The New Empires

[RisenDead]

Name:
The Kingdom of Sigin-Tarâg (Literally meaning Kingdom of the Long-Beards)



Capital:
Az-Barak (Literally meaning The Iron Shield in the Common tongue, commonly called "Barak")
- Barak is the heartbeat of the Kingdom of Sigin-Tarâg. Here, deep beneath the heart of the mountains, the very foundations of the Dwarven people was laid and so it has remained for thousands of years, weathering all storms and invasions its enemies can muster. This is the ancestral seat of the Dwarven Kings and Queens and where their greatest treasures are hidden away from the eyes of the world. In the cities ten thousand year history only fifty outsiders have ever set foot within its Gates. Located centrally, you cannot pass directly from one Dwarven city to another, all roads lead to Az-Barak.

Other Major Settlements:

Az-Caurak (Literally meaning Iron-Cavern, commonly called "Caurak")

- So called for its great supply of Iron, Dwarves are not known for their creativity in naming. This industrial city is one of the dirtiest and most violent regions of the Kingdom. It is also the southern gateway to the Dwarven Kingdom. Here the Great Angaz Ruvalk (River of Liquid Fire) descends from Karag, through Zharrzhuf and Caurak, and into the southern wastes and the Kingdom of Karkarth beyond.

Karag (Literally meaning Volcano, commonly called "Karag")

- Karag, the highest of all the Dwarven cities, is built into the heart of the great Karag Volcano. From here the industrious Dwarves have channeled the lava bubbling up from far beneath towards their other cities, providing them with natural light and warmth.

ZharrZhuf Kazad (Lietrally meaning Firefall City, commonly called "ZharrZhuf")

- Almost two hundred kilometres away and two thousand feet below Karag is ZharrZhuf, the City of the Firefall. This is where the lava, already redirected by the Dwarves in Karag, flows through the massive caverns that make up ZharrZhuf. The lava has been channelled to flow both through and around the city. Here you will find the core of the Dwarven weapon smiths as well as the Great Forge.

Taerin Sabrak (Literally meaning Deep Canyon, commonly called "Sabrak")

- The deepest of the Dwarven cities, this is where much of the Dwarven wealth in gold and jewels comes from. Here you can find the greatest miners and diggers in the known world as they delve for ever more valuable prizes.

Notable Ruins:

Norogh (Literally meaning "Place of Evil"

- This was once a proud Dwarven city on the very Western tip of the Kingdom. It is said that something in the water there made the locals go mad and they began to attack one another and even cannibalize their fellow Dwarves. Several smaller forces sent to investigate failed to return and in the end the King was forced to send in the army. They killed every citizen then found and burned their bodies, then retreated from the cavern, sealing it shut as they went, renaming it Norogh. Rumours still abound that the ancient ruin can be accessed from outside the mountain and that great treasures still lie hidden beneath the mountain.

Population:
650,000

Races:
Dwarves - 85%
Slaves/Merchants of various other races: 15%

Culture:
The Dwarves of Sigin-Tarâg are a strong and hardy folk who generally keep to themselves, not out of any fear or loathing for other folk but rather they long ago decided that they didn't really need anyone else around. For thousands of years they have been slowly delving deeper into their mountains, founding new towns as they go, expanding their larger cities and turning them into great works of beauty, with the exception of Caurak of course.

The mountains they call home, the largest of any range in the world, is honeycombed with their tunnels and works. On the slopes of the mountains can be found the beasts that they have tamed for use in battle and for heavy works deeper into their tunnels and cities. Much of Dwarvish culture is based on hard work and some of it is considered beneath a Dwarf and so other races enslaved by the Dwarves often find themselves as house staff. Perhaps slave is the wrong word, for they are treated well, they simply cannot leave of their own free will unless sold or released from service by their Dwarven master.

The Dwarves operate a strict Caste Structure within their society and everyone is bound to it. Each lesser caste must give way to those above them though poor treatment of any Dwarf by another is generally frowned upon, and in some cases punishable by death. The castes are as follows, reading in importance from left to right: The King - Masons/Smiths/Justices - Warriors/Miners/Brewers - Tailors/Herbalists/Merchants - The common Dwarf and adventuring Dwarves.

Though the Castes are fairly broad in their terminology, is is usually those who must have great skill at their trade who are in the upper castes. Even a Master Tailor can be found in the second level castes, so the caste system is really just a way to tax the population, though taxes depend on how much money one makes, so, really, as long as you're not an unskilled Dwarf or an outsider, you have the respect of all.

