Karalach: Because everyone needs their own, special place

[Mira Raynora Minor]

One of the things I enjoy most about working in Shireroth is the challenge of building upon the foundations laid by my predecessors. After all, societies don't generally develop in a vacuum so a sense of the historical and social context can be extremely helpful. However, too much context can sometimes be constraining, especially if my understanding of that context is limited, as I'm extremely loathe to sweep away other people's work.

This is a particular problem for me in Modany, where Maksym's development work is fairly all-encompassing, but I have even noticed it (strange as it may seem) in Lichbrook, where I have made a genuine effort to incorporate the ideas of Thomas Gaudin in Woodshire as well as Ari's ongoing development work in Caverden. Don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining about this, as I enjoy collaborating with people, both past and present...but despite all the changes I have made, I still feel I lack a place to truly call my own.

Until now, that is. To explain what I have in mind, we need to revisit a painful and divisive episode in Shireroth's past: the Laqi secession.

In an open letter to Shireroth and the MCS, the rebel leader Maksim Ҳaximeҳmetov stated that "As the realisation of self-determination of the Laqi nation, the borders of the Laqi Republic shall only extend to those areas in which persons of the Laqi ethnicity constitute the majority of the local population". Yet a comparison of the map depicting the borders claimed by the self-declared Free Republic with an ethic map of the Barony of K'Tzuni reveals that nearly half of all Laqi-inhabited territories, including large areas in which the Laqi formed a clear majority of the population, were left out of the proposed state.

Whatever happened to the countless Laqi left outside the newly-proclaimed state? The answer can be summarised in a single, deceptively bland sentence in the aforementioned open letter: "Insurgent controlled regions outside those borders are to return to Shirereithan sovereignty". In other words, despite justifying their actions as an exercise in self-determination and announcing that "every Laqi man, woman, and child supports this brave struggle", the insurgent regime was abandoning many of those same men, women and children to an uncertain future under a Shirirthian regime with every reason to regard them with suspicion, if not outright hostility.

After that, the historical record remains silent about the fate of these abandoned Laqi, but I find it difficult to imagine that they would ever truly forgive their erstwhile brethren in the south for this betrayal.

Fast forward nearly seven hundreds and the the new Queen of Brookshire, Anthrazita is starting to cement her rule over K'Tzuni. In 4696 ASC she divides the County of Crestfall Downs on ethnic lines and assigns the Laqi-speaking half to Modan-Lach, almost certainly in an attempt to win support in Brookshire Hamlet. But how did the northern Laqi feel about this? Would they have accepted being governed from the south, given how the southern elites had forsaken their ancestors in an effort to secure their own interests?

Anthrazita is a northerner, unfamiliar with the Laqi language, let alone the nuances of southern history. Largely forsaking Brookshire's traditional capital for her hometown of Maltenstein, she is unlikely to have been tremendously sympathetic to the northern Laqi. But her daughter is different. Packed off to Shirekeep at a very young age, Marie Dolores understands how it feels to be an outsider; so when- after a brief stint as her mother's vassal in Lichbrookshirithian Crestfall Downs- she is named Marchioness of Modania in 4769 ASC, she is immediately drawn to the alienated and resentful northern Laqi. Indeed, later that same year, she combines the Laqi-populated areas of the former Crestfall Crowns, Lywind and Jugenskaja into a new subdivision under her personal rule- the Khanate of Kurpla.

Although the Khanate of Kurpla was disbanded in 4824 ASC (mainly because I couldn't work out what to do with it at the time), I think this "special connection" between the Marchioness and the "northern Laqi" merits further exploration. I'm running out of internet time now, but more will be revealed when I return...

[Vilhelm Benkern]

Excellent stuff. Look forward to reading more.

[Mira Raynora Minor]

Thank you! Now prepare to revise that opinion, as we forsake conventional wisdom- and some might say, sanity- for it is time to confront the undead elephant standing silently in the corner of the room.

There are no two ways about it: Marie Dolores is dead. Not only that, but she is the product of society with very distinct ideas about the role of the dead and it is inevitable that those ideas are going to influence her regime- particularly as Lichbrook is next door. Indeed, one of the biggest struggles facing me in Modania/Modany is the need to preserve the unique culture of the place from my dubious fascination with undeath, which quite obviously has no place in traditional Laqi culture. Dear reader, you would have to be particularly obtuse not to spot what is coming next...



This map depicts the boundary between Karalach and Modan-Lach; not only is the boundary identical to that between Kurpla and the "Laqi Region" existing between 4769 and 4824, but it also follows the border of the Laqi Free Republic. So one might say that it is already a division of some antiquity.

But it is now about to gain new significance: just as the parallel 36°30′ north divided free states from slave states under the Missouri Compromise, I intend that boundary to mark the southern limit of the undeath. South of that line, traditional Laqi culture will be preserved In Modan-Lach, just as Maksym had envisaged. But to the north of that line, the Laqi-speaking inhabitants will follow a different path, with the influence of nearby Lichbrook readily apparent. These people will be known henceforth as the Karalaqi, or "Black" Laqi.

