Empire of Prabai

The Empire of Prabai is a nation in the heart of West-Argo, that has a long history of being one of the most influential superpowers of the continent. It and it's Imperial Dynasty, the Arrakhaians have survived 2000 years of strife and tribulations, and it does not seem like they are going away any time soon.

The Seven Tribes of Prabai

Ever since its founding nearly two millennia ago, the Prabaiian Empire has been a union of countless different tribes. Although not technically tribes and more arbitrary groups of people who share cultural traits, they have ever since the founding been categorized into the "9 Tribes of Prabai", who although themselves consisting of many tribes, often share general territory, language, culture and customs. However, with the centuries the exact people that have made up the Empire has fluctuated, so that nowadays we only know seven tribes, with the Qarsharans and Aruli having seceded from the Empire, nowadays inhabiting the nations of Ishkerstan and Matarat respectably.

The current seven tribes are the Hé-ren, Nan-ren, Ulkhids, Malgük, Jureo, Daehan and Heqsizi.

Hé-ren

The most numerous of the peoples, the Hé-ren are a sedentary people that have made their home all long the Xaofang Jiejie and Jinsè Muqin rivers. The people have become almost synonymous with the nation in general to the outside world, to the point where the Hé-ren language is now commonly just called "Prabaiian". The people have a long history with both rice farming and city life, with the Hé-ren holding a military tradition of providing a steady supply of infantrymen to the Imperial Army.

Nan-ren

The sedentary people of the south, the Nan-ren were originally a part of the Hé-ren, although over many centuries living in the far south of the empire they have evolved into a people of their own. Avid merchants and sailors, the Nan-ren are famous for their shipbuilding as well as the operation of those ships. Unsurprisingly, they provide nearly the full might of the Prabaiian navy, as well as most of its merchant fleet.

Ulkhids

"The Tribe of the Emperor", the Ulkhids are most famous for being the tribe that the Arrakhid dynasty is a part of. They originally have been a nomadic tribe of bedouin horsemen, living in the inhospitable deserts of northern Prabai. Over the centuries after the founding of the Empire however, they gradually sedentarized, becoming members of the growing class of nobility. Nowadays, they nearly all live within the cities as often rich and noble families.

Malgük

The second of the truly nomadic tribes, the Malgük are the oldest allies of the ruling elite, although they have had some run-ins with each other over the centuries. The Malgük mostly live in the cooler western parts of middle and southern Prabai, being spread sparsely over the great steppelands that Prabai is famous for. They have long provided the Empire with both horses and their riders, with the skills of the Malgük in that regard only being surpassed with their skill with the bow, which creates a deadly combo. The Malgük people count many tribes that rose to international fame, such as the Jebgeh and Ykdür.

Jureo

Making their home in the east near the mountains held by Urunkhar, the Jureo are a sedentary people that have long adapted themselves to living in the forested highlands of middle-eastern Prabai. Miners, woodchoppers and hunters, the Jureo are a mostly poorer people. Their lands lack the large cities of the river lands, but also lack the terrain to make large scale herding of cattle possible, finding an equilibrium between the two in a society of many middle sized townships and cantons.

Daehan

The Daehan were once close relatives to the Jureo, yet where the Jureo moved higher up on the mountains, the Daehan moved into the wetlands, swamps and in some cases even on top of the many lakes that dot the large border region between Prabai and Matarat. The Daehan are mostly fishermen, although they have made a name for themselves as they have managed to find a knack for religious matters, with a disproportionately large percentage of the Daehan choosing their career path within the Temple of Gortor. Many of the nation's most famous inquisitors are Daehan, with two of the six Gortorian Orders being founded by them.

