Rabydos

The **Republic of Rabydos** (Rabydosian: **Sārṣetam Wīlastirum**; Modern Autean: **Knedzaleu**) is a large nation in the far south of the supercontinent of Palkyras.

It is surrounded by Omayeran, Fawesan, and Munuri to the northwest; Sevestrana to the north; Aujarsax to the northeast; the port of Azairab and Qogandra to the east; Nartathi and Shaunetor to the southeast; Volzeraen and Falturia to the south; Elen and Polsarju to the southwest; the port of Ruzairab to the west; and Umbirab to the south of the Awildesh River. Its land is between two oceans.

Its capital is the bustling city of Rabydos City, which faces the Awildesh River and Umbirab to the south.

## History

In the Second Age, the cold lands of southern Rabydos were settled by the fair-skinned Pelgir, and the windswept shores of southeast Rabydos were settled by the russet-skinned Auteans. Between them were the vast tribes of the Minumakh race, relatives of the Auteans. Both races founded their own kingdoms, and traded or fought each other over petty matters. The people of the kingdom of Assuwas first came as traders, setting up colonies and towns along the sparsely-populated eastern coast, but as more and more Assuwelli migrated south, the Auteans were threatened, for they feared that the Assuwelli authorities might come south with them and enslave them like they did to the Paharal tribes. So their chiefs formed an alliance and united the land, annexing the Assuwelli towns in the eastern shores and welcoming the Mahurilli tribespeople in the east.

The lands of western Rabydos once had a thriving civilisation descended from Autean criminals, known as Zelthudenker. Over time, this nation of smiths was driven to cannibalism by war and depletion of resources, wrongly believing that killing and eating people would make them the mightiest people in the world. After several wars against the ancient Auteans, this civilisation was believed to be killed by a series of meteor storms and floods.

During the Sixteenth Age, Rabydos was divided between the Holy Gauvajut Empire in the north, and thirteen native kingdoms. The strongest of the resisting realms were the kingdoms of Kislaent and Klutnas. To the west of them were the seven kingdoms of Elessia, and to the south of Kislaent was the Ardeschen republic of Rubaschrand.

The lands east of what is now Munuri were home to some Terrans, known as the Enlightened Order. Initially they were tolerated by the locals because they supported the locals, but when their fanatical rulers attacked them, the EO was isolated until the Denlotia's collapse. It was one of the few places in the world that were unaffected by the 3900 Pandemic, yet their isolation made them somewhat different. They became more supportive of the Kekhaulid and Pelgir locals, abandoning fanatical rage for justice.

During Sarmelonid times, the lands of Rabydos were conquered by the Vozonid Empire. The lands of the EO, by then a separate nation known as the Quiet Lands, were left alone, but instead housed and supported many members of independence movements.

After the Green Years, the mountains of northern Rabydos were conquered by the Rabydosians, descendants of Zarandim humans that fled the planet during the Ontemazei War. The First Rabydosian Empire was known as Mur'hundi, and its capital was Rabmulud. The founding land to the south of Rabydos was known as Rabisetum, the land of vampires: it is now known as Sarilli. Its first emperor and founder was Bel-muludpergum. Both the Rabydosians and the native Kekhaulid kingdoms fought a powerful vampire empire that thrived and slaughtered its way to dominance at the centre.

When the third emperor of Rabydos became a vampire, some of his officials fled south with his machines to create the country of Umbirab. Among them were immortals who feared that they would be killed as sacrifices to the emperor, and several natives who used Umbirab as a base of resistance against the Rabydosian Empire.

From 1660 to 1640 BT, the warlords of Gaanarand tried to conquer Rabydos and create their own "gamer empire", enslaving any inhabitant they did not kill. The Rabydosian armies defeated them and enslaved the survivors.

In 1200 BT, the nation of Porashon began practicing the Dharma to celebrate its victory against a Vozonid invasion. Many Porasonids later went to study the Dharma at the Quiet Lands' universities.

