Holy State of Rukray

"Rukray" means "realm of the soul", and for Ishkibites this is a truly blessed land closest to Paradise. This is where their prophet-God, Ishkibal was buried, where his bloodline persists, and where his sacred city of Kenahai was built. Rukray is under constant attack by Orthodox Desmian crusaders and Halikvar invaders, who seek to desecrate the holy land and break the power of the paladin-priests. But Rukray has never fallen. Even in its darkest hours, the holy city of Kenahai is blessed by the God Halcyon to allow it to break all foreign armies. 
Even now, enemies are at the gates. A civil war born of disputed succession has subverted the united front of Ishkibism, and no Orthodox crusaders have poured in on all sides. Some wonder if this is might be the invasion that finally wins, as Rukray is now surrounded by enemies on all sides. The crisis has militarized every farmer, merchant, and pilgrim and has brought reinforcing armies from across the Ishkibite lands. The faithful will not let Kenahai fall, and as long as Kenahai stands, Rukray will survive.

Structure

The leader of Rukray is the Eminence, a Paladin-priest selected by Ishkibal himself. The Eminence manages Rukray as well as Ishkibism as a whole. The current Eminence is Seristra V, an older Human warrior of immense skill. Seristra is a general and champion of unmatched ability and loyalty, as well as an expert theologian, but is a rather mediocre administrator and politician. She has left most of the administration to the Council of Elders, an oligarchy of twelve priest-paladins that serve as Ishkibal's messengers and earthly helpers. 
Seristra, as well as the three Eminences before her, focused on the faith as a whole over the local administration. That power has increasingly gone to the Heavenly Prince, a monarch that traces their descent back to Ishkibal. The title of Heavenly Prince is currently in dispute: the established Heavenly Princess chosen by Seristra is Princess Tamangara Ishkatar III, a disciplined and stubborn warrior and politician. Beneath the Heavenly Princess is the Holy Parliament, an assembly representing local nobles that manages taxation and helps run the country.
Currently, the Holy Parliament is fractured politically in a fit of political deadlock. In order to bypass this deadlock, the Eminence gave temporary total power to Princess Tamangara - triggering a rebellion. Her younger sister and rival claimant, Renara Ishkatar, took the lead in this rebellion and has contested Tamangara's recent coronation altogether.

Culture

Dryads in Rukray

Rukrin Ishkibism permeates every layer of society with its militarism, dogma of discipline, and species-relations. Dryads in particular have a very strange place in society here: they dress up very human, make a show of eating foods prepared in human style, and often curate lower, more human voices. Young dryads face a lot of pressure growing up to 'curb their demonic influences' and tend to face harsher punishments and more rigorous discipline. Adult dryads that conform, meanwhile, are put on a kind of pedestal as 'examples of rising above one's origins'. These dryads are treated quite well, in fact, and human communities are often measured by how well they care for "their dryads": starving or vulnerable dryads (especially adults who conform to social expectations) are seen as a deep shame and sign of impiety. 
In a strange show of "inspiration", temple services encourage their dryads to vent their sins and negative impulses in front of the congregation. This is seen as a show that "everyone is always improving" and that "the community is always open with each other". And while humans are also encouraged to be forgiven by their priests and sometimes go through public forgiveness, it is much less frequent or expected. Dryads tend to have a lot of mental health problems for this reason: they feel silenced but encouraged to self-flagellate for public amusement. Some rebel and find society spurning them; others compartmentalize and survive; others internalize and form interesting new types of personalities.

Discipline and Paranoia

The constant imminent threat of the Silver Crusade has created a sense of constantly being under immediate attack. The Enemy is always there, always plotting, always making life worse. Without the Enemy, food would be cheaper, life would be easier. This isn't actually far from the truth: without the blockade and the constant state of war, life would be a lot easier. This all leads to a lot of black-and-white thinking and constant-war mentality that is encouraged in the religion, in the schools, and in state propaganda. As the War and The Enemy are always looming, discipline is fetishized in every sphere of life. Despite all of that, people still find a way to be very pragmatic with their disciplined paranoia: Orthodox crusaders that are willing to work as smugglers are to be worked with and thought of as people rather than The Enemy. You see similar phenomenon in the Mathari Empire, Kidon March, and really any major Desmian crusading frontier.

