Name: Kingdom of Skekaria
Flag: Two flags are traditionally used, the first in peace time and the second during times of conflict. The peace flag is a lighter blue background (think Wode) with three orange circles positioned like the point on a triangle, each being surrounded by four smaller circles. The war flag has the same color scheme, but the three circles are connected, and their subordinate circles (all twelve) are arranged into a smaller circle on the interior of the triangle.
Quick description of your nation: The majority of the populace of Skekaria cling to the smooth sand beaches that make up their western coastline, finding the rockier western shore to be less comfortable and significantly more dangerous. Those few clans that have chose to make their home elsewhere reside either on the grassy plains that comprise the majority of the land's interior, generally providing for themselves through nomadic pastoralism, or in the rain-soaked mountains of the western coast, making their living off of trade with the coastal clans or through farming in the fertile valley regions.
The side your nation was on during the 3th rebellion: Either with the throne or with the rebels: The Kingdom of Skekaria sided with the throne during the rebellion, not out of love for the throne but ouf of fear that a successful rebelion would inspire their own subordinates to throw off the yoke.
Population/races: The Skekarii are, on the average, a shorter race. Both men and women tend to average roughly 160 centimeters. The Skekarii are a tan people, owing to their southerly location, with black and deep brown hair and eyes ranging anywhere from brown to olive green, though the mountain clans are said to be duller both in appearance and personality as a result of their rainy home. The Skekarii as a race have a natural affinity for water, preffering to live on the coasts or on the rainy side of their mountains. Those who live in the plains have adapted to using natural moisturizers in order to keep their skin hydrated, as the Skekarii are a delicately skinned people and will tend to crack and bleed if the humidity in the air drops too far. This has kept their relations with the Saa'Kaleed to a minimum, though recent diplomatic missions laden with scented oils and moisturizers have made honest attempts.
Culture/society: The Skekarii are a people only relatively recently unified, having only been established as their own power a few decades before the conquest. This recent unification is still shown in the intensly clan-based mentality of many Skekarii, who see their ultimate devotion as being to their clans, though after unification urban centers have been slowly coming into vogue which has led to the development of an increasingly state-oriented culture within the confines of the few scattered cities. Despite the city-dwellers growing nation-state mentality they are still reliant on relation to secure most agreements from land trades to significant business deals, which has led to a culture of intense polyamory, It's rare to come across a Skekarii with only one partner, with the average Skekarii having anywhere from four to six partners of either gender with whom they live communually and raise children jointly.
Religion: Skekarii religious belief holds that the ancient world was a constant conflict between the twelve old gods and the thirty-six new gods, born from the ever fracturing natures of the old gods, a conflict which the new gods eventually won, but not without suffering. The Skekarii hold the goddess of the sea, Senald, as the cheif deity of the world, a reverence reflected in their devotion to aquaculture, and their greatest festivals and rituals are devoted to her gratification. The Skekarii honor Senald above all others for they believe that it is through her actions that they came to the relatively prosperous land they now call home. In Skekarii mythos Senald had been greivously wounded in the war with the old god she had broken off from, leading to her fall to the sea in the mortal world, which at the time was a land of deep struggle and poverty for the Skekarii. Seeing their goddess so wounded the Skekarii dragged her body from the depths of the ocean and brought breath back into her divine lungs, before feeding her and allowing her to recover. Out of thankfulness for their kindness, once the war was settled and the old gods were truly shattered, Senald sent forth the bounties of the sea so that they may be harvested by the Skekarii. In emulation of their goddess the Skekarii are all expected to make at least one pilgrimage to their great temple where they reenact a portion of Senald's suffering by piercing their hands upon sharp stone and spilling their blood into a sacred pool into which they are then submerged with weight nearly until the point of drowning, before they entirely lose consciousness they are brought from the pool by the temple priests and have their own lungs filled with air again. The last phase of their ritual involves drying by the temple's fire where they are fed and nurtered by the priests. The priests, in recognition that they become nothing more than the servants of the gods are granted a mask upon their acceptance, they are forbidden to ever remove the mask, regardless of their rank the mask remains the same, from a servile priest to the dual high priests. The other gods do have worshippers, they simply aren't as widely revered and are given less pomp and circumstance by the state.