In the 600s AT, the outlying lands of Rabydos revolted against the Emperor, angered by the suppression of their cultures and heavy tributes. To prevent them from tearing the realm apart, the Emperor had to give them more rights and protections.

In the 1300s AT, Rabydos was reunited as an empire. The Rabydosian emperor did this because he wanted to mobilise his whole nation against the Thralondians and the Kalokei, Ontemazei clones that waged a war of extermination against all humans and Porasonids.

In the 17th century AT, Rabydos languished under Emperor Burendil III. He declared himself a god and murdered people as sacrifices to the Kyrvotins, seeking to become a Wraith. He was killed by three slaves from Vocersia in 1688 AT, but his essence was transferred into a tomb to the west of Rab-Lamim. This was when the Guardians of Rabydos were established as a resistance group made of humans and the more-autonomous Lausorijo, against the emperor's forces and his vampiric armies. The people of the empire denounced the emperor as an usurper and his government as illegitimate puppets of the Thralondian Empire.

One hundred years after the death of Burendil III, an army of Thralondian warriors invaded Rabydos, seeking to conquer the land and punish the people for Burendil's invasion of its eastern colonies. They also brought an expedition to uncover Burendil's Wraith from his ziggurat-tomb to capture and destroy it, but they instead unleashed his Wraith, killing millions across the whole continent of Palkyras.

## Geography

Much of Rabydos' territory consists of tropical jungle and cleared farmland in the north along a southwestward axis. Its southern lands have cooler hills clothed by deciduous forests in the south, followed by several east-west mountain ranges and freezing snow in the south.

* Zappu-Tâmitu (Sea of the Seven Maidens) - the name of the Rodgulean Ocean to the west of Rabydos.
* Ruzairab (Western Port) - an independent republic that controls the western end of the Rabydos Canal. Its people speak Rabydosian and Elenian.
* Jasper Mountains (Oronja Jakkadūr, Yaqedūr Jebalat) - a mountain chain made of orange-coloured peaks that form Rabydos' northern border, dividing the nearly-endless jungles. The southern side of this mountain chain is littered with the tombs of ancient kings.
	+ Ziggurat of Shin
	+ Serpent Tomb
		- Burial place of the Exile king who founded Rabydos, King Bel-muludpergum, later a necropolis with the sarcophagi of his officials and sons after their deaths.
		- Guarded by the soulless, skeletal Raktesai and other bladed automatons.
	+ Mount Ulnamdar
		- A volcano wreathed in lightning storms.
	+ Tomb of Sum-shirim
		- Burial place of the third king of the Exiles who founded Rabydos. Guarded by skeleton-like Raktesai.
	+ Diamond Pass
	+ Sands of Time
		- A pool of sand formed after a chunk of jasper broke off from the mountain and crushed a tomb below. The only things that can safely navigate past the sand pool aside from aircraft and skiffs are camels.
	+ Howling Pass
	+ Golden Grave
	+ Forest of Blades
	+ Mount Wardakhtis
		- A volcano.
	+ Mount Arhiskai (Mountain of Screams)
		- Believed to be inhabited by hundreds of angry *ezemat*, vengeful wraiths from past civilisations and wars.
	+ The Boiling Slopes
	+ Peak of Bleak Dawn
* Sarilli - the lands to the south of the Jasper Mountains.
* Rab-Lamim (City of Kings) - the royal capital of Rabydos, home to its emperors.
* Rabydos (Rab-yudus, City of Fairness) - the current capital of Rabydos. It is parallel to the border to Umbirab.
* Azairab (Eastern Port) - an independent republic that controls the eastern end of the Rabydos Canal. Its people speak Rabydosian and Paltuin, the latter was the descendant of the Second Age language of Autean.
* Gullin-Tâmitu (Sea of the Lion) - the Rabydosian name for the Dunomin Ocean to the east of Rabydos.
* Awildesh River - a river that flows eastwards past the capital city of Rab-Lamim, it was connected to the oceans by the Rabydos Canal.
* Quiet Lands, Shantidesa, Tidesim - the westerly lands near Munuri, inhabited by descendants of Terrans. The oldest Dharmic community in all of Palkyras, it boasts many universities.

