[hider=The Sangharan Republic] [hr] [center][h1][b]The Sangharan Grand Republic[/b][/h1][/center] [hr] [img]https://awoiaf.westeros.org/images/3/39/Juan_Carlos_Barquet_slavers_bay.jpg[/img] [hr] [hider=Species] SPECIES- The Sanghar are a humanoid, bipedal race of usually red skinned peoples, notable for being one of the three races created by the Ashammai precursors along with the Surabhi and the Tu’mong. They are a tall, lithe, pantherish people who commonly reach six foot in height, with eyes that vary from blue, orange, purple and gold. Their hair is usually white and their heads are crowned with a pair of velveted red horns, which emerge from their foreheads. Asides from this, the Sanghar have two other distinctive features, their commonly aquiline noses which forms something of a common trait, and their prehensile tails which they use to climb and balance themselves, as well as sometimes a pseudo “third arm”. Unlike the Surabhi the Sanghar’s gender balance is roughly equal, and in fact physically the two genders are fairly similar in terms of build and strength, with only marginal differences between them depending on hormonal development during adolescence - There is uncertainty to whether this was in response to, or prior to, the creation of the Surabhi. Indeed, some Sanghar thinkers have hypothesized that the weakness of the Surabhi males may have been deemed “inefficient” by the Ashammai, hence resulting in a change in their experiment. A sub-group of amphibious Sanghar known as the Sargael are also exist within the empire, being notable for a minor - and since mended - schism that divided them into independent realms across the small islands surrounding Shanrilaath. It is believed by Sanghar thinkers that the Sargael were an attempt to improve on the sea-faring Sanghar by the Ashammai, but their amphibious nature proved more of a hindrance than a help. These Sanghar share many of the same features as the main Sanghar population, albeit with blue skin, milky opalescent eyes, webbed feet and hands, more antler-like horns and a more aquatic ridged and finned tail. Hybrids of the sub-race and the main Sanghar often result in individuals known as “Saltbloods” which share variable features of both ethnic groups - most commonly blue skin and webbing. This is the extent of their interbreeding however, as Sanghar cannot breed successfully with races beyond those created by the Ashammai, having been made genetically incompatible so the precursors could keep a tight leash on their experiment. Some success can be made with ritualised magic to create artificial hybrids, but it has been discovered that the features of one half rapidly diminish with each successive generation. Sanghar hybridisation with the Tu’mong results in Sanghar genetic traits being naturally dominant, and with the Surabhi it is dependent on the mothers race. Beyond the Sanghar and the Sargael populations, The Sangharan Republic is home to almost every race of the known world to some degree. Due to having economic connections across the globe, the merchant quarters of most cities are abuzz with a multi-ethnic admixture of peoples of all walks of life, each bringing their faith, customs and language to Shanrilaath, and officially supported by the Grand Republic’s legal tolerance of such individual freedoms. Humans, Surabhi and Tu’mong however tend to be the most numerous of these groups due to the closer interaction they share with the Sanghar, militarily, culturally and economically. Populations of Sangharized Surabhi and Tu’mong are particularly common, their highly integrated populations clustering together in small - and sometimes large - communities. Often times they can be told apart from mainland Surabhi and Tu’mong via the tattoos they wear - in the Surabhi’s case, three tiger stripes on each cheek - and are commonly involved as much as the Sanghar in trade, diplomacy, warfare and communal life. Tu’mong however are more conservative than the Sangharized Surabhi, much like their mainland cousins, and keep marriages within their enclaves in order not to disappear. As a result of high living standards and the universalisation of certain branches of magic in everyday life, it is not uncommon for noble Sanghar to reach their nineties or become centenarians if not killed by magi-plagues or war. Some, such as the Dakatha live for even longer, extending their lives through occult means for hundreds of years - although this requires decennial rejuvenations to maintain, and can have an degenerative effect on the mind for those not strong of will. In general, without artificial mental degradation, the Sanghar tend to age quite gracefully, assisted by cultural paradigms that support physical fitness even late in life. [/hider] [hider=Culture and Society] OVERVIEW- As a nation born from was once part of the largest and most powerful empire on Takanis, the Sanghar naturally have a rich and vibrant culture and society stretching back nearly half a dozen millennia. Across the vast coastline of the smoking volcanic isle of Shanrilaath loom hundreds of ancient cities, opulent and imperial in their splendour, with towers and pyramids of basalt dominating their skylines and mighty walls covered in painted bas-reliefs of Ishareth’s children, enclosing cities who’s roofs gleam in shining brass scales. People of all races and nationalities swarm the ports, bringing goods of ivory, amber, magic crystal and furs from the distant north to exchange for sapphires, tiger and lion skins, or purple dye and spices from the humid coast-land plantations of Shanrilaath, the wild jungles of the interior, or the dark halls of secretive alchemists. In Sanghara, innumerable festivals light up the night on any part of the island with song and dance, pleasure houses crowd the avenues of trade and see to every need a visitor might indulge in, and swaggering bravos in patterned silk finery challenge each other in public displays of prowess with their kris knives. In the halls of the great temples dedicated to Ishareth - their mother goddess - strange purple fires are piled high with aromatic herbs and sandalwood, overseen by unaging priests in white robes, who call voices out of the flame that throw their congregations into silently mystic ecstasy. From the seas come sleek black prowed vessels, carved in faces of the goddesses kin and served by salt-flecked, hardened mariners, who bring back trade and pillage from distant shores and fatten the coin purses of merchants. Across the craggy coastal cliffs, a network of silent midnight pagodas lie ready to call in great smothering mists to enshroud the isle, a matter that has deferred invasion many a time in the worst ages of the Century Wars. To visit Shanrilaath is an experience in a nation rich in custom and tradition, smoothed into broad tolerance and acceptance by a millennia of exquisite wealth. One would be a fool however, to say that this decadent display has weakened the Sanghar in any meaningful way, as their nation has outlasted far more austere civilisations, and endured cataclysms that would make the latter crumble into powder. Hard, battleworn faces mix without conflict with those of easy living on their isles, and the spectre of war is never far away with their looming titanic rival to the north. The age of Shanrilaath’s golden years have been long diminished after the collapse of their mainland territories one and a half thousand years ago, but they are not gone. So long as Shanrilaath lives and breathes and trades, the Republic will always find new and innovative ways to restore itself. Until then it awaits, patiently, for the return of its true and primordial splendour... GOVERNMENT- The Grand Republic of Sanghara consists of a hundreds of semi-autonomous city states and provinces, each dominated by ruling families and unified by a bicameral national government called the Dakathan Senate and the Provincial Assembly. Although the heads of these families usually remain in the city to oversee direct administration of family affairs, each major house sends a delegate elected amongst their members to attend to the matters of state in Ivory Palace at Tel-Shanraath - named as such due to the Octagonal palace the senate meets in, which is held up by eight great granite elephants and which holds hundred-and-thirty mahogany and hammered ivory thrones, representing a single delegate of each ruling family. Here the great families of the republic guide the destiny of the Sangharan nation, voting in matters of