Bedin

Bedin is a country in the northeastern Zamoroziet. It is bordered on the east by Somal and in the east by Dakuat.
Up until the 1740s, Bedin was part of the Northern Bolish Confederation, which had conquered and subjugated the region between the 9th and 11th centuries. The primeval Som people (a tribe very distantly related to the Yuez) were conquered. Up to the the 17th century, they remained a minority within their traditional homeland.
During the Great Northern War (a conflict associated with the 40 Years War, the Northern Bols suffered several defeats at the hands of various enemies. The Somi and the neighboring Bedi tribes both entered open revolt, massacring the local Bols while also suffering numerous defeats on the battlefield. However, this cascade of rebellions - including the Zakiri to the east - proved overwhelming for the Northern Bolish Confederation, which collapsed under the onslaught. The majority of Bols regrouped in modern Prem-Bol, although some formed/joined the enclave in Kyslev.
Bedin officially received their independence in 1751.
Since the early 1800s, there have been occasional proposals to unify the Som people (specifically, Somal and neighboring Bedin) but these proposals have received little popular support over the years.
Bedin natives follow a semi-pantheistic religion, believing that all physical matter was created to hold the divine spirit (or lim). Humans, as the most intelligent portion of creation, displaying the greatest concentration of lim. Monarchs, as the rulers of humanity, are thus worshipped as the closest available representations of pure lim. Bedin religion differs strongly from that of neighboring Somal, which is based on the traditional Bolish pantheon.
Due to Bedin's religious beliefs, the country is ruled by an absolute monarchy, with both a morena (king) and a mahali (queen) serving as co-rulers; neither can rule alone, with both holding key duties within the function of the government. They are not regarded as actual deities, but rather as wise figureheads having a higher-than-average concentration of the divine spirit in order to guide the people. Bedin monarchs are selected by a religious council which tests children for lim, placing them into a line of succession (which also doubles as a de facto bureaucracy). Somewhat oddly, the morena and mahali are not spouses; each instead has their own household.
Foreign monarchs are also respected for having a great deal of lim. Bedin doesn't actually know how to deal with democratically-elected leaders, however, particularly ones that have been voted out of office. The Bedin feel that this is basically the worst possible kind of atheism.
Bedin has an unresolved border conflict with Somal.
Category:Nations
Category:NPC Nations