Kiatra

Kiatra is a kingdom in the Southern Reaches of the Greater Continent. It is unique for the fissure surrounding it, that is a relatively new feature brought about by an event known locally as "The Great Schism".

History

Kiatra won independence from the Layloma Empire in the early-to-mid Third Age of the Alliance. Around that same time, rich deposits of diamonds and rhenium were discovered, quickly catapulting Kiatra into a prosperous state as compared to it's neighbors, many of whom were simple agrarian societies.

Throughout the Third and Fourth Ages, Kiatra developed rapidly. Upon the initial discovery of exploitable resources, they were quick to bring in modern equipment and expertise, and also rapidly developed new and innovative technologies domestically. While the mines on Kiatra soil eventually played out, the kingdom was able to export it's highly sought-after mining technologies and remained extremely prosperous.

The Great Schism

In A.Y. 303, Kiatra was attacked by Lumot to the east and Senega to the north. In the intervening centuries, these two nations had developed from simple substitance farmers to prosperous exporters of cotton and flaxon. Kiatra, however, had much more water available, as well as a new diamond mine and an oil field discovered off-shore. The nation was also exceptionally wealthy.

While nominally members of the Alliance, all three nations were technically part of Layloma, as none had registered independently. As such, the Alliance could not intervene in what was deemed "an internal matter" unless any one nation brought in outside assistance. Kiatra was initially keen to hire the Crimson Blade mercenaries, but this would have caused a rather serious conflict. The Crimson Blade easily had the military force to rapidly invade and occupy Lumot and Senega, and would have effectively turned them in to puppet states of the Foundation. The Alliance was not eager to allow any additional influence, especially with those two nations being some of the chief suppliers of cotton and other production crops in the region.

Crimson Blade activity would thus have required Alliance intervention, which would in turn lead to something both parties were eager to avoid at any cost: an armed conflict between Alliance regulars and Crimson Blade Lancers. What happened next would become the stuff of legend. A 'great power' reached out, and divided the states from each other to prevent conflict in 'a single night and a day of destruction'.

The actual event involved a series of earthquakes which opened three large rifts. The quakes happened over the course of roughly a week, and apparently with enough advanced notice that no one in Kiatra suffered any injuries. There was significant damage to their infrastructure, but fortunately "most of the state-owned factories were closed for refurbishment, with their equipment dismantled and carefully packed into shipping containers". Additionally, the nations twelve nuclear power plants were conviently offline for refueling.

The rifts created a series of mountain ranges and fjords that had not been there previously(the region having been mostly flat plains before), with the rifts swallowing most of the Lumot and Senga armies. These gave Kiatra "natural" boundries, waterways and steep mountains, which could not be used to easily defend the nation against further attacks. The waterways also proved useful, as in later centuries they became vital shipping lanes for the neighboring states. At the time it was a serious blow, but eventually the great schism would be remembered fondly.

See Also:

• I Am Mallora of Kiatra