Imperial troops normally stationed on the frontier.


History:
According to legends of the Trond people, these lands were given to them by a great chieftain of the Wolf People shortly after the beginning of the world. According to the legends of the Red Hand tribes, the Southern portion of these lands once belonged to their kinsmen, the Yellow Hand tribes. This same legend says that in ancient times, an alliance called the tribes of the five hands fought and lost a war against a horde of animals from the north including snakes, bears, moose and wolves. This alliance included the tribes of the Red Hand, the Yellow Hand, the White Hand, the Black Hand and the Green Hand. It is said that the tribes of the Black Hand and the White Hand went to live in the mountains of the West while the tribes of the Green Hand fled South and the few survivors of the tribes of the Yellow Hand were scattered. Some of the Yellow Hand survivors are said to have come to live with the Red Hand tribes. To this day members of the Red Hand tribes live in the province, especially in the Southeast. Further in that direction lies Glantogran Province in which the Red Hand tribes are the majority of the population. Glantogran province is also named after the Red Hand tribes. In the language of the Red Hand tribes, "glant ogra" means "red hand". There is an ancient enmity between the Red Hand tribe and the Foerfen people, modern day descendants of the ancient Wolf People of legend. The Trond tribes are related to the Foerfen and there is a more recent animosity between the Red Hand tribes and the Trond tribes. This animosity led to several wars before the Zekresh even came to this region.

In the last century of the Larinyva Dynasty of Zekresh Emperors, over two hundred years ago, Zekresh armies began to advance up the North River as far as the lands of the Foerfen people. Trond tribesmen came down from the North to join the Foerfen and attacked the Zekresh Imperial Army. This was not forgotten by the Zekresh, nor forgiven. After the conquest of the Foerfen lands led to the creation of Foerfen Province, there was a pause in the advance of Imperial forces for about 200 years due to the end of the Larinyva Dynasty and other priorities for the empire. During this time, intermittent warfare continued between Tronds and their enemies, the Red Hand tribes. The Red Hand tribes were sometimes aided by the Mountain Goat People of the Blue Mountains in the West. Eventually, the Empire was ready to march North again and in the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Cledman V, a general named Falimuk was placed in command of an army of conquest and sent up the North River to bring the Trond people and the other tribes there under the dominion of the Empire. Falimuk readily enlisted the assistance of the Red Hand tribes and the Mountain Goat People for a war against the Trond. While the Mountain Goat People attacked from the West, Falimuk's Imperial soldiers marched with Red Hand tribesmen from the South and met the main force of Trond tribesmen in battle beside the great North River. The battle was called the Battle of Riverside and in that battle, Imperial forces and their allies were victorious and crushed the Trond horde.

Falimuk advanced far to the North, but bad weather, continuing Trond resistance and the vast extent of Trond lands prevented him from annexing all the Trond lands. Today, some Trond tribes live North of the Imperial frontier. Helmarie province consists of only the portion of the Trond lands that Falimuk conquered and it is still one of the largest provinces in the Empire in land area. With the Tronds conquered, the Red Hand tribes had no hope of remaining outside the Empire and willingly submitted to Imperial rule on the condition that they not be part of the same province as the Trond people. The Mountain Goat People refused to agree to be annexed and Falimuk invaded their lands and annexed them easily except for some holdouts in the mountains who continued to resist for decades to come.

The foundations of permanent Imperial rule were laid by Ulor Foramyva, the first Ulor of Helmarie. Because of continuing rebelliousness by Trond tribes, he built the fort that bears his name (Kast Foramyva) and serves as the provincial capital. A town has grown up around the fort now and it is the main place where immigrants from distant provinces live. Under the leadership of Ulor Foramyva and his successors, efforts have been made to encourage the introduction of farming, previously unknown to the local tribes, and immigration from more loyal areas of the Empire. The provincial government in previous years gave away farm land to immigrants from other provinces, notably Slythia, Frayethay and the Kajakan provinces. Nearly all of these immigrants gave up farming and went home after their first Helmarie Winter. A few remain.

