Insane_Panda
Deity
I shall throw my hat in the ring for Ferman!
End of Empires - N3S III
- Thread starter North King
- Start date
Book of Converts, Book of Martyrs and Common Prayer Book of the Seshweay.
Convertor of Unity.
There are two ends designed for man; first, the satisfaction of mortal desires, the happiness of his life, through the use of his mortal actions, which foreshadows mans eventual death and return to the Ancestors, then a life as man were meant to live it before the fetters of tyranny reduced his mortal station to that of servant. We have freed from the fetters of ignorance, a slavery all of its own, many, from the Kardil to the Styr. It is therefore now the religious duty of the Republic as the Ancestors living manifestation to protect the sanctity and independence of our religious brethren. It is the belief of the Unitary Prime that we must strive for more. That instead of being divided the curse of the free that we must unite and protect each other from the vagaries of fate and the attentions of tyrants.
Our Lords and Ladies of the past understand that divisions may happen, for were they not once divided into warring factions? They however will not forgive us the same mistake, solid in our knowledge of their mistakes; do we not follow their precedent? We must therefore strive for closer relations and a closer understanding between our peoples. It is not necessary to say that our Lords and Ladies would desire that the followers of the Ancestors should be close; they said so and made it clear that, that was the case. It is however for a leap of faith to maintain that the Republic should be prepared to defend her co-religionists against aggression, and that is the case it takes but a momentary examination of the words and deeds of the Ancestors to decide this is so.
The Financial System of the Republic:
It is said widely and held widely that the capital systems of the Republic were the most advanced in the world and that the government could borrow at rates of 4% rates not seen for a great many years. In the first instance this is the truth, in the second perhaps a slight flight of fancy, but records do exist which show in detail that the Republic was capable of raising funds at between 5-6% and was furthermore unique it its ability to hold this debt over a long period. The Republic in the first 100 years or its existence managed to borrow fully a quarter of its income, the result of a strong and vital mercantile community. It was these injections that allowed The Republic to return the Delta to life after almost 200 years of neglect, the result of the occupation of Seshweay by the Empire of Sesh, the general collapse of civilization around the Bronze Age and the formation of the Second Empire of Sesh, the so called “Empire of Dreams”.
The strength of the Republics finances lies with its broad based taxation base, instead of a narrow taxation base like the Triuli Empire which was reliant almost without exception on trade or the barbarous Bahra to the south which relied in large part of the slaving of others on the land. The Republics broad base was founded on the principles of governance of the early Republic, realising that the weakness of Old Sesh had been because of its reliance on irrigated agriculture, and had thus been vulnerable to collapse and invasion by the Satarai. The lesson was reinforced when the First Empire of Sesh collapsed owing to a minor change in climate and a general degradation of the soil of the River Sesh. The Founders laid down that the Republic must never rely solely on one or the other, and must instead diversify; this was achieved relatively simply when refugees fleeing the collapsing Empire found themselves face to face with the inhabitants of the Exiled States. Agricultural traditions from the Empire found fertile soil in the underutilized land of the Exiled States which had long relied on the fertile seas, instead of the ground. With the founding of the Republic it became patently obvious that both traditions could provide the Republic with a steady flow of revenues, which each system in isolation could not provide, trade was subject merely to the temper of the sea and weather, fishing the same, while on the other hand agriculture was not subject to the vagaries of the ocean but instead was subject to the law of the land and profited from weather which damaged the trade and fishing of the sea.
This broad ability to fish, trade and farm allowed the Republic’s finances not to shift with the winds, assured of a reasonably stable set of finances; the Republic began to borrow to fund infrastructure and expansion projects. The merchants were happy to lend money to the state, since in the whole period of its history it had never defaulted, nor had there ever been a serious risk of such a thing happening. The Republic also innovated with its lending, merchants constantly seeking new trade routes were induced to lend the Republic money in the course of its expansions at discounted rates under the provision that factors of the merchants were to be included in the initial manifests for the colony, and that providing the colony was safe that a party was to be formed out of the soldiers escorting the colony in order that expeditions could be made. To the ever hungry merchants of the Republic who by this stage were the dominant trading force in the North it proved irresistible, the state began to finance often with borrowed money colonies, some didn’t generate a profit for the Republic, but this was mitigated by the ability of the Republic to shrug it of because of its strong fiscal base. Many did generate huge profits, and this helped spur and increasingly high pitched flow of income into the Republics coffers from those who grew wealthy from the newly established colonies and in turn pass money into the Republics coffers.
The major issue for the Republic was not capital, it had access to that in abundance, it was in finding enough people colonize, many in the well established and wealthy Delta and former Exiled States were loathe to move, it fell to the Ti-Sesh to settle and settle they did, it is a well known story that the endless flows of those fleeing Bahra crippled its agricultural sector in the North. The Bahra were simply not equipped to farm, nor had they previously had cause to do so, living as they did of the labours of the Ti-Sesh this proved to be a mistake. Weighing up the choices of spending more years under scarcely educated barbarians, with no thought to the law, scarcely intelligent enough to realise that the Republic did not have kings and openly wondering how it functioned so well without them. They left, in droves, it is estimated that fully 70% of the population left to the colonies of the Republic, in the early years before the expansion they ended up in Sies, while they were still Sesh they had by this time developed a slightly different view of the world from the Exiled States Sesh and Delta Sesh. They were hardened by years of domination by foreigners, hated them, and were religiously fanatical even compared to the faithfulness of the other Sesh. What was most different was their absolute unabashed hatred of the Arkage and Bahra, it became common for the third of the Senate which were from Ti-Sesh to move motions for a declaration of war against Bahra, these were voted down by the other two thirds and while they understood the basis they could not in good conscience do such a thing. The Bahran’s had given their word that Sesh in Bahra would not mishandled, but it was common knowledge that if that had been the case the Republic would have declared war, it was common at the time to believe that even a credible rumour would have seen the Republic go to war for her kin.
This did not happen in the scope of this chapter, it was found that the Ti-Sesh with their military talents, determination to strike out and find land that was like their homeland were perfect colonizers. It was also perhaps an act of divine providence that they were found to like the Kardil and Styr, the principal allies of the Republic in the North. They also found that the Neruss shared many similar leanings and hailed from lands broadly similar to Ti-Sesh, joint expeditions were mounted to settle the vast empty areas which surrounded the Republic. The barbarians in the region were offered citizenship of the Republic if they were found to be helpful, and many were. The Republic was fortunate to pick its native allies well, they used native allies existing enmities towards hostile groups to assist in the accumulation of land. The Republic found its superior armies had little trouble dealing with the barbarians, and that once they had exhibited their powers their allies were loathe to be rid of them convinced of their own safety in alliance. Armies of the Republic fought in this period alongside the Kardil and Styr, as well as setting up colonies, the armies in these cases tended to consist largely of Ti-Sesh funded by their wealthier brothers in the homelands. Settlements began widely appear in huge areas, vast territories were bought under the Republics control, nominally at first it took time for the officials to catch up with the settlers but when they did they found well organized and well prepared colonists eager to show the fruits of their labour. They also welcomed the military assistance of the Republics regular armies, which set up border forts and relived the settlers of the burden of defending themselves all the time.
In this way the Empire expanded into the fertile areas between the Delta and the Exiled States, eventually to be named New Ti-Sesh, it began to build settlements near the Styr who profited greatly from the safety that the Republican Navy offered and the willingness of the Republican Army to assist its ally in battle. The Ti-Sesh themselves near Styr, formed their own militia companies, and were often in this period actively assisting the Styr, for a barbarian raid in Styr was a threat to the rapidly forming cities of the Province of Aiya’se as it was soon to be know. The Ti-Sesh with the largest contingent of non Ti-Sesh established settlements which became cities quite quickly (although small compared to the wonders of Seis, and the new wealth of Pa) near the Kardil, forming their own militia companies, with the support of a contingent of soldiers from the Republican Army and the ships of the Republican navy soon became a force of their own in the region, Kardil profited greatly from the increasing tide of ships that put into its ports and from the safety that the Republics presence offered it.
Another initiative which began to pay dividends for the Republic was its massive ship building efforts; Mahid already famed for its military dockyards was soon churning out Merchants ships on a scale never seen before in the Republic, owing to the fine and cheap timber flowing from Styr, and the vast expansion of the Republics trade networks. The Republics system for shipbuilding subsidies was quite advanced; first a prospective shipbuilder would have to specify the size and type of his ship, the appropriate codex would be bought out and the subsidy offered for the construction of such a ship would be calculated, one this was complete the shipbuilder would then have to present the plans or as was often the case the master shipbuilder who was in command of the laying, the relevant official then would specify what additions would need to be added on to qualify, fighting decks were common as were other offensive additions, once this extra cost was calculated the subsidy amount was handed over. This provided a means for shipbuilders to build ships much quicker with the subsidy being quite significant, and it also allowed the Republic to call on a large force of vessels in the advent of war, while not suited for the battle itself the smaller were found to be useful in flanking operations, while the larger served as transports, this combined with the training that the marine training that the Republican army had to go through proved to be quite an effective combination. All that was needed to assemble a fleet was ship which had used the subsidy, virtually the entire mercantile fleet of the Republic, and the Republican Army, this alone gave the Republic a means of dealing with pirate attacks. It also greatly increased the income of the Republic, the increased number of ships created a veritable torrent of new taxation inflows which paid for the scheme in its entirety, it was effectively budget neutral.
