History of Kalgachia/The 190s
The 190s marked the end of Kalgachia's foundational era, after the last Benacian territories left ungoverned by the collapse of Minarboria were re-occupied by various powers to complete the new continental order. Within Kalgachia, much of the leadership responsible for hewing the nation from the inert granite of the Octavian Mountains began to expire with age or proved themselves unfit to maintain their creations in ever-changing continental circumstances. With new leadership came a new mindset, as the preceding half-century's frenzy of infrastructural development matured into a more managerial attitude in affairs of state and society - traditionally the point at which Micran nations lose their animus and expire, or else sink into insipid cycles of manufactured conflict scarcely discernable from the banditry of the ungoverned Green. Discussions of this eternal challenge had occupied Kalgachia's younger leadership long before their emergence into the halls of power, and a partial answer came in the form of a rehabilitated Temporal Secessionism which sought to emulate the example of Tellia and Raikoth, among other territories, in attaining a perfect steady-state society seemingly immune to the twin perils of internal collapse and external aggression.
The Goldflation (190 AL - present)
Throughout the 190s, a slowdown in infrastructural investment by the state and church ran parallel to an emergent consensus that the committal of national resources to another wave of military expansion would only aid Kalgachia's adversaries by hollowing out the very socioeconomic order it was intended to protect. As a result the fruits of Kalgachi production were increasingly circulated among the population itself, most visibly in rural areas which had enjoyed only the most incremental improvements in living standard since the nation's austere naissance but were now propelled toward a more dignified parity with urban centres. The Reserve Bank of Kalgachia was soon faced with the challenge of maintaining the liquidity of the Kalgarrand as millions of Kalgachi citizens found themselves with a disposable income for the first time, dipping into a currency stock whose movements had hitherto been dominated by the financial heavyweights of the DLEP, the church and the unitary sector. The publication of the Micras Pint Index had revealed the eye-watering strength of Kalgarrand to the world even before the 190s, and now the increasing strength of the Millirand - the Kalgarrand's lowest minted denomination much-used by ordinary citizens - threatened to rot the very root-tips of the Kalgachi economy into disorganised barter or else sever them entirely. To prevent this, the Reserve Bank proceeded to mint and release an unspecified but substantial quantity of Kalgarrand into the national money supply over successive years, walking a fiduciary tightrope between providing liquidity to the domestic consumer and maintaining the purchasing power of the currency in foreign markets.
The latter imperative was, however, undermined by waves of rumour from Kasterburg that its founding Magistrate, Reginald de Montfort, was gravely ill and that the future viability of a sovereign Kasterburgish government (and consequently an off-continent trade route free of Raspur Pact influence) would be unavoidably compromised. To Kalgachia's ruling Council of Perfecti, this required the violently accelerated import of critical non-native raw materials and their stockpiling at levels capable of lasting into the multi-century range, to provide an economic bridge for Kalgachia's technological and social transition to full steady-state autarky[1]. Among other measures such as the construction of vast underground DLEP storage vaults and the agreement of port tarriffs with the ailing Kasterburgish government, the gold mines of Kalgachia were activated to full capacity for the first time since the Kalgarrand's initial minting - their smelters providing pure bullion to purchase as much raw material from the Bassarid Empire as possible before the consequent flooding of the latter's gold market drew the ire of its own bullion producers. The Octavian Import-Export Corporation, as prime facilitator and beneficiary of this logistical frenzy, was nonetheless gripped by the fatalistic assertion that its days were numbered and its managerial layer moved unabashedly to skim and sequester as much of the passing monies and assets as possible into their own emergency slush funds.
A New Chairman (191 AL)
In 191 AL a new patient was admitted to the Karymovka Sanatorium, a convalescent and palliative care facility of the DHPW. To the surprise of Kalgachia-watchers he was revealed to be none other than Xantus Yastreb - known officially as the widower of the DEO Pegadogue General and the father of the Lady Lieutenant of Oktavyan. Unofficially however, the rumour that he was the chairman of Kalgachia's ruling Council of Perfecti (and thus the Kalgachi head of state) had long held the status of an open secret. His invisibility in public life had seemed to prove this, but his sudden appearance at Karymovka with an unspecified chronic illness generated frenzied rumours about his alleged departure from the role and speculation upon the identity of his replacement.
The suspicion of the better-connected in Kalgachi society coalesced around the personage of Xantus' son Falcifer, who unlike his elder sister Rubina had not emerged into public office nor obtained any public profile whatsoever. His only reputed work had been for the Troglodyti, authoring lengthy screeds upon the subject of 'Applied Tektology' which had obtained a small cult following among the esoteric lodges and covens of Lapivril. This support had spread in time throughout the Kalgachi government, via Troglodyte initiates who enjoyed an unremarked presence in most of its offices. Critically it placed Falcifer in an ideal figurehead position after the purges and resignations of the late 180s, simultaneously finding himself with the invested hopes of a new political generation and offering a reassuring continuity in the eyes of the old guard due to his parentage.
True to the Temporal Secessionist creed, no abrupt changes were made to public policy after Falcifer's alleged gradutation to the Council of Perfecti, although the activity of the Octavian Import-Export Corporation in Keltia and Eura was observed to suddenly increase.
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References
- ^ the notion of continuing Kalgachia's off-continent trade under Raspur Pact terms, to any degree whatsoever, was so violently rejected that the five DLEP analysts who co-authored the most conciliatory scenario, all of previously impeccable standing, reportedly vanished from three seperate offices during a single lunch break and were never seen again. In the following days some two dozen of their associates were rounded up, committed to a church reformatory for five years of residential 're-cultivation' and barred from all future government service.