Salan Kajakan Folon

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Kajakan Folon Province (#5)
Origin of Province name: Kajakan Folon means "West Bear Land" In Zekresh. It is named after the Verronese people who in ancient times were called the "Bear People".
Provincial Capital: Angenmar Paven
Estimated Population: 250,000
Population at last census: (no census taken)
Year annexed to Empire: 5 Vergriman II (783 years ago)

Ulor (governor): Tremalkan (appointed 9/7/40 Cledman VI)
Political Alignment of Ulor: Neutral
Ethnic background of Ulor: Zekresh and Verronese
Ulor's primary advisor: Marivan
Ethnic background of advisor: Verronese
Popular Support for Empire: medium - high

Economic Development: The main economic activity in the province is farming, followed by fishing, trade, manufacturing and money lending. The economy is highly developed, possibly the most highly developed in the whole known world.

Imperial Military Garrison: 4 phalanxes of infantry
Governor's Guards: 200 Kajakoya Folon (Bears of the West)
Civilian officials and their servants: 224

Estimated Average Annual Tax per Person: 2.5 baylo

Govt Finances: The provincial government is current on tax collections and remittances to Zekran as well as payments of its debts. Its budget is large. Taxes are higher than in the rest of the Empire.

Land and Climate:
Kajakan Folon Province is only part of the lands that were historically the territory of Bear Tribes nearly a thousand years ago. It consists of the former Bear Tribes lands that lie West of the Bear River (Shasa Kajak), but South of the Northern Bear Lands. The old Bear Tribes lands were divided into three provinces. Kajakan Folon (West Bear Land) is one of those, the other two provinces that are parts of the old Bear Tribes land are called Kajakan Yost (East Bear Land) and Kajakan Tros (North Bear Land).

Kajakan Folon is heavily forested, but nearly half of the province is now farmlands and pasturelands. The province has good rainfall, and a moderate climate. There is greater population density than in most provinces.

Description:
The provincial capital is Angenmar Paven, which means "Sea Town" in Verronese. Although Verronia in Kajakan Yost is frequently called the cultural capital of the Verronese and the first city of the Verronese, Angenmar Paven is actually older, though it was only a tiny fishing village when Verronia was founded.

The Ulor's palace looks like it is fit for a king. The Ulor's guards are the Kajakoya Folon (Bears of the West) an elite unit that is not part of the Imperial Army and answers only to the Governor of Salan Kajakan Folon. They are armed with traditional Verronese battle axes rather than the spears that most of the Imperial Army carries. Also, the men of the Kajakoya Folon are all very large and uncommonly strong, that being a requirement to join the unit.

Ethnic Groups:
The descendants of the ancient Bear Tribes call themselves the Verronese. This is derived from "verron" the word for bear in the Verronese language. (The work "kajak" means bear in the Zekresh language.)

Nearly three quarters of the population are Verronese. The nearby provinces of Kajakan Yost (#4), Kajakan Tros (#6) and Nass Mysktia (#3) all have majority Verronese population. The second largest ethnic group in the province are the Slythians from Slythia (#2) to the Southeast. About 15% of the population are Slythians. The Verronese tend to look down on the Slythians, but relations are reasonably good.

There is a significant ethnic Zekresh population in the province estimated at 2% of the population.

About 20% of the population is neither Zekresh, Verronese nor Slythian. Many are of mixed ancestry, some are members of small local ethnic groups and the rest are people from all over the Empire, mostly from nearby provinces.

Recent actions by the provincial government:
no recent actions

Apparent consequences of provincial government policies:
no recent actions

Situations which may or may not have resulted from government policies:
The Verronese see themselves as equal to or better than the Zekresh and much better than the Slythians or just about any other ethnic group. Consequently the Zekresh consider them "uppity" and the Slythians resent their superior attitude. Thus far, however, there has been no significant ethnic violence.

There are many traders and sailors coming in and out of the province, mostly Verronese. High taxes are levied on goods brought into the province and on sales in the public market places. Smuggling by Verronese merchants and the Slythian organized crime gangs is common to avoid these taxes.

History:
Over a thousand years ago, when the Empire was new and first brought civilization to the Bear people, the ancestors of the modern Verronese, they were primitive tribes of hunters, fishers and a few subsistence farmers. In those days they were known as the Bear Tribes because the Bear was their totem animal. They've come a long way. Now they are one of the main civilized nationalities in the Empire. Verronese civil servants, soldiers and merchants are found throughout the Empire. They are also one of the most numerous nationalities in the Empire.

