Location/Geography

Thabos has a warm, tropical climate, fed by the 'Sunsweep', the name given to the warm wind that blows almost consistently from the south and east and that feeds the climate of the eponymous isles. The seasons are divided into the sunny and the monsoon season, with little room in between pouring deluges of rain and scorching heat.
There is a small amount of variation in each of the isles - the most northerly, Nibari, is also the most temperate, famous for its fruit groves, while the most easterly, Lobessa, is perpetually windswept and devoid of almost all tree cover, instead being covered by low-lying savannah land and hilly bluffs that stretch out into sand dunes and areas of scrub land. Settlement on all of the islands is mostly restricted to the coast - the inlands are populated, but infrastructure can be patchy, and vast sweeps of jungle that smother the interiors of the three southerly islands are home to hostile beasts like Diresabers and Great Snarks, as well as rumours of dark magic wielding cannibals who live in tree-top cities far above the expansive canopy.
The islands are dotted with enormous marble ruins, some of which have been adapted into the cities of the current Thabossian kingdom and others that are buried deep within the jungles, or jut out from the reefs in the sea between the islands. These ruins show the marks of complex stone working and carving, with some statues of various robed persons unknown also being found regularly. Though incomplete and often severely damaged, the ruins show the remains of a level of craft as of yet unable to be replicated. What is more, there are no natural marble deposits on the archipelago, leading some to theorise that the ruins are the remains of an ancient and forgotten Empire that colonised The Sunswept Isles many centuries ago.

General Introduction

The Kingdom of Thabos is a mercantile and yet secretive kingdom at the fringes of the known world, inhabiting a circle of islands far to the south-east known as the 'Sunswept Isles'. The copper-skinned Thabossians are not an infrequent sight throughout the world, rippling silently into most major trade ports on their black-sailed skiffs, trading their stocks of exotic spices, tea, silks and animal parts in exchange for furs and various foodstuffs. Apart from this interaction, however, few people know much about the secretive and unaggressive islanders. Most foreigners are not permitted to reside or to stay for long on the islands, and those who do become aware very quickly of a complex social structure and belief system that shapes the lives of all those who live under the reign of the Tiger-Queen Anetkara, the 'Sun's Avatar' or Salhamat-i Ashvahat.

History

Legend has it that the five islands of Thabos were once one, largest island, known as Kaeramuni, inhabited by the precursors to the Thabossians, who are known in Thabossian mythology simply as 'the Antecedents'. The Antecedents grew haughty and arrogant, building enormous towers and forsaking the power of the Sunsweep. Their arrogance brought about their downfall - one day the centre of the island, deep in the jungle, exploded with such force that it blew them all apart into five distinct entities. The event caused tidal waves across the world, and destroyed the Ancient Thabossian Kingdom utterly. Those who survived had to restart from scratch, foraging in the ruins of their illustrious ancestors for berries, and waging warfare with cannibalistic tribes from wooden shanty towns built in the shade of cracked courtyards and great palaces.
The Thabossians, however, proved to be a resilient peoples, adapting quickly and advancing quicker still. Some semblance of the Ancient Thabossian advancement must have lingered, for their ship-building capabilities were unaffected by the event and they made forays out into the wider world for the first time, tentatively establishing trade relationships with other fledgling nations and mapping the known world as best they could. At this point, each of the five islands was ruled by a Prince who took on the avatar of a different animal - the most southerly islands were the homes of the Crocodile, Snapping Turtle and Elephant Princes, while Lobessa was ruled by the Panther Prince and Nibari by the Tiger Prince. These princely dynasties were frequently in violent conflict, waging bloody war both on each other and on the 'Untamed Peoples' or the tribes that had yet to come under their yoke; those who lived (and continue to live) deep in the jungles and reject civilised life.
It was under the reign of the 'Great Tiger', Kahu'un the Wizened, that unification was finally achieved. The first 'Tiger-King' allied himself to the Snapping Turtle and Elephant Princes and waged a bloody conflict first against the Crocodile Prince, who he is said to have drank the blood of after defeating him in battle, and then the Panther Prince, who ruled the second most prosperous island. The war has come to be known variously as 'The Tiger's Leap', 'The Five Islands' War' and 'The Unification'. From that moment on Thabos began to worship its monarch as a demi-god, responsible for bringing in the warm southerly winds to end the monsoon season. It is not unusual for a Tiger King or Queen to be sacrificed to the oceans for failing to do so.



The Kingdom of Phabos is ruled by the Tiger-King or Queen, the eldest son or daughter of the previous monarch. Marriage is not commonly practiced and the Tiger-Monarch is allowed a harem of lovers in order to sate their need to produce heirs. It is considered an honour to be selected for the harem, and some of them have numbered into their hundreds, while it is usual for them only to consist of a few dozen consorts at a time. Apart from the monarch, who rules as a God and whose will is obeyed utterly within the kingdom, there is a relatively low level of civil development, though various offices of import are given to royal favourites who administer taxation, civil order and trade negotiations with varying degrees of success.
Each of the four other islands is still reigned by the ancestral princely line that existed since before the unification.

(What are your primary exports and imports? How much you trade? How are your craftsmen organized? How developed is your technology? What kind of unique creations you have? etc. If you haven't described your involvement with magic in the society/government section, you can do it here.)

Military Overview

(Yeah, of course you also need to tell us some about your military. Try to avoid number games and unhealthy arms races. We play this game for fun and that needs balance and sensible approach. One of the main guidelines is that your nation's military shouldn't be much better than a historical 15th century medieval army. Don't worry, I don't ask you historical accuracy. So-called "super units" can be okay if they are rare enough for their worth and don't make your army unbeatable. The point is to let you do cool things and explore your creativity but at the same time don't do it at the expense of others. Also if you have magic or magicians involved in your military then perhaps you can describe that, too.)