[hider=Miranid Empire]
[b]Nation Name:[/b] Miranid Empire
[b]Flag:[/b] [img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/caea7937-7800-4520-8627-4b509e03afe4.jpg[/img]
The double-headed eagle was based on the eagle of Yllendir, whose colony the Miranids had come into contact with. Miran had adopted the double-headed eagle as coat of arms for his own aspiring empire; one to rival Yllendir.
[b]Type of Government:[/b] Empire / Khanate
[b]Motto:[/b] In rectitude lies salvation
[b]Head(s) of Government:[/b] Pir Miran Shaykh Gurkani, abroad known as Miran the Lame, because he walks with a limp.
[b]Economy Exports:[/b] A lot of dairy, spices, carpets, cattle, animal pelts, mounts and in the mountainous regions minerals as quicksilver, lead and charcoal.
[b]Economy Imports:[/b] From other lands little is imported other than weapons and spices. Though at times marauding warbands would make attempts to cross over into different lands to return with booty.

[b]Primary Species: [/b]
[hider=Fararuals]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/5914849b-4091-4e5c-86f9-50d1420ce28c.jpg[/img]
[b]Fararual Elves[/b] – If they can be considered Elves at all is up to debate. Within the Miranid Empire, they are a caste of clergy and magistrates. Fararuals are the fire kissed progeny of the Fire God, they are immune to burning and are naturally gifted fire sorcerers. For all their expertise however, they grow weak in the absence of sunlight and especially at night. 
Historically the Fararuals built the first civilization in Transtulania with remnants of their Ziggurats and Fire Temples lining the steppes to this very day. They number few, and procreation is a great ordeal, for pregnancies take long, and miscarriages are all too common. This is because a Fararual womb is as a furnace, and a newborn spawn worthy of entering this world must literally pass a trial by fire before they may join their brethren among the living.
This excruciating breeding process ensures the potency of their offspring, at the very least.
The perpetually low birthrate of pureblood Fararuals and common miscarriages has for thousands of years opted male Fararuals to breed with humans, their slaves, which gave rise to the Üarim race.

When a Fararual dies, their bodies innate magical energies escape, causing the corpse to disintegrate to ashes.
[/hider]
[hider=Üarim]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/d793f981-42f8-42f4-8eb3-d33c672d562a.jpg[/img]
[b]Üarim[/b] – Considered a race in their own right, they are technically humans of half or partial Fararual descent. Other cultures would consider them ‘halfbreeds’ or a ‘bastard race’, though the Üarim themselves certainly do not regard themselves as such. Rather as 'lesser Fararuals', for the pureblood Fararuals are regarded by them as a divine race of ancestors, venerated to the point of worship. To preserve their Fararual blood the Üarim breed only among themselves. They are physically more robust than humans, olive skinned, dark haired and with bright orange eyes resembling sundisks and somewhat pointed ears betraying their ancestry, they appear otherwise not too dissimilar from humans. They are famous beastmasters and huntsmen that have harnessed wildland spawn ranging from warhounds, warglar, golems, griffönlu and, most of all, the tremendous Oliphaunts; their trademark superweapon. 
In sunlight is where they excel for it genuinely makes them stronger and fiercer warriors. Because of their Fararual ancestry they are also naturally resistant (but not immune) to burning. 
The Üarim people originally comprised the armies of the Fararuals. Today, with the Fararuals slowly going extinct and taking on spiritual & ascetic roles in Transtulanian society, the Üarim became self-serving and under Miran Gurkani, rose to the top in their own bid of empire building, and accordingly form the core of the Miranid Empire’s leadership. 
Temperamental, aggressive and innately expansionist (let’s just say they have fiery personalities); in the absence of powerful leaders or warlords, Üarim would go rogue to form marauding warbands.[/hider]
[hider=Humans]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/5041cdd2-7b77-49a5-8467-ef08f0ef62e6.png[/img]
[b]Tzücomen[/b] – Full blooded humans, natives to the southern steppes of Transtulania. Throughout history they’ve been serfs and roaming herdsmen, and in ancient times the slaves of the Fararuals. They are distinguished from other humans by their swarthy complexion and artificially deformed cone-shaped skulls, achieved through ritual head binding. They have a long history of cooperation and kinship with the Üarim. Their warriors too fill the ranks of the Miranid army as auxiliaries. Militarily they have some uses as light cavalry and skirmishers, due to being lighter weight than their often bulkier Üarim cousins.