Heqsizi

Smallest of the Seven Tribes, the Heqsizi are a people that are rare nowadays to find. Where they once held large swaths to the south of Prabai, back when the great cities of the south were not as great as they are nowadays, the Heqsizi lived in the land nowadays called the Northern Yaghlab. However, over the centuries plagues and wars have made their number dwindle drastically, as nowadays the Heqsizi are only found within the far south-west of the nation. They traditionally have lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle, hewing houses from the caves but traveling between summer and winter to let their animals find new grazing grounds.

Geography and Provinces

With the empire sprawling over such a vast area of land, it is important to know that this land is not continuous in any way, not ethnically as has been explained, yet especially not geographically. As a matter of fact, Prabai is characterised by holding domination over each and every type of biome present in West-Argo in some extent. In combination with the ethnic dispersion across the realm, as well as natural border such as river basins, mountains and deserts, they form the Natural Internal Borders of Prabai. These have throughout the long history of the land functioned as it's primarily subdivisions, first as tribal dependencies, later shifting to feudal satrapy kingdoms and eventually into federal provinces. Typical of Prabaiian provinces is that due to the vast amounts of distance that often lies between them and the capital of Zhongsun, they have always had more local autonomy than feudal dependencies in other nations, such as the provinces of Vexan or the duchies of Urunkhar.

Structure

The Prabaiian Empire is structured around a heavily centralized imperial system, with an absolute monarch at its head. This autocratic figure, is the emperor. In Prabaiian government, the emperor is the supreme judge and lawgiver, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and primary designator of officials appointed to the top posts of the provinces, the military, and the bureaucracy. It is the responsibility of the emperor to govern effectively, and to provide the empire with prosperity, order and stability. Historically rulers who have failed in this duty do not last very long, and throughout history there have been dozens of coups, and civil wars to remove decadent and corrupt emperors. The emperor has almost always derived legitimacy, or their "right to rule" from the imperial religion Zōngjiào-Gorteer, with essentially every single one practicing some form of divine pact to the Prabaiian God, Gortor. This pairing of humanity with deity, like the first Emperor, Arrakha I did, elevates the emperor beyond mortality in the eyes of his subjects, and he is often treated with reverence and awe as a result. Ultimately, the emperor is the absolute head of both secular and religious life, answerable in theory to no one save Gortor himself.

The Imperial Bureaucracy

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The Bureaucracy

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Underneath the emperor there exist a number of branches within the empire, by which its government functions. The first and without a doubt largest of these branches, is the imperial bureaucracy. Originating with the foundation of the Prabaiian Empire in the year 0 AZ, the bureaucracy employs tens of thousands of tax collectors, treasurers, judges, scribes, administrators, guards, street cleaners, diplomats and acts in essence as the backbone of the state, upon which all systems rely.

The Eminent Minister

Being an old tribal rank later inplemented into imperial bureaucracy, the singular appointed adviser known as the Eminent Minister, having the leadership of the bureaucracy, has changed greatly since pre-imperial Prabai, millennia ago. At first, the management of the bureaucracy was overseen by three prominent officials, the Eminent Minister. Their roles here were in truth largely honorific and the Sand-King or Zhu maintained a very, very strong grasp on government as an absolute monarch. Generals, and magistrates as such, held far more raw power early on, holding the authority to command men, and territories in the Sand-King or Zhu's name.

Beginning with the founding of the Prabaiian Empire though, the position would see an increase in responsibly and authority. Overseeing specific elements of government, including the bureaucracy and provincial system, Eminent Minister became second only to the emperor in terms of official power. Magistrates, would onward receive their posting from the Eminent Ministers, or minister, as the position gradually became a singular one held by a single individual. In the modern age, the Eminent Minister is considered to be the most important and powerful of the emperor's countless advisers, and in the case of weaker emperors is often the true power behind the throne.

The official and primary responsibility of the Eminent Minister is drafting the imperial budget; however, his other duties include leading court conferences, acting as an overseer of the imperial court, receiving annual provincial reports and recommending nominees for high office. He can appoint officials below him, however, the emperor always reserves the right to reject these candidates. One of the few duties an Eminent Minister could not do without imperial approval from his emperor, was the declaring of war. This capacity was reserved exclusively for the emperor in all cases, including when said emperor was indisposed, since such a decision directly effected the order, stability and prosperity of the realm.

