Chaska

	Chaska
	Motto: Mana Qonqasunchikchutaq "Nevertheless, we will not forget"
	Anthem: The War Song
Locator map
Capital city	Qheca
Largest city	Viracachá
Official language	Remana
Other languages	Wariano, Aruxa, Auresian, Livaryan, Bahaso Sokoku
Ethnic groups	Ruma, Waria
Religion	Chakrana
Demonym(s)	Chaskan
Government
Government Type	Government type
Your 1st leader title (e.g. King)	name
Uma Akllaxqa (Premier)	Yunkar Munawasi
Legislature	The Concordat
Establishment
The Founding of Qheca	date 1
The Quiet Revolution	date 2
Area
Total	1,983,088.96 km2
Water %	0.0%
Population
Total	85,219,877
Density	42.97/km2
Economy
Economy type
GDP (total)	Ꞡ 525,506,341,492.37
GDP per capita	Ꞡ 6,166.48
Currency	samp_nat_currency
Currency symbol
Inequality index	0.0
Development index	0.0
Other information
Time zone	0
Driving side	right
Calling code	+441
Internet code	.ch

Chaska is a reasonably large, reasonably populated nation just to the south of the equator. It is most prominently known for its history (once part of three separate empires simultaneously), its reserves of gold and coal and plantations of coffee, its architecture, and its music.

Chaska used to be the eastern provinces of Huilcasonco, an empire spanning the Kancha and Suyana Mountain ranges and much of their associated lowlands on either side. Once divided, it then survived in the form of Ayawantin, an independent state in the southern lowlands which expanded out to the islands in the east while the mountains became the territory of colonial states. It was only after the Quiet Revolution that the two were reunited once again into the state occupying its present borders, although they were obliged to forfeit the island territory they had since gained.

Today, Chaska is divided into the northern regions—industrial, more than slightly Livaryan in look and manner, whose wealth comes from the provision of power through thermal generators on the mountain coastline—and the southern regions—less industrialized and more traditionalist (they call themselves ñach'uq "authentic, pure"), whose main wealth comes from trade and the plantations of coffee and spices found in the lowlands.

Etymology

Chaska as a name is a derivation (or perhaps acts a source for a derivation) of the word Chaskar, the Remana name for the planet Samler. Its bright white-blue light, appearing at morning or evening as "a grain of sky against the sunset", has made it an important star for the Ruma people and their neighbours for millennia, even forming the basis of a number of calendrical systems.

Ayawantin was originally Ayawasuyu, the name given to the southeastern territories of Huilcasonco. The term derives from áiva, a word from a jungle language referring to "things", and more broadly to "groups" or "tribes". When the majority of Huilcasonco was colonized, Ayawasuyu became Ayawantin, "the tribes together", as a symbol of solidarity against these new invaders.

Huilcasonco is a derivation of the Remana word Willkasunqu, the "sacred heart"—for it was believed that the empire was formed around the heart of the world, in a cave in one of the mountains of the Kancha range, whence the Ruma people emerged millennia ago.

History

Prehistory

Chaskan history is often likened to Ruma history; many historians consider them one and the same, and the rest of the country's peoples mere afterthoughts. In fact, the Ruma and their Azix relatives are relative newcomers to the content, which had been inhabited for thousands of years prior to their crossing in from the northeast.

The first inhabitants of the area were in fact related to the Austro-D'Runian peoples of the south, particularly to the Ir'duma of the southeast. Similarities in artifacts—not to mention shared cultural myths—suggest that they first migrated to the area around 20,000 years before the present day, settling on the Strait as early as 18,000 years ago.

The Pan-Altaian peoples were not far behind, entering the Strait from the east around 16,000 years ago, then pushing west at an incredible rate. As they went, they began to split into smaller groups; those who settled in the mountains to the north and the jungles and grasslands of the east were the Azix, as we know them today.

Neither of these incursions was of much benefit to the local wildlife. Although certain rather large creatures like the mayur (a marsupial predator) and kuruman (large kangaroo) remain extant in modern Chaska, there are fossil records and oral stories of other creatures, perhaps even larger, which were either hunted to extinction or died off due to habitat loss, or perhaps a combination of both.