[b]Arier Gardonians[/b] - Locals to Ariers Haven, they descend mostly of human refugees from Wulfram fleeing Strigoi domination many centuries ago. Ariers Haven was formed as bulwark against the Vampires and headquarters to all who seek to fight them, and liberate their kinsmen. To this end they have made very little progress, and the Arier Gardonians could do little more than serve as an Order of frontier guards ensuring no Strigoi heads further north. They did, however, grow to a significant regional mercantile power, and began hypocritically trading with nearby cities in Wulfram. With all their attention directed south, however, they were swiftly overwhelmed and annexed by the Miranids.[/hider]
[hider='Amreans']
[b]Aarehan[/b] – Pastoral Amreans, nomadic tribal cousins of the denizens of Amrea. Men with fur such as the Amreans are deemed effeminate and weak in the lands of Transtulania. Having adopted the Üarim mentality since migrating outside of Amrea, the Aarehani are easily distinguished for shaving their animal parts religiously. Their would-be majestic foxtails are rendered ratlike appendages, earning them the pejorative nickname of ‘Ratmen’ to outsiders. The Higher Ranking Aarehan, such as their champions and ruling families, shave their tails only with the exception of the tip, giving them plumed ends as though that of lions. They also grow the hair on their heads to resemble manes, dignifying themselves Lion Men. They are further distinguished from their northern Amrean cousins by being much less groomed, having a darker tanned skin complexion and with their males sporting long Manchu mustaches. Today the Aarehani domain serves in Miran’s mighty army, either out of free will or coerced by force.[/hider]
[hider=Gnolls]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/1c1134e5-9dc9-438c-8785-83428ae7c655.jpg[/img]
[b]Gnülonlar[/b] – Sapient canines resembling hyenas walking on two legs. Other cultures would call them Gnolls, and they are natives of the sandy northern wastelands of Transtulania. 
They are less intelligent than their equally savage human and Üarim neighbours. But while being driven by the most base of instincts and generally dimwitted, they are also capable of acts of shrewd cunning. They make for excellent ambushers and surveyors, and more so than any man can analyze weakness and opportune moments to strike. Because they are arid creatures, and smaller and generally weaker than men, they require less food to sustain themselves and breed rapidly. However as they are carnivores native to an arid dominion, food is sparse, and thus for ages now the Gnulonlar were locked in endless cycles of tribal warfare against each other where they kill and eat other Gnulonlar; this having the effect of a self-imposed population control. They rely on numbers and savagery and make for excellent shock infantry and skirmishers.[/hider]

[b]Unique specimen:[/b]
[Hider=Efreets]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/a47e4a2c-e125-446d-b853-9f7c4deb94d8.jpg[/img]
[b]Efreets[/b] - Holy and revered entities that live between worlds, Efreets only appear in the confines of religious sanctuaries and other holy sites such as temples. They are conjured from the ashes of dead Fararuals, based on the Fararual's innate magic still contained in those ashes. They are not spirits of the dead, but rather an afterglow, a memory, of the dead Fararual magically given form. They often serve as oracles, and their words are always very cryptic. The meaning behind which (if there are any) is entirely up to interpretation.[/hider]
[hider=Golems]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/cec5aee7-1e70-4151-ad59-79149a0664c7.jpg[/img]
[b]Golems[/b] - Beasts of animated Stone said to have come into being through an ancient curse. They are native to the rocky dunes and canyons in the west where they are spawned through wizardry. The Golems resemble gorillas, and are barely sapient, but do understand war. The Üarim beastmasters had long since tamed them and used them as an integral part of their wars.[/hider]
[hider=Daywalkers]
[b]Üarim Daywalkers[/b] - Some Üarim communities that have served in Wulfram as mercenaries offered up some of their daughters as part of a sinister pact with their Strigoi overlord. Part of the pact involves the Üarim community keeping the offspring, with some of them being sent to Transtulania. Üarim Daywalkers can be told apart from regular Daywalkers by their grey skin color, and unlike regular Daywalkers have a good resistance against the sun. Because of a Daywalker’s famously super-human strengths, many Üarim daywalkers have risen to the top as warband leaders and champions.[/hider]

[b]Small minorities:[/b]
[b]Strigoi[/b] - not subjects of the Empire, but considered a wildlife nuisance.
[b]Gorgar[/b] - along the western rivers, also not subjects of the Empire.
[b]Anhreinn Humans[/b] - in the Tementafel Twinstates

[b]Literacy:[/b] The population, save for the Fararuals and high-standing Üarim, is almost completely illiterate. It is whispered that Miran himself barely knows how to write or read.
[b]Population:[/b] some 70 to 80 million total, the vast majority of which conquered peoples. The heartlands of Transtulania are compared to surrounding lands arid and sparsely populated. Most of the population live around rivers and in the recently annexed territories closest to Amrea and Wulfram.

