Kaehlar: Conquered Continent, the Empire of the Seven Continents - At War
Kaehlar is one of the seven continents that make up the Empire of the Seven Continents, the setting for the Imperial Saga. Check out the Imperial Saga hub for more details about the series, the characters, and the world!
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Basic Information
- Capital City: Eylasi
- Imperial Population (civilian): around 500,000
- Imperial Population (military): around 520,000
- Native Population in the Imperial-controlled north: 1,412,523
- Native Population in the south: estimated 1.5 – 3 million
- Discovered in 348 AE
- Joined the Empire in 350 AE
- Currently ruled by Governor Shakorunu Zang of Alongra
- Represented by Pearl Estvelle, advisor to the Emperor
The government is a military dictatorship with all government posts being filled by officers of the Imperial army. While being posted to Kaehlar is considered a punishment for lower-ranking soldiers, it’s a chance for officers to prove themselves and a chance to participate in an active war.
Kaehlar is a popular destination for those who have crossed the Empire in some way and had their rights revoked, most often due to criminal activity. After five years of residency, civilians become full citizens of the Empire again and can choose to remain or be relocated to their home continent. After ten years of residency, they can choose to relocate themselves and their family to the continent of their choice.
Within Kaehlar, civilians from allied continents are granted full rights, citizens from other conquered continents are granted partial rights, and the only Kaehlari allowed in the northern, Imperial-controlled areas are civilians who have renounced all loyalty to Queen Artine. No wolves are allowed, and only three Aythlasti are allowed with individual permission from the Emperor.
The Kaehlari
The Kaehlari have three branches of physical appearance, though they are all the same group.
Kaehlari people, known as Eylanti, are essentially humans, though they tend to be larger, about 6’6″ for men and women alike, and they have gray-brown fur over their entire bodies. Their ears are placed higher on the head and pointed like a wolf, moving to track sounds and reflect emotions, but they are often hidden under hair. Kaehlari people have long hair on their heads like most people.
Kaehlari wolves, known as Onokari, are enormous creatures standing up to 12’ with gray-brown fur . Their body shape resembles an ordinary wolf except larger in every way, though some physical characteristics such as their paws and tail are more reminiscent of a snow leopard. They are able to leap far into the sky and have excellent balance, allowing them to traverse the snowy mountains with relative ease.
Kaehlari royals, known as Aythlasti, are the final branch, and they are shapeshifters who can change from person to wolf in moments. They are the only Kaehlari with snow-white fur, allowing them nigh perfect camouflage in the snow. They are considered royalty among the Kaehlari, although this is not a hereditary condition.
Any Kaehlari in any branch can have children of any other branch, but children mismatched to their parent are given to one of the other mothers of the appropriate branch within the same pack, with the original mother a strong presence in their life. Any children born as Onokari or Aythlasti in the Imperial-controlled north are killed, and pregnant Kaehlari are tracked and monitored to ensure that only Eylanti are born.
Pack Structure
Kaehlari live in a pack structure with members of each branch represented. Each pack has at least one Aythlasti, and lower level packs will only have one. Higher level packs will have more, and the Queen’s court is entirely composed of Aythlasti. Packs further to the south tend to have more Onokari than Eylanti, with the opposite being true in the less frozen north.
Each pack is democratically run and has a small territory. They elect a representative for higher level packs that control the combined territory and work to keep the packs unified and out of each other’s way. These packs democratically elect a representative who controls even more combined territory, continued up until the Queen’s pack, which controls the entire continent. Although technically any group can be elected, it tends to be only Aythlasti at the highest levels. The Queen, who is democratically elected by the highest pack, can only by Aythlasti.
Theme Song for Kaehlar
A Brief History (Spoilers)
The Emperor first established contact with the Kaehlari Queen Arjule in 348 AE. She welcomed the Empire, and over the next two years, established diplomatic and economic treaties regarding Kaehlar’s entrance into the Empire. Kaehlar officially joined the Empire in 350 AE.
Upon hearing of the Emperor’s difficulties in Tamarud about a year after joining the Empire, she offered the Emperor a gift of icefire, a sacred fire of the Kaehlari people. Many Kaehlari felt that this was blasphemy, especially when the icefire was used in an extermination effort against the phoenix guardians in Tamarud.
Princess Artine led a group to quietly sabotage the Empire and Queen Arjule over the next decade or so, and in 363 AE, she successfully assassinated Queen Arjule, claiming the crown for herself before fleeing to the south to avoid Imperial backlash. She now rules in exile and holds the loyalty of the majority of the Kaehlari.
