TheKawaiiEdition/Artai

Artai, Ambitious Mountain Land

• Location: Mountains of the Southwest, north of Windbloom, southwest of Lapdancer
• Population
  • Urban: 35,000
  • Surrounding Area: 835,000
• Ruler: Grand Duke Nagi of Artai.
• Status: Tributary of the Realm, currently in rebellion against the Ragnarok Gang.

Artai is a large, but poor kingdom, ruled by a collection of dukes ruled over by a Grandduke. About six years ago, all the Dukes were assassinated by some person never caught, and so Grand Duke Nagi has been able to appoint regents over all the child-heirs, giving him much more power over his kingdom than his predecessors possessed.

The Ragnarok Gang had controlled this tributary until recently, when the Satrap apparently accidentally shot herself in the face with a firewand seven or eight times, after writing orders which sent her troops out to attack the Blue Silk Raiders. Said troops never came back, mysteriously enough, except for one lone drunken soul who returned claiming that all of the senior officers had died of poison and then the Blue Silk Raiders (thought to be a tribe of Oni) cut off and slaughtered the troops, despite a stirring performance of 'Rally Around the Pole' by the unit's expert Morris Dancers.

To make matters worse, the Grand Duke's fiancee, Queen Mashiro of Windbloom mysterious disappeared, forcing Grand Duke Nagi and his right hand man, Sergei Wang, "The Hound of the South" to march across the desert, evading the Blue Silk Raiders, to occupy Windbloom, for its own good, of course. The Queen remains missing, but Artai's forces continue to protect the city from yet another bout of destruction.

The Duchies

Artai is divided into nine duchies; the central one ruled by the Grand Duke, and eight others spaced around it, each centered in a fertile river valley. Each is currently ruled by a regent in the name of the child-Duke heirs of the fallen dukes. While each duchy has its own specialties, in general, Artai is mainly a center for mining, producing gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc, bronze, white gold, Jade, Orichalcum, and tiny quantities of Lift Metal (normally only found in Hawkmountain. Each of the Dukes has, as a result, a single Flying Barge, while the Grand Duke has three.

Artai is also noted for its production of cheeses, chocolates, grapes, and wine and brandy. It has found the exportation of its chocolate difficult, however, as once taken down to the lower altitudes, the heat tends to melt it. Admittedly, the Dukes of Narga found this useful for creating bombs which could be flung off the Ducal Barge to trap desert oni in huge messy puddles of chocolate.

The Grand Duke

Grand Duke Nagi is a very young man, only about sixteen years old, but he leads as if he was many times older than that; his knack for politics and military affairs is pronounced, though his right hand man, Sergei Wang, outdoes him in the military area. His concern for his missing fiancee is legendary, despite any rumors that she hates him and never wanted to marry him and possibly ran away in order to avoid such a marriage. All filthy lies by the enemies of Artai, I tell you.

Nagi is very short, just under five feet, with touselled blue-white hair. If he wasn't male, many would think him a Magical Girl, but everyone knows men can't be Magical Girls. So the rumors of his supernatural powers are undoubtedly just that, rumors.