government, administration, commerce and legislation across the republic and its provinces. Amidst these halls political parties are founded and flourish, old orders grow and decline, and the ruling powers dominate and scheme amongst private cliques of ever-changing alliances. To become a first citizen, and thus gain a vote in the central affairs of the Ivory Palace, one must travel a difficult road filled with pitfalls and traps laid by the Dakatha princes. Although not cut-throat, Sangharan politics is filled with manipulations and scheming on an economic level, and the elites are rarely willing to share in their power with glorified upstarts. For a family to take a seat of its own - of which there are but one hundred and twenty - it must either dethrone an existing dynasty or become a force too powerful to be denied. For most, the former is more common than the latter, and the last time the Senate has grown in number was seventy years ago. The latter also comes with formidable risks, as to threaten the powers-that-be without rebuke, one must be a mastermind in schemes, bribes, extortion and force. Many a upstart lord who imperiously thrust his way to power this way has been dethroned and left dead, bankrupted or broken when they grew too threatening to be tolerated. The only exception to this deadly game of machinations are the tens seats permanently delegated to the Temple, representing the leading High Priests and Priestesses and consorts of the Shanrilaath Orthodoxy. Those that play the game soon learn to avoid raising the ire of either the priests or their perfumed courtesans, as they are well known to be as deadly as they are seductive, and hold a terrifying amount of power amongst their secular contemporaries. The most common way to enter the running for the senate is to found a powerful merchant family, and dominate trade and industry in a city or region. Commonly these are in regions dealing with specific goods and materials, or tied into the trade networks and posts that develop wherever the Sanghar settle. Colonisation and the construction of new cities can well make a family if one is canny enough to subjugate or bankrupt all opponents, and with colonisation rights naturally comes an increase in squabbles amongst the lower nobility of the Asurbaal over this opportunity. Others create their wealth through the construction of merchant fleets for shipping or warships for battle, and some in forging and leadership of armies on land, or equally in the supplying and equipping such armies. Once their wealth is established in such a manner, the family will have doubtless forged its way far above the provincial gentry of the Asurbaal. Upon achieving this, two powerful symbols are necessary to establish them as a ruling dynasty, education in the mystic arts - which raises them to the status of Dakatha - and the construction of an immense step-pyramid to display the families wealth and power. The resources and wealth necessary to access the black pagodas and obsidian pyramids of the magi, as well as the decade long construction of such a monument to ancestral power, is the final barrier to the rise of interlopers. Many a family has tried to rise to such heights only to bankrupt themselves in the attempt - although new families are quick to utilise the foundations of what they built to attain their own supremacy. For most part however, the would-be princes of Sanghara content themselves with the more achievable power of the Provincial Assembly, which belongs to the landed gentry of the Asurbaal. Here they oversee regional and provincial legislation, and debate regional laws, tariffs and taxes not important enough to garner the notice of the Dakatha Princes. Although of less sweeping a nature, this lower senate sees over much of the essential administrative, bureaucratic and legislative processes of the republic, and can be a easy avenue to power… if one knows how to play the game of politics. Unlike the upper senate, the seats of the Asurbaal are rarely static or few in number, and thousands of families contest and argue over how their small corner of the republic is governed. Sometimes the Asurbaal have banded together to oppose the Dakatha Senate when the need arose, challenging the very powers that be for governance of the Republic, although usually this is in the face of outrageous ovesteps. More often they bicker and factionalise between themselves, kept to being - and denigrated as - the “lords of small matters” by those above them. Finally there are the City Forums, assemblies of the most notable citizens of each city or independent town/province that assemble to elect representatives from the powerful families of the region, and examine public and economic matters for their state. The ruling family naturally has a permanent position of power within these proceedings, and thus substantial weight, but the elected officials and representatives of the city can both influence and put pressure them for certain motions or laws to come into effect. The amount of control each family has over the City Forums varies from dynasty to dynasty, with some representing more of a sham government and others being more diverse and vigorously engaged in the cities politics. The City Forum furthermore cannot be easily ignored, as many dynasties have found their downfall by pushing the citizenry too hard and causing riots and insurrection. In general, most families try and stick to a mid-ground, appeasing their citizens somewhat whilst keeping their own financial and political interests well in hand. The final actor in this stage, and perhaps the most notable is the office of the First Prince. Elected amongst the Dakatha for life, they represent the republic on a national level and are considered the leading voice of the Dakatha Senate. The position however, is of variable authority when it comes to controlling the disparate ambitions of the ruling families. Although given respect, specific privileges and the authority to speak above all others, little actual power is gifted to the First Prince. They only represent the “first among equals” not a president or king who can dictate terms. Many have used such limited power - as well as their immense wealth, influence, subterfuge and charisma - to make them the true voice of the nation, and a powerful force to be reckoned with. Just as many however, have become little more than a rubber-stamp to the authority of factions and cliques, incapable of making the ruling members of the senate bend to their authority. To truly rule from such a position, one requires a masterful touch and the strength and political acumen to enforce it. CASTES- Sangharan society is built on a semi-flexible hierarchical structure which allows for some level of social mobility amongst the ruling and governed classes. At the top are the Dakatha, the richest, wealthiest, oldest and most influential families who often trace their bloodline down to the first settlers of Sanghara. There are the main governing citizenry of the empire, consisting of the first among equals in all matters, and it is uncommon that their numbers ever change. To be Dakatha, one must become what might be best described as a polymath, mastering to some degree financial, political and military matters. Most important of all - and what divides them from mere nobility - is the intense training they receive in the sorcerous arts of magic and elder learning. The Dakatha are above all sorcerors first, and politicians second - although many would argue that such a division in itself is unnatural - and imbued with power in both physical and mystical realms. Due to the immense amount of capital - and pre-existing privileges such as literacy and political station offer - only very few enter the black pagodas of the magi to be initiated. The process can take as long as five years to complete, and few but the rich or independent are able to stay away from matters of everyday life long enough to be made a member into that order. The majority of the Dakatha are biomancers, but many also practice other schools of learning, such as weather magic - the summoning of winds, mists etc - or darker, more forbidden arts. All are trained in a unique form of defensive hand to hand combat which allows for the deliverance of killing blows using their sorcery, although it is uncommon for such magic to be used except in the direst of situations. The Dakatha occupy the upper chamber of the bicameral senate, essentially deciding the vast majority of pressing matters in the