Ajoltar

**Ajoltar** (Vozonid: "Land of Freedom") is an isolated collection of enclaves that lie along the forested mountains between Porashon and Turodaron.

It was founded as a nation for all males, as a counterpart to the existence of its more-aggressive rival, the Queendom of Ioratin.

Its capital is the scholarly city of Dharmavihara, also known as Darmotar.

## Flag and symbols

Ajoltar's flag is a dark green banner with white and red rectangles. White represents life, red for courage, and green for aspiration and fulfilment; and the rectangular design represents discipline.

Other symbols for Ajoltar include the palm tree with twelve fronds and stars, and the ascending rocket; these represent freedom from temptation, and into enlightenment.

As more Ajoltarlo converted to Buddhism, they also used a gate leading to a lotus or a star, as its reputation for being a bastion of Buddhism led it to become known as "the Gate to Sukhavati" or "Bodhidvara" (gate to enlightenment). Two more Buddhist symbols are also used for Ajoltar, the victory banner and the wheel, which represent victory over desires and the acquisition of knowledge.

The national mottoes of Ajoltar are "I take refuge in knowledge and wisdom" and "In the Dharma, an island against the swirls of eternity".

## History

It was originally a refuge for all males who sought freedom from the restrictions and poor social conditions of Vozonid society, and there they could develop their talents as much as they wanted so long as they followed a series of rules to prevent recklessness. As its founders considered women and girls to be "distractions" related to their former society, they were forbidden from entering Ajoltar's borders.

At some points in its history, some armies tried to invade Ajoltar. Some do it to plunder its wealth and documents, while others wanted to create their own warlike patriarchies as their counterparts against feminine Ioratin. Whenever that happened, the local authorities repelled them: these authorities either restored the monasteries, created new settlements over their land, or converted them to museums.

Occasionally, Ajoltar was repopulated by batches of clones, who succeed deceased monks in finishing their arts or replenish manual labour. Aside from periods of elitism, those clones were treated as equals.

That, along with their *de facto* independence hidden from recognised countries, was regarded differently by its neighbours: some ridiculed Ajoltar's refusal to allow females to enter or the people's isolation, while others had families who sent their sons to learn skills from the Ajoltarlo. It maintained its independence longer than Old Ioratin by keeping themselves as a secret, until they were conquered and divided between other countries who founded settlements along its plateaus. Nonetheless, later peoples refounded Ajoltar, but made it more like a complex of monastery-like schools.

## Government

Ajoltar's government is a technocracy, in which it is headed by a council of elite scientists and officials who manage the enclaves' higher affairs. Actual power lies in the hands of the Presidents of Turodaron and Porashon, making the country a condominium protected and sustained by both republics.

## Economy

Ajoltar's monasteries receive a monthly payment from the governments of Porashon and Turodaron. Their collective economy is sustained by sales of its crops, books, lumber, mined metal, and farming machinery to residents of both countries and fees paid by international tourists.

Ajoltar has another class of people who tend the monasteries by cleaning the compounds and cooking food for all the people present, and who do much of the harder work such as cutting wood farms and mining (while some less-demanding forms of work are done by the monks themselves, such as farming). These janitors and staff get higher payments than the monks.

Buddhist monasteries also receive their share, but the monks inside do not use money.

## Society

Ajoltar's enclaves are populated mostly by monasteries where men and boys train themselves in any particular skill or two; and they were renowned to such an extent that it was considered a great honour for a father to send his son(s) to be trained in Ajoltar. Those skills may range from practical arts such as archery, combat, astronomy, farming, cooking, or driving a vehicle; to aesthetic crafts such as painting, sculpture, writing, cartography, and dance.

In spite of their name, most of Ajoltar's monasteries (Vozonid: dorvitar, "hermit-realm"), academies, and schools are not dedicated to any deity, as their main focus is towards education and training. Unlike a typical "monastery", some monasteries allow recruits to practice their fandoms carry over their love of fictional women, as long as they do not practice it on their fellow monks. Also, shaving is not mandatory in most of these schools, except for hygienic reasons.

