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The supercontinent of Ge Plia was originally discovered in the 310th year of the Czar’s Calendar, by a science fleet of Sea Lions and Birds sent out from the confederations of the North Pole to observe a projected solar eclipse. They missed the eclipse, sadly, but the map they brought back made for an excellent consolation prize. News of the discovery spread through Au Gera, until then the only known continent, like wildfire, and the discovered lands were named for the Plia, the gods of legend who made their homes across the seas.

Any sense of reverence was short-lived, however; within four years, the Otter houses had established their first colony in the new lands as part of their race for economic dominance over each other. Further colonies sprung up in the following months, dotted along Ge Plia’s eastern coast- low-lying lands whose rainforests ran rich with crops and meat.

The Hyena Czar at the time was initially slow to grasp the threat; their enemies were finally distracted somewhere else and not bothering them, after all. But her advisors gradually convinced her that the Otters would one day harass them again, and with a stronger fleet if their colonies provided the wealth hoped for.

As a strategic counter, it became clear that the Hyenas would need to establish their own colony in Ge Plia. Open war in the rainforest was not viewed productive; however, the entire interior plateau of the continent had yet to be significantly explored, due to its height making the approach challenging. However, the Hyenas were more amenable than the Otters to asking for help...

And so, in the year 323, the Hyenas established Fort Anticode on a lake at the top of a waterfall spilling from Platea. Access to the fort, and the lakes and rivers beyond, was provided via a single Cat-built canal lock, spanning a greater elevation than had ever been seen in Au Gera. While the long cycle time needed to fill and discharge it limited access, it was sufficient to keep the fort supplied; the Cats stayed on for the long-term project of operating the lock and engineering a segmented, higher-throughput counterpart.

The move did not go unnoticed; in 325 the local Otter colonies attempted to lay siege to Fort Anticode, blocking supply ships. By then, though, Anticode had established agriculture fields in Toja Plia’s floodplain; furthermore, the rule of high ground proved itself again, as the Fort bombarded the besieging ships with near-impunity.

Despite the successful defense, it was clear that Anticode needed to be able to coordinate its protection- especially if the hopes to leverage a civilian workforce to extract resources were to come to fruition. As such, in the year 327, the Czar appointed Governess Kuva as the empire’s first political office in the hemisphere.