Atlan

The was once a time where the horsemen of Atlan terrified their neighbors, and their neighbor's neighbors. The image of vast herds of thundering hooves at the forefront of their minds.
They certainly weren't wrong, as nations both here and long gone have found out several times in the past century and a half. Tribes regularly stormed across borders to raid and pillage, to take slaves and gold and food and anything that wasn't nailed down.
As much destruction that they caused, pulling down whole nations when many tribes got together, it wasn't really born from some malicious spirit. More that the land of Atlan itself is almost totally worthless. The soil only supports short and hardy grasses and the occasional root. Only small scraps of metal are pulled out of it's ground, and everything is flat as a board, with nary a hill or tree in sight.
The only resource it really has is the horses and cattle that traipse around the sea of grass. Atlan society revolves around these herds. The wealth of tribes and their Khan are measured in the amount of horses and heads of cattle they have. Their maintenance and guidance. Their reproduction. Their slaughter and processing into almost everything the Atlan need. And most famously the riding of the horses.
Wars have been fought over these herds. Prized bloodlines and the best grazing spots. When a great hero or god is to be paid, it comes in one of those two herd animals and not in gold.
As already discussed, the horsemen of Atlan are a breed apart. Skillful and deft, the way their horses move can seem otherworldly. Lances and sabers are their bread and butter. Or, were, at the very least. Now replaced with carbines and pistols, modern firearms have massively gimped their way of warfare. Now it is not as possible to run roughshod over the enemy from the outset of a battle, and infantry must be deployed to keep you from being totally destroyed.
Never has a nation hated the shape of a square so much.

Structure

Atlan's organization is honestly barely a coherent nation.
At the top, there is the Mönkhan or Eternal Khan. All other tribes are subservient to his. Not for any idea of a natural born right to rule, but simply because his tribe could easily crush any other individual tribe if given enough reason. The rewards for working and siding with the Eternal khan are far greater than the consequences for going against him.
Lower than that, however, it is essentially a free for all. Tribes are everything, with their assets closely tied to their power. Individual Khans are only beholden to the next larger fish that they couldn't take, or past friendships if they're lucky.
A tribes structure is relatively fluid, with tribes having their own traditions for the transfer of positions, roles, etc.

Culture

The culture of Atlan is one of regular celebration. There are even some jokes about them having a celebration for every day of the year that aren't quite wrong. Celebrating the end of the work day, the end of the week, the month, a birth, a death, the changing of the seasons, marriage, a good day at market, etc. It goes without saying that these celebrations vary wildly in their importance and their severity, but they give the Atlan a relatively jubilant outlook to outsiders.

History

There was a time where there wasn't a nation, even in the most vague of senses. The Khans didn't even see another tribe as the same people, and warred and traded with each other and anyone within reach at their leisure. The Eternal Khan changed all that.
The original Mönkhan is an enigma. No name to the history books, or solid origin that can be determined from contemporary accounts. What is known is that he was a god, of what exactly is up for debate, came forward like summer lightning. Suddenly and brightly. Seemingly from nowhere, and with a heard of horses that seemed otherworldly in their size and temperament. His riders were beyond skilled, some said to stand on the backs of their horses at a full gallop, swinging weapons and firing bows like they were stepping edge to edge on a flat table.
The Khans couldn't put up resistance to such an overwhelming force. One after another, he beat them into submission and while their heads were ringing he shapped them in the way he wanted to. Using incentives to rebuild their strength and herds to get them walking alongside him, and once there his own charm and even greater rewards reinforced the system he was building.
By the time he was done, he held a nation in his hands and he ruled it for a thousand years. Then he vanished.
A couple tribes think he was assassinated or killed in some great battle. Another god striking him down for the might he had gathered. A few argue that he left. Atlan or this world, they're not sure which, but they say he came to Atlan with a purpose, fulfilled it, and moved on. A few fringe tribes, generally considered odd by their brethren, state he was something more than a god. Some sort of spirit, come to guide their people to glory.

Military

The Atlan 'military' is an interesting beast. Like the country itself, it lacks a concrete structure and mainly consists of individual soldiers trying to outdo each other.
Khans practically have to fight alone because infighting and a general lack of cooperation leaves grand strategy out of the question. Only to be used when one Khan is able to cow other, smaller, Khans before hand. A dangerous game if they don't want to weaken themselves with a fight.
They have several dozen miniscule pantheons, each tribe holding tightly onto any scrap of divinity born to them, no matter how small, and following the same trend of a uncooperative disposition.
It's funny, in a sense, because this disposition doesn't extend to foreigners. They will gladly fight with or under foreign generals, if they're payed right or simply feel like it.
Uniforms are not something that have found a strong foothold with Atlan, as of yet. Beholden almost solely to their commanding party/ruler. They are usually the colors of their tribe, or determined by a older ceremonial purpose. This can make it hard to distinguish, for outsider observers, between Atlan soldiers and their civilians. Not that there is a large difference between the two.

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Training Level

Trained

Veterancy Level

Trained

Leader

Mönkhan Tahar

Leader Title

Mönkhan

Government System

Tribalism

Power Structure

Confederation

Currency

No officially printed currency, they trade only in hard goods and precious metals.

Notable Members

• Mönkhan Tahar