Kajakan Folon was the second of the lands of the Bear to come under imperial control (after Kajakan Yost). The Empire had contact with the Bear Tribes as far back as twelve hundred years ago, when the Empire was small and barely a century old. In those days, the Bear Tribes already had primitive agriculture, metal weapons and a vast land and population. Their size and power was comparable to or possibly even greater than that of the Zekresh Empire in those early days. For four centuries there was trade and peaceful contact between the Zekresh Empire and the people of the Bear Lands. At first, this was a relationship between equals, but as the Zekresh Empire grew stronger and larger, the Zekresh increasingly looked down upon the people of the Bear and dreamed of conquering their lands.

The conquest of the Bear Tribes began in the Vergriman Dynasty in the 3rd year of the reign of Emperor Vergriman II (eight centuries ago). That conquest, known as the "Bear Wars", took nine years to accomplish and was one of the most difficult wars ever fought by the Empire. At one point, the Bear Tribes actually invaded the Zekresh Empire, recaptured Nass Mysktia occupied Slythia and beseiged Nass Umrug. For a time, it seemed like they might even march to Zekran. The Bear Tribes actually did raid Zekran twice by sea. Naval power was essential to the conflict and the Bear Tribes had constructed hundreds of longboats which aided them greatly in the war. It was the defeat of this fleet by the Zekresh Imperial Navy at the seige of Nass Umrug which turned the tide of the Bear Wars in favor of the Zekresh Empire.

The Verronese today are proud of how well their ancestors fought and still retain an attitude that the war was an anomaly and that the proper relationship between Verronese and Zekresh is between two great nations that are essentially equal. It is also a widely held belief by the Verronese that the war could easily have gone the other way in which case Zekran would be a province of a Verronese Empire instead of the other way round.

After a rebellious period in the first century after conquest, the old Bear Tribes faded away and their descendants became prominent in the Empire as military officers, noblemen, administrators of new provinces, especially in the North, and as merchants and sailors. So much of the Empire's territory was conquered by Verronese soldiers, ruled by Verronese Ulors and patrolled by ships built and crewed at Verronia that Verronese often claim credit for having built the Empire. Verronese sailors, bankers and merchants have made so much money trading throughout the Empire that it is often said that it is really a Verronese Empire with a Zekresh Emperor, built by and for the benefit of the Verronese. It is not a joke that when the Empire needs money, it borrows from Verronese bankers.

Salan Kajakan Yost

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Kajakan Yost Province (#4)
Origin of Province name: Kajakan Yost means "East Bear Land" In Zekresh. It is named after the Verronese people who in ancient times were called the "Bear People".
Provincial Capital: Verronia
Estimated Population: 250,000
Population at last census: (no census taken)
Year annexed to Empire: 3 Vergriman II (785 years ago)

Ulor (governor): Ziyan (appointed 2/4/40 Cledman VI)
Political Alignment of Ulor: Neutral
Ethnic background of Ulor: Verronese
Ulor's primary advisor: Izdanuk
Ethnic background of advisor: Zekresh
Popular Support for Empire: medium - high

Economic Development: The main economic activity in the province is farming, followed by fishing, trade, manufacturing, shipbuilding and money lending. The economy is highly developed, possibly the most highly developed in the whole known world.

Imperial Military Garrison: 5 phalanxes of infantry and large naval base at Verronia
Governor's Guards: 200 Rizado Kajak Uloresh (Governor's Bear Guards)
Civilian officials and their servants: 215

Estimated Average Annual Tax per Person: 2.5 baylo

Govt Finances: The provincial government is current on tax collections and remittances to Zekran as well as payments of its debts. Its budget is large. Taxes are higher than in the rest of the Empire.

Land and Climate:
Kajakan Yost Province is only part of the lands that were historically the territory of Bear Tribes nearly a thousand years ago. It consists of the former Bear Tribes lands that lie South and East of the Bear River (Shasa Kajak). The old Bear Tribes lands were divided into three provinces. Kajakan Yost (East Bear Land) is one of those, the other two provinces that are parts of the old Bear Tribes land lie to the Northwest and are called Kajakan Folon (West Bear Land) and Kajakan Tros (North Bear Land).

Kajakan Yost is heavily forested, but about a third of the province is now farmlands and pasturelands. The province has good rainfall, and a moderate climate. There is greater population density than in most provinces.

