Brasi
Brasi is a massive, multi-racial civilization located almost entirely in a desert. It is considered one of the most influential nations in the Celestial pantheon’s politics and most of the pantheon’s clergy come from Brasi.
Brasi is incredibly tolerant of any species of sentient as long as they follow the Celestial teachings. A small Cyclical pantheon sect is growing in the borders, but the Celestial pantheon political groups are passively suppressing it. The official Celestial religious tribune that rules over all matters of the Celestial faith lives and works in Brasi.
Magic is common in the scattered and great city-states of Brasi, but is mostly divine in nature. Arcane magic isn’t generally trusted bu the populations. Outside of the city-states, magic is very rare and most citizens survive in the deserts and grasslands with mundane techniques.
Brasi used to be incredibly grounded in traditions older than memory, but the culture has recently grown more flexible and open to change. The older generations still tend to be stiff, contrary to the younger generation’s tolerant viewpoints.
Brasiites tend to wear thin, draping cotton and linen clothes bleached white or dyed a golden tan. Racially, humans are the most common with elves, half-elves, and halflings as prominent minorities.
Demography and Population
Brasi has a fairly human-dominant population, but other sentient types have been immigrating to enjoy the blossoming farming industry and wealthy city-states.
City-state Population Distributions
The city-states have, together, about 178,000 citizens. The distribution is approximately- Human (72%)
- Half-Elf (10%)
- Halfling (9%)
- Elf (4%)
- Kenku (2%)
- 1% each of the following: Dragonborn, Half-Orc, Tiefling
Non-city-state Population Distributions
The population outside of the city-states is much more varied. There are about 2,200,000 sentients outside of the city-states and the distribution is approximatelyTerritories
Brasi, long ago, was a loose alliance of city-states. About 1,000 years before the release of magic, they formed a pact that evolved into the civilization it is known for today. This pact unified all of the lands the city-states oversaw, which form the modern Brasi borders.
Much of Brasi was arid, harsh, and empty. Before the end of the Boiling Sea, Brasi was known for its massive central Samwol Rivers, empty desert sands, and stunning dunes. Now, the ecology has become more verdant and grasslands have grown from the Samwol banks and farmers have been enjoying rich soils. Eastern Brasi is still fairly arid, in no small part due to the magic of Bahadur and the blue dragons who live there. Narki, the eastern-most city-state, is in negotiations with Bahadur regarding the boundary of the desert and where the grasslands can terminate.
Gnolls lived between the Brasiite city-states before historical records. Often, they live their lives separate from the rest of the civilization. Sometimes, though, gnoll raids can ravage the towns and villages, especially since their ancestral hunting grounds have been encroached by new farming communities.
Brasi is approximately 2.05 × 1012 fl2 (190,000 km2).
Military
Brasi has two forms of a military: a homeland defense force and a hallowed crusade force.
Homeland Defense
The homeland defense forces are trained to guard the borders of the Brasi territory and the sacred city states within. Raider groups, supernatural forces, and spies have tried to accost with parts of Brasi's history and culture, such as relics or holy icons. When detected, the homeland defense will act to safeguard Brasi's resources.Hallowed Crusade
The hallowed crusade forces are trained for excursions beyond the borders of Brasi as decided by the sacred tribunal of priests. Whenever a threat to the stability of the Celestial Pantheon faith is found, Brasi will blow the silver clarion to signify the start of the hallowed crusade. Volunteers across Brasi, and even foreigners, are allowed to take upon themselves the title of a crusader and receive training and membership. When ready, the crusade will begin. There have been only a few cases of the hallowed crusade. The latest one is a recent call against the northern phenomenon known as the Mouth, which is an infection of fiendish figures in the far north. If a sentient completes a crusade with honors, they are eligible for citizenship with a Brasiite city-state.Technological Level
Brasi has a strong traditional streak that has limited its development in the natural philosophies. There are poor education programs for arcana, so Brasi will rarely produce its own arcanists.
Brasiite city-states do have a heavy reliance on ancient artifice that has been running for centuries. In each city-state, there are crystal structures that produce flowing, clean water for the city aquaducts. There are purification chambers deep under the city that manage sewage and waste. Major food storage warehouses have sacred wood enchantments to help preserve and purify food for long-term storage during droughts.
Outside of the city-states, an entire village can invest in a single decanter of endless water to act as a wellspring for their farms. Beyond that, there is little magic.
Recently, since the agricultural boom, there have been advances in farming technology, mostly imported from Isoka and Yaiel.
Religion
Brasi is the epicenter of the Celestial Pantheon faith, and the religious practices of the Celestial faith permeates virtually every aspect of life in Brasi. Brasi has the highest density of temples and shrines per citizen of any nation except for potentially Atina.
