Encyclopaedia of Aquila: Dashari

*Encyclopaedia of Aquila*

*Volume VII: The Sultanate of Dashari and Northern Ybrameas/Aphelion*

*For scholarly purposes, Tyheas Zelian*

*Dashari, Ancient Athenaeum of the Earth Goddess*

*Thermidore, 12th dawn, 4852*

### Introduction

The Sultanate of Dashari is one of Aquila's most unique and legendary societies. Exercising complete control over much of the northern Aphelian deserts and savannahs while being intensely warlike and defensive, the burning jewel of the Lost Continent is veiled by myths as much as it is by sandstorms. On and between the steep sand dunes and boiling valleys of the desert live a mystifying people that humbly worship and reap the land and protect it with their lives. Below the earth, in the deep chasms, exist an impressive system of diamond and obsidian mines, as well as a one-of-a-kind underground army dedicated to protecting the wealth of the Iron Sultana.

### History

The roots of Dashari people and their culture go back in time to the supercontinent of Vulturia, within which they were known as the Alzharq and participated as rebellious and uncontrollable subjects of various empires. Although the culture was politically indomitable, they were eager to trade with the rest of the empire and not to interfere in its structure, which granted them protection from vicious crackdowns. When it did not, their rebellions were nearly impossible to extinguish due to the labyrinthian and netherish composition of their home terrain.

The crashing of the mythical dragon Diocretius just south of the homeland began the Great Desynchronization, by which the supercontinent was shattered. A massive mountain range sprung from beneath the earth and split the new continent, which they named Ybrameas, in half itself. Ybremeas is a Zetashari word that translates roughly to "that farthest from the light-giver." It is widely accepted as the origin for the High Kilranian name "Aphelion," and is the primary name used in Dashari today.

This event led to a profound reevaluation of Alzharq values. The dragon and cataclysm, they thought, had been brought down on Aquila by the Earth Goddess Ayndr as punishment for the excessive greed of the Vulturian dynasties. The path forward was allegiance to the Goddess and self-sacrifice in Her name. The religion of Ayndrism became a cornerstone of the reborn culture, as did its doctrine of no materialism and a fervent devotion to family and sisterhood.

The hardy denizens of the sands, once dependent on continental trade with the prosperous city-states of Vulturia, were cleft from the world at large and forced into self-sufficiency. The Alzharq evolved over the next millennia into a loose and militaristic alliance of tribes spanning the entirety of the northeastern continental expanse. Complex communal agricultural areas, undisturbed isolationism, and a worship of the land became some of the defining traits of the culture. All tribes conscripted women once they came of age, deploying them to the arid surroundings to cleanse their native land of undesirable creatures and protect their husbands and children at home. This practice has continued to today. Within the tribal alliance, two tribes known as the Dazhi and Zystra became the leading powers.

A constitution called the Ayndric Charter was put in place to protect Alzharq conservative values such as religion, but it was left open to amendments and future modernization. Even so, it is considered a sacrosanct document and edits to it are mostly incremental legal changes that take place over decades.

Alongside their human development came many technological breakthroughs focused on mathematics and the sciences, albeit most were intended to bolster the Alzharq as a military power. These included redstone weaponry and mining equipment as well as the usage of obsidian tools, usable only by Alzharq women as a result of their incredible weight. The seemingly endless obsidian reserves deep in the desert bowels became an attractive prospect to a few foolhardy adventurers of the Alzharq Invincible Age, during which a trickle of foreign fascination brought a diversity of explorers ranging from pirates to entrepreneurial nobles seeking to win the favor of faraway monarchs.

At the start of the 5th millennia, the culture had reached a critical point. Having extended their reign over most of the massive deserts and savannahs of the north over centuries, a great minority within the alliance's ranks, concentrated in the Zystra house, sought to expand and conquer the continent at large. The slight majority in the adamantly opposed Dazhi house sought to instead unite the tribes under one flag and concentrate their power in the northern sands rather than run themselves thin over Aphelion. Lengthy debate in the Knyht Luihlem, their grand council, proved itself fruitless. After a year of tension, the Glorious War, known in modern culture as Dra Lejem Fyn, burst into being.