Maritime insurance and underwriting also grew, vessels were able to secure insurance on as little as 5% of their cargo, travel was safe, and correspondingly the risk was little. While the Triuli dominated the South they made few inroads in the far north, geographic distance only played a small part, insurance alone was a powerful contributing factor to the success of the Republics merchant fleet. Trade by nature was a risky venture, but the risk was much reduced, it was possible for a prospective merchant to purchase a vessel for not a huge amount estimated at an average family’s wages for a few years, get the subsidy, use it to purchase a cargo, insure the vessel and run one of the many frequented routes always safe in the knowledge that other vessels of the Republics were not to far away. The Republic had no major competitors, the Northern peoples were too small to seriously threaten the Republic, and piracy was dealt with harshly, the Republic also had no enemies for those she traded with had no reason to hate her, why would one have.
Irrigation also attracted a significant amount of money from private investors, the Republic had paid large amounts to set up the initial infrastructure, but it was up to the merchants of the Republic to invest more in it, and they did huge sums opening up new areas to crops, which was helped in no small part by the adoption of low water using varieties of crops which suited the outer areas away from the main irrigation and diversion channels. Many were rumoured to have come from the newly opened up route to Krato, and this is in part backed up by the evidence native plants in Krato even know grace our plates although far removed from their ancient ancestors.
Chapter 2:
OOC: Before anyone mistakes me for being peaceful check Seshweay’s history, only me and NWAG can boast we have fought every single update barring one and NWAG fought a splinter of my culture in one of them. Nobody else I don’t think can boast such a long and bloody record on land... or such a successful one either... so don’t be my next target please I’m starting to like peace
Convertor of Unity.
There are two ends designed for man; first, the satisfaction of mortal desires, the happiness of his life, through the use of his mortal actions, which foreshadows mans eventual death and return to the Ancestors, then a life as man were meant to live it before the fetters of tyranny reduced his mortal station to that of servant. We have freed from the fetters of ignorance, a slavery all of its own, many, from the Kardil to the Styr. It is therefore now the religious duty of the Republic as the Ancestors living manifestation to protect the sanctity and independence of our religious brethren. It is the belief of the Unitary Prime that we must strive for more. That instead of being divided the curse of the free that we must unite and protect each other from the vagaries of fate and the attentions of tyrants.
Our Lords and Ladies of the past understand that divisions may happen, for were they not once divided into warring factions? They however will not forgive us the same mistake, solid in our knowledge of their mistakes; do we not follow their precedent? We must therefore strive for closer relations and a closer understanding between our peoples. It is not necessary to say that our Lords and Ladies would desire that the followers of the Ancestors should be close; they said so and made it clear that, that was the case. It is however for a leap of faith to maintain that the Republic should be prepared to defend her co-religionists against aggression, and that is the case it takes but a momentary examination of the words and deeds of the Ancestors to decide this is so.
The Financial System of the Republic:
It is said widely and held widely that the capital systems of the Republic were the most advanced in the world and that the government could borrow at rates of 4% rates not seen for a great many years. In the first instance this is the truth, in the second perhaps a slight flight of fancy, but records do exist which show in detail that the Republic was capable of raising funds at between 5-6% and was furthermore unique it its ability to hold this debt over a long period. The Republic in the first 100 years or its existence managed to borrow fully a quarter of its income, the result of a strong and vital mercantile community. It was these injections that allowed The Republic to return the Delta to life after almost 200 years of neglect, the result of the occupation of Seshweay by the Empire of Sesh, the general collapse of civilization around the Bronze Age and the formation of the Second Empire of Sesh, the so called “Empire of Dreams”.
The strength of the Republics finances lies with its broad based taxation base, instead of a narrow taxation base like the Triuli Empire which was reliant almost without exception on trade or the barbarous Bahra to the south which relied in large part of the slaving of others on the land. The Republics broad base was founded on the principles of governance of the early Republic, realising that the weakness of Old Sesh had been because of its reliance on irrigated agriculture, and had thus been vulnerable to collapse and invasion by the Satarai. The lesson was reinforced when the First Empire of Sesh collapsed owing to a minor change in climate and a general degradation of the soil of the River Sesh. The Founders laid down that the Republic must never rely solely on one or the other, and must instead diversify; this was achieved relatively simply when refugees fleeing the collapsing Empire found themselves face to face with the inhabitants of the Exiled States. Agricultural traditions from the Empire found fertile soil in the underutilized land of the Exiled States which had long relied on the fertile seas, instead of the ground. With the founding of the Republic it became patently obvious that both traditions could provide the Republic with a steady flow of revenues, which each system in isolation could not provide, trade was subject merely to the temper of the sea and weather, fishing the same, while on the other hand agriculture was not subject to the vagaries of the ocean but instead was subject to the law of the land and profited from weather which damaged the trade and fishing of the sea.
This broad ability to fish, trade and farm allowed the Republic’s finances not to shift with the winds, assured of a reasonably stable set of finances; the Republic began to borrow to fund infrastructure and expansion projects. The merchants were happy to lend money to the state, since in the whole period of its history it had never defaulted, nor had there ever been a serious risk of such a thing happening. The Republic also innovated with its lending, merchants constantly seeking new trade routes were induced to lend the Republic money in the course of its expansions at discounted rates under the provision that factors of the merchants were to be included in the initial manifests for the colony, and that providing the colony was safe that a party was to be formed out of the soldiers escorting the colony in order that expeditions could be made. To the ever hungry merchants of the Republic who by this stage were the dominant trading force in the North it proved irresistible, the state began to finance often with borrowed money colonies, some didn’t generate a profit for the Republic, but this was mitigated by the ability of the Republic to shrug it of because of its strong fiscal base. Many did generate huge profits, and this helped spur and increasingly high pitched flow of income into the Republics coffers from those who grew wealthy from the newly established colonies and in turn pass money into the Republics coffers.
The major issue for the Republic was not capital, it had access to that in abundance, it was in finding enough people colonize, many in the well established and wealthy Delta and former Exiled States were loathe to move, it fell to the Ti-Sesh to settle and settle they did, it is a well known story that the endless flows of those fleeing Bahra crippled its agricultural sector in the North. The Bahra were simply not equipped to farm, nor had they previously had cause to do so, living as they did of the labours of the Ti-Sesh this proved to be a mistake. Weighing up the choices of spending more years under scarcely educated barbarians, with no thought to the law, scarcely intelligent enough to realise that the Republic did not have kings and openly wondering how it functioned so well without them. They left, in droves, it is estimated that fully 70% of the population left to the colonies of the Republic, in the early years before the expansion they ended up in Sies, while they were still Sesh they had by this time developed a slightly different view of the world from the Exiled States Sesh and Delta Sesh. They were hardened by years of domination by foreigners, hated them, and were religiously fanatical even compared to the faithfulness of the other Sesh. What was most different was their absolute unabashed hatred of the Arkage and Bahra, it became common for the third of the Senate which were from Ti-Sesh to move motions for a declaration of war against Bahra, these were voted down by the other two thirds and while they understood the basis they could not in good conscience do such a thing. The Bahran’s had given their word that Sesh in Bahra would not mishandled, but it was common knowledge that if that had been the case the Republic would have declared war, it was common at the time to believe that even a credible rumour would have seen the Republic go to war for her kin.
This did not happen in the scope of this chapter, it was found that the Ti-Sesh with their military talents, determination to strike out and find land that was like their homeland were perfect colonizers. It was also perhaps an act of divine providence that they were found to like the Kardil and Styr, the principal allies of the Republic in the North. They also found that the Neruss shared many similar leanings and hailed from lands broadly similar to Ti-Sesh, joint expeditions were mounted to settle the vast empty areas which surrounded the Republic. The barbarians in the region were offered citizenship of the Republic if they were found to be helpful, and many were. The Republic was fortunate to pick its native allies well, they used native allies existing enmities towards hostile groups to assist in the accumulation of land. The Republic found its superior armies had little trouble dealing with the barbarians, and that once they had exhibited their powers their allies were loathe to be rid of them convinced of their own safety in alliance. Armies of the Republic fought in this period alongside the Kardil and Styr, as well as setting up colonies, the armies in these cases tended to consist largely of Ti-Sesh funded by their wealthier brothers in the homelands. Settlements began widely appear in huge areas, vast territories were bought under the Republics control, nominally at first it took time for the officials to catch up with the settlers but when they did they found well organized and well prepared colonists eager to show the fruits of their labour. They also welcomed the military assistance of the Republics regular armies, which set up border forts and relived the settlers of the burden of defending themselves all the time.
