Nekaichikoku

History

The history of the Nekaichi-hon ('People of Nekaichi') is shrouded in myths and uncertainties. Oral legends say that they were the childen of the sun and moon, given the islands they inhabit thousands of years ago by the gods themselves. Learned scholars dispute this, suggesting that it was in fact ancient elves that did so. No matter the truth, even the most die-hard human skeptic cannot reject the fact that they have had both a nation and an unbroken of chain of succession stretching over approximately 1,600 years, with more fragmentary evidence suggesting an even earlier era, ~600 BA.

Isolated from must of the mainland on their mist-enshrouded isles, the Nekaichi had only limited and sometimes intermittent contact with outsiders. The longest period of such coincided with the first major expansion of Atlanteans into the wider world. After the first few fumbling contacts the Nekaichi imposed strict edicts in order to keep their nation 'pure' of outside contamination. Foreign (eg, human) merchants were strictly limited to a tiny handful of trade ports and strictly regulated trade. This situation persisted until the early 20th century, when internal tensions and contradictions along with the creeping realization of how powerful the Atllantean nations had become eventually saw the old prohibitions swept aside. Decades of government reform on the Atlantean models brought Nekaichi into the industrial era.

The Nekaichi-hon

The Nekaichi-hon are indisputably related to the so-called 'catfolk' of Vespuccia, however there is distinctive physical diffeences. The typical Nekaichi is almost 30 centimeters shorter than a Vespuchian, comparable in stature to a human woman as opposed to a particularly brawny man.