The Ariyadip Empire

== The Ariyadip Empire ==
Created by /u/adym_turrey
=== GEOGRAPHY ===
Ariyadip consists of five islands and a territory on the large continent to the north. West to east, these areas are Seralu, Dariya, Kaniyya, Velankan, Sharghar, and the Chaiyanna Territory. They are fairly humid and hot, with a monsoon season blowing in from the east every summer. The general trend is that west to east, it gets less dry and more lush, with Velankan possessing a massive array of plants and animals.
=== BIOLOGY/ETHNICITY ===
Ariyadipi people generally have dark skin, hair, and eyes, although the shades of those features run from olive skin and hazel eyes to extremely dark skin and eyes. As a race, most people possess a slightly higher stamina than other human races, with mildly increased endurance and homeostasis. About 2% of people also have increased strength, although this only means that they naturally have the same strength as someone of their body type would if that person worked to their fullest. Every island has a distinct ethnicity and language, although they are all thought to be related given similar customs and a degree of mutual intelligibility between the languages.
=== HISTORY ===
For the longest time, the Ariyadipi people were disunited. Each island had multiple kingdoms on it, often warring with one another. However, Ayistahan, the monarch of the Vereya kingdom on Dariya, developed his army and united his people to wage war on a smaller kingdom nearby, which they took very quickly. Using his diplomacy and his ships, Ayistahan conquered all of Dariya within the next five years, and united it. Something radical happened in the next campaign: a united Dariya managed to win the entirety of another island, Seralu. As he lay in bed bleeding out from a spear wound, Ayistahan proclaimed that Seralu and Dariya should be forever united under the name Ariyadip, meaning “the isle of truth”. Even though Ayistahan died before the burgeoning empire could take hold on neighboring Kaniyya, the foundations had been built for a mighty power. In the next few decades, the country conquered and maintained control over all five islands, expanded onto the Chaiyanna, and modernized the country to become a highly developed nation with a wide array of diplomatic ties.
=== SOCIETY ===
Ariyadip is politically divided into two ‘classes’ of territory: the Yekaiyyatram and Dasaiyyatram, with the former being held to a very high regard, and the latter being treated more like colonies than any real territory. The four largest islands are all considered Yekaiyyatram, while Sharghar and the Chaiyanna are Dasaiyyatram. Typically, the Dasaiyyatra are not respected by the Yekaiyyatra, and many leave their homes to find jobs on the main islands, working on plantations or in mines. Of course, an empire needs an emperor, and the royal family of Ariyadip are the Aradyaha Dynasty of Dariya, which unified the main four islands 236 years ago. The monarch appoints the High House, Prime Minister, and Prefectural Electorate, which are respectively: their personal council as well as the heads of military and representatives from the People’s House, the de facto leader of the People’s House and most important politician in Ariyadip, and the body that votes for the position of prefectural governor based on what their prefecture’s people vote for. The People’s House decides legislature, trade and domestic policy, international relations, and dictates orders to the military (although the monarch and his council must review them first). All areas are divided into prefectures, with the people voting for a prefectural governor and two members of the People’s House. It should be noted that Dasaiyyatram are allotted one MP, and their governor is voted on by the High House. Socially, Ariyadip is a matrilineal patriarchy, meaning that men are considered more capable than women, but lines of inheritance and family are traced from a woman to her eldest daughter (even if their husbands have more control), and children are raised more by their uncles than their fathers.
=== CULTURE ===
The most important aspect of Ariyadip is without a doubt, the national treasure: Kachapam, the large and sentient turtle species domesticated millenia ago by the ancestors of the Ariyadipi peoples. They are kept as pets, used as draft animals, form a cavalry within the military, pull water carriages, and are venerated as god’s gift to man. To kill or harm a Kachap is to seal your death. As for people, every island has a distinct culture, but the prestige culture of Dariya is spreading, with Dasaiyyatram territories actively discouraged from propagating their culture. The ‘national’ customs are more often than not, simply Dariyan ones with a lacquer of militaristic patriotism on top. Typical clothing is made from linens or cotton, and dyed in a variety of colors and patterns, and most every Ariyadipi possesses some article of jewelry due to the abundance of precious metals and gems. Traditionally, clothing and grooming varied widely, but a particular type of practical style has spread to become the fashion, heavily influenced by the military, mines, farms, and other hard lines of work that form the spine of both the economy and patriotism. Architecture has not changed too much, with a general trend being brick or wooden homes topped by sloped roofs with carved ornamentation or tiles, typically situated in a position safe from flooding. Traditional arts, festivals, and craftsmanship also has not been subjected to the assimilation into the ‘national culture’ either, varying magnificently. While fish is a very important food source, meat is not widely eaten outside of chicken on Seralu and pigs on the Chaiyanna.
=== OCCURRENCE OF MAGIC ===
Ariyadipi people hold magic in a high regard, with some people going as far as to say that mages, or Jhekemalatra are blessed souls to be revered. Most however, allow them to coexist peacefully without too much pomp. Mages are not found nearly as much on smaller and subjugated islands, given the taking of child mages from the Dasaiyyatram areas, and raising them in boarding schools on the Yekkaiyyatram areas. Those schools are a given for Dasaiyyatra, but are a privilege for particularly patriotic Yekkaiyyatra, given that they are military schools where mages learn combat and are groomed to serve in the Jhekemalastrareserve class of soldiers. Military bases and temples alike exist near leyline areas, but the government has been petitioned by clergymen to not overrun areas of magical energy with too much development.
=== MAJOR EXPORTS/IMPORTS ===
==== Exports ====
Ariyadip has thriving industries in mining and textiles, and aims to keep ties with everyone it comes across. Important exports include: gold, copper, iron, stone, nickel, rubies, turquoise, coral, steel, cotton, silk flax and linen, rice, and sugar. 
==== Imports ====
Important imports include: wood, ivory, tea, porcelain, zinc,
=== Posts ===
The Ariyadip Empire
Opening Sharghar (Written by u/GotUsernameFirstTry)
The King is Dead (Written by u/TechnicolorTraveler, as well as the following posts)
The Empire Growls and Grows
An Explosive New Invention
Further Alliances and Expansions of the Ariyadip Empire
Ariyadip and Shai-Am go in together for some lakefront property