In this way the Empire expanded into the fertile areas between the Delta and the Exiled States, eventually to be named New Ti-Sesh, it began to build settlements near the Styr who profited greatly from the safety that the Republican Navy offered and the willingness of the Republican Army to assist its ally in battle. The Ti-Sesh themselves near Styr, formed their own militia companies, and were often in this period actively assisting the Styr, for a barbarian raid in Styr was a threat to the rapidly forming cities of the Province of Aiya’se as it was soon to be know. The Ti-Sesh with the largest contingent of non Ti-Sesh established settlements which became cities quite quickly (although small compared to the wonders of Seis, and the new wealth of Pa) near the Kardil, forming their own militia companies, with the support of a contingent of soldiers from the Republican Army and the ships of the Republican navy soon became a force of their own in the region, Kardil profited greatly from the increasing tide of ships that put into its ports and from the safety that the Republics presence offered it.
Another initiative which began to pay dividends for the Republic was its massive ship building efforts; Mahid already famed for its military dockyards was soon churning out Merchants ships on a scale never seen before in the Republic, owing to the fine and cheap timber flowing from Styr, and the vast expansion of the Republics trade networks. The Republics system for shipbuilding subsidies was quite advanced; first a prospective shipbuilder would have to specify the size and type of his ship, the appropriate codex would be bought out and the subsidy offered for the construction of such a ship would be calculated, one this was complete the shipbuilder would then have to present the plans or as was often the case the master shipbuilder who was in command of the laying, the relevant official then would specify what additions would need to be added on to qualify, fighting decks were common as were other offensive additions, once this extra cost was calculated the subsidy amount was handed over. This provided a means for shipbuilders to build ships much quicker with the subsidy being quite significant, and it also allowed the Republic to call on a large force of vessels in the advent of war, while not suited for the battle itself the smaller were found to be useful in flanking operations, while the larger served as transports, this combined with the training that the marine training that the Republican army had to go through proved to be quite an effective combination. All that was needed to assemble a fleet was ship which had used the subsidy, virtually the entire mercantile fleet of the Republic, and the Republican Army, this alone gave the Republic a means of dealing with pirate attacks. It also greatly increased the income of the Republic, the increased number of ships created a veritable torrent of new taxation inflows which paid for the scheme in its entirety, it was effectively budget neutral.
Maritime insurance and underwriting also grew, vessels were able to secure insurance on as little as 5% of their cargo, travel was safe, and correspondingly the risk was little. While the Triuli dominated the South they made few inroads in the far north, geographic distance only played a small part, insurance alone was a powerful contributing factor to the success of the Republics merchant fleet. Trade by nature was a risky venture, but the risk was much reduced, it was possible for a prospective merchant to purchase a vessel for not a huge amount estimated at an average family’s wages for a few years, get the subsidy, use it to purchase a cargo, insure the vessel and run one of the many frequented routes always safe in the knowledge that other vessels of the Republics were not to far away. The Republic had no major competitors, the Northern peoples were too small to seriously threaten the Republic, and piracy was dealt with harshly, the Republic also had no enemies for those she traded with had no reason to hate her, why would one have.
Irrigation also attracted a significant amount of money from private investors, the Republic had paid large amounts to set up the initial infrastructure, but it was up to the merchants of the Republic to invest more in it, and they did huge sums opening up new areas to crops, which was helped in no small part by the adoption of low water using varieties of crops which suited the outer areas away from the main irrigation and diversion channels. Many were rumoured to have come from the newly opened up route to Krato, and this is in part backed up by the evidence native plants in Krato even know grace our plates although far removed from their ancient ancestors.
Chapter 2:
OOC: Before anyone mistakes me for being peaceful check Seshweay’s history, only me and NWAG can boast we have fought every single update barring one and NWAG fought a splinter of my culture in one of them. Nobody else I don’t think can boast such a long and bloody record on land... or such a successful one either... so don’t be my next target please I’m starting to like peace
Cuivienen
Deity
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2003
- Messages
- 8,011
Lend me your strength, fellow traveler,
Lend me your power and your might.
Give me your blessing, fellow traveler,
Give me your wealth and your bounty.
Tell me your knowledge, fellow traveler,
Say unto me your wisdom and your insight.
For I am lost and alone in this world,
And those are all I might provide for you.
Traditional poem
Manin, guide my arrow and my thought.
Inspire me to greatness.
Shelter my eyes from despair.
Let me see the strength in others.
Let them see the strength in me.
Let us be as one together, one mind and one body.
Help me to hold back the darkness.
Show me how to be the light.
The acolytes prayer
The central temple complex in Gallasa is small in scale when compared to the great markets and palaces of the city. The wards and the acolytes have never made themselves major players in Gallatene politics, and as a result their influence on national policy is small. Nonetheless, the power of the Faith is strong in the hearts of the people of Gallat: There is pride in their ancestral heritage in the war against the darkness, and there is both strength and humility in the twin desires for oneness, unity, and achievement. The wards do not often attend to political affairs, but their ministrations to the people hold perhaps deeper sway.
The core tenet of belief in the Faith is the ever-oppressing Darkness against which an eternal struggle must be waged. To this Darkness are ascribed all of the ill traits of humanity: greed, apathy, rage, and others. For any person to succumb to these means greater power to the Darkness, and a time closer to defeat at its hands. Goodness is therefore not only encouraged for individual salvation; rather, it is an inherent aspect of humanitys own struggle, a struggle for the soul of humanity in which humans only can determine the victor.
Somewhat misleading to outside observers is the existence in the Faith of a god of sorts, Manin, which is the Gallatene tongue means only Guide. Although some who misunderstand the Faith have interpreted Manin as a counterweight to the Darkness, a powerful god of good, this unorthodox belief is shunned in believing Gallatene circles. Manin the Guide is a spiritual being to whom followers of the Faith pray to in order to determine the correct path. He (or it, for the gender of Manin is somewhat ambiguous and irrelevant to religious practices) might be said to be a manifestation of the conscience of each individual rather than any divinity. Nonetheless, for a lack of other traditional religious factors to latch on to, foreign observers typically describe Manin as the god of the Faith.
Because people are encouraged to look inward or to other individuals for guidance on spiritual matters, the idea of established daily or other routine worship is somewhat weak in Gallatene society. Certainly individuals do visit temples, and this is encouraged. However, temples serve primarily as quiet, peaceful locations to ease introspection and where wards and acolytes might help the struggling believer to reach their conscience. Temples often contain vast outdoor garden complexes designed for individual contemplation. Group service occurs only sporadically, often after some great event, at which point the wards will express to the people the greatness of what humanity has just done.
Although dogma is often vague, and may vary slightly from region to region, missionary work is quite common. It need not be carried out by wards, and indeed wards rarely leave their temples. Acolytes are typically sent into the hinterlands, southward to Ferman and Kardil, or even across the sea to the lands of Ritti as the final phase of their training. This phase has a twofold purpose: to expand awareness of the Faith and thus gain further ground in the battle with Darkness, and to educate acolytes with experience as to the ills of the world. Followings have been established in relatively recent years abroad, but a lack of funding from the government has in the past limited the ability to open temples elsewhere.
Some few households in Gallat, especially on the outer edges of Gallatene territory in former Peren and in the northeast, hold to traditional polytheist beliefs. These are widely tolerated, if frowned upon, by the wards of the Faith, especially those which appear to teach the values of Manin and might also be seen to combat the Darkness. Needless to say, cults of indulgence or other potentially Darkness-oriented religions are suppressed, usually with military aid. Many wards speak of an ultimate desire to unite humanity against the Darkness, but this dream is a distant one unlikely to be achieved even in the long term.
And so it was that the people were One, and there will come a day when the people shall be One again.
Lend me your power and your might.
Give me your blessing, fellow traveler,
Give me your wealth and your bounty.
Tell me your knowledge, fellow traveler,
Say unto me your wisdom and your insight.
For I am lost and alone in this world,
And those are all I might provide for you.
Traditional poem
Manin, guide my arrow and my thought.
Inspire me to greatness.
Shelter my eyes from despair.
Let me see the strength in others.
Let them see the strength in me.
Let us be as one together, one mind and one body.
Help me to hold back the darkness.
Show me how to be the light.
The acolytes prayer
The central temple complex in Gallasa is small in scale when compared to the great markets and palaces of the city. The wards and the acolytes have never made themselves major players in Gallatene politics, and as a result their influence on national policy is small. Nonetheless, the power of the Faith is strong in the hearts of the people of Gallat: There is pride in their ancestral heritage in the war against the darkness, and there is both strength and humility in the twin desires for oneness, unity, and achievement. The wards do not often attend to political affairs, but their ministrations to the people hold perhaps deeper sway.
