Kingdom of Ashavat (Ah-shaw-vah-t)

The Kingdom of Ashavat is a coastal kingdom in Eastern Samvara known by many as the crossroads of the East. The ports here are vital pit stops in international trade, teeming with shipwrights, foodstocks, and repair materials. Many travelers pass through Ashavat pleasantly, finding cities governed by tolerant laws and a welcoming attitude. This is the unassuming, neutral, and profitable exterior that Ashavat desperately wants to display to the world. There is a hope that, perhaps if Ashavat lives up to this image, then their neighbors will consider them too stabilizing and profitable to tear apart. Unfortunately, this hope seems likely to be misplaced. 
This state is an artificial creation at its core; a buffer state made between the three major religions of the East at the end of their last great war. The Empire of Shenerem to the West is Ashavat's protector and original creator, though it was unhappy to grant this kingdom independent to begin with and would ideally re-absorb Ashavat when possible. A century ago Shenek merchants held control of Ashavat's ports and guilds, and Shenek administrators ruled the kingdom behind the throne. But times have changed, Ashavat has grown, and those Shenek elites have lost their grip - and now agitate for the Empire to invade and re-assert total control. Only by offering tribute and tying its political autonomy to religious peace does this kingdom escape Imperial intervention, but that may not last forever. 
Meanwhile, the Holy State of Ayneva, the Kingdom of Siashi, and even the Kingdom of Ashakahd have started to test Ashavat's sovereignty, probing for weakness. None of the kingdoms want to unleash war by marching in troops, but everyone wants to play kingmaker here. 
This all means that Ashavat is a land of divided politics, intrigue, and growing tensions. Can this kingdom achieve its dream of being truly neutral? Or is it doomed to become a battleground yet again? It would only take a few wayward adventurers to tip the balance.

Structure

Ashavaht is a feudal monarchy is a strong bureaucratic structure (tied to the merchants and navy) supporting the king. It is also a tributary to the Empire of Shenerem, and the Shenek imperial advisor wields immense power over the government. The King has quite a few plates to spin: powerful dukes ruling in the countryside, merchants and aristocrats in court competing for power in the bureaucracy, and then imperial interlopers as well. 
The current monarch is King Zibaja Ulavala I, a Dryad warrior with a genius mind when it comes to court intrigue. Zibaja comes from humble roots as a mercenary and eventual palace guard, and is said to be more effective than magic when it comes to telling truth from lies. While the King is said to spin many political webs, he is impatient when it comes to pursuing political ends - he has little time for people or systems he doesn't respect, which can allow him to cut through red tap one day and lead to bungled policy the next. 
Zibaja's reign is itself a controversy; he has no claim to the throne, no noble blood, and his reign is still young. Just a few years ago, Zibaja took the throne from his dying friend, the prior King Yomaji I, who he worked as a personal bodyguard for. Yomaji had declared his intent to allow his three children to co-rule, despite this arrangement being a fragile one that could lead to civil war  - and Zibaja decided that it was his duty to his friend and the realm to take the throne instead. Yomaji had himself seized the throne in a palace coup, so it wasn't entirely abnormal, but at least Yomaji had been a noble. To make matters worse, the Ulavala clan that Zibaja was born into is Halikvar - while Zibaja himself publicly performs Aretan religion, many worry that Halikvar influences are entering the royal court. And the fact that the throne had now been usurped twice in a row instead of having a normal succession has worried many and somewhat sullied the monarchical institution. Now, people call the King "Usurper" in public without repercussion. It is a dire situation for royal legitimacy, one that may be cured with time - or, perhaps, a war.

Culture

Space, Etiquette, Species

Ashavat has a very clear divide between public and private spaces, with different norms between them. While you can dress with whatever religious dress you want, talking about religion or acknowledging it in more than an abstract way is generally considered impolite and socially unacceptable. Serving someone red meat or pork without them specifying in some way (or it being a clearly meat-serving establishment) is considered rude even if that person isn't Halikvar. Remarking on the appearances of others is, similarly, overstepping boundaries unless there is a severe breaking of a taboo (such as public nudity). Wearing different elaborate costumes to different social situations is considered extremely desirable (especially among the wealthy), and it is said that the Ashavati have a hat for every occasion. Wearing the wrong thing to the wrong place is only to be gently corrected, generally by subtle hints - everyone has worn a ridiculous hat somewhere they aren't supposed to, so it is common courtesy to be kind and not comment in public. In private, Ashavati are known for their "roast humor", though, so courtesy can quickly turn to mockery once you enter the correct space. 
When it comes to species, dryads and humans get along quite well while prisms have essentially been driven from the country. The rapid religious changes between Halikvar and Areto (both religions having strained and specific places for prisms in society) made this land near-unlivable for the prism population, and the population generally regards prisms with caution (sometimes hostility). Propaganda around Kima Cities and prismatic corruption has been used by different occupying powers to turn the population against their rivals (Siashi says Shenerem has broken the heavenly compact by integrating prisms; Shenerem says Siashi is puppeteered by slaving Kima cities), so a lot of cultural toxicity on the topic exists.

