Harems of Almira

Written by Drackzahn

Be humble with your wish and don't forget to praise the beauty of the genie. If she is in a good mood, you can receive many blessings depending on your wish. But if you are too cooky, demanding, or insulting the genie in any way, prepare to receive nothing but a playful prank in return. This nation is theirs and we are their people.

Almira is a magical nation led by powerful genies and located in the delta of the Konos River surrounded by deserts. They are an open society that heavily relies on magic and wishes granted by the genies. Their far-off position allows them to be a peaceful and wealthy nation that mostly concentrates on themselves and ignores the big events of the rest of the continent.

Structure

Genies are the ruling class in the nation and are the only ones in leadership positions. Each big city of the nation is named by the ruling genie, often the founder of the city. These genie majors are called Wali and each has a big circle of advisors around them. These advisors are selected by the genie herself and are often also part of their personal harem. Most of these advisors are selected based on their knowlegde, skills and reputation in the city, but the personal taste of the genie also plays a role in the selection process. The ruler of the capital city Almira is leading the Circle, into which each Wali sent a representation. The Circle is the government of the nation. Most daily decisions and politics that affect the life of the citizens are taken by the Wali for their cities and towns. Under this fall

• Taxes
• Citizenship
• Trade
• Construction and Infrastructure
• Court and Security

The Circle is responsible for nationwide politics and has their main focus on:

• Agriculture and Food Distribution
• Military and Defense
• Foreign Relationships

Culture

Magic and Wishes

Magic, especially the one from genies, is a major factor in the culture of the nation. Many citizens are Pink Mist Infused and able to use Magic in one way or the other. This means that nearly all daily activities are affected by magic. On farms, mages with affection for growing magic or magic that allows them to drive off harmful insects are as common as illusion mages who entertain the population with their shows in the central areas of the cities. Most life in general takes part inside the major cities, while outside, there are mostly only farms or little garrisons. Those who have done good deeds are often granted access to one of the many genies and with that, the permission to let them grant wishes. These wishes are a core aspect of the culture and an honor to receive. Due to their gratefulness towards the genies from the general population, these wishes are often very tame and include things like a long life, health for family members, success in the next trade operation, or the simple wish for a happy life. In many cases, the genies who fulfill these wishes do it in a playful way, including little pranks in the fulfillments. For those, who are too daring with their wishes, the genies trick them and fulfill the wish in ways that the maker of the wish had not thought of before. The greatest honor for a normal citizen is to be allowed to wish to become a genie themselves. This is granted to people who have done great deeds for the city, nation, or the population itself.

Harems

Another big difference to many other cultures is the focus on polygamy. The creation of harems is very common in the nation, especially from powerful mages or by the genies. Most of these harems are focussed around love, affection, and lust, but also include knowledge and the ability to advise the powerful figure at the center of the harem. Most harem members are not only taken in because of their looks or their personality but also because of their skills. The harems do not only fulfill the aspect of families but also of small companies. Most citizens are part of a harem and live together with them. That resulted in far fewer small buildings in the cities and led to the construction of many little palace-like structures with many rooms and central areas for all harem members to share with each other.

Role of Women and Men

In the eyes of the law, men and women are equal, yet all can clearly see which group dominates. Most powerful positions in politics, economy, and daily life are taken by women, while men are only dominant in the military. Most harems are led by women, while men often play a submissive role.

History

The nation's history is deeply connected with the old Theocracy of Atlantis and its fall 500BC. Genies were slaves in the old Atlantean culture and were used to increase the living standards for the rulers of the ancient nation. After the destruction and fall of the nation, most genies were able to shake off their shackles and flee from their former masters and slave-binding magics. The genies, which were always in contact with each other due to their magic, formed small circles around their most powerful members. This process took several hundred years and finally led to the idea that these circles should settle all in the same region to protect each other and form a community. The delta of the Konos River, the longest river of Atlanesis, was the area that was selected by Almira, the most powerful of the genies.
In 912, the city of Almira was founded, and with it, the Harems of Almira. The security and stability that the powerful genie alliance brought into the region was a strong pull factor for many who fled the civil wars of the central continental powers. Over the following centuries, powerful genies followed the example of their leader Almira, and founded the major cities of the nation. While the genies stayed the dominant power in the nation, many others soon settled in the area and submitted to the genie rule. With more people and more cities, the trade and economy also began to flourish. The nation began to lure in merchants from all over the continent and trade routes were created. This growing trade flow came into the focus of another young nation of the area, the Free Syl pirates. At first, it was only a few ships that were attacked and plundered, yet over the years 1222 to 1261, the situation became worse and worse. For many merchants, it simply became too costly to pay off their sailors from the Siren pirates and to lose their cargo on every second ship. The genies had little interest in the trade routes themselves, as they were focused on their harems and their cities only. So the merchants took the situation into their own hands and formed a pact with Free Syl. A new city was found, Baranmara and all ships who would sail to, or leave the city would pay a toll to the pirates in exchange for a safe travel.

