Kislev

Kislev is a technologically advanced country located on the snowy northern part of Ignas. It is an industrial country, with Gear factories carved into the side of the northern mountain chain. Its current leader is Kaiser Sigmund.

The capital city of Kislev is the metropolis of Nortune, one of the largest cities on the planet.

History

The Beginnings of Kislev

The foundations of Kislev start in 9501, after the Shevat-Solaris War. Discovering an ancient vessel on an Ignas battlefield, Roni Fatima had it excavated and ordered his subordinates to begin repairing it, hoping to make use of it for the upcoming battle with Solaris.^[1][2][3]

As the giant vessel was repaired, a small settlement developed around it. Called Nortune, it centered around artifacts, trade, and the exchange of information. When an ancient reactor was excavated, it was put to use as a source of energy, allowing the town to expand into a city.

At some point the ancient vessel that Nortune had grown around was sealed, and the site became the center of the Central Administrative District, where it was largely forgotten about on the surface, save for some historical documents. Though forgotten by history, during Xenogears the vessel would be rediscovered and incorporated into the Yggdrasil IV.^[3]

Solaris noticed Nortune's rise and planted a lower level branch of the Ethos there. Called the Committee, it served to manipulate the newly formed government and civilians, as well as install people sympathetic to Solaris's plans in places of power.^[2]

In 9513, the Kislev Federated Nation was formed. Each part of the Committee oversaw different portions of the nation, though at some point their attention increasingly focused on Nortune at the expense of the satellite towns and their oppressed inhabitants.^[4]

The Beginning of the Kislev-Aveh War

Around 300 years ago, war broke out between Kislev and Aveh, with the actual causes lost to history.^[5] In 9715, Kislev issued Aveh a declaration of battle lines.^[6]

Due to Kislev and Aveh's militaries starting out on equal footing in terms of power, the war ignited a race to excavate ruins in order to gain the technology needed to tip the scales in favor of one country over another.^[5] In this arena, Kislev gained a slight upper hand over Aveh, due to the number of engineers and amount of excavated technology.

Due to the Limiters Solaris placed in people after the Day of Collapse, any Gears that had been excavated could not be used, much less understood by the science of that era. Instead, large vessels like cannons were used.^[7]

At some unknown point in time, Grahf and the Executioner loaned Kislev a Gear named Weltall. In studying it, Kislev's technology advanced tremendously.^[8]

Kislev, the Military Empire

When Sigmund rose to the ranks of Kaiser at the age of 30, he used the military to oust the Ethos Committee from power, gaining control of the government. However, he did not drive out the Committee members in charge of handling and managing Battling, which was needed to bolster Kislev's economy and military, as well as provide entertainment to lull and manipulate civilians. Instead, Sigmund allowed a segment called Branch B to remain to oversee it.^[9][4]

However, the meddling of the Committee did not stop with their ousting.^[10] In 9969, the Committee secretly had the primary physician administer drugs to an expecting Empress Anne that changed her unborn son's genetic makeup.^[6] When Ricardo Banderas was born, he had much more overt demi-human features than that of his father. The Ethos associates banished Rico and Anne from the capital and told Sigmund, who was out on the front lines of Aveh at the time, that his wife and child had died.^[11]

As the Committee gained more influence in later years, they began stirring prejudice against demi-humans, hoping to stir unrest in a population where many had demi-human blood. However, their campaign did not give them the results they had wanted, and it remained at a standstill by the time of Xenogears.^[9]

The War Reaches a Breaking Point

Around 9979, the two countries were beginning to grow weary of the war. Solaris remedied this with the re-introduction of Gears through the Ethos branches in each country, replacing the large vessels that had been commonplace before. This reestablished the balance of power between the two countries' militaries, reigniting tensions and prolonging the war, as Solaris had planned.^[12]

In 9985, Aveh's military presence began to weaken once more. Edbart IV, king of Aveh, sought out a possible peace treaty.^[13]

However, two years later, in 9987, King Edbart IV and most of his family were killed in a coup d'etat by the Minister Shakhan. Shakhan allied instead with Gebler, Solaris's military force, intending on using their assistance to invade and conquer Kislev.

