Alramal Alkhafiya
An Anatoian nation bordering Lymia and the Principalities on its west, The Plainlands to the north, and the eastern empires on its east. Primarily desert, it shares many cultural traits with western Fidira, hinting perhaps at some shared heritage predating the Rumain Empire. Much of Alramal Alkhafiya is desert. To the south and west lies the magocracy of Karthain. To say that relations between the Alkhafi lands and Karthain are strained would be to belittle the complications between the two nations.
The pursuit of honour and its prestige is the driving force behind the life of many Alkhafi. For some, there is no greater cause. Money and power mean little to most if they are attained at the expense of honour.
The Alkhafi sense of honour, at its broadest, is the embodiment of all that is good; such as honesty, kindness, and forgiveness. Honourable men and women keep their word when it is given. They are generous, offering sustenance to the poor and protection to the weak. They are faithful to their friends and their families. Honourable Alkhafi men show their courage and strength in battle. Honourable Alkhafi women display their courage and strength in the face of hardship. Both must be virtuous and free of shame.
Every action, large or small, either enhances or erodes one's honour. Every deed colours the honour of one's family. The Alkhafi ideals of honour and family are closely entwined; if a person acts dishonourably, their offense may cause a stain upon their family's honour that lasts for generations.
Honour is closely guarded. For every insult to a person's honour, restitution must be made. If the insult is small, an apology may suffice. To steal or injure with intention, however, or to kill without justification are grave offenses. They can ruin the honour of the offender as well as that of the offender's family. Moreover, these crimes assault the honour of the victim and the victim's family, too. The graver the offense, the greater the required restitution -- and the harsher the punishment. In essence, the offending part of the criminal's body is "cut off." The only crimes punishable by death in Alramal Alkhafiya are murder and amorous impropriety.
No matter an Alkhafi's religion, they are united in the view that a person's family is precious and irreplaceable. A person's family remains intact in the Alkhafi beliefs of the afterlife, proving its strength as well as its importance. Material wealth is transient, but the bonds of blood are eternal.
Each person exists within the circle of their immediate family, which spans all surviving generations. In turn, the family lies within a larger circle of cousins, uncles and aunts. Beyond that circle lies another, one step removed, then a fourth, like the rings of a pebble tossed into a pool. These circles create a person's identity. In Alramal Alkhafiya, a person is nothing without their family. The rights of the family, therefore, supersede the rights of any single person within it.
Alkhafi families are usually led by a man, though it is not too uncommon for positions to be reversed in cities. The head of a family is in charge of their sons, unwed daughters, and the families of the sons. When marriage occurs, the wife will often live with her husband's family. If the marriage ends, the wife will return to her family. Blood ties can almost never be broken. Homosexual marriage is considered aberrant by most Alkhafi, and homosexual lovers are often cut from their families, but the ties of family will be reconnected in the afterlife.
Alkhafi value large families, and welcome the birth of each child. Eventually, a paternal home can hold no more people. When space becomes scares and a family can afford to build a new dwelling, a child will leave the paternal house and start anew. Rarely will this child leave their ancestral village or city, however.
Outside the walls of cities and towns, tents replace houses, but customs are similar. A nomadic patriarch typically has the largest tent among his circle. He resides with his wife (or wives) and his umarried children. His married sons live in smaller tents, which are always nearby.
Because blood ties are so important, loyalty to one's family is tantamount to Alkhafi law. First and foremost, a person's loyalty is always to their family. Their actions, for better or worse, will define the honour of their family. Loyalty next goes to the larger circle. If, for example, a man is wronged and asked for help, his cousins are honour-bound to assist him, provided their actions would not dishonour their immediate family.
Honour and kinship are the two golden threads in the fabric of Alkhafi life. Without either, the fabric unravels.
In Alramal Alkhafiya, purity may be a person's greatest public virtue. The harim may seem hypocritical, then, to an outsider. In fact, very few Alkhafi men have more than one wife, but even the wealthy sha'ir with a harim is technically married to every woman whose unveiled face graces his bedchamber. A man and a woman may divorice readily, and find new spouses, with no stigma attached. The fact a couple is married for only a few weeks or days implies no impropriety; marriage is sacred in Alramal Alkhafiya, though predominantly a heterosexual affair.
