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Ghratos is a state on the east of the Southern Continent. It is primarily split into two regions; the Xhaasan Desert and the Amisan Forest, south and north of the great river Stanumn. These regions were united after a long era of war known as the Dark Age, with a personal union between the King and Queen of Amisa and Xhaasa respectively.
General Ghratean culture has a huge focus on invention of techniques and technologies, as well as perfection of these things. The pursuit of knowledge in general is revered and the highest honors are given to innovators and great historians.
Also in Ghratean culture is the emphasis of the necessity of the preservation of the union between Amisa and Xhaasa. It is said that the union symbolically represents the alliance between the Sun and the Goddess of Nature, and that if the union falls it will bring about the second Great Scourge.
Ghrateans actively worship 3 gods: the Sun, the Goddess of Nature and the God of Light. While Ghrateans only pay tribute to these three gods, they generally believe in the gods of other cultures as well; this has led to a general superstition of invoking gods that one does not worship.
Ghratean Magic is split into two main categories: Amisan and Xhaasan magic.
Amisan magic centers around two magical arts; Satopotes (Plant control) and Pecapotes (Animal control.) These arts are inherent to the user and can be done without aid; however, one may use staves and wands made out of special woods to make it easier. Children usually use wands when they are first training, and most agriculture is done by small teams of women with staves. Generally, women learn satopotes and men learn pecapotes. Satopotes allows one not only to control the movement of existing plants, but to grow new ones or existing ones as well; for this reason, satopotes has lead Amisa to generally have a surplus of food as growing is much faster and can be done by a small group of people. Pecapotes does not actually directly control an animal, but gives the user a spiritual link- called a bond- with them. This can lead the Pecapotate to be able to do things like coordinate with the animal better, lead it without signals, or even see through its eyes or hear through its ears. This makes it very useful for reconnaisance and greatly increases the types of animals that Amisans can ride.
Xhaasan magic is more technical than other forms of magic and generally relies on the usage of charged Sunstone. Sunstone absorbs the pure energy of the sun and allows it to be used in a variety of ways once activated; one of the primary usages is to make radiators for Amisa during the winter. It is also used sometimes to make fire, or to shine beams of light; the uses are endless. Some old artifacts are used to imbue a user with solar energy; this makes them much faster and stronger, and also allows them to in some cases utilize beams of solar energy; however, this is rare, and current Xhaasan techniques are generally unable to replicate the effect for a prolonged period of time.
Ghratos has three primary races, excluding travelers and merchants: Humans, Xarbans, and cloud fae. Xarbans are a lizardlike people, with more strength speed than humans and more height; however, they are cold-blooded and thus are not suited for cold regions. They are found primarily in the region called Xarba, named after them, enclosed by the main branch of the River Stanumn at the north and by the outlet the Stanumn-Xarba in the south. On the other hand, many Cloud Fae, while in the overall being a nomadic race found all across Aurora, have specifcally integrated into Ghratean society. They are primarily servants and deliverers of messages, although some do serve as scouts and spies.
Ghratean history started out with the formation of the city-states Amisa and Xhaasa, around the same time, which grew and expanded, creating outposts on their side of the Stanumn. After some thousand years, these two states met each other, starting a several hundred years long era of war called the Dark Age. At the tail end of the Dark Age, many dukes from both regions began to openly rebel against the governments that were forcing them to fight, but some calamity only known as the Great Scourge hit at this time, collapsing the governments of the kingdoms and forcing the dukes of the two cultures to work together in order to defeat this power. There are many legends of the era of the Great Scourge, but most focus on the calamity itself; that so much magical advancement was lost.