Demography and Population

The majority of the population lives within the major cities of the nation. Around 80% of all inhabitants live within the cities, while the remaining 20% are spread thin over the farms and military outposts outside of the cities. The population counts around 1.5 million people, most of them Humans. Humans make up around 90% of the population, and the Bottle Genies around 2%. The remaining population is a wild mix of many different humanoid species like Sirens, Nekos or Sylvan Elves. The majority of the population is able to wield magic on a basic level, while many even are able to use mid-level magic. The population grows slowly but steadily, mostly as most citizens are part of big harems.

Military

The small military of Almira is an elite force, specialized in operating in groups instead of big squats. It is split into three forces: The Palace Guards, the Altin, and the Free Corps. Near all members of the military are non-genies and serve a local genie. The genies are seen as masters and mistresses and their commands are followed.

Palace Guards

The main guardians of the cities and the police force at the same time. They uphold the order and are operating inside the cities and their territories. Most palace guards never leave their city during work times and are patrolling the streets. They are clothed in light leather armor with a short sword, which allows them to fight in alleys and tight areas. Most palace guards are female and excellent fighters. They fight as battlemages at the frontline and use spells to buff themselves. Palace guards who are not patrolling often also carry a small spear, around one and a half meters in length. The weapon is mostly used to block entrances to doors or to hold attackers at a distance. They operate in groups of 3 in most cities. The Palace guards are directly under the command of the local genie Wali.

Altin

The Altin are the elite force of the Almira military. They are all powerful mages who operate in small groups of 5 to 20 soldiers. During peacetimes, they are used to patrol the outer areas of the nation, often along the border, and prevent the monsters of the sea and the desert from intruding into the nation. Due to their powerful abilities, they are also often used as agents behind enemy lines or as spies. Each Altin group has its own weaponry and armor, depending on the kind of mission they have received. Elegant robes are most common, in which they hide all kinds of magical devices that they have either constructed themselves or received from their genie masters. These Magitech devices are the trump cards of the Altin and the absurd variety of them makes each Altin soldier unpredictable in a fight.

Free Corps

The simple people of Almira often form small militias, the Free Corps. These armies are rooted in their local area, often smaller villages that are too far off the cities to be protected by the palace guards. They are simple people who uphold the law in the best way they are able to. Their typical equipment includes spears and simple leather armor. Most of the free corps are of adventurous spirit or with a strong wish to guard their homes together. Most free corps operate near the borders of the nation. The individual soldier is not a powerful fighter, yet their strength lies in their numbers and the knowledge about their home territory, in which they often lay traps to lure potential enemies into them.

Technological Level

Almira is known for its magic and the knowledge that the genies have collected for centuries. It is one of the few nations that are able to create new magic tools and even export them into the world. Their technology in most kinds of magic is nearly unmatched on the continent. But what they have in advance in magic, is countered by their weak remaining technological progress. Their society still fights with spears and simple short-swords and their buildings are rarely higher than two floors. Their farms depend on yearly floods and farm animals instead of machines or higher kinds of tools. Mass production in general is nearly non-existent inside the nation, each item is uniquely made by someone. Their dependence on magic is high and it slows down all other kinds of technological progress of their nation.

Religion

The people in Almira often praise their local genies as their divine guardians and mistresses. A typical commoner will see genie magic at least once per year, which increases the idea that the genies are their rulers and worthy of their prayers and faith. Most genies allow these small workship cults and often even support them by granting wishes for the most faithful followers of themselves. These cults are generally referred to as Genie Venerations. Besides these cults of genies, some still know the ancient tales of the genie goddess Selysti . The faith in the ancient goddess is strong in the higher harems of society and especially under the genie population far spread. They pray to their powerful, but broken goddess and hope that one day, she will be restored and visit the genie nation of Almira.