The core tenet of belief in the Faith is the ever-oppressing Darkness against which an eternal struggle must be waged. To this Darkness are ascribed all of the ill traits of humanity: greed, apathy, rage, and others. For any person to succumb to these means greater power to the Darkness, and a time closer to defeat at its hands. Goodness is therefore not only encouraged for individual salvation; rather, it is an inherent aspect of humanitys own struggle, a struggle for the soul of humanity in which humans only can determine the victor.
Somewhat misleading to outside observers is the existence in the Faith of a god of sorts, Manin, which is the Gallatene tongue means only Guide. Although some who misunderstand the Faith have interpreted Manin as a counterweight to the Darkness, a powerful god of good, this unorthodox belief is shunned in believing Gallatene circles. Manin the Guide is a spiritual being to whom followers of the Faith pray to in order to determine the correct path. He (or it, for the gender of Manin is somewhat ambiguous and irrelevant to religious practices) might be said to be a manifestation of the conscience of each individual rather than any divinity. Nonetheless, for a lack of other traditional religious factors to latch on to, foreign observers typically describe Manin as the god of the Faith.
Because people are encouraged to look inward or to other individuals for guidance on spiritual matters, the idea of established daily or other routine worship is somewhat weak in Gallatene society. Certainly individuals do visit temples, and this is encouraged. However, temples serve primarily as quiet, peaceful locations to ease introspection and where wards and acolytes might help the struggling believer to reach their conscience. Temples often contain vast outdoor garden complexes designed for individual contemplation. Group service occurs only sporadically, often after some great event, at which point the wards will express to the people the greatness of what humanity has just done.
Although dogma is often vague, and may vary slightly from region to region, missionary work is quite common. It need not be carried out by wards, and indeed wards rarely leave their temples. Acolytes are typically sent into the hinterlands, southward to Ferman and Kardil, or even across the sea to the lands of Ritti as the final phase of their training. This phase has a twofold purpose: to expand awareness of the Faith and thus gain further ground in the battle with Darkness, and to educate acolytes with experience as to the ills of the world. Followings have been established in relatively recent years abroad, but a lack of funding from the government has in the past limited the ability to open temples elsewhere.
Some few households in Gallat, especially on the outer edges of Gallatene territory in former Peren and in the northeast, hold to traditional polytheist beliefs. These are widely tolerated, if frowned upon, by the wards of the Faith, especially those which appear to teach the values of Manin and might also be seen to combat the Darkness. Needless to say, cults of indulgence or other potentially Darkness-oriented religions are suppressed, usually with military aid. Many wards speak of an ultimate desire to unite humanity against the Darkness, but this dream is a distant one unlikely to be achieved even in the long term.
And so it was that the people were One, and there will come a day when the people shall be One again.
On Joy and Sorrow
Then a Prostitute asked him, "What of Joy and Sorrow?"
He Smiled "Sorrow is but your Joy on another day, for the selfsame well that causes you to flood forth with tears, is also that which you draw water from to express your Happiness.
The Greater that Sorrow has been cleaved out of you, the greater your ability to laugh and shine.
For when you Cry, that is for your times of Happiness, when you Laugh that is from what has made you despair. Some of you say that Joy is greater than Sorrow, others that Sorrow is greater than Joy. But I say that they are one and the same, inseperable.
Some of you say Oporria is the path to Joy, and Istria is the path to Sorrow. Alas this is not so, for Istria tempts by offering Joy, Oporria tempers you by causing Sorrow. And as inseperable as they are, Both are gifts but one asks more of your soul than the other. For what is Joy if it is hollow? What is Sorrow if not to Fullfill and Balance the other?
OOC: I'm back...sort of.
Ninja Dude
Sorry, I wasn't listening...
Luckymosse, could you please answer this? It is fairly important that you answer.
On Buying and Selling
Then a Merchant asked "Tell us of Buying, and of Selling,"
"You are never poor if you can take the gifts from the Opporia, that which is given freely by the earth, tend to her and she will give forth. Yet unless this exchange is one of Love, it will lead to Greed and Hunger.
And when you meet the Fisherman in the Market, call forth Opporia to sanctify the meeting, to ensure this exchange is one of love and fairness. That you can each enjoy the different gifts of earth.
And when you meet the weavers, the potters invoke again Opproia, for all that the earth gives it gives freely, and all that Opproia shows you has a secret for you.
Suffer not the empty handed, for they have lost their way. Only with a full heart can he be brought back. Entreat him to join you to plow the field, to cast a net or to shape the clay. For Empty words have no value in comparison to that given by Opporia.
And if come singers and dancers, bards and storysmiths, then take of their fruit too. For though their words be distant, they are the words of dreams, of and should be consumed.
OOC: Getting a bit close to the reference....*sigh*
On Crime and Punishment
Then a Judge, solemnly Pronounced "Speak to us of Crime and Punishment"
The Prophet nodded gravely "I have oft heard that you speak of the guilty and the accused alike, that they are different, not one of us.
Fie upon you, for you deny the humanity of your fellow brother. And the darkest of acts are present in all of us, the lowest of deeds but a reflection of your very humanity and ability to choose a path.
And whilst Opporia can try and guide you, and Istria can attempt to lead you astray, it is your choice. And when the innocent is accused, you speak and entreat him to talk to you, and not with a closed heart but show love to the one that you have heard whispers in the dark of. For it is only with an open heart that Opporias path can be embarked upon. And it is with Opporias will that you can see the truth, and then and only then should judgement be passed down.
But with a heavy heart is this done, not one empty or devoid of love. For a proper judgement cannot be given unless you accept into your heart that this man is one of you and that you are just as capable as he in actions of darkness.
And for those of you who have done wrong. As the wagon cannot travel if the wheel is broken, you must be fixed and made whole again. Worst of all at Opporias Heaven you will have to wait, if you manage to find it at all.
The Social Contract, Common law, and Biology
The Palmyarans have been known for being an extremely just, proper, and disciplined as a people. Due to the need for the group to be in advance of the people the populace will often act out very rarely and put there needs behind that of the nation as a whole. Despite this, the individual was not seen as a nonentity and if it was to provide for the benefit and gain of the nation is greatly encouraged. This has resulted infact many great naval innovations that have allowed a longer voauage, more commerce, and finally more projection power. This need for naval projection necessitates the needs for crews to provide the human power to do so. Any prisoner, outcast, slave, or other underling are allowed and sometimes forced into the naval industry in some manner or another. However, those who enter in the service and contuie to serve loyally will eventually be gain the rights that most other people have within the area.
The people are often set up in castes but they can and will change based on the conditions that they are in. It's tradition that at the age of sixteen the vast majority of children are exiled from their former houses with only a basic amount of supplies needed to survive. They are expected to get an occupation of some sort or otherwise they will starve and fail. This picture is much more grim for those who have nothing and are dirt poor but is even more greatly true for men who have to often have to do less than desirable trades in order to gain any substantial amounts of money. The extremely powerful strength is that every citizen is trained to have basic fighting skills so when their city is under attack they can fight along with the solders if only being a slight help.
The rich however, are expected to treat their underlings with respect and in most cases the same treatment as they would to someone within their own ranks. They are also required not by the official law of Palmyra but by the people as a whole to create something that will serve the nations less fortunate people. They have been responsible for creating at the very least 70% of the nations, hospitals, granaries, and hostels as well as creating a system of schools, which comprises of the nations 40% of schools. These have helped many of the people who are in need and infact it's been proven that at least 13% of the nations people have basic literacy and 7% have basic writing and math skills. The government along with these businesses will often work together in creating many of the necessities that are needed within the nation.
The nation is relatively welcome with immigrants but they are identified and so this will prevent any attempt to leave unless given permission. The Palmyrans will also have agents within other nations that are nearby and try to entice the local government into giving up prisoners and slaves in exchange for gold or most other items that are desired by the peoples they are dealing with. These slaves will become warriors that will become indoctrinated to believe in the needs and beliefs of the state. The slaves will also be converted into the Palmyran religion where they will worship the deities of both their own religion and that of the new one they are supposed to adopt. These people are expected to become elite warriors that will fight to the death and have unending loyalty.
Due to the savior of the nation being a woman, this nation of Palmyra is solely a matriarchal system where the woman of the household will most likely have complete control of the men. They will also have harems of men that will be enesentally slaves that are used for their pleasure. However, this is much more true for the women who are high up the ladder and not so much those below. The men in that case have only slightly less rights than women do. That said, if a man can prove themselves of being worthy of status they will rarely be able to get in a position of power, if only a minor one.
The most notable feature out of the many that define the Palmyrans is their physical build and genetics. They are known to have coarse hair that is made up every possible type of hair colors known. They traditionally put it into dreadlocks that dangle down to their shoulders and have a headband of some sort. Depending on what status these people are they will have different headband colors. They noted to be among the tallest of all people within this realm and when the conditions are right they can and often are around six feet tall, and ripped with an absurd amount of muscle mass. But one last thing that will truly set apart the base Palmyrans from all others is that the females produce more testosterone than the males and thus are more aggressive and quick to anger than most.