The nearly year-long war would veritably raze the desert. Cold in some periods but blazing in most, the conflict would see the death of countless young women and some unfortunate civilians as the tribes vengefully tore one another to shreds. As 4,000 AD drew to a close, the Dazhi had pierced to the heart of the Zystral sands, and the tribe's great matriarch Lymmuic the Ruthless died a martyr's death in her own palace.

As the smoke cleared and the survivors grieved, Zicelda the Brave, leader of the Dazhi house, enacted the greatest changes in the people's history. The power of royalty was severely curtailed, and a series of trials were instituted as the means of ascension to the Iron Throne, effective immediately. These trials would happen yearly around the middle of Brightstar, and would see a maximum of twenty two Dashari women compete against the reigning Sultana in a series of ordeals that test intelligence, cleverness, military aptitude and finally brute strength in a trial to the death in the Lumuas, the capital's Colosseum. The final stage would almost never come to pass, as successive Sultanas were the wisest and strongest of the people.

The change was intended to keep rulers shackled to the will of the populace under threat of death. With mass support from the bereft populace, the tribes were unified under the name of Dashari, a portmanteau of Dazhi and Alzharq. Although the new nation would call itself a sultanate, this was more so out of religious belief than respect for monarchy.

The people returned to ruling the sands, but now lived under the creed of internal improvement rather than hostile expansion. Even so, Dashari proved itself the continent's only superpower for centuries to come. Zicelda, known now as the Golden Sultana, died of old age around 4040, and elected to be buried next to Lymmuic to symbolize the fledgling city-state's unconditional union.

Over the next few centuries, Dashari would grow exponentially in wealth and power, and symbols of power such as its colosseum and grand palace would come into being. The arid sands became a hidden oasis of peace and prosperity, guarded heavily by the Sultanate's invincible and mystifying warriors. On a fateful day c. 4250 AD, a ship of rebellious skilled oceanic slaves ran aground in the shores east of Dashari with no casualties besides their would-be masters. Immediately alarmed yet curious to see many humans of a similar shade, the warrior regiment in the area bloodlessly quarantined the shores and protected the visitors while offering the most educated of them an opportunity to represent them at the grand palace.

Immediately moved by the oceanics' story, the Sultana and her advisors offered the group a stay on the Aphelian shore with some materials to begin construction of a port. In what was a legendary and unpredictable move on the Dashari side, the Sultana also promised the new Aphelians permanent protection under the Obsidian Throne with the sole condition of being their eyes, ears, and profit seekers at sea. The oceanic representative, known humorously yet respectfully in Dashari history as Ryhtcusa, agreed. The Protectorate of Alcyon was born, and with the Sultanate's cannons on its decks, the mythical Free Oceanic Fleet came to dominate the Western Avunian Ocean in the following decades, in the process providing a glimpse of the outside world to the reclusive tribe.

It is speculation that the Dashari also came to use Moiros, then sparsely populated, as a trading outpost and pseudo-colony. Alcyon itself became an eternal ally and popular tourist destination for the once-isolated people. The peculiar Dashari also became a subject of oceanic mythology as Alcyon sailors returned to Voshe and spread their tale.

Their newfound prosperity would once more be put to the test, however, beginning that same century. During the Hundred Year Darkness draped over Aquila by the tyrannical and genocidal Makrozoia, the citystate became a target of the Nightmare Legion, which planned to drain it of its wealth and life and corrupt its towering warriors into loyal servants. Makrozoia dispatched a hardened Legion general, Zorro, with a large regiment to conquer Aphelion from the north down.