chamber of the Ivory Palace of Tel-Shaanrath, and serving as the electors and councillors of the First Prince - a figure who is nominally “first among equals” but ultimately represents such an immense array of commercial, political and military interests that he is able to exert vast power over the nation. Asurbaal follow next as the second major class of Sanghara, consisting of what could be said as being the landed gentry of the nation, and representing its agricultural and military core. As few of them are rich enough to acquire an education in magic, they remain as a secondary power block within the empire, although still accorded much deference as well as political power through the Provincial Assembly. Although denigrated as the “kings of small matters” the Asurbaal oversee much of the minutiae of the administration and governance of the empire which often escapes the notice of higher powers. They also serve as the second deciding vote, if the Dakatha Senate cannot decide on a particularly contentious matter. Asurbaal supply much of the heavy cavalry and elephant riders of the empire, and thus are an elite block to any Sangharan army - especially with their access to prize armour and weaponry as a result of their wealth, freeing them from less high quality munition fair. There is thus sizeable overlap between the Asurbaal class and the Subaal military class, and it is not uncommon for them to utilise their war experience to further long held political ambitions and rise in status amongst their peers - or become Dakatha themselves. Asurbaal also account to a lesser degree maritime and merchant affairs, - although nautical expeditions are invariably lead by the family of the Dakatha due to their frequent mastery of windsinging - and thus there is some overlap with the Ūdarpresh when merchants become rich enough to enter their numbers. Nevertheless it is an expectation - and most often a reality - that the Asurbaal come from agricultural landowning stock. Ūdarpresh, the merchants and traders, and Hazarpresh, rural farmers, labourers, artisans and craftsmen naturally represent the common man or woman in Sangharan society, consisting of the vast stock of the population of the Republic. They are not truly enfranchised on a national level, instead making their demands known locally through elections and pressure in the Dakatha dominated Public Forum, and have a lesser legal position under law and justice. Nevertheless as a result of the states immense riches, their lives are far from “nasty, brutal or short” and they mostly live in relative comfort - especially the rich merchant Ūdarpresh caste who’s money is often made from their spice and silk plantations and trade ships. Both furthermore consist of the majority of the Subaal military class - as well as in the case of the Hazarpresh, raw labour for the corvee system - being essential to the growth and survival of the empire. Like all other classes, both use military recruitment as a chance for social advancement and are eager to acquire enough riches and land from their service to be raised to Asurbaal status. Some of them even do, although it is uncommon, but even a moderately successful campaign can make a rich city magistrate of a subsistence farmer - if he doesn’t die first. Ūdarpresh are the natural commercial lifeblood of the empire, ensuring the traffic of goods in and out of the empire in their sleek, well built and handsome boats. Ūdarpresh also have some greater level of soft power in the Public Forums, being able to pressure for changes as part of guild blocs and frequently being sought after for commercial support for ambitious Dakatha - with trade concessions invariably following. Of all the classes likely to consistently rise in station, the Ūdarpresh stand the best chance of achieving that goal - assuming they can outlast their competitors of course - although the Hazarpresh often rise to become local Asurbaal, filtering their money into land purchases and founding massive and prosperous estates. The final class is the Yuzhat, the slaves of the empire. As the Sangharan’s are mostly supported in their construction requirements by a vast supply of cheap labour from free men and women, slavery is mostly reserved for domestic or specialist service. Slaves are taken through two means, the first by “honest combat” where a defeated opponent who has taken up arms against a Sanghar is made captive in battle. The second is through purchase via intermediaries, with the presumption that the first matter has been attended to. Although the Sanghar raid, they do not enslave or kidnap civilians indiscriminately as it is seen as unvirtuous to brutalise an unarmed opponent who offers no resistance. Only those who fight - and who are captured in doing so - can be legitimately taken as Yuzhat. Yuzhat status is not necessarily seen as a permanent thing in Sanghar society, instead being considered as a debt of payment for harm caused to the Sangharan Empire, or blood labour. The standard number of years of service is considered to be five, with those with notable records for brutality or fierceness towards the Sanghara having their terms extended proportionate to the damage they cause. Many legal protections exist to ensure that unnecessary cruelty is not observed by the masters of the Yuzhat, and it is not unknown of for a Yuzhat to bring a master to court for their callousness - if still uncommon due to societal norms. Although subservient in position, being Yuzhat can also offer a great deal of opportunities due to their direct connection with the households of the affluent. Although often domestic or pleasure slaves, it is expected that a master give patronage in return for service through providing education in literacy, scholastic or physical pursuits as to best utilise the skills of their servants. Thus service can as often be voluntary as much as it is a result of captivity, allowing peoples of lesser rank to rise in stature and access pathways of advancement through educational provisions. Yuzhat who bear children in their service will not have their status effect their newborns, who are in turn considered born free and of their fathers/mothers household. Such children are not seen as a matter of disgrace, and are raised of almost equal status with their trueborn Asurbaal or Dakatha kindred in all things but succession, which follows a line of tanistry - the first wives children will inherit in preference over others. Still it is natural that they receive all the support, love and education necessary to have a long and promising life. After their years of service are completed, the Yuzhat are given their freedom and two options to choose from; to stay in Shanrilaath, being provided lands and money suitable to ensure a life of comfort, or to take a ship to the mainland and return home across the sea. Although it is not uncommon for the latter to occur, it is surprisingly frequent that the former is chosen, as conditions, life and opportunities are often better in Shanrilaath than they are on the frequently war-torn mainland. Some even remain as paramours or as High Yuzhat wives/husbands of their former masters, and as such the Sangharan Republic has a surprising amount of ethnic diversity amongst its citizenry in the cities, as well as - to a lesser degree - the rural areas of the island. RELIGION- Much like the Surabhi and the Tu’mong the Sanghar follow a branch of the Isharethi religion, although divided from the latter too in terms of doctrinal interpretation of Ishareth’s scriptures. Historically the Sanghar formed the most notable early cults of monolatric worship of the goddess, but historical fragmentation makes the exact nature of the Ishaethi peoples religious redirection ambiguous. The worship of Ishareth as a goddess - as well as her divine counterparts - can however be said to pre-date her current congregation extensively, extending back to the Ashammai creators over six thousand years ago, and perhaps even further to a possibly neolithic origin amongst Pre-Ashammai peoples that inhabited what was to become Tsang-Mah, Ditadisha and Odhisa. The Sanghar, like the Surabhi and Tu’mong continued to worship their adopted and loosely knit Ashammai religious pantheon long after the Ashammai’s fall. They knew no other gods, and so it endured unspoiled and unhindered across the post cataclysmic period. The doctrinal challenges have only come relatively more recently, beginning five hundred years after the foundation of the Old Empire, which saw a