Every young Dwarf is expected to find themselves a trade and encouraged to take up whatever they feel is "right" for them. The only choice that makes a Dwarf wag his beard in disbelief and amazement is the desire by some young folk to go out into the wide world and seek their fortune. If they can find a collection of friends to join them however and create a Warband, they are more than strongly encouraged by their elders.

Elders hold a special place in the Dwarven hierarchy as well. They are to be treated with respect, ignored in most cases and in only the most extreme situations are they to be believed and their advice acted upon. If several elders can agree on the same thing however, one can consider the advice sound and usually find themselves the better off for it.

Beer and mead are major components of Dwarven society, not the act of getting floor bound drunk, but rather the art of making it. Every race enjoys a good brew and the Dwarves, as one might guess, produce the finest. A barrel of Dwarven ale is worth ten times that of any other race and is their chief export. Dwarves are intensely proud of their Brewing ability and will fight to the death to defend its good name. Master Brewers are perhaps the mostly highly esteemed members of Dwarven society since, at this moment, their King is one of the best.

The subject of sex tends to come up when other races think of Dwarves. Do their women have beards or not? Are they just as robust as their male counterparts? Do they even exist? Let me put your fears to rest.

Dwarven women are quite real and no, in most cases they do not grow beards. Dwarf women are in fact quite fair to look upon and while wider in the hip and shoulders than human women, they can still be found quite attractive. Now, don't make the mistake of assuming they all look lovely for there are certainly those amongst them who have beards, look like the men and in some cases have passed for men without their colleagues realizing it for a hundred years! The most famous of these is Sigrun "Blue-Anvil" Alrikafind. It took her fellow smiths almost one hundred and thirty years to realize that she was not, in fact, a male. Please don't ask why.

On the topic of "unions". A male and female Dwarf may enter into a "union" together. This is solely based on the production of children. During the union, the two Dwarves are expected to remain together and raise the child to the age of sixteen, after which the child remains in the care of the parent it likes best. The other parent, now free of any obligation to the child, can seek out a new union if they wish. Outside of a union, Dwarves are free to make love like bunny rabbits.

Crime:
There are many crimes that occur in the Kingdom, the spilling of a good mead by someone whilst talking for instance is considered very bad form, punishable by buying a round for the house, which in a Dwarven tavern is not a cheap prospect. On the topic of more serious crime however there are several tiers of offence, all of which are decided on and presided over by the "Justices". These Dwarves, all at once the most popular and most loathed of Dwarves, depending on their decisions that day, are judge, jury and executioner of the Dwarven justice system.

There are several acts that will earn a Dwarf an immediate death sentence, which is to be tossed into one of the many lava pools or rivers. Murder of another Dwarf, abandonment of a union and the child created by it, allowing an outsider access to the Kingdom beyond the City of Caurak, or one of the other "Gate-Towns". (Note, this does not apply to slaves. Also note, any slave that passes beyond the outer "Gate-Towns" will never been seen again. Third note, Dwarves really don't like it when you try to out talk them.)

Lesser acts such as theft are punishable by public whippings, having a hand chopped off (Followed by banishment to the upper slopes of the mountain), or having to do another Dwarves laundry and house cleaning for a up to a year. These all of course depend on the varying level of the crime and the punishment will reflect that.

If a slave steps out of line, they are drawn and quartered by soldiers who turn the event into a public spectacle as four teams of warriors attempts to be the one who ends up with the torso of the unfortunate slave still attached to the limb they're pulling on.

Government Type:
Absolute Monarchy - The King is the one true power. He appoints the Justices as his representatives, and promotes high ranking officers within the military. Despite this being a system that could easily be abused and go horribly wrong, only six Kings in the history of the Kingdom have ever been dragged out of their palace and slaughtered by angry citizens. The addition of a "Grand Council" is sure to help, these are drawn from the various caste systems by popular vote.

People in Power:
King Harrak "Scarred Shield" Ragnisson

Industry:
Industry… Well, they're Dwarves so it will come as no surprise to find out that they do an awful lot of mining. Gold, gems, silver, bronze, coal, iron, etc, all of it drawn from the earth by the Dwarves and some of it traded, most of it kept and hoarded, melted down in beautiful works of art that are then stored in a vault, probably never to see torchlight again in the next five hundred years.

Major exports from the Kingdom include mead, beer, lighter mead, ales and even the odd flavoured ale. Imports are kept to minimum though the Dwarves are always keen to see what the outside world has to offer and welcome traders and merchants alike into Caurak at any time. Within the Kingdom itself there is trade between cities for each has its own strengths and weaknesses on trade. The small towns that open onto the upper mountains for example grow much of the needed fruits and vegetables, though the Dwarves regard such "dirt-turners" with suspicion amounting to paranoia.