The Palmyarans have been known for being an extremely just, proper, and disciplined as a people. Due to the need for the group to be in advance of the people the populace will often act out very rarely and put there needs behind that of the nation as a whole. Despite this, the individual was not seen as a nonentity and if it was to provide for the benefit and gain of the nation is greatly encouraged. This has resulted infact many great naval innovations that have allowed a longer voauage, more commerce, and finally more projection power. This need for naval projection necessitates the needs for crews to provide the human power to do so. Any prisoner, outcast, slave, or other underling are allowed and sometimes forced into the naval industry in some manner or another. However, those who enter in the service and contuie to serve loyally will eventually be gain the rights that most other people have within the area.
The people are often set up in castes but they can and will change based on the conditions that they are in. It's tradition that at the age of sixteen the vast majority of children are exiled from their former houses with only a basic amount of supplies needed to survive. They are expected to get an occupation of some sort or otherwise they will starve and fail. This picture is much more grim for those who have nothing and are dirt poor but is even more greatly true for men who have to often have to do less than desirable trades in order to gain any substantial amounts of money. The extremely powerful strength is that every citizen is trained to have basic fighting skills so when their city is under attack they can fight along with the solders if only being a slight help.
The rich however, are expected to treat their underlings with respect and in most cases the same treatment as they would to someone within their own ranks. They are also required not by the official law of Palmyra but by the people as a whole to create something that will serve the nations less fortunate people. They have been responsible for creating at the very least 70% of the nations, hospitals, granaries, and hostels as well as creating a system of schools, which comprises of the nations 40% of schools. These have helped many of the people who are in need and infact it's been proven that at least 13% of the nations people have basic literacy and 7% have basic writing and math skills. The government along with these businesses will often work together in creating many of the necessities that are needed within the nation.
The nation is relatively welcome with immigrants but they are identified and so this will prevent any attempt to leave unless given permission. The Palmyrans will also have agents within other nations that are nearby and try to entice the local government into giving up prisoners and slaves in exchange for gold or most other items that are desired by the peoples they are dealing with. These slaves will become warriors that will become indoctrinated to believe in the needs and beliefs of the state. The slaves will also be converted into the Palmyran religion where they will worship the deities of both their own religion and that of the new one they are supposed to adopt. These people are expected to become elite warriors that will fight to the death and have unending loyalty.
Due to the savior of the nation being a woman, this nation of Palmyra is solely a matriarchal system where the woman of the household will most likely have complete control of the men. They will also have harems of men that will be enesentally slaves that are used for their pleasure. However, this is much more true for the women who are high up the ladder and not so much those below. The men in that case have only slightly less rights than women do. That said, if a man can prove themselves of being worthy of status they will rarely be able to get in a position of power, if only a minor one.
The most notable feature out of the many that define the Palmyrans is their physical build and genetics. They are known to have coarse hair that is made up every possible type of hair colors known. They traditionally put it into dreadlocks that dangle down to their shoulders and have a headband of some sort. Depending on what status these people are they will have different headband colors. They noted to be among the tallest of all people within this realm and when the conditions are right they can and often are around six feet tall, and ripped with an absurd amount of muscle mass. But one last thing that will truly set apart the base Palmyrans from all others is that the females produce more testosterone than the males and thus are more aggressive and quick to anger than most.
Cuivienen
Deity
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2003
- Messages
- 8,011
Economic disputes with the small state of Peren during the early years of the fourth dynasty brought home to the Gallatene leadership just how tenuous their connection to the southern markets was. While swift military action put an end to Peren’s taxation of land-based trade (and annexed the fertile wine producing region to Gallat), the risk of further economic disruption by the much more formidable Ferman would always be present. Prior to the dispute with Peren, plans had already been laid for the expansion of sea-based Gallatene trade in order to bypass Gallat’s neighbors. In the middle years of the fourth dynasty, greater attention was paid to such plans, which finally received royal backing following an endorsement by the wards of Gallassa.
The plan, from the beginning, had been the establishment of a trading post on the remote island of Marionid. The island had a small Nahsjad population, centered primarily around the water source at the southern end of the island, but was for the most part uninhabited. Lying at the edge of the habitable zone of the southern coast of the Kern Sea, it had the potential to be a major trading port, but a combination of local political fragmentation, poor boat-building skills among the Nahsjad, and better mapping of the northern Kern coast left the island a backwater, barely on the map for trade proceeding across the desert and totally ignored by Sesh merchants who preferred the western passage.
Despite the island’s remoteness, the benefits of its development had been foreseen by the Gallatene merchant class. Even before the initial plans for a Gallatene settlement on the island had been established, some merchants had begun docking there to unload goods to be sent southward on the Nahsjad Road, avoiding tariffs in place in Ferman and Kardili ports. Smugglers from Seshweay had also been known to stop at Marionid after taking the eastern passage, a route far less patrolled than the western. If smugglers could reach the island from the south, and merchants already stopped there on their way from the north, the potential to complete the Kern Sea trading ring lay with Marionid.
Controlling a slightly larger portion of the Kern Sea trading ring had never been impetus enough for the Gallatene monarchy to get behind any effort to establish a port on the island. The early years of the fourth dynasty had been at first concerned primarily with righting the ship after a rocky last couple decades of third dynasty rule, and soon thereafter war with Peren consumed royal attention. At the same time, expanding missionary efforts in Ferman and Kardil turned the wards’ eyes away from the seas, which meant religious backing for the project declined. (This despite earlier declarations by some missionary expeditions that the Nahsjad appeared ideal converts.)
The sudden turn towards affairs on land reversed itself just as quickly. The conquest of Peren left little room for Gallat to expand; powerful Ferman lay to the southeast, and the barbarians to the northeast had been solidifying and settling down, although expeditions against them continued. Although converts were many in Kardil, in Ferman there was more resistance to the Faith, and the dream of converting the Nahsjad returned to the minds of many of the most religious members of Gallatene society. Most of all, the conflict with Peren had demonstrated the frailty of Gallat’s land-base trade routes. If a sea-based alternative could be created, as Marionid promised, it would secure Gallatene trading fortunes and solidify not only Gallatene control of the southern trade but also the status of Sirasona as a key port in the northern Kern Sea and rival to the City of Gold.
Three years after his ascension to the throne, Almath IX, grandson of Allo who had completed the conquest of Peren, celebrated the sailing of a colonial fleet from Sirasona to Marionid. The local Nahsjad people had agreed to either join the new settlement or to relocate to the mainland in exchange for rich imported goods. The new city to be established lay on the eastern side of the island, sheltered from the storms which sweep across the Kern Sea during summer and yet still close to the fresh water source at the island’s southern end. Aldina was to be the name of the city, city of royal splendor.[*]
In its earliest years, Aldina would require substantial investment both on the part of the royal treasury, the merchants, and the temples. Two small temples erected on Marionid, one within the new settlement and one at a remote location in the north. Missionaries quickly spread out throughout Nahsjad settlements on the mainland. The port opened to most seafaring vessels after a year’s work, but it was not initially able to accommodate all of the smugglers’ trade from the south, quickly replaced by legitimate traders after the local authorities turned back Sesh smugglers. That would take almost ten years before viability was reached, and the full trade ring could flow.
Nonetheless, as the fourth dynasty reached its middle years, Aldina had become a sort of distant cousin of the other cities of Gallat, a multicultural and, if not yet rich, affluent port town. However, Aldina, merely in its distance from the central authority, would also lay the groundwork for the beginning of the collapse of the fourth dynasty as the power of the temples gradually increased in the outlying territories.
[*]The prefix “Al” in the Gallatene tongue, sometimes rendered as “A” to ease pronunciation, signifies royal grandeur, although the prefix is not used by all or even most monarchs. “Din” is best translated as new settlement; the suffix “a” signifies any place where people live.
I'll put up a map showing Marionid soon. It's the island off the Nahsjad coast on the northern end, though.
The plan, from the beginning, had been the establishment of a trading post on the remote island of Marionid. The island had a small Nahsjad population, centered primarily around the water source at the southern end of the island, but was for the most part uninhabited. Lying at the edge of the habitable zone of the southern coast of the Kern Sea, it had the potential to be a major trading port, but a combination of local political fragmentation, poor boat-building skills among the Nahsjad, and better mapping of the northern Kern coast left the island a backwater, barely on the map for trade proceeding across the desert and totally ignored by Sesh merchants who preferred the western passage.
Despite the island’s remoteness, the benefits of its development had been foreseen by the Gallatene merchant class. Even before the initial plans for a Gallatene settlement on the island had been established, some merchants had begun docking there to unload goods to be sent southward on the Nahsjad Road, avoiding tariffs in place in Ferman and Kardili ports. Smugglers from Seshweay had also been known to stop at Marionid after taking the eastern passage, a route far less patrolled than the western. If smugglers could reach the island from the south, and merchants already stopped there on their way from the north, the potential to complete the Kern Sea trading ring lay with Marionid.