Description:
The provincial capital is Verronia, the first real city the Verronese ever had and now the oldest and largest Verronese city. Verronia is the center of all Verronese culture. It is also the location of one of the largest naval bases in the Empire as well as one of the largest naval shipyards. All the largest Imperial Navy ships were built here.

The Ulor's palace looks like it is fit for an Emperor. The Ulor's guards are the Rizado Kajak Uloresh (Governor's Bear Guards) an elite unit that is not part of the Imperial Army and answers only to the Governor of Salan Kajakan Yost. They are armed with traditional Verronese battle axes rather than the spears that most of the Imperial Army carries. Also, the men of the Rizado Kajak Uloresh are all very large and uncommonly strong, that being a requirement to join the unit.

Ethnic Groups:
The descendants of the ancient Bear Tribes call themselves the Verronese. This is derived from "verron" the word for bear in the Verronese language. (The work "kajak" means bear in the Zekresh language.)

The majority of the population are Verronese. The adjacent provinces of Kajakan Folon (#5), Kajakan Tros (#6) and Nass Mysktia (#3) all have majority Verronese population. The second largest ethnic group in the province are the Slythians from Slythia (#2) to the Southeast. About 20% of the population are Slythians. The Verronese tend to look down on the Slythians, but relations are reasonably good.

There is a significant ethnic Zekresh population in the province estimated at 4% of the population.

About 15% of the population is neither Zekresh, Verronese nor Slythian. Many are of mixed ancestry, some are members of small local ethnic groups and the rest are people from all over the Empire, mostly from nearby provinces.

Recent actions by the provincial government:
Opposed the dog tax. Abolished the language requirement for provincial employees.

Apparent consequences of provincial government policies:
Dog owners have renewed confidence in the Empire and much of the provincial governments affairs are conducted in the Slythian language which most people do not understand.

Situations which may or may not have resulted from government policies:
The Verronese see themselves as equal to or better than the Zekresh and much better than the Slythians or just about any other ethnic group. Consequently the Zekresh consider them "uppity" and the Slythians resent their superior attitude. Thus far, however, there has been no significant ethnic violence.

There are many traders and sailors coming in and out of the province, mostly Verronese. High taxes are levied on goods brought into the province and on sales in the public market places. Smuggling by Verronese merchants and the Slythian organized crime gangs is common to avoid these taxes.

History:
Over a thousand years ago, when the Empire was new and first brought civilization to the Bear people, the ancestors of the modern Verronese, they were primitive tribes of hunters, fishers and a few miserable subsistence farmers. In those days they were known as the Bear Tribes because the Bear was their totem animal. They've come a long way. Now they are one of the main civilized nationalities in the Empire. Verronese civil servants, soldiers and merchants are found throughout the Empire. They are also one of the most numerous nationalities in the Empire.

Kajakan Yost was the first of the lands of the Bear to come under imperial control. The Empire had contact with the Bear Tribes as far back as twelve hundred years ago, when the Empire was small and barely a century old. In those days, the Bear Tribes already had primitive agriculture, metal weapons and a vast land and population. Their size and power was comparable to or possibly even greater than that of the Zekresh Empire in those early days. For four centuries there was trade and peaceful contact between the Zekresh Empire and the people of the Bear Lands. At first, this was a relationship between equals, but as the Zekresh Empire grew stronger and larger, the Zekresh increasingly looked down upon the people of the Bear and dreamed of conquering their lands.

The conquest of the Bear Tribes began in the Vergriman Dynasty in the 3rd year of the reign of Emperor Vergriman II (eight centuries ago). That conquest, known as the "Bear Wars", took nine years to accomplish and was one of the most difficult wars ever fought by the Empire. At one point, the Bear Tribes actually invaded the Zekresh Empire, recaptured Nass Mysktia occupied Slythia and beseiged Nass Umrug. For a time, it seemed like they might even march to Zekran. The Bear Tribes actually did raid Zekran twice by sea. Naval power was essential to the conflict and the Bear Tribes had constructed hundreds of longboats which aided them greatly in the war. It was the defeat of this fleet by the Zekresh Imperial Navy at the seige of Nass Umrug which turned the tide of the Bear Wars in favor of the Zekresh Empire.

The Verronese today are proud of how well their ancestors fought and still retain an attitude that the war was an anomaly and that the proper relationship between Verronese and Zekresh is between two great nations that are essentially equal. It is also a widely held belief by the Verronese that the war could easily have gone the other way in which case Zekran would be a province of a Verronese Empire instead of the other way round.

