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Governments

The City States The twin City States of Ourissa, Varans and Ayotya, make up the majority of the lands human inhabitants, as well as the peak of its civilization. Both cities are about the same age, roughly 500 to 700 years, although a lack of historical documentation in the culture has prevented an accurate date. It is generally held that Varans is older than Ayotya. Both city states are fairly democratic, and enjoy a good political standing with each other. They are not allied in all things, excepting maybe against the pirates of Himal, but it is rare for them to disagree on any matters of life and death. Neither city state has a primary religion, many cults and dieties are worshipped in each. It is generally believed by many, much like the Tribes do, that the gods of the world live in the Talil mountain range, and there is a legend that that is where the people of the city states originated as well. Technologically speaking, both states are on the same footing, heavily into iron technology with light steeling. The limits on technology are usually more placed on a lack of material than a lack of skill, and a full suit of plate armor is obtainable, but comes at a hard price. The trading network between the city states is well established. Varans's main exports are the timber and medicinal herbs of the forest, ferried downstream by river at Tanja. Ayotya in return mines ore and minerals at Keral, and the states trade between each other by sea. There is also limited overland caravan trade along the coast, as well as limited caravan trade with the Tribes, although this is not seen as as much of a money making venture. Both cities grow their own food, although the difference in geography and crop availability between the two makes a food trade a profitable venture as well. The states attitudes towards the Tribes and the Centaurs is similar. Especially the centaurs are seen as uncivilized, and the majority of citizens of the states look down on the people of the Tribes as somewhat barbarous. It is understood however that the Tribes produce some impressive magikal artifacts, artwork, and furs, and these are coveted by the "civilized" elite. As a general rule the people of Varans are slightly more oppressive to both the centaurs and the tribes than Ayotya, having less contact with the both of them. Ayotya The double walled city of Ayotya sits along the western coast of Ourissa, on a hill but next to a fairly flat stretch of beach. The people of Ayotya, compared to those of Varans, have things somewhat harder, and are usually seen as made of sterner stuff, but not quite as intellectual. Ayotya has been under constant danger of attack from the Centaur and the Tribes since its founding long ago, and both the wars between the two city states, both long concluded, were initiated by Varans against Ayotya. This has created a people who care for themselves, and while not necessarily suspicious of their allies, try not to count on them any more than is absolutely necessary. The government of Ayotya is that of a democratic election, once every 5 years. Multiple candidates are voted for, and of them all a Grand Consulate and three General Consulates are elected, the Grand Consulate ruling with the General Consulates as advisors. The other position of power in the society is that of the Commander in Chief, elected seperately by the the army every year. No two men can serve as Commander in Chief twice. There are not many safeguards to the political process, save that all three of the General Consulates and the Commander can vote together to veto a bill of the Grand Consulate. The military of Ayotya is a mobile one, split into Divisions that are situated at the three (now two) border forts that guard the city. The border forts are all seperate townships, but are generally under a military control. Ayotya emphasises light infantry and cavalry to quickly meet Centaur armies on the plains, using the border forts not as fortifications but as rest stops. Finally a single division of troops is usually settled in a camp at the foot of Mt. Keral, to protect Ayotyas trade interests there. It is worth saying that militarily Ayotya is seen as much more organized as Varans, although their military, like their general population, is quite a bit smaller. A final note on the city of Ayotya is that of its slave and its centaur populations. Both the Ayotyans and the people of Varans hold slaves, but in Varans this habit is going out of style, and is seen as somewhat cruel. There are still many captives of war in Ayotya that are sold as slaves however, and most middle class families will own a servant, although it is rare for one person to own multiple slaves. Slaves in both Ayotya and Varans have a good amount of priveledges and rights despite their position as servants and manual labourers. At any given point the slave population makes up three to five percent of Ayotyas populace, almost ten times the size of the slave population of Varans. There are also centaur slaves in Ayotya, as well as a few