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Arkijt

The peoples of Arkijt are composed of the Arkijti and the Leembwa. They came originally from the southern Mastonian islands of Nasii and were among the second wave of people to encounter the continent, after the Catans. They originally settled in what is now southern Kandel, though conflicts with people already living there pushed them east into the brushland and desert to the east. The Arkijti settled the great Calijar Desert, while most of the Leembwa moved to the southern jungles of what eventually became Partika.

The kingdom of Arkijt was declared in 802. The first king, Sarach, established his capital city of Sarachl'in and began a campaign to rule the continent, first defeating and enslaving the Leembwa people. He then set his sights on Kandel and Catah, but a brief war with them in 823 led to Arkijt's defeat. Turning north, Sarach annexed the area of land currently known as Ceenta Vowei. In 847 Sarach swept through the salkiy domains in an attempt to sneak into the northern lands, a period of time known as the Summer Massacre. He died in battle against the salkiys after forming the only known ekalap/human alliance. His son become king and conquered Murritok in 848, Sykyn in 849, and Watouna in 859. In 902 Arkijt allied with Kandel to destroy Catah and briefly owned that nation, but war with Kandel resulted in the loss of that land. 

By 927 Arkijt had revolts on three fronts: the north, as people rose up against Arkijt's practice of conscripting them into the army; the center, as the non-Arkijti people of Ceenta Vowei began raiding Arkijti cities and killing Arkijti citizens; and in the east, where scattered tribes took to guerilla warfare to hassle the Arkijti. Arkijt slowly lost large chunks of its land. Its rulers finally signed a treaty to keep Arkijt and Ceenta Vowei in 940, but released their hold on all but the traditional Arkijti lands in 1114. The following year the capital was moved to the new city of Arkijtl'in, though Sarachl'in remained an important coastal city and is still the traditional seat of the king.

Government:
Araconian government is mostly a theocracy. They use their religious texts as law books, and the head priest, called the Leechuy, enjoys the same level of authority as the king. It is the Leechuy's ruling that the king cannot legally act without gaining the permission of the church first, but in the past some kings have vigorously disagreed, which has led to civil strife. The most famous example is the case of Queen Caroline, whose story is detailed in the history of Carolinnea. The position of king is not inherited; instead, the Leechuy chooses the next king with the approval of the barons, who are the major nobility directly beneath the king. In the early days of Arkijt, the king was an inherited position that conveyed absolute rule, and there was no Leechuy. That changed after Arkijt lost its empire, however, as it was popular belief among the people that their downfall had been caused by displeased gods.

The king, who lives in the Korzello in Sarachl'in but is often in residence at the border korze in Arkijtl'in, is trained in matters of warfare. Domestic affairs are mostly tended to by the priests. Underneath the king are several barons, who are the heads of each clan. There is one baron per clan, and he always lives on the main estate for the clan with the clan priest, who speaks only to the Leechuy. The position of baron is inherited through primogeniture, but priests are appointed like the king.

Defense:
The king keeps a standing army as well as his own private guard. The barons also have a private guard force that are called upon in times of war to supplement the king's army. The army is made up of knights, who must be nobility. There are two classes of knight. The first kind is a reth, a knight who is a permanent member of the king's army. Rethgan are considered nobility. The other type of knight is a duth, who is a member of the king's guard. A subclass of duthgan is the duth'tei, who are knights appointed as guards in a baron's estate. Duthgan are not considered true nobility. A duth may be promoted to a reth by prowess in battle, a distinction decided only by the king. All sons of nobility must undergo knight training. There is typically no single general, but army leaders of each clan. The largest part of the army is made up of commoners and slaves who are conscripted to fight. There are no women. The Arkijti are experts in broadswords, battle axes, and siege warfare.

Society:
There are few beggars or peasants in Aracon, because the homeless are thrown out of the cities on a regular basis, and do not tend to survive in the harsh desert. There is no servant class, as all jobs a servant would usually perform are done by slaves or sarluthgan. Knight training begins at age thirteen, when boys are taken to camps where they are housed, trained, and educated for the next seven years. Taxes pay for the upkeep of these knights-in-training, or sarluthgan. A sarluth, at some point in his training, must spend a period of two years acting as servant for some baron, as this teaches the boy humility in the face of his superiors. At the age of twenty, the sarluthgan are evaluated. Three things can happen at this point: the boy becomes a duth and goes to the capital city of Arkijtl'in to join the king's army; the boy becomes a duth, and receives his appointment as either a king's guard or a baron's guard; and the third is that the boy is declared a failure and banished from the country. Arkijt will not tolerate failed knights, though in some few cases they come from families powerful enough that the Leechuy will allow the failures to be taken into the priesthood. In all levels of society, women are considered inferior to men. They are not allowed to hold jobs or own property. It is also unlawful to educate them in anything but household duties, though the more liberal clans tend to ignore these harsher rules.

