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Hurishol
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Orithain
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Andelvai
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Orgorosh
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Vei-Da
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Arvanis, Famor, Akosa
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Allishan
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Allishani Simuto Daku
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OVERVIEW
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A small splinter state of the former Undari Empire sandwiched between the Kor tribelands
to the west, the Machtig to the east, Shidaal to the south, and Landroth to the
northeast.
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MAGIC
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As they are of Aranashi descent the Allishani lack the ability to practice most
forms of Magic, but can potentially be born with an innate aptitude for a powerful
sort of Magic unique to them, though it is rare.
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Allishani can be born as either
Thanomancers or
Volomancers. Thanomancers are called Undu (OON-DEW) and are killed
on sight in most Undari nations, Allishan included. Volomancers are called Zagatu
(ZAH-GAH-TOO) and can practice their magic openly. Some Undu have successfully maqueraded
as Zagatu in the past however, and thus even Zagatu are held in suspicion and must
guard themselves to avoid being dubbed an Undu and persecuted.
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As their own magic users are both rare and highly suspect, and their native form
of magic cannot be taught to someone that lacks the gift for it, capable foreign
magic users that sell their services are often in demand in Kasaad in the modern
day.
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HISTORY
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In the ancient past the Thanomancers, called the Undu, erected a false religion
around themselves on the basis of their magic and used it achieve absolute control
over all of the Aranashi colonists living in the vast central plainsland of Danoshorvas.
The Cult of Undu culled sacrificial victims to fuel their magic from among the vast
ranks of peasantry under their sway and built the Undari Empire, which was one of
the vastest and most powerful nations of its time. Thereafter this people have been
collectively known as the Undari.
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The breaking of the Undu's power led to the fracturing of their Empire into small
rival nations two millennia ago. All of the Thanomancers of the time were forced
to flee or were slain and the tradition was effectively wiped out as a widespread
practice, but due to the innate nature of the magic it is possible for people to
be born with the Gift of Thanomancy even still. In the modern day Thanomancers must
practice their arts in great secrecy as they are still universally feared and hated
by the Undari and are killed if found out.
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THE THIRD KORIC - MACHTIG WAR
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One of the nations that formed in the wake of the Undari Empire's collapse two thousand
years ago was called Landroth,
which survived many hardships and trials for seventeen hundred years. However, about
three centuries prior to the current age the Landrothi ruler of the time was Xar
(ZAHR; King) Avara Umon.
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The Machtig and Kor raids that were such a typical part of Landrothi existance had
been getting particularly excessive of late and the young and callow King, Avara
Umon felt that he had to do something about it. He hit on the bright idea of hiding
the excess foodstock that both the Machtig and Kor were both raiding for.
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To the young King's way of thinking the fierce warriors would come, see that the
Landrothi had nothing left to take, and just leave. It was generally thought by
the populace that the young Xar was a little too inbred and they were perhaps correct;
counter to the young ruler's ingenious plan a roving Machtig band came from the
east the following summer and finding nothing to take proceeded to ravage and ransack
instead in reprisal, around the same time as a large Kor band came from the west
doing the same.
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Eventually the two forces met and all thoughts of pillaging the locals for food
were abandoned as the two old enemies proceeded to lock horns. The original warbands
were joined by full forces as the Machtig called the Clans to war and the Kor rallied
their tribes to vengeance as well and the Third Koric - Machtig War was joined.
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Thirteen years later the Machtig finally broke the Kor's final offensive in
what would come to be called the Battle of Scorched Earth and Boiling Skies. The
Machtig Obermancer Garest called down flaming rocks from the very sky and
invoked a raging and lightning-riddled hurricane centered directly over the Kor
lines, slaying tens of thousands of the hardy Kor in moments and breaking the rest
even as the Machtig warriors unfurled their banners, blew their battle horns, and
took up a charge to rout and savage the fleeing enemy.
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Over the course of those long years of playing host to warring enemies, many part
of the nation of Landroth were reduced to a barren wasteland. Hardest hit of all
was the southern portion as the Vandolor River has always acted as a natural conduit
for Kor-Machtig aggressions. Some of the inhabitants of these lands fled south to
Shidaal or to northern Landroth and parts beyond, many were slain by one side or
the other either intentionally or indirectly, a goodly number simply starved to
death, and very few indeed survived unscathed.