After a rebellious period in the first century after conquest, the old Bear Tribes faded away and their descendants became prominent in the Empire as military officers, noblemen, administrators of new provinces, especially in the North, and as merchants and sailors. So much of the Empire's territory was conquered by Verronese soldiers, ruled by Verronese Ulors and patrolled by ships built and crewed at Verronia that Verronese often claim credit for having built the Empire. Verronese sailors, bankers and merchants have made so much money trading throughout the Empire that it is often said that it is really a Verronese Empire with a Zekresh Emperor, built by and for the benefit of the Verronese. It is not a joke that when the Empire needs money, it borrows from Verronese bankers.

Salan Kajakan Tros

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Kajakan Tros Province (#6)
Origin of Province name: Kajakan Tros means "North Bear Land" In Zekresh. It is named after the Verronese people who in ancient times were called the "Bear People".
Provincial Capital: Bakoya Kajak
Estimated Population: 250,000
Population at last census: 252,468 (Census of 40 Cledman VI)
Year annexed to Empire: 9 Vergriman II (779 years ago)

Ulor (governor): Kortelan (appointed 27/8/40 Cledman VI)
Political Alignment of Ulor: Neutral
Ethnic background of Ulor: Verronese
Ulor's primary advisor: Galan
Ethnic background of advisor: Verronese
Popular Support for Empire: medium - high

Economic Development: The main economic activity in the province is farming, followed by fishing, trade and manufacturing. The economy is highly developed, but is more rural than the other two "Bear Provinces".

Imperial Military Garrison: 3 phalanxes of infantry
Governor's Guards: 100 Rizado Kajakan Tros (North Bearland Guards)
Civilian officials and their servants: 119

Estimated Average Annual Tax per Person: 2.75 baylo

Govt Finances: The provincial government is current on tax collections, but not on remittances to Zekran or payments of its debts. Its budget is large. Taxes are higher than in the rest of the Empire.

Land and Climate:
Kajakan Tros Province is only part of the lands that were historically the territory of Bear Tribes nearly a thousand years ago. It consists of the former Bear Tribes lands that lie North of Kajakan Folon (West Bear Land). The old Bear Tribes lands were divided into three provinces. Kajakan Tros (North Bear Land) is one of those. The other two provinces that are parts of the old Bear Tribes land are called Kajakan Yost (East Bear Land) and Kajakan Folon (West Bear Land).

Kajakan Tros is heavily forested, but about a quarter of the province is now farmlands and pasturelands. The province has good rainfall, and a moderate climate. There is greater population density than in many provinces.

Description:
The provincial capital is Bakoya Kajak, which means "Port of the Bear" in Zekresh. Although Verronia in Kajakan Yost is frequently called the cultural capital of the Verronese and the first city of the Verronese, Bakoya Kajak is also an important Verronese city.

The Ulor's palace looks like it is fit for a king. The Ulor's guards are the Rizado Kajakan Tros (North Bearland Guards) an elite unit that is not part of the Imperial Army and answers only to the Governor of Salan Kajakan Tros. They are armed with traditional Verronese battle axes rather than the spears that most of the Imperial Army carries. Also, the men of the Rizado Kajakan Tros are all very large and uncommonly strong, that being a requirement to join the unit.

Ethnic Groups:
The descendants of the ancient Bear Tribes call themselves the Verronese. This is derived from "verron" the word for bear in the Verronese language. (The work "kajak" means bear in the Zekresh language.)

Nearly three quarters of the population are Verronese. The nearby provinces of Kajakan Yost (#4), Kajakan Folon (#5) and Nass Mysktia (#3) all have majority Verronese population. The second largest ethnic group in the province are the Ferillyans from Ferillyan (#7) to the Northwest. About 10% of the population are Ferillyans. The Verronese tend to look down on the Ferillyans, but relations are reasonably good.

There is a significant ethnic Zekresh population in the province estimated at 1% of the population.

About 5% of the population is neither Zekresh, Verronese nor Ferillyan. Many are of mixed ancestry, some are members of small local ethnic groups and the rest are people from all over the Empire, mostly from nearby provinces.

Recent actions by the provincial government:
The provincial government fell behind on tax remittances to Zekran

Apparent consequences of provincial government policies:
Due to delinquent tax remittances to Zekran and other matters, the Ulor was forced to resign.