Religion:
There is one official religion in Arkijt, and those who are not ambassadors or foreign visitors granted diplomatic immunity can be sentenced to execution if caught practicing another religion. The openness of Arkijt to outside visitors depends entirely on the whims of the current Leechuy, and there are times in Arkijti history when it was almost completely isolated from the rest of the continent because the Leechuy was loathe to allow anyone from a different religious background into the country. There is no one religious book or doctrine, but numerous religious texts exist. The ones found in the main temple in Arkijt are thought to be the final say in all things religious. The doctrines set down restrictions in the treatment of women, punishments for various crimes, and what characteristics are considered holy.

The deities consist of six war gods and their wives. Arkijti sacrifice animals to these gods in ceremonies to keep them appeased. Each god is assigned to a star in the sky. The gods themselves represent virtues, while the gods' wives (there is no such concept as a goddess) are the vices. The virtues and vices are matched with their opposites, and this is referred to as the Sacred Cycle:

The first god is Rayku, or Air. He is responsible for the wind. His wife is Varses, or Earth, and represents baseness and animal instinct.

The second god is Xeelon, or Life, the creator of human life. His wife is Beshu, Death, who tortures unworthy souls upon their deaths and is the cause of disease.

The third god is Zatch, Faith, who judges the souls of the recently-dead. His wife is Namuni, Jealousy, who represents arguments and discord.

The fourth god is Layken, Honesty, who is the watcher over the people and the only god known for his compassion. His wife is Misuto, Deceit, who represents lies.

The fifth god is Burtis, Water, the god of the seas, rivers, and rain. He is the god most often sacrificed to. His wife is Anre, Fire, who scorches the land with drought.

The final god is Gornee, Purity, who keeps the honor of the people. His wife is Fahrah, Sin, who represents evil deeds and thoughts.

Religious Training:
Underneath the Leechuy are regional priests, called Lee'tei (plural: Leegan'tei). Leezro (Leezrogan) is the name given to a class of religious scholars that were trained in temples but never became priests. These are usually made up of men and boys who were unfit for or failed from the military for some reason. The Zoreth are a highly elite fighting and spy force that acts as the nation's law enforcement. They are under direct command of the Leechuy. It is law in Arkijt that all the sons of a household up to three must be part of the military. All sons after the third may enter the priesthood if their father so chooses. Such chosen sons are removed from their homes at the age of three for their training, which consists of rigorous religious and academic education, as well as exposure to physical obstacles such as starvation to prepare them for the hardships of life. If the boy survives these trials he becomes a religious scholar at the age of sixteen. Disabled or maimed boys cannot advance beyond this stage. Religious scholars who complete the next course of trials and education become Leegan'tei. From this pool the Leechuy will pick the best to become part of the Zoreth. Priesthood is a lifelong commitment, and any who break the precepts will be banished from the country.

Other Training: 
Arkijt allows no guilds, but there is an apprentice system set up among the freemen. Masters in various trades actively look for apprentices among the sons of other freemen. More often than not sons end up doing the same job as their fathers, but this is not always the case. Boys are apprentices from the time they are twelve to whenever they are deemed knowledgeable enough to become journeymen. This is the most free time of their lives, as they are no longer bound to their masters (though many stay) and they are not yet obligated to establish their own business and take on apprentices of their own. Many use their journeyman years to travel the countryside. Small villages who may not have masters of their own for certain things often depend on these journeymen.

Banking:
Aracon has no banks outside of the Leechuy's and King's treasury, which is storage for all taxes and from where money for public-funded endeavors, such as the army, comes. Money among the people is stored however they want it to be.

Monetary System:
The only metal used for money in Aracon is gold, and always in the form of square coins. The main unit of currency is called the azet, and stamped upon it is the face of Sarach, first King of Arkijt. The veezo, which is worth twelve times as much as an azet, is stamped with a picture of a star. The highest currency, the tedj, is twelve times more valuable than a veezo and is stamped with the name of the current king. When a new king comes to the throne, these coins become useless. They are collected as they are found, melted in the king's foundry, and then recast with the new king's name on them.

Trade and Marketing:
Arkijt is wary of foreign traders, and only deals with them because Arkijt is barren of many necessary resources. Their most frequent trading partners are the various tribes of Okkand. Arkijt tends to have little, if anything, to do with Kandel or Ceenta Vowei, and they do limited business with Seena. All foreign merchants are dealt with solely by officials that answer directly to the Leechuy. Arkijti merchants are not allowed to trade goods outside of Arkijt without permission, and they are forbidden to interact with foreign merchants. Arkijti merchants, therefore, mostly stay within their own borders when selling. The rules are slightly lax in regards to the Okkand border, so a healthy amount of private trade tends to pass back and forth between Arkijti and the western Okkandian cities.

Calendar:
The calendar, like everything else in Arkijti life, is based on their religion. It is typically represented in the form of a circle, called the Sacred Circle. The circle came about from the division of the night sky into twelve sections, each of which is given to a god or a wife. The time of year is determined by which section of the sky the Holy Point at the Korzello is pointing to, which changes as the sky revolves throughout the year.