Of the Exotic Near West

THE GREAT BURNZINED SULTANATE

     The largest and most powerful land in the Near West is undoubtedly the Burnzined Sultanate. Its name stems from the ruling Sultan, Mezhemet the II of the long standing Burnzined dynasty. His family has sat on throne for more than twenty generations. The Sultanate has existed as an absolute monarchy since the unification of the realm under Gazim the Magnificent. The Sultanate is united by two things, the common belief in the Creator of Mankind, and the belief that the Sultan is his messenger on this plain. Sultan Gazim the Magnificent was able to unite the different kingdoms that make up the Sultanate today by proving his divine sovereignty through conquest. Since that time the Sultanate has been relatively peaceful, suffering only intermittent bouts of war with their Northern neighbors the Kingdom of Kashkar.

     Despite the peaceful history of the Burnzined Sultanate, the kingdom has always maintained a standing army of a significant strength known as the Jamayzhed. The policy stems from one of Gazim the Magnificent's decrees. The standing army of the Sultanate is comprised of orphans who after being sold to the Sultanate as slaves must spend their entire life as soldiers until they are killed in service or become too feeble to perform their duties. The system has endured the many reforms and technological developments with little change.

     In more recent years a system for levying troops has come to be in order to augment the standing army and ensure that the Northern border remains secure against ever mounting attacks from Kashkar bandits. Most levy troops are drawn from the farmers and foresters who populate the central Sultanate. These men are paid a sum of one ducat per year of service and rarely serve more than two years. While not as well trained as the Jamayzhed they are more easily replaced and often armed with more modern arms. It is likely that these levies will be needed more and more in the future.

A levy soldier armed with an
arquebus.

     The peace provided by the strong armies of the Sultanate have allowed trade and farming to flourish within the kingdom. The lands are fertile and starvation is not common among those able to work. Trade is taxed heavily but the revenues collected are often reinvested into the towns and cities of the Sultanate. This has resulted in most cities being large, clean, and filled with state sponsored schools and hospitals. A high value is placed on education and classical knowledge, but technology is not quickly adopted in the lands of the Sultanate. Most cities boast engineering colleges but those engineers are put to work maintaining and enlarging buildings, not inventing unusual contraptions. Gunpowder is widely accepted by the population of the Sultanate, however most Jamayzhed refuse to arm themselves with it seeing it as a way to wrap ones physical weakness in alchemical strength.

     One notable exception to the Burnzined aversion to technology is the Sultan's War Balloon Fleet. Having been established under Sultan Mustafah the Mad the airborne ships proved invaluable in repulsing the attacks of the Sardindada Pirates. Every year the victory over the pirates is celebrated across the Sultanate with the release hundreds of small balloons from the many coastal towns and cities.

     It's unclear what the future holds for the Burnzined Sultanate. The Sultanate has been threatened more and more by outside dangers, and during the reign of the previous Sultan Bahram the Lethargic most diplomatic efforts were halted as a cost cutting technique. His nephew and ruling Sultan Mezhemet the II has made several efforts and expanding the Sultanates foreign influence and trade. It is even whispered that he may have designs on conquering nearby lands in a bid to restore some of his families lost honor. If this is true the Sultanate might be headed for a long and turbulent reign under the young Mezhemet the II.

THE HARDY MEN OF THE KASHKAR MOUNTAINS

     The other notable land in the Near West is the Kingdom of Kashkar. Who the reigning king of the Kashkar is depends on who you ask. In the Northern Kashkar Dahbis Zandri proclaims himself the King and is widely supported, while in the Southern Kashkar Zibmeht the Blood Sodden rules with an iron fist. Within the lands of the Burnzined Sultanate they say that the men of the mountains have no true king and that they are little more than bandits. All this aside the Kashkar people are fierce warriors determined to govern themselves and their homeland as they see fit.

     Unlike the Sultanate to their South the Kashkar have no god, they instead see the natural world as simply a place to inhabit. They believe themselves no different than the animals that live beside them. This extreme difference is belief is often a source of conflict between the two peoples. They view war and crime as legitimate enterprises and good ways to elevate oneself from poverty, this also creates much conflict for the people of the Kashkar Mountains.

     The Kashkar Mountains are arid and difficult to farm, but their are a few valleys famed for their fertility and blessed with fast flowing rivers. These rare environments are highly prized and often the sight of conflict among the Kashkar people. The towns that exist in these valleys are guarded by civilian militias and usually swear allegiance to a local warlord or King. In this time of unrest it is not uncommon for a town to be sworn to both King Zandri and King Zibmeht in the hopes of staving off attack.

A Kashkar footman.

     The poverty of the Kashkar people makes their views towards technology pointless. Even if they wanted to embrace the new inventions of the day they simply don't have to means to make or buy them. It is not uncommon however for particularly successful bandit chiefs to have some or most of their men armed with firearms, but these are undoubtedly loot acquired from unlucky merchants or Sultanate troops.
     It is certain that there will be more conflict between the people of the Kashkar Mountains and the Burnzined Sultanate, but whether this is the result of banditry or a Sultanate invasion is unclear. Only the passage of time and the shedding of blood will spell the fate of these two kingdoms.