As Zorro was en route, a mysterious alchemist calling himself Reidon appeared mysteriously in Dashari, and requested an audience with its Sultana, Jymeyhd. He attempted to warn the council of the imminent existential threat to the Sultanate, but its leaders, placing little weight on military advice from a man, cast him out from the sands. Mere hours later, eldritch abominations began rising from the ground all throughout the desert, summoned by the black-leather-clad Zorro, marking the beginning of the Dark War. The general began a scorched earth campaign throughout Aphelion, salting the earth and razing all settlements. Initially, the powerful Dashari military was more than enough to hinder the dispersed forces, but as the fight concentrated more and more on Dashari, morale began to plummet.

Reidon, who had quickly become a beloved chief advisor to the Sultana herself, taught the army and townspeople the nature of the demons as well as anti-magic measures and wartime chemistry. With the help of the Ancient Science, the Sultanate began to turn the tides of war until it took an especially cruel and insulting turn. Zorro, not one to lose in the face of Makrozoia, used black magicks to tap into the anger of the earth and call on the power of the warriors of antiquity lost in the Glorious War. Now facing an undead army equal in strength to their own as well as mounting casualties, it became apparent to Reidon and Jymeyhd that the opposition would have to be slain at the head.

Zorro had, until that point, been practically invisible to the denizens of the desert. As he operated from the dark bowels of the Zystral sands, a large-scale encroachment at the time was deemed out of the question. Reidon made the Sultana a bold proposal; to disguise themselves with alchemy to assassinate Zorro at the source of his power, Lymmuic's Tomb. The hardened warrior accepted, and the two set out under the ominous cover of night to a site in the far southern sands thoroughly tainted with evil. Slipping into the old tomb under the cover of invisibility, the two made their way into the otherworldly and frightening sarcophagus, where they found a waiting Zorro flanked by two towering undead guards.

Dashari legend says that Reidon bravely dueled the agile and taunting Zorro while Jymeyhd attempted to dispatch the two ghastly warriors. The Sultana eventually defeated the two warriors of antiquity with great effort, but Reidon was no match for the superior fighter Zorro, and was bought to his knees. The Legion general, hateful as he was mischievous, prepared to behead the alchemist, but was brutally impaled from behind by Jymeyhd's obsidian greatsword as he was oblivious. The general's eyes went white, and as copious amounts of dark energy left his body, the Sultana managed quickly to shield them both from the ensuing dark explosion. The tomb's inner sanctum began to cave in, and the alchemist picked up the only remain of Zorro, a black half-mask, before being carried to safety by the matriarch.

Zorro was spitefully named "Sutekh" by the Dashari; a word roughly translating to "bastard".

Upon exiting the tomb, the duo noticed that the eternal night placed on Aphelion had given way to a bright sun, and returned to the grand palace with mixed anxiety and optimism. As they walked down the great road, Jymeyhd and the alchemist were welcomed by heartfelt cheers and a collective sigh of relief as the demonic rage ravaging the desert had been quelled. As the sands returned to their isolated normalcy, the mysterious man bade farewell to the Sultana while promising to repay her for saving his life.

A few days later, an ender chest filled with exotic and seemingly magical bright saplings appeared in the palace treasury, with a note:

"Vun cyjehk so meva." - E.D

As the sands settled and the Hundred Year Darkness came to an end worldwide, Dashari continued its expansionary trend, continuing to dominate northern Aphelion and the western Avunian ocean through its loyal protectorate, albeit not without continuing to attract the attention of ambitious and mostly single mythchasers. The people continue to protect their beloved land with their lives, now with an intense hatred of black magic.

The city-state continued to develop technologically and culturally throughout the following centuries, and contributed covertly to the Aphelian Theater of the Aether War almost 500 years later.

In the early 4830s, a border dispute with Dreiton over the Dashari satellite of Omsk led to the two-year long Dune War along the borders of both nations in which both struggled to hold, maintain, and flip territory from their enemies. The object of the conflict, Omsk, was the site of a yearlong siege that broke only when the Dashari reluctantly forfeit their de jure influence over the city. In other places, the Sultanate's forces were successful in capturing only small slivers of plain territory from the burgeoning Commonwealth, their only reward when the sands settled. The war ended with the merciless aerial bombing of the Sultanate protectorate of Asten, to which the Sultana and her advisors responded by quickly suing for peace to avoid further loss of life and sacrilege of Ayndr. The war reiterated the importance of modernization to the listening Dashari people, and left more than a few military officers humiliated and seething. In order to channel the resurgent nationalism into outlets other than insurgency, the Sultanate and its leaders have embarked on a quest of border expansion both westward and into the seas.