Controlling a slightly larger portion of the Kern Sea trading ring had never been impetus enough for the Gallatene monarchy to get behind any effort to establish a port on the island. The early years of the fourth dynasty had been at first concerned primarily with righting the ship after a rocky last couple decades of third dynasty rule, and soon thereafter war with Peren consumed royal attention. At the same time, expanding missionary efforts in Ferman and Kardil turned the wards’ eyes away from the seas, which meant religious backing for the project declined. (This despite earlier declarations by some missionary expeditions that the Nahsjad appeared ideal converts.)
The sudden turn towards affairs on land reversed itself just as quickly. The conquest of Peren left little room for Gallat to expand; powerful Ferman lay to the southeast, and the barbarians to the northeast had been solidifying and settling down, although expeditions against them continued. Although converts were many in Kardil, in Ferman there was more resistance to the Faith, and the dream of converting the Nahsjad returned to the minds of many of the most religious members of Gallatene society. Most of all, the conflict with Peren had demonstrated the frailty of Gallat’s land-base trade routes. If a sea-based alternative could be created, as Marionid promised, it would secure Gallatene trading fortunes and solidify not only Gallatene control of the southern trade but also the status of Sirasona as a key port in the northern Kern Sea and rival to the City of Gold.
Three years after his ascension to the throne, Almath IX, grandson of Allo who had completed the conquest of Peren, celebrated the sailing of a colonial fleet from Sirasona to Marionid. The local Nahsjad people had agreed to either join the new settlement or to relocate to the mainland in exchange for rich imported goods. The new city to be established lay on the eastern side of the island, sheltered from the storms which sweep across the Kern Sea during summer and yet still close to the fresh water source at the island’s southern end. Aldina was to be the name of the city, city of royal splendor.[*]
In its earliest years, Aldina would require substantial investment both on the part of the royal treasury, the merchants, and the temples. Two small temples erected on Marionid, one within the new settlement and one at a remote location in the north. Missionaries quickly spread out throughout Nahsjad settlements on the mainland. The port opened to most seafaring vessels after a year’s work, but it was not initially able to accommodate all of the smugglers’ trade from the south, quickly replaced by legitimate traders after the local authorities turned back Sesh smugglers. That would take almost ten years before viability was reached, and the full trade ring could flow.
Nonetheless, as the fourth dynasty reached its middle years, Aldina had become a sort of distant cousin of the other cities of Gallat, a multicultural and, if not yet rich, affluent port town. However, Aldina, merely in its distance from the central authority, would also lay the groundwork for the beginning of the collapse of the fourth dynasty as the power of the temples gradually increased in the outlying territories.
[*]The prefix “Al” in the Gallatene tongue, sometimes rendered as “A” to ease pronunciation, signifies royal grandeur, although the prefix is not used by all or even most monarchs. “Din” is best translated as new settlement; the suffix “a” signifies any place where people live.
I'll put up a map showing Marionid soon. It's the island off the Nahsjad coast on the northern end, though.
a_propagandist
The Light Brigadier
Will be gone for a week. Limited Internet access. Please NPC Ritti.
North King
blech
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2004
- Messages
- 18,165
I'd like orders by Thursday afternoon, my time. New nations should be posted or PMed by Wednesday night, just to be sure.
erez87
Lord of Random
- Joined
- May 16, 2002
- Messages
- 13,500
Gu Ya Rot
Starting Location: Deep in the souther jungles
Society: The Gu Ya Rot are a united culture that is mostly pacifistic and nature-loving. They are led by a chosen group called Gu Ya Rote. While they do not technically build cities, and most prefer to live non-sedentary life, hunting and foraging in the forests, they do build tree cities which are cities made right into the forest, build strong and tall on the trees themselves. Most of them are highly trained archers for they must hunt for meat. They do not own anything personally and are a rather socialistic culture. Fire cities are positioned in several key areas. Fire is shunned in most cases and only allowed in the fire cities.
Lineage: Does not matter, all are united as one.
Values: Support to the culture, love of nature, closed culture, living natural lives, technology that does not come from nature is shunned, and only used in rare occasions. Leave the self behind and becoming one with the rest of the people and the jungles. Fire is shunned.
Religion: A very polytheistic belief system in which each thing in the forest has a spirit that guards it. After hunting or cutting down trees they usually pray for days for the spirit to leave.
Language(s): Their language is the Rot Talk (tree talk). They usually use wood pieces to send messages through the writing system is very rudimentary and they mostly relay on speech.
Mythos: The Gu Ya Rot believe they are decedents of jungle spirits that felt danger is coming to the jungles from the outside and so they took a better shape to fight the danders, a human shape. Everything in nature has a spirit for them, from trees and animals to rocks and special places (like small ponds or waterfalls). They do not technically have a based religion.
Economic Base: Living out of what nature gives. Farming is nonexistent. Trade is shunned. A highly socialistic culture.
Nation Names: they are not broken into nation. There aren't many of them. They all together form the Gu Ya Rot tribe.
Person Names: Rote Mok, Ya Rot, Laim Rot, Rote Saf, Rote Mari (a not very loved name)
Place Names: Just make up words that has Rot or Rote (which means tree and trees) in them (Laim-water, Ya-Hug)
Gu Ya Rot (- those who hug a tree)
Gu Ya Rote (-those who hug many trees)
Rote Mok (-Trees planter)
Ya Rot (-Hug Tree)
Laim Rot (-Water Tree)
Rote Saf (-trees collector)
Rote Mari (-trees burner)
lol
Starting Location: Deep in the souther jungles
Society: The Gu Ya Rot are a united culture that is mostly pacifistic and nature-loving. They are led by a chosen group called Gu Ya Rote. While they do not technically build cities, and most prefer to live non-sedentary life, hunting and foraging in the forests, they do build tree cities which are cities made right into the forest, build strong and tall on the trees themselves. Most of them are highly trained archers for they must hunt for meat. They do not own anything personally and are a rather socialistic culture. Fire cities are positioned in several key areas. Fire is shunned in most cases and only allowed in the fire cities.
Lineage: Does not matter, all are united as one.
Values: Support to the culture, love of nature, closed culture, living natural lives, technology that does not come from nature is shunned, and only used in rare occasions. Leave the self behind and becoming one with the rest of the people and the jungles. Fire is shunned.
Religion: A very polytheistic belief system in which each thing in the forest has a spirit that guards it. After hunting or cutting down trees they usually pray for days for the spirit to leave.
Language(s): Their language is the Rot Talk (tree talk). They usually use wood pieces to send messages through the writing system is very rudimentary and they mostly relay on speech.
Mythos: The Gu Ya Rot believe they are decedents of jungle spirits that felt danger is coming to the jungles from the outside and so they took a better shape to fight the danders, a human shape. Everything in nature has a spirit for them, from trees and animals to rocks and special places (like small ponds or waterfalls). They do not technically have a based religion.
Economic Base: Living out of what nature gives. Farming is nonexistent. Trade is shunned. A highly socialistic culture.
Nation Names: they are not broken into nation. There aren't many of them. They all together form the Gu Ya Rot tribe.
Person Names: Rote Mok, Ya Rot, Laim Rot, Rote Saf, Rote Mari (a not very loved name)
Place Names: Just make up words that has Rot or Rote (which means tree and trees) in them (Laim-water, Ya-Hug)
Gu Ya Rot (- those who hug a tree)
Gu Ya Rote (-those who hug many trees)
Rote Mok (-Trees planter)
Ya Rot (-Hug Tree)
Laim Rot (-Water Tree)
Rote Saf (-trees collector)
Rote Mari (-trees burner)
lol
Ninja Dude
Sorry, I wasn't listening...
Krato isn't all to far behind when it comes to most of this stuff. The south basically turned into a gigantic slug-fest after Update 2. And in the end Krato has gained a ton of territory and power. But yeah, I like peace. Sadly, I'm going back into the fray this update.
Not against me I hope
But yeah i'll grant the River Sesh and the South have been rather bloody to say the least.
Oh btw IC:
From: Republic of New Seshweay, Holder of the Ancestors, Most Sacred Institution of said Ancestors aetc.
To: Krato (Official Titles inserted)
It is in the interest all our respective nations that we keep the trade routes open such that we may both grow rich, the Republic has no interest in interfering in the South nor the wetherall to do so, and would like an undertaking from Krato that it has no interest in the North, if this is the case then the Republic would like to formalize trade relations with Krato and increase our respective prosperity.
But yeah i'll grant the River Sesh and the South have been rather bloody to say the least.
Oh btw IC:
From: Republic of New Seshweay, Holder of the Ancestors, Most Sacred Institution of said Ancestors aetc.
