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--- world_lore:s2:nations:deshermet [2024/10/24 03:27] – ro
+++ world_lore:s2:nations:deshermet [2024/10/31 15:44] (current) – kuru
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 |  **Nation Profile**    ||
-|{{:dm_resources:s2:nations:2260.jpg?nolink&400|2260.jpg}}||
+|{{:dm_resources:s2:nations:2260.jpg?nolink&600|2260.jpg}}||
 |**Description** |//The Eternal Kingdom// |
 |**Government** |De Jure Pharonic Monarchy, De Facto Sepatarchy|
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 |**Population** |around 8 million|
 |**Languages** |Desh, Halfling  |
-|**Races and Ethnicities** |Deshermen (humans), Desh halflings(Lightfoot Halflings), Scaly Elves(Wood Elves)  |
+|**Races and Ethnicities** |Desh humans (humans), Desh halflings(Lightfoot Halflings), Scaly Elves(Wood Elves)  |
 |**Religion** |Desh Pantheon|
 |**Currency** |Deben|
@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 === Culture ===
-Deshermet is an intensely lawful and religious society. The most fundamental concept in their society is that of Geh, a state of universal order which must be maintained in order for the land and people to prosper. This extends to the literal laws of the land which are seen as holy commandments handed down from the gods, but also to the societal and social organization of the land. A sekhti(Commoner) is a sekhti because he is meant to be and must dutifully carry out the responsibilities of that position. Even into the afterlife they will remain in that position, working the endless fields of a spiritual mirror of the living world alongside their entire family line for all time. The same applies to those at all levels of their rigorous hierarchy from slave to pharaoh.
+Deshermet is a society defined by law and religion. In their cosmology the world is the battlefield between Geh, a state of perfect ideal order, and the forces of chaos that threaten to return everything to primordial darkness. Monstrous spawn of Yapyimayet, Scaly Elf raiders from the deep desert, and infiltrators within the Desh state are just some of the enemies of Geh that must be opposed every day. For the average Desherman though their contributions to Geh are mostly in doing their job, performing religious worship, and not committing any taboo act such as grave robbing or kin slaying. Those that oppose or threaten the Desh order face exclusion and, in the most extreme, exile to the desert. A barren land of death and monsters where only banditry prospers.
-This society is thoroughly feudal with strongly defined classes and little opportunity for mobility. The main exception to this rule are the many influential cults that exist in Desh society. Cults in Desh society are more than just religious organizations; they also act as guilds that perform and administrate different professions. For example, as the goddess of healing, Shepnet's acts as a sort of doctor's guild. Training, connecting, and representing the interests of the medical professionals of Deshermet. Most Deshermen are a member of a cult, this doesn't mean they shun the other gods or that they need to be a member of whatever professions their cult sponsers. More that they consider themselves to have a special relationship and special responsibilities to a particular deity, and are accepted into the orginization by the cult hierarchy. Commoners find one of their only means of societal advancement in cult membership, either through gaining a position of prominence in one of the cults favored by the common folk or by being accepted into a higher class cult that will make them an artisan or tradesmen. It is up to the cult to accept them or not however, and there are a limited number of spots.
+Every class and position has certain expected responsibilities and obligations that are part of Geh, all the way up to the Pharaoh who is its ultimate shepherd. The peasant is not merely a laborer, he is someone divinely put on this earth to till the soil and feed the people. This level of holy seriousness is found all the way up the social pyramid. Even the highest lord is, ideally, just another person fulfilling an assigned responsibility, another spoke in a great eternal wheel. Social mobility is rare, but not impossible. Especially through membership in one of the many cults that govern various jobs and aspects of life in Deshermet. Cult membership is common and can provide a path into a new profession, or into the hierarchy of the cult itself. Generally though one joins the cult governing their current profession, the same as their parents, grandparents, and so on. It should be clear then that religion penetrates every aspect of Desh society and they are a very spiritual and superstitious people. Even those who aren't a member of a cult will generally have a particular god they see as their patron and worship.
-Though they don't necessarily understand or interpret all of their history accurately Desh people are proud of their long legacy of civilization and take pride in being Deshermen. This strong idea of culture is defined in opposition to those who are //not //Desh, the people of the desert. Scaly Elves, Necromancers, Bandits heathens and criminals. The desert is a land of those who the Desh have excluded from their society. The great threat held over each citizens head by the government and the greatest punishment by their laws is exile to the desert. Those that are banished to the desert are shunned, forced into desperate acts such as banditry to survive, and according to the Desh religion damned to wander the desert eternally as a mournful ghost after death. The fear of this exclusion and of the desperate exiles in the desert keep most Desh people in line.
