Welcome to the Codex! Every Friday, we will focus on one topic from one of the upcoming books, or one of the books that have been published. The Codex will review what is commonly known about that topic in the world, even if just at a scholarly level. There will still be mysteries, but if you are interested in learning more about something you read in the book or in another blog post, the Codex is the way to go.
Today, as we rev up to the reveal of the cover for the new edition of Ghostblood, we'll start our series of Codex entries with a glance at the setting of Ghostblood itself, the ancient empire of Mathklyr.
The concept of Mathklyr was born from a consideration. Most nations rise, endure, decay and then fall. But what if one nation had not fallen, and simply endured beyond its time? I consider Mathklyr a "mummified empire", bending under the weight of tradition and thousands of years of rigidity, while unable to break. It is said the Empire was cursed in ancient times, so that it could never die, only endure, no matter how nightmarish such existence would be. Others claim the Empire's stagnancy is due to factors beyond this fabled curse - Mathklyr's highly stratified pantheon of deities, the Kerrethain, being one example. Another cause could be the extended lifespan enjoyed by Emperors. The truth of the matter is unknown, but Mathklyr is believed to have endured for over ten thousand years, and it shows.
Mathklyr is located on Teidar, the same continent where Ailund and Irig are located. In fact, some of the slavers mentioned by Riyya as raiding Irig for slaves may well have originated from Mathklyr, or from other kingdoms influenced by its culture such as Imbrar or Tonalay. Irig itself isn't in Mathklyr's sphere of influence, though Tonalay and Imbrar have at times been at war with the Empire for their very survival. These three kingdoms share similar cultural roots, and speak variants of the same language, Kreylvos. Collectively, they are also known as the Kreylvos lands. Mathklyr's flag is pictured above.
Mathklyr is primarily populated by humans, which comprise more than 75% of its population. Interestingly, the Empire is one of the few places left where an ancient human ethnic group, the kadalorans, can be found in large numbers. The remaining 23% of the population consists of other species, including but not limited to the nurain (mostly as slaves), giants and half-giants, and a small percentage of ogotai. While humans are well-integrated among themselves, the other species tend to keep to themselves, either on the mountain ranges that surround much of Mathklyr, or on the fringes of the Broken Lands to the west.
As mentioned before, Mathklyr speaks Kreylvos. Actually, however, it would be more accurate to say it speaks five different variants of Kreylvos: the language has evolved in different directions not based on geography, but along social class lines. Mathklyr's highly regimented society forces members of the major social classes (slaves, lowborn, highborn, nobles and warriors) to speak only their own dialect; using another caste's dialect is considered at best an insult, at worst a crime (especially if the lowborn or the slaves do so). While the different dialects understand each other, speakers also can instantly understand what dialect the other person is speaking.
The government of Mathklyr is firmly in the hands of the nobility, and the Emperor has absolute power over the Empire. It has been so since the founding of the Empire, thousands of years ago. The burden of tradition, however, limits the power of the Emperor somewhat, just like it limits the freedom and actions of the lower classes. The mysterious, mystical ceremony of the Crowning of the Emperor endows the new Emperor with an extended lifespan, roughly twice the normal lifespan of his people.
Mathklyr is a warlike Empire, and its soldiers, albeit old-fashioned, are among the elite armies of the continent. They are led by a handful of Mathklyrian Warshifters, an elite group of men with a supreme aptitude towards strategy, tactics and military matters who are trained to become geniuses of the craft in a highly competitive environment.
Social structure is very important in Mathklyr. There are seven castes, divided into four social classes. These are slaves; commoners and artisans; merchants and minor noble Houses; major noble Houses; and the Imperial House). A fifth social class, the warriors, has its own version of Kreylvos but is not considered a caste of its own.
Each class is Rising from one class to the next is unthinkable, except under extraordinary circumstances (men enter the military, where a distinguished career might grant one an elevation; women marry into higher social classes, if they can). There is also a strong component of sexism, whereby women are seen as second-class citizens and banned (by law or tradition) from performing most jobs, expected to marry and have children, and generally considered submissive to men in their lives. Independent women who do not conform are hardly tolerated - in fact, most Mathklyrians wouldn't know how to behave before such a person, and would likely ignore her as a result, as if she were invisible.
Both men and women wear a traditional accoutrement that indicates their social class. Men wear the katain, a traditional dagger with a pommel in which is embedded a gemstone symbolizing their social class (from the malachite of commoners to the blue diamond of the Imperial family). Women wear the kadala, a delicate hair netting to which is affixed a diaphanous veil covering the bottom half of the face, as well as a teardrop gem on the forehead symbolizing the woman's status (the stone is the same as for the katain).
Mathklyr is a weary Empire. Ten thousand years of tradition and customs permeate every facet of Mathklyrian society, and the people of the Empire are so trapped by them and so used to them that they move through a rigidly defined life outside of which they cannot see. Mathklyrians feel fascination for the concept of death, and they consider their death goddess, the Lady Lady of Souls (an aspect of the Lady of Souls), the most important in the whole Kerrethain pantheon. The concept of death permeates everyday life, which appears to outsiders to be grim and gloomy, especially in heavily settled areas. Mathklyr is often called "the mummified empire", but the meaning of this title can only be understood if one enters one of the great imperial cities, and realizes how there is no energy or enthusiasm in any everyday activity, how the empire has been agonizing for millennia.
Laws in Mathklyr tend to be harsh, and the Emperor can change them at will, with one exception: the laws etched on the Stele of the Emperors can never be changed. There are few laws there, but all have shaped the Empire irrevocably since their etching.
Finally, in terms of religion, the Mathklyrians worship their own pantheon, the Kerrethain. It's a large pantheon, including several aspects for each deity (which are at once both a mask worn by the deity, as well as a separate entity in its own right), and composite deities which are considered "children" of their parent deities. Nonetheless the chief deity of the Kerrethain is the Lady Oinrin, goddess of death, fate and sovereignty, who is also known as the Raven Queen (giving her name to the throne of Mathklyr, the Raven Throne) and is associated with the Emperors. Rumor has it that the Emperors of Mathklyr meet her during their crowning, although this assertion is disputed by others.
Well, here is a primer to the Empire. I hope you enjoy it, and look forward to expanding on this as we approach the release of Ghostblood. Thank you for reading, see you soon!
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