Military:
Dwarf Warrior
Dwarf Axe/Hammer Thrower
Dwarf Ironbreaker

The Dwarves are a militant people with a dedicated warrior caste. Those who serve in the military are looked upon with awe by all other Dwarves and any Dwarf, young or old, who wishes to make a name for themselves in song can join their ranks. While the Dwarves do not in engage many pitched wars with distant enemies they are constantly at odds with the other creatures that call the mountain caverns home, or that live on its upper slopes. Be it goblins, orks, ogres, drow, fearsome rock-eating stonehearts, giant spiders, big foot, mammoths, giants, trolls, nearly blind blood worms, the odd drakk, wolves, giant wolves, the yeti, humans, occasionally elves, dragon looking humanoids, fire worms, sasquatch, the common cold, or any other number of ferocious beast, the Dwarves of Sigin-Tarâg stand ready to do battle.

It should be noted that while the Dwarves have countless tunnels, caverns, cities and towns, they by no means control the entirety of the vast web beneath the mountains. Many times their control extends only an axe throw from the front gate and caravans from city to city run heavily armed and it can take weeks to travel from one city to the next.

Landscape/Terrain:
The Kingdom of Sigin-Tarâg lies within the massive mountain range known as the High Cascades. This range, at the centre of the continent, is the largest in the world. As a result, the great expanse the Kingdom claims is really small pockets of habitable cities and settlements separated by hundreds of kilometres of hostile terrain. Those who have never been into the tunnels and only read what is written above can easily assume that the Dwarf Kingdom is a massive sprawling mass when in fact, it is anything but.

The Dwarves have gone to great pains to suggest that the only access to their Kingdom is through the "Gate-Towns", such as the North-Gate. This does in fact provide you access to a number of "safe" tunnels. There are a thousand ways to enter the mountains and if you can find one, then you can certainly try to find your way to the Dwarven cities. If you make it, and only perhaps a dozen have ever done so in the last ten thousand years, you'll probably get your head lopped off by a Dwarven guard.

The slopes of the High Cascades are exactly what you might expect to its west, north and east. Thick forests that slowly climb into the low lying cloud layers, slowly petering out as they get higher, eventually giving way to massive peaks that tower thousands of feet into the air, blanketed half the year in dense snow.

These slopes and tunnels are filled with the beasts mentioned before and are hardly the preserve of the faint of heart though that has not stopped hunters of other races from climbing into the hills to hunt the magnificent game that can be found there.

To the south is the desolate fiery wasteland of the Kingdom of Karkarth. It is on the southern slopes the molten river of lava pours into the flatlands and winds its way towards the southern oceans, spreading out over the landscape and setting all aflame. The mountain side around the tunnels which disgorge the lava are barren and mostly devoid of life as it is hard to survive in a landscape of no food and poisonous gases. There is one creature here worth mentioning, the Diamond Ridge Giant Wartle Toad, a creature worth it's weight in gold if you can catch it, which is a lot since they weigh about 100 pounds. Their skin is made of fine Diamond like ridges that, when dried and hit with a hammer, explodes into small pieces and releases the diamonds within.

History:
Breaking for lunch, I'll come back to this.

Name:
Dwarves
Appearance:
Roughly five feet in height and built like a small tank, Dwarves are a sturdy and robust people. The males grow massive beards which are their pride and joy while the women, or most of them, could be mistaken for short humans at first glance.
Natural Abilities:
Excellent vision in the dark, immensely strong and benefit from generous endurance.
Lifespan:
500 - 700 years
Homeland:
The High Cascades

[Williwiw]

Position on Map -

CHIEFDOM OF BA-JA
(Ba-Ja = Star Lord)

Capital -Yoima

Also called Joih in Bayi language, Yoima is the ancient capital of the fallen Shepperd Kingdoms. It was fatally razed and looted in the Ba-Ja uprising and few of its former riches are remaining. Today, Yoima is tightly controlled by the Ba-Ja though-police (the Jaiy), whose sit has been stablished in the monumental Slave Market Palace. Recently, the city prosperity is beign restored as the goverment has been restablish under the Ba-Ja Chiefdom.

Other Major Settlements – Badar Badai

Located on the Southwest of the Goj Lake, it was the main port in the mining and slave trade routes.