On a more practical level the two high priests, as well as their numerous subordinates, work tirelessly to ensure that the Skekarii keep the blessings of Senald by practicing and obeying countless rituals. It's believed by the Skekarii that a failure in their aquaculture harvests, which would lead to widespread famine, is the result of the priests failing to appease Senald and will usually result in the high priests being stripped of their position and exiled, the lower priests then select a new pair of high priests from amongst themselves.
History: For the majority of their history the Skekarii has managed themselves through a multitude of clans, often waning and waxing in regional power, with no clear dominate party, though the clans of the western coast were generally more prosperous and are generally recognized as being the oldest clans. At some point in ancient history the clans began to experience significant infighting which pushed several of the clans out of their traditional homeland and into the western mountains or the internal plains where the clans maintained limited trading. In more recent history, shortly before the coming of the Akronians, three of the larger neighboring clans- the Wya, Cani, and the Ae- joined together through a marriage of their three clan leaders, declaring themselves as the first monarchs of the Skekarii.
Joining their forces and recources together they established a city on the river that had formed a portion of their border lands and named it Wyacanae. It is from this city that the three monarchs, the founders-become legend King Roqur, Queen Mahn, and Queen Rostet, led their crusade to conquer the remaining tribes. The first to fall were the neighboring tribes on the western coast as they lacked the population of the time to prepare for such a force, the next were the nomadic herders of the plains, though they were unable to put up much effective resistance due to their small population. By the end of the third year of conquest only the mountain tribes remained, the last of which wouldn't be subdued until just a few scant years before the Arkronians arrived. Following the completion of the conquest each of the three clans from which the monarchs came assumed nominal management of four subordinate clans in an effort to integrate them into the new kingdom. Nominally the Skekarii lay claim to the island to the north of their homeland, though they've never made any significant effort to colonize or even fully explore it.
Government: The Skekarii are ruled by a mixed government where, in theory, absolute power rests with the three monarchs, none may pass an order without the consent of at least one other, while the two archpriests and their subordinates oversee much of the administrative work of taxation and land usage in order to compensate for the crown's unprepared bureaucracy, a role which gives them significant power and influence. Further, each of the subdued clans is allowed to send a representative, usually a direct relative of the clan's leader, who is then ritualistically married to one of the monarchs, this allows them some representation in the state's governance.
Economy: The Skekarii engage in large scale aquaculture on their western coast, as well as extensive agriculture and mining within their western mountains. Following recent reinvigoration efforts by King Mahd, supported by both his fellow monarhcs, the western mountains have become notable in Mycoria for their level of exploitation. It is from these mountain mines that the majority of exported goods are derived. Recently, with the rise of more urban locations, they have begun engaging in regional sea trading.The Skekarii have also begun efforts at establishing their coastline as a site for regional tourism, claiming that their warm southern climate is good for the health.
Military: The Skekarii millitary developed from early fishing crews and, as such, relies heavily on spears and the usage of javelins with light armor. The Skekarii, beyond their pretensions to the northern island, have little desire for significant land expansion and thus rely on a better knowledge of their homeland in order to defend themselves from their enemies, utilising early guerrilla tactics.
Territory: Factions: Each Skekarii clan can have their own factions within as some of the larger subordinate clans number in the tens to hundreds of thousands and the three largest each have more than a million, however, each clan has it's own bureaucracy for managing their own factions, which in general line up with national level factions. Within national level politics the clans, or rather their representatives, are technically subordinate to a specific one of the three major clans, the
Azsrati in their tounge, though they traditionally meet in unison in the interior chambers of the palace for discussions, where they may vote to support whichever platform they wish. This council of clans, the
Azratikiq, then delivers the winning proposals to the monarchs as a mixture of both petition and advice, though not legislation.