Food Culture: Rukrin be Snackin'

The Chosen of Ishkibal have transcended the two-meal or three-meal schedule. They prefer to snack throughout the day in many small meals instead. Often, they prefer food that is good on the go - Rukrin society is a lot less attached to the land than many others, and travel food is greatly beloved. The Rukrin love their flatbread wraps, often with chicken and yoghurt; they love stuffed pastries (ie samosas they love their gravy and friedbread; they love their dippable fried potato and yam crisps. 
Much as food is ideally consumed in small doses throughout the day, alcohol is best consumed in smaller portions over time. Getting slightly tipsy is a great Rukrin passtime, but drunkenness is a sign of personal failings.

History

The Rise of Ishkibal (-700 to 380)

In the ancient days, Rukray a rich land of merchants and warriors, the most populous land in Izekra. In the -700s DE, small cities and kingdoms emerged and fought. In the -400s, a crisis emerged as Desmian slavers mass purchased dryads for sacrifice and turned humans and dryads against one another. Through Halcyon's intervention, the Desmian adventurer sent to conquer a beach-head in Rukray went from an invader to a peace-bringing demigod and ascended as Ishkibal the God of the Empty Sky. Ishkibal's favor by the Gods made his city-state of Kenahai a regional power, and his descendants went on to conquer the Northern riverlands.
For four centuries, the Ishkatar dynasty ruled like any other local power (albeit a little more Desmian). But in 45 ME, a pilgrim brought The Divine Contact to Rukray and contact was made with Ishkibal's ascended spirit. Modern Ishkibism was made, and the message of Ishkibal was carried through Izekra and beyond. Resources and pilgrims flooded into the Kingdom of Kenahai, which grew immensely wealthy and powerful. Even attacks from other Desmian states such as the Kingdom of Seruv did little to slow its meteoric rise to power. In the 230s through 260s ME, Orthodox Desmian countries began banning Ishkibite priests and doctrines. Ishkibism was becoming its own clearly defined religion, independent of Izekran or Desmian beliefs. And Rukray was at the lead.
In 310 ME, Rukray helped launch a campaign of evangelism and spy network building in Desmia, led by the Ishkibite cat Owlstripe the Evangelist. Owlstripe's capture and public hanging in the Desmian city of Avedra in 370 ME fed a growing rivalry between Desmia and Rukray, which culminated in the first Silver Crusade in 380. The Silver Crusade was a Desmian campaign for Kenahai intended to crush the heretics at their source, and it ended in absolute disaster almost immediately for the crusaders. The Silver Crusade did not end there, though: from 380 to the present day, the Silver Crusade has continued as an endless war of Orthodox Desmianism and Ishkibism which Rukray has had to defend against.

Rukray Defined (381 to 1077)

After the Silver Crusade, the Kingdom of Kenahai began having to focus on more local issues like defense over broad religious policy, and the Kingdom began disentangling from the Temple of Ishkibal. The monarchs still led both, but they now had separate co-leaders for the state and the religion to help lighten the burdens of leadership. The Kingdom of Kenahai expanded aggressively as a state during this post-crusader period, as it needed to mass mobilize local resources. This put some pressure on other Ishkibite lands that were dealing with their own problems, notably the land of Adava to the East. In the 600s and 700s, this pressure finally boiled over and the faith began to fragment: the Adavans and Eastern Ishkibites left to form their own Temple to Ishkibal, which was not subject to the whims of the Holy Bloodline.
In 832, a particularly bad roster of successors led to infighting and civil war. Paladins of Ishkibal intervened with the priesthood, and the Eminence system was created: the Bloodline was sacred but had no right to rule - only Ishkibal, the eternal ruler of Rukray, had the right to pick his regent. A renewed Silver Crusade and massive naval war with Desmia later, and a second civil war broke out in 1077 over the prominence of Kenahai over the other provinces. A cat paladin and diplomat by the name of Herengar Windpaw, armed with the Horn of Ishkibal , was able to quiet the civil war begore Desmians gained any ground. As a compromise, Herengar founded the Holy Parliament to bring balance between Holy Kenahai and the rest of the Kingdom. The name, 'The Kingdom of Kenahai' was also dropped, and Rukray, the Realm of Souls, was adopted as the new name.