obscure period of religious change known as the Zakurad Reformation, followed by the victory of Isharethi monolatrism among the Sanghar and Surabhi. The Tu’mong however did not experience this reformation, and instead continued the pre-existent religious practices with their own smaller alterations, although their religious heartlands diminished to Nam Leng as the Old Empire grew more powerful. Eventually as thousands of years passed, the two religious communities that occupied much of the Old Empire’s population slowly began to diverge in their interpretation of the holy scriptures, ritual language, rites and Vedas of their faith, which saw slow but increasing ethnic tensions as the Old Empire began to disintegrate. With the destruction of the seat of the Old Empire’s core, the simmering religious dispute came to a head in the fractured and leaderless provinces of the empire. The two religious factions broke into discord with one another over their long-standing doctrinal disputes, which invariably lead to the emergence of Sanghar and Surabhi orthodoxies who no longer accepted the wholesale validity of each others scriptural interpretations. Further divisions would divide the faith in later centuries, with the Tsathic Heresy in Tsang-Mah, the rise of the Gorgothic Law and the Lengi Restoration in Nam Leng and elsewhere. Shanrilaath Orthodoxy which is predominant in the Sangharan Republic is usually regarded as the oldest and most sensual and extravagant main branches of the faith, and is thus the object of many fantastical rumours in the wider world. Whilst nowhere near the scale of decadence rumoured, Shanrilaath Orthodoxy is a highly permissive religion when it comes to amorous relations, and celebrates its festivals in a highly elaborate and luxuriantly public manner. To the Sangharans, Ishareth is the goddess of growth and renewal, conflict and knowledge, and her bounty must be publicly celebrated to show their appreciation of their goddess. Festivals are thus organised at the beginning and end of each year to celebrate Ishareth’s gift of life to Takanis and the favour she bestowed upon the Republic upon its colonisation of Shanrilaath. Although all sects of the Isharethi faith acknowledge the existence of other gods, most agree that as the mother of all things, Ishareth is the goddess most interested in earthly matters - and in the Sangharans case, believed to be the one most likely to intercede in those affairs. Sangharans thus pray to Ishareth at her temples for success in their endeavours of commerce, diplomacy and travel, offering tribute in return for her blessing for their expedition. Far more rarely, the Sanghar call upon Ishareth in times of war to turn the tide against their enemies, but this is seen as a desperate and most dire act, as causing the deaths of her children is considered an anathema for the goddess. Tribute is traditionally given to temples and shrines to the goddess, and if a family becomes rich and powerful enough, they may erect statues and monuments to exult her glory and display their dedication to her tenets. These offerings are frequently laid out before towering semi-humanoid statues of Ishareth in the temple nave, or cast into the pyre of eternal purple flames positioned at the feet of the goddesses statue. The construction of a temple ziggurats is considered a particularly worth opportunity to gain her favour, and thus many dynasties eagerly scramble to fund these elaborate religious projects. The process of creation and artistry in general is also seen as a virtue, as it is interpreted as mirroring the creative nature of the goddess as she populates of the world with life. Ishareth amongst craftsmen is thus also seen as a goddess of inspiration and their muse, and often these groups establish their own private shrines to her for each guild of artisans, as well as the source of the Sangharan’s highly decorative artwork. Education is also regarded as an important religious matter, as it is through the understanding of the Vedas that Ishareth’s will may be manifested and a virtuous life followed. Although the priestesses are naturally regarded in experts in this field due to their lives of scholastic study, it is expected that each child should at least understand and be able to read the basic scriptures of virtue written on the pillars of the Sanghar temples. Temple Schools are thus distributed evenly across the rural and urban areas of Shanrilaath to provide education to the masses, although quality varies depending on the wealth of each episcopal see and its interest in funding its sub-temples. At least a third of Sangharans are fully literate, with another twenty percent displaying at least partial literacy, proving the success of their efforts in such matters. Magic, much like amongst the ruling class, is deeply entwined into Sanghar religious beliefs and customs. All forms of magic practised by the Sanghar naturally find their origins amidst the Isharethi Ritual Vedas, which provide guidance on its use and function in manners pleasing to the goddess, and education purposes that permeate even in the secular environments of the black pagodas of the Dakatha. Although far less cautious than their Surabhumi counterparts, Sangharans generally prefer to follow proven techniques rather than unguided experiments, and thus excessive and incautious magical rituals are deeply frowned upon as unpious and unwise. The Temple also provides one of the few ways to gain an education in magic for Sanghar of poorer backgrounds - although a far more conservative one than through secular education - and has been known to jump=start Dakatha temple dynasties amongst cunning individuals, passing over the necessity for immense wealth usually integral to access to higher learning. Thus it is that much like the Surabhi’s martially inclined clergy, the Sangharan priests are often highly well trained and versed figures in ritual magic, contributing to the defensive bulwark of Shanrilaath and a levy to call upon in an hour of need. Rare has it been that ever this has been necessary, but it has occurred, the devastation wrought by the rituals of the priesthood has often been catastrophic. Lovemaking and pleasure are far more integral part of Shanrilaathi Orthodoxy than other branches of the faith, as Ishareth is seen as a passionate and creative mother goddess to her children. Procreation and sexual intercourse - heterosexual, bisexual and homosexual included - are thus seen as healthy and welcome parts of everyday worship, and prostitution is regarded as a respectable and holy profession. Indeed, the Temple across the centuries has managed to monopolize the business of prostitution in each city of Shanrilaath, putting the profession under the regulated administration of the faith, and which provides a substantive part of temple income for upkeep and construction works. Most temples however, maintain a substantial part of their infrastructure towards more contemplative and meditative means of worship, and such shrines to pleasure usually have their own temples interlinked with the rest of the religious estate. Temple prostitution is considered exceedingly banal to most Sanghar, and it is with some bafflement that they view the shock and horror of more puritanical peoples on Takanis, as they have little understanding of the purpose of such reinforced celibacy. The prostitutes of the temples come from a variety of backgrounds, the majority of which consists of captured Yazhat (50%), but a not insubstantial minority consists of freeborn Sangharans (45%) and foreign naturalised citizens (5%). Duties can differ extensively, from those who serve in the pleasure houses with their bodies and advertise the temple, to those that provide entertainment and cerebral discussion in dance, song, poetry and legend, to consorts who serve a select few clients and function as much as advisers and scholars as they do lovers and partners. Indeed, the consorts much like the high priests and priestesses of Ishareth have access to the magical arts and their study, and form a powerful bloc in internal struggles of the temple hierarchy. Lovemaking as finds expression in religious and secular art, being the frequent topic of sculpture, bas-relief work and murals, although usually in the context of their surroundings rather than randomly scattered across the cities. Temple hierarchy is divided on Shanrilaath between a Pentarchy of High Priests and Priestesses, which form a council to decide theological matters relating to the