In the Byzan world, most maps aren't maps. There's a few maps philosophers sussed out using arithmetic, but in the world of Byzan, the people of the Empire use an itinerary to find their way. You take the great Byzan roads. You take the road from the Capitals to Dactium, then there you take a boat to Khetepros, then you take the road to Gahamenzant, then you take the road to RiverKeep, then finally, there's the path to Kharmlund, largest 'home' of the Dwarves. There's not a map here, and without the roads, the average citizen has no fucking clue what any of that means as far as moving around on a map and have no concept of the world outside of the Great Roads of Byzan. In essence, the maps look like huge blocks of text, and so, if you were to consult a travel guide on how to get to Kharmlund from the Capitals, it would look like this:
CAPITALSIIIDACTIUMXIKHETEPROSBYNAVIGATORIGAHAMENZANTIRIVERKEEPIKHARMLUND
Which is why nobody outside of the military commanders really wonder why you take a boat to get to Khetepros when it's really, much faster to go there by land. Why?
That's where the only damned people that ever told the Empire to piss off and not be destroyed immediately live: the Kheevish.
Despite the name, Kheevish people are mostly just Men, but they have some Vosdht who despise the Empire(or flee its laws) there too, and the normal Dorfngir population as well, with a large Khargir that supports the walls and sewers of the city.
The people of Kheev are considered insane by Byzan standards, in that they lack nobles, landowners, and most importantly: slaves. Even the Dorfngir are paid in coin, which they just spend on supplies to do work on. While people flock to Kheev, many leave after a few years because while it seems like a paradise, the people of Kheev respect the Dwarf model and follow its ways - which means that most housing tenements are shared, and there's endless democracy about every little thing.
Councils, committees, meetings. It is joked in Byzan noble circles that the Kheevish learn to cast lots before they can speak or walk. To quote the famous Byzan historian Khairos, quoting the fourth Khulmar on the even of battle: "when the debate is over and nothing left for the people that discuss everything, they seek the opinions of beasts, slaves, women and children. If a matter is simple, it spirals into maddening oceans of complexity. If it is complicated, they shove forward with ignorance. Neither success or status can sate their appetite for banal debate. They are the only people on mundus to covet appearances and rhetoric over glory or plunder. They lie, they disavow, they table for later discussion or 'place a pin in that' and call it the lying name of "equality". They make an endless maze of pointless nonsense and call it freedom."
Being overly cautious or considerate will have you being called "Kheevish" in Byzan military and political circles. Typically taken as a sign of weakness, a lacking of having eyes on the prize, etc. Nothing is more Kheevish than treating women with respect - Byzan's upper crust is all about head games and power dynamics, so the only people you tend to respect are people and property of Byzan males you respect. In Kheev, women hold leadership positions - often mocked as a foolish idea - but Kheev hasn't been a target for Byzan generals on the make due to the constant and vicious losses they take from engaging on wars of conquest against Kheev and Kheev has made it clear - stop, and we'll stop.
The Warriors of Kheev are something else. Unlike the legionnaires of Byzan with their Manipular legions, the Warriors of Kheev are prone to using smaller numbers, usually horse-mounted and heavily armored, and being able to pull off feats and heroism that make Byzan from The Homeland look like the mundane efforts of a mediocre plantation night watchman.
The Kheevish Warrior holds no titles, controls no lands or lives in splendor of any kind. They train, work regular duties alongside their fellow Kheevish people - citizens, they are called, and they ride out to battle on mount or foot. There are men, there are woman, there are dwarves, elves, and every other kind of thinking creature, with people reporting satyrs and other things. Even the Dwarves - typically useless as soldiers as work is their lot and interest - find war as work - calling it "dumngir(doomingear)" or, "conflict-work" in their language, with the usual thegns called Dumnthegns. Most look the same once covered nearly head to toe in armor, and they wield banners that apparently form different 'clubs' or 'guilds' but neither of these words are useful in describing them. Any glory won is shared among these "parties" collectively and there's no special respect given to the warriors. Byzan ambassadors to Kheev have noted the overabundance of public works - signs of a good Khulmar, however they do not use this term for their leaders - but a complete lack of statues to mark anything - signs of weak Khulmars.
And what most Byzan historians, commentators and leadership avoid talking about is the great Mantling of the Heroes of Kheev - something not known to be done in many years.
The Great Siege came from the Second Khulmar - son of Scipio and the first Bearer of the Black Sword - the Black Sword could conjure forces - primitive, sure, but excellent supplements to the mighty Byzan legions, and the young Khulmar decided to make his mark as leader of the world by conquering Kheev, an enemy founded a few decades prior that had seen some success in fighting off Byzan Khulmaric legions.
There was a god back then, worshipped by some, name lost by many that was known for its opposition to the Calamity God, Pax. It was typically seen as a wanderer who brought comfort to the hopeless and dispossessed by war. It had a few champions, and they flocked to Kheev to help in what they expected to be the great destruction of the city, preparing to lead the survivors to places all over the world where a new home could be found.
The Kheevish repulsed them enough times that the Khulmar grew angry and ordered the building of a tower, to use its charting magics to destroy the city, despite warnings from the Scholars about the unstable nature of that strategy since the Faithless Wars.
What happened next, is not know. The champions banded together with some soldiers, 24 in all, and they prepared to resist the Tower's charting. Like every time Rhea is broken, we know nearly nothing of what happened, except that the charting did not work. All that can be firmed is the disappearance of the champions of that god and the warriors that sought to fight against the tower. They died helping the people of Kheev.
Then the Legions marched upon Kheev's walls and gates again, and despite some treachery from inside to open the gates for them, they were stopped by a single warrior, who declared himself a Champion of the Heroes of Kheev, and fought like a Champion would. The average Legionnaire couldn't resist, and the army was scattered. Worse, the traitors who sought to destroy Kheev were cursed into the Traitors of Kheev, a hundred evil souls bound into a burning flame, to be kept hidden in the city and brought out for religious festivals as a reminder of the cost of betraying what were clearly a new god, born from the old, the 24 Heroes of Kheev.
They have anointed six champions since that day, and each of them has protected Kheev from any attempts of Byzan, who simply re-directed passages in their Empire around the rebellious spot. To this day it's a beacon of freedom to Byzan slaves, subjects or people tired of Empire and war to live an easier, happier life. The city's destruction would be a great laurel to rest on anyone's head, and the occasional Byzan general...tries...and fails.