[b]Fararual Elves:[/b] 40.000. Pureblood Fararuals are a dying breed. Most of them live in the Holy City of Aranagh; the spiritual centre of the Miranid Empire.

[b]Üarim:[/b] 28 million, the majority of the Miranids and rulers of the Empire’s western heartlands, namely the Fararu Luminescence (their ancestral place-of-origin) and the two Emirates.

[b]Human Races:[/b]
Tzücomen:  13 million
Gardonians: 2 million
Anhreinn: 500

[b]Aarehan:[/b] 1,5 million

[b]Gnülonlar:[/b] 22 million

[b]Golems:[/b] 80.000

[b]Culture:[/b] Masculine and warlike. Every man is expected to be capable of martial prowess, archery and life in the saddle of whichever beast they have mastered, a tradition that echoes bygone ages. In addition to the people's rogue lifestyle, very few leaders have been able to assert control over the unruly masses. Üarim respect strength above all, for strength and confidence are the measure of a man. 

Most of the population live a rural and nomadic lifestyle, and only some 2-5% of the population comprise of city dwellers. Most Üarim and certainly every Tzücoman, no matter how poor, herds cattle for sustenance and owns a steed. 

Spicy food that burn your taste buds is a big deal in Transtulanian diet, and it is the spice trade (importation and exportation alike) what made Transtulanian cities wealthy. Chili and peppers Uarim people eat practically on a daily basis.

[b]Religious and Other Beliefs:[/b] The Fire God, Axbak Kamen

[b]Location/Territories:[/b] Much of the present Miranid borders comprise a land referred to as Transtulania.
[hider=Map of the Miranid Empire]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/e1f2b784-3dbd-4e75-8302-00fd1096b62a.jpg[/img][/hider]

[b]Climate:[/b] Very diverse, though overwhelmingly (sub-)tropical and arid.
From north to south:

In the Aarehani Principality; hills covered by tropical rainforests

In the Gnülonlar Badlands and Fararu Luminescence; rocky arid flat wasteland

In the Emirate of Uar-ög and the Dunes of Kurtkoc; mountainous with many canyons 

In the Tzücomen Beyliks and the Emirate of Ushji-Dash; grassy steppes and flat riverlands
 

[b]Military:[/b]
There is a tremendous emphasis on war beasts in the Miranid Army, and it is their harnessing of beasts that has been their truly distinguishing strength.

[hider=Oliphaunts]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/cbb3e640-d70b-4940-9177-25db22c5bca0.jpg[/img]
[b]Oliphaunts[/b] - great Elephants native to the southern Transtulanian plateau. Indomitable and titanic creatures, their steps are a prelude to devastation. Few have the skill to tame and harness their power, and among the Uarim the secret has been passed down to befriending these monsters. For over a thousand years they have been the Uarim superweapon.[/hider]
[Hider=Griffons]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/4927c5d3-8e9a-4d30-93c5-76ce901166b6.jpg[/img]
[b]Griffönlu[/b] - Great beasts, vaguely reminiscent of horses combined with eagles; since ancient times the chief source of Üarim power. When their enemies were confined to the mortal coil of land, the luminescent army took to the skies. Today, with competitors also having a similar access to aerial combat, this boon had been somewhat negated.[/hider]
[hider=Cavalry archers]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/9df1b0ac-4f7c-472d-b257-3da6f40b0cf0.jpg[/img]
[b]Mounted archery[/b] - In this day that largely means rifles and fire-arms, though there are some (namely from the Tzücomen Beyliks) that still use old fashioned bow and arrow, and lances for charging.[/hider]

Beyond that, the different races listed above give an insight to the purpose each race serves in the Miranid army, with Tzücomen and Gnülonlar being generally cheap levies and rank-fillers, the Golems as crude fantasy-tanks, and the Üarim as powerful professional soldiers.

[b]Magic Prevalence/Usage:[/b]
Fire!
And conjuring tempests.

[b]History/ Background Info:[/b]
Miranid History is linked to the warlord Miran Gurkani, whose history goes back only a few decades; prior to then it was a remote land always on the outskirts or part of another power's empire.

Miran was born Miran Shaykh, of lesser Üarim noble birth in a long line of Holy Defenders sworn to the Holy City of Aranagh, ruled by the Arch Luminescent, the King of the Fararuals.
He was a man strong in body and relentlessness in spirit, and though his career as a warrior painted for himself a font of a vicious brute and killer, he draws little enjoyment from his bloodsoaked deeds. His true passion is - (don't laugh!) - in writing poetry. In fact it was his writing that caused Miran from a young age to befriend the Luminescent’s Daughter; Mulk Khamun. She is more divine than mortal -- the most beautiful woman in all the world.