Alkhafi believe their culture to be more civilised than many of their 'barbaric' neighbours. The Alkhafi concept of purity is certainly more complex. In Alramal Alkhafiya, purity means avoiding all unnecessary physical contact between a man and a woman unless they are married, however inadvertent or innocent that contact may seem.
Every honorable Alkhafi woman would, of course, extend her hand to help a wounded man. Almost none, however, would shake hands with a man who is newly introduced, lest he assume her improper or be violently tempted by her charms. Instead, a simple nod is the proper greeting. In some areas of the nation, even a flirtatious glance is considered a sin. At the very least, a man who openly casts warm glances at an unwed woman has paid her insult rather than compliment. Her brother or father would be perfectly in the right to demand some sort of retribution, ranging from a public apology to a gift of many camels, depending on the woman's stature and the man's audacity.
Alkhafi have a peculiar belief in every person's underlying weakness where matters of the heart are concerned. It is for this reason that many wear veils and don robes that conceal the shape of their bodies. Unsurprisingly, eyes, hands and feet have become important objects of beauty. Alkhafi women like their eyes with khol, and both genders may tattoo their faces with simple patterns. Bracelets and anklets, along with rings, make up the most common pieces of jewellery. Some religious sects think that even eyes and hair create too much temptation, and require women to don an opaque hood whenever she is in public, entirely concealing her form from others.
Purity is the basis for much gender segregation in Alkhafi culture. Whether home is a tent, a mud-brick house or a grand palace, there is usually one or more areas in which no grown man but a husband may venture. Foreigners might see this as a prison, but an Alkhafi woman often sees it as her privilege and a sanctuary.
In Alramal Alkhafiya, generosity brings honour, while stinginess spawns contempt. According to Alkhafi ethics, a person must offer food or drink to anyone who appears at their doorstep as a friend, no matter how poor the host may be. If a guest comes to the door at night, a host must offer lodging as well as sustenance. A wealthy host may also offer entertainment, such as the dance of a talented servant, and pershaps even a gift. The obligation -- and desire -- to offer hospitality is as compelling as any personal need. A nomadic tribe whose foodstuffs are nearly gone may avoid a busy oasis even if their water stores are equally low. The tribe would rather know thirst and hunger than be unable to offer hospitality to the strangers at the oasis.
A host assumes responsibility for the well-being of their guests. Whether living in a goat's-hair tent or a lavish house, a person's honour depends on how well he treats those who place themselves in his care. For this reason, guests can expect safety as well as sustenance -- even if they were once the host's enemies. Of course, in the homeland of alkhamy, poisons are easy enough to obtain despite prohibitions; the use of such agents is a common way to eliminate foes.
Nonetheless, once foes become guests and share the bond of salt, even they can eat heartily, expecting the host's protection as well as their friendship. In turn, the guests are expected to act as loyal friends, never overstaying their welcome, and never overstepping the bounds of good behaviour.
The Bond of Salt The salt bond epitomises Alkhafi hospitality and the mutual responsibilitis of host and guest. When a guest ingests salt from a host's table, their bond becomes formal. Presumably, the salt remains in the guest's body for three days. Until those three days elapse, the host is responsible for the guest's welfare. By offering the salt, the host vows to protect the guest from harm for the duration of the salt bond.
The guest has their own obligations. By accepting salt, a guest agrees to bring no harm to the host. Furthermore, a polite guest should leave with the coming of dawn if the family's stores appear to be lean. If the family protests, the guest may stay for the entire duration of the salt bond. No matter what the host may proclaim, however, it is impolite for a guest to remain in another's house for more than three days. Thereafter the welcome is gone, no matter how much salt is consumed. Furthermore, a guest knows that it is impolite to ask for hospitality of any kind; they must wait for the host to offer it. Since it is the host's duty to do so, and it is an insult not to accept, a guest is rarely disappointed.
Alkhafi accept people whose religions are different. There are a great variety of faiths throughout Almramal Alkhafiya. The Alkhafi find it exceedingly difficult, however, to accept anyone who does not believe in and pay homage to some higher power. To believe in other gods may seem strange, but it is not a sin. The sin is believing in nothing.
