Forum:Official collaboratives/Kalkara

Forums → Global and regional issues → Official collaboratives/Kalkara

Greetings, mappers of OGF.

We wish to present an overview for the proposed new collaborative territory, located in UL02c, known as Kalkara. The collab would provide a homeland on OGF for the Maltese theme. Since Maltese culture and language are very complex, its background lore will necessarily involve other regional collabs. Therefore, we are posting here to ensure that any appropriate discussion can be had. This is a project that we (KAB and Alessa) plan to move forward, but we want this to be a fun project for the broader community. This discussion hopes to gauge interest in this project and solicit additional feedback to integrate it into Western Uletha.

Organization

The collab would be led by KAB and Alessa. Users that wish to participate would be asked to define their proposed work and then granted permission to edit in that area. There would be no reserved areas; if you map it in Kalkara, it could be edited down the line by other users as the project matures. To prevent edit conflicts, users would be notified of and encouraged to be mindful of others in the area.

Theme

Kalkara, Il-Kalkara natively, is a collab based on a Maltese theme with a few notable differences. To account for the unique combination of cultural influences on the Maltese theme, the history of the territory does parallel the real-world country to a degree. There are expected to be important historically walled cities along the strait, prevalence of Christic religious institutions, land divided in a pattern not unlike the results of an open-field system, prominent use of the Kalki (Maltese) language with Ingerish (English) permitted under certain circumstances, and lots of historic sites that would be from most periods of history.

At the same time, Kalkara will break from Malta in that it is an important international crossroads along the strait. It will have a major metropolitan area along that strait that itself will be more populous than the country of Malta. There will also be some rail (primarily freight) and motorway infrastructure, but it will not be as developed as most western-European themed territories. Malta may be very car-centric, but Kalkara will offer some variety in transportation modes.

Territorial history

• Before 1st Century: Kalkara was inhabited by ancient peoples that eventually were subsumed into the Hellanesian world, as they spread across the region. The old strait city would have been moderately cosmopolitan and an eventual target for Romantish interests.
• 1st–7th Centuries: The Romantish took control around 40 (about the time the Uthyran countries fell under Romantish control). Christicism arrived and supplanted polytheistic practices. Romantish control nominally lasted through the late 7th century, but the area would have been quasi-independent by this point. The Romantish named the strait city Calcarium for being on limestone bluffs and where precious white lime was quarried. It eventually became applied to the entire domain.
• 7th Century: A Mazanic invasion of the land results in the annexation of Kalkara to Mazan. The language shifts during this point to a Semitic language with a small Hellanesian-Romantish substrata remaining. Over time, it becomes an independent emirate.
• 13th Century: As some Ulethan countries start looking to colonize overseas, an organized band of Ortholic knights, backed by Castellán, Franqueterre, Plevia, and Navenna (among others) wrested control of the Kalkaran Strait. These knights were the Order of St. Openge (L-Ordni ta' San Openġe). Despite a few subsequent Mazanic incursions, the land was held by the knights. The earliest grand masters were Plevian, and they promoted use of the Plevian language among the elites. The knights also reinforce Ortholic Christicism and open the strait to the Ulethan powers. The powers allow the knights to control the strait as a 'neutral party' to prevent one power from exerting the most control. This does cause some political intrigue among the grand masters, however.
• Early 1800s: Following a power struggle between two claimants to being grand master, Plevia invades out of fear of outsized Castellanese influences and the perceived inability of the knights to fend off another Mazanic incursion through the straits. The knights ask Ingerland for help, who repels the Plevian invasion but asserts their control over the strait. The Ingerish use this as a springboard to Khaiwoon and Gobrassanya; the knights are reduced to a caretaker role over the strait territory with no real authority.
• 1950s: With the end of the Great War, the Ingerish revoke control over the strait as part of the Pax Nova. The Order of St. Openge regains their control over the territory. Unlike before, the knights are largely made up of Kalkaran individuals. With Kalki as the dominant and official language, the knights institute a governmental structure that devolves most subnational positions to democratic elections. Outwardly, they resume their neutrality toward most nations, allowing access to the strait for peaceful means.
• Now: As an independent nation, with a restored Knighthood, Kalkara is currently led by the first native Kalkaran Grand Master in history. Kalkara possesses a moderately advanced economy, with the most revenue being generated from trade (via the strait), as well as tourism. It has an HDI around 0.88–0.91, with most of the wealth concentrated along the strait. Culturally, the nation remains highly religious and very traditional-minded in a lot of ways. Liberalization of the religion is constant but slow, and it is a huge part of Kalkara's politics. The nation welcomes the role of global crossroads but doesn't want other nations imposing their cultural mores. It is particularly wary of foreign commercial influences attempting to dominate the country because of its trade-focused economy.

Language

Kalki (Maltese) is the official language of the territory, but Ingerish (English) is used in governmental and administrative matters. In practice, Kalki is the dominant language of the territory and will be used on the map for most matters. Ingerish may find a minor presence for some commercial matters. Mappers not comfortable with working with the real-world Maltese language are still welcome to participate. Labels in the appropriate language can be added by another user.

Territorial layout

The strait is the primary focus of the territory. The largest urban area will occupy the location presently labeled on the map as the strait city. Its metropolitan area will straddle both sides of the strait itself. A motorway bridge and rail tunnel are expected to traverse the strait in the vicinity of the urban area. Other clusters of population will exist along the strait. A historic fortified city is likely on the northern shore of the strait at the easternmost promontory. A map for detailed organization will be produced later, as coordination with neighbors and planning of cities is more refined, but a preliminary sketch is available to provide a starting point for discussion. The southern interior should remain largely agricultural and with large swaths of forested lands. Dense urbanization should be largely confined to the gray area on the map, along the strait itself.

The preliminary sketch for the territory is shown here:

Things to be decided as the project unfolds

Those that participate in the mapping will be encouraged to help 'fill in the blanks' with history, government, and territorial development. For example, a list of historic grand masters will be needed to populate historic sites, manors, and municipal toponymy. Positions of other historically fortified settlements in the 'interior' of the country will also be needed. Other elements that need to be determined will be addressed as they arise with mappers that are active in the territory.

Discussion

All official discussion must take place on the forum and not offsite. If you have specific questions you are welcome to message KAB or Alessa privately.

• I wonder how populous the state would be. I believe something around 3-5.5 mln. should go well. Nevertheless, it would be quite pleasant to see another well-planned collab appearing on OGF. Sudo91 (talk) 08:18, 4 December 2022 (UTC)

Looks like a solid plan! The history fits perfectly with Arion's and we can sort out exactly how the two countries would have interacted once I figure out Arion's history, current status, and development in more detail. And of course, I'll contribute at least a little bit when the project opens :) --Lithium-Ion (talk) 18:27, 4 December 2022 (UTC)