The Imperial army, backed by dragon knights, slowly forced Queen Artine further and further south until two Aythlasti captured and tortured Maren, High Commander of the Dragon Knights, despite Queen Artine’s command to let him go without further harm to him or his dragon. The Aythlasti did refrain from killing Maren, and he was found barely alive and with significant injuries. The Emperor deemed it too dangerous for Maren to remain in Kaehlar, and he and General Ben Ashlan withdrew from the continent in 366 AE.
After two years of Maren’s consistent requests to remove the dragon knights from the front lines, the Emperor acquiesced. After that, the Empire’s advance slowed to a crawl, and now, 10 years later, a portion of the continent has established a warzone, called the Zone, where fighting regularly takes place, but the southern Kaehlari aren’t able to push beyond it to the north, and the Imperial army isn’t able to push beyond it to the south. Because this territory covers much of the mammoth migration, the Kaehlari are forced to frequent and defend it.
Despite the war, many Kaehlari live in the more habitable northern portion of the continent, willing to renounce loyalty to Queen Artine in exchange for relatively comfortable lives. However, despite verbally renouncing Queen Artine, almost all Kaehlari wear the traditional wolf sigil of Kaehlar, woven so that it is only visible to those who oppose the Emperor. The spell is embedded with secrecy, so no one who sees it will say anything, allowing the Kaehlari to announce their defiance in a way that is only visible to those who share that defiance. Oddly, people from Tamarud are not easily able to sense the secrecy of the spell.
Theme Song for Queen Artine
Religion (Spoilers)
The world was created when the goddess Ayla struck the ocean with her staff, turning the water into the ice which became Kaehlar. Ayla sculpted the ice into a land capable of sustaining life, then struck her staff upon the mountain. A massive wolf dug out from the stone, the colors of the stone dying its fur gray-brown. And so Orna was born, champion of the Onokari. Ayla next went to the fertile land ready for planting and struck her staff upon the soil. A woman shook off the soil and emerged, the color of soil dying her fur brownish gray. And so Eissana was born, champion of the Eylanti. Finally, Ayla went to the snow and struck her staff upon the tundra. The snow crystalized into a woman, but as the ice melted and left her fur dyed white, she became a wolf. And so Aowyn was born, champion of the Aythlasti.
As Ayla and her daughters created life on the barren land, they crafted a people to represent all of three daughters, blessed by Ayla’s grace. The Kaehlari were born, and were given mastery of the land. As they traveled south, the Eylanti struggled with the increasing cold. Eissana, hoping to ease her people’s struggles, struck a rock upon the ground, sparking new life into existence. A man rose along with the first flames on Kaehlar. Anver, the god of fire, took the flames for himself and struck Eissana, burning her flesh. Although she tried to stop him, he fled into the cold skies of Kaehlar.
Ayla healed her daughter’s injuries as Orna hunted Anver. Orna found him at the base of the Sakhiar mountains. She cornered him, but he called upon the sky to split open and strike lightning at his feet. He fled as the lightning sparked a fire in the forest that chased Orna out to the tundra, scorching her fur as she fled.
Ayla healed her daughter’s injuries, but when Aowyn vowed to go after Anver, Ayla stopped her. Anver controlled fire, capable of destroying ice, but Ayla created a new type of fire called Avmeylav, or icefire. It lured in fire, drew it close, and then exploded, obliterating the fire and leaving only ice. She gifted Avmeylav to Aowyn only, charging her to protect her sisters and drive Anver from the lands.
Aowyn tracked Anver across the continent, shifting between her forms to swim across rivers and leap from rock to rock in the mountains. He continued to evade her, and finally, she stood at the top of a mountain and lit the Avmeylav. Minutes passed, and a wind rose. More time passed, and the wind focused into Anver, entranced by the Avmeylav. Aowyn cast it at him, and he exploded into ice, banished from the land until he gathers enough heat to recover his form.
Over the ages, Ayla’s daughters watch over the Kaehlari, and every time Anver begins to gather power, Aowyn charges the Kaehlari Queen with banishing him once more with Avmeylav, lending her godly powers to the Queen’s mortal strength.
In modern times, many Kaehlari believe that the Emperor is the latest incarnation of Anver because he came armed with fire-breathing dragons, and he used those dragons against the Kaehlari in war. When Queen Arjule gave the Emperor Avmeylav, it was seen by most as the greatest betrayal possible, and most Kaehlari believe that Queen Artine is acting with Aowyn’s blessing when she killed Arjule and in her current war against the Empire. Queen Artine is said to have aim better than the most skilled Eylanti, speed greater than the fastest Onokari, and strength greater than the fiercest Aythlasti. As long as she maintains her fight against the Empire, the Kaehlari believe they have a champion against Anver no matter how dark it seems.
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