Ekzieth

Ekzieth is ruled by The Eternal Pharaoh its god-emperor. This ancient empire is centered on a great river flowing through a desert. The heartland sits on the banks of the great river and four border marches surround it. Three of the border marches are vassal kingdoms and the last is an autonomous province.
Ekzieth is slow to change and its culture and traditions remain largely the same as in centuries past, but recent decades have seen an increase in trade with the outside world and subtle changes in the minutiae of the Pharaoh's worship and rituals.
The Border Marches There are four border marches in the Eternal Pharaoh’s empire. Three are vassal kingdoms that protect the heartland to the south, northwest and northeast. The open desert protects against the east and west.
The southern march is larger than the other three combined and is about a third of the size of the heartland. It is a large sparsely-populated arid tropical grassland beyond the desert.
The northeastern march is smallest march. It is centered around a number of fortress towns in a small range of low but steep mountains.
The northwestern march is a rocky desert with surprising number of artesian wells. The people here are semi nomadic. A minority of artisan live in settlements by the wells but the rest are herders.
The last march is an autonomous province called Abyloth. The march sits on the delta of the great river where the river flows into the sea. It protects the heartland against invaders from the sea. The empire’s navy is controlled by this march.
The capital of Abyloth is is the city of Herakarat . Herakarat is a great cosmopolitan city and the largest trade entrepôt in the region.
Population The Ekzeithian heartland has population of seven million. Herakarat is one of the largest cities in the world at half a million people. Rural Abyloth has another million. The other border marches have a combined population of one million. Giving Ekzeith a total population of nine and a half million.
Ordinary Life The subjects of the Pharaoh are expected to honour their ancestors back five generations.. They are also expected to raise another generation. To assist the subjects there is a large number of official-priests that will guide, heal, and judge them. While there is corruption, the Pharaoh takes a particularly dim view of corrupt officials. There are a number of folk tales of times when the Pharaoh has acted against a corrupt official directly. In these stories, the corrupt official is invariably destroyed in a gruesome fashion.
Life is quite ritualized and the law is strict and mostly fair. Life for the workers and peasants is structured and clear. The great river and the inundation makes life as a peasant fairly prosperous compared to most other lands.
If you are ordinary then the Pharaoh will give you an ordinary life. The ambitious and the eccentric have a few options. Becoming a official-priest, joining the military, or moving to the border marches all allow ways to be different. Particularly, Herakarat is a bohemia for the entire empire.
Death The people of Ekzeith believe that the Eternal Pharaoh rules not just the land of the living but also the land of the dead. To the Ekzeithians, the land of the dead is just another province of the Ekzeith.

Type

Geopolitical, Empire