In modern times, with the rise of its historic nemesis Dreiton in the south, it has begun to shed its semi-rigid isolationism and deep suspicion of foreigners and become deeply curious about the outside world while longing for deeper connections with it. As a result, it has begun trade and limited border demilitarization with its age-old enemy, and begun intermingling freely with its closest ally, the Oceanic Republic of Voshe.

It remains to be determined whether the hardened and stunning desert matriarchy can coexist in a world increasingly characterized by power struggles between hungry empires.

### Geography

The Sultanate's topography is mostly desert, particularly towards its center and south However, arid savannas occur between long stretches of desert in the newly conquered western reaches. Dashari's island tetrad features a distinct, more humid tropical climate. Although the main cities are noted on the map, the norm in Dashari life is to live in smaller towns of a few thousand residents, many of which are connected by high-speed railways or close to another town that is. Life in a large city and especially the inner city is relegated to the more wealthy, the politically inclined, students, entrepreneurs, or people similar. Regardless, those groups, except for students, are not believed to be morally superior and are not necessarily envied or looked up to. Dashari has a massive maritime border and in recent decades there have been many port towns built to exploit it.

#### Center and South

The Dashari capital is an average of Dashari not only in geography but in beliefs and climate. It is a hot, generally dry, devout metropolis characterized by tall, intricate religious buildings at its center and smaller, pretty housing at its suburbs. In between are a plethora of verdant parks and attractions such as the old Colisseum, the Unyielding Torch, and Jymeyhd's Palace. It is home to the eponymous University of Dashari, as well as the headquarters of many Dashari companies new and old. It is one of the largest and most beautiful cities of Aquila, and its architectural style is known worldwide. It is devoted to walkability and has high-speed railway connections to all other main cities.

The south and southeast of the Sultanate, around the area of Canjydas and coming off the slopes of the Kantoon area, is the hottest and most arid zone. Mild to medium sandstorms are frequent, and civilian life has adapted to the weather with the construction of specially ventilated buildings and community bunkers. Due to the harsh landscape, the area specializes more in materials science and heavy industry, and excels particularly in metallurgy and construction.

Straddling the border with Kantoon is the Muqaddas range, a stretch of land dotted with earthen spires that challenge the sky, split apart by deep valleys. It is believed in Ayndrism that the land was torn asunder by the violent thrashing of the tail of the massive dragon Diocretius. As a holy site, it is protected by patrolling Dashari soldiers, who have mastered the lay of the land. At the northern foot of the spires is the Mausoleum of Sudaran, the resting place of a revered Dashari matriarch of legendary Aquila, whose spirit is believed to bring eternal fortune to the Sultanate in all regards. In general, southern Dashari's extreme climate make it the most inhospitable and impermeable of its stretches.

#### Eastern Coast

On the eastern coast is a vastly different climate, still warm but lined with verdant savannahs and a number of seaports, namely Asten, Alcyon and Ereni. The region is home to more soft industry and agricultural centers, but is most of all the focus of academics and trade. The three cities boast the highest population of non-Dashari citizens, and are therefore diverse in population and language. These ports, more so than the northern ones, connect Dashari to the outside world as well as bring people in, providing a softer, greener entry into the ancient Sultanate.

Ereni is home to Kureha University, Dashari's premier business and liberal arts institute. Alcyon holds an Oceanic composition of about 30% even after the establishment of the Oceanic Republic to the east, and is thus a melting pot between the two cultures. Road and business signs appear in both Zetashari script and Oceanic, and intermarriages are common. Its status as a center for tourism has been particularly supported by the Sultana Yspedas as well as local councilwomen and entrepreneurs. Interestingly, it is also a popular port for business from Dreiton.

