Akhnat

The River Children

"When their river went dry, the Akhanatari found theirselvelves in a dying land. They tried their best to find a new place to live, but only a few would remain; and althought they were alive, they were in the middle of Reiat Desert, unable to go away and unable to expand."

Structure

In matter of authority, there was a rigid hierarchy. From the most powerful to the less ones:
* The Koiakh (chosen by the waters), the supreme ruler with unlimited power. Usually a man, but not rarely a woman.
* Koiakh's spouse, followed by any of their children from the age of 25.
* The River Council, that had authority over the Kingdom's matters. Their roles were:

Master of Richness, the one in charge for collecting and investing the money from the whole kingdom;

Master of Farming, the one in charge of supervising and managing farms;

Master of Waters, the one in charge of supervising and managing water sources and distribution;

Master of Knowledge, the one in charge for teaching the Royal family and chief of the other teachers in the kingdom;

River Listener, the only religious charge in the council, responsible for preparing the religious activities of the kingdom.

* The province chiefs, who had basically the same roles as the River Council, but each one responsible for one of the three main Akhnat provinces.
* The district chiefs, basically with the same roles as the other chiefs, but acting in an even smaller area.
* The common people, what covers basically most of the professions, from farmers to architects.

History

The Akhnat Kingdom started at least 10,000 years before Galdran, in the boundaries of the extinct Akhnatar river, in the Central East portion of Reiat Desert.
The river provided a vast area of arable and fertile soil, and as soon as the small land issues were put to an end, the Kingdom could grow without any competition for hundreds of years. Its capital was set next to the Akhnat, but they expanded their territory until the middle of the desert. It's estimated that at it's maximum size, the Kingom had more than 1,2 million inhabitants.
In the First Lilac Sky Day, around 9,450 B.G., many new creatures appeared in the desert, apparently from nowhere. One of this creatures was the roamer, whose activity is supposed to have decreased the population number in at least 20%.
To defend against the roamers, the Akhnatari buildings changed from simple clay block homes to fortified cities. That made the population to become more concentrated in these cities, instead of spread through the land, creating punctual centers. These population centers would become less dependent on the capital, what brought conflicts between the Koiakh and their subjects.
The reason for their fall, however, happened right after the Second Lilac Sky Day, around 9,180 B.G. The Akhnatar water level started to decrease in an alarming speed, culminating on its total depletion of water.
When their river went dry, the Akhanatari found themselves in a dying land, and for most of them the only available option was to go up the river in search of water. That was known as the Great Akhanatari migration, in which 98% of the remaining population fell dead for the lack of water or attacked by roamers.

Aranaki

The only known survivors of Akhnatar's death were the ones in Aranaki, the City of the Eight Sides. Aranaki was the most isolated city of the Kingdom and had it's own water source, although small. It made possible to build a community there, and, since they would not be able to get too far from the city, it was heavily fortified.
Their use of the night-shell wood in the city doors created an efficient defense against the roamers: a city gate that would open during the day and close during the night, without any human effort except maintenance. That "technology" was supposed to be shared with the rest of the Kingdom, but it was not yet implemented when the Second Lilac Sky Day arrived, making Aranaki the only city with such gate system.

Born from the River

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Alternative Names

River Children

Demonym

Akhnatari

Controlled Territories

• Akh Ijar