Ahati

Roughly equivalent to the knights of Cannor, the **ahati** are the traditional warrior brotherhoods of Kheterata. Though once organized as a form of petty nobility, the modern brotherhoods recruit primarily from the commons and hold no formal government recognition - nevertheless, each ahati considers himself equal in stature to even the highest noble. They have played a significant role in Kheteratan history, known at varying times for their fanatical loyalty to the draconic king Aakhet as well as their enthusiastic adoption of Damerian notions of honor and meritocracy during the Damerian Republic’s reign over the Sorrow.

## Characteristics

The ahati identify strongly as a distinct group within Kheteratan society, with a unique culture and even religion from the rest of the nation. Adhering tightly to the code of minisris, or manliness, which calls for devotion to the people, the cultivation of virtue, and the eradication of injustice and misrule. This has made the ahati some of the most enthusiastic defenders of Kheterata and servants of those rulers they deem just, yet it has also brought them into conflict with many less virtuous kings - several of whom have died to ahati assassins, with the assassins then disemboweling themselves to atone for the sin of regicide.

The ahati brotherhoods follow a sect of Khetism known as Peyimaaw or, in Common, the Avenger Cult. Originally a sect devoted to the state as protector of the people and upholding meritocracy, modern-day Peyimaaw retains its meritocratic doctrines but has shifted its loyalties to the ahati brotherhoods themselves as the true protectors of Kheterata. It has no dedicated clergy. Instead, the ahati rotate the position of ritualist between them.

A note should be made on the differences between the northern brotherhoods and southern brotherhoods, born from the reign of Aakhet. Where the northern ahati remain strictly military brotherhoods, the threat of gnoll raiders has led to the merchant class and warrior class of Irsmahap - the southern Sorrow - being largely synonymous. As such, southern ahati brotherhoods took on the aspects of trade guilds and largely controlled the Irsmahapan economy before Grizaka's Invasion saw the fall of Irsmahap and the decimation of the brotherhoods.

## Early History

Though tracing their origin to the rebel groups that overthrew Castanorian rule, which had used the same name, the ahati brotherhoods properly originated with the fall of the First Dynasty of Kheterata. A military coup led by the general Menkaunswt, later known as the Warrior King, would overthrow King Intef III over the King’s desire to ally with Castanor. As thanks, and to shore up his power base, Menkaunswt would grant his soldiers the status of lesser nobility and direct vassals of the King under the title of ahati.

Now established as a distinct martial class, the ahati were the core supporters of Menkaunswt’s Second Dynasty but would hold far looser loyalty to following dynasties, with only the dragon king Aakhet gaining their total obedience. Indeed, a few later Kings would find themselves outright assassinated by the ahati after being declared agents of injustice.

## The Damerian Period

Though the ahati would valiantly fight alongside the royal army against the Damerian Republic during its invasion of Kheterata, they would eventually be defeated. With the crowning of the Damerian Luminary by the Khetarch, the ahati would accept defeat and in fact become some of the fastest adopters of Damerian culture. Exposure to a republican form of government would greatly influence the ahati, with the code of minisrit owing much to Damerian influence, and they would form a strongly pro-Damerian bloc inside Kheterata alongside the coastal merchant houses.

With the resurrection of Elikhet, and his eradication of Damerian influences, the ahati would adopt aspects of a secret society to keep the ideals of minisrit alive. A handful of radical ahati would even go so far as to question the deeds of Elikhet himself, while others believed him to be not resurrected but a demon-possessed corpse. Both views were harshly suppressed by the ahati leadership, but their very existence shows the depth of the ahati’s adoption of Damerian ideals and hostility to a returned traditionalism.

Though none dared act while he still ruled, after Elikhet’s return to his sarcophagus the ahati would come out of hiding to openly defy and challenge the traditional regime of Panaoute I that now ruled Kheterata, leading to a new balance between the traditional priestly elites and their ahati rivals with successive dynasties siding with one side or another.

## The Dragonwake

When the dragon Aakhet rose from the inaccessible depths of the Pyramid of the Warrior-King to challenge the Khetarchy for control, the struggle between the priestly nobility and the ahati would erupt into a civil war as an old prophecy would lead to the ahati siding en masse with the dragon.

Following Aakhet’s victory, the ahati would be reorganized into professional legions and serve as the vanguard of his invasion of Bulwar, which was mythologized as both the lost homeland of the Kheteratan people and a land of sin and depravity. Many ahati brotherhoods are granted control over Bulwari city-states, serving as Aakhet’s primary occupation forces while the royal army itself continues to march east.

## Crodamic Period

With Aakhet’s apparent death at the hands of the Sand Demon of the Salahad, and none of his generals willing to accept each other as his successor, his Bulwari empire would collapse. Meanwhile, the Kheteratan homeland would find the conflict between ahati and priest suddenly reignited. To avoid another civil war, the Khetarch Benukhet would offer the crown to Sedoric I of the House Crodamos, King of Akasik and leader of the Crodamic people. With his fresh and well-trained army, and boasting the support of the Khetarch himself, Sedoric would march into Kheterata and swiftly secure his rule.

Now faced with the Crodamic nobility as another rival for power, for despite their assimilation into Akasi and then Kheteratan culture they retained a distinct political identity, the ahati would double down on their meritocratic and populist roots, appointing themselves the champions of the common-folk against tyrannical nobles and corrupt priests. A cultural split between the northern and southern brotherhoods would also emerge around this time, as the northern ahati of the Mother’s Sorrow weathered the direct attention of the Crodamic monarchy by turning ever more insular and secretive while the southern ahati of the Irsmahapan savannah instead leveraged their distance from the capital to gain more and more autonomy from the crown, largely merging with the Salahadesi trading guilds in the process.

## Fall of the Crodamos

The invasion of Kheterata by the elf Jexis would see many of the ahati rallying behind the Crodamic monarchy, only to be disillusioned by their following loss. Eventually, as the monarchy’s legitimacy collapsed, the ahati around Nirat would rally behind a rebel known as Dajasht and make common cause with their traditional rivals in the priesthood to overthrow the corrupt, incompetent Crodamic monarchy.

Meanwhile, to the south, the ahati of the Ismahapan savanna were decimated by Grizaka, a gnoll queen seeking to conquer Kheterata on her question to become the next Xhazobine. With their estates lost, they fled to the hills of Mattabo to plot a reconquest alongside their mage allies of the University of Muhaqaar.