MACHETOS (Duchy of)
Location: Southeastern coast of the continent of Brun, along the eastern border of Karameikos and the Kerenda River, north of the Sea of Dread and south of the Altan Tepes Mountains. OW
Area: 1,580 sq. mi. (4,090 sq. km.).
Population: 30,000 including the town of Machetos (pop. 2,500) and Blackpoint Citadel (pop. 1,250).
Languages: Thyatian (Kerendan dialect), Elvish (Vyalia dialect).
Coinage: Thyatian Standard: emperor (pp), lucin (gp), asterius (sp), denarius (cp).
Taxes: 25% income tax collected quarterly on the aristocracy, nobility, and wealthy; 20% income tax collected quarterly on everyone else (Va. 1, Ya. 1, Fy. 3, and Ei. 1). Thyatians abroad must still pay their taxes. Expensive and magical items are also taxed 25% of their worth. 10% imperial commercia sales tax on all goods except food, clothing, and fixed assets; levied on imports, rebated on exports. Tax on slave owning equal to 50% of the slave's value annually . Property tax levied based on quality of land, roughly 6% of its value annually.
Government Type: Dominion, member of the Thyatian Empire.
Industries: Agriculture, timber, fishing, trade, wine.
Important Figures: Callastian Jowdynites (Duke, human, male, F15), Michaelius Vaanes (Prelate, human, male, Pr16 of Halav).
Flora and Fauna: Mulberry trees (for sericulture), grape vines, olive trees, cedar, peach, pear, orange, and cherry fruit trees in cultivated orchards, maple, birch, and oak trees. Herds of cattle, sheep, horses, goats, and mules. Bees kept for honey. Bears, boars, centaurs, lycanthropes, mountain lions, foxes, dryads, wolves, unicorns and goblinoids can be found in the wilds of the empire.
Further Reading: Dawn of the Emperors boxed set, DDA1 Arena of Thyatis, DDA2 Legions of Thyatis, previous almanacs.
Description by Vivianna Romanones.
A small but rich farming duchy that is now, with Kerendas, a main source of food for the empire. It has only recently regained its agricultural state after being severely taxed over 30 years ago by the emperor. At the time Thyatis was in great need of extra money, still recovering from the recent invasion by Alphatia. The Karameikos family once held this duchy, but the duke exchanged his birthright with the emperor for rulership of the Grand Duchy of Traladara (which he humbly renamed after himself). More recently, the Duke of Machetos joined the rebels, and Eusebius is considering reducing its status to county, which would be more appropriate given its size and population.
The Land
Machetos is a strip of coastal plains sandwiched between the Kerendas and Rugalov rivers. It is covered with small, prosperous farmsteads. There are some forests in its northern portion, which are carefully tended and used to produce timber for construction and shipbuilding.
There is only one settlement of appreciable size in Machetos, a small but picturesque town, dominated by the ducal castle-a powerful and menacing fortification built by the Karameikos family. On the western border of Machetos is Blackpoint Citadel, an imperial garrison that protects Thyatis' borders from any spill over from Karameikos' disorderly wilderness.
The People
Machetos is a somewhat sleepy backwater of
the imperium, and you can see why an
ambitious and grasping man might prefer to trade away his responsibilities here
for something elsewhere. None the less,
it is filled with decent, hard-working people.
These are mostly free farmers, as Thincol sold the Machetan slaves
elsewhere when he exchanged the duchy with Stefan. Though this made for economic hardship during the subsequent
decades, Machetos has developed since then as a region largely free of
plantation-style agriculture. Recently
Eusebius has taken some of the lessons learned from Machetos' experience and
applied it elsewhere in Thyatis, attempting to avoid some of the pitfalls that
resulted in the dislocation of Machetos' economy and the hardships that it
caused.