The Mysterious Gear

In 9988, Gebler established a headquarters in Bledavik, Aveh, under Shakhan's rule, strengthening Aveh's military force. In response, Kislev began to research and produce weapons that could stand up against Aveh's new technology, such as tanks.^[12]

In order to restore Kislev's technological advantage over Aveh, Sigmund ordered the development of a new generation of Gears. To help with this, the Executioner and Grahf loaned Kislev Weltall once again. It was studied at the Goliath Factory, where the large battleship Goliath was also being constructed.^[8][14]

Xenogears

Elehayym Van Houten leads a top-secret mission to steal Weltall from Kislev.^[15] Fleeing into Aveh airspace, one of her squad's Gears is shot down by the pursing Kislev forces. The shrapnel from the explosion injures her Gear, forcing the squad to land in Lahan Village, leading to the events that lead to Fei Fong Wong discovering Weltall and Id destroying Lahan.

As Fei flees with Citan, they become involved in the conflict between Aveh and Kislev, due to both countries wanting Weltall, as well as Bart and his crew. Fei and Citan are drawn into Bart's crew and help him strike back against Shakhan.

In order to draw defense forces away from Bledavik, part of Bart's forces pose as Kislev forces and make a raid on the border with Nisan, making it look like Kislev was intending to invade Aveh, while Fei leads a group of Gears from Bart's crew to the Aveh-Kislev border in order to keep Vanderkam and the Dora at bay. Fei's group is initially successful, but after Grahf shows up and offers Vanderkam power, Fei is helpless as he watches the entire unit be slaughtered by the Dora. The trauma from watching the crew die causes Id to emerge.

The Kaiser's Visitor

In the royal capital, Kaiser Sigmund plays the organ as one of his soldiers enters to deliver some news. As Sigmund continues playing, the soldier reports that "the Gear" had been recovered at the area Sigmund had requested, along with its unconscious pilot. They suspected information was leaked to Aveh due to all the Gears except Weltall were destroyed at Lahan. However, when an analysis was done on Weltall's combat data, it was delayed by some black boxes, due to the Gear's stock body originating from Grahf's group.

The soldier then asks if they should begin an assault on Aveh immediately, and Sigmund objects, saying that while it would be easy to take down Aveh, Solaris would simply find another puppet ruler. Kislev would be low on resources and vulnerable to attack. In the end, he felt, they would gain nothing by doing anything now.

Later, the Executioner arrives in an Ezekiel Class Battleship and gives them a Gatekeeper, which would allow them to go wherever and whenever they pleased. Sigmund asks if Grahf was around, and the Executioner states he was busy, and that she was sent in his place. The Kaiser then asks why they help Kislev, and who they actually were. The Executioner answers that she simply wished to "observe what is in store for the world" and that there were many things they needed to know, but she could only guide them.

When asked if the Executioner wanted anything in return, she thinks about it and discreetly whispers a request into Sigmund's ear. After she returns with her group, Sigmund reveals to his assistant her odd request: to transfer the Gear and pilot they had just captured to the 'D Block', which is reserved for criminals. Sigmund is confused as to why, but, since Kislev owed them a favor, he orders it to be done.

Fei Wakes in Nortune

Fei wakes up in a doctor's bunker, who tells him that he had been unconscious for four days. He had been brought in by the Kislev army, which the doctor mused must have made Fei "no ordinary criminal".

Four prisoners come in and demand Fei be handed over to them for his 'Baptismal Ceremony', and the doctor objects, but is powerless to do much else. When they threaten the doctor, Fei agrees to go with them to see 'the Champ'.

He meets Rico and Hammer.

Fei sees Elly escorting the Hecht in her Gear, the Vierge. In the Weltall, he intercepts and forces her to dock onto the rooftops of Nortune, where he shows her the city on fire, making her to come to grips with the costs of Solaris's actions. Leaving Elly there, Fei rejoins Rico, in order to deal with the Hecht's pilot, Dominia.

After Fei and Rico defeat Dominia, the two struggle to change the Hecht's trajectory, when Elly suddenly joins them, allowing the three to shift it beyond the initial target. When the impact points towards Nortune's residential district, their Gears overheat, forcing Fei and Rico to let go. Elly refuses to let go, redirecting the ship away from the city and nearly sacrificing herself if not for the efforts of Grahf.

In order to escape for good, Fei's group decides to steal the Goliath in the Goliath Factory. They do so, but Goliath sinks into the sea after being shot down by the Yggdrasil, due to Bart mistaking them as Kislev forces.

Most of Nortune was destroyed by the massive Ft. Hurricane just prior to the end of Karellen's Project Noah.

Etymology

Kislev is the third month of the civil year and the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar.

Trivia

• In Xenoblade 3, many elements of the nation of Keves have a resemblance to Kislev, as does their war with the nation of Agnus.

Gallery

Nortune A-block civilians.

Sketch of a Kislev Army Tank.

Sketch of Nortune's D-block.

Sketch of the cliffs outside of Nortune.