-They have a particular fixation on the condition of their bodies after death. To the Deshermen the afterlife is a spiritual mirror of the living world. That which is ruined here can only cast a pale shadow there and thusly they put much effort into preserving their bodies. Those of high status build elaborate tombs and have their bodies mummified so that they enter the afterlife in tact and with an extravagant collection of their possessions. Poorer citizens have much more humble burials, an important possession or two and a single canopic jar for the organs. Most important of all is the heart which //must //be preserved lest the deceased become a terrible have no way to get into the afterlife and rise again as a terrible heartless undead. The place of death matters also, to reach the Desh afterlife one must be buried //in //Deshermet, other lands leave them beholden to other gods. Worst case of all is for the body to be lost in the desert, causing the deceased to become a lost spirit wandering the desert in an eternal tortured search for a salvation which does not exist. Fittingly, the worst crimes in Desh society are those related to desecration of the dead such as grave robbery or, most unspeakable of crimes, necromancy.
 === Government ===
-The government of Deshermet is a centralized monarchy lead by a divine Pharaoh. The Pharaoh and the many ministers, advisors, and scribes who live with them in the royal palace function as the highest level of government. Handing down unquestionable rulings and decrees to the people of the realm. Below that the realm is divided into provinces, called Sepats, that are ruled by a Headman and land owning lords who take care of the day to day business of running the area. Cults also play a role in governance as influential organizations representing the interests of different groups of the general populace. Various duties have over the years been delegated to cults and they function sometimes like political parties for the underclasses. \\  \\ In practice today the Desh government is a mess. There is no pharaoh, the last one died decades ago and has not been replaced. The realm is united only in name. De facto it is divided between the various Sepats and their Headmen who, more like warlords than governors, struggle against each other for power. Perhaps hoping to become the next Pharoh. Within the palace the government is a tangled web of officials and committees and rules that have grown over thousands of years of Desh history that no one person really understands. Like the warring Headmen the officials in the palace struggle against each other for influence, neglecting key tasks of governance. The cults are perhaps the most stable institutions in the land, picking up the slack and taking over more responsibilities to hold the land together but also spreading themselves so thin they have little ability to do much else. The Government of Deshermet today is a headless chicken flailing against itself in internecine conflicts and waiting for the seemingly inevitable collapse.
+Deshermet has a strict hierarchy of social and political roles with defined responsibilities in running the state. At the top is the Pharoh, an absolute monarch and avatar of Ahakh from whom all authority descends. Prime among his powers and responsibilities is controlling the stock of grain. Crops belong not to the farmer or his local lord but to the Pharoh who stockpiles or dolls it out as needed. Alongside the Pharaoh in the royal palace are an army of advisors, clerks, and scribes who manage the grain stockpile, write laws, and carry out various other administrative tasks. The greater kingdom is divided into regions known as Sepats that have local governments controlled by noble Headmen. While beholden to the greater law of the Pharaoh, Headmen and lower nobles have authority in the lower level areas they control. Below them are the cults which have no direct governing authority but represent significant blocks of the populace as something like political parties and administer various trades and professions. The lowest level of society are unaffiliated workers and slaves who have no say in the government. The commoner does have the right to bring grievances against even Headmen and nobles to Deshermet's robust judicial system though. The slave does not.
+In the current day there is no Pharoh and the central government has authority only in theory. In the palace a tangled bureaucracy conspires and backstabs for influence. Each Sepat is run essentially as an independent kingdom with Headmen acting like warlords vying against each other to be the next Pharaoh. The cults are stretched thin trying to maintain the most basic institutions and industries of Desh society. It is an era of political fracturing and disorder. It seems certain an era is ending, but what comes next no one can say.
 === Inhabitants ===
-Desh people are as old as the land they live upon, generations have lived and died in the same place doing the same jobs. An immensely agrarian nation, most of its people are farmers or do work in some way related to farming. The large surplus' of food the people generate every year have also lead to Deshermet having a comparatively massive population to other nations. Rivermen and fishermen who work the great River Iru are also quite common jobs for the common person. Most Deshermen live along the river's banks in farming settlements or great cities, arteries along a great life giving vein. In the cities you can find craftsman and artisans transforming the crops grown in the countryside and ferried by river to them into all varieties of goods. For instance the linen that makes up most of their loose, desert friendly, attire. Amoung the lower classes its common to go shirtless or even mostly nude during the hot working day. \\  \\ Immensely religious, its normal for a person to have a particular god they consider to be their patron or to join one of the many religious cults in the nation(You do not have to be a cleric or other divined themed class to do this, it's a mundane thing to them). Arcane spellcasting and Psionics are rare here, magic is almost solely the realm of clerics and divine casters. Fighters and Rangers are the most common martial classes, especially practitioners of the most honored martial art in Deshermet: Archery. While the pride themselves on their bows Deshermet is a land with scarce ore reserves and in close quarters they make use mostly of wooden weapons like clubs or weapons that take little metal like spears, axes, and maces. Swords are very rare and mostly only wielded by the wealthy as a status symbol.
