Rustil
Structure
The land is a matriarchy, with women making up the entierity of the ruling class. At the very top is the Tzarina and the Forst Court, being the ruler of both the Rustil Cult of Ice and Death and the nation as a whole. Under her are the Boyaress, who are high ranking nobles in charge of large swathes of land divded almost like provinces. Under these women are one of the titles males can actually also reach, being the rank of Ataman (feminine: Atamankas). The Ataman is responsible for the rulership of a village. with multiple atamans being in charge for larger cities. While this field is still predominetnly ruled by women, its not unheard of for men to reach this rank through great effort. The Druzhina make up the retinue of an Ataman, serving as elite knights and companions, and at the very bottom of the nobile hierarchy is the Bogatyr, mostly unlanded nobles fighting as wandering knights.
The power of the ruling classes is absolute and total. The Tzarinas and Boyaresses and Atamans are granted to do whatever they want as long as it is within law. Stories of Tzarinas and noble men and women with llarge retinues of consorts and entertainers are a popular rumor that is whispered in taverns, and many fear any ruling persons wrath. However in recent years the Tzarinas have been slowly centralizing, but such efforts are slow at best as the land is perhaps the least suited to a centralized goverment. As such, ruling nobles are given a surprisng amount of independance, and this ussually works out, but its not unheard of for some nobles to get rather seditious ideas.
Culture
Despite the constant idea that the land is constnatly a frozen hellscape of death and doom, in truth the land can be quite sunny and warm during summer time. However, winter is noticeably longer and the land is still typically colder than other places even on a bright sunny day. This means alot of fashion in the land of the Rusti use lots of animal furs and pelts to keep warm, as well as other beautiful looking styles of clothing. This, on top of the reverance for certain animals like bears, leads some to sterotype the Rusti as fur covered savages constnatly drunk on Nastva (a clear, strong alchoholic beverage said to be a recipe learned from dwarven master brewers). While they do enjoy their Nastva, and are at times a grim and gallows humor type of attitude, they are in truth lovers and warriors in equal measure. Some compare the Rusti to elves, in that they love hard and love loud, and typically experince sadness in equal volume. Family and tribal ties are important to the Rusti, and tribal politics even influence the cities they live in, and can make for complicated situations and political schemes within the cities and villages.
The Rusti are by no means a wholly united people, just like the rest of the Rusilvaynia Empire as a whole. The steppe land and tiagas in between the cities and villages make it so even with magic communication and coordination challenging at best. Not to mention the weather, the countless monsters and knaves patrolling the roads has led the land being seen as a death trap. It is true that death is a fact of life here, more so than anywhere else for that matter. Some say the land is so grim and dour, that the dead do not stay dead, though this is likely due to necromatic energies than some ancient curse. This means the Rusti are superstitious and cautious by nature, always maintaining a healthy suspicion of outsiders and newcomers within their cities or villages. This is primarily why some foreigners see the Rusti as grim, serious, unsmiling people, but anyone worth their blade knows the Rusti can throw a hell of a party. This superstition is also bolstered by the many folklore tales, and strange wise woman and wise man that inhabit the land, and the place is no stranger to witches, mages, and warlocks.
In truth, the Rusti have been matriarchal since their days as grunting tribals like the rest of the mortal races. Since the time of the first sun rise, the shaman women and wise woman would help lead the tribes and in turn would evolve of course into the Tzarina and the other ladies of the land. It has to be stated that this does not translate to a hatred of men amongst the ladies of Rustil, and men still have the same rights and respect as any other woman. It's just that at the end of the day, the Rusti have always believed that the wise woman are simply better suited to the job of leading their people, and even making up some of the elite infantry of the armies. Men are still fully capable of living an honest, good life in the land, and since the end of the great War of Dark Skies, even rise to minor nobility and traveling noble warriors and even high generals.
Aside from this, the people of the Rusti are boystraus and proud, and have a steel bound love for their motherland. Some foreigners may find this surprsing, espically given the fact many of their highest rulers are liches, horrifying undead. While many of these liches use magic to maintain their mortal apperance, it is not secret at all of their true nature. While some more zealous warriors of flame and faith may think the land fully endorses necromancy, it is a bit more complicated than that. Roaming bands of zombies and skeletons are not something seen as okay, obviously these are dangers that need to be taken care of. Magicly gifted women are expected to either join the Rustil Cult of Ice and Death magic schools, or in one of the other minor academies for training in other skills. Spellcasting is seen as a traditionally femenine practice, and while men are by no means disallowed or hunted down for being magically gifted. It is typically said that most men born with magical ability go through a ritual when young to supress magic ability. Granted this is entirely a saying going around, but in actuality, its more likely that many nobles simply send their magically gifted sons to Bolsilva or other more nearby academies to learn and control their magic. This is because only the ice witches have learned the specific art of magic from the goddess they worship: being Melania, goddess of death, winter, natures rebirth, and dreams. Regardless, the Lich Tzarinas are very aware of the dangers of necromancy, and since the soul of a dead body is already claimed by Melania, possessing the dead flesh removes most of the "moral" problems with necromancy.