Situations which may or may not have resulted from government policies:
The Verronese see themselves as equal to or better than the Zekresh and much better than the Ferillyans or just about any other ethnic group. Consequently the Zekresh consider them "uppity" and the Ferillyans resent their superior attitude. Thus far, however, there has been no significant ethnic violence.

There are many traders and sailors coming in and out of the province, mostly Verronese. High taxes are levied on goods brought into the province and on sales in the public market places. Smuggling by Verronese merchants and the Slythian organized crime gangs is common to avoid these taxes.

History:
Over a thousand years ago, when the Empire was new and first brought civilization to the Bear people, the ancestors of the modern Verronese, they were primitive tribes of hunters, fishers and a few subsistence farmers. In those days they were known as the Bear Tribes because the Bear was their totem animal. They've come a long way. Now they are one of the main civilized nationalities in the Empire. Verronese civil servants, soldiers and merchants are found throughout the Empire. They are also one of the most numerous nationalities in the Empire.

Kajakan Tros was the last of the lands of the Bear to come under Imperial control. The Empire had contact with the Bear Tribes as far back as twelve hundred years ago, when the Empire was small and barely a century old. In those days, the Bear Tribes already had primitive agriculture, metal weapons and a vast land and population. Their size and power was comparable to or possibly even greater than that of the Zekresh Empire in those early days. For four centuries there was trade and peaceful contact between the Zekresh Empire and the people of the Bear Lands. At first, this was a relationship between equals, but as the Zekresh Empire grew stronger and larger, the Zekresh increasingly looked down upon the people of the Bear and dreamed of conquering their lands.

The conquest of the Bear Tribes began in the Vergriman Dynasty in the 3rd year of the reign of Emperor Vergriman II (eight centuries ago). That conquest, known as the "Bear Wars", took nine years to accomplish and was one of the most difficult wars ever fought by the Empire. At one point, the Bear Tribes actually invaded the Zekresh Empire, recaptured Nass Mysktia occupied Slythia and beseiged Nass Umrug. For a time, it seemed like they might even march to Zekran. The Bear Tribes actually did raid Zekran twice by sea. Naval power was essential to the conflict and the Bear Tribes had constructed hundreds of longboats which aided them greatly in the war. It was the defeat of this fleet by the Zekresh Imperial Navy at the seige of Nass Umrug which turned the tide of the Bear Wars in favor of the Zekresh Empire.

The Verronese today are proud of how well their ancestors fought and still retain an attitude that the war was an anomaly and that the proper relationship between Verronese and Zekresh is between two great nations that are essentially equal. It is also a widely held belief by the Verronese that the war could easily have gone the other way in which case Zekran would be a province of a Verronese Empire instead of the other way round.

After a rebellious period in the first century after conquest, the old Bear Tribes faded away and their descendants became prominent in the Empire as military officers, noblemen, administrators of new provinces, especially in the North, and as merchants and sailors. So much of the Empire's territory was conquered by Verronese soldiers, ruled by Verronese Ulors and patrolled by ships built and crewed at Verronia that Verronese often claim credit for having built the Empire. Verronese sailors, bankers and merchants have made so much money trading throughout the Empire that it is often said that it is really a Verronese Empire with a Zekresh Emperor, built by and for the benefit of the Verronese. It is not a joke that when the Empire needs money, it borrows from Verronese bankers.

Salan Kopixer

Kopixer Province
(Scorpion Province)

No profile is written for this province yet.

Salan Nassavix

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Nassavix Province (#5)

Origin of Province name: Nassavix means "Across the Bay" In Zekresh. It is named because it is across the North Bay from the older Zekresh settlements.
Provincial Capital: Nassavix
Estimated Population: 75,000
Population at last census: (no census taken)
Year annexed to Empire:

Ulor (governor): Nashlan (appointed 28/7/40 Cledman VI)
Political Alignment of Ulor: Reformist
Ethnic background of Ulor: Zekresh and Verronese
Ulor's primary advisor: (post vacant)
Ethnic background of advisor:
Popular Support for Empire: medium - low

Economic Development: The main economic activity in the province is farming, followed by fishing, gambling, trade, usurious loans and timber exports. The economy is not highly developed, but is more highly developed than most nearby provinces.

