The Saa’kaleed Abiat
Description: Deep within the great Leed desert there is only desolation. An unforgiving expanse of shifting dunes stretch away for miles and create an inhospitable atmosphere that has seen the downfall of the best and worst intentioned. Bones, dried from epochs under the sun and in the sand, litter the wastes. Clinging to the shores of oases that litter the desert is civilisation, however. Cities, towns, and villages of pale stone rise from the ground and harbour the Saa’kaleed, or ‘People of the Leed’, as they toil under the beating sun. Disparate tribes and clans united under the banner of a single warlord, the Rea-Abi. These zones of life are fewer and farther between than the more temperate climates of other regions, but the Saa’kaleed still enjoy a vibrant and fulfilling life on the banks of water.
Allegiance: Rebellion
Population/Races: The Saa’kaleed are a rather rangey lizardfolk. Their long limbs and lithe physique has evolved to withstand the worst summers the Leed desert has ever known and as such they often lack the physical prowess of other races. In this stead they have become rather nimble and dexterous peoples, relying on basic mechanics and devices to make up for a lack of strength. They range in colouration, most being a between a pale yellow to a burnt umber, though many also have a mix of tones. Though they walk bipedally, the Saa’kaleed lean forwards, capable of running on all fours if necessary and have the remaining vestigial claws and teeth from an origin as carnivorous reptiles.
The Saa’kaleed are a concentrated folk. With large areas of desert unable to support life they have been forced to congregate around the myriad of freshwater that springs out from the ground. Farming is employed in makeshift paddies and hunting is closely monitored on even local leadership levels as too much might mean starvation the following year. Despite all this, they still eer on the lower end of the populations of Mycoria, and for their size are respectively possibly the smallest. They are distrustful of other races, putting controls in place to limit the movement of others in their settlements, but maintain a steady and tolerant policy of acceptance.
Culture/Society: The family unit is the most important construct in Saa'kaleed life. Everything operates in clan and family based entities, with rules and laws based on customs followed by ancestors. On a national level there is no written codex of laws, instead there is a great quantity of previous rulings which are considered before making the decision; precedent is key. On a more local level this still plays out, but with lack of the same resources rulings much more often take modern family politicking into account. Because of this there is also a great weight placed on social conformity, not to any set rules, to societal norms and behaviour that can be traced back through different ages. Ones "Taa'g", or prestige, is measured in the view of others.
There is no sense of superiority to the Saa'kaleed, rather they fear foreign change. New customs and practises threaten the foundation of how they view and construct their society. This is why they are resistant to reform that is not slow and why laws have been put in place to control the movements of other races. Passes and permits must be obtained to stay longer than a day in certain towns and cities. New people, be they foreign or domestic, find a polite if cool reception in new places. Until trust that one can conform is earned, they are an outsider.
Religion: Ancestor worship is the only officially followed religion within the Abiat. The past is guidance for the future and the most venerated exist in annals. Each family will have dedicated a shrine to the most notable of their line, with regular public holidays honouring the dead of certain occasions. Worship often takes the form of burned incenses and spices as a form of votive offering, as well as the dedication of pottery and other fine house ware. In the more wealthy families these offerings can range wildly upwards in value. All is done in hope that the spirits of those ancestors will gleam guidance onto the living and help them achieve greater Taa'g. Every family's ancients are important, and there is no aim to enforce worship of other lineages onto the less notable families.
History: It is said that before Mycoria there was time, and before time there was nothing, and before nothing there was sand. The Leed is the ancient birthplace of the Saa'kaleed and, according to some scholars, the waters found in the Leed the spawning pit for all life in Mycoria. Nomadic peoples, clinging to the waters, had a dream from which they spread and forged great tribes and villages across the islands. Only, not all the people did propagate themselves so widely. Creatures, scaly to the touch and only just bipedal, emerged from amongst the blistering dunes, lizards capable of dominating their enviroment constructed homes and travelled amongst the desert sands. Conflict was endemic, rivalry over the life giving waters and the sustenance giving crops meant survival was paramount and there was only so much room for so many people. People crossed the immeasurable desert and expanded the breadth of the Abiat. The Fatherhood. Children, as all were to great wisdom, found habitat amongst the scorching sands and slowly but surely the Saa'kaleed emerged as a recognisable race in their own right. Not just overgrown newts, they were a people.