To: Krato (Official Titles inserted)
It is in the interest all our respective nations that we keep the trade routes open such that we may both grow rich, the Republic has no interest in interfering in the South nor the wetherall to do so, and would like an undertaking from Krato that it has no interest in the North, if this is the case then the Republic would like to formalize trade relations with Krato and increase our respective prosperity.
Ninja Dude
Sorry, I wasn't listening...
To: Republic of New Seshweay
From: Krato
We would be glad to maintain trade routes with New Seshweay, as well as the rest on the countries of the north. We do not plan on agressive expasion into the North, if that's what you mean by "interfering." We would like to learn from the people past the Kotthorns and trade with them though.
OOC: No, I'm not going to war with you, just a tiny NPC nation. Nothing terribly major.
From: Krato
We would be glad to maintain trade routes with New Seshweay, as well as the rest on the countries of the north. We do not plan on agressive expasion into the North, if that's what you mean by "interfering." We would like to learn from the people past the Kotthorns and trade with them though.
OOC: No, I'm not going to war with you, just a tiny NPC nation. Nothing terribly major.
I'd be a tad difficult to destroy I can assure you, I have friends 
Is it that poor speck in between you and Hu'ut? Poor buggers we didn't even know there name
EDIT: New Story
Reflections on Ancestor Worship:
Ancestor worship is peculiar amongst all the religions of the world, it is a religion of law not of gods, the Ancestors themselves stand for the ideals of the Seshweay and as it expanded these ideals implanted themselves inside the cultures of the recipients of the faith. It became common for merchants, who routinely traded in Seshweay upon returning home to agitate for the adoption of Seshweay laws, so powerful were their effect on commerce. Eventually as the laws spread other Seshweay peculiarities began to make their way into the recipients, the “rights of a Seshweay”, the rights that the Ancestors imparted to their children and on which the Republic relies on for legitimacy, became a common demand from the people. It was said that Tyranny actively shrank in the lands of the Ancestors, religious, political, moral and military forces arrayed themselves against the enemies of Liberty and the forces of Tyranny were defeated.
The political imperative of Liberty came from the generations who were educated in the Republic, made up of the elite and the middle class which in the receiving states was largely created out of access to the Republics vast markets. It manifested itself in the young ruler of many nations, who fuelled by ideology and religion began to reform their states in the mould of the Republic. It came to fruition with the growth of the middle classes who increasingly saw the wealth of the Republic emanating not from rapine and pillage but from rule of law, property rights and above all the following of the fundamental precepts of the Ancestors.
This political imperative and the mass movements which arrayed themselves so owes a lot to the clergy of Unity, who safe in the knowledge of their faith and worried about the deviations from the Ancestors desires began to actively bring to the lower classes attention the folly of not following the Ancestors as they prescribed it. They spoke of the calamity of the First and Second Empires of Sesh and how the first burned for neigh on an hundred years for its deviation, and how the Second Empire founded on the rejection and subversion of the Ancestors message had fallen to the Republic newly born. This was used as an argument; it tied together the economic, political and religious considerations of the states involved. For they had come to rely solely on the economic strength of the Republic and many recognized without it they would not hope to hold the prosperity for which they had gained close, the messages complimentary and without refute began to grow in strength.
The morality of the argument was flawless, the Ancestors in no ambiguous terms made it clear that the Republic was their creation and not the creation of man alone, this lent credence to the rage felt against the old order and its corruption at least in the eyes of the faithful. Tyranny was held to be incompatible with Ancestor Worship and the Regimes shock, fell and toppled on the words of the Ancestors. Some attempts were made to correct the rot but with each generation the rot was corrected by becoming more of a Republic the forces newly broken free would consent for nothing less. The old order tried to maintain control, they managed in part but with each passing year the flow of power away from Tyrants towards a body of peers drawn from the entire nation grew, and with each passing year the black splotches of tyranny began to fade, replaced by the unbroken white of the Republic.
Even the military forces of those involved became fired up on the word and deed of the Ancestors, it is unfair to say that those conscripted or enlisted were against the change, draw from the lower and middle classes for the most part they were the shield and sword of the slow change protecting the Republicans against harm and counting many amongst it’s own numbers as sympathetic if not partisan for the cause. Steadily change rocked to the core of those nations, and new states would form, and the Republic not wishing to interfere in the actions of others would still its hand for the most part… but sometimes it felt the need to save its own children and by extension the Children of all the Ancestors.
A union of faith was in the formation, a union of political considerations, shared economies, and the exercise of life as the Ancestors meant it to be.
A traveller’s account:
If one is to visit Sies, one must visit the Central Exchange and Trade Building, the largest building in the city, fully five stories in height and long running from the Temple of the Ancestors to the Shrine of Aya’se it is the largest building in the Republic if one discounts the two above mentioned. In the morning the building shines with the suns waking rays, built of a crystal flecked palest yellow stone, flanked by thousands of columns and crowned by a cap of gold and silver shaped the roof of a dazzling white tower it surrounds the Republic Square built of the palest rose marble. It is recommended for those not interested in trade to visit in the morning, and even then to hire an attendant for the markets never close, with the constant flow of trade and commerce making its way into the city for on-shipment.
Perhaps the most important site to visit first is the Naval Registry of the Republican Fleet, merchants will be constantly moving in and out, and one will note the two doors, those who are Ancestor fearing men and women may use the right door, those who are not are forced to use the left. The Navy’s primary job is to secure and safeguard the shipping lanes, and makes its patrol routes known to merchants such that they can plan their journeys around a reasonably well upheld patrol schedule. This owing to storms and the like is not always possible, but just entering the Naval Registry is a sight in itself, the walls are framed in impressive mosaics of the naval victories against the myriad enemies of the Seshweay stretching all the way back to before the birth of Aya’se although some of it is still fire blackened after the retaking of Seis. Those who do not worship the Ancestors must pay a toll to know the routes and times except the Triuli who are favoured enough that the toll is waived. Of course the Republic makes only a part of its sorties known, as one journeys further from the Republic and the routes become more risky for the ships of the Republican navy they keep their routes secret. Perhaps only 30 ships are involved in escorting traffic directly, and those only handle the regular runs inside the Republic and to the Styr and Kardil, well beaten and well known routes to the Merchants of the Republic and above all safe. The Republican navy likes to keep its presence known, it attacks pirates on regular occasions what with the Republics merchant fleets handling the bulk of the trade up north it is understandable. The Republican Navy will also if it witnesses an attack assist the merchants of all nations and this has given the Republic a very good name, such that many from foreign climes are openly envious of the Republics naval might.
The next floor above the registry houses the Ivory merchants, newly wealthy they are the lucky recipients of the bulk of the profits from the South, for the Republic trusts not the barbarians directly on our border to the South and takes active measures to ensure they do not get any unfortunate ideas. This has proved to be a marvellous thing for our merchants, for goods bought cheaply from the southerners are sold for heavy prices elsewhere, ivory it is said is all the rage of the Triuli with those wealthy peoples poor wearing ivory. The Ivory merchants are famous for other things as well; their floor has on its walls mosaics of the Ancestors not seen anywhere else, for Unity has allowed them the right to mosaic them upon the wall as a sign of favour for the heavy donatives flowing in; dealing with southerners is bad for the soul. Many amongst the Ivory merchants are Ti-Sesh fled from their homeland but keeping lively correspondence with family left behind, who despite the troubles are actively travelling in the South buying for the families business but with each passing year more leave and hurt the southerners.
The next floor is the gold exchange, and this is an unusual place, for the walls are decorated in the Nerussian fashion, an eyesore to the sons of the Republic but fine none the less. Most of the merchants are not Nerussian if not all but they have made their money from that nation and many spend a great deal of time their, it is widely held that there are as many Seshweay in the Western parts of Neruss as Nerussians, for that area is still peopled by the Arkage still unhappy wearing the yoke in those parts. The Neruss on this floor are mostly jewellers not gold sellers, often they work for the merchants of Seshweay and often now they don’t, suffice to say they purchase the gold and work it and either onsell it to Seshweay merchants or sell it themselves now.
The grain merchants hold the next two floors, except for a small section that is reserved for the timber merchants. The grain trade is perhaps not as profitable as some, but the sheer quantities of it leaving the Republic are breathtaking, the largest merchant family exports one million bushels of grain a year, it is commonly held that around six million a year is exported alone to the Triuli, who now it is widely held have trouble feeding themselves, other grain makes its way north to the poorer peoples of the north who eagerly trade timber and all other manner of goods for grain, prices which our merchants would be mad not to sell to. The grain merchants floor has the most impressive panes of glass in the Republic, vast spanning the width of arms spread on both sides, and clear as water as well, carefully placed so as not to shatter an unimaginable lose they are the pride of the grain merchants having cost a not insignificant sum widely rumoured to be equal to the total of the states finances for a year, where exactly they were created is beyond the ken of the grain merchants suffice to say in the far north past understanding.
The timber merchants are also profitable, timber used in a building is almost unheard of, but they have done just that, the top floor is made of wood, normally reserved for the fleet and the ship building yards, timber to make the heart weep for its beauty cut in Styr and purchased with grain, ivory and gold and carried on swiftest ship to the Republics dockyards.