There are a number of major religions in Alramal Alkhafiya, personifying particular ideals or elements such as wisdom, knowledge, bravery, courage, beauty, bounty, freedom and honesty. There are also a plethora of lesser gods, local gods and demigods. Minor deities may be venerated in one small area and utterly unknown ten miles way.
The guild, like the Karthani Guild of Magi, suffers few known alchemists to flourish without guild membership. Because most budding alchemists seek Collegium training, and the Collegium and Guild have an understanding with each other, students are strong-armed into membership. This is seen by the Collegium and Guild as mutually beneficial; Guild alchemists are held to a code of ethics and their dues bolster the coffers of the Guild. The Collegium is kept abreast of important discoveries.
Alchemists who refuse to join the guild or break its codes are known as black alchemists. By necessity, these people are paranoid and secretive, or they are dead.
Alkhafi Society
Alkhafi society is predicated on the four pillars of Honour, Family, Purity and Hospitality. Religion plays an important part in society, too, but the Alkhafi are tolerant of all religions so, content to judge believers on their actions rather than their thoughts. Atheism is mistrusted in Alramal Alkhafiya; a person who does not believe and pay tribute to a higher power is considered arrogant, insane or a mixture of the two.Honour
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"Life without honour is meaningless." - From Alkhafi Maxims
The pursuit of honour and its prestige is the driving force behind the life of many Alkhafi. For some, there is no greater cause. Money and power mean little to most if they are attained at the expense of honour.
The Alkhafi sense of honour, at its broadest, is the embodiment of all that is good; such as honesty, kindness, and forgiveness. Honourable men and women keep their word when it is given. They are generous, offering sustenance to the poor and protection to the weak. They are faithful to their friends and their families. Honourable Alkhafi men show their courage and strength in battle. Honourable Alkhafi women display their courage and strength in the face of hardship. Both must be virtuous and free of shame.
Every action, large or small, either enhances or erodes one's honour. Every deed colours the honour of one's family. The Alkhafi ideals of honour and family are closely entwined; if a person acts dishonourably, their offense may cause a stain upon their family's honour that lasts for generations.
Honour is closely guarded. For every insult to a person's honour, restitution must be made. If the insult is small, an apology may suffice. To steal or injure with intention, however, or to kill without justification are grave offenses. They can ruin the honour of the offender as well as that of the offender's family. Moreover, these crimes assault the honour of the victim and the victim's family, too. The graver the offense, the greater the required restitution -- and the harsher the punishment. In essence, the offending part of the criminal's body is "cut off." The only crimes punishable by death in Alramal Alkhafiya are murder and amorous impropriety.
Family
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"A man without a family is not a man." - Sha'ir Rashad
No matter an Alkhafi's religion, they are united in the view that a person's family is precious and irreplaceable. A person's family remains intact in the Alkhafi beliefs of the afterlife, proving its strength as well as its importance. Material wealth is transient, but the bonds of blood are eternal.
Each person exists within the circle of their immediate family, which spans all surviving generations. In turn, the family lies within a larger circle of cousins, uncles and aunts. Beyond that circle lies another, one step removed, then a fourth, like the rings of a pebble tossed into a pool. These circles create a person's identity. In Alramal Alkhafiya, a person is nothing without their family. The rights of the family, therefore, supersede the rights of any single person within it.
Alkhafi families are usually led by a man, though it is not too uncommon for positions to be reversed in cities. The head of a family is in charge of their sons, unwed daughters, and the families of the sons. When marriage occurs, the wife will often live with her husband's family. If the marriage ends, the wife will return to her family. Blood ties can almost never be broken. Homosexual marriage is considered aberrant by most Alkhafi, and homosexual lovers are often cut from their families, but the ties of family will be reconnected in the afterlife.
Alkhafi value large families, and welcome the birth of each child. Eventually, a paternal home can hold no more people. When space becomes scares and a family can afford to build a new dwelling, a child will leave the paternal house and start anew. Rarely will this child leave their ancestral village or city, however.
Outside the walls of cities and towns, tents replace houses, but customs are similar. A nomadic patriarch typically has the largest tent among his circle. He resides with his wife (or wives) and his umarried children. His married sons live in smaller tents, which are always nearby.
Because blood ties are so important, loyalty to one's family is tantamount to Alkhafi law. First and foremost, a person's loyalty is always to their family. Their actions, for better or worse, will define the honour of their family. Loyalty next goes to the larger circle. If, for example, a man is wronged and asked for help, his cousins are honour-bound to assist him, provided their actions would not dishonour their immediate family.
