Mattiha river valley

Elements: formerly blood; creatures that need blood - leech, mosquito, bat ; iron; lacking water.
in Caracar there was once a powerful empire that dominated the lands along the coast of the Bindkelp Sea long before the Supplicancy rose to power. A river of blood ran through their homeland, and the life that lived there relied on that blood in the same way as life elsewhere needs water or food. But something happened, and now the land is dry iron peaks. The inhabitants - Mattihans - either died or (in the case of a few aristocrats) spilled out into surrounding areas, becoming monsters, their civilisation splintered.
Mattiha is a contemporary name for the region; it is not the name used by the natives.

Civilisation and Culture

Mattihan civilisation was obsessed with two things: professional roles, and who was allowed to occupy them. these roles were inherited, with social mobility being very low. most people went by their job-role as their honorific and day-to-day name where possible.
Hierarchy of Mattihan civilisation:

• slaves
• crude workers and base thinkers
• fine workers and high thinkers
• rulers: these typically lived for millennia where not seen off by dynastic jockeying, creating extremely slow social change.

the architecture of Mattiha embraces the tiered mound - a vast mound stepped cone of earth, either formed around a natural hill of rock or iron or on flat ground, upon which successive layers of habitation are constructed. a sign both of the irregular and immense floods of the river and the highly stratified culture, these structures started as refuges from the blood-floods, but became ever more stratified, with rules about who could go to which levels.
originally the various cities along the valley were capitals of separate kingdoms, but the land was gradually united through conquest that eventually turned outwards. as early as 6000 LF, the Mattihans had established dominion over Ranaskai; their empire eventually stretched from the shore of the Bindkelp Sea to The Srem, north to Delunustri peaks, and southwards to its border with the dominion of Unathyr's Garden.

Military

Warfare is shaped by a exsanguination - blood-draining magic that works at range, over a certain (smallish) area, and weakens and kills over the course of a few minutes. Mattihan armies relied on these techniques to expand their empire, using massive, static pike-blocks to "turtle" as the blood-loss exhausted their opponents before counter-attacking for a crushing victory. For infantry units, the best counter-tactic was not to wear armour - mass missile fire being uncommon in this era anyway - and operate in skirmish units that could scatter to leave the exsanguination zones.
In the latter days of the Empire, as resources dwindled, internal division grew and cases of mattihan-on-mattihan fighting became more common, and these tactics became the predominant form of Mattihan armies - sword-and-shield skirmishing units supported (as the phalanxes before them) by chariots, tamed iron pinions, and exsanguinators.
questions:

• colours associated with class or role?

Geography

The geography of Mattiha has changed drastically over the ages, divided into two periods: ancient and modern.
Ancient:
the east of Mattiha is craggy uplands of pure iron where, in the past, rains of blood frequently fell, forming many tributaries that congealed together into the great Mattiha river that flowed, eventually, into the Bindkelp Sea. Along its course a thriving ecosystem and civilisation grew up, reliant on the river for its wealth. away from the course of the river, the land was dry and barren.
Modern:
After the creation of Highwater by Unathyr caused The Great Essence Shift across the centre of the region that would become known as Caracar, changing many regions and ecosystems. A gradual drying of the upland regions of Mattiha reduced the rain of blood, in turn lessening the flow of the Mattiha river and the death of the ecosystems that relied on it. Civilisation collapsed in the region, with the vast majority of inhabitants dying and only a few of the most privileged or lucky escaping.
Now, the bare iron peaks and desiccated soils of Mattiha are a pale shadow of their former fecundity, inhabited only by outcasts and renegades, crossed in a few places by the few souls foolhardy enough to brave the lingering blood-drinking beasts or the Iron Pinions circling overhead. the exception to this is a few places in the eastern borders, where the rich iron is extracted. there are occasional treasures, such as Beasts of Thirsting Iron, which are uncovered from this place and traded as curios.

Fauna & Flora

The ecosystem of Mattiha was dominated by the flow of blood. the great Mattiha river flowed with blood, which was enough to barely sustain life, but not enough to maintain health. That source-blood needed to be enriched by flowing through plants or animals, replicating the effects of a conventional ecosystem.
Specific creatures - especially those that have survived Mattiha's collapse.

• Phlebotamus - bloodsucking hippos.
• Mosquito-wolves
• Iron Pinions - living iron creatures with leech-like bodies and bat-like wings. deadly predators.
• blood-bees

Location under

Caracar

Related Ethnicities

• Mattihan

Related Historical Events

• 3800 LF
  Mattiha Runs Dry
• 4102 LF
  Birth of The Silversmith
• 6006 LF
  Mattiha Conquers Ranaskai