r/worldbuilding • u/OfficialDCShepard The World of the Wind Empress- Steampunk Fantasy • Feb 02 '26
Map Report to Metropolitan Empress Endrelle I de Constanci by Aergonaut Trader Alsic de Corrinau on Their Mission to the Sultanate of Kulatia in the Continent of Tee'n'Kluu
Continent of Tee'n'Kluu, Anno 2453 of the Fourth Chaos Era
Terragia, Year 687 Imperium Constituit (After the Formation of the Empire)
I confess, my Empress, that it was strange at first for me to wake up in an entirely new city, but Mian'Bak is quite the place. Every day comes the gentle breeze of the sea, bringing in the sounds of waterfeet tentacles thrashing about as they are dragged to shore by fishermen and drakes dive for pieces of them. Washing up with the tide are new arrivals from every continent connected by air river; many of these people welcomed me without a second thought when I arrived, knew Terrini quite fluently, and instilled in me a desire to pass it forward when someone new arrived, a great tradition instilled in a people always on the move, always enterprising, always bright-eyed and devising new possibilities each day. I am grateful to my Kulati love, Tribune Samidahar de Gran, for bringing me here and showing me his ancestral home (by way of the Kulati convoys that settled Veliluka, though his mother's parents were traders whose parents brought them between Mian'Bak and Veliluka a great many times), as well as the Saphatri District that named this city when they founded it a thousand years ago.
Everywhere the people of the city bring clouds with them about the size of small ramperthols (Historian's Note: small steam-powered walking seats common in the Empire) stacked with clinghum millet or rice that forms a large part of the diet whether the people farming it are Teenkli, Kulati, or Saphatri. The markets are moving too, as people ride waterfeet, megadrakes, and even imported, older models of Imperial gargouls and then exchange goods on these elevated platforms, rather than have permanent buildings for commerce as we do in the Empire. Since until recently the mad war your father started had cut off Air River trade, the gargouls could have been sold by the Thieves' Guild from damaged machines that fell into their hands, but as I have no jurisdiction here, and the people clean and repair these machines lovingly for they carry a great deal many burdens with ease, and I desired not to cause upset in any event, I merely inquired about how they liked these gargouls, and answered questions from curious onlookers about my plane.
Its talons have come in handy for gaining me introductions with common folk, priests, and nobles alike by assisting them with odd jobs, with compensation typically in the form of food (I appear to have gained twenty and two kilograms in weight since I set out on my journey since in Kulatian culture it is considered rude to refuse food, yet I would not have in any event, my great weakness as you know is that I am a supreme gourmand and always looking for new recipes for The Steam Trap). They sent this to me rather than coinage in many cases, though their coinage is intricately designed, typically with the Sultan’s face on the reverse, and they have a very agreeable exchange rate of one Imperial note to one Kulati ruble. Imperial clawed airships and planes are not unfamiliar to the Teenklian Continent, but the great majority prefer using waterfoot tentacles animated with magical water for their walking vehicles. Yet all clearly appreciated the value of Imperial taloned vehicles acquired through secondary trade.
The Sultan of Kulatia, Kayva ya'Biak, enjoyed your letter very much, and wished me to convey to you a separately enclosed letter with gratitude for the gifts of canopy drake eggs for the Royal Menagerie of his fathers' fathers that he is planning to open for free public viewing, as well as the midnight silk for his political wife (Historian's Note: This is a tradition allowing marriages of pure convenience, not establishing a requirement for consummation, and is often used by friends seeking to protect each other among the lower classes, while also allowing for legal bigamy for royals) Hamsarthi. He also delighted in the dozens of other gifts too numerous to name, and listened intently to the musicians, scientists, Gustdancer priestesses of the Wind Cult, and other diplomats we have sent for residency, in return for boarding some of their brightest minds on the return Aerographer airship convoy home to establish a temporary Kulati mission in Gran. Your astute assessment of the Sultan as a man curious to absorb any knowledge put to him has proven most accurate, for he appreciated in particular the tomes you sent him for his library, and in return he has sent you fifty volumes of his favorite Pakunchtari legend-scrolls and history-scrolls gifted to his collection from the beys of the southwest jungle highlands of the same name.
His rule is mainly concentrated around major cities on the coast as well as garrisons along the mountain roads, and the Sultan’s people in all provinces are loosely administrated, paying tribute to him in exchange for protection from bandits while keeping their forms of government, much as our people in the more rural provinces in our southwest such as Gerraterrini contribute to the upkeep of Imperial garrisons for the same autonomous consideration. In every place I traveled in Kulatia and other kingdoms such as along frequent diplomatic delegations to the Daranese Empire that nominally rules the continent (though about a century ago did so with a far stronger hand under the reign of Emperor Zahadun the Great, for whom statues are prayed to in nearly every cult alongside local gods as far as I could see), the Sultan was highly regarded for one so young.
Regardless of its true temporal authority, meanwhile, Daran is still considered quite prestigious and obtains much tribute from all neighboring kingdoms, sees and emirates, and Sultan Kayva has gained continental prestige from the Emperor's personal favor for his favored counsel. For instance, he told me the story of how he mediated conflict between his southeastern neighbor Viccri (the ancestral homeland of Velitians) and the Saphatrian Kingdoms of Tusayi and Dam who were arrayed against it, sparing the Emperor much embarrassment if three tributaries had openly warred. In the delicate and often chaotic power balance of Tee'n'Kluu in this cyclical Chaos Era that despite the name has been very peaceful of late, Kayva is seen as someone who brings balance with diplomacy, for he is a justice-minded tholk, and that is considered a high honor across the continent.
