The Definitive Country Almanac: The Vardane Imperium — Part 2#

Kethra Almanac • Approved 19 September 2026 • drafted 18 September 2026 • Sections 5–8 (Sections 1–4 are in Part 1)

Status: approved. Briana approved the whole almanac on 19 September 2026 (the Almanac Approval Decision). Where this file calls something a proposal, read it as approved, except the open points that decision lists.

Status before approval:

• Canon: the seizure of the Kronos moons from the Coalition, and the belt operations. Both were decided by Briana.
• Proposal: everything else. Figures are for AL 2314.

Section 5: Government, Law & Politics#

Constitutional Framework#

The Imperium's constitution is written, old, and short.

How power is divided. There is no separation of powers in the Crown's sense. There is a division of holdings:

• The Imperator reigns for life, commands the forces and appoints to the overseas holdings.
• The Marshal Council governs the twelve holdings and can depose an Imperator by a vote of nine. That has happened twice, in AL 1183 and AL 2011.
• The Council of Corridors runs the economy of phosphate, fuel, rail and the Bonded. Its members are the heads of the corridor companies, which are owned by the Imperial Families.
• Military tribunals handle most serious justice. Civil courts of the holdings deal with property and contracts.

The Legislature (such as it is)#

The Imperium has no elected legislature. Law is made by:

1. Imperial decree, countersigned by the Marshal Council;
2. Holding ordinances, issued by each marshal for his holding;
3. Corridor rulings from the Council of Corridors, covering trade, labour and the Bonded.

City Assemblies of Citizens exist in every town. They have petition rights only:

• They can formally ask.
• They cannot compel.
• A petition signed by a tenth of a city's Citizens must be answered in writing within a year.

Political currents (there are no parties):

The register's "internal disagreement" (commanders against industrial patrons) is the Walls against the Ledgers.

The Judiciary#

• Legal tradition: decree and statute. Precedent guides, but does not bind.
• The courts:

• Punishment:
  • Prison.
  • Bond sentences: convicts are sold into bond.
  • Execution for treason and Accord crimes, by firing squad, in public.
• Policing:
  • the Watch, the civil police of each holding;
  • the Office of the Marshal Watch, for intelligence and internal security;
  • the Corridor Guard, for the railways and pits.

The Holdings (administrative divisions)#

The twelve marshal holdings of Oreth#

The overseas holdings#

Every holding, base, post, concession and station (96 installations) is listed in the generated Register of Vardane Holdings and shown in the Atlas. In the Atlas, filter to the Vardane Imperium and the Imperial Holds.

Foreign Relations & Defence#

Memberships#

• The Homeworld Assembly: a member since AL 2150, with a permanent seat on the Accord Council.
• The Assembly Clearing House: a reluctant member. Imperial marks are still quoted against phosphate as well as crowns.

Relations#

These follow the draft relationship register where it applies.

Defence#

Defence budget: about 6.5% of GDP, nearly three times the Crown's share.

Conscription: two Kethran years for Citizens at 18. Officer-caste service is lifelong. The Bonded are exempt from arms, by law and by fear.

Section 6: Economy, Infrastructure & Industry#

Macroeconomics#

Working: 14.4 trillion IM ÷ 251.4 million people ≈ IM 57,100 per head. At 1 IM = Cr 0.42 that is about Cr 24,000.

Key Industries#

The corridor companies. The Council of Corridors licenses about thirty corridor companies, each owned by Imperial Families. The largest:

Finance & Banking#

• The Imperial Corridor Bank (Vardenhold) issues the Imperial mark, pegged loosely to the price of phosphate.
• Bond notes. The debts of the Bonded are traded between corridor companies as bond notes, a market the Crown's reformers call "trade in people".
• Taxation:
  • a holding levy (property);
  • the corridor tithe, 20% of corridor company profits, paid to the Imperator;
  • a flat Citizen tax of 15%.
  • The Imperial Families pay only the corridor tithe, a long-standing grievance.

Infrastructure#

Communications#

Section 7: Culture, Arts & Daily Life#

Holidays & Celebrations#

Culinary Traditions#

Phosphate makes Oreth rich in Earthkin food. The Imperium eats more meat and more wheat than anyone.

Wild bread, made from processed native food, is Bonded food. No Citizen eats it in public.

Arts & Literature#

• Wall-mosaics. Basalt and ochre mosaics cover the inner faces of city walls, recording each holding's Roll of honour. Vardenhold's Mosaic Mile is the greatest artwork of the Imperium.
• Music: drum corps, and choirs of the Roll, singing the names of the dead.
• Literature:

• Architecture: concentric walls, basalt, rank-coloured banners, severe geometry and streets laid out in defensive grids.

Sports & Recreation#

The Assembly Games: the Imperium is second in the all-time medal table. It boycotted the Games of AL 2280–2288.

Social Norms & Etiquette#

• The collar is identity.
  • Never touch another person's collar.
  • Never go out without your own.
  • Removing a collar in public is either a crime or a protest.
• Address: always by rank-honorific and name. Upward, add a salute.
• Punctuality is honour. Corridor time and Vardenhold time govern every holding.
• Hospitality is formal and ranked. Guests sit by collar.
• Frames are respected as instruments of the hand. Joking about the Sentinels is unforgivable.
• The Roll: asking about someone's Roll is intimate, and refusing to answer is an insult.

Section 8: Appendices & Reference Materials#

Statistical Tables#

Economic and strategic indicators#

Gazetteer#

The complete gazetteer of the Imperium is generated from the atlas data: Register of Vardane Holdings. It lists all 96 installations across Oreth, Eldvang, the Southern Ice, orbit, Kronos and the Cinderbelt, with positions and links into the Atlas.

Principal places (full detail in the register):

Bibliography#

In-world sources#

• The Articles of the Holdings (AL 760), Imperial Academy edition
• The Corridor Statutes, Council of Corridors, consolidated edition AL 2300
• The Bond Laws with Commentary, and the Reformers' annotated counter-edition
• The Walls of Varden (AL 1290s)
• The Silent Winter (AL 2160)
• Harkin, P., Governing the South (AL 2310)
• Brown Collar (AL 2238)
• The Armistice of Saltline: Text and Clauses, Assembly Clearing House

Development sources#

• Kethra Almanac — Spine and Status
• Kronos Moons and Cinderbelt Operations (canon)
• Kronos and the Cinderbelt: First-Era Holdings
• Who's Who: The First Colonial War
• Faction Roster and Naming Map (the approved name)
• Relationship Register (draft relationships)
• The Caldren Crown, Part 1: the Crown's side of the shared history

The almanac structure was supplied by Briana.

Prepared by Claude.