As a result of its demographics and institutions, it is somewhat more liberal and progressive in beliefs than central Dashari.

#### Western Dashari and the Beltway Islands (Knyht Pamdfys/Juzur a'Amal)

The newer territories to the west of the scorching sands are composed instead of greener steppes and flatter plains, dotted intermittently with small wetlands. It is marginally the coldest area of the Sultanate. Due to the vast expanses of green, fertile land, the region is the agricultural breadbasket of Dashari and, increasingly, of nearby nations. Dashari's westernmost reaches as recently as 4833 were just beyond the city of Dufanas, and the stretches of land beyond were dominated mostly by independent farmers and pirates. In the years following the Dune War, as a result of the newly risen Sultana Yspedas' campaign of renewed national pride and vigorous expansionism, the area was rapidly taken over and the pirates in the area exterminated.

Accompanying the annexation was a rising birth rate, and many new families from larger cities sought to build a new life in the secure, more verdant west. The cities of Dufanas and Corona saw a great rise in population and size, and a wholly new city by the name of Baylas rapidly began construction. The focus of the area is agriculture, with soft industry like textiles and financial services following suit. The region is also younger in population than the rest of Dashari in general, and closely follows the eastern ports in diversity; as Dashari opens itself to the world at large, many families of mixed Dashari and immigrant descent choose to settle in the western plains, a meeting point between the arid, hot Sultanate and other home countries. The rising diversity in thought reflects in council elections as well as social norms; the western departments have a considerably higher participation rate of men in both the workforce and higher education.

Baylas itself sits on the shore of the bay of Aphelion, formerly a hotspot for piracy. However, as a result of Yspedas' campaign, the Bakadaja pirates have been relegated to their own hideouts in central Aphelion, and the region is a hot zone for Dashari's prospects for naval power, which puts them at odds with Dreiton.

The area is also home to many Dashari installations that conduct experiments in aeronautics and aquatics.

Finally, there are the four large islands north of Dashari. They enjoy a tropical climate and have terrain greener even than that around Dufanas and Baylas. They serve mostly as military installations, but house a population of about 350,000 altogether. The legendary lighthouse, Adanheda, is on the easternmost island of Lymysedas.

### People and Society

The Sultanate of Dashari houses a large population of about 23.3 million, spanning from the outskirts of Alcyon to the Sehanym Pyo waters near their protectorate of Corona. The population density is low throughout, but enormous in the metropolis of Dashari, which is the sultanate's eponymous hearth and capital and houses around half of its population. Other population centers include the industrial powerhouse of Canjydas near its southern borders and the agricultural center of Dufanas to Dashari's southwest. Being the continent's oldest nation and state, they have had millennia to advance their medicine, food, and transportation systems, and their resounding success is evident in their population size.

The primary language is Zetashari, a language isolate with no discernible similarity to any others, largely due to their millennia-long isolation from the rest of the world. It is curiously written from right to left, and has its own alphabet. Script is written in cursive, and letters change form depending on their position in a word. All nouns and adjectives are gendered either male or female, and certain common phrases change depending on the gender of the person spoken to along cultural norms.

The matriarchal structure of the Alzharq has existed since Legendary Aquila, despite conspiracy theories that its women became biologically amplified by feasting on the remains of Diocretius. Due to an odd and not entirely understood biological pheonomenon, the phenotype of northern Aphelian women boasts extreme height and ease of gaining muscle mass. Culturally, this has led to them becoming more socially dominant, physically and emotionally aggressive, and protective of the other sex. All northern Aphelians are adapted to life in the sun, and are more resistant to disease.

