Despotate of Ash

The Despotate of Ash is Iodax's newest and potentially most dynamic nation, but to call it such belies its fractious nature and the fragility of it as a coherent whole. Exploding onto the scene less than forty years ago, uncountable hordes of orcs swept across the plains of north-eastern Easton, plunged through the forests that traditionally kept them separate from the west, and threatened to push all before them into the sea. It was the equally barbaric forces of the Norska and the sudden intervention of the Sindair that kept them bounded in the east, but it seemed like nothing could prevent their westward expansion until, unbelievably, they seemed to run out of energy. Their push became less and less manic, until an uneasy halt settled across the plains. Raids and battles still occur with alarming frequency, and the nations that were once in their path are quickly setting up defences and building their armies for the resumption of the onslaught, but for now it seems that the orcs are sated. Although no one expects this to last.

Structure

The Despotate of Ash is led by the Great Despot herself, Moul the Colossal, a semi-legendary figure who claimed to have channelled Gruumsh One-eye, orc god of Destruction himself. Through some unknown means, Moul gathered the orc tribes together into a single entity and forged them into a cohesive whole, pushing out the boundaries of orcdom in a frenzy of conquest Iodax had never seen. Instead of the numerous orc tribes spending all their energies fighting each other as much as their neighbours, there are now just seven great clans, each one led by one of Moul's lieutenants, and each one on a single minded purpose to conquer all the lands before them. However Moul has done it, through magic, threats or pure charisma, the orcs stopped fighting each other and turned outwards.
The new clan structure is showing its cracks, however; the old tribal structure was an inherent part of orc culture since the dawn of time, and orcs are not known for their easy acceptance of change. Without a direct guiding force from Moul or her seconds, intra-clan fighting grows more and more frequent as the orcs jostle for dominance. Only when authority is reasserted does the infighting stop, and conquest resume.
West of the Easton mountains, the Clan structure is less apparent, with forces consisting of more than one clan in an area. Whilst this led to rapid expansion initially, as the invasion forces did not have to stop to integrate orc tribes, in-fighting is far more frequent and with the apparent halt to the expansion, tribal politics is replacing the clans previously in charge.
Rumour abounds that Moul herself has died. Indeed, she would be very old for an orc if still alive, and unlikely to be able to fend off a challenger. The death of the Great Despot would certainly cause some disruption to her Empire, and her underlings would struggle to assert the control she has over the orcs.

Type

Geopolitical, Tribe

Alternative Names

The Great Orc Horde

Demonym

Ashian

Leader

Moul The Colossal

Government System

Despotism

Neighboring Nations

• The Commonwealth of Tredonia