Shanrilaathi Orthodoxy. Nominally these Priests and Priestesses are of equal position, but the reality is that the Pentarch of Tel-Shanraath holds predominance as first among equals in religious affairs, a situation which emerged primarily from the diminishing of Sanghara’s continental empire and the disappearance of all but two of the republics mainland Sees in Kushaninka and Tsang-Mah - and the complete obsolescence of another three from the original “Thetarchy”. Now an uneasy balance exists between The Pentarch of Tel-Shanraath and the smaller surviving Pentarchies of Tel-Belit and Tel-Zulbazzar, who struggle to remain independent of it. The Order of Consorts, although only in the last several hundred years, has also managed to acquire a seat in the Pentarchal council, and so unofficially their number could be said to be six rather than five. Below that, temple hierarchy is more horizontal in nature with priests and priestesses roughly sharing equal status, although the prosperity of their religious demesne can play a lot into creating artificial notions of “greater” and “lesser” priests. This has resulted in the emergence of Metropolitan priests and priestesses of the cities of Sanghara, which oversee the wealthiest and most extensive religious sites of the republic and have considerable sway over their surrounding rural clergy. A good number of rural temples however are wealthy enough to challenge this predominance, and it looks to be assured that a new order of powerful priests below the rank of high priest will eventually emerge. Organisationally, beyond the immensely ornate Temple-Palaces of the Pentarchs and the Great Temples of the Sangharan cities, the faith is distributed by a number of pseudo-monastic schools scattered across the countryside, providing amenities for the rural population of Sanghara. Although priestesses and priests do not have the same polymathic nature as their Surabhi contemporaries, the foundation of these communities by the priests, their companions and acolytes ensures an even and standardised distribution of religious and secular skills across a region, and a focal point for communal life. In turn for a tithe of produce or services to maintain the monasteries upkeep, they provide for the medical, religious, magical and educational needs of their surrounding villages and document romantic joinings - the Sanghar have little understanding of marriage in the human conception - and births for government census. the monasteries are thus more often or not, small evenly distributed communities of healers, priests, educators, scholars, craftsmen and printers to provide all manners of expertise necessary for country life. The monasteries also are an ample source of literature thanks to the spread of woodblock printing through the Sangharan empire since its inception, providing a valuable source of local archives and information for research and educational purposes. These books are stored in specially built shrines designed through magical and architectural means to maintain stable low humidity and temperature in order to protect them from rot and damage, with special adjoined reading rooms for older texts, for it is not uncommon to encounter books that are centuries old in storage. Bi-centennial reprintings in the Grand Libraries of The Pentarchy ensure that the redistribution of knowledge remains universal, inhibiting - but not completely removing - the possibility of information loss. Outside of serving their local communities, the monasteries use a network of paths and riverways to communicate with one another through scholastic discussion, ensuring that new ideas and concepts do not remain regional in nature for long, and making sure innovations spread across Shanrilaath. Although the majority of these monasteries are small in nature and fairly rustic in amenities and dependent on the Pentarch’s interest in funding them, some have grown to enormous stature and wealth, and thus attracted large communities of scholars to their halls. A good number of these challenge the Black Pyramids of the Dakathan scholars, and there is some inter-service rivalry between the two groups, with both parties developing factional philosophies and outlooks on science, scripture and magic. Sculptural depictions of Ishareth often show her in two forms, an amorous flying entity, consisting of pale wings surrounded by fire and with burning eyes across her form, and a more humanoid form consisting of a statue in the proportions of a Sanghar, with nude body with birds feet, covered by a flowing robe, and her eyes and upper head hidden by six wings. Depending on the purpose of the shrine the symbols in her hands may vary, but she is always either enthroned or in a standing position. ARCHITECTURE- Sangharan architecture consists of three general stylistic groupings; firstly the vernacular styles developed during the first colonisation of Shanrilaath, secondly the temple architecture created with the emergence of Shanrilaathi Orthodoxy, with the final style consisting of Republican Monolithic that emerged just prior to the first Century War. All architectural styles tend to utilise local Shanrilaathi resources, consisting of punice, basalt, palm frond thatch, hardwoods, bamboo and volcanic concrete. Most rural houses are built in the vernacular style, structures perched on stilt like legs with overlapping thatched roofs that shoot into the air like the prows of ships or the horns of cattle, creating high roofs and halls in which the inhabitants dwell, and which protects them from poisonous snakes and flooding. The more grand and elegant of these are built from teak and ebony, and carved in elaborate patterns, bas-reliefs and bright paints, inlaid with mother-of-pearl and glass, and with multiple overlapping prowed roofs. Others take the form of palm thatched beehive huts, commonly seen in clusters along the Sangharan coastline as fishermen paddle out in small boats to take advantage of the rich source of fish found off the coast of Shanrilaath in the Ebon Sea. Still others consist of stout grounded houses with towering roofs and small, thick stone or wooden legs, often used in areas of high earthquake activity. In the cities of Sanghara things take a different approach, although often using the same principles with high roofs and elaborate designs. Built from heavy polished basalt, most houses in the cities are highly ornate and interconnected with city services, having access to piped water and joined with the cities sewer systems. In contrast to many other cities, Sangharan cities tend to be relatively clean as waste which cannot be disposed of directly is collected and delivered by carts to dumping grounds outside the confines of each city, traveling along paved paths of granite. Richer and more prosperous neighbours will also feature private baths fed by networks of aqueducts, and have roofs of beaten copper, polished an gilded wood and orange lacquered scales. Gardens and parks - ostensibly built to “clear foul vapours” - separate districts and create a decentralised plan to most cities, although quite pleasant living conditions as well as meeting places for public forums and trade. The use of volcanic concrete and basalt is a very common building material, providing good security from the occasional earthquakes that result from Shanrilaath’s volcanic activity, and who’s non-pitting surface provide easy to clean for garbage collectors and mages of the guilds of city hygiene. The central feature of all Sanghar cities however is the Great Pyramid and the sub-pyramids that dominate their skylines, the symbol of the Dakatha dynasties power and influence. In this the Sanghar nobility are split into the schools; the wide base school - in which the pyramid is not a towering monolith of the skyline but instead spread a massive palace complex lengthwise - and the narrow base school - in which the pyramidal palace cleaves the skyline like a mountain. The former provides greater space for ease and leisure, but is neither as visible nor as dominant a symbol, and the latter is forced to give up its wide gardens and many luxuries for a more compact and tower-based level structure. Although these styles may be based on philosophy and temperament, they more often correlate to sheer necessity and available space within the city in which to build them. The largest of these pyramids is found in Tel-Shanraath, which is formed on a combination of both styles and which towers one thousand feet into the air to be shrouded