Everyday Life

Ashavati culture is generally communal, with a strong sense of community duty and great importance placed on social relationships. Courtship is highly regulated by families, and social mobility isn't particularly great. Privacy from one's kin or religious congregation is not an expectation. Social class at birth generally defines one's life. Classes are, with some exceptions (such as the navy), carefully segregated from each other. While one can expect to interact with your immediate social betters and underlings, nobles and commoners rarely directly interact whenever society can help it.
Dining here revolves around dinner, the greatest meal of the day. Those who can afford to also have evening tea, often paired with a snack. Food staples include rice noodles, flatbreads, and seared rice. Spicy food is considered delectable across all classes of food. Grilled minced eggplant with mashed tomatoes, onions, and peppers is a classic Ashavati entrée. Steamed rice with raisins and spices, or flat bread with lamb and yoghurt are also commonly served here. For those who can afford dessert, Sheer Khurma is a favorite: vermicilli pudding with milk, dried fruits, sugar, almonds, and rose water.

History

Early History (-750 to 1050)

Ashavaht is a realm with an old history, much of which will not be covered in detail here. Ashavati kingdoms date back to the -750s DE, first with the Urno culture (early city-states known for their large gardens, intricate sewers, and elaborate underground temples) and then with the Zurdozi culture (conquering horselords that created more sophisticated aristocratic states that held more rural land). These early cultures flourished entirely independently of druids or Gods, but eventually embraced druidic missionaries during the collapse of the -200s. New kingdoms emerged after conversion, more commercial than those of prior centuries. No major empires formed, and the kingdoms were small for the most part - small but rich. 
Ashavaht's fragmentation made it easy to divide and conquer for the first Empire of Shenerem in the early 200s ME. The kingdoms became Shenek tributaries, autonomous but part of Shenerem's imperial sphere. During the Lunar Crisis, Lunar cult takeovers of Ashavati kingdoms by Lily of Red, Ishkibal, and Jade Atharzen led to Shenerem conquering the region outright for the first time. From the late 500s through the mid 800s, Shenek princes ruled over Ashavat as a governate of Shenerem - periodically fighting off Halikvar tribes and siphoning off trade money to support the empire. 
In the 850s, Shenerem fell - and the Shenek princes quickly tumbled out of power. New Halikvar conquerors took Ashavat, and the kingdom was dedicated to Lily of Red in 857. In 870 ME, a horrific civil war led by a defecting general (known in lasting infamy as Kelzaji, the Bandit King of the Rising Sun) splintered Ashavaht into nine kingdoms. The Kingdom of Siashi, which had essentially ruled Ashavaht as a tributary, re-conquered Ashavaht chunk by chunk over the late 800s and 900s. 

First Halivar, Then Areto (1050 to 1740)

Siashi lost Ashavaht in the horrific civil war of the 1050s, and a new Halikvar kingdom known as the Kingdom of Serava took control of Ashavaht. Serava controlled the South and the coast, while independent feudal lords ruled their only small kingdoms in the Northern interior. Serava slowly expanded over time, and was far more committed to converting the populace than Siashi had been - a particularly infamous legal code known as the "Northward Kifa" was implemented in the 1100s, and a draconian regime of religious dogma descended on Ashavaht for centuries. This harsh code intensified local resistance to Halikvar religion, but was effective at forcing conversion along the coast. Those feudal lords who successfully resisted formed the Zarpali League, and remain independent from Ashavaht to this day as a group of small kingdoms to the Northwest. The Seravan heartlands are also independent from Ashavaht nowadays - they are a handful of scattered Siashan vassal states to the South of Ashavaht. 
Ultimately, Serava was destroyed from the inside by civil war in the 1450s, and when a warlord attempted to reunite Serava they were assassinated in 1482. The Zarpali League promptly invaded, and chaos ensued. From 1490 to 1700, small kingdoms feuded and intermixed, and the Aretan and Halikvari temples grew to coexist. In the 1700s, Shenerem returned to being the premier power of the East at about the same time that Halikvar was entering its wars of religion. Very suddenly, Halikvar was out and Areto was back in. Shenek adventurers surged Eastward and Aretan missionaries campaigned against Ashavati kingdoms. 
Having taken over most of Ashavaht, Aretan struggled to hold land and often feuded with one another. In 1740, a privateer-turned-Aretan-paladin by the name of Harkana Aramra rose to power along the coast after she took over the largest port city, Galvar. From 1740 to 1770, Harkana united Ashavaht and even tried to conquer Southwards, into Serava and Siashi. 