**Height Quartiles**

**25%**: 181.3cm (Male), 198.72cm (Female)

**Median**: 185.1cm (Male), 201.5cm (Female)

**75%**: 188.9cm (Male), 204.28cm (Female)

As any scholar may expected from a society with intrinsic differences between the sexes at this scale, there is profound inequality, particularly in the legal sector. Men are barred from being political leaders, and until recent decades, it was also frowned upon for them to be leaders in the economy. While the political barriers have not diminished, the growing demand for intelligent labor has led to a rediscovery of men's culture in the Sultanate and they have become leaders in marketing the country to the outside world. Men are also currently barred from the land army and do not serve the conscription time upon reaching adulthood. Even so, new advancements in aerial warfare have caught the interest of many military leaders who think it might be their area of specialty. Regardless, "gender equality" remains a non-concept; in servitude to the Earth Goddess and their Sultanate, women and men will be "eternally different", the former taking a dominant, more powerful role and the latter being the gentler, more nurturing complement at home.

Interestingly, men have marginally better eyesight, hearing, and range of hearing - a particular selling point as the air force becomes a powerful feature of the Dashari military.

Enjoying a tremendous baby boom as a result of new economic inflow from Voshe and Dreiton as well as an end to the War of the Sunflower and the Dune War, the population of the Dashari capital has capped and begun to diffuse into surrounding small towns, with projects underway to begin new cities entirely. One of these was vastly successful, forming the coastal town of Baylas in the far west. Simultaneously, the ambitious and aggressive sitting Iron Sultana expands the borders and transportation westward to the doorstep of Windforth, reaping all the land in between as living space for eager Dashari.

Religion and its tenets remain dominant in Dashari society, and Ayndrist churches exist far and wide. Worship is held bi-weekly, and economic activities slow down on those days. Regardless, science and technological advancement have become a bigger societal focus; for many, it is their newfound way of serving the Earth Goddess. It remains illegal by popular will that only those devoted to Ayndr may hold any office.

In all recorded history, the Dashari people have been staunchly and sometimes violently opposed to magical practices. This is due to a combination of religion and history. Even as the country liberalizes, there is little intent to accept magic as legitimate or even moral. There exists a tiny, especially mentally prepared division of the army specializing in mage and occult containment and, when necessary, termination.

### Government and Courts

The leader of the Sultanate of the Dashari is a sultana, often stylized the Iron Sultana in life and then given another mineral after death. The current Sultana is Yspedas (real name Merlena, stylized Merlena the Ambitious, b. 4788), a former field marshal during the Dune War who also served as a young sergeant in the Ayndrvunlas during the Aether War and specialized in internal pacification and border protection during peacetime. The year following the widely humiliating end of the Dune War, Merlena was the only one accepted into the yearly Untays to contest the throne on a campaign of revived nationalism, religion, and social conservatism, as well as increased international trade. She defeated and killed the previous unpopular Sultana, and enacted a successful campaign of western expansion and internal improvements, technological and otherwise. She is respected for her strictness, efficiency, and experience both before and during her rule.

The government is de jure a unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional elective monarchy under an authoritarian theocracy, with the Sultana possessing nominal absolute power over the executive, legislative, and judicial affairs by means of divine right. However, recent widely supported amendments to the Ayndric Charter have opened up forty new positions below the Sultana occupied by educated technocrats and experts - these are as a collective bureaucracies responsible for the proposal, enforcement, and interpretation of laws. There are asymmetrical microcouncils in areas such as Defense, Agriculture, and Energy in which the the nation's sharpest minds are employed.

At the moment, only Dashari women are allowed to serve in any part of national or regional government. There is sentiment among the more liberal sect of the populace to both remove this barrier and enact men's suffrage.

The government is unitary but becoming increasingly federalized at a slow pace, as the seven smaller provinces reserve more power; this is especially present in the age of communication, in which citizens, via religion and policy, feel connected to the Sultanate and their countrymen in every corner of the map while still enjoying their own local cultures.

Together, the bureaucracies form the Grand Council, which proposes and votes on laws. In the lawmaking process, the microcouncils are known as Lusseddas (committees). Bills are proposed by any councilwoman and then submitted to the relevant committee for discussion, recommendations, and a final vote to resubmit it to the Council at large. By a majority of twenty-one and confirmation from the Sultana, or a supermajority of thirty, the bill passes and becomes law.