Rukray Under Siege (1078 to 1700)

In 1150, the Orthodox Desmians took a new approach to the problem of Rukray: rather than throw themselves fruitlessly at Kenahai, fight an endless naval war, or be ground to a halt at a massive fortress line at the Adava-Rukray border, they organized a massive assault on the Ishkibite Kingdom of Savera, West of Rukray. This was dubbed the Emerald Crusade, and was launched at the same time as renewed assaults from the North and East. The Emerald Crusade was a risky and dangerous plan, and many Desmians perished in the attack - but Savera's capital fell, and Desmian pirates began to attack the relatively-unguarded lands of Western Izekra. The Ishkibites to the far West were forced to turn inwards and fortify their lands, and Rukray was cut off from support from the West.
For thirty years, the Emerald and Silver Crusades put immense pressure on Rukray. But in 1180, a ceasefire was declared: Rukray was exhausted and desperate, and the Desmians were facing staggering casualty numbers from disease, guerilla fighters, and three inland crusading armies that had all been slain to a man. Rukray was momentarily safe, but Desmians had gained significant ground in the West. The great wall against the Orthodox had been breached.
Before Rukray could act on any strategy to remove the Orthodox from West Izekra, a new threat was coming from the far West: the first Halikvar invasion, which crossed into Ishkibite territory in 1200. The war against the Orthodox had become a three-party cage match with these strange foreigners who were determined to reach for Rukray: and in 1395, a fleet of Halikvari invaders even established a beachhead and even tried to take Kenahai. The 1395 invasion struck the furthest into Rukray, but Samvaran fleets would continue harassing Western Ishkibites through 1700. The silver lining for the Rukrin was that the more the Halikvar attacked, the more distracted and agreeable the Orthodox crusaders were.

Modern History (1711 to 2020)

In the early 1700s, following the retreat of the Samvaran fleets, Rukray had a moment to recuperate. The Desmians in continental Desmia were distracted with several other major crises, the Adavans were fighting their own religious wars, and the Emerald Crusaders were facing major rebellions in their interior territory. Rukray had its own internal problems and was almost torn into civil war in 1712, and was only averted by intervention from the sacred bloodline of Ishkatar. And so Rukray had a moment where they were the most stable and safe state in the region - and enjoyed over a century of relative peace. Ishkibites across Izekra started making gains across the continent again - for a time. The late 1800s saw the pendulum sweep back to Orthodoxy, with another surge in crusading and piracy. And with every gain against Desmia's other enemies, the Silver Crusade intensified. Things have recently grown more dire, with a civil war breaking out in 2014.

Demography and Population

10,000,000 humanoids live in Rukray. 50% are Humans, 40% are Dryads, 5% are Vesper, and 5% are others.

Territories

Rukray is around 410 miles West-East, and about 300 miles North-South. The Western boundary of Rukray is defined by the Tabratain mountains, which average an elevation of 2000 - 3000 feet (so not very large). The coastline is densely forested, as is the central riverlands. These forests are subtropical-temperate forests with patches of marshland. 
Heading inland (or Eastward), the land becomes more arid. Plains-savannah with small groups of mountains or hills make up the distant interior. These become drier the further you go, and to the South and Southeast the land becomes straight-up desert. This Southern desert, known as the Kamarak Desert, is rocky with a few dunes-areas, and is loosely controlled by a group of Ishkibite Solars known as the Brilliant Temple. To the Southwest, forested and savannah hills of the Southern Tabratain house a number of friendly march-kingdoms.

