Katonate Confederacy
by Christopher CherringtonLocation: Floating City and colonial rafts, South of the Isle of Dread
Government: Confederacy of Democratic Priests
Religion: Various, main religion of the City consists of taboos against using land dwelling technology and tools.
Tech Level: Bronze Age (With various Clerical Advancements)
Errata: The Main Confederation that makes up this nation consists of the surface dwelling inhabitants. Other members of the Confederacy are Kna and merfolk that live in colonies below the surface of the City Confederate. Unlike the Sea of Dread merfolk, these people are living in deep water, and need the help and protection of the Air breathers above them. Another interesting note, whales are considered citizens and even have priests in the Confederacy, but their language is very long and hard to comprehend.
Colonial rafts have various other rules and religions, some are extreme cults or mercenary in behaviour. The most nefarious are given colonies on the outer rim, hence the term "rimmers" for people not living within the main city or closest colonies. The term is also used for colonies not using the priest system of democracy.
The Capital City consists of an artifact that keeps the city afloat and is used to keep the main colonies in formation around the city. Priests have learned to culture a kelp like plant that is extremely buoyant and tough. This is also the main crop for manufactured goods like clothing, paper, and building material.
Their democracy consists of voting privileges based upon surface ownership, thus the priests that culture more kelp are the dominant political machines. Rimmers keep power by building from remnants of lost ships, purchased or stolen wood, or other means of creating buoyancy on the surface. Merfolk and whales are not allowed to vote based on this premise, but are given a council of priests to represent their interests at the capital.
Katonate culture consists of the emphasis that the priests bring life. The priests culture kelp that they can build on, eat, and build and cloth with. Priests developed a system of writing that does not need clay tablets, clay is very hard to get item on the ocean. Since it is hard to read on green paper, the priest developed their writing system much like brail. Just run the sacred text through your fingertips and just like magic, you can read at night since there is no lamp oil on the ocean. So books are stored in ribbons about a half-inch wide by 200-300 feet long. Hence the use of reels and not scrolls. The main problem with kelp is fire, dried kelp will burn in an instant. Many disasters have caused the ban for fire without permits in many colonies. The capital city has soil, rock and native plant life from the mainland. The main temple is literally a floating and hanging garden, think 7 Wonders of the World. At the heart of the garden is the priest's main artifact, a fabulously crafted living obsidian jewel. This jewel is 15 feet in diameter, and priest can use chips from the jewel to craft major priestly items, and over time the gem grows back. Slivers have been crafted into things like swords of slicing, floating plazas (to create new colonies), and obsidian seeds to grow new kelp beds from. All items take many generations of priests to create; hence the slow rise of the Katonate. High Priests, priests with a lot of voting power, are easily recognised by their solitary use of cotton cloth dyed with purple ink from molluscs that are grown specifically for this use. Since cotton only grows in the temple gardens, only priests have access to cotton linens.
Katonate surface dwellers also depend on the priests for disease control and prevention. Many a colony that did not head the laws of the priests has died away due to scurvy. The priests will use their gardens to grow certain herbs and fruits to prepare a special wine used in daily rituals by all the Katonate surface dwellers. This keeps scurvy under control, and followers in line. Rimmers preying on shipping and mainlanders can plunder or trade for mainland fruits and circumvent scurvy, and are therefore harder to keep under control by the priests. Other rimmer colonies have tried to grow their own gardens to create the priest's wine, only to create undesirable effects like addiction, madness, euphoria, or combinations of these effects. Another use of control by surface dwellers, and the main reason behind their voting power, water. The seasonal rains are the main source of fresh water to drink and grow their gardens. The best way to collect and catch this water is by surface area. The more surface area you own, the more water you can collect. Thus you can have one vote, or gill, for every gill you own of water. The measurement of a gill is 55 gallons. Note: the voting system is based on the quantity of water you own, not the amount you can collect. Acolytes will periodically assess your wealth and certify your gill worth and thus your power in voting and government. Water theft or vandalism is punishable by death of family, thus destroying one's well will not give an individual family more voting power.
Katonate Priests worship a pantheon of immortals. Ksaaul-Posiedon, is the favoured immortal of the working classes, as their day to day survival depends on his gratefulness. Tempikaaul-Nyx has a strong following among priests in the colonies, especially among the rimmers. Nuaaul-Koritiku, has a strong following, especially among the pirate colonies. Iilluaaul-Khoronus, is the main immortal of the capital city. Vrroapaaul-new immortal, is the main immortal for the whale priests. Then you have the lesser immortals, Ukinal-Odin, Hykanal-Loki, and Doomintal-Ilsundal; lesser as they have little interests or following.
Katonate Errata
Priest Spell Ideas
Remove Salt, Purify Food & Water
Remove Saltiness, Poison Food & Water
Flora Fauna
Lion Fish, likes to hide in kelp beds, highly poisonous and only a couple of inches in length.
Devil Fish, in any ocean, these will always be your enemy.
Giant Sea Horse, main beast of burden.
Topi Fish, these deep-sea fish will occasionally come up near the surface of the capital. These 2-3 foot long, black fish are highly prized for their fish oil. When prepared correctly, it can make you walk on any surface of water; if prepared wrong , this oil just turned the victim in a topi.
Electric Jellyfish, ala Sponge Bob. Makes buzzing noise right before it shocks you.