EDIT 2: Update! I have the horrible urge to write atm... I want it to end and be replaced by plotting
Is it that poor speck in between you and Hu'ut? Poor buggers we didn't even know there name
EDIT: New Story
Reflections on Ancestor Worship:
Ancestor worship is peculiar amongst all the religions of the world, it is a religion of law not of gods, the Ancestors themselves stand for the ideals of the Seshweay and as it expanded these ideals implanted themselves inside the cultures of the recipients of the faith. It became common for merchants, who routinely traded in Seshweay upon returning home to agitate for the adoption of Seshweay laws, so powerful were their effect on commerce. Eventually as the laws spread other Seshweay peculiarities began to make their way into the recipients, the “rights of a Seshweay”, the rights that the Ancestors imparted to their children and on which the Republic relies on for legitimacy, became a common demand from the people. It was said that Tyranny actively shrank in the lands of the Ancestors, religious, political, moral and military forces arrayed themselves against the enemies of Liberty and the forces of Tyranny were defeated.
The political imperative of Liberty came from the generations who were educated in the Republic, made up of the elite and the middle class which in the receiving states was largely created out of access to the Republics vast markets. It manifested itself in the young ruler of many nations, who fuelled by ideology and religion began to reform their states in the mould of the Republic. It came to fruition with the growth of the middle classes who increasingly saw the wealth of the Republic emanating not from rapine and pillage but from rule of law, property rights and above all the following of the fundamental precepts of the Ancestors.
This political imperative and the mass movements which arrayed themselves so owes a lot to the clergy of Unity, who safe in the knowledge of their faith and worried about the deviations from the Ancestors desires began to actively bring to the lower classes attention the folly of not following the Ancestors as they prescribed it. They spoke of the calamity of the First and Second Empires of Sesh and how the first burned for neigh on an hundred years for its deviation, and how the Second Empire founded on the rejection and subversion of the Ancestors message had fallen to the Republic newly born. This was used as an argument; it tied together the economic, political and religious considerations of the states involved. For they had come to rely solely on the economic strength of the Republic and many recognized without it they would not hope to hold the prosperity for which they had gained close, the messages complimentary and without refute began to grow in strength.
The morality of the argument was flawless, the Ancestors in no ambiguous terms made it clear that the Republic was their creation and not the creation of man alone, this lent credence to the rage felt against the old order and its corruption at least in the eyes of the faithful. Tyranny was held to be incompatible with Ancestor Worship and the Regimes shock, fell and toppled on the words of the Ancestors. Some attempts were made to correct the rot but with each generation the rot was corrected by becoming more of a Republic the forces newly broken free would consent for nothing less. The old order tried to maintain control, they managed in part but with each passing year the flow of power away from Tyrants towards a body of peers drawn from the entire nation grew, and with each passing year the black splotches of tyranny began to fade, replaced by the unbroken white of the Republic.
Even the military forces of those involved became fired up on the word and deed of the Ancestors, it is unfair to say that those conscripted or enlisted were against the change, draw from the lower and middle classes for the most part they were the shield and sword of the slow change protecting the Republicans against harm and counting many amongst it’s own numbers as sympathetic if not partisan for the cause. Steadily change rocked to the core of those nations, and new states would form, and the Republic not wishing to interfere in the actions of others would still its hand for the most part… but sometimes it felt the need to save its own children and by extension the Children of all the Ancestors.
A union of faith was in the formation, a union of political considerations, shared economies, and the exercise of life as the Ancestors meant it to be.
A traveller’s account:
If one is to visit Sies, one must visit the Central Exchange and Trade Building, the largest building in the city, fully five stories in height and long running from the Temple of the Ancestors to the Shrine of Aya’se it is the largest building in the Republic if one discounts the two above mentioned. In the morning the building shines with the suns waking rays, built of a crystal flecked palest yellow stone, flanked by thousands of columns and crowned by a cap of gold and silver shaped the roof of a dazzling white tower it surrounds the Republic Square built of the palest rose marble. It is recommended for those not interested in trade to visit in the morning, and even then to hire an attendant for the markets never close, with the constant flow of trade and commerce making its way into the city for on-shipment.
Perhaps the most important site to visit first is the Naval Registry of the Republican Fleet, merchants will be constantly moving in and out, and one will note the two doors, those who are Ancestor fearing men and women may use the right door, those who are not are forced to use the left. The Navy’s primary job is to secure and safeguard the shipping lanes, and makes its patrol routes known to merchants such that they can plan their journeys around a reasonably well upheld patrol schedule. This owing to storms and the like is not always possible, but just entering the Naval Registry is a sight in itself, the walls are framed in impressive mosaics of the naval victories against the myriad enemies of the Seshweay stretching all the way back to before the birth of Aya’se although some of it is still fire blackened after the retaking of Seis. Those who do not worship the Ancestors must pay a toll to know the routes and times except the Triuli who are favoured enough that the toll is waived. Of course the Republic makes only a part of its sorties known, as one journeys further from the Republic and the routes become more risky for the ships of the Republican navy they keep their routes secret. Perhaps only 30 ships are involved in escorting traffic directly, and those only handle the regular runs inside the Republic and to the Styr and Kardil, well beaten and well known routes to the Merchants of the Republic and above all safe. The Republican navy likes to keep its presence known, it attacks pirates on regular occasions what with the Republics merchant fleets handling the bulk of the trade up north it is understandable. The Republican Navy will also if it witnesses an attack assist the merchants of all nations and this has given the Republic a very good name, such that many from foreign climes are openly envious of the Republics naval might.
The next floor above the registry houses the Ivory merchants, newly wealthy they are the lucky recipients of the bulk of the profits from the South, for the Republic trusts not the barbarians directly on our border to the South and takes active measures to ensure they do not get any unfortunate ideas. This has proved to be a marvellous thing for our merchants, for goods bought cheaply from the southerners are sold for heavy prices elsewhere, ivory it is said is all the rage of the Triuli with those wealthy peoples poor wearing ivory. The Ivory merchants are famous for other things as well; their floor has on its walls mosaics of the Ancestors not seen anywhere else, for Unity has allowed them the right to mosaic them upon the wall as a sign of favour for the heavy donatives flowing in; dealing with southerners is bad for the soul. Many amongst the Ivory merchants are Ti-Sesh fled from their homeland but keeping lively correspondence with family left behind, who despite the troubles are actively travelling in the South buying for the families business but with each passing year more leave and hurt the southerners.
The next floor is the gold exchange, and this is an unusual place, for the walls are decorated in the Nerussian fashion, an eyesore to the sons of the Republic but fine none the less. Most of the merchants are not Nerussian if not all but they have made their money from that nation and many spend a great deal of time their, it is widely held that there are as many Seshweay in the Western parts of Neruss as Nerussians, for that area is still peopled by the Arkage still unhappy wearing the yoke in those parts. The Neruss on this floor are mostly jewellers not gold sellers, often they work for the merchants of Seshweay and often now they don’t, suffice to say they purchase the gold and work it and either onsell it to Seshweay merchants or sell it themselves now.
The grain merchants hold the next two floors, except for a small section that is reserved for the timber merchants. The grain trade is perhaps not as profitable as some, but the sheer quantities of it leaving the Republic are breathtaking, the largest merchant family exports one million bushels of grain a year, it is commonly held that around six million a year is exported alone to the Triuli, who now it is widely held have trouble feeding themselves, other grain makes its way north to the poorer peoples of the north who eagerly trade timber and all other manner of goods for grain, prices which our merchants would be mad not to sell to. The grain merchants floor has the most impressive panes of glass in the Republic, vast spanning the width of arms spread on both sides, and clear as water as well, carefully placed so as not to shatter an unimaginable lose they are the pride of the grain merchants having cost a not insignificant sum widely rumoured to be equal to the total of the states finances for a year, where exactly they were created is beyond the ken of the grain merchants suffice to say in the far north past understanding.
The timber merchants are also profitable, timber used in a building is almost unheard of, but they have done just that, the top floor is made of wood, normally reserved for the fleet and the ship building yards, timber to make the heart weep for its beauty cut in Styr and purchased with grain, ivory and gold and carried on swiftest ship to the Republics dockyards.
EDIT 2: Update! I have the horrible urge to write atm... I want it to end and be replaced by plotting
North King
blech
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2004
- Messages
- 18,165
Missing Orders From:
Bahra
Ederru
Farou
Ferman
Hu'ut
Stad Men
Treha
Reminder PMs will be heading out tomorrow to those who fail to get stuff in.
Bahra
Ederru
Farou
Ferman
Hu'ut
Stad Men
Treha
Reminder PMs will be heading out tomorrow to those who fail to get stuff in.
Terrance888
Discord Reigns
No need to send them to me. Right now I am busy but I might get mine in. Don't worry. I'm still here.