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NAMARGAL ALLISHAN
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Among the fallen was the royal family of Landroth. Young Avara Umon was slain in
reprisal by the Machtig for allowing food to be hidden prior to the war breaking
out, and the remainder of the royals didn't survive the war. In the aftermath the
House of Karhomat (CAR-OH-MAHT), a wealthy noble family residing in Zerlaaga with
a tenuous relationship to the extinct royal line claimed the throne, as did a wealthy
merchant named Rudu Boru (RUE-DEW BORE-ROO) who at the time had near total
control of Kasaad's markets.
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Neither side could contest with the other directly, and thus the nation split roughly
in half with the Karhomats controlling the wealtheir and more populous northeastern
section and Rudu Boru controlling the devastated southwestern portion, which was
proclaimed Namargal Allishan (NAM-ARE-GAHL ALL-ISH-AHN; Kingdom of Allishan).
It existed as a Kingdom for all of about eighteen years until Rudu Boru died and
all of his heirs were slain in the resulting power struggle.
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ANARCHIC FREE STATE
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Since those days Allishan has been a lawless free state with no government whatsoever,
and only one notable settlement in the way of the caravan town Kasaad. The other
settlements scattered around the countryside are either small road-side settlements
along the Great Northern Trade Route or rude collections of hovels in the countryside.
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Oddly, this state of affairs has actually helped the locals slightly as now they
really don't have enough surplus to make it worthwhile for raiders to systematically
pillage it. The only profitable goods to be found in the entire land reside in the
possession of merchants and traders, most of them on the move up or down the Great
Northern Trade Route, and they are usually capable of guarding their own materials.
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MODERN DAY
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Allishan in the modern day is a lawless freestate that can easily be summed up as
consisting of the Great Northern Trade Route and it's immediate vicinity, and everything
else.
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There are no taxes other than some trade tarriffs assessed to enter and leave Kasaad
which are allocated by a city council of the wealthiest (and most ruthless) local
merchants to maintain the road according to the ancient treaty between the member
nations that support the trade route, the river docks, the stone wall around Kasaad,
and a small contingent of guards (mostly Vorgaanese mercenaries from Shidaal) that
man the walls at night to sound the alert if the Kor or some other threat looms.
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The Allishani of Kasaad and the verge of the trade route tend to be hardy quick
tongued survivors able to haggle a sword from a Herodi or a Kor's last horn of Rocallaeth
if given half a chance, and able to slink off to hide from danger in a second. Constant
and long contact with outsiders, especially Vorgaanese from Shidaal, has definitely
affected these Undari and they ape Shidaal in many things. Many an Allishani barker,
hawker, tinker, merchant, thief, and cutthroat dreams of the day they will have
accumulated enough wealth to move to Shidaal and live the good life. Needless to
say it is a dream the vast majority never realize.
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The Allishani of the countryside are typically extremely reclusive and dirt poor.
Many are never seen if they are able to see outsiders coming first as they slip
away and hide without provocation. If there was ever any fight in these people they
have never shown it in their six thousand years of existance.
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As is true of all places along the Great Northern Trade Route from Daelanthanor
to Shidall, there is a thriving industry and sub-culture of caravan masters, guards,
drovers, and people of related professions centered around the trade road and
thus thousands of people originally from many different nations are passing through
or temporarily residing in Kasaad at any given time.
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LAND
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There is nothing remarkable about the Allishan homeland other than its unfortunate
location. Their stretch of land is much the same as most of the rest of the Undari
plainsland; mostly flat and mostly arable land suitable for farming wheat, corn,
and similar crops.
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There are a few ponds and streams here and there but no large bodies of water, no
notable land features, and nothing of any special significance. With much of the
land left largely uninhabitated over the past two centuries and more many patches
of white oak trees have been growing, but in insufficient density to be marketable
as a reliable source of logging..
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There are a few settlements closer to Landroth and Shidaal that are mostly composed
of humble dwellings made of field stone, mud, and roofed poorly with thatch made
from stalks. The middle of the former nation has never been rebuilt from the Machtig
- Kor war of a couple centuries ago and the few people living in the area have small
hovels that are frequently designed to have a low roofline and go unnoticed as much
as possible.
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A few small herds of a stunted breed of wild horses roam the empty lands, and some
herds of Rocai and cattle roam as well which invite Kor rustlers. Some hunting cats
live in the wilderness and can be a hazard to smaller people.