To overstep such a matter, and to illegitimately instigate a conflict would be treason of the highest degree, easily warranting the execution of said official. The role of Eminent Minister would for this reason be one of the utmost respect in the empire, given out to only the most trusted and loyal of the emperor's supporters. As a result, the pairing of emperor and Eminent Minister had often times been strong one, where the two were close friends, or relatives.

The Seven Ministries

Ranked below the Eminent Minister are the Seven Ministers, who each head a specialized ministry. The exact number of ministers and ministries has fluctuated over the many years of imperial history, with there being only four at the empire's foundation.

Ministry of Treasury

Ministry of Law

Ministry of Infrastructure and Construction

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Imperial Diplomatic Corps

Each of these four ministries would have increasingly specific sub departments, who's role it was to manage and govern over certain specializations.

Besides these four there would later be added three separate ministries, of which one would later be removed, and then re added.

Ministry of Disease Prevention

Ministry of Military Administration

Ministry of Prabaiian Culture

Bureaucracy and Corruption

These ministry officials would in time come to be incredibly powerful figures in government, with oversight disappearing during times of unrest, thanks to the vastness of the bureaucracy. Valuing familial bloodlines more than merit, these officials frequently appointed relatives to postings under them, or sold said positions to the highest bidder. As a result, the bureaucracy has by the modern age, suffered greatly from a plague of ineptitude, which permeates lower and mid tier levels of imperial government.

Because of this familial favoritism, a unique form of bureaucratic nobility has arisen in Prabai, that is absent in other lands across the world. Solidified around specific ministries and departments political dynasties control much of the bureaucracy, with their members appearing to behave in subservience to the emperor, while in the shadows, they plot to maintain and grow their stranglehold on government.

Corruption as a result, has been an ever present issue in the imperial bureaucracy, with its severity rising and falling through the ages as emperors chose to crackdown or ignore the misconduct occurring among their underlings. Embezzlement is without a doubt the largest of issues, as it is not uncommon for government officials to skim gains from either taxes or tariffs. The pilfering of pay rolls, and imperial funding for certain departments and ministries is also a major financial issue within Prabai, that has fluctuated in severity greatly over its long, tumultuous history.

The scope of influence maintained by these bureaucratic dynasties is what truly solidifies them as a problem for the empire. Possessing immense levels of power in government, alongside great wealth, their influence and ability to cause trouble for the emperor and Eminent Minister, allows these dynasties to push their family members into powerful provincial postings. This is major issue though, as it is one of the bureaucracy's many jobs to oversee and reign in the power of provincial magistrates. Without bureaucrats directly carrying out this job, and instead, directly escalating it by making their brothers, cousins and nephews the provincial rulers, regional dynasties have arisen on numerous occasions to directly threaten the emperor, and imperial stability.

This has proven exceptionally troublesome during periods of civil unrest, when ambitious dynasties have risen up in rebellion. Directly challenging the imperial government, their hopes have oftentimes been to either secede, or replace the ruling family with their own, and on many an occasions they have even been successful in such an endeavor. Of the countless dynasties that have ruled over Prabai, many have arisen in this manner, growing out of the very government they went on to overthrow. Many of these dynasties claim to be a relative of Arrakhai, the First Emperor. It is henceforth almost impossible to really know the true lineage of the Emperor.

One way the numerous years of Prabaiian Imperial rule have attempted to challenge this dilemma, is through brutal, and often times genocidal purges of the empire's administrative elite. Known as purges of the high bloods, such cullings are largely unheard of in the modern age, but are known to have occurred quite often during the the Second Age of Men as a means of efficiently solving the problem for a short while. In each case though, a successive wave of bureaucrats have been needed to replace the old, and for this reason the problem has always resurfaced after only a few generations.