There exists criticism that the Council is inherently opposed to the popular will and sisterhood because they are not elected. The process by which the Council is selected is carried out by the regional councils (councils of each of the seven provinces plus the special Dashari capital sector), which together recommend a sum of forty women to serve at the Grand Castle as part of the council. The regional councils, in turn, are elected democratically by the women in their constituencies. They carry out much the same function that the Grand Council does at the national level.

The courts work similarly to other modern states; there is a system of district courts and circuit courts, with three of the former and two of the latter existing in each province. In Dashari, there is also a supreme court. District courts, or the Vencas, can only hear trials. Circuit courts, or Caluhas, can both hear trials and appeals cases. The Supreme Court, named the Dunlas uv Ayndr (Torch of the Earth Goddess), acts similar to the Caluhas, but has the exclusive power of mandating adherence to the constitution as well as finalizing any amendments after analyzing their loyalty to Dashari values.

The most fantastical of Dashari government institutions abroad is perhaps the national executive. There is hardly a sliver of popular will in the way she is chosen; every year, a maximum of twenty politically charged and devoted women are approved by the regional councils and their constituencies and sent to Dashari to contest for the Iron Throne (the Untays, or Ordeals). In the contest, the women duel the Sultana in puzzles of logic, cleverness, and finally physical strength in a battle to the death (although forfeiture is now allowed). By testing all these repeatedly, the Sultanate ensures that its leader is the strongest and smartest woman in all the nation. Deeper yet, it is a way to explore the clashing political movements across Dashari and a method by which can choose whether to change her direction of leadership or remain steady. The less contestants there are in a given year, the more popular the Sultana is deemed to be. Even so, aspects of this system remain unpopular, and even the conservative matriarchical sect of the populace pushes for democratic reforms.**[1]**

The military and other nationally defensive institutions possess high legal and moral influence in the Sultanate's society, and they are the largest destination of government revenue, followed closely by education and healthcare. However, the nation's multifaceted approach to defense also makes it a vessel of scientific and tactical studies rather than a monolithic war machine.

### Economy

The Sultanate's primary economic focus is the extraction and manipulation of raw resources from the Earth. Foremost among these resources are animal-based produce, precious minerals, medical ingredients, and metals. Until the emergence of Dreiton as a rival power, Dashari was mostly closed to trade, opting to use their wealth on the pursuit of their own power while diffusing a small fraction to neighboring tribes and islands. This led to a "snowball effect" in which the continuous reinvestment of their wealth onto themselves curiously caused exponential economic growth. In the southwestern towns, among the hills and overhangs, blossomed a massive system of cattle ranchers and smokehouses that are the meat basket of the Dashari economic sphere to this day.

The Dashari economy is substantially nationalized at varying levels, with about 20% of the economy being run from Dashari, another 25% being run by individual provinces, 30% being run by cities and municipalities, and the final 25% being privatized. It is more worthwhile, however, to analyze which sectors fall into which category; nationalized sectors are mostly key industries and necessities, such as coal and defense, while privatized industries include mostly light industry and commodity production. The existence of government-owned industry does not prohibit the entrance of private industry, although the economic prowess of the government as well as their operation by intellectual Council-appointed technocrats renders competition difficult. Nationalized industries are flexibly operated to ensure appropriate response to changing markets and economic downturns, and most revenue is spent on acquiring more capital goods, funding government programs, and workers' benefits rather than lining plutocrat pockets. Private industry is encouraged in lighter industry such as home appliances and clothing, and corporate taxes are generally stringent albeit dependent on the type of product and its contribution to the common good. The economic system is, overall, one of collective efficiency with some less regulated input.

Toward the geographical center, long-lived chains of mining towns have sprung into existence to exploit the redstone and lapis-rich land, as well as tap into the Sultanate's unique deposits of pristine obsidian. Ancient metallurgists found that the normally brittle black volcanic glass, if cooled to temperatures near absolute zero, gained extreme hardness. Synthetic obsidian has been produced in well-funded Dashari laboratories by rapidly cooling purified lava. To date, the