Strike Commander Kim,
Within Khanid the influence of the Caldari State is seen everywhere. The Khanid people have always had a peculiar burden within Amarr society, to protect and defend the faith in both war and peace, through the use of espionage and raw force. This is the meaning of the color we carry on our hulls, temples and outposts, silver for the steel of the blade or gun, the pale light of the moon that shines in darkness and guided us in ancient times in our strike operations, and black for the way of death that is also of the Lord.
It is not appropriate for the True Amarr to have to deal with this sort of thing as rigorously as we do, theirs is the white of purity and gold of divine inspiration and the true religion itself. In this sense the Khanid are far more pragmatic, necessarily so, in their outlook on the world and its problems. As well as this we have a sense of strict and rational hierarchy, something which Caldari adheres to as well. The Caldari and the Khanid people took an immediate liking to each other, and some say that were it not for Khanid the alliance between our two great nations would not exist.
I am not one of those, but I must admit that we do have a special relationship that isn’t as obvious within Amarr proper itself. Visiting Khanid is said to be a surreal admixture of Caldari and Amarr culture. The reasons for this are varied. True Amarr focuses on their own identity intensely, as they have a tremendous theological responsibility to uphold - nothing less than perfection itself in the eyes of an all-powerful deity who communicates in very subtle ways.
Amarr did conduct raids into Caldari space, but these were quickly halted when our leaders figured out that the Caldari were both industrious and well equipped to take care of their own. The history books will say something about us respecting the Caldari’s moral fiber - and this is true - but the real reason is that no one would dare touch the Caldari is they were hardened fighters equal to the Khanid themselves. This is the core of the Caldari and Amarr synergy and friendship- we are both battle-hardened and are fairly well pleased with just honing our weapons and our culture. That culture is inseparable from our religious ideas.
I have found Caldari to be fanatically religious in some cases. We have quite a number of converts to our religion. The Amarr religion suits those who value the purpose and honor to be found in warfare, and the Caldari have always placed equal importance on schooling and martial proficiency. This is something Khanid finds agreeable as it is our way as well. The most venerated symbol of our religion within Amarr and Khanid is the Atash Amarr, or flame of the soldier, which is both a symbol of the fiery spirit of the Lord as well as a physical eternal flame kept at various temples around the Empire. The Caldari have invested some thought into the consideration of natural phenomenon as facets of the most high, in their own way of course. This veneration of natural elemental holiness and the focus on perfecting Man in the eyes of God rather than focusing on God himself is a trait that the Khanid - even the royal family - respects and is a view of our religion through a lense which the Caldari could appreciate. It isn’t different from True Amarr religion at all, but it’s a piece of a much larger whole where we approach the vastness of deity from a different angle than is normally preferred within Domain or other Amarr proper regions.
Coupled with the threat to Caldari from an extremely degenerate and unethical Gallente Federation, it became obvious during the initial contact with these lost brethren that we could no longer operate under the same Reclamation procedures that failed us in the war with the Jovians and Minmatar. It was taken as a sign from God by many of us, myself included, that times were changing.
Subtlety and cunning are both valued by the State and by the Kingdom. I’ve met many True Amarr who didn’t like this sort of thing and left it to the experts instead - namely, me. I rarely come out of retirement anymore to manage these affairs but I can assure you that Khanid still has spies everywhere, as does the Caldari State. This is something that both Empires can admire about each other, in general, at least through those of us who knew that side of the wars.