Appearing to be endemic to the very nature of the empire, many in the current age view the issue as an unsolvable one, and a mindset of stagnation permeates the topic of bureaucratic reform. While a modern purge remains incredibly unlikely, the problem of bureaucratic dynasties and the corruption they induce remains an ever present dilemma for the modern Empire of Prabai.

The Ministry of Law and Court Systems

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The Ministry of Law acts as the main lawmaking body of the Empire, however both the Emperor, and Eminent Minister retain the power to do so as well. The Faith of Zōngjiào-Gorteer also holds some power to formulate law, known as canon law, however the enforcement of said law is only allowed within designated properties held by the religion's temples. In this respect, the Ministry of Law's main responsibility is not making laws, but the implementation, communication and enforcement of laws. For this reason it exists as another major ministry of the bureaucracy with hundreds of staff members on its payroll.

The Imperial Court: Acting as a sub department within the Ministry of Law, the Imperial Court is the highest court within the Prabaiian Empire, above which no case can go. Seeing no direct court case, all cases are undertaken for the purpose of hearing appeals drawn from the two sub courts, of the capital and the provinces. In this sense, a citizen dissatisfied with the ruling of his or her local court, can make an appeal to the Imperial Court to overrule the initial ruling. The usual reason for such an overruling is because of corruption on a provincial level. When uncovered corruption of this sort is heavily investigated by other sub departments of the Ministry of Law, with harsh punishments being met out on officials found guilty.

The Provincial Courts: Law in the provinces is managed by a number of centralized courts, all answering to the Ministry of Law. These courts are run at the behest of officials in the capital, however, the actual day to day management is undertaken by local officials who serve as lawyers, scribes, judges and administrators. The distance between them and the central basis of the Ministry in Zhongsun, however, has often allowed for corruption to seep into the system. For this reason the influence of local actors, as well as the state appointed magistrates, has often turned the provincial court system into a bit of a joke, where justice can be hard to find. As a result interference by the Imperial Court is often necessary to root out corrupt elements.

Law in the Capital: Law within the imperial capital of Zhongsun, is managed by a string of small courts, answering to the Ministry of Law. Operating largely like the Provincial Court System, the actual staffing is done by locals, with the role of judge being an appointed office by the Minister of Law. Unlike the Provincial Courts though, interference by the Imperial Court is often unnecessary, as judicial corruption is far less of an issue so close to the seats of governance.

Prabaiian Law and Justice

Prabaiian law is known across the world for being particularly harsh on criminals, and this is a direct result of Arrakha I's views on justice when he founded the empire. At its most basic, this ideology revolves around extreme efficiency, and stark utilitarianism taken to its absolute extreme. In Prabai, justice is not entirely a matter of fairness. Punishments are not scaled to the severity of a crime, innocents can be wrongfully judged as guilty, and ultimately the purpose of law, is not to provide fairness, but to maintain stability, and order. This has on many an occasions seen unspeakable horror be carried out in the name of justice, and the survival of the state, all to the benefit of the greater Prabaiian Empire.

There is a certain form of fairness in the Empire tho, through the means of The Lawbook of the Golden Lotus, wich is the semi-religious prime laws of the Empire.

Economy

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The Prabaiian Empire today exists as the wealthiest nation in the world, and is centered atop some of the most fertile soil anywhere on earth in the south regions. Because of this, its economy in the south is largely agriculturally based, with the bulk of its population making a living as farmers, or laborers. This, together with the north being a desert, makes the population of Prabai decentralised in nature, and exept a few smaller city's in the north, the most of the larger city's are down south, next to the sea.

The Prabaiian Empire furthermore spans a massive amount of territory, which allows it access to a diverse, and lucrative number of valuable natural resources. Because of this the empire today wants for little. The only large sotcomming of the Empire lies in timber, having no larger forrest after the loss of the northern lands, now belonging to the Kingdom of Vexan. Furthermore, Prabaiian dominance over the Salt Coast's salt trade have left it the controller of a vital resource, that supplies much of West-Argo.