by wispy morning mists, its bands of orange and purple split by larger bands of pale-white lime plaster. Most cities also are surrounded by three walls, a holy number associated with the three races of Ishareth’s blood, and consist of massive ornate affairs designed both to hold out invaders and impress those that walk under them with their immensity and strength. Designed to withstand brutal siege from land or sea, the walls are built of granite, concrete, basalt and rammed earth and fitted with giant bas relief’s of “The Great Children” of Ishareth which void boiling tar on the besiegers. Intermittently, the walls are lined with immense Elephant Gates - named after their main statuesque feature - which are so broad that if needed, they could march armies in rows eighty men long through their looming brass clad gateways. Much like with the pyramids, the largest and most numerous of these city walls is in Tel-Shanraath, which has nine walls that encompass a population of one million and two hundred thousand inhabitants. [/hider] History: [To be added later] [hider=Territorial Claims] TERRITORIAL CLAIMS- The Sangharan’s control several continental enclaves on the mainland, as well as the massive volcanic island of Shanrilaath as their current territorial extent. Beyond this, the Sangharan’s claim much of the mainland including Tsang-Mah, Muhtava, Kushaninka, parts of Ditadisha, Odhisa, and Jatapu as their rightful and sovereign territory - it having consisted of the Sangharan state’s core provinces prior to the first Century War - and thus the territorial boundaries of “Greater Sanghara”. Sanghara also makes claim over much of the Eastern Ishkadian Sea and its scattered islands as the extent of their sovereign naval domain, although this has neither been colonised nor even completely explored by the Republic. [url=https://i.imgur.com/FNPPnGs.jpg]Link To Sanghara[/url] and [url=https://i.imgur.com/GgDxzJJ.jpg]Link to Greater Sanghara[/url] [/hider] [hider=Economy] ECONOMY- The Sangharans are renowned across much of the known world for their skill and expertise in matters of trade and economics, having long made themselves totally unexpendable in trade of spices (cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and black pepper) animal products (tiger and lion skins, crocodile and hippo leather, elephant hide and ivory and exotic birds) silver mining (with subsidiary markets in gold mining) Precious stones (most notably sapphires, but also other precious jewels) slaves (an import market, with expensive and stringent exports) and silks and dyes (particularly a unique and secret trade in a dye of unfading purple). The Sangharans only have a monopoly on a few of these exports - most notably the spice and dye trade - but generally have strong influence in the other markets due to close management of their resources and the sheer quality of their workmanship. The Sangharans maintain this dominance of the market though a variety of factors, namely though a mixture of exclusive distribution of the products if they have a monopoly, providing the highest quality variants of said good, or by undercutting other sources in price an distribution. Being a naval society with extensive links to the sea and oceanic traffic, they are able to spread their economic weight across much of the known world and ensure that they, and not others, remain the most viable exporters of their goods and services. This has also extended into protracted economic warfare with several nations, such as the Surabhumi and to a lesser degree, the Dragon Empire of Nam Leng, when others have attempted to challenge Sangharan sea power. So far the Sangharans have maintained their influence over merchant traffic across the seas of the world, but the potential for new contenders is always on the horizon, leaving those wise enough to see it to wonder how long the Sangharan trade empire will last. The Sanghar of Shanrilaath also commonly engage in proto-banking, providing loans and financial support for many noble families, monarchical dynasties and republican leaders both home and abroad. The most powerful of these is the Bank of Tel Taramat, although not as financially influential as the Marble Bank of Arcana, it nonetheless is dominated by the Nachamenzzar banker dynasty, who use their own private navy to enforce the repayment of their loans, with the threat of assassination, covert funding, pillage and war being the due of any who default. This in turn ensures favourable trade conditions for the navy, with the supported dynasties naturally giving favourable trade terms in return for Sangharan financial support. Another aspect of Sangharan trade is in the secret development and spread of Sangharan Purple, an unfading and magically sourced type of dye which has given colour to the ruling dynasties clothes, pyramids and even sometimes their ships. This form of purple is formed out of a mixture of chemical changes with magical input, and thus requires a steady flow of crystal to keep production at maximum, necessitating trade with crystal rich nations such as Caelrumoste to ensure stable exports. The technique for creating such a dye is a deep secret held only by a handful of highly secretive sorcerer-alchemist dynasties, and which can only be taught by one of their number - the secret being passed unwritten from master to student. More than one would-be thief has attempted to con the masters out of their secrets, but so far none has been successful, and those thieves lie now with throats slit unmarked graves, or torn apart by demons of the upper air for their own grave errors. The wild resources of Sanghara are also meticulously managed to ensure continuous distribution. Teak and other boat woods that are cut are replaced, the skins of animals collected are kept within a certain level to ensure a stable population is maintained, harvesting oyster beds, coral reefs and fish migrations are kept to within acceptable limitations through national legislature and village tradition. This economic balance is designed to ensure not necessary to maintain maximum profits, but to ensure that Sanghara never lacks for resources. Disruption to this balance in the past have resulted in economic downturn and reduced the diversity in local profits, creating decades of political chaos. Thus Sanghara is vigorously and legalistically managed along this system, which has naturally evolved over the course of centuries to its current form. What domestication and Sanghar management can be achieved has also been attempted, ensuring further preservation of pre-existing ecological environments. For all that, the primary source of Sangharan wealth and prosperity is primarily spice trade. The spices rule social life in Shanrilaath being involved in all aspects of trade, farming and industry, and access to the commodities of coffee, mahogany, maize and peppers on the mainland is hotly contested between the three main Isharethi races. Vast spice plantations, fuelled by the fertile volcanic earth of the island and watered by immense aqueducts and ancient planned systems of irrigation, provide for the massive export economy, the fields tended by Yazhat and Hazarpresh alike and sent across the world from coastal metropolises by swift teak and red sailed ships. This has resulted in two necessities, the first being that Sanghara controls the seas to properly monopolise on their direct trade, and the second being a tight and brutal grip on spice plants. Many in the past have tried to steal the source of Sanghara’s power and success, much like the secret and exorbitant trade in Sangharan Purple, but only bleached skulls raised on bamboo pikes speak of their unremembered stories. If the control of either the sea or access to the spice plants failed, the core of Sanghara’s economic security would be shaken to its foundations, and lead to a general decline of their own power. [/hider] [hider=Army] ARMY- Although the Sangharan military is not a disrespected order of profession for Sanghar of all castes, it has never been the Republics strongest suit, and has lagged behind the immense naval capacities of the nation. Nevertheless over centuries of war and combat with the Surabhi it has honed its craft to a fine point, and now presents a formidable - if definitely not indefatigable - opponent on the continental mainland. Funded by the state coffers, the Republic’s military is by all measures a standing army, consisting of one hundred and seventy thousand soldiers, of which forty thousand are