Berkhuka

Situated on the West Coast of the Tujanci subcontinent, facing the Interior Sea, Berkukha is an old nation, with old problems. One of the most fertile regions in Tujanca thanks to the great network of rivers that crisscross it and the famed floodplains of The Seven Deltas, the region has been the heart of a great agrarian kingdom for millennia. Because famine is unheard of there, the people live prosperous, uneventful lives, and civil unrest is rare. Berkukha has historically been stable, with a powerful bureaucracy binding the nation together with strictly enforced laws and competent, meritocratic government made up largely of slaves raised from birth for specific tasks.
Of course, in times past, Berkukha was ruled by a God-King, once considered a serious rival to the Zophkaga of Karthack or the Emperor of Ruvia.
These days, things are different. A war with a steppeland horde that swept through Karthack, then what is now Kurtiye, and finally into Berkukha destroyed much of the old order, and shook the peoples' faith in their God-King.
The King's Royal Slaves, the Aabat, assassinated him, and, since they already made up the bureaucracy that managed the country, simply continued to manage it, installing one of their own as the Chief Minister. The King's son, who was 12 years old at the time, was kept as a strictly ornamental ruler in a lavish palace, but was afforded no real power.
This state of affairs has continued for quite some time. The country is ruled by men who, legally speaking, are slaves to the God-King. Officially they are simply taking care of his property while he commits himself to his duties as the divine heart of the empire. In practice, he is a superficial ornament who would be quickly disposed of in the event that he actually sought power.
The real power lies in the hands of the Chief Minister, an Abat who is ostensibly a servant of the God-King but, in truth, rules with as a sort of first-among-equals of a council of other Aabats. Berkukha still has not fully recovered from the devastation of their war with the Kurts, much ancient knowledge was lost when the libraries burned, but they have made a recovery somewhat, and have put a stop to Genosian ambitions via Jenoesa to expand into their land. These days they primarily perform trade with the Nine Princedoms through the Tujanci, and occasionally skirmish with the Kurts and the Jenoesans over territory.
Berkukha's relationship with Dessianism these days began as a pragmatic thing, but gradually normalized as the Genosians became more aggressive around Jenoesa and the surrounding area. These days the Berkukhans have no real choice except to call on their religious allies whenever 50,000 Sun-Worshippers show up to try and conquer more of their clay.
This is not to say that they have not committed their share of aggressions towards the Genosian states--they definitely have--but they're now largely backed into a corner by the sheer number of Kamens with zweihanders.Category:Countries
Category:Tujanca