Honour and kinship are the two golden threads in the fabric of Alkhafi life. Without either, the fabric unravels.
Purity
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"Blessed are the pure, for they are strong." - Attributed to an Alkhafi philosopher who likes guests.
In Alramal Alkhafiya, purity may be a person's greatest public virtue. The harim may seem hypocritical, then, to an outsider. In fact, very few Alkhafi men have more than one wife, but even the wealthy sha'ir with a harim is technically married to every woman whose unveiled face graces his bedchamber. A man and a woman may divorice readily, and find new spouses, with no stigma attached. The fact a couple is married for only a few weeks or days implies no impropriety; marriage is sacred in Alramal Alkhafiya, though predominantly a heterosexual affair.
Alkhafi believe their culture to be more civilised than many of their 'barbaric' neighbours. The Alkhafi concept of purity is certainly more complex. In Alramal Alkhafiya, purity means avoiding all unnecessary physical contact between a man and a woman unless they are married, however inadvertent or innocent that contact may seem.
Every honorable Alkhafi woman would, of course, extend her hand to help a wounded man. Almost none, however, would shake hands with a man who is newly introduced, lest he assume her improper or be violently tempted by her charms. Instead, a simple nod is the proper greeting. In some areas of the nation, even a flirtatious glance is considered a sin. At the very least, a man who openly casts warm glances at an unwed woman has paid her insult rather than compliment. Her brother or father would be perfectly in the right to demand some sort of retribution, ranging from a public apology to a gift of many camels, depending on the woman's stature and the man's audacity.
Alkhafi have a peculiar belief in every person's underlying weakness where matters of the heart are concerned. It is for this reason that many wear veils and don robes that conceal the shape of their bodies. Unsurprisingly, eyes, hands and feet have become important objects of beauty. Alkhafi women like their eyes with khol, and both genders may tattoo their faces with simple patterns. Bracelets and anklets, along with rings, make up the most common pieces of jewellery. Some religious sects think that even eyes and hair create too much temptation, and require women to don an opaque hood whenever she is in public, entirely concealing her form from others.
Purity is the basis for much gender segregation in Alkhafi culture. Whether home is a tent, a mud-brick house or a grand palace, there is usually one or more areas in which no grown man but a husband may venture. Foreigners might see this as a prison, but an Alkhafi woman often sees it as her privilege and a sanctuary.
Hospitality
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"The guest is the lord of the house." - Attributed to an Alkhafi philosopher.
"Guests are like fish -- after three days, both stink." - Attributed to an Alkhafi shepherd.
In Alramal Alkhafiya, generosity brings honour, while stinginess spawns contempt. According to Alkhafi ethics, a person must offer food or drink to anyone who appears at their doorstep as a friend, no matter how poor the host may be. If a guest comes to the door at night, a host must offer lodging as well as sustenance. A wealthy host may also offer entertainment, such as the dance of a talented servant, and pershaps even a gift. The obligation -- and desire -- to offer hospitality is as compelling as any personal need. A nomadic tribe whose foodstuffs are nearly gone may avoid a busy oasis even if their water stores are equally low. The tribe would rather know thirst and hunger than be unable to offer hospitality to the strangers at the oasis.
A host assumes responsibility for the well-being of their guests. Whether living in a goat's-hair tent or a lavish house, a person's honour depends on how well he treats those who place themselves in his care. For this reason, guests can expect safety as well as sustenance -- even if they were once the host's enemies. Of course, in the homeland of alkhamy, poisons are easy enough to obtain despite prohibitions; the use of such agents is a common way to eliminate foes.
Nonetheless, once foes become guests and share the bond of salt, even they can eat heartily, expecting the host's protection as well as their friendship. In turn, the guests are expected to act as loyal friends, never overstaying their welcome, and never overstepping the bounds of good behaviour.
The Bond of Salt The salt bond epitomises Alkhafi hospitality and the mutual responsibilitis of host and guest. When a guest ingests salt from a host's table, their bond becomes formal. Presumably, the salt remains in the guest's body for three days. Until those three days elapse, the host is responsible for the guest's welfare. By offering the salt, the host vows to protect the guest from harm for the duration of the salt bond.
