"No, I don't care how many bandits have broken into the valley, you can have thirty riders to track them down, and not a single one more. Bandits are one thing, but what if our enemies launched an invasion today, of all days? We need riders here at all times to send out word to the other fortresses and cities, because this beleaguered hold won't much stop an Arissian army of 10,000 strong."

-The Confederate Commander of Fort Beilos, Andronoki of Masinia

Kamanoan Culture

The Home of Democracy

Ancient legends have it that before humans arrived, the Kamon mountains were inhabited by a race of primordial giant-kin, though they wiped themselves out before the Dwarves immigrated to the range (some ancient stone circles still exist in the Kamon mountains that people believe could be old Giant settlements). When the first humans to arrive from Kelior moved into Western Adra, it is said that many of the tribes that settled in the Green Valley warred for farming land and control of the region, with each other and the native halflings. The ancient ancestors of the Kaman people were those that looked up to the eastern mountains and saw the possibility of easily defensible mountain holds and fruitful and fertile coastal valleys, and so losing their struggle against the native Halflings, invaded the lands of the Dwarf Lords. Their struggles against the clans of these dwarves were violent and enduring, and the Dwarf histories on the subject tell of a long series of wars and invasions that took almost 500 years to complete, until all dwarvish holds were captured, and the remaining dwarves were either expelled, killed, or incorporated into the tribal communities. Eventually these tribal proto-kaman people began to naturally fall into cultural sub-divisions from their original homogneous nature. This fell along the geographical barriers that seperated the tribes from each other, and the tribes within various regions began to bind themselves together, form their own distinct cultures, and formed their own cities. The idea of a Polis, a city that became the centerpoint of cultural, political, and economic life, spread and dominated these mountains, and the Kamanoan cities became rivals to their counterparts in the far west. However, the very nature of this ideal of the independent polis made a broad political unification of these cities impossible. Therefore, the Polis has, since its inception, been at risk of being dominated by larger foreign states. Early on, the tribal culture involved the use of group assent to decide their most important policies. When the tribes bound themselves together, it became difficult for any one tribal leader to become the leader of these new Polises. Therefore, often, the solution was for all the tribes to vote to decide their leadership. In some tribes, these representative democracies led to the first Republics, whereas other cities dedicated massive effort to create direct democracies, distrusting of any man or woman who claims power (and rightfully so, as many of the early Republics, such as Thros, fell to monarchy in the end). Additionally, the concept of guilds began in Kamomenus. What has now spread to all parts of the Feudal world, guilds began in the Polis as a way for a less centralized state to organize their workforces, and allow for an efficient mechanism to train new craftsmen. Now, there are guilds for almost every kind of trade, and the guilds themselves hold massive sway over the city states of Kamomenus, particularly in the democratic city states. In the great city of Saldon, the guilds' power is almost infamous.

          The Kamanoans are a divided people. The Marteans, the Baseilusians, the Mathesians, the Ekenoans, the Elegosi, the Unionists, the Federati, the Musarians, the Gunaikuns, the Arissian Separatists, the Saldonians, the Dunali, the Masinians, the Masasi, and the Throsans; in many ways each of these is a subculture unto its own. The difference between Saldonians and Throsans, for example, sworn rivals as they are, could not be starker. In general though, there are two frames through which the majority of Kamanoans view the world: through the lens of a democracy, or through the lens of a despotate. City states like that of Saldonis are proud of the unique form of government they live under. There are very few things even like a deomcracy outside of the Kamon Mountains, and as such, having a robust system through which each citizen can have their say is core to their entire system of beliefs. These people value the ideals of free-speech and free-thought. They tend to view investment in the public to be worthwhile, and that taxes should go towards investments that benefit everyone. The idea of what is beneficial too is specific to these people, as those who live in the democracies and republics tend to value art, culture, letters, and architecture, the aesthetic, just as much as the practical. In general, people in a democracy reject the idea of social class, or at least reject its connection with a birthright. Instead, every person, from the richest to the poorest, from the oldest to the youngest, should be treated as high in standing as every other. These republics and democracies value trade, and engage in fierce competition with the cities of Tansahore and Rumpkin, while also participating in their trade routes directly, being a point on the way between the two. On the contrary, the despotates of Kamomenus tend to value strength. These are not feudal kingdoms, in which a vanishingly small percentage of the population participates in battle. Instead, in these war like kingdoms and dictatorships, standing armies are constantly maintained and drilled, and even regular citizens practice for battle incase the need for a mass levy arises. Strict obedience to the rule of the state is viewed as a necessity, and therefore citizens of the despotates tend to view those who do not honor and obey the will of their homeland to be vicious and untrustworthy in character. All in all, this dichotomy, as polarizing as it is, tends to result in conflicts abounding throughout the mountains and islands between the various city states. Even still, there is one thing that unites all Kamanoans, and truly makes them a single people. All Kamanoans believe in the ideals of a polis, a city in which people go to live, become educated, participate in a civic life, perform their duties, and raise a family. There are still farmlands in Kamamenus, but a larger population of the mountains is urbanized than anywhere else in Adra Majoris. And along with the ideal of the independent polis, comes a strong identity of resistance to great powers. Kamomenus was ruled for over a thousand years by the Arissian Empire, and during all that time there were always those who resisted the domination. Now, the spirit of independence has been rekindled throughout the cities, and it seems they are a people who will not tolerate being ruled by an Emperor or Empress again.

          The Kamanoan people are most highly concentrated in the Kamon Mountains, as well as the surrounding valleys and plains outside of them. Indeed, there are also many Kamanoan people living in major cities in the Arissian Empire, often working as skilled craftsmen and merchants. The races of the Kamanoans are most predominately human and halfling, though some many trademen will make there way there from different parts of the world to make a better life for themselves, and some dwarves come to mine in the mountains, though no clans are allowed to establish themselves. The most popular gods among Kamanoans are Aerideia, Ardonis, Hagelia, Yeshaya, Sorthal, and Alas, and each city-state tends to have its own state sponsored religion. The armies of the Confederacy usually hold Melteos's pantheon in a place of reverence. Kamanoans tend to be independent, duteous, and sophisticated. They also tend to be argumentative, overly-martial, and stubborn. However, unlike with most cultures, these generalizations are extremely broad. You should have a discussion with the Dungeon Master to learn about what city state you were from, and what their culture was like. The most popular language in Kamomenus is by far Kamanoan.

If you choose the Kamanoan Culture, you gain the following:

~Either a +1 to your Intelligence score or a +1 to your Strength score~

~A -1 to your Wisdom score~

~As a known language, Kamanoan Common~

~A Sub-Discipline in every knowledge skill on checks relating to Aegyri Culture~

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