To be honest, I've always wondered if the Cagilan Empire was based on some sort of group of finnish gamers due to the fact that the Cagilan heraldry is the finnish national herald, Tara's is the one the planned "Finnish Kingdom" would have had, and Carelia's is what has been said it is. Oh and I think Coria has the lion too, but obviously that fits the whole "Empire" thing.
But yeah, the beer Karjala (Carelia) is awful, and only those who think Carlsberg is the best beer in the world should ever drink it.