Crau Kan
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Gimei's ruthless warlord
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 13 Jun 2020, 00:34.
[comments] ogalgehistorypoliticsleadersreligionbiography Before Crau Kan
For centuries, Gimei was a confederation of guilds. Each village had a few specialized trades and exchanged resources with other villages. In the capital, the most influential guild were the stone workers. They built walls and forts out of stone, providing invaluable protection. The leaders of the stone guild became very wealthy and influential. When they became too old to carry stones, they would become priests. These priests had students outside of the guild. Eventually, every village had a priest to govern it.
Rise to Power
Crau Kan (Old Gimei: [cɾɑu kɑn], English: [tʃɹaʊ kɑːn]) inherited the leadership of a guild which controlled the mining and forging of iron. Iron had just started to be used by Gimeians as an alternative to bronze, so Crau Kan found himself as the deciding factor in a very lucrative trade. He married into the stone guild, bringing more connections with which he could expand his influence. He designed iron tools to sell to the stone workers. The new tools proved to be much better than the stone guild's copper tools, allowing for masonry that was faster and of higher quality. He assembled his own militia equipped with the latest iron technology. Combined with stone walls and forts, he had the strongest offense and defense. He either demanded loyalty from surrounding villages or conquered them. Crau Kan became the first supreme leader of Gimei.
Ideology and Policies
Crau Kan was not without his opponents, particularly among the priests. They valued peace and didn't want to be so subservient to a warlord. He imprisoned priests and village leaders who opposed him. He created a cult of personality. He was a powerful spirit sent to Gimei to protect it from evil spirits. As his power grew, his punishments became more strict, involving public executions and torture. Any person of authority who spoke out against him could have a hole driven into their tongue by a hot iron rod.
This was a turning point in Gimeian religion. Previously, all spirits were seen as equally benevolent and capable as the others. They were faceless, nameless spirits that inhabited the natural world. Crau Kan and his priests taught about a hierarchy of spirits. The strongest spirits were in the form of tigers, elephants, and dragons. The strongest of them all was Crau Kan himself. They taught about good and evil spirits that fought each other. This new emphasis on good vs evil played into his militaristic actions. He expanded Gimei's borders to double the original size.
Gimeian Currency
Workers in Gimei eventually switched to iron tools. Crau Kan melted the copper tools and made Gimei's first standardized currency. The Knipu, the "copper egg", was a flat copper oval about 3 inches long, 2 inches wide, and 1/8 inches thick (8 cm x 6 cm x 0.5 cm) with a hole at end so they can be stored on strings. Previously, Gimeians had to trade random objects.
Personal Life
"Crau Kan" was a self-proclaimed title, meaning "iron man" in Old Gimeian. His real name was kept a secret, but considering his family worked with iron, it wouldn't be far-fetched if his surname really was "Crau". He was born around 250 BC. His father was the leader of the iron guild and gave him leadership after dying around 220 BC. At the age of 20, Crau Kan married the daughter of the stone guild's leader. He named his oldest son Crau Pur (iron tiger). Crau Kan was very fond of visual arts and carved into stone and wood as a hobby. He and his family lived in a fortified mansion in the capital with stone walls and a wooden roof with ceramic tiles. Crau Kan's family made up the Crau dynasty, which ruled until 50 BC. ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
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