Generally, females are prohibited from entering any part of Ajoltar, as they were considered as a "distraction" that are to be avoided in favour of cultivating their arts. As a result, all residents of Ajoltar are obliged to be celibate, to forego sexuality in favour of the freedom to expand their minds. Any woman or girl who happens to be found there is simply dropped off to the nearest town at either the Turodarian or Porasonid side. This rule has been loosened nowadays, so the only females allowed are tourists who visit as part of a tour group; relatives, spouses, and daughters of traders and border guards; and diplomats. Animals and plants that happened to be female, however, are tolerated.

Ajoltar's population is replenished mostly by new recruits who voluntarily become monks: however, this causes the monastery-enclaves to suffer from low population. As a result, it is under the protection of both the Porasonid and Turodarian governments as a cultural institution, although the Ajoltari police deal with any crime within the enclaves' bounds.

## Religion

Although Ajoltar has no official religion, most of its denizens worship the Vozonid gods. Like Porashon in the west (or due to its cultural influence), Pjosaroz is the country's popular god, to the extent that some of its officials dedicate the whole enclaves to the four-headed god's protection.

As some of them were amused by the monk-like lifestyle of their society, some Ajoltarlo have established Buddhist viharas where they study the Dharma. This has led to some settlements near southern Ajoltar adopting the Buddhist religion, making them the other bastion of Buddhism in the continent of Palkyras (the other being Siangwaan in the further north).

## Trivia

* Anything to do with Ajoltar should be known as "Ajoltari", and "Ajoltarlo" is a term for anyone from Ajoltar.

* Ajoltar was inspired by:
	+ the manosphere (especially redpillers, "incels", and MGTOWs), as what the author thought to be a polar opposite to feminist activism from the West;
	+ a bit of Sparta and Dale from Lord of the Rings (as a place where fathers send their sons to learn).
		- As the author used to think that MGTOWs were supposed to focus on their skills as their reason for avoiding women and society, he also used the monasteries of Tibet, Bhutan, Mount Athos in Greece, and medieval Western Europe; Shaolin monks; and Space Marines to represent Ajoltari society.
		- Unlike MGTOWs, incels, and manosphere people, Ajoltarlo do not revile women, but they just avoid them. They also spend more time on sharpening their skills and teaching them to other men and boys, instead of complaining about societies that no longer bother them.
* Perhaps as a result of avoiding women and females, most Ajoltarlon are obliged to be asexual, to divert their minds away from sexuality. However, to relieve stress and due to psychological issues in some of its more distressed residents, Ajoltar became one of several nations on Jerde where homosexuality is openly accepted as "normal", like its feminine rival Ioratin. Therefore, it is also one of several nations on the planet where the "Rho-Pill" (a medicine used to alter sexual orientation) is banned as "an instrument of torture".
	+ However, in some eras, homosexuals were ordered to live in separate buildings or rooms.
	+ To make life less stressful for them, homosexuals became the only people in Ajoltar who can have romantic relationships and even marry, aside from families of servants who are not monks. However, in most monasteries, they cannot become monks.
* Ajoltar's name should be pronounced as "AH-yol-tar" ([ˈajoltʌr]).

### Why is it "peculiar"?

* Ajoltar is the only nation in the world where women are forbidden from entry.
* It is one of several nations that are "refuges" specifically dedicated to a specific gender.
* It is the only nation in the world where most of its people are monks, making it "the biggest monastery on Jerde".
* It is also the only nation in the world that is officially asexual.
* It is also the only nation in the world that is a condominium and a protectorate, ruled by the presidents of two other countries.
* It is one of only four nations on Palkyras which mostly practices a Dharmic religion, specifically Buddhism, and the same one as Siangwaan.

## See also

### Other male enclaves

* Atruvari, an enclave located at Omayeran.
* Tunguska, an enclave located at southwestern Toralis.
* Mannogard, an enclave located between the New Republics and Gimbarish.
* Kerchen and Vilchen, two enclaves at the southern tip of Darros that hate women and fight each other, later controlled by pirate gangs
* Dubrogora, an enclave at northwestern Darros where men cultivate themselves to honour Perun.

### Other gender enclaves

* Naiorai, its feminine counterpart
* Shaunetor, its nonbinary counterpart