Sublime Empire of Mazristan - (01)

Flag of the Sublime Empire

The Sublime Empire of Mazristan, or simply, Mazristan, is a fledgeling landlocked empire located in the western area of the Barxizakhar, following the ancient faith of Ahurayasna and being created after many unification wars in the region where the Mazri Tribe became its first great Hegemon.

## Etymology

### Continent

The name Barxizakhar is the name given to the Eastern Continent by the Mazri people, meaning 'Rising Sun' and being the junction of the words: 'Barxizard', meaning Rising; and 'Khar', meaning Sun.

### Country

The name Mazristan comes from the junction of the name 'Mazri', the tribe which unified the immediate region of Mazristan, and the suffix 'Stan', meaning 'Land of', thus the country's name is 'Land of the Mazri'. The name 'Mazri' is of unknown origin.

### Capital

The Capital of Mazsristan is the biggest city in the Empire, named Kharshyhr is the junction of two words: the word 'Khar', derived from Old Mazri 'Khur', meaning Sun; and the word 'Shyhr', meaning either city or domain/kingdom depending on context. It was presumably named as such due to the great importance of the Sun as a religious symbol to the Mazri people.

## History

### Pre-Unification

Before being unified into a single realm the Mazri people were broken into several different tribes constantly at war with each other, many of these tribes became city-states and continued their endless wars. Many times a unifier rose to hold many tribes and cities togther but their rule of a semi-unified people always ended before they could even die, with one of the few hegemons that managed to maintain his hegemony during his whole life being of the Mazri tribe, and thus the name Mazri stuck to refer to all tribes and peoples in the area. War in the Pre-Unification Era was as brutal as any that came after, with looting and rapine being the norm as it is in many other regions.

### First Kingdoms

After much war, a few small kingdoms started to rise in the region, leading to again, many wars, these first kingdoms were shaped by war and made many advancements in the field, largely independently from other cultures and realms. This era was the most violent of them all with warfare being even more constant than in the Pre-Unification period. This period is also considered to be Barbaric by Historians, but they also consider it vital to the development of the next period.

Many city-states morphed into kingdoms during this Era, with the most notable being the cities of Kharshyhr, Surxoh and Rolid, which saw massive population increases and economic development, in contrast to the rest of the area which saw no economic advancement whatsoever. These three cities are noted as the three birthplaces of Mazri civilization, with the city of Kharshyhr having greater importance due to religious significance and being the oldest of the three cradles of Mazri Civilization.

### Three Kingdoms

After a centuries stuck in the First Kingdoms Era, the Mazristan region saw the rise of three great kingdoms, which are seen as the ones to bring about a cultural revolution to Mazristan, developing writing, books, sciences and technology, they are largely regarded as civilized, efficient and tolerant, although the extent to which that is true is unknown.

The three kingdoms of this period were: Muwinshr; Wikhikhurid Kingdom; and Shimalshyhr. Centered on the cities of Rolid, Kharshyhr and Surxoh respectively. These three kingdoms had many wars between each other but they were not as constant and bloody as the previous eras, with this era being seen as the one with most cultural, social, political and economic advancement until now. This era is caracterized as well by the three kingdoms almost taking turns as hegemons of the Area, with the first Hegemon being the Shimalshyhr, the northern kingdom, but the 'Northern Hegemony', as its often referred to, lasted little, only about ten years. The next hegemon came in the form of the Wikhikhurid Kingdom, lead by the Wickhikhur Dynasty, this hegemony was also short-lived with a duration of twelve years, it was seen as a period of Religious Revolution as the sect of Ahurayasna followed by the Wickhikhurs became dominant and widespread, their monarch was generally regarded as the High Magi of the Ahurayasna faith. The third Hegemon was the Muwinshr, their hegemony lasted the longest out of the first three having a total of twenty years, this hegemony is regarded as the one that gave birth to the current monarchical system of Mazristan.

This Era lasted for about 120 years and ended in the year 100 C.E, when the Wikhikhurid Kingdom did not lose their hegemony after King Astyages III died, leading to the ascension of his son King Shapur IV, which continued as a Hegemon, and to further solidify his position, he declared the creation of the Sublime Empire of Mazristan.

### Imperial Era (Current)

This Era came about at the year 100 C.E, when King Shapur IV declare the creation of the Sublime Empire of Mazristan. This era has so far been characterized by a rapid growth of the military and the subjugation of small kingdoms on the border of Mazristan.

## Government

### Monarchy

The Government of Mazristan is a monarch, with the reigning Shahanshah having last say in any decisions with the exception of decisions made in his governors' lands, in those lands the governors can overturn most of the Shahanshah's actions with a few exceptions.

### Subdivisions

The Empire is divided into three main areas currently, them being the Satrapies of: Muwinshr, ruled by the descendants of the kings of Muwinshr; and Shimalshyhr, ruled by the descendants of the kings of Shimalshyhr; and the Crownlands, lands owned directly by the Shahanshah. New Satrapies may be added if necessary.