Imperial Military Garrison: 3 phalanxes of infantry
Governor's Guards: 200
Civilian officials and their servants: 89

Estimated Average Annual Tax per Person: 2 baylo

Govt Finances: The provincial government is current on tax collections, remittances to Zekran and debt payments. Its budget is not large. Taxes are about the same as in the rest of the Empire.

Land and Climate:
Nassavix has a climate that is colder than most of the Empire, but relatively moderate with good rainfall. The province is heavily forested.

Description:
The provincial capital is named Nassavix and the province is named after the city. The city was founded by Zekresh settlers and the province was carved out around it. Prior to the arrival of the Zekresh, the area where the city of Nassavix was built did not belong to any one tribe, but was the middle ground between three tribes of "wildemen" as the Zekresh called them. These were the Moose People, the Deep Forest People and the Round House People. When the province of Nassavix was created, large chunks of territory belonging to these three groups was included in the province.

The province has a frontier feel to it because it is so far from the central areas of the Empire and is benefitting from the continuing arrival of settlers in the Far West, many of whom pass through Nassavix on the way. Growing populations in the Far West have been beneficial to the province's economy, especially the sale of timber to more arid provinces to the south and of trade in manufactured items from the central areas of the Empire. Such items are often sold to wholesalers in Nassavix who resell them in the Far Western provinces. Gambling, crime and discriminatory taxes tend to relieve travelers of their money, even if they were only passing through.

Ethnic Groups:
The population of Nassavix is mixed. The largest groups are the Baaniferians in the northern part of the province and Lolenstoornileken (Round House People) in the southern part of the province. Each of these is about a quarter of the population. A considerable number of Thalaning People (Deep Forest People) live in the western portionof the province, perhaps as many as one fifth of the population. There are also significant numbers of Eesleken (Mouse People) whose homeland also lies to the south in Esan Province. They may be as much as ten percent of the total population, but they live amongst the Round House People in the southern portion of the province to whom they are related and only a few live in the city of Nassavix. Mouse People are one of the most physically distinctive groups in the Empire due to their small size, usually less than five feet tall, and their prominent ears. It is believed their appearance is why they are called the Mouse People.

There is not a significant ethnic Zekresh population in the province, but there are considerable numbers of other kinds of settlers from the East, especially Verronese, Kaliskans and Slythians. Together, immigrants from the east constitute about one tenth of the population, concentrated in the city of Nassavix and its surroundings where they are the majority. At least a few members of every major ethnic group in the Empire can be found in the city of Nassavix. It is probably the most cosmopolitan city in the Far West.


Recent actions by the provincial government:
A special tax has been imposed on people of Zekresh ethnicity or even partial Zekresh ancestry. The provincial government offers land on credit to non-Zekresh immigrants. The Rizado Uloresh (Governor's Guards) keep a careful watch on the soldiers of the Imperial Army garrison and are quick to arrest any who get rowdy. The Ulor has taken over control of the Imperial Army garrison and sent some of the troops away, leaving the province lightly defended.

Apparent consequences of provincial government policies:
Almost all Zekresh people have either left the province or are pretending to be Frayeth to avoid the special tax on Zekresh people. Some immigrants including Frayeth with Zekresh accents have obtained land on credit under a provincial program and are reselling it at a profit. Merchants are worried about rumors of an impending special tax on ships and rumors that pirates may try to take advantage of the province's minimal defenses but so far these are just rumors. Taxes are levied on goods brought into the province and on sales in the public market places. Smuggling by Silway Siliken ships, Verronese merchants and Slythian organized crime gangs is common to avoid the taxes on imports and exports. Tax collectors meet arriving ships to collect sixty doveko of tax from everyone who seems to be Zekresh, regardless of whether they are planning to stay in the province. Even ship crewmen and captains are taxed.

Situations which may or may not have resulted from government policies:
There are many traders and sailors coming in and out of the province, mostly Verronese, but some ships that used to come to Nassavix now avoid it. There is a booming speculative market in land. Mouse People are afraid to enter the city because they are targeted by criminals. Verronese merchants discriminate against Zekresh people and Slythians and charge them higher prices. Imperial Army troops from the local garrison are connected with Slythian organized crime groups and even serve as enforcers for loan sharks.

History:
The city of Nassavix was one of the earliest Zekresh settlements in the Far West and is centuries old. It has been relatively peaceful.