centaur citizens. The children of slaves are not slaves themselves, and a handful of centaur have grown up knowing only the Ayotyans and growing to see themselves as people of the city states above their identity as people of the Tribes, to the extent that these centaurs will still look down on their nomadic cousins as barbarous. Ayotya Proper The double walled city of Ayotya is well built and well fortified, the original planners understanding the need for a fortification in the area. The layout of the city is fairly simple, a round, stone wall surrounding the base of the hill, and a similar wall surrounding the upper acropolis. A misconception by people in Varans who tend to look down on the Ayotyans is that the upper acropolis houses the government in some sort of military fort capacity, and this is completely untrue. The major buildings of the acropolis are storehouses and granaries, and although the military barracks and the Political centre, called the Ampitheatre, are within Ayotyas inner wall, the general populace is allowed to come and go between both sections of the city freely. The upper class and the more expensive market are also situated in the acropolis. The lower town was originally very organized and built on a grid structure, but areas that have been destroyed due to fire or warfare have somewhat been turned into a disorderly array. This is especially true on the northeastern side, where during the first war between Ayotya and Varans the wall and this section of the city were completely destroyed. This area is known simply as the slum, and contains a thicket of badly designed buildings so compact that it is not hard to walk across this entire part of the city via the rooftops. This area of the city is no longer patrolled by the police. The main market of Ayotya is on the southern side, where the south gate opens up to the port. There are three gates to the city, a south gate, a north gate and an east gate. The western corner of the upper wall in addition contains a large watchtower, that serves as both a lighthouse to the sea and to watch for enemies on the mainland. Outside the outer wall there are very few condensced settlements. Farmland stretches a long way, and inns and a few shops can be found lining the roads that go east to Varans and north to the border forts, but that is the main extent. On the south side however the city spills outward into the Ayotyan port, which as of yet is unfortified. Plans are in motion to add a third wall protecting the fort, but as many an old Ayotyan will tell you, plans by this cities government often remain unfulfilled. The Border Forts The three border forts of Ayotya are simple affairs, acting as towns in and of themselves. They are under military jurisdiction and although many civilians live under their walls, the politics of the government is not as strong as the politics of the military here. All three are situated on the top of hills, consisting of a low stone wall with a central keep, each with six wooden watchtowers placed in a circle about an hours march from the gates. The forts are small and simple compared to the double walled city, and mainly act as a rest stop for divisions as they patroll the border in search of bandits, raiding centaurs and the occasional angry ogre. The western Fort was destroyed not too long ago in the last of the great attacks by the centaurs into the defended territory of the city. The army was stopped by Lieutenant Asoch, the only Centaur to have obtained a position of officer in the Ayotyan army. His division was called away from the fort when the military knew it was to be assaulted, due to suspicions about his race, but upon learning of the fort being overrun Asoch disregarded his orders and marched to the battlefield, winning a great victory. The fort itself remains in ruins to this day, the government being unable to afford to rebuild it. Varans The city state of Varans is home to a very large group of people, and indeed it is the largest city in Ourissa. The river valley it is in creates a natural system of fortifications, as bridges are easily controlled and defended by the state, leaving for a large and spread out community of farmers and centralised areas. The people of Varans love their homeland and treat it as a blessing from the gods, providing them with a natural and everlasting source of food, protection, and easy trade with their satellite town Tanja. They are a fairly intellectual people, being slow to act but acting with great care. The people of Varans are somewhat elitist in the eyes of the Tribes and the Ayotyans, insofar as comparison with Ayotya is concerned. The government of Varans is that of a council of Elders. The council consists of twenty Elders, each one of them serving for ten years. Every half a year a new Elder is elected by the people, and decisions are made via a majority vote. This council of Elders also controls the military, and due to the fact that military personell are rarely elected, the military of Varans, while large, is known for not having an extremely effective leadership. Tanja and Pirae