(This is my first attempt at an RP). Name of Nation: Tjorip* Capital City: Tjorip Population: 40,000 Government Style: Oligarchy Primary Religion: Old Tjor Map Location: Jungle river, preferably with proximity to some sort of desert/plain. History: Paleontologists claim that the ancient Tjor people moved out of their original savanna into what is now Tjorip. Historians have come up with multiple theories to why, the most popular including barbarian raids, droughts, and aliens (although the latter theory hasn't been accepted as valid by the historian community). Whatever the cause may be, the result was a mass exodus of the Tjor from the inland plains and steppes to the lush jungle river valley where they built the ancient city of Tjorip. Among the many goods brought with them were a grain similar to wheat and llamas (the llamas thing may seem far-fetched, but llamas actually originated from the North American plains). Adapting to the river valley was tough, what with the tropical diseases, humidity, erratic floods, and the tall, steep stone cliffs forming a sort of gorge. Producing food proved to be especially difficult on arrival, as the grain they had brought wouldn't grow in the humid rainforest river. Also, with most of the pack-llamas dying on the trip, there weren't enough extra llamas to produce meat. However, local folklore states that the gods themselves came down and gifted the Tjor ancestors with rice to grow and pheasants to hunt. The rice plant and the pheasant feather have since been immortalized as symbols of the Tjor, and rice and pheasant meat have remained a staple in the local diet. The Tjor ideals and culture have stemmed from their ancestors' struggle to adapt. For instance, as food was a scarce, the quality of being thin was seen as a sign of self-control and eventually was associated with beauty. Woman also were seen as equals due to the belief that everyone had to be productive to survive; this also explains why farmers were higher on the social pyramid than artisans or philosophers. Traditional clothes consisted of llama wool ponchos and skirts for both men and women, and the local clay and stone were fashioned into the first pottery and tools. Before the spread of bronze-welding technology, or in this case, bronze coins, the Tjor people traded goods and services for llamas. [hider=My Hider] Some more of my rambling-ons. The origins of the oligarchy are cemented in legend. The tale begins with the two sons of the chief fighting over inheritance. Each son had loyal followers on only one bank of the river, and so the city-state had been split into the Left Bank and the Right Bank. Both sides fought for a decade, until one day the gods had sent a beast the size of ten-thousand wild boar to punish them for their warring. The sons, now mature, full-grown men realized that they'd need the combined manpower of both banks to defeat the beast, but neither son was humble enough to give up power to the other. To fix this problem, the advisors of the two brothers were sent to find a solution, and one advisor eventually stumbled onto a wise hermit. He said that the solution was to allow both brothers to share the power. The brothers were hesitant at first, but with the Beast encroaching on Tjorip's gates, they eventually obliged and the oligarchy was born. Finally unified, the best warriors of both of Tjorip's banks could fight alongside one another and slay the beast, and both brothers hosted a week-long feast, with the Beast's meat being the main dish on the menu. [/hider] *Pronounced Tchoar-ip.