Mercantilism

The imperial economy of Prabai revolves around the idea of mercantilism, where in it is the goal of the imperial government to maximize exports and minimize imports. To achieve this, it has become the policy of the empire to assert its control over regions (militarily if needed), that while culturally foreign, hold significant natural resources. The reason behind, this as stated, is to minimize the need of Prabaiian citizens or their government, to look outside imperial borders for vital resources like lumber, salt or precious metals.

Prabaiian Military

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Make-up of the Imperial Military Since the reign of Arrakha I, millennia ago during the first era of the Empire, Prabai has kept a standing professional army. Originally maintaining a small elite force, of well trained and well equipped warriors, the older style used by Arrakha I proved perfect for a rapid conquest of rebel tribes, but was quickly revealed to be hopelessly undermanned for the defense of such a vast state as the Empire. Arrach II, Arrakha I's son and successor, solved this dilemma by massively expanding the empire's armed forces, while in turn reducing the expense of each individual soldier. While this new force was qualitatively worse than that of his father it was much better at garrisoning the numerous settlements and border regions of the empire.

Large, cheap, but still professional would be the style of Prabaiian armies for most of history. Soldiering, would become a profession after this reform of the imperial military, with it serving as a career path for both the common folk and the bureaucratic elite. While the armed forces are a highly meritocratic organization, with few obstructions existing to bar commoners from career progression, there are none the less a number of unofficial factors which bar the average Prabaiian from the heights of military power.

Since ancient times, the majority of the populus of Prabai have lived in nomadic villages, traveling far over the vast empire in chase of food for their livestock. Being nomads, the majority of the Prabaiian people were able to ride a horse from a very young age. That made the Prabaian Cavalry Orginasation (Fu Erekh) by far the largest military branch in the Empire, with only small infantry and engineer cores, mostly filled with the people from the city's and forreign mercenairy's.

The Governmental Branch

Wholly separate from the imperial bureaucracy, the military wing of the Prabaiian government has historically been under the direct leadership of the emperor. Acting as the commander in chief, all military matters are the emperor's concern, with every soldier, officer and general swearing an oath of loyalty to him.

The Eminent Minister for example, has no authority over the imperial armed forces, at any time, under any circumstance. His only actual capacity to influence and interact with the military is as such, through the Ministry of Military Administration, by which the payroll and general logistics system are handled.

Below the emperor reside a number of military officials and commanders, who are collectively known as the Imperial War Council. It is the job of these men to manage the armed forces, and lead specific armies at the emperors appointment in times of war. There is no set limit on how many commanders can be within the War Council, though it generally varies between five and twenty men. The purpose of this council is to advise and receive instruction from the emperor and it generally meets on a weekly basis to discuss matters of imperial security.

Besides the Imperial War Council, three postings within the military reign preeminently over geographic areas. These figures outrank other commanders, answering solely to the emperor, but do not have any influence over who resides at the War Council, nor can they appoint their subordinates. Instead these duties are left in the hands of the emperor as a means of maintaining his authority over potential rivals from the military. These three positions are the High Commander of the Desert (高沙漠指揮官: Gāo shāmò zhǐhuī guān), High Commander of the Coast (高海岸指揮官: Gāo hǎi'àn zhǐhuī guān) , and the High Admiral (海軍上將: Hǎijūn shàng jiàng).

Currency and Finance

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Currency

The Prabaiian Empire operates on a coinage system based around the silver fi, which has acted as the official standardized currency since the founding Prabaiian Empire when it was implemented by Arrakha I. Prior to this reform coinage existed in Prabai for an untold span of time, but was not uniform, with every tribe minting their own distinct coinage, out of silver, gold, copper or in some rare cases even wood or clay. Arrakha I would change this by making the production and minting of coins by anyone other than the imperial government an illegal act, punishable by death. Furthermore, Arrakha I made the fi the imperial base coin upon which both a half, and quarter coin (called the bánfi and kéfi) would operate.