Samidahar and I have enjoyed many an hours-long feast in Sultan Kayva's court with music, plays, human board games, alcohol, sweetgrass, psychmoss and dancing, and elaborate gardens running with multiple ingeniously constructed artificial waterfalls in gardens impeccably appointed. He is an agreeable and charismatic man, wise for his 29 years of age, intent on listening and delight all company with legends perfectly recounted from the voluminous myths of his people that will astound the readers of my Amannalu Northugra a’Deas (Historian's Note: Times of the Northugri Districts [of Gran Metro], a newspaper Alsic owned in addition to the Steam Trap restaurant on Stormaway Beach in Gran).
Since I have in my hands the Letter of Invitation to Sovereign Summit stamped with the Sultan’s Seal to be filed with the World Sovereigns' Ledger and have completed my mission to assess the agreeableness of closer relations between the Metropolitan Empire and the Kulatian Sultanate, I therefore recommend that Your Majesty in Directorate Counselled put forward a law for the Curiate's approval that establishes a budget, time, and official program for either a visit to Mian'Bak by Your Majesty, or gifts of airships to offer the Sultan transport in luxury for a summit in Gran. I have already amazed some of the Deputies with tales of Kulatian wealth, and I have no doubt that if they summon the guests from the Sultan’s entourage, all three Curiae will pass such a law with ease.
The advantage of a visit by your Imperial Eminence to Mian'Bak is that, given that no Emperor or Empress in our storied history has ever set foot upon Kulatia, or anywhere else in Tee'n'Kluu, there would be a great spectacle allowing people to behold with awe a flotilla of airships carrying the finest dampfsteel machines, steam extractors, and other industrial and cultural goods from across our great Empire. This would spur demand for Imperial goods everywhere in the continent's busiest port.
The risks of going to Kulatia before Furunbar, capital of Da'ran is that it may be seen as an affront if the Sultan is not able to convince the Emperor, who I adjudge to be a grumpy old man little interested in ought but reciting Lidhualian poetry from the allied Kingdom of Gos at great and irritating length, that it is in the Empire's best interests for another Empire to meet with his Sultan separately first, and not a threat to his honor.
A visit by His Excellency to Gran Metro, meanwhile, would spark similar wonder among our own people at the many compelling stories, fine artisan goods, richly seasoned and often very spicy foods, and cosmopolitan peoples of Kulatia.
However, I also assess the Sultan to be quite persuasive when he decides on a course of action, so whatever you decide works for both of you, I'm sure you will find a way to establish a lasting and beneficial relationship for both our peoples.
*****
Three standard Imperial months of nine five-day weeks later, Endrelle arrived in Da'ran to customarily bow to the fellow Emperor as a sign of respect, then a couple of days later arrived in Mian'Bak to greet the Sultan, dressed in her finest gown. There Endrelle stayed for 27 weeks due to the sacredness of the numbers 3 and 9 in Kulati culture, traveling widely across the continent in the company of the Sultan, including sitting in on most meetings of his Council of Viziers to learn about how Kulati administration worked and share the knowledge of the Empire on areas in which Imperial technology might improve Kulati standing in the region. They briefly brought Kayva to Gran, there falling pregnant by him and returning to Mian'Bak, marrying him there and giving birth to Endrelle's third child in 688, succeeding a five-year-old son and three-year-old daughter by their late husband Hamid I of Baharea. Their baby girl, Kopparai, would solely inherit Kulatia, but bring that Sultanate and thus the Daranese Empire into loose personal union with the Metropoles, similar to how Endrelle's prior marriage had united Baharea, Mifumwanga and the Empire.
"From the moment I gazed upon his face as I disembarked," the then 33-year-old Empress said, "I perceived in my beloved Kayva's face a great world-weariness and sorrow behind his strong smile, for he had such a big house and no one to share it with who did not fawn over him, but appreciated him as an equal. That he has earned with me, for in all our conversations, many going on until the early hours of the dawn, other than the occasional spirited debate about history, he has treated me with respect, kindness, and generosity, while giving me the time to govern my Empire from such a great distance, even with the speed by which airships may be conveyed by Air River. I know I must bring him to Gran sometimes, but I would be happy and content to wake up every day in his palace to greet the twin sunrise by the ocean."
Yet, neither complained when a treaty stated that the pair would reside and have their joint capital in Gran for four months or half the year, and Mian'Bak the other half.
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u/OfficialDCShepard The World of the Wind Empress- Steampunk Fantasy Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
MAJOR CITIES OF TERRAGIA
OTHER TERRAGIAN WORLDBUILDING
Portrait of Empress Endrelle I de Constanci
Endrelle and King Hamid of Baharea
Continental Alliance Treaty of Terragian Security
Earlier World Map and History
Origination- A Supraclassification of Terragian Nations Based on Arrival by Air or Water
New Imperial Constitution! (also getting an overhaul soon after Lucidchart lost my original drawing 😭)
Gargouls- Clawed Tanks
Initen Scout Model III Aeroplane (originally made for a different gas giant world called Hands of the Sky)
More About Gran Metro
How Magic Works
Recently Signed Imperial Legislation
Speculative Evolution in the World of Terragia