Riparian Era (2000-3500 RH)

The earliest evidence of large settlements dates back to around 2000 RH, with the construction of the ancient city of Wañuqallpa (not the modern city bearing the same name, for which its current name is derived). Perhaps an unlikely candidate, given the near-barren coast and the occasional strong storm from the sea, Wañuqallpa nevertheless appears to have thrived—not least because of their use of acacia seeds (which can last for a great many years if dried) and tubers. Because their crops were perennial rather than annual, and thanks to the destructive nature of their environment, civilization in the Kancha Mountains had to be somewhat forward-planning, placing great emphasis on preparation for disaster. This trend has continued for the past five thousand years, and is unlikely to change any time soon.

It was also during this period that the emu was domesticated in the lowlands.

Montanicular Era (3500-4400 RH)

The "Montanicular" Era refers not so much to the dwellings in the mountains, but to the creation of large artificial hills in civilizations along the coast and within the jungle. These appear to have acted both as residences for the local rulers and as religious sites. It is also in this era that we see the beginnings of pottery emerging. More importantly, there is a definitive connection between the mounds on both the northern and southern sides of the Kancha range—trade networks passing through the mountains.

This era saw the import of the llama across the Strait by Tzu merchants. While less than practical in the lowlands, in the highlands it became such an integral feature to daily living that it is now difficult to imagine Chaska without it. The alpaca also made its appearance at this time, as did the cotton plant.

Another interesting feature of this time is the first recorded harvest and use of coffee beans for consumption. At first this seems to have been a ritualized event, based on the residue found in some of the most ornate pottery from the sites, but by the 45th Century coffee—mixed with spices and other plant products from the rainforests—seems to have become something of a more democratic drink, a sign of urban living. Of course, this is also around the time when natural disasters and drought seem to have struck the land, so it is entirely possible that the increase in coffee-drinkers represents an increase in territorial division.

Duarchic Era (4400-5200 RH)

This time period saw the establishment of city-states once again along the coast—but this time, to the east, in answer to a growing presence across the Strait as the Ilhuiyocan civilization began to hold sway. The Waria in particular benefitted from this trade, establishing the First Shell Empire with a king on every ship.

It is at this point in time that the patron deities of various cities, each theoretically being the single most important being in the universe, began to find purchase in other lands. This would eventually lead to the great coalescence of deities whose traditions remain alive and well today in Chaska and indeed in neighbouring countries.

Yakari Dominion (5200-6000 RH)

The Yakari were the next to come into power, having had their origins some time earlier in the city of Uxupunku some centuries earlier.

It is under the Yakari that the city of Viracachá gained its first real spike in population, as an outpost of sorts.

The Dominion also gained its taste for cocoa at this time, thanks to increased trade with the rising Ilhuiyocan imperium across the Strait. Coffee maintained its position of prestige, but in urban centres it competed with cocoa—particularly as the latter could be spiced by Dorrigo peppers (wakay in Remana).

Because of the nature of the calendrical disconnect it is uncertain when precisely the Yakari civilization began to collapse, although estimates from local archeological sites suggest a date of around 6000 RH. What is certain is that, while many aspects of Yakari culture were lost, some of the key elements—including certain philosophical schools, a great deal of vocabulary shared with the Intecs and others who took their territories for themselves, and even some key technologies preserved by the armacticuna or "wandering alchemists" (from Yakanakárena armaktiri, "person who does not forget")—managed to survive down the ages. Many still practice in the valleys of Orcosuyo and Qhanasuyo to this day, although they have largely been supplanted by yachapaccona as the officially-recognized authority on the workings of the physical world.

Ocasa Confederacy (6000-6500 RH)

The Ocasa people were in origin from the hilly regions in the southeast, a sub-group of Azix, but by the early 59th Century had extended well into the mountains to the south as well as the jungles to the north. Taking advantage of the fall of the Yakari, they began what is still called the Chicaguity or "our having grown" in local legends, building up a sturdy and steady empire all the way down the eastern peninsula. Evidence of their presence in Qheca was remarked upon even during the heydays of the empire, particularly in the form of round houses and towers uncommon to elsewhere in the region.