are supposed to be part of this same council, and one of the twenty Elders is elected in each, but even together they only make ten percent of the political process, and these two areas which are very important to Varans wellbeing have historically very little say in what goes on in the state. The military of Varans is markedly different than that of Ayotya. While the Ayotyan military is famed for its prowess and its mobility, the Varanian army is split into two parts. The bulk of it is conscripted from the people of the city, and these units are famed for being poorly organised and trained. The Legionarres that make up the army proper however are another matter. Since the primary defence of the city is along river crossings and on boats themselves. The Legionarres are a small group of well trained soldiers organised with the thought of putting the maximum quality of personell in a small area, and they do this well. Finally, Tanja has its own militia, as it has needed to defend against the tribes of the Yaksas, and they are also considered to be very capable. The religion of Varans used to be very similar to that of Ayotya, many different dieties being worshipped. However, as of the last three years the cult of the Lynx God has been gaining an unprecedented amount of popularity. This diety is worshipped in the guise of a great black Lynx statue, and its Deacons are said to have frightening supernatural abilities. Their congregations meet at night, and in the last three years they have obtained a large following and quite a bit of money, many new temples being built. Before this surge there used to be only a single temple to the Lynx God in Pirae. Varans Proper The central area of Varans Proper is situated at one of the main forks of the river Sarasva as it opens up into its river valley. The land surrounding is watered by irrigation, and it is common for Varans to see multiple crops a year. Due to this importance of farming and the natural barrier that is the river, the actual city of Varans covers a huge swathe of land, in fact nearly the entire upper half of the river valley is settled. The majority of the land is somewhat sparsely populated with farmland, but there are multiple pockets of condensced settlement consisting of markets, inns and tradeshops. The central area of the city is marked by a number of very old and very famous buildings. The Marble Hall is where political decisions are made, and it is a great domed structure at the heart of the city. The Academy is the only building that may possibly be older, also made mostly of marble. It is the greatest center of learning in all of Ourissa, and even many politicians from Ayotya come there in childhood to study. The military headquarters and the Legion Barracks are here as well, although they are comparatively new structures. There is also the Temple of Pillars, a square and empty platform, very large, which is surrounded by high pillars. The act of having standing pillars on their own is an important part of Varanian culture, and the Temple of Pillars is where the council of Elders announces their decisions to the general public. Pirae Pirae is not really so much a city into itself, but really a district of the much larger city of Varans, this being its port area. Towards the southern end the congestion of housing that marks the northern end of Varans dies down, and at the end the land is almost unpopulated. However, at the very southern tip is the port of Pirae, and here there is a large industrial area. The Varanian navy is very strong, probably much moreso than that of the Ayotyan navy, and their merchant fleet is larger as well. There is also a small colony for the Sea People here, and many factories where raw lumber from Tanja is crafted. Tanja The city of Tanja is a very interesting one. Far north of Pirae and on the main river Sarasva, the city serves as a satellite for the city of Varans, but Tanjas oldest building, the Pillared Hall, is much older than anything in Varans, a fact which has troubled scholars. Aside from the Pillared Hall, in the very center of the city, Tanja is made up mostly of wooden buildings that serve a very functional outlook. The people from Tanja are extremely independant of Varans, with their own militia and their own local government that often doesn't even pay attention to the council of Elders, and even though they are attacked by the Yaksa tribe frequently, people in Tanja are not very appreciative of the unit of Legionarres that is constantly stationed there to protect them. Tanja serves a vital function in the trade patterns of Varans, providing them with their major export to Ayotya, that of lumber. However, the people of Tanja are careful not to do deforestation too heavily, and always replant trees where they cut them down. This is actually due not to any real care for the forest, as it is enormous and many Tanjans feel that a deforested area surrounding the city would help ward off attacks with the Yaksas. The people here do this to appease the Dry'cha, who themselves used to raid Tanja, with such force that the Legionarres