After the Great Scourge and many decades of rebuilding, the kingdoms of Amisa and Xhaasa were reinstated when the heirs were allowed to peacefully ascend to the thrones by the strongest duchies of the era of the Great Scourge; on the condition that the dukes of all of these duchies were able to form a council of sorts in their respective kingdoms, so that they could prevent another era of constant war. This was the foundation of the Council of High Dukes. In this era, the Queen of Xhaasa and the King of Amisa engaged in frequent visits to further diplomacy between the two kingdoms; it is said that these constant visits made them grow fond of one another, especially as the two of them were young. In a stunning move, they announced their marriage around 10 years after they took power in their respective kingdoms. This marriage was said to symbolize an alliance between the Goddess of Nature and the Sun themselves, and the two peoples rejoiced at the personal union due to the widespread cultural shift after the Scourge. When they married, they had three children, and these children became the leaders of three new royal lines; The line of Sivara, the Royals of Amisa, the line of Haadrica, the Royals of Xhaasa, and the line of Pontelus, who became the line of the Great Governor who ruled the areas surrounding the River Stanumn and the great castle Pontentium. This became the Triarchy, and thus began the current Ghratean Union.
The Union is lead primarily by the Triarchy; this being the King of Amisa, the King of Xhaasa, and the Great Governor. These three do not have absolute power, but levy taxes on the level of the union, create missions for dukes or other officials to go on, including trade missions and diplomacy, set a general national agenda, and are generally responsible for calling all dukes to arms in the case of a union-wide threat. They also make laws, but all laws require a vote from the Council of High Dukes.
The Council of High Dukes is comprised of 10 members; The Dukes of Iyanala, Tolaro, Shaalsa, Igba, Litora, Profundum, Silvaria, and Argentus, as well as the Petty King of Xarba and the Clan Queen of the Cloud Fae. It is called whenever a batch of legislation is to be passed; legislation will not be passed without a 7/10 majority. It is also generally called when the dukes need to be briefed on national plans that are to remain a general secret for whatever reason, to allow the High Dukes to set them in motion.
In Ghratos, there isnât much politics on the scale of the entire union; all lines of duchies and the kingdoms are hereditary, as well as that of the Great Governor. However, there is some level of politics on the level of counties, as some are democratic or choose their leaders in some other esoteric way. Additionally, the Council of High Dukes may convene to remove a specific duke or duchess from their post for incompetence.
Vassal States and Regions
Ghratos does not pursue an aggressive foreign policy; however, some consider the Petty Kingdom of Xarba to be a vassal of Ghratos, despite it being essentially as integrated into the system as a regular duchy.
The two biggest industries in Ghratos are the mining and agricultural industries. Due to their ability to rapidly grow food with little manpower, Amisa is able to export food not only to Xhaasa but to other kingdoms and entities as well. Xhaasa, on the other hand, mines near mountains and underground for precious metals, primarily iron and sun stone, although other precious metals do exist.
There also exists an industry where expeditioners locate and search ancient ruins for artifacts from during the Great Scourge and the Dark Age; these artifacts are generally much stronger than current ones produced by either Amisa or Xhaasa and thus sell for a high price to Ghratean duchies and even higher prices outside of Ghratos.
The Ghratean economy is fundamentally built on both inter and intra-regional trade. Many towns and cities, especially in Xhaasa, cannot sustain themselves on their agricultural output, and do not have an easy way of sourcing certain materials; therefore, they exchange goods or services for other goods or services. For instance, in Xhaasa, a mining town may exchange metals to a town near a lake or river, which can supply water to help give the mining town a buffer in case their wells fail. Ghratos also has extensive extra-regional trade, trading with Rocova and Belsegallia most prominently. Ghratos generally like to take in magical materials that do not appear in its own territory to further increase their abilities in terms of what they can do with magic.
Despite not being an expansionist or militaristic nation, Ghratos is very concerned with its stability and capability to respond to both external and internal threats. Therefore, each duchy is expected to field an army of 10,000 men; they are not always active but can be rapidly called up in times of need. Additionally, town and city guards essentially act as a reserve to be called upon in the case that more units are needed during a large-scale conflict; as well as other armed individuals, like road patrolmen. If more units need to be called up, they are levies from able-bodied citizens who are then given training based on the standards of their duchy.
On the naval front, there are three coastal duchies: Shaalsa, Litora, and Gala. Shaalsa and Litora in particular field large navies that defend the coast and also deal with piracy to safeguard Ghratean interests in trade. However, Ghratos does not have that much naval power projection aside from sinking pirates.
Ghratos is not currently in any conflicts.