One day a High Priest of Kand known as the Hierophant had Mulk Khamun seized and brought to the monolithic city of Kand, of which Grand Temple he was Master of Rites, in a bid to sacrifice her to the Sun God. This was to reverse the decline of the dying race of the Fararuals. Only one of such potent divine lineage would make for an offer powerful enough to invoke the protection of the Gods. 
Immediately Miran mustered his band of Holy Defenders and pursued the Hierophant to the gates of Kand. They prepared the investment on the City, however fortunately for Miran one of his friends was among the city guard, and helped smuggle him inside. At seeing the Holy Defender barging into his temple, the Hierophant mistakenly believed Kand had fallen, and he rushed into a hidden passage leading outside of the walls… Where Miran’s men easily captured the Hierophant. Later that month he was presented in chains before the Luminescent to answer for his crime against the royal family. 
This feat accomplished, the Luminescent inquired what reward Miran desired most, to which the Holy Defender gave resolute response: the hand of Mulk Khamun, to whom his sword and heart was pledged. But this was not allowed, for his blood and birth was not pure. Instead he obtained land grants as compensation, with the grand title of ‘Gurkani; meaning ‘son in law’. 
However Miran Gurkani disobeyed the Luminescent, and he and Mulk Khamun agreed to marry in secret.

Husayim the Grey, named so for his grey skin and Daywalker heritage, was another and mightier Holy Defender of Aranagh, and he witnessed their secret marriage. He was quick to inform the Luminescent of Miran and Mulk Khamun’s disobedience. The Arch Luminescent was outraged; to him this was the ultimate betrayal by disobeying the one thing he strictly forebade. As punishment Miran was stripped of his lands and titles and sent into exile into the deserts of the Gnülonlar, (this was considered merciful, for had it been anyone else the penalty would’ve surely been death then and there). All the while Mulk Khamun was placed under house arrest in the citadel of Quaraash. 

Miran and a handful of Holy Defender defectors accompanying him, wandered into the wasteland. The absence of these defenders provided Husayim the opening he conspired to get, for he was a henchman of the Hierophant all the while, determined to enact his scheme to revive Fararual Power in Transtulania. Swiftly, Husayim the Grey assassinated the Luminescent and kidnapped his daughter from Quaraash back to Kand.
 
Immediately Miran and his band, accompanied by Gnülonlar auxiliaries that had joined them on the road, rode against Husayim in Kand. But they were too late, Mulk Khamun was cooked alive in ritual sacrifice committed to the Sun God.

In the subterranean halls of Kand, Miran defeated Husayim in single combat. During this battle, Husayim cleft Miran's foot, causing him to walk with a limp ever since. Then when Husayim relented, Miran showed no mercy: in wrath he threw him to the Gnülonlar who ate him alive. 
Then he retrieved the ashes of Mulk Khamun and interred them in the Holy Temple Axbak-Aranagh to be with her ancestors.

With both her and her father’s death, the Fararual Royal bloodline went extinct. In accordance to ancient Fararual prophecy, this is the prerequisite of apocalypse, the end of an era, and the beginning of a cycle of darkness. Was Husayim trying to restore the Fararuals to power, or was he an acolyte of Armageddon that superstitiously sought to bring about the downfall of the world?

It matters not, for one thing Miran agreed with him on; the final war is at hand. Most of the Emirs and chieftains of Transtulania regarded him as the successor of the last Luminescent. …He had made him a son in law (Gurkani) after all, even if that title had technically been revoked. But Miran avenged both the Luminescent and his daughter by capturing the Hierophant and killing Husayim the Grey. 
Speaking of the Hierophant; he was still alive. And as a prominent sage of Transtulania, Miran begrudgingly turned to him for counsel. This he said:

[i]‘’Conquer the world, and Mulk Khamun will be brought back from the ashes.’’ 
[/i]
And Miran believed him. For at the very least, the thought of getting her back is a flame that keeps the aspiring conqueror to the path of conquest.
In Kand he was anointed the Sword of the Fire God, and received the Flaming Sword Zara-Thuster which he carries into battle on his relentless campaigns.

It was a hopeless quest, for how can a man actually conquer the world? Miran resigned himself to doom from the beginning when he accepted Zara-Thuster, but nevertheless he is resolute to carry out his given duty as Chosen One of the Fire God. 

Over ten years have passed since then, and though there were other warlords, it was Miran who pulled firmest at the threads of fate to come out on top. Many atrocities had been committed: his armies of Üarim and Gnülonlar swept across the land, and with sword, scores of cannons, pillage and much fire the nations of Transtulania and the southern steppes were brought to heel. This became the foundation of a nascent Empire of the south, which has been dubbed the Miranid Empire – the subjects of Miran Shaykh Gurkani.
[/hider]