Kingdom of Traia
The Kingdom of Traia was founded more than a thousand years ago when Tranion the Faithful, believed the goddess Dashae directed his tribe of nomads to a hill beside the mouth of the Mazii River. That little hill would contain the first iteration of Dashia; little more than a small temple dedicated to the goddess, and a few mud-brick buildings. It took a few short years for the nomads to adapt to their static lives, and the town grew. Soon the security and access to key resources attracted other, smaller tribes, who abandoned their nomadic way of life and joined Tranion's tribe in the burgeoning city.
Driven by his faith, Tranion launched crusades into the veld and Pashtu, ranging as far as the Bowra Pass and subjugated the other Unbowed Nomads he encountered, established fortresses and towns, and appointed Emirs to rule them in his stead. By the time of Tranion's death some thirty years later, Traia had secured all its lands southeast of the Bowra pass, as far south as the Silver Mountains, as far north as the mountainous Broken Lands, and all up and down the coast.
Tranion's successors would continue his work over the next two hundred years, establishing Bakal, named for the third King of Traia, Bakan I, or Bakan the Builder. Bakan I rebuilt and fortified the outposts established by Tranion. Where once wooden palisades had stood against tribes of Unbowed Nomads, they now faced walls of black diorite and sandstone. This provided a relatively secure border for the kingdom, and more tribes migrated to the country. However, while Traia claimed vast territories through the Pashtu to control valuable natural resources, particularly gems, stone, and water, in practice Traia lacked the manpower to truly secure its interior and borders from increasingly hostile Unbowed- tribes that had migrated through Traia for centuries before the kingdom existed. Excursions into these areas were often fraught with danger.
This danger gave rise to a need for more soldiers, so the wealthy Emirs around the country began financing their own armies and renting them out to various business interests around the country. Having large standing armies at the ready further secured Traia's interiors but also began a tradition of vassal city-states that owe fealty to the sitting monarch. Taxes and levies of soldiers and equipment became required, and also helped the Crown maintain an army large enough to quash rebellions.
This system worked for a hundred years until Dashia grew into the trade, religious, and cultural capitals of the country. The royal family's wealth soared. Feeling burdened by the continued levies and taxes despite the city being an order of magnitude wealthier than any of its vassals, and frustration over increasing corruption in the royal family Herod I Wazida, ominously dubbed Herod the Executioner by historians, convinced several large cities to rise up against the crown. They marched on Dashia and held the city under siege for two years before Herod ordered the construction of a dam along the Mazii. The Mazii was crucial to the city's freshwater supply. King Tranion III had no choice but to ride out to meet the force assembled or let his city wither.
The ensuing battle was fierce and lasted seven days, but in the end Tranion III was dead, and the city was forced to surrender. Herod I Wazida marched his forces directly to the royal palace on Kalim's Hill, and accepted the surrender of Tranion III's son, Tabal. Most of the royal family was tried for various crimes. Scholars believe many of these crimes were wholly made up by Herod I and were intended only to clear the way of any descendants with a solid claim to the throne. Regardless, the result was the executions or imprisonment of ninety percent of the royal family. Herod I took Tranion's daughter, Fatima, as his wife, cementing his own claim to the throne. For Dashia, this would be the first and last time an invading army would make it inside its walls.
Over the next few years Herod I instituted reforms that virtually eliminated corruption in the capital, and gave the Emirs substantial power in the process, all while securing his own. Their levies and tax burdens were reduced, they were given preferential treatment in Dashia's growing markets and were given more autonomy that stands to this day. This seems like it would have turned Herod I into little more than a figurehead, but the opposite was true.