Inspired by the cossack overtones to the Laqi culture developed by Maksym, I envisage the Karalaqi as a Marie Dolores' equivalent to her mother's Lichniks: a large cossack-style host, liberally adorned with skulls and the iconography of death. Alienated from both the Laqi of the south and their Shirithian English speaking neighbours, the Laqi of these northern regions have thrown in their lot with their new ruler and as a consequence have become "corrupted" (or as they would tell you, "purified") by undeath. At this point, you are probably wondering how this differs from the situation in Lichbrook, but in keeping with their Laqi anticedents, I intend the Karalaqi to have a less technological and more tribal "feel". Undeath in Lichbrook (especially in Caverden) is all about efficiency, whereas for the Karalaqi, it is seen as a reward for the strongest and most loyal warriors, the greatest of whom are literally fused with their mounts to become Hippoliches- undead cossack centaurs (no, you did just read that).

Veneration of their ruler, who is known to them as Dolibika Lixҳan, will probably have a religious component, perhaps akin to a "death cult" within the wider framework of conventional Cedrism, but I still have to work out the details of this aspect.

And that is what I have come up with so far. More insanity will undoubtedly follow, so I leave you with this final thought: be afraid.

[Scott Alexander]

I can't see the image. Edit: Can now

(also, liking this so far)

[Mira Raynora Minor]

Was that before you finished the last post, Scott?

What can I say? I always wanted to explore off-the-wall themes in a semi-realistic context, but Micras is pretty much the first place I've been allowed to do so. I like to think that the present weirdness is simply a reaction to years of creative oppression...

[Elijah Ayreon]

And I thought Spraki's wife was scary...

but his daughter....

Man...

[Mira Raynora Minor]

Heh...I actually find Dolly more likeable than her mother. I don't think Anthrazita is a particularly nice person; she's vain, self-absorbed and used to bully her poor husband quite mercilessly...

Anyway, I have drawn up a flag and a badge for Karalach:





The design is fairly self-explanatory and combines symbols from Lichbook and Laqi culture: a skull with the Aҳatan rune on its forehead.

[Maximos]

Interesting! Nice to see some more regional variation within the Laqi world. Oh, and the use of the Laqi rune (which I based on an anchor to represent the large coast of Modan-Lach and old Khaz-Modan). As for the proposed borders of the Laqi Free Republic, the motivations were purely practical. I was trying to obtain independence. Modan-Lach alone was barely feasible, so to claim Laqi-majority areas in other counties where for all I knew other Shirereithans had done cultural work and contributions would have not been a good idea.

As I said to you in the PM, I originally saw the Laqi as having some connection to the Khaz-Modan Empire of old (the words 'Modan' and 'Lach' or variations thereof feature a lot in Southern Benacian Shireroth over the course of time on older MCS maps). I saw them as a fairly agrarian, traditional people with a great emphasis on respect for elders, clans, and a strict code of honour. They would have lived in the valleys, mountains, and remote coastal villages (although I always saw Modan-Lach as being divided in two- mountainous, traditional Upper Lach inland and Lower Lach along the coast which was less traditional and more influenced by foreign cultures), whilst the large cities of the County would have been dominated by non-Laqi groups. So an in-sim argument for the Secessionist movement could have been that the rural Laqi felt left out of the county's development and prosperity by the non-Laqi elite controlling the cities and by extension the surrounding countryside where they formed a majority. I would imagine that after the Secessionists were crushed, many of whom fled to Ashkenatza which at the time recognised the LFR as an independent state (a move later denounced and in retrospect a mistake), the Laqi in Modan-Lach probably have been placated and participate in the province's development along with its other peoples.

Personally I see the Laqi as having a presence in large areas of the Southern Benacian coast, probably from Musica to Klymenhafn (Ashkenatza has about three or four large Laqi towns in Merenia and Laqi is a recognised minority language in areas of Hither Tellia). Then again that's just my view as I originally envisaged them... they're in new hands now, and from what I can see they are destined for great things!

[Mira Raynora Minor]

Oh dear...I've been interpreting the situation somewhat differently! I assumed that the Laqi were still the dominant cultural force within Modan-lach (and much of southern Brookshire) and consequently have been busy partitioning the area on cultural-ethnic lines. Of course, this can be explained as a "divide-and-rule" tactic pursued by the Rossheimers, but as a result Laqi nationalism in Modan-Lach is probably stronger than at any time since the secession.

The Karalakhi (to use the new spelling) are a somewhat different proposition, as they have essentially evolved into a distinct (albeit closely related) people. A Laqi speaker from Modan-Lach would probably be able to converse with a Karalakhi easily enough, although the differences between the two alphabets might cause some confusion!