could not hope to combat it. Himal's pirates Himal is somewhat of an uncharted land, and has always been a haven for anyone who wants to live outside the law. A lack of noticeable raw material, thick vegetation, bad weather and more monsters than the mainland have discouraged Varans and Ayotya from settling there, and likewise encouraged settlement by all of their criminals. No one can really say for sure the extent to which Himal is inhabited, or the organization of this habitation, but that pirates live there has been a fact of life for as long as anyone can remember. The pirate groups in Himal seem to have some sort of agreement with each other as well, as attacks on trade fleets going between the city states are at times cooly planned and undertaken by multiple vessels. Goods stolen usually come back to the cities themselves, or are ferried away by the sea people, at upmarked prices by way of the black market. How these goods reach the city states unnoticed is also anyones guess. The Tribes "The Tribes" is the common nomenclature for the innumerable loose groups of individuals, some more or less on the side of civilization, settling in nomadic or semi-nomadic communities north of the Ayotya and Varans city states. While two tribes can differ almost entirely in religion and way of life, there are a few facets to these communities that are more or less universal, the first and foremost being their meeting space at Harakka, which has its own distinct tribe of elders. The Tribes often live in semi nomadic groups, keeping a tribal village of tents or huts that will move with the season. Many tribes have a mere two or three locations they travel between, keeping the same summer and winter campgrounds every year. Women, children and elders will stay in the camp, while the men will often be found anywhere that is less than a days travel from the camps border, hunting and raiding and doing any manner of ritual. Every tribe has at a minimum two Elders. One that remains with the Tribe to solve its individual issues, and another that remains at the seat of the Elders at Harakka. Each individual Tribe will also worship its own, distinct divinity, and no two Tribes worship the same god. The particulars of each individual tribe will be different, although based on the individual geography some similarities and groupings are well understood, Tribes "of the desert" being different than Tribes "of the woodlands" and so on. The political deliniations of the Tribes in reference to the city states differs wildly from Tribe to Tribe, although few are completely hostile with Ayotya and Varans, and even fewer are completely friendly. It is possible for a general call to war to be declared on a city state or even a particular Tribe at Harakka, although this occurs even less than a full scale meeting does at the gathering stone. Harakka Harakka, the only stationary "Tribe" north of the city states, consists of a small city of huts, temples and tents circled around a huge and ancient rock on a large hill, towards the northern central end of Ourissa. It is seen as somewhat of a central city for all the Tribes, trade and cultural thought passing between them at this site. It is a law amongst the Tribes that violence is forbidden on this hill, and a tribe called the Harakkans guard and preserve the way of life here, the Harakkans having their own elder chieftan and goddess Lashmi. Each tribe is required to always maintain one of its eldest and wisest here, to act as the voice of the tribe in time of emergency, in which the decision of the Council at Harakka is considered binding to all of the Tribes. At the top of the city is a single, massive ring shaped tent, seperating the rest of the world from the inner sanctum, where lies the Harak, from which Harakka is named. The Harak is a great rock of an unknown ore that radiates Ether energies, placed in the most auspicious position in regards to ether leylines in all of Ourissa. As Wizards of all varieties and schools come within proximity of the Harak they feel their powers strengthened, and it is unknown as to how or by whom the rock found its way to this location. To the Tribes it is simply a site of religious importance however, usually two or three complete tribes will be at Harakka at any given time on pilgrimidge. The Keralis The Keralis are, next to the Harakkans, the most stationary of the Tribes in addition to the most well known of the Tribes to the city states. The Keralis are a dangerous society of warrior Valkyries, almost everyone in their midst learning to climb and use a spear from an early age. The greatest warriors of the Keralis are fabled to have defeated mountain drakes and basilisks on their own, and their divinity is that of a great blue dragon, which some Keralis will claim to have seen on the peak of Keral at sunset. The Keralis have a tenuous relationship with Ayotya, the people of which use their mountain home to mine great quantities of gold and gemstones for trade with the sea peoples and Varans. For the most part however the Keralis, somewhat small in number compared to the