The Wya clan: In concept and tradition the three major clans are equal in power, though reality has seen the Wya come to a position of preeminence, though not one significant enough yet to be considered a majority power holder. For the Skekarii clans the Wya are seen as a source of stability, the Wya may not invest heavily in developments but they also keep their correspondence with rival powers to a polite formality and impose few new regulations on the clans' autonomy. The Wya support Arkron rule simply for the certainty of it, though feathers are ruffled when the Arkron make changes to their desired tribute.
The Cani clan: King Mahd is considered an exceptional example of the ambitions of the Cani clan. The Cani work towards the goal of a truly unified Skekaria under one bureaucracy working towards the betterment of the Skekarii, as a result the Cani utilise their resources to develop urban infrastructure as well as both mining and agriculture. Any action that will further increase state control or remove the bureaucracy from church dominance is likely to be the action the Cani and their supporters will seek to take. This has led to a general sense of distrust from the less urbanized clans who fear that bureaucratic overhaul will be used to destroy them, though is widely supported by the mountain clans who have seen their wealth greatly expanded in recent years as a result of crown investment. During the 3rd rebellion the Cani monarch and their supporters voted on the monarch council, the
Kaiazratiq, to support the rebellion under the belief that the Skekarii can only truly prosper as they were meant to as an independant state, something that the Arkron deprived them of after less than a decade.
The Ae clan: The Ae and their supporters are generally considered to be a swing faction, historically they vote in the interests of whatever their current agenda is as opposed to any long lasting ideal on the future. The Ae believe that making plans for the future beyond the next decade or so may have some sense is things like infrastructure, but for many other things, like international diplomacy, is senseless given the everchanging nature of the political world. The past decade or so, however, has been marked by a growing relation between the Cani and the Ae in response to Wya growth. This has led to the Ae frequently voting in favor of projects based on internal isolationist growth. Queen Hastor has to some extent maintained this relationship, considering king Mahd to be he favored husband and the monarch she shadows most, though she finds herself at odds with the isolationism favored by her clan and its supporters, as well as those of the Cani, and has been making efforts to increase external diplomacy. This has led to the beginning of a split in the Ae supporters between those who favor the isolationist Cani platform and the world minded Hastor platform. The Ae, during the third rebellion, voted for the Arkron out of the belief that, while independance was necessary, the time was not yet right for it as the Skekarii still needed time to solidify themselves against the chaos the world would become without Arkronian oversight.
Characters: I would also, if possible, prefer to develop this in RP.
King Vahn II Wya: King Vahn II is widely regarded among the upper strata of Skekarii society as being a fairly ineffectual monarch, a status which has led to some degree of disatisfaction amongst his subordinates. King Vahn II, being in his later fifties, is viewed by many Skekarii as having lost much of his vitality leading many to look towards his heir, the prince Yie II -himself in his thirties.
King Mahd Cani: King Mahd is viewed by many Skekarii as the youthful energy necessary to counter the more complacent King Vahn II, with his efforts at revitalizing the mining clans brining in new sources of income for the state treasury. Together with his younger counterpart, himself only being in his later twenties, Queen Haster IV Ae, new efforts have been made to expand the state's bureaucracy in hopes of solidifying the crowns position in comparison to the church.
Queen Haster IV Ae: Queen Haster, being in her early twenties, is one of the youngest monarchs to come to the throne in the kingdom, a matter which has brought many concerns about inexperience. Despite initial worries Queen Haster has shown herself, at least in partnership with her senior, the King Mahd, to be a relatively capable monarch. Notable of Queen Hastor is her concern with diplomacy, breaking from the generally isolationist tradition of the kingdom Queen Haster has begun sending envoys to treat with the courts of nearby nations.