History
The land of Rustil is a harsh and unforgiving place. It is divided by steppe, taiga, welands, and tundra. The land is bitter and crops have difficulty growing, and great mountains jut out like hateful claws into the dark sky. No one would live here, and yet some do anyway. This is theland of the Rustil, or Rusti, and the strange and superstitious land of warriors and orators. While the origins of the tribes that inhabit the land is not entirely known, according to the Rusti they arrived thanks to the guidance of hags. In particular, the ancient spirt known as Old Yegi would speak to the shaman women of the early Rusti tribes, and would guide them to the land of Rustil where she adopted some of the shaman woman as the next hags and wise woman. This in turn would lead to the rather superstitious nature of the Rusti as they have many old fables of wise woman living outside of towns giving strange but sensible advice.
However despite settling the land, the land was divided for a long time, being made up of warring cities and tribes, and the wandering Krebin selling their blades for goods, however that was until the land was united by the first ruler, one Ruisya Tchaikovlach, who was endorsed by several priests of Perun to be the true ruler of the land, even if she hailed originally from Aldinnheimr. Declaring herself Tzararina of Rustil, and ruled with iron fist. Her rule was short however as she died of plague, but it was a brief golden age that sadly never came back as she was succedded by her daughter, and the land would live in a constant state of civil war and strife, however all changed when the great tear opened from hell into the lands, and 3 years of darkness followed as monsters came to ravage the land.
However as is told in the histories of the empire, 3 years of bloody wars against monsters was ended by one Mosaleva Amaliya Petrovna, a powerful necromancer later turned lich of ice and death, and helped organize a strong front to seal the great tear. With the great empire being formed despite the grievences of faith, the newly crowned Tzarina Amaliya Mosaleva would form the Rustil cults of Cold and Death, and thus began the new era of the reign of the lich queens and ladies, as the land stands as probbaly the only example of a nation of liches not being actively crusaded against. That's not to say that there was any lack of trying, as quite a few skirmishes would erupt in later years. While at first many of the people were worried of the undead, and in truth full, massess of undead are still not utilized even by the lich ladies, the fact the mother spirt of the land itself had chosen these rulers made the transition easier. However what really helped the image of the lich ladies was during the War of Bitter Cold, where the Aldinnian northmen raided and fought a bloody war against Rustil for its spoils and to take slaves. While the fighting was fierce, the Rusti gained a new apprecation for their lich ladies, and would win the day. Since then, the lands of Rustil have been known as the realm of the lich queen, but this land of cold and death holds a beautiful people that remain proud and strong.
Religion
The Rustil worship four gods, but the two main ones are: Perun, god of sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility, oak trees, and bears. Melania, goddess of death, winter, natures rebirth, and dreams. The two others are: Svetoslav god of fire, smith-craft, forge, and the one who forged the world and Zovia, goddess of the sun and moon. Animals also take on spiritual qualities, being seen as a living extension of the motherland. Most of these cults are not wholly organized into great churches, but instead are informal bands of monks and priestesses preaching and holding tenents that the majority of believers seem to largely agree upon. Of course the Cults of Ice and Death are the exception, being an offical branch of the state itself.
Foreign Relations
"Some of the people here think we should burn Rustil to the ground, undead worshipping freaks they are. I disagree, only because who the bloody hell would want to take and hold the land. The land is cold and brutal, and if the frost or the nomads don't kill ya, some monster or barbarian will! I say they're welcome to stay in that hole!" - Nika Gassmann, Bergenshian merchant
"Don't know what all the fuss is about mista witch hunter, I mean the lady I was with sure didn't look dead to me! Had a lovely bottle of Nastva we did!" - Kevin Day, Ashenfeld peasent executed by a witch hunter after lengthy interrogation
"Let them look down upon us, let them insult us for all we care. We neither care, nor are concnerned with the opinions of those who don't struggle every day in their life just to surrive. I'm not talking about the cold or the beasts, but to any poor child who has angered their mat' after getting in a fight. Gods know hell is not nearly as scary as that." - Kislan Avilenk, Rusti guard
While many see the Rusti as drunken, dead worshipping witches and brigands, any who spend even a little time with them find that most of these sterotypes are baseless. Sure they are well known for their Nastva, but they are a proud people, and one who makes friends with people from Rusti find that they are some of the most loyal friends and companions one could find in the world.
Type
Geopolitical, Province
Demonym
Rustilian, or sometimes Rusti
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Parent Organization