The Religious Wars (1770 to 1865)

From 1770 to 1800, Ashavaht seemed ready to rival Shenerem as a leading military power among Aretans. It brutally suppressed Halikvar communities, raided and fought with Siashi, and seemed ready to annex the local Zarpali kingdoms and perhaps even Ayneva. But the kingdom was overextended, somewhat in debt, and rather unstable. In 1800, a massive Ayshan invasion revealed the internal weakness of Ashavaht - when Shenerem relied on Ashavaht to contain and repulse the Ayshans, the Ashavati army suddenly crumbled. Halikvari warriors jumped in from the South, reclaiming Northern Siashi and Serava and threatening Ashavaht's interior. Rebellions sparked across the realm. Desperate to maintain an Aretan coastal presence, Shenerem sent in a large army to repulse the Halikvar and restore Ashavaht. 
From 1805 to 1863, Shenek generals set up march and puppet states in Ashavaht, and began to integrate the region into Shenerem proper. The peace accords of 1863, however, demanded the creation of an Ashavati buffer state - and so, the current kingdom was made. 

Modern History (1865 to Present)

Since 1865, Ashavaht has prospered economically even as it has suffered politically. Ashavati autonomy was essentially an illusion by Shenek administrators, and Shenerem ruled the kingdom as a client state from 1865 to 2000. Resistance to this grew over the 1900s, particularly against imperial trade monopolies and military levies that have drained Ashavat's resources and closed Ashavati elites from their own markets. Nobles and merchants interested in autonomy turned to some unorthodox allies - the undersea Squiddle tribes. Ashavati local elites have helped support Aretan squiddle druids in establishing their own undersea kingdom - the Domhuln Sovereignty - in exchange for supporting local Ashavati merchants and politicians. In recent decades, regional elites have accumulated enough wealth and power to try and assert their autonomy, and have succeeded at rolling back several monopolies and gaining Ashavaht some limited independence. 
While Ashavaht has begun lobbying for total independence, it is acutely aware of how much it needs the Empire to survive. That hasn't stopped some elites from flirting with Ayshan clerics, Siashan merchants, or even Ashakahd, of course, but the current monarch is generally pro-Shenerem (despite rumors to the contrary from many). Many expect that some major change in Ashavati politics is imminent, between the rising religious tensions in foreign politics and the recent coup. How this kingdom will change, though, is anyone's guess.

Demography and Population

Around 5 million humanoids live in Ashavat. The humanoids are 50% Dryad, 45% Human, and 4% Hybrids, and 1% Other.

Territories

Ashavat is 216 by 230 miles across. Most of the land is warm temperate forest, a little marshy along the coast but never quite as subtropical as Siashi or Severesh. Some of the interior lands grow more arid, with the Western fringe transitioning into plains. The land to the Northwest is hilly and rugged, but most of those hills are occupied by independent lords (the Zarpali).

Military

Ashavat's army is led by heavily armored cavalry and supported by swordsmen, spearmen, and archers - in man ways, it is a less bureaucratic and more feudal version of the Shenek army. A very small standing army guards the border castles and the coast, while small feudal warbands wait in the inland countryside to call the levies in support. Most possible volunteer soldiers are sent over to Empire of Shenerem as contract soldiers, paid levies that are given as tribute to the empire. For the most part, Ashavat's infantry are undersupported and mostly intended to support their elite cavalry. 
The part of Ashavat's military that truly shines is the navy, which is more professional, organized, and equipped with new weapons. The navy is bureaucratic, with meritocratic ideals that are totally absent from the army. This is modelled after the Shenek army, but uses weapons and ship designs inspired by the Kingdom of Siashi.