cavalry and charioteers and ten thousand are elephant riders. This force is further augmented by a stream of mercenaries brought in by Sangharan coin to fight on continent, drawn as far and as wide as The snow-covered Mornlands half a world away to earn wealth and glory in the continuous wars of the Sanghar and Surabhi. However, despite supposedly representing the nation as its own standing army, the Sangharan military is primarily controlled and lead by its most direct funders - the Dakatha dynastic families. As such, the nobility is generally the preferred leadership of most military forces rather than the supposed semi-meritocratic principles laid out in its founding, the result being that personal ambitions naturally influence the direction and conquest of new territory. The twin headed serpent banner of the Republic might fly highest of the flags overhead, but the sub-banners of dynastic houses give a clearer indicator of the true power behind any of the Sangharan army. The national needs in times of war are thus invariably tinged with the scheming of those who wish to create dynasty, riches, fiefdom and glory for themselves. As with any standing army, the Sanghar support it with extensive proto-industrial factories and national run monopolies designed to keep it equipped and fighting ready. This can be as complex as creating steel scale and plate to armour elephants, siege engines to topple cities, and powerful magical artefacts, to as simple as the forging of spearheads, leather bags and nails for the common footsoldier of the empire. Other industries focus on the training of warhorses, elephants and in some cases, war lions and tigers, which are telepathically bound to lesser mages in order to wreak havoc amongst enemy lines. Rations are provided by a network of dynastic farmlands chosen via an intensely scrutinized state lottery to provide a steady stream of dry provisions for their soldiers - a monopoly that can make or break a dynasty - and the transported via carts built by cartwright guilds across uneasy terrain of much of southern Vendhayatha. Organisationally the magocratic institutions of the Republic transition across to their military ranks. Dakatha and their sorcerous kin thus occupy the highest authority, forming the generals and division commanders of the armies of the Republic. This is followed by the mages of the main army who provide magical support and communication during the march through enemy territory and during the battle itself, and then the Asurbaal who consist of the cavalry, elephant riders, charioteers and many of the commanders of segments the main army. The artillery, heavy and light infantry and light cavalry form their own cores underneath this sprawling network, lead ostensibly by Asurbaal and Dakathan leaders. Auxiliaries and Mercenaries exist outside this military strata, and are instead lead by their own chosen commands, so long as they’re able to follow the commands of the Sangharan generals. Armour consists primarily of scale, chain and leather forged on mass to provide for the soldiery, and crafted individually for the noble and mage classes. With the light infantry of the Sangharans the most common armour is a type of light lamellar of lacquered leather reinforced in core areas with iron platelets, laced together through cord to create a semi-flexible wrap around their body. Greaves and braces follow the same pattern with iron banding hidden underneath iron plate, and a helmet follows an sculptural snarling lion or tiger design, with a veil of iron scales and with a plume of colourful feathers at the top, their colour denoting rank. An undercovering of sometimes silk, but more often less expensive fabrics are worn underneath to dull blunt damage, with wide flaring trousers tied up with ankle bindings being common, the former often in bright and colourful patterns. The usual arms for the soldiery are a large diamond shaped and embossed shield, hardened by bands of metal, and which provides adequate cover from which to thrust out with a sturdy flame-bladed tombak or lunge and hack from with a golok. In general, the armour is considerably lighter than their continental Surabhi counterparts, as it has been designed to be utilised onboard ships as well as land, requiring increased mobility as a result. Heavy infantry and cavalrymen tend to wear more elaborate versions of this standard equipment, with gilded helms and armour and usually featuring faceguards crafted in semi-realistic depictions of Sangharan features, or mirroring an aspect of Ishareth’s Great Children. An undercoat and lacing of padded silk is also very common, allowing for increased mobility as well as blunt trauma and arrow protection. Brightly painted and gilded armours, along with metal and feather quills or plumes are used frequently to mark out commanders, and the scales of their lamellar are of higher quality - being produced out of steel rather than iron like the common footsoldiers. Cavalry also have marked differences from the heavy infantry in this regard, their armour being refitted to suit mounted warfare and thus being more cumbersome on foot, although enabling - depending on squadron - increased defence in charge or mobility whilst firing bows. The use of Tiger and Lion skins is also common as a final headpiece, particularly among the Lion Guard which utilise it as a badge of office to their elite station. In terms of equipment the heavy infantry heavier and longer goloks for close combat with broad rectangular shields, marching in close formation to brace against Surabhi charges. If they are disarmed, they will draw upon their kris knife as a secondary weapon, which can give vicious and fatal gouging stabs with it’s flame-bladed edge. The cavalry in turn use tridents and lances to break their enemies formation, and the horse archers and foot bowmen utilise a primitive type of compound bow to fire further and more powerfully at their opponents. [/hider] [hider=Navy] NAVY- The navy is the pride of the Republic and the very embodiment of its thalassocratic power in the Old World. The Sanghar have sailing and ship-building in their blood, - quite literally in fact - as a result of being designed that way by the Ashammai precursors to serve that function as a racial caste, with trade, sailing and wanderlust hardcoded into them. As a result, their skill at shipcraft is matched only by the rare few, and often never to the same level of versatility the shipyards of Shanrilaath are able to engage in. Sanghara’s navy consists of three thousand warships of three main types, the first being the sleek and brass-scaled two decked Dragonships which flit across the waves like birds on the wing, with fluttering red sails that bring a crimson dawn to their opponents. This is followed by the midrange three decked Black Nagas who’s thick teak beams and reinforced prows crush boats and launch scorpion bolts and Sanghar fire from their decks, and the giant five decked Djong Fireships, covered in glimmering plating and giving broadsides of Sanghar fire that can immolate entire ships in one salvo. Crewed by dozens or hundreds of Sanghar, this swift fleet dominates much of the coasts of Vendhayatha and the Ebon Sea and furthermore protects commercial shipping flowing east and west, north and south, from pirates and other such dangers. The largest of the Sanghar ships used for both war and commerce are the vast partially aeolipile-powered black Treasure Djongs, project both Sanghara’s financial and military might abroad, and indulge somewhat liberally in gun-boat diplomacy with any who would dare challenge them, providing the flagship for any martial or trade fleet of substantial size. Any Sanghar who manages to claim a captaincy of even a single vessel in the Sangharan fleet naturally enjoys great privilege in society, and is made for life, so long as they do not squander the opportunity. The Republic - always eager to maintain the loyalty and security of their essential trade lanes - lavishes high pay on their mariners, with substantial rewards and acclaim always pouring from their hands and lips to the navy. The Admirals of any fleet are so well paid that they would be self-made Dakatha if they did not already primarily come from established bloodlines, risen partially through the ranks by family influence - although not without sufficient experience in command being proven prior to doing so - and interlinked with the vast commercial network the Sangharan’s oversee. Besides the quality of their boat