+An immensely agrarian nation, the vast majority of Desh people are farmers. Many others are artisans and craftspeople who convert the crops into a variety of goods like papyrus, linen, and dyes. It's also common to work on the great river as a fisherman or a ferryman who carries people and goods across the kingdom. Religion is intertwined with labour as every profession has a patron deity and the cult of that deity generally serves as something like a trade union or guild for that job alongside its religious duties.
+Loose fitting linen garments well suited to the desert climate are the most common clothes. Animal based clothing like leather or wool are considered impure and are less popular. Commoners will leave the linen in its natural hue while the more affluent will dye it a variety of vibrant colors. In the heat of the day workers will often go shirtless or even mostly nude.\\
+\\
+In the immensely religious Deshermet it should not come as a surprise that clerics are common. Arcane magic and Psionics are almost unheard of while the Divine flourishes. Besides Clerics, Deshermet has many rangers who brave the terrible desert and Paladins who hunt the undead and agents of Chaos within the kingdom. The most noble and respected martial art in the land is archery, kings and heroes are often pictured firing at the enemy from a chariot. In melee they tend to use the axe, the spear, or the mace. Ore is rare in their territory and trade has long since dried up so weapons that use less metal are preferred. Because of this, and the extreme temperatures of the region, heavy armor is rare in Deshermet and light armor is most common.
+There are two main non Human races in Deshermet.
-Besides the humans there are two other humanoid races one might encounter in Deshermet.
+Halflings are considered equal members of society, so much that the term 'Deshermen' is understood by locals to include both human and halfling. They live throughout the country but are most concentrated around Inej-Sat the capital and a few other cities that are the traditional seats of the largest Halfling clans. In fact Inej-Sat became the capital only during the entirely halfling 16th dynasty, affectionately known as the 'little Pharaohs'. Besides the obvious, the most notable differences between them and the Desh Humans are an increased affinity for the great river and the fact that only halflings can ride atop the small breed of horses native to Deshermet, humans are stuck using chariots.\\
+\\
+The other most common race are the Scaly Elves. Ancestral enemies of the Humans and Halflings, Scaly Elves are mostly consigned to the desert. Once they were wood elf guardians of a green paradise. That paradise is long gone. After betraying the other humanoids of Deshermet for the chaos god Yapyimayet they were exiled to the desert. The stain of this treachery and the influence of the snake god has cursed them with scaly skin that burns horribly in the desert sun and peels constantly. They live in the harshest terrain and make their living through violence. Launching raids on the riverlands where they steal the land's bounty and bring back captives to enslave or sacrifice. They commonly associate with the monstrous followers of Yapyimayet like Yuan-ti. Bitter and devoted to the cause of Yapyimayet, the Scaly Elves plot the downfall of Deshermet and seek any dark power that might achieve that goal.
-Halflings are considered equal members of society, so much that the term 'Deshermen' is understood by locals to include both human and halfling people of the state. They live throughout the country but are most concentrated around Inej-Sat the capital and a few other cities that were traditionally the seats of the largest Halfling clans. In fact Inej-Sat only became the capital during the 16th dynasty of 'little pharaohs', Halflings who rose to the highest position in the land. They tend to be more enthusiastic about spending time in the, admittedly dangerous, great river. Fishing, swimming, and ferrying people across in their river boats. Halflings are also the only ones capeble of riding the small horses native to Deshermet in the saddle, Humans are for the most part relegated to riding in chariots and carriages drawn by horse rather than on their back. \\  \\ The other race are the Scaly Elves(wood elves mechanically). Originally they were the protectors of vast forests that covered Deshermet in ancient times. But those forests were swallowed by the desert and in a climactic battle with the forces of the great enemy, Yapyimayet, the elves betrayed the humans and halflings they had formerly stood in solidarity with. Gaining temporary domination over the land, but being cursed with scaly skin that burns and peels in the harsh sunlight of their homeland and forever making them an enemy to their former friends. Eventually the Deshermen reorganized and smashed the Elven dominion, repaying their treachery with interest. The survivors of the massacre that followed fled into the desert, swearing eternal vengeance on the Deshermen. Desperate and enraged they doubled down on their devotion to dark gods and dark powers. Scaly Elves today consort with monsters like Yuan-Ti and practice necromancy among other unnatural and evil magicks. They are the anti-thesis to the society of order along the River Iru, Desert dwellers dedicated to Yapyimayet and the destruction of Deshermet.
 ==== Geography ====