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SOCIETY
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Allishan society is practically nonexistant. The entire land is occupied by those
that live parasitically from the Great Northern Trade Route, and the pitiful farmers
that live away from it.
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Kasaad itself is ruled by merchants and thieves, and often the two are the same.
Influential and internecine Kaspamdumu (KAS-POM-DEW-MOO; Guilds) and Lemnudumu
(LEM-NEW-DEW-MOO; Gangs) are thick as flies on feces in the trade city, and almost
all the locals are members of one or more.
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Like all Aranashi the Allishani dislike strong light and thus they are typically
active from late afternoon to early morning and sleep through most of the daylight
hours, though truly dedicated Allishani eager to capitalize on business with non-Aranashi
might put their discomfort aside and force themselves to acclimate to keeping Vorgaanese-style
daylight hours. They are able to see well in the dark on all save the deepest night
and are completely adapted to this lifestyle.
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CAPITAL
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Kasaad (KUH-SAHD) is a wild and free-wheeling "city" of caravansaries,
river docks, merchant tents of all colors pitched semmingly at random and often
contiguously to form both ad hoc and semi-permanent bazaars of sorts, social houses,
brothels, gambling dens, and other such establishments catering to the iniquitites
and vices of people from a dozen lands and more, hawkers, barkers, locals eager
to offer their services as guides or procurers, and of course cutpurses, thieves,
muggers, and killers. All that and more.
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All manner of merchant, murderer, marauder, mercenary, minstrel, and malcontent
can be found here, and that's just counting the locals. With the foreigners traveling
the trade route factored in to the bargain you have what amounts to one of the most
wild and dangerous frontier towns in the known world.
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However Kasaad has several powerful advantages in its favor. First among them is
that the trade route must pass through Kasaad as it sits on a ferry that was made
here long ago by the Var of Visar even before the Aranashi and their Undari successors
came to these lands. The Var have periodically sent a team of craftsmen to keep
the ferry system maintained every decade or so since, which even the Undu permitted
out of simple practicality as the ferry is the best means to get across the mighty
Vandolor River.
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NOTE: Var are exempt from ferry fees and most of the tariffs of Kasaad.
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Secondly in addition to the copious amounts of trade goods flowing through Kasaad
that originated from Shidaal or Daelanthanor, it is also the market where some key
goods are introduced to the flow of the trade route.Varic metalwork from Visar and
Machtig metalwork from Caer Ungorhaus naturally flow into Kasaad, as do some pelts
from both the Vold and from the Kor-Ugar tribe of Kor.
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Thirdly in addition to the land based traffic flowing from Shidaal in the south
to Daelanthanor in the north, there is also river trade along the Vandolor. Some
brave merchants from far off Lanolyan and Quiria make their way south on the great
river on occassion, and many of the smaller Machtig that wear blue bring trade up
and down the river from the heart of the Vold to Kasaad and back again.
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In its own strange way, Kasaad is a teeming hive of commerce and the sheer amount
of currency that flows through its markets would shock any one forming an initial
impression from it's rough appearance.
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RULER
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There is no actual ruler of Kasaad in the formal sense, but there is a council composed
of wealthy locals that can afford to buy their way into a group refered to as the
Galgadumu (GAL-GAH-DEW-MOO; Councilors). To join the Galgadumu one must reside
in Kasaad a majority of the year and must pay a yearly stipend that starts at one
hundred silver and increases by ten silver each year one is on the council. In this
way a person must pay increasingly more each year they serve, which discourages
members from becoming permanent fixtures long past their productive years.
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NOTE: Undari years are approximately half as long as most other culture's
years; 175 days.
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The Galgadumu have some basic ability to enforce their will, but it is primarily
based upon the impact all of the Galgadumu refusing to do business with and generally
exerting their influence against a those they are displeased with being potentially
devastating to a financial concern. They effectively enforce policies, when they
feel the need to, via threat of black balling and embargo.
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In such a mercantile environment it is a surprisingly effective goad, but a rarely
used one if for no other reason than the Galgadumu can rarely reach a majority vote,
and in fact often have a difficult time acheiving their minimum quorum agreement
that at least half of the current total members be present for a vote.
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The entire system is borrowed from the way some Shidaalese trade syndicates are
run.
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