Kalmacia is a democratically run country bordering Dace, Osterbija and the Kaselreich. It is notable for its extreme terracing of the landscape, which turned the country from a rocky hillside into the agricultural superpower of Vosca. Kalmacia's grain exports are so significant that they can even feed most of Dace, a country notorious for overpopulation and underperforming agriculture.
Politics[]
Kalmacia is a sort of oddity in the Voscan world, since it's both a functioning democracy and a country that has not been truly ravaged by wars in many years. Kalmacian government is based off of a few simple principles: The country is divided into two social classes – the land owners, and the landless. Landless people (including generally the non-successor children of the land-owners) live in the cities, whereas each parcel of land is owned by a man who works it along with his employed laborers. There are, very nearly, 100,000 of these parcels, or "Liturgies," each of whom is permitted a vote in State affairs. In reality, most of them have assembled into voting blocs based on interests, and are represented by a small council of politicians who pursue their demands by voting collectively. The cities have far smaller representation relative to their population, which leads to a degree of unrest, but the great wealth of the coastal ports tends to equalize things a bit.
The major port cities are Narkos, Napakton, Megada, and Theron. These play a crucial role in the distribution of grain via ship to other countries, including neighboring Dace – the Dacians have thusfar been refused several times in their offer to construct a Trackway between Vedrim and the (perhaps generously named) capital of Kallipolis. Kallipolis, despite its wealth and size, has largely been overrun by criminals, dangerous religious fanatics and squatters dwelling in the lower levels of the city, which were each built atop a previous iteration of the town because the Genosian religion forbids the demolishing of old buildings.
Military[]
The Kalmacian military is made up of one man from every household and farm, who must arrive with at a bare minimum a helmet and a long spear. If they fail to show up to the yearly muster, the farm or household is subject to a special tax. Those who arrive with more equipment than the bare minimum are rewarded with tax exemptions and even gifts. The Kalmacians prefer to fight in formidable pike-formations, using the terraced landscape of their country to their advantage, while skirmishers outflank the enemy and rain death down upon them.
Relations with Dace[]
The Kalmacians export grain to Dace in return for iron, horses, goods from Karthack and spices. The Dacians seem to resent this arrangement, but they cannot afford to disrupt it without risking starvation.