## Culture

The national sport of Rabydos is basketball.

## Language

See also: Rabydosian language

The national language of Rabydos is Rabydosian. It has several dialects:

* Standard Rabydosian (south)
* Sarillimat (northwest)
* Kigukkumat (northwest)
* Azairabmat (southeast)
* Ruzairabmat (southwest)
* Shaunetorian (southeast)

Umbirabian is considered a separate language from Rabydosian, as even though both languages are similar to each other, they have diverted over the centuries.

## Demographics

There are many aboriginal tribes all over Rabydos. The most well-known native peoples of Rabydos include:

* Anurenda - north of Rab-Lamim. These people were among the first in history to domesticate raptors, before spreading their craft to other tribes.
* Juskuro - south of the Jasper Mountains. They also ride on raptors.
* Paltua - southeast. They are the descendants of the Kingdom of Aute, and they are very proud of their ancestors' classical art. The Paltuan peoples and their relatives are also known as the Joterin, named after the Kingdom of Aute.
* Galatua and Nedathar - east. They are the descendants of the Kingdom of Prumthesan.
* Minurins - south. They are the descendants of the Minumakh peoples, who were related to the Auteans and Prumthesankhe. However, they are different from the Joterins to the east.
* Murtigi - northwest. Many of them intermarried with the Omayerans, a people descended from Rifandians invited to the Gauvajut Empire during the Sixteenth Age.

Many Lausorijo live in the northern parts of Rabydos, whether in cities along the Jasper Mountains, smaller settlements further south, or castle-mountains further inland.

## Religion

The people of Rabydos worship Marduk, the god of water and justice. Marduk is represented by the spade (or pike) and the mus'hus'hu dragon. Marduk's son, Naburi, is also venerated as the god of knowledge and scholars.

The worship of Marduk has spread to the clown-like Lausorijo who live in the north, who venerate him as the god of righteousness and their paragon. They also worship Gibil as their god of the forge, Missaru as their patron of warriors and laws, and Nusku and Sherida as the gods of light.

* Šūtu - God of the South Wind, a king wreathed in ice
* rabisu - vampires that lurk in the cold. Perhaps the origin of the name of the old Rabydosian Empire, in which the emperor was believed to fight vampires.

Shantidesa, or the Quiet Lands, is mostly Dharmic. Their patron is Lord Hanuman, the protector.

## Foreign relations

### Umbirab

Rabydos is Umbirab's "mother country", and the source of its people and traditional culture. In return for having friendly relations with Umbirab, it receives its advanced technology and 10 percent of Umbirab's profits from its exports.

### Nartathi

Nartathi used to dislike Rabydos as the empire that conquered its native brethren. Eventually, both countries reconciled after Rabydos paid compensation with a peace treaty.

## Terminology

* Sārerṣetum, Sārṣetum - The Southlands
* Saharṣetum - Land of Raptors
* Mardukiṣetum - Marduk's Realm
* Srenifan - Land of the Gods (Paltuan)
* Srečakhran - Land of the Gods (Nartathiek)
* Kekhausel - Land of the Original Peoples (Autean, Unified Kekhaulid/Modern Autean)
* Knezrodzeleu, Knedzaleu - Great Land of Raptors and Falcons (Autean, Modern Autean)

## Trivia

* Rabydos was inspired by Iraq and Argentina. Its people resemble ancient Assyrians.
	+ Northern Rabydos was inspired by Jasper (the gem) and Nehekhara.
* Its name, "Rabydos", was derived from "Abydos", an ancient Egyptian city.