Religion

Ashavat is an Aretan kingdom, but a religiously tolerant one. The legal code here is an even more religiously neutral version of the Shenerem's, and its secular courts are generally known to be impartial. Two main "captive churches" operate under state supervision here: Halikvari and Ayshan. A rising third "captive church" has been gaining credibility - the Asivari Halikvar sect, which represents a minority sect of Halikvar. 
While Ashavat appears secular, it certainly is more generous with Aretan temples and schools, and elites are expected to be Aretan (at least in public). There is even some cult worship of the Shenek emperors, though this remains a very small group.
Religious tensions are on the rise as state power shakes - the religious peace and secular atmosphere here depend entirely on a strong monarchy, and should that collapse, Ashavati communities will be ready for more religious war. 
The Aretan morality does also shape the tax code, in that the rich are taxed more than the poor in order to fund public works or community charities.

Foreign Relations

Ashavat is a tributary of the Empire of Shenerem, though it is not particularly happy about it - it would rather be an ally, or at least have more autonomy. Shenerem would very much not like that, as it has not concealed its desire to essentially annex Ashavat for its ports. The other neighboring powers are no more friendly than the Empire, though: the Holy State of Ayneva and Kingdom of Siashi would be more than happy to claim Ashavat as a vassal, or even as annexed territory. 
The local minor kingdoms eagerly nip at Ashavat as well, circling like scavengers waiting for vulnerable territory. The Zarpali to the North have land claims in Ashavat and are none too friendly to the government; the Seravans to the South (Siashan vassals) also have claims and ambitions and see Ashavat as fresh meat. 
The only true friend Ashavat has is the Domhuln Sovereignty, the underwater kingdom along Ashavat's coast. Domhuln is Ashavat's underwater mirror; it supports Ashavati independence, and Ashavat supports its dominance underwater. It is an unlikely alliance to carry the day, but who knows - stranger things have happened.

Agriculture & Industry

Ashavat has an agrarian interior and a commercial coastline. Wheat, maize, rice, flax, and hemp are all grown inland. Lumber and food are the interior's largest exports, and large quantities of wood are sent West to Shenerem and East to the cities for manufacturing. Cottage industries and small towns manage most domestic artisanal production.  
The cities along the coast are a far cry from the sleepy, decentralized economy of the inland counties. Tobacco and tea are grown in large amounts on the coast. Aside from trade, tea, and tobacco, the coastal cities are major hubs of shipbuilding and repair. Food and textiles from Shenerem mix with wood and tar from the interior to make this an ideal place to build, repair, or restock any long-range trading vessel (or warship).

Trade & Transport

Guilds tied to the Aretan church manage most artisan production. This is true even for those craftsmen of other religions; the Church guilds are mostly secular. Merchants are supposed to also coordinate through the church, but merchant's guilds have become so politicized that there are basically two in every town that there would normally be one: one that respects the Shenek monopolies and imposed regulations, and one that doesn't. The Aretan church only formally works with the former, but some priests and temples work with the latter anyways. Which guild a merchant joins is basically a political declaration - are you a servant of Shenerem, or a free Ashavati trader? 
The Free Ashavati Guilds tend to have more power along the coast, as their major patrons are the Ashavati navy and the neighboring aquatic kingdom. Superior Siashi-style boats with aquatic support makes for a much faster, safer, and more efficient voyage, so long-distance traders tend to join this faction. Merchants tied to domestic manufacturers and Shenek markets tend to prefer the Imperial guilds, despite the restrictions and tributary fees.

Education

Education is managed by community temples, and schools are cherished by their local communities. Temples considered loyal are likely to receive imperial charity money as well, allowing for more robust education in theology, arithmetic, writing, and tradecrafts. This is a bureaucracy almost perfectly copied from Shenerem, though it is still young - many areas are deeply underserved, and mostly coastal towns and cities have access to education beyond basic literacy and writing.

"We Await the Rising Sun"

Founding Date

1865

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Demonym

Ashavati

Government System

Monarchy, Theocratic

Power Structure

Feudal state

Currency

Ekedian Gold Suns, Silver Moons, and Copper Bats

Major Exports

Lumber, food, boats, alcohol

Major Imports

Steel, stone, textiles

Official State Religion

Areto

Location

Samvara

Official Languages

• Shenek Language

Neighboring Nations

• Aquatic Domhulin
• Empire of Shenerem
• Holy State of Ayneva
• Kingdom of Ashakahd
• Kingdom of Siashi