Kasta

The Kastan plains, like much of the Pāll-tanír, seem endlessly vast and mercilessly arid. At first glance it seems obvious that anyone who lives on the sand-scoured flatland, with its sparse vegetation and rocky terrain would have to struggle to eke out a living from a land that seems so hostile to life. However, what is obvious is not always necessarily true. For generations, the Kastaen have not only survived but flourished in their seemingly-desolate home, and this despite their inability to use rainstones in the orthodox sense due to their nomadic lifestyle.
Perhaps more than any other Arventiri ethnicity, the Kastaen have a profound connection to the land that they live in, each tribe knowing exactly how much to take and how much to give back. Their survival is facilitated by the great beasts of burden, the tuqhud, that they live alongside. Without the tuqhud to provide them meat, milk, leather, transportation, it is possible that the Kastaen would not have flourished as they have, if they had managed to survive at all.
Kasta and the Kastaen are a story of survival despite adversity of the highest order, and a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

Kasta is a name that encapsulates the identity of the Kastaen. First, an individual of the Kastaen ethnicity is known as a Kasta. Second, Kasta is the name of the ancestral homeland of the Kastaen. Finally, Kasta is the name given to the political entity to which all Kastaen, born and living in Kasta, belong.
Though represented on the world stage alongside some of the biggest actors on the Pāll-tanír, like the Madresha Caliphate and the Ayyaneshi Caliphate, the entity that does this representation for Kasta is far from orthodox and often requires special diplomatic considerations from other countries.

Structure

Kasta is a confederation formed by the tribes of the Kastaen people. At the top of the hierarchy of Kasta are the High Shepherds, or the Ahsam Lodkaien in Kastan. Ahsam Lodkaien are representatives elected by their respective tribes to stand for their tribe's interests on the collective governing body of Kasta.
As a council, the Ahsam Lodkaien form the highest legislative body to whose authority, all of the tribes of Kasta are subjected. However, the Ahsam Lodkaien passing any law is considered a momentous occasion as these laws require the unanimous approval of the council. In the spirit of the relative autonomy that the Kastaen have enjoyed for millennia, the tribes are allowed to self-govern with a fair bit of latitude by the Ahsam Lodkaien as this is the arrangement that provides for the least headaches for the council.
In the past, the tribes of Kasta were each able to independently declare war on each other, or on neighboring states, without approval from the Ahsam Lodkaien. In the years since, inter-tribal warfare has been outlawed in favor of conflict resolution through less bloody means, such as through games of Razal-Sakat. Declaration of war on neighboring states or entities has also been outlawed, and in the modern day, only the Ahsam Lodkaien has the authority to declare war on behalf of Kasta, and when it does so, all the tribes of Kasta go to war.
The Ahsam Lodkaien also serve a secondary purpose as a court of tribal law when it comes to disputes between one or more parties from different tribes. During such situations, the Lodkaien of the tribes involved are called upon to act as their tribe's advocates while the rest are expected to perform as impartial judges of the merits of the case.
The most important function that the Ahsam Lodkaien perform is actually as an economic body. The Ahsam Lodkaien mediate all external trade to and from Kasta. They set the prices for goods sold by the tribes and negotiate the prices that the tribes will have to pay for goods. All merchants hoping to do trade in Kasta must visit the hut-city of Dkotelhai and appear in front of the Ahsam Lodkaien before receiving leave to do business.

Mhira Lodkai

Due to the duties of the council, overseeing trade with the tribes and conflicts between them, the Ahsam Lodkaien cannot devote all of its time to matters of external importance. As such, the council elects one of its members to deal with a particular issue. This member will be granted the title of Mhira Lodkai or First Shepherd, but is only allowed to use the title in the capacity of presiding over the issue that they have been elected to preside over. The Mhira Lodkai represents Kasta only so far as the issue is concerned, and does not speak for the tribes as a whole, but the nature of the title means that it is often misinterpreted to mean that the Mhira Lodkai speaks for all of Kasta.
Perhaps one of the most illuminating examples of this nuance in Kastan representation can be found in the early 29th millennium. Then a smaller state than it is in the modern day, the Holy Vakani Kingdom was suffering from a severe famine and approached its neighboring states for assistance. Sadka Sira Mekhlai was elected Mhira Lodkaien by his peers in the Ahsam Lodkaien in order to facilitate aid from Kasta. As Mhira Lodkaien, the only real power that Sadka possessed was the ability to negotiate the amount of food that Kasta would provide to the Vakani. To his credit, Sadka performed his duty admirably and was able to strike a balance between the economic needs of Kasta and the aid that they could provide to the Vakani.
The Holy Vakani Kingdom recovered from the famine thanks in large part to Sadka and the Kastaen. As gratitude, and not entirely understanding the way that Kastan government worked, the Vakani extended an invitation to Sadka to partake in their newfound prosperity. The first faux pas occurred when the Vakani treated the rest of the Ahsam Lodkaien, who had accompanied Sadka to the capital, as Sadka's entourage. Due to the language barrier, the misunderstanding was not resolved at any point, souring the entire occasion in the eyes of the Ahsam Lodkaien.
As the Vakani turned their eyes from simply surviving to building an economy in the years that followed, they hoped that the Kastaen would be favorable to trade with them due to their history. As such, they made repeated overtures to Sadka that they wished to open trade dialogues. This did not go as planned. Sadka ignored the proposals from the Vakani as it was the Ahsam Lodkaien's policy that communications from external entities not brought before the entirety of the council should go unacknowledged.
Believing that they had done something to offend Sadka, the Vakani became more determined in their attempts to reach out to him, sending gifts of silks and jewels, as well as a moderately sized rainstone. This did not go unnoticed. Sadka, along with the rest of the Ahsam Lodkaien were offended, viewing the overtures as an attempt to undermine the authority of the council and sent a stern rebuke to the Vakani court, along with all the gifts that had been offered to Sadka, which had been sitting in a storage tent, untouched, for months. The Vakani, in turn, were offended, viewing the returning of the gifts as a grave insult to their generosity, and demanded that Sadka apologize for the actions of his "entourage."
The demand went unanswered. The Vakani declared war on the Kastaen by sending a missive to Sadka, which went ignored. The only reason the Kastaen were able to mobilize their forces in time to meet the Vakani on the field was because a traveling merchant commented on the declaration. The Vakani were humiliated on the field and forcefully repelled, only learning of the circumstances that had caused the entire conflict years later. Relations between Kasta and the Holy Vakani Kingdom have been strained ever since.

Type

Geopolitical, Country

Demonym

Kastaen