That greater autonomy meant Emirs were more responsible for the security of their territories. Which meant their private armies had to spend considerable time in their own lands protecting them as there were fewer royal soldiers afield. This all but freed Herod I of the risk of rebellion. He dug wells, improved the walls of Dashia, expanded and secured the harbor, and overall made the city even more impregnable. Herod I also took a very proactive approach when it came to dealing with his rivals. Several met with high profile, highly suspect, accidents over a short period of time. No real proof could trace these back to Herod I, but it was widely believed he had ordered their assassinations. The truth of the matter was what everyone expected. Herod I established a small cabal of thieves, assassins, and spies all tasked with the often bloody work of securing a kingdom. In time this cabal would come to be known as Al Mukhtabi, or The Hidden.
Demography and Population
The capital of Dashia is very cosmopolitan and several races and humans from other countries live and work there. Outside the capital though and Traia becomes rather homogeneous, being almost entirely made up of Ethnic Traians. Of it's more than 3 million subjects approximately 80% of them are Ethnic Traian. Unbowed Nomads who have abandoned their nomadic lifestyles make up a small 10%, with the remainder being single digit percentages of other races and nationalities.
Territories
Traia is hemmed on the north by mountains, to the east by the ocean, and to the west by the Boiling Sea, a treacherous stormy region dominated by volcanic islands, earthquakes, and tidal waves. To it's north west is the Jandal Isthmus, home to the matriarchal Wood Elves, the only bastion of elvish society in the known world. Traia's southern border is divided in half with the Kingdom of Sanryde to its southwest, and the Merchant Houses of Craw on the southeast. Neither country is aggressive with Traia owing to the fact that the borders are firmly in the Pashtu Desert, and there's nothing there any country particularly wants.
Religion
Traia has long been famous for religious freedom and malleability. Religions from all over the world are readily adopted and incorporated into the expansive Traian Pantheon. There's even something of a joke that Traians have a god for everything from love and war to keeping ink fresh in its pots, but it does bear the truth of the matter: Traians are enthusiastically faithful people. The entire country has countless temples dedicated to countless gods that range in size from grand structures of marble to alcoves carved in the sides of rocky hills.
Cults aren't merely tolerated in Traia; there's a whole sub-culture dedicated to joining the most fashionable cults at the moment. This is even encouraged in many circles as long as the cults aren't breaking any serious laws. Cults dedicated to sex, love, drinking are all common, but some take on darker themes like death. All have their place in the Traian pantheon. Cults serve a real social purpose by providing, typically young adult, members access to other like minded people. This allows them to network, sharing ideas and forming friendships and partnerships that serve them throughout their lives.
Agriculture & Industry
The Mazii River dominates most life in Traia. The delta it forms near Dashia is massive and highly fertile. Add a complex irrigation system to the mix and you have vast crops of grain, olives, vegetables, spices, and more all at the mouth of the river. Fishing is hugely profitable up and down the coast, especially in the many estuaries and reefs off the shore.
Industrially Traia has several large tin and copper mines, which has made bronze exceptionally popular in the area. Most armor, and many weapons forged in Traia are made of bronze, but iron and steel are also common. God and gems are mined south near the Silver Mountains, and north in the Broken Lands too.
Trade & Transport
Trade in Traia mainly flows through two locations: the great port of Dashia, where galleys and cogs laden with goods arrive from Sandryne, Craw, and even as far away as Lower Lete, or goods come south east from Jandal along the roads and Mazii to Ein Bowra, the second largest city in the kingdom.
Education
Most Traians are taught simple math, and can read and speak both Ishna and Tradetongue.
Several temples, and schools exist in the kingdom but they are not public institutions and usually require tuition beyond the means of the average Traian.
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Capital
Alternative Names
Traia
Demonym
Traian
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Traditional
Major Exports
Traia exports marble, bronze, gold, gems, ships, and many agricultural products.
Major Imports
With the port in Dashia being as large as it is there is a constant fleet of trade ships moving in and out of the country, and there's a year long trickle of caravans moving south east from Jandal except for the wet season, when that trickle turns into a flood. The result of such easy, and often secure, trade means that nearly any good produced anywhere else in the known world can be found in Traia.
Official State Religion
Subsidiary Organizations
Official Languages
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Related Ethnicities
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