Ke-Seshan

Ke-Seshan is a nation located between the central seas of the Western Continent. It is the homeland of the Seshanite people. The capital city is Bat-Keyi-Ras (lit. "House of Overseer over Lands" in Ashpon). It is a Union Nation under Calai of Three Lakes. Queen Apona sits on The Pent representing Ke-Sheshan.

## Geography

Ke-Seshan's territory is located in a hot seasonal tropical rainforest surrounded by savannas. Average temperatures are 26C and rainfall is scarce. The nearby sea (called Sesh) and stream (called An) provide a water source.

## History

Ke-Seshan was originally a group of local tribes and villages, each of whom were independent and worshipped different local deities but all spoke the same language paid respects to Sesh the sea god and An the stream goddess. No one tribe could declare itself greater than any other, but they all agreed that An and Sesh were the greatest gods and anyone who could definitively claim their favour would be the mightiest among them.

One day, fifty years ago, a woman from the tribe of Ashpon did the unthinkable. Under the protection of her husband's warriors, she gathered many people from every tribe of Ke-Seshan, upon the shores of Sesh and the banks of An built a temple to them. This was unheard of in Ke-Seshan - sacrifices and offerings were done in public upon altars for all to see, why would you hide them within buildings where none could bear witness to them? But she did not only build a temple, but also a great palace that surrounded it, so that many could live and work within it to bear witness to sacrifices to the two great gods. The palace quickly began running, and as people saw it was blessed by An and Sesh people flocked to it, and the city of Bat-Keyi-Ras was quickly founded. It grew to dominate the land and united it under one rule, and the woman who founded it declared herself the Queen. She drew up laws of succession to prevent conflicts from arising, and when she died some five years ago, her daughter Anpona became the second (and current) Queen of Ke-Seshan.

## Religion

Common Seshanite religion is based around reverence, offerings and prayers to many lesser nature spirits of trees and animals in the form of idols. Meanwhile the royal household appeases the two true gods and great spirits, the divine couple An and Sesh of the Stream and Sea, respectively the Queen and King of all spirits. They are equal in power and ability and love each other, yet are both shrewd, cunning and ambitious so as to be in a constant state of attempting to overthrow the other. The High Priest is expected to maintain the balance between them while the Queen's power is derived from An and the King's power is derived from Sesh. Commoners are not expected or permitted to pray to the two great gods, since it is believed that their capricious and distant nature means they can only be accessed by the royal family who they have chosen as their medium to humanity. Rather, commoners may pray and make offerings and sacrifices to lesser spirits. The most popular of such spirits is Ras the Sun-Spirit, the great Bull-King of The Heavens, who makes war with darkness every winter and emerges victorious in time for the harvest.

## Culture

### Moral values and principles

The general belief in Ke-Seshan is that morality is the duty of the priesthood to uphold, while on a day-to-day basis the common people must watch out for their own self-interest and the state's purpose is to maintain meritocracy. While it is good to be kind, generous and gracious (and a requirement to uphold balance, which is the duty of the priesthood), it is considered truly virtuous to be shrewd, ambitious and clever. To desire more out of life and having the drive to achieve it is something that is to be rewarded by society. Just as Sesh and An stretch beyond their limits to try and get the upper hand over each other, and just as the first Queen stretched herself to achieve what was thought to be impossible, so must the everyday person stretch beyond their constraints to achieve greatness. Not desiring much more out of one's life is considered wasteful, while being unwilling to achieve your goals for whatever reason is considered slothful and living in servitude to someone else is thought to be degrading (slavery is considered the course of nature for people who are conquered or captured, as they are considered to lack the drive or desire to prevent their enslavement).

### Traditions

At the end of every winter solstice the festival of Kalim-Pon (Sweet Days) takes place, where to celebrate the coming harvest rice is boiled in jaggery and eaten, while songs are sung of Ras the Sun-Spirit’s victory over the darkness and people play a game called Kur-Karam (Bull-Guiding) where they have to guide a charging bull through two posts.

### Art

The palace at Bat-Keyi-Ras is renowned for its beautiful architecture. It consists of three levels, the lowest of which contains the storage facilities and markets for the commoners, the middle level containing the noble and royal apartments and throne rooms, and the top level containing the temple and shrine of An and Sesh, with large stone statues of the gods standing opposite sides of their shared altar. All throughout the palace, painted frescoes of various myths and legends can be seen on the walls.

## Government

The workings of the palace are run by the Queen, who manages international and domestic trade, the economy, infrastructure - basically anything that doesn't involve the military or religion. The King is the Queen's husband and manages the military, raising taxes (in the form of grain) and enforcing law. The High Priest is the Queen's eldest son and runs the Temple, and is also considered the ultimate religious authority whom all lesser priests and shamans must default to. Both the King and Queen may declare laws and veto each other's laws.

The current government is:

Queen Anpona

King Koskarat

High Priest Tosya