Satrapies have a few rights which cannot be removed by the Shahanshah and the Shahanshah has a few righrs which cannot be denied by the Satraps (Governors), for the most notable rights of the Satraps that the Shahanshah cannot interfere there are: Taxation, Law Enforcement; Raising Levies; Internal Alliances; and right to enter the Royal Advisory Council. For the rights of the Shahanshah in the Satrapies there are: Making Laws; Taxation (Taxed directly from the Satrapy's treasury); and Military Tribute, that is, the Satraps are obligated to give a portion of their army for the Shahanshah when in war, this is also applied to autonomous vassals.

## Culture

### Language

The Mazri Language is the most widespread of its family, being spoken all across the greater Mazristan region as a Lingua Franca, being a language with many dialects all around. The language possesses five vowels with A and E having multiple with eight sounds in total, the language also possesses a total of thirty-two consoants, many of them being actually variations of a previous consoant but used to represent a different sound.

The Mazri language is universaly used for literature of any nature in the greater Mazristan Region and for musi.

### Arts

The Mazri people have many forms of artistic expression, with the most popular ones being through the depiction of a harmonic comunion between nature and mankind. Realism is highly praised in Mazri art and sought by many artists. Music and Architecture also play a great role in Mazri culture due to religion.

#### Murals, Sculptures, Mosaics and Paintings

Murals, Sculptures, Mosaics and Paintings are the foremost form of secular artistic expression in Mazri culture, often depcting some form of a harmonious existence between nature and mankind as well as historical events and, to a lesser extent, mythological and religious imagery.

##### Paintings and Mosaics

Paintings and Mosaiacs are often flat, devoid of movement and are extremely colorful, they depict mostly day to day occurrances, important figures and dip into the common theme of a harmonious existence between man and nature in some form, one of the most popular forms of such depiction are people holding what are often considered beautiful flowers or resting by trees.

##### Murals and Sculptures

murals ofter depict imagery which is somewhat three-dimensional while statues are fully three dimensional by their very nature, they are ofter colorless and very lively, they usually depict Historical Events and occasionally Monarchs. These forms of art often diverge from the theme of coexistence between man and nature to focus solely on man and war. The most complete depictions of battles come from Murals and the most accurate depctions of monarchs come from sculptures.

##### Realism

Artists prize realism above all, doing their maximum to be as realistic as possible, even if what is perceived as 'maximum realism' in art can only be achieved by sculptures and murals. Paintings and mosaics take a long time to master and are often not very realistic, but the majority of painters and mosaic makers in the Empire have agreed that they have reached the maximum of realism they can in their field of arts.

#### Music

Music has a great deal of importance in Mazri culture as prayers are conducted through chanting and singing. Music is said to be the best and purest way to connect oneself with Ahura, the god worshipped by the Mazri peoples.

##### Religious

Religious music is the most prominant form of music in the Empire, due to chanting and singing being the primary forms of prayer as already mentioned. Music is believed to have been created by Ahura to bless the humans with the ability to hear, and thus to honor this blessing, prayer should be done in form of music as well, in temples there is often a small group of people that play instruments to acompany prayers. Religious music is mostly calm and slow.

##### Secular

Secular music is much less widespread, being found mostly in pubs, private and public celebrations, themes for secular songs vary wildly, and while not seen as disrespectful, secular songs are often looked down upon by religious authorities. Secular music is often fast and upbeat.

#### Architecture

Architecture is also one form of artistic expression for the Mazri people, with buildings being made mostly of wood, stone and bricks with depth added to walls by means of murals or by sculpting geometrical and natural forms, these forms being always extremely elaborate. Major Mazri buildings do not have a single flat wall and are almost always unnecessarily grandiose.

### Religion

The Mazri people follow a religion called Ahurayasna, a monotheistic faith in which a single benevolent and good uncreated god is in a constant battle against a demonic entity which seeks to spread evil and malice called Ahriman, humans play a great part in this battle, strengthening Ahura by doing good deeds or strengthening Ahriman by doing bad deeds.

### Customs

There are many customs seen in the Mazri people which are mostly unique to themselves. These customs are seen as sacred and thus should be used accordingly to tradition.

#### Greetings and Farewell

The stadard greeting and farewell for the Mazri people is that of giving a kiss to each shoulder of the other person, it is useo to indicate respect, usually used to those who are older, foreigner officials or those which "outrank" you in nobility or workplace. The emperor for example is seeing as outranking all in the country, so it is expected that every one that meets the emperor personally greet him with a kiss on each shoulder. It is also common to greet your parents, uncles, aunts or grandparents with it.

Bows and hugs rae common for people of same rank or same age, bowing is exclusively a greeting, while a hug can be both a greeting and a farewell. They symbolize you see the other person "on the the same rank" as you, be it in the case of nobility, workplace or family. Foreign commoners are greeted like this.

Handshakes are used to greet those who are of lower rank and pats on the head or back are used to greet younger individuals.

#### Hygiene

Hygiene is of great importance for the Mazri people, both religiously and secularly. Health is one of the most valued things in Mazri culture and religious tradition dictates that cleaning yourself as often as possible is related to being healthy. Hygiene is often performed by means of bathing on a river or shaving often, many times both.