The guest has their own obligations. By accepting salt, a guest agrees to bring no harm to the host. Furthermore, a polite guest should leave with the coming of dawn if the family's stores appear to be lean. If the family protests, the guest may stay for the entire duration of the salt bond. No matter what the host may proclaim, however, it is impolite for a guest to remain in another's house for more than three days. Thereafter the welcome is gone, no matter how much salt is consumed. Furthermore, a guest knows that it is impolite to ask for hospitality of any kind; they must wait for the host to offer it. Since it is the host's duty to do so, and it is an insult not to accept, a guest is rarely disappointed.
Religion
Religion is important to the Alkhafi. If it seems that the codes of conduct described above are pursued religiously, it is because they are. Honour is a matter of religion, of behaving in the manner deemed good and right by those who rule the heavens -- those who will determine whether a person is worthy of paradise in the afterlife. A dishonourable person, it is said, is never worthy of this great reward.Alkhafi accept people whose religions are different. There are a great variety of faiths throughout Almramal Alkhafiya. The Alkhafi find it exceedingly difficult, however, to accept anyone who does not believe in and pay homage to some higher power. To believe in other gods may seem strange, but it is not a sin. The sin is believing in nothing.
There are a number of major religions in Alramal Alkhafiya, personifying particular ideals or elements such as wisdom, knowledge, bravery, courage, beauty, bounty, freedom and honesty. There are also a plethora of lesser gods, local gods and demigods. Minor deities may be venerated in one small area and utterly unknown ten miles way.
Ahuras and Daevas
The deities and spirits of the Alkhafi are divided into the benevolent ahuras and the malevolent daevas. This division is rarely clear; daevas are capable of doing good, and ahuras are just as able to do evil. These spirits are long-lived and powerful, but fallible. Centuries before the conquests of the Rumain Empire, the ahuras swore fealty to the Ahura Mazda ('lord omnipotent'), Ahramazd. Whether this was a specific deity or simply a powerful ahura is uncertain. Ahramazd was the subject of a proto-Alkhafi religion's worship. Ahramazd was an omnicscient, benevolent ahura of light, fire, creation, benefice and birth. He felt sympathy for the plight of the mortals whose lives he could observe and understand, but he was unable to affect all of them. Recently, there have been attempts to organise a new religious order with Ahramazd at its centre, but many believe this project to be primarily political; a way to add another facet to the national identity of Alramal Alkhafiya. Ahramazdayans posited 'Angra Mainyu' as the daevan equivalent of Ahramazd. Whether this was conceptual or the name of a being is uncertain: Angra Mainyu is the term for 'bad thoughts' or 'destructive mentality'. Some texts referred to Angra Mainyu by the name Ahriman. This Ahriman is associated with all the evils of the world, with darkness, death and rot; these words are summed in the Alkhafi word 'druj'.Alkhamy
Alchemy, as it is known in much of the west, has its origins in Alramal Alkhafiya. Most alchemical goods have some origin in the sandy sultanate. Some Alkhamysts have disseminated basic knowledge to the Rumain Collegium. The International Guild of Alkhamy has its headquarters in the Alkhafi capital. Among the guild's regulations is an oath to never use alchemy to create poisons or drugs. Those who break this oath are struck from the guild's roster and hunted by the guild's headsmen who combine the use of alkhamical concoctions and the agile fighting styles popular in the east.The guild, like the Karthani Guild of Magi, suffers few known alchemists to flourish without guild membership. Because most budding alchemists seek Collegium training, and the Collegium and Guild have an understanding with each other, students are strong-armed into membership. This is seen by the Collegium and Guild as mutually beneficial; Guild alchemists are held to a code of ethics and their dues bolster the coffers of the Guild. The Collegium is kept abreast of important discoveries.
Alchemists who refuse to join the guild or break its codes are known as black alchemists. By necessity, these people are paranoid and secretive, or they are dead.
Siglos: Five grams of silver, molded into a circle, pressed with the current year and heraldric charge of the sultanate. Twenty siglos are equal to one Daruic.
Obliac: Five grams of iron or bronze, minted with the year and the initial of the current Sultan (in Alkhafi). Twenty obliacs are equal to one Siglos. One obliac is worth twenty grams of grain.
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