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Minting

The main production of these three coins occurs at one of three silver mints situated throughout the empire; Zhongsun, Darakeer and Beîbeî.

Furthermore, of these mints, Beîbeî serves, and has always served, as the primary minting location for the empire. Estimated as the origin of over half of all the coins in circulation by the year 91 AZ, the reason for Beîbeî's primacy stems from its dominance over silver mining operations in the empire's east.

One Prabaiian Fi

Like the Fi, the Bánfi and Kéfi were both minted in silver, and weighed to their appropriate worth in relation to the base coin.

Public Agenda

Uniting the world under one banner of men.

Demography and Population

Prabai has always been a mostly by humans controlled area since they first came down The Arterpjêker in 1AAA. After the rise of Arrakha I and his crowning this became even more extreme, since the strict anti-magic laws of the Prabaiians made it that many of the naturally more magic inclined Eldar soon left to places like Xulde and the current land of the Kingdom of Vexan. Still there are some Eldar under the populus. Only not many.

The average lifespan in the Empire of Prabai really depends where in the Empire you look, most humans in Zhongshun can become quite old, 55, 65, even 75 is an age that exists somewhat commonly here. On the other side in the nomad camps in the deserts few people ever reach half that age.

我們將站崗:

"We Ever Stand Guard"

Maps

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  Prabai and it's Provinves

The Holy Banner of Arrakha, until the instalment of the Imperial Flag of Prabai at the end of the 9th century AE, this banner served as the unofficial state flag.

Founding Date

23 Shàng bàn (Tophelf) 1AZ

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Capital

Zhongsun

Alternative Names

Prabai

Demonym

Prabaian

Head of State

Emperor Kuruckai XII

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Federation

Currency

Fi

Legislative Body

After an Emperor of Prabai (title) has passed. The nine Kings of the Desert reunite to choose the next emperor in a meeting called the ''Hūlǐlēitái''. This Emperor then rules the country by appointing new judges, new senators and makes new laws. This new Emperor can change all the laws in the Empire at own will, except those written in The Lawbook of the Golden Lotus . Since those were written by Emperor Arrakha I himself and are thereby holy.

Judicial Body

The by Emperor chosen judges.

Related Ranks & Titles

• Emperor of Prabai (title)

Controlled Territories

• The Great Desert
• Zhongsun

Neighboring Nations

• Kingdom of Vexan
• Republic of Thenos
• Taifa of Thar Ladur
• The Republic of Xulde

Manufactured Items

• Prabaiian Horsebow

Related Items

• Sword of the First

Notable Members

• Emperor Arrakha I
• General Xiang Guanyu

Related Species

• Humans

Related Ethnicities

• Ulkhids

Prabai during the Post-Equilibric Age

After the Great Argoan War of 145 to 168PB, Prabai and Vexan reigned victorious, having gained glory, land gains and each other's friendship. In the following years, Prabai went through a large economic boom, which saw many of the historically poorer classes elevated in wealth, with the middle class becoming way more powerful than before. This led to a gradual shift in the nation from absolute monarchy to a constitutional one. In the 40s AE, the emperor officially stepped down from politics, although he still has the right to veto laws passed by the Imperial Diet, no emperor has ever used it since.

Prabai, being a deeply conservative nation, has never had a major Yellow Scare from the rising Syntecratic movements like many other nations of the time had, syntecratic movements being purely reserved for the social outcasts in the empire. This in turn has led to a way easier transition to democracy than for instance in Vexan, with progressive politics being always in the minority, but never shunned from conversation.

Prabai lies as a largely decentralized federation of autonomous provinces loyal to the ideals of the Empire, never before as wealthy, or as unified behind the national flag.