Aral

**Aral**,known for their large dragonborn population, is a desert continent that has surprisingly adapted in such a way to still produce farmlands to survive. With the nations positioning and lawlessness it is home to various criminal organisations whom use the smuggling routes to avoid the more traditional, taxed, trading routes of Roshan.

## Leadership

Aral, unlike other nations, uses a more republical approach. Each member of a specific trade and section of Aral pays for a seat on the Aral's council. The council conducts their official meetings every week to discuss the matters of state, voting on various decisions. Once every second year there is the option of voting for a new leader of the nation. Hadrian, the current leader, has remained popular amongst the other wealthy individuals, using this to his advantage to smoke out and deter any potential rivals.

## Military

Aral, being a richer nation, uses a more mercantile approach to their military forces. While the warring era has definitely created a cause for concern, the only way for the army to be raised is for a unanimous decision in the council. Though, the leader of the council at said time is able to hire two generals of his choice in order to deal with military affairs in a more experienced matter. Most council members, having more information on business afairs than battle, also use this approach, placing an experienced general in their delegate during war-time.

That said, there is a militia of Aral which has been raised during times of invasion, bringing different races from the country together in order to fight. Though, there is large experience gaps amongst the soldiers, most being farmers and using their natural build as a dragonborn rather than any formal training. This caused for the construction of Fort Aral in order to train their population in the basics.

## Geography

Aral is a dry land, consisting of very few trees. Most of their buildings are made with various forms of clay from their wetter regions to make bricks. Others are made with stone.

### Cities and Towns

Some of the various cities and towns from Aral include:

* Espino (Capital), Population: 700,000
* Chai, Population: 450,000
* Aynase, Population: 300,000
* Renan, Population: 275,000
* Cejudo, Population: 150,000
* Krause
* Khillah

## Nobility

Most higher noble families have some sort of sway in the council, others have direct seats, using their expertise in a single area for their advantage. Some of these noble families include:

* Elteth (Agriculture)
* Yerthar (Construction)
* Calthed (Weaponry)
* Imphec (Fishing)
* Kerthuk (Arts and Culture)
* Ommor (Mining)
* Taphid (Craftsmen)
* Irneath (Slavery)

Though all these families have some hand or another in the criminal underworld that has made Aral it's home.

## Economy

Being the next country of Roshan that influences the trade routes the most, Aral has made well of itself, able to export and import anything it needs. The economy is also made through the criminal underworld that Aral has found itself, using different smuggling routes of slaves, illegal goods and runaways.

### Imports

With the farms producing food to provide them with enough meals, once Aral reached the outer nations they found that their food was tasteless and dry, thus they make an effort to import various luxurous foods to their benefit.

This is the same with lumber, with very little to no trees in Aral, they make heavy use of the lumber industry.

### Exports

Using the little resources the country has to provide, they are able to export out Stone, Silk and Bricks to the other nations. This along with some lower-tier crafts which can prove popular to the more expensive Sula.

## Organisations

With the large amount of criminals that Aral has, a lot have formed various organisations in order to strengthen themselves. While the council does not condone the actions done by these organisations, they are unwilling to prevent it either, likely due to their own involvement.

Some of the various organisations include:

* The Black Rose (An organisation of assassins and mercenaries always willing to do the dirty work)
* Burning Fire (Drugs)
* Sober (Bootleg Alcohol)
* Hidden Compart (Smugglers)
* Pluto (Drugs)
* Devoh (Slavery)