Even so, this did not help when the Arkronians came. Men from across the great seas arrived and laid siege to the desert, crushing resistance and demanding obedience. Wars of attrition were fought but the people of the sand could never find the humility to join hands and expel the invader. The Leed, they said, was unconquerable. But only they forgot that the people within the Leed are not. In time, the tribes were subjugated and put under imperial control. A new order was established, a new facade that would please bureaucrats in the capital of the subjugator. Every tribe and clan was accounted for and all pushed under the new organs of the Leed Dominion, a client state of the Arkronians. It was an entity rejected by the Saa'kaleed, though disorganised as they were the invasion had led to one thought on the mind. Greater unity. Strength in numbers. No longer being weak. By the Century of Chaos it was a totally different time.
Rather than resist the crown, the Saa'kaleed took no part in actions and did little to support it either. Instead resistance and revolt swept the land. Crippling the support of the government and, in the most trying times of the Second Rebellion, forcing through great changes. The leadership, a Viceroy from the Kingdom of Arkron, was toppled and executed publicly. In their place a new leader stood, a father, an Abi. The Rea-Abi formed the Abiat out of the divided peoples and promised them a new lease of life under leadership by their own kind for their own kind. Rhetoric that swiftly died. Clan and family rivalry returned swiftly, though many agreements to the benefit of the Arkronians meant that the state was left mostly in peace. People still toiled under the burden of being subjects and resistance sentiment burned perpetually in the recesses of the desert.
When the Third Rebellion occurred the Saa'kaleed Abiat was one of the first to support it. People wanted blood and they wanted freedom, there was no ground to be given. Basa Cataphracts, Basa archers, and tribesman from across the Abiat went in support, until the disgusting betrayal of the Vulpin people. A slight to this day still unforgiven. Since that day they have been quiet and contemplative, the Abiat loathe to speak up on continental matters, except to challenge for their rightful territorial claims that appear to be infringed daily. Perhaps, very soon, they will emerge from the desert storm again.
Government: The Saa’kaleed Abiat is a Tribal Despotism, with a single ‘Great Father’ or Rea-Abi acting as de facto head of government. The Rea-Abi ascends following a transition period where the great tribes come together to choose a new leader. This process sometimes takes the form of an election when the choice is simple, but this is not standardised and civil war has broken out over disagreements before. All that matters is at the end of a transition, a single individual has been chosen. The leader is normally the head of one of the great tribes, but it is not unheard of relations of a previous Rea-Abi to be chosen even if their family is no longer so influential. The Rea-Abi is responsible for guiding the Abiat forwards, protecting the people, and enriching the nation.
Local autonomy is maintained for the most part, with tribes governing themselves mostly and passing tribute up to the central government. Their own leadership varies from local kingship to elder councils and even shaman theocracy.
Economy: The Saa'kaleed indulge in all manner of goods that do not thrive outside of a hotter climate. Whilst expanses of desert are mostly empty, regions around the oases and the coast thrive with agricultural productivity. Different grains and fruits like wheat, dates, barley, and figs provide food and an income being sold abroad. Greater wealth arises from the more unique treasures of the enviroment, spices like saffron and mustard are produced for the tables of the powerful and - with nascent state involvement - exported.
The nation livelihood is tenuous, however. Drought and poor harvests can have serious implications for the meagre funds of the Abi and, in dire times, result in great famine if proper precaution is not taken. Mining operations have begun in the north, but the mountains yield relatively little and certainly no great outpouring of wealth is expected from that quarter.
Military: The Saa'kaleed are a people of tribal conflict. Patrimony and blood alliances define the mustering of men, even if the basic framework of a national standard for the army has been rolled out. Each community is expected to keep a certain number of soldiers under arms at peace or involved in limited conflicts based on their population, doubling as a policing force. In the past whole communities have been levied into conflict however; man, woman, and even child in the defence of the Leed from incursions by foolish invaders who thought they could conquer the desert. It is this grim determination and culture of resistance that makes the Saa'kaleed such capable fighters, but also resistant to the most modern reforms.
For the most part nimble and agile Basa Riders are employed, archers and lancers riding atop large quadrupedal lizards that find work across the economy and home when not at war. Though companies of footmen and archers very often follow, unable to afford the maintenance of such a beast. Whilst siege equipment is well practised, with an effective mind for engineering, little is actually kept in the state itself. Wood being so precious, it has always served better to fell trees when raiding others rather than carry things such as siege trains. This is also why there is a severe lacking of a truly effective navy, limited as they are to a handful of outdated galleys for protecting the most vital ports.
Territory: The extent of the Abiat borders (As I would like them to be)
Factions: To be worked out in RP.
Characters: To be outlined in first post and expanded in RP.