building - primarily made out of teak and hammered wooden dowels in most cases - which allows for sleek and hardy craft to brave the waters of the world, the key to Sanghara’s supremacy on the waves is their use of Sangharan Fire. Sangharan Fire is a type of pyrotechnic fuel launched via siphons from the decks of their ships to engulf the enemy in unquenchable, furious flames. The creation of the product is a secret only the guilds of alchemists know for sure, but is known to be a partially magical based substance which much like Sanghar Purple requires a constant inflow of magical resources to produce. Rumours of blood sorcery and dark otherworldly communications are said to occur in the dark vaults of the alchemists, creating through malefic occultism a weapon that explodes on contact and melts flesh and stone like tallow. Due to it’s volatility the substance is kept deep in the hulls of the ship in immense hardened copper vats, only opened to acquire further ammunition for the Sanghar’s decks of semi-mobile fire siphons, trickled into brittle clay pots prior to battle and thrown upon the enemy, or attacked to scorpion bolts to explode on impact. Due to the dangers of the material the decks of the Sanghar vessels dealing with it are often covered in sand and brass plating to ensure that they too do not go up on flames from it use, and complex countermeasures of cooling frost wards are sometimes used to control the blaze for a time. The mariners of the Sanghar tend to move about their ships mostly unarmoured and bare chested, and armed only with kris blades or other short weapons tucked into a voluminous sash of coloured silk. However when in battle munition and personally forged armour is garbed to ensure further protection during battle. This type of armour bears many resemblances to the armours of Sangharan footsoldiers, although is ostensibly designed to be lighter and even more mobile than even that, focusing more on leather than iron plating and ensuring the wearer can navigate tight spaces - and if called upon, swim - with little issues in mobility. Goloks and light crossbows are also common fare along with the kris knives, providing a withering barrage of slashing, piercing and impaling weapons to keep the enemy at arms length. To counter the Surabhi attempts of bridged boarding parties, the Sanghar have taken up the use of Bolas and net-launchers to entangle the heavily armoured Surabhi and allow them more easily to be dispatched. Portable fire siphons - which are a mainstay of land warfare - may also be used rarely, although usually this is a tool of last resort, the risks of disastrous backfiring being too costly for most Sanghar captains to risk. Another factor two in Sanghara’s naval dominance emerge in the Sargael, a sub-population of semi-aquatic Sanghar who seem to have been an experiment of some sort by the ancient Ashammai to improve upon their prior design. Being amphibious and with a keen understanding of the waters, Sargael are often involved in the establishment of canal cities, pearl and coral diving, spear-fishing and wreck recovery, along with other aspects of Sanghar life. In naval terms however, the Sargael, with their keen locational senses are able to act as advanced scouts for their fleet, or saboteurs of enemy ships, drilling through the bottom of their hulls to flounder them. Carrying obsidian bladed tombak, they are particularly dangerous in the water. A Primitive coast-guard has also evolved amongst Sargael of Shanrilaath, and they are often essential in recovering goods and survivors of sinking ships, and protecting against commercial loss - although even they cannot go into the true bottom of the airless Ebon Sea. Beyond the military capabilities of the Sangharan navy, the vast majority of their ships are designed for trade and goods transportation, outnumbering the standing fleet by thirty times their number. This vast merchant navy provides a vital reserve to the Sangharan’s navy, to be called upon and conscripted in hours of need - although this has happened perhaps less than six times in the Republic’s history. Although bulky and cumbersome, the ships of the merchant fleet provide a stolid defensive bulwark against many attackers, although have proven to be better used in mass due to mainly being designed for pirate attacks. Nevertheless, their broad decks can host a veritable legion of archers to beset the enemy with barbed and flaming arrows, and jury rigged scorpions have proven to be just as effective on their steady ship-bows. Regardless, these ships are rarely called to action as mentioned before, and are more commonly escorted by private or national warships if in sufficient convoys and on lengthy enough journeys, where the dangers of unpatrolled waters give rise to the sapient floatsam of the world. Piracy, ever the trade and the bane of the Sangharan is an ever-present threat to the peacefulness and placidity of their waters, and when not warring with the Surabhi, the main focus on the navy is in culling its worst excesses. Nevertheless, Sanghar pirates have many of the same talents - if not the same funding - as their national counterparts, and have proven an ever-present thorn in the side of all Vendhayathan nations and beyond. Occasionally Sanghara has expanded their territorial reach to occupy pirate havens such as Tel-Gorgossos and Tel-Vaddanai, but the control they exert has rarely lasted long - in part due to the endemic warfare on the continental mainland which consumes time and resources of both nations. Regardless, in between the Century Wars and the bitter tit-for-tat raiding on the continental mainland by seasoned privateers and corsairs in the nations employ, the primary great wars on the sea are the Pirate Wars, fought unceasingly and with just as little sign of ending as the nation conflicts. [/hider] Traits: [To be Decided] [hider=Foreign Relations] FOREIGN RELATIONS- The Sangharan Republic's relations with other nations vary from place to place, but primarily consist of at least an amicable trade relationship with other states, which Sanghara has no interest in disrupting. Generally the relationship with the Vendhayathan nations is more adversarial due to competing interests between Sanghara and Surabhumi, with relations with the Dragon Empire of Nam Leng is tense and unfriendly, and Jatapu and Odhisa are wary. Surabhumi: Regarded As Sanghara’s archenemy, and main competitor in the control of the Vendhayathan subcontinent. Current foreign relations have just exited a long period of intermittent raiding and low level warfare and are now cool as both nations begin to regain control of their lost territories. Arcana: regarded as a fair weather friend and not greatly relied on, Arcana does however have a sizeable pro-Sangharan faction in its court politics and receives substantial funding and commercial traffic from Sanghara - primarily in the interest of keeping Arcana neutral in Sanghara’s affairs. Mournlands: A distant but friendly trading partner with the Sangharans, exchanging northern treasure for southern luxuries, and a source of a great many mercenaries for its armies. Unusual in adopting to some degree Isharethi customs and religious faith. The Dragon Empire of Nam Leng: Nam Leng has a hostile relationship with both Surabhumi and Sanghara as a result of the pressure it feels as a mid state between two great powers. It tries to balance its diplomacy in order to maintain its independence, to varying degrees of success. The main point of contention - as Sanghara has not attempted an annexation of Nam Leng in well over half a millennia - is the near constant pressure the state feels as a result of Sangharan piracy - a matter the Republic uses as a bargaining chip for good behaviour. Caelrumoste: Caelrumoste is treated as an important trading partner, its current mass exports in magical crystal proving highly useful in Sangharan rearming and the creation of magic related trade goods. Quavaraz: No settled diplomatic position. Neferher Dynasty: No settled diplomatic position, possible trade links. Kera-Bijan: No settled diplomatic position, mostly beyond Sanghara’s communication except through intermediaries such as the Neferher Dynasty due to being landlocked. [/hider] [hider=Rolls] Land Area: 7 Land Fertility: 10 (-3) Development: 20 (+6) Land Power: 12 (-4) Naval Power: 20 (+1) Economy: 19 (+1) Magical Reserves: 10 (+7) Magical Sophistication: 15(-3) Population (Determined by other rolls): 30,000,000 [/hider] Other: [To be Decided] [/hider]