Population - 700.000 (?)
Races – Goj subhumans

Culture

Goj culture has dramatically changed since the instauration of the Ba-Ja Chiefdom. The heterogeneous mithologies, religions, languages and ethnies of the goj people have been assimilated into the Chiefdom. The philosofical ideas of the Ba-Ja have not banned slavery, but have changed the way society is constructed. In this fashion, all the previous cultural references are no longer the identity of the Goj people. In adittion, the Jaiy has performed a thoroughful work on eliminating any traces of tribal culture or Shepperd Kingdom's culture. Religion has been officially abolished and history has been rewritten. Now, all the people are supposed to be involved in the Gajadair (thirst and hunger) The masses effords are directed towards he imperialistic plan of the Ba-Ja, and under his person a new nation identity has been formed. Former slaves have now became "Self-Slaves", and still account for the most part of the population. Self-Slaves can attain another status if they prove brave and worthy enough.
However, remarcable traits of the ancient culture remain. For instance, the War Songs, musical pieces performed before formal warfare or danced in cermonial occasions remain the core of Goj culture. These dances, frenzily acompannied by percusion, flutes, loud screams and other instruments. Dances are part of the society and are important in social order. Also, writting and sculpture art is very often done in pottery.
The Ba-Ja ideology implied a change from the traditional views to a brutely materialist understanding of the world. In this fashion, the rational thought is highly appreciated, and the only surviving written elements are the old treaties in engineering in Yoima language (Yoimanabe), which has become the state's language. Scholars and scientists are sponsored and "monitored" by the Jaiy, the thought police.

[hider=Crimes] - Under Ba-Ja's rulership, moral is no longer the criteria used for justice. Instead, actions beneficial to whole nations are judged fair, and crimes which disturb social peace and the goverment influence are punished. Law, although formally erased, is kept by fear and by means of severe repression of the Jaiy.

Government type – Slavist totalitarism

The government of the Ba-Ja Chiefdom is a slavist socialist dictatorship ruled by the Ba-Ja Tojaro Moza. His as much fear as respected among the former tribal chiefs of the Goj region, and thus he unanimously holllds power oer them. Leaders of the Chiefdom are very often choosen among the most brilliant strategists, scholars and soldiers. As individual skill is trmendously appreciated, individuals who overcome Self-Slavery social status are ascended into the governing elite, commonly called "Heads", even though the life style of these indivuduals is still nearly as austhere as the Self-Slaves. However, the great majority of the population is organized in their Tribal Comunes. Each comune is normally composed of Slef-Slaves, or normal citiziens, who practice a communalist lifestyle and where everybody is subject to state indoctrination and militar service.

People in power – Tojaro Moza

Few is known about the identity of the Ba-Ja Tojaro Moza. As religion is banned in the Chiefdom, the spiritual necesities of the people have been reorganized around the figure of the Ba-Ja, whose mithical origin imbues him with nearly divine character. As the myth tells, the Ba-Ja came from the Stars to emancipate the Goj tribes from their slavery..
Tojaro philosophical ideas imply for the emancipation of the human of his misthical part, which he considered to be the source of all suffering in humanity.Religion has been forbidden and the only reality is the tangible world; and its true form, hunger, fury, passion, war, life, death, money or in one word, power. As moral, Gods, or transcendence disappear, men can reach the status of emancipated and be free from their Self-Slavery. However, those who are not strogn enough for bearing their own existence with foundation on them, remain Self-Slaves. Rejection of the religious nature of the human also comes from the ideal of renovation. Tojaro has often expressed his will on of his people "bringing a new flame to this word and consume the old symbols, so as human hunger continues through the eternal birth of forms".

The truth about Tojaro Moza is well hidden by both the mythical explanation and the ideological control that the Chiefdom exerts. He was a scholar of the Shepperd Kingdoms sent to the Bayí Lands to overlook the region's administration. However, he had far more ambitious plans. He is known to be instructed on astronomy and engineering, perhaps learned through contanct with the Mountain Kingdoms.
One thing is evident, Tojaro is leading the Chiefdom in an autodestructive quest for power and glory, and after his death, probably the Chiefdom will fall into barbarianism. Perhaps that is what he seeks. His ruthless and demagogic rulership have proved so far to be an effective means to lead the Chiefdom to its final glorious destiny.

Industry

It can be difficult to understand how can life be posible in the Goj region. The great lake looks too salty to permit proper agriculture, and the land has few sources but the lake). However, nature has produced vegetables that are miraculously adequate for this conditions. Therefore, the lake holds crops of chickpeas, lentils, fava beans, barley and semolina mostly. Fishing is also a common source of food, and dried fish is a common meal. In the Charanayad Plateau, goat and sheep are the primary food source. All food exploitation is done in comunal farming comunes of Self-Slaves. rarely, some nomadic tribes remain transhumant or some hunters can be found in some rare regions.