There are many denominations of the Celestial faith in Brasi, including a few mystery cults of some aspect of one of the gods or their demiurges. Most citizens follow the entirety of the pantheon and have some god or demiurge as their personal patron deity they honor the most.
There are few practitioners of any other pantheon or group in the Hillit mythos. A few cults of the Cyclical Pantheon tends to birth and death rites and there are a few Aži cultists, especially those who honor Bahadur, who lives north of Narki.
Four city states house individual temples honoring principal gods. Allathra, the sun, is honored in the capital city Thol. Laetha, the red moon of community, is honored in Brun. Aalun, the white moon of judgement, is honored in the city of Narki. Corserei, the blue moon of knowledge, is honored in Phist.
Agriculture & Industry
Brasi has a booming agricultural industry. Major crops include wheat, barley, carrots, oranges, and pomegranates. The horse-breeding industry in Brasi is also growing rapidly with beautiful breeds. Camels and goats are other popular husbandry animals. Distinct raw materials produced in Brasi include flax, cotton-trees, and camel wool.
Brasi exports pottery, fine jewelry, and hand-scribed tomes. Brasiite artisans are known for their wonderful religious creations, including altars, sacred hearths, and ritual braziers. Aside from the faith-based exports, Brasi is known for beautiful mural work and mosaics.
Education
The Stoa is the primary source of education in Brasi. Within each of the city-states, the Stoa offers robust and deep educational programs for all of its citizens and children. Outside of the city-state walls, the Stoa has a much weaker presence and most education in towns and villages suffer for it.
Infrastructure
Brasi has five major city-states (Brun, Meini, Narki, Phist, Thol) and a wide range of smaller towns, villages, and nomadic tribes. The majority of citizens live within the walled city-states.
Each city-state has its own citizenship, which allows a sentient to own land, receive certain legal protections, and have the rights to run businesses. These citizenship privileges are highly prized and a child born within the walls of a city-state can earn citizenship when they reach adolescence (as appropriate of their race) if they perform an affirmation of faith in the Celestial pantheon. If the child is unable to complete the rites, they do not receive citizenship. An adult can earn citizenship through an expensive process.
City-states offer a very comfortable lifestyle. The walls protect from raids, bandits, and dangers that come from the dunes and plains. The streets are paved and smooth, the markets are full and lush, the water flows fresh and freely. Powerful priests are in the walls and able to dispense blessings, trade flows freely, and medica are available. With structured civilization comes crime, cramped living conditions, and the dangers of poverty.
For the Brasiites who live outside of city-state walls, life is very different. The small scope of guards and peacekeepers struggle to protect the populous from raids, bandits, and gnoll incursions. Things can come from the dunes, and these horrors can decimate a small town overnight. Most of the food is grown out here in massive irrigated farms, where a single magical source of water is the lifeblood of the farmer's entire living. Patrols are scattered on the trade routes, so many of the nomadic tribes that live in between city-states offer their services to protect the nearby towns.
Of course, citizenship doesn't stop people from trying to live in the protected walls of city-states. There are illegal communities in city-states that squat without the legal right of citizenship. These communities are expelled every few years, but they will often reform in months.
The citizenship has often seemed like a cruel system to other civilizations, especially Irita. Brasi justifies it because of how harsh the environment is. The massive city-states had to rely on magically sustained resources (like water) to support its population, but even magic has a capacity. A city-state has a limited capacity without spending a significant fortune to expand.
Since the end of the Boiling Sea, cooler and wet winds started to blow into Brasi. Much of the barren desert began to grow grasses and the non-city farmers found the previous arid climate wonderful for farming. With the climate change, the Brasiite farming industry is booming.
Type
Geopolitical, Theocracy
Capital
Alternative Names
Sacred Community of Brasi
Demonym
Brasiite (bra-seet)
Government System
Theocracy
Economic System
Barter system
Currency
Brasi follows the Standard Currency model.
Legislative Body
Brasi is lead by a tribunal of senior clergymen who decide methods on rule, law, and the direction of the country. A priest is allowed to be on the tribunal a total of three times and the tenure for the office is a six year term.
Every two years, one of the tribunal members tenure expires. All Brasiite priests are able to vote (with more weight given to higher ranked priests) on a new tribunal member to replace them.
Judicial Body
Each of the Brasiite city-states has its own court of ruling, but the Arbiter's Outpost largely runs the judicial system in Brasi. Individual city-states have their own dedicated peacekeeping force.
Official State Religion
Parent Organization
Location
Official Languages
Related Ethnicities
Comments