Map: Cirundi 2.0: Political

Because what's the point of making a world if you don't populate it?

So here's the next step on my great big Cirundi map... well, actually, there's like six steps in here, including ethnicities, religions, languages, cultures, etc. But! This is (arguably) the most important one! The one that shows how the Union of Clans in Alsten divides up (most of) the world.

These represent the territories afforded to Cirundi's 256 recognized clans... there are of course more, but they're either junior branches or non-territorial organizations (Orone has a subclan in almost every major city 'cause that's how Orone roles/rules the world). These clans have a certain amount of sovereignty over their recognized territories, but are still subject to the Union of Clans, so they're more like States or Provinces than independent entities. These territories were based on both historical claims and political realities at the time when the Inner Sea Region was unified 300 years ago, which is why some clans (Such as Dragar and Voyo) control huge swaths of land while populous but urbanized clans like Orone (with about 30 million members) and the Aiya-Aazani-Delnano alliance (With about 45 million members) are restricted to territories about the size of your average Western European nation. Clans also vary wildly in population, from the aforementioned Orone and Aiya, to Inkala, which only has 20,000 members.

All in all, the Union of Clans has over 1.5 billion members spread across 60% of the planet's surface. The Union has eliminated open war between its members, created a common language, encouraged economic development, brought about great feats of technology and science, even sent syth to the closest moon, Alashar. Of course, they also brought about widespread corruption, black markets, cultural assimilation, etcetera, but those are unpleasant things and continuing to read about them might have you targeted by the Justiciary. Yeah, there's peace, but then why do the police walk around in body armour wielding shotguns and sniper rifles?

There are parts of the world not controlled by the clans, though the Union still claims them: the north and south poles, being barren ice caps, are under direct control of Union for purposes of scientific exploration and resource extraction, while the Island of Nohn is a capital territory on which the city of Alsten sits, along with nearly 10 million syth who support the sprawling political bureaucracy on the island. The Forgotten Coast is a scarcely populated region controlled by the Justiciary, basically one giant prison region, with the Avoni kith who lived there being forcefully relocated across the Boroka Mountains.

Finally, the clans of the Nuura remain independent from the Alsten. The Nurra are the fifth race of sythen who broke of before the other four did. Think of them as the Neanderthals, only having survived to the present, with enough strength and intellect to be an equal match to 2-3 humans. That's the Nuura to the 'il-Syth of the Inner Sea. They stand around 6 feet tall (vs. the 'il-Syth 3-4), are heavily muscled and have an IQ of about 150. Their home continent is basically Australia like, which means it's always trying to kill them, making them badasses to the last. Their dominant faith evolved to take the negative traits of the 'il-Syth (Social Dawinism, Eugenics, etc.) to the extreme, and their self-imposed isolation didn't help matters much. When a Qal'il explorer stumbled upon the Nurra, they discovered that the "inferior kin" of their myths not only survived after 30,000 years, but ruled much of the world. Cue centuries spent preparing for invasion, massive invasion, the old 'il-syth nations and empires collapsing, the slaughter of about 2/3rds of the world's population, before the Nurra ended up dying 'cause the Nurra didn't have immunity to the sythen form of chicken pox (black coat)... which the 'il-Syth exploited in viral warfare. Because one attempted genocide deserves another.

Anyhow, the remaining 'il-Syth basically formed the Union of Clans from the remains of the great war with the Nurra, and they decided to leave the Nurra's continent well enough alone. They've set up naval blockades around their territory, and monitor them from space, paranoid as all heck despite the Nurra being reduced to 2% of their pre-war population. This paranoia is why, despite the massive natural resources in the Nurra territories, it's been left completely untouched by the industrial development that's evident in the rest of the world.

Anyhow, enough of me rambling. As per usual, Cirundi, the sythen races, and all belong to yours truly, , but if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, let me know and I'll try getting back to you as soon as possible.