However, the true riches of the Chiefdom come from the salt mines and the abunding iron depostits in the southeastern mountains. Metallurgical industry is now being developed, as the Ba-ja. Weaponsmithry and metalwork pieces production has been rasing during the last decade.
The Sepperd Kingdoms were known for their fine gold works, but along with most art pieces, they were melted during the Uprising. Brute gold used to be more common in the southern mountains, yet now mines are nearly depleted. Since clay is abundant, pottery is also a very developed manufacture, and clay-working it is considered the highest form of hand-crafted art along with metalworks. The northern and northeastern region have few oil sources that are used to make incendiary projectiles.

Military

There only few of the Sijiird ("The one-thousand tribes") who have not plegded loyalty, as they have been anhiquilated by Ba-Ja loyalists. Self-slaves acount for most of the army. The former tribal chiefs and the self-raised Head leaders direct differently-sized groups of the Self-Slaves.
Typical militar composition consists on javelin or bow light skirmishers opening up in the front lines, followed by light infantry armed with Bimam swords or spears. Cavalry is rare, but Ba-Ja cavalry is lightly armed, and makes uses of hit-and-run tactics. Heavier infantry is often groups of pikemen or spear wielding troops. Fire is a comon weapon, mostly used to demoralize enemies (along with War Songs). Some of the light infantry is specially feared for their reckless and frenzied behaviour. Heavy crossbowman are pressent in a great deal, as well as ballistas and other war machines.
War-beasts and Sandships accompany the army for logistic purposes, although the Giant Lizards of West Charanayad are dangerous indeed in battle.

Bimam sword

Landscape/Terrain

Most of the chiefdom are vast desert extensions. the Goj Lake(Goj = ember) is the only oasis of life in many leagues around, and the true center of the Kingdom. Towards the north, there is the Wind Sea, where winds are strong enough to push the Sandships. Towards the southeast there are the Iba Mountains, where vast mineral deposits can be found, and the homeland for tribes such as the Bayi.
In the western side of the Goj Lake, between the foothills of Charanayad Plateau(Charanayad = Pastures of Chara) and the lake shore, the city of Yoima stands, mostly ruined after the masacres of the Uprising, but still the most important spot in the Chiefdom. the Charanayad Plateu is a hilly highland landscape. At some valleys, humidity is enough to allow pastures to grow.

History

The written records of the Goj civilizations were burnt after Ba-Ja's orders. The only historical memory remains are the songs of the different tribes,which account for their oral tradition, myths and sagas. The Goj region has been inhabitte for nearly a millenia by nomad trading tribes that eventually stablished themselves in the scarce fertile shores of the Goj Lake. Few centuries later, the Shepperd Kings, coming from the north most likely, settled and seized control over the region, eventually stablishing slavism and subduing the local tribes.
The Ba-ja Uprising started in Iba Mountains, the Kingdoms metal mines. Tojaro Moza, the Ba-Ja, became the advisor of the opressed Bayi tribe, and through skillfull diplomacy and manipulation, he united the tribes against there overlords. During that dark, bloody decade, the Shepperd Kingdom was eventually crushed caused both by intelligent strategy and militar management form the Ba-Ja and by inner struggles. The war symbollically ended when the Ba-Ja troops marched over Yoima and proceeded to slaughter and destroy the identity of the Shepperd people, as the Ba-Ja chiefdom begun. New calendar mesurements set this date as the year 0. Now,in the year 5 GA , the Ba-Ja ambitious plans continue unfurling.

Races Sheet

Name -Goj subhumans
Appearance – Goj region inhabitants have characteristically very dark tanned skins, and avobe average height compared to other humans. The tribes that dwell the Goj are very heterogeneus in appereance. The Bayi individuals very often posess wide noses and very wrinkled skins, while the Charanayad inhabitants often posess thiner and longer noses, and more fine facial features than their southern nieghbours.
Natural abilities – The Goj is doubtlessly a highly inhospit area for life, but the Bayi mountain region is perhaps the most hostile populated area around the lake. Thus, natural selection ensured that only the most enduring induviduals could thrive there. The Goj people have a very developed pheromonal comunication. They "smell" fear, and they have an intimidating presence to anybody not used to these tribesmen.
Lifespan – As normal humans, however, few survive past 50 years.
Homeland – Goj region

Grammar and typo editing is still needed.