other Tribes and definitely in comparison to the city states, keep to themselves. The mining groups at the foothills know not to anger a Kerali Valkyrie though, as their wrath is swift and the survivors few. The Keralis live in caves, and as a general rule do not move their dwellings, maintaining two village locations towards the upper end of Mt. Keral, using the colder northern face in the summer and the warmer southern face in the winter. Neither of these locations are known to the people of Ayotya. Tribes of the Desert There are very few desert tribes, as Andhra Raja is especially dangerous, even to nomadic peoples, and occupies a small part of the Ourissan land mass. However a few distinct tribes live in this area, and they are generally considered to be second to the centaurs in their uncivilized nature and ease to anger. Blood drinking and human sacrifice are rumored amongst them, as well as the idea of worshipping demons, although neither of these traits seem to come to the fore when a desert tribe comes to Harakka. These are certainly the most warlike of the non-Centauri tribes however, and another peculiar thing remains true. The Desert tribes, even moreso than the Harakkans, have the highest concentration of established Mages and magikal items in their midst. Tribes of the Plains The Tribes of the Plains are the most common of the Tribal catagories, just as plains valleys are the most common geographical phenomenon in Ourissa. So common and numerous are these tribes that they are often referred to by the Ayotyans and Varanians as "the nomadic people of Harakka", and some similarities are quickly seen. The Tribes themsevles would see the Harakkans as much different however, more sedentary and wise, whereas the Plains tribes are the most nomadic of all, though many plains tribes would consider themselves to be more advanced than the desert tribes or the tribes of the woodlands. Tribes of the Mountains There are no real Tribes in the Talil mountain range, as it is the ancestral home of all the Tribal gods and dwelling there would be a sacrilige, but there are many tribal communities that live in the foothills. These groups are often very similar to tribes of the plains, although they are less nomadic and normally primarily vegetarian. The foothills of the Talil range get especially cold, and it can be difficult to find game there in the winter, as the majority of large game migrates to the south in search of warmer pasture. But while a tribe of the plains would follow this game in search of food, the mountain tribes have stuck to gathering as their main source of food, and a more sedentary, short and stocky tribesman is what has developed. These tribes also live the closest to both Harakka and the gods, and are considered by some tribesmen, mainly themselves, to be the most blessed by the land. Tribes of the Woodlands Andhra Prad is home to a large number of highly individualised tribes, some completely nomadic and some nearly completely sedentary. The most well known to the people of Varans are the Yaksas, who live on the western border of Tanja and are somewhat violent, raiding the town almost regularly. These tribes more than the others seem to dislike the intrusions of the city states, and are usually the first to spark conflict at meetings in Harakka. They nearly universally worship the Dry'cha, and a few of these tribes, the more peaceful ones, are blessed with regular visits from the tree-herders. If you could get close enough to a Dry'cha elder to ask him however, it would quickly become clear that the tree herders like these peoples just as little as they like the deforesters of Tanja and Varans. Centauri Tribes Ourissa is also home to a lot of nomadic Centauri tribes, who on a whole know nothing of metal work and cultivation, and are always on the move. Many of these still recognize Harakka in the same way as the human Tribes however, and there are several Centauri elders serving at the Council. The Tribesmen look down upon the Centaurs just as the people of the city states do, thinking them uncivilized, barbarous savages. The gap between a Tribesman and a Centaur is markedly less than the gap between a Centaur and a dweller of Varans or especially Ayodya though, and the Plains Tribes, who dwell in the same lands as those of the Centauri, see them as kin more than any other human culture in Ourissa. Every Centauri tribe is headed by a Pegasus King, a Centauri with a rare but not too rare genetic deformity, that gives them wings and the allowance of limited flight. When a Pegasus is born to a Centauri family that particular tribe will split in two, allowing for the huge number and small size of individual centaur tribes. Depending on the frequency of Pegasus births in a particular area, some Centaur tribes can range from ten to a thousand individuals. They all worship the same god, that of the holy fire Ari, which is personified in the Sun and spoken on behalf of by the Pegasus Kings. To go against a Pegasus is to go against Ari in the eyes of the centaur.

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