Foreign Relations

The relationship with the Free Syl pirates is complex and cold. While trade between both nations brings them wealth, the constant pirate raids from the Syl pirates are a trigger for reactions from the genies as well. The Wali distrust the pirates and only interact with them if they must.
The free city of Baranmara was founded by merchants from Almira and has tight relationships with the genie nation. Almira sees itself as the protector of Baranmara but also uses the unique deals that the merchants have with the Syl pirates for trade with other nations.

Laws

The laws are made mostly by the local genies, the Wali. They decide about taxes, property, and law of employment and decide about potential punishments. In Almira, it is common behavior that the harem's master or mistress (from now on only mentioned as mistress) is present during trials for their members. If the genie allows, the mistress of the harems may punish their family member in whatever way they see it fit. Then the Wali decides if the punishment was enough and in the case that it wasn't, the mistress receives also a punishment from the Wali. This results in the common that most small crimes are punished inside the harems and are not brought to the Wali. The mistress of the harem may also decide to outcast their criminal member, in which case the Wali takes over the custody and often does the punishment. In this case, the mistress of the harem is never punished, as they have already lost a family member this way.
There are many different forms of punishments in Almira and most revolve around the possibilities of the harem. In harems without a genie, typical punishments are imprisonment inside the harem's buildings or certain rooms, or the punishment by doing more chores than they normally would have to do. Such a non-genie mistress may also go to a friendly genie and ask them for help with the punishment. In rare cases, this may also done directly by the Wali. If a genie is included in the punishment, then often magic is part of it. Typical punishments are encasing in magical bubbles at local places or the transformation into an item for a set duration. Genies who break the law are also often forbidden from using their abilities during the punishment periods.
The heaviest punishment someone can receive in Almira is the Enbottlement. The person will be trapped inside a magical bottle, in which the flow of time and space are distorted. The feeling for the own body is lost and the person is often left alone with only their thoughts and an endless blackness around them. This punishment is rarely given out and most often only for a short duration of mere weeks or at most years. The typical criminal who receives this punishment is a genie hunter, someone who tries to enslave a genie with a magical device.

Agriculture & Industry

Due to the river Konos and the yearly floodings that its waters bring the nation, the farms in Almira are able to produce more than enough food to sustain the population. This strong dependency on the river Konos is the biggest strength and weakness of the nation's food supply. The farms also often receive help from local mages or even genies to increase their production, but not even the vast magic of the nation would be able to sustain the farms without the river's water. The farms are mostly operated by big farmer harems without a genie at the center, but commoners who farm in their lands for generations.
The nation has no known mineral veins or other natural resources. Their wealth is based on their strong merchant harems and the trade connections with Baranmara. They mostly make money with the exotic products of the nation, which are in high demand in noble circles of the northern nations of the continent. Besides these, they also sell magical devices, often called Magitech, even though most are just items that were enchanted by genie magic.

Education

The education system in Almira is obscure and unequal. It is an ancient system in which your education is given by the members of the harem you grew up in. Depending on the harem, the wealth of it, and the jobs they work in, the quality of this education is vastly different. Children who grow up in the farmlands around the city often only receive the most basic education in terms of writing and calculating, while most of their training is focussed on the correct time to sow and harvest. The best education is given by harems who have a genie as their mistress or master, as these are often able to educate their children with the knowledge of centuries. Most children do not receive a broad education, but only those that they require for their later jobs. Inside the cities, some bigger and more wealthy harems often allow children of neighboring houses, or friends of them to also visit their classes.

Wish is Wish

Founding Date

912

Type

Geopolitical, Magocracy

Capital

Almira

Alternative Names

Genie Cities

Demonym

Almiran

Government System

Magocracy

Power Structure

Feudal state

Economic System

Palace economy

Gazetteer

• Almira
• Misara
• Alkara
• Pekrina
• Alenira
• Nikara
• Bamira
• Lakara
• Sitra

Currency

Alm

Major Exports

• Magic Tools
• Preserved Food, especially dried exotic fish

Major Imports

• Metals
• Jewelry
• Pinkerid

Legislative Body

Wali and the Circle

Judicial Body

Wali

Executive Body

Palace Guards of the Wali

Subsidiary Organizations

• Harem of Kari

Location

Atlanesis

Official Languages

• Barakara
• Low Atlanteanish

Related Ranks & Titles

• Wali

Neighboring Nations

• Free Syl
• Grov
• Holy Queendom of Kete
• Scales of Sess

Notable Members

• Kari Abdenila Atlanos

Related Species

• Bottle Genie
• Human