Military

The Holy State of Rukray has a large, disciplined military that is a major part of state and religious functions. Rukray is always under attack, and every citizen of Rukray is trained and armed to fight foreign invaders from a young age. 
There are four main segments to the Rukrin army: The State Guard, The Landed Gentry, The Pilgrim Regiments, and The Eminent Regiments. 
The State Guard is the bulk of the army, and is a combination between gendarme and the common soldiery. It is a relatively meritocratic organization, and most every Rukrin resident has served at least a stint in the Guard at some point. The State Guard tends to focus on flexibility, and arms its troops with a combination of spears, short swords, and bows (all three for each soldier, if possible). The goal is to have disciplined, experienced baseline soldiers capable of reacting to virtually any threat and able to fight on the field, defend a fortress, or man a warship with ease. The majority of the State Guard comes from the Northern riverlands. 
The Landed Gentry, meanwhile, are the cavalry divisions that organize in estate-based wargroups from the South. A core of heavy cavalry, with light cavalry and horse archers to boot. Also horse-mounted crossbowmen. 
The Pilgrim Regiments are auxiliary units thrown together from whomever wishes to visit the Holy City. Entrance to and lodging in Kenahai can be earned for poor pilgrims through military service, and wealthy Ishkibite pilgrims will arm themselves specifically to earn glory as Pilgrim Regiment leaders. These regiments are extremely variable: some are foreign warbands seeking glory and the favor of Ishkibal and others are poorly disciplined and armored pilgrims. 
And lastly, the Eminent Regiments are the elite guard units of the Rukrin monarchy, who serve Ishkibal in defense of the Holy Land rather than the actually Rukrin government. As Ishkibal lacks the ability to directly lead them, the Eminence serves as his lieutenant. These elite crusaders are beloved through the Ishkibite world, and often recruit from the most zealous and competent warriors of the State Guard and Pilgrim Regiments. The Eminent Regiments include: The Blackmoon Chosen (elite cavalry and knights), the Shields of the Sepulcher (elite halberdiers that guard the holiest artifacts and sites of Ishkibism), and the Disciples of Autumn (elite fanatical all-Dryad division that is said to be able to enter a zealous rage that protects them from otherwise-fatal injury).

Religion

Rukray is very aggressively Ishkibite country. The courts are religious, the leadership is theocratic, and the military is zealous. Ishkibites of all sects are tolerated here: the Temple of the First Eminence rules the land, but other Temples to Ishkibal are allowed. 
There are many Orthodox Desmian merchants who cross into Rukray in search of a good deal, and these merchants are tolerated by the state but resented by the public. Any murder of a non-human is typically assumed to be the work of Orthodox outsiders by both common mob vigilantes and the court system. Any Orthodox missionary work or evangelizing is punishable by death here. 
Some Halikvar live in Rukray, though evangelism is once again punishable by death. Same with Kivishta evangelism and Sunekan evangelism. Other religions, such as Ayshanism and Elemeer, just carry fines for overt evangelism and are more tolerated. All of this "evangelism" punishment is relevant because it can be so easy to categorize overt signs of public religiosity, such as holidays or temple-building, as a form of subtle evangelism. It depends a lot on the local judge's interpretation, but needless to say most "no evangelizing by pain of death" religions are going to be much less likely to build temples or print holy books than the others.

Foreign Relations

Rukray's diplomacy falls on religious lines: they curate good relations with Ishkibite states, and generally have poor relations with any Orthodox Desmian state that participates in the Silver Crusade (the Desmian war against Rukray).

Agriculture & Industry

The Northern riverlands are a mixture between intensive agriculture and large, fortified port-cities. Locals grow wheat, maize, rice, squash, millet, and yams as big staple-crops, augmented with mangoes, citrus, sunflowers, mustard, tea, and sugar. For cash crops, the hilly Northwest grows coca leaves and the flat Northeast grows cotton. Giant Lobsters are mass-ranched in the swamps and rivers.
The Southlands are mostly flat sorghum, maize, and wheat farms as well as large ranch estates. Horses, sheep, and cattle are all ranched here, with a focus on warhorses. 
The Western mountains are also home to very intense local mining operations.

Trade & Transport

Rukray is under blockade by a Desmian coalition, but that blockade is rather disorganized and has huge holes in it. Orthodox and Ishkibite smugglers alike are extremely common, and a very active trade route runs through the Western mountains into the Emerald March. The Rukrin navy periodically punches through the Crusading fleets and allows for Rukrin merchants to use the sea-routes with impunity. And some Orthodox crusader-lords seem more interested in setting up trade monopolies with Rukray than actually attacking the Holy Land, and siphon all trade through them.

Education

The majority of education is guild-based apprenticeship, often with family members. Religious education also teaches children literacy, discipline, and religious lore once a week from ages five to sixteen.

"Sacred is the Land, Grave of Enemies"

Founding Date

1712 ME

Type

Geopolitical, Theocracy

Capital

Kenahai

Alternative Names

Irkray, Great Kenahai

Demonym

Rukrin

Government System

Theocracy

Power Structure

Unitary state

Currency

Asalay Dungeon Coinage: Gold Dragons, Silver Eagles, and Copper Bulls

Major Exports

Warriors and priests

Major Imports

Steel, weaponry, spices

Official State Religion

Ishkibism

Location

Izekra

Controlled Territories

• Kenahai

Neighboring Nations

• Kingdom of Adava

Related Items

• Armor of Saint Rosha