Name: Orfai, Keeper of Secrets, The Librarian, The Change Lord, the Eternal
Power: Secrets; "Ancient knowledge long since lost, your secret affair with your neighbour and your buried sins. Fear him, for he knows them all, but respect him, for he shall keep them hidden forever... For a price" - Priest of the Chapel of the Divines
Change; "What good is the world if nothing changes? You wake up in your bed and do the exact same thing down to the second, every day for all eternity. No, the world turns. What is will end, what may be will come, and what was might be again" - Orfai to Arthas, first Emperor of the Ghaj.
Knowledge; "Knowledge is power... And power can be very interesting indeed..." -Cultist of Orfai on Orfai's spheres of power
His actual powers can seem both awe inspiring and very limited at the same time. In terms of pure power, he cannot create up great storms or make volcanoes erupt, but he can give men supernatural powers and knowledge. Further more, he makes deals with mortals in exchange for favours and aid, and in exacting the terms of these deals he becomes much more powerful. He doesn't give gifts to the good or pure often, rather one must strike an accord with him. Deals vary, and can range from pure to horrifying depending on the intent of the mortal. He may be, in this respect, one of the most evil of the gods. He cares little for morality, rather caring about things being interesting, like the world is a massive board game for him to play with.Orfai is neither evil nor good, he simply is.
Holy symbol or symbols:
Role in the pantheon: Most mortals view him as being outside the Pantheon, and this isn't necessarily untrue. He does indeed ignore the other gods most of the time when planning his actions, thinking they are so "unimaginative" and as a result he sometimes infringes on their creations. Many have taken to viewing him as a pest or a nuisance, destroying that which they have created or doing things of which they wouldn't approve. For instance, it is unlikely that Orfai is on good terms with the Goddess of nature due to his actions in gifting industrial knowledge to the Ghaj, and for deliberately making countless species die out just to see the effects on the ecosystem.
He is credited by many humans as having given man the secret of flame and mathematics... And of having abducted and imprisoned a young girl for all eternity in an unearthly vault of secrets. Understandably, more than a few of his supporters tend to gloss over that little fact.
His alleged imparting of the knowledge of long since long methods of war to those of the Dunian province was the cause of the rise of the Fourth Ghaj, who have been a great power in the world for many years, now augmented with large tracts of land, resources and people. He is known to have been crucial in the development of some of histories most famous and infamous figures
Practices: The practices of his followers vary widely, from individuals to groups, from good to bad and from prayer to ritual. Its held by some scholars that he actually doesn't care whether anyone worships him and is more interested in cause and effect than mortal loyalties.
Name: The Dunian Ghaj
Motto: From the ashes, life
History: Historically speaking, this is the Fourth Ghaj. The first Ghaj was a small provincial empire comprising of Dunland and a small portion of the Dale. This collapsed during the Dunwight rebellions and was replaced with dozens of small feudal kingdoms which were fighting for power. This incarnation was closer to a nation state or kingdom rather than an actual Empire.
The Second Ghaj rose to prominence at the hands of Vassius, a young noble from the Dale who decided that Dunland and the Dale should be one nation. In the bloody 30 years war Vassius seized control of Dunland and the north western Dale and declared war on the Daleking. After a two year war Vassius secured victory over the Dale and had both crowns forged into one. He declared this new nation "Dunian". He proceeded to steal lands from the nearby Duchy of Diphatilili, and another bloody war ensued, which ended when the Diphatilian Duke was cut down on the field of battle and Diphatilili was annexed.
This Ghaj collapsed upon the death of Vassius son, Arthas II. Without a clear succession, Diphatilili claimed that no Duke sat upon the Diphatilili throne and as a result a new leader would be selected by the mountain lords. The Dunians rejected this, as they already had a candidate in mind. In the resulting war, Diphatilili gained their independence and became the Duchy of Diphatilili.
The third Raj came to prominence several centuries later when Lilith, the first female leader of Dunian, invaded many border kingdoms of Gastile and annexed them. Meanwhile, her forces crushed the Yeasun on the edge of the Aslaila desert and established the Yeasun protectorate. They then established a De Jure claim over the Aslaila desert, which the Ghaj claims to this day.
The Third Ghaj did not collapse like the previous Ghaj, but instead faded slowly from prominence, being eclipsed by the rising powers on Gastile, who were forming their own Garach Empire. For some two centuries, the Ghaj was at a standstill while the Garach grew in power. The Garach lead was finally cemented when a Ghaj trading hub on the borders of Gastile was sacked by a faction that remains unknown to this day, its citizens slaughtered and the city razed. A major blow to the economy of the Third Ghaj, only to be compounded with the coming disaster as the rising Garach Empires seized back a third of the stolen lands. An assault onto the Aslaila desert ended in an embarrassing failure due to the weather, and the third Ghaj had its international standing heavily damaged. Understandably, they rarely mention this and avoid it where possible.