…although in theory bound to the worship of a divine tetrarchy in their capital of Sopó (modern Supu), the Ocasa in reality preferred the power of their local lords, allied with the other lords of the Confederacy at least in a non-aggression pact and at best in a trading and military alliance. This rather laissez-faire style of government, presided over by a war chief, a great merchant, and a high priest, would persist for the next seven hundred years.

Huilcasonco (6500-7413 RH)

The earliest propagated stories of Qheca talk about it always being under the purview of the Intecs, starting with Taytar Capac, the grand leader (apu) of the race and the city alike. Archaeological finds in the modern day suggest a different story: that the city was built by the Ocasa, who then lived there for several hundred years before a different tribe came to conquer the city. It is uncertain precisely where this tribe, the Intecs, came from; the most common suggestion in the modern day is that they were a Ronaic people who had absorbed a small group of Waria priests fleeing from the destruction of the Fifth Shell Empire. This latter element would explain the presence of Intec Simi (a language broadly related to modern Waria) as a secret religious language, still talked about very little with "outsiders" to this day. Regardless of origin, the Intecs captured the city and claimed it as their own. After this, they settled down, and became a part of the cross-montane patchwork of city-states and small kingdoms vying for power after the fall of the Yakari.

Geography

Demographics

Because of the nature of the settlement patterns in Ayawantin of old, there is a fairly strong divide between the "urban" and "rural" populations. The former are clustered together in great cities in the mountains or the grasslands, the landscape shaped to fit as many people as comfortably as possible. The latter live effectively everywhere else—high in the hills, in the deep rainforest, on the coast of the sea. One goes from almost to many to practically no people very quickly indeed.

Most of the urban population speaks Remana, but there are those who also choose to learn Auresian, Livaryan, or Bahaso Sokoku, all for the sake of better international dealings in trade or politics.

Economy

Agriculture

As one of the world's premier coffee producers, Chaska makes a considerable amount of revenue from the sale of the beans to elsewhere in the world.

Acacia seeds and purple yams, supplemented by maize, beans, and squash, form the staple crops of the Chaskan diet, and are also exported elsewhere, albeit on a smaller scale. Quandongs, too, are quite popular, as are tanjongs. The tea made from the lemon ironbark tree is deemed an acceptable substitute for coffee when one wishes to relax; there is a lemony taste without it being too tart, and the tea is a good source of Vitamin C as well.

Opium has long been grown on the northern coasts, and is sold, in regulated quantities, to the pharmaceutical industries worldwide.

Tourism

A zeppelin touring the Chaskan rainforest.

The Chaskan wilderness is also a place of considerable importance for tourism purposes. Zeppelin flights through the shrouded jungles near the mountains, or over the highland fields between the peaks, or even over the great savanna across much of the south of the country, are a very popular attraction, and given much of a popularity boost by the Chaskan government—for a small percentage per passenger every foreign airship company carries, of course.

Culture

Auqars

The auqar system, used by the Pachaqhapaqs as a way both of instilling patriotism and keeping the population too segmented to formulate a rebellion, has left its marks on modern Chaska. Men are still considered to be kin after the traditional "manhood run", and are most likely to form small corporations or social clubs. Connection through siblings and auqars creates something of an "old boys network" across Chaska.

Chakrana

While religions such as Orkanan have made a splash among the population, particularly in the northern provinces, the state religion remains that practiced for nearly 1,700 years at this point—Chakrana, the "inheritance tool" used to maintain the customs and deities of one's ancestors. It is more broadly a continent-wide religion, different gods having been passed from city to city as time went on; however, in Chaska it bears additional elements, particularly through the involvement of the king in holy affairs. The king, while no longer a living deity to his people, is still seen as the closest and best intercessor between humanity and the gods at large, a holy presence on the face of the earth.