For a time it seemed that the collapse of the Third Ghaj was inevitable, until lo and behold, ingenuity saved the day. The old world began to burn in the fires of industry, worker lines in factories were set up, working their hands to the bone in a long assembly line. This not only allowed a massive industrial renaissance as factor output skyrocketed, but allowed weapons and equipment to be mass produced quicker, cheaper and easier, allowing the Ghaj to operate many more soldiers on the battlefield. The inevitable revolts that followed such rapid industrialisation were quickly crushed with the assistance of new regimental stratergies that allowed soldiers to see of enemies twice their size and mode, which helped make short work of the rebellions. With their new tools and knowledge, the Ghaj expanded once more. Gastile fell after half a decade of bloody combat and slowly the Rend and Aaluti were brought into the Ghaj. The Diphitalians, seeing the fall of the Garach and the rise of the Ghaj made an agreement with the Ghaj, granting them much more autonomy than the other Ghaj territories in return for their loyalty and land. Indeed, in the modern day the Principality of Diphitalili is often considered to be part of Dunian, alongside Dunland and the Dale. The separations seem to remain only on paper and in tradition, they maintain very much the same core and political values.
Military: A massive force of professional soldiers from the provinces of the Ghaj, the Imperial Military operates three distinct branches: The Imperial Army, the Imperial Navy, and the Imperial Elite. The Imperial Elite consists of the Royal Lifeguards and Honour guards, the Imperial Army consists of the Imperial Infantry, the Imperial Cavalry, the Imperial Bombardiers and the Territorial Army. The Imperial Military has a proud history and uses strict regimental formations in battle and their strict discipline makes them a force to be feared. Their commanders are highly trained and often of elite calibre, and the Ghaj uses infantry and cannon to great effect on open plains. They easily have some of the best regimental infantry in the world.
Relationship to the Gods: On paper they have a state religious body worshipping all the gods, though in practice the nation is secular and the Church has no real influence over politics. Their patron god is Orfai, who is credited with their rise to power through imparting of long lost secrets of an ancient empire and modernised methods of assembly through the use of limited hydrologics and no short amount of manpower and compelling them to build a great empire, though their relationship with him is not one of love for he is also credited with many of the problems that have befallen them in the past and the modern day. The relationship is more one of respect than anything. They have drawn the attention of the goddess of nature many a time with their industry, which destroys the forests, tears up the lands and spews smoke into the sky.
People:
The Dunlanders (19% of the Population): The Natives of Dunland, the capital of the Ghaj. They are brave, well spoken and determined. They generally worship all or none of the gods, though their patron is Orfai
The Dalelanders (15% of the population) The tough Dale men hail from the Dalelands, a large plains region region just south of Dunland. They are similar to the Dunlanders in culture due to their excessive shared history.
The Yeasun (3% of the population) The nomadic Yeasun inhabit the warm region on the edge of the Alsaila desert. They swear allegiance to the Ghaj and their rare permenant settlements lie within Ghaj borders, though in their nomadic travels many travel deeper into the desert and out of Ghaj lands. The Ghaj holds a De Jure claim over the entire desert as a result of the Treaty of Amutha, but this has not yet translated to a de facto claim. Like many in the Alsaila desert, they worship the desert goddess
The Rendicans (28% of the population) The Rendicans inhabit the Rend, the largest agricultural region of the Ghaj. They have dark skin and are taller than the other men of the Ghaj, and vastly outnumber any other ethnic group of the Ghaj.
The Diphitalians (6% of the population) The Diphitalians are known for selling their services as mercenaries and make up a huge bulk of the Ghaj Veterans. These pale men of the snowy mountain region of Diphatilili are renowned for their resiliance... And their brutality.
The Garech (16% of the Population) The Garech hail from the Gastile, a cool region of the Ghaj concentrated around an sea known as the Castan. Technically, they are many peoples which inhabited different nations on Gastile, only one of which still exists (And is essentially a puppet of the Ghaj), Krain
The Zazian (13% of the population) The Zazians inhabit Aaluti, the exotic western land of the Ghaj. Possessing many gold and gems, they have become the jewellers powerhouse, allowing the Ghaj to export tonnes of high quality jewellery to the rest of the world. Further more, it also has much fertile farmland, though its recent addition to the Ghaj has resulted in less mechanical implementation and thus less output... Something which is being quickly dealt with
Important persons:
Ghaj'Es Isabella Dunian: The Empress of the Ghaj, Isabella Dunian holds a strong sense of personal justice and rules the Ghaj with her husband. More intelligent than her husband, she is known for extended stays in the royal library and personally taking apart in many governmental affairs such as economics and civic duties.
Ghaj'En Thaddeus Dunian: The Emperor of the Ghaj, Thaddeus Dunian shares a deep sense of duty to the Ghaj, and with his wife rules the vast lands that compose it. Harsher than his wife, he is seen as a tougher figure in the Ghaj by the people. Unsurprisingly, most appeals are written addressed to his wife...
Grand Minister of the Ghaj Alistair Jubier: The elected head of government for the Ghaj, Alistair is a proud and dutiful man with a talent for public speaking. A veteran of warfare, he works closely with the Minister for Conflict in planning military campaigns
The Cabinet and the Parliament: The Cabinet is a group of selected officials, put in the posts of Minister for Conflict, Minister for Industry etc. Parliament is the elected body of the Ghaj that makes the majority of important decisions and law changes. They share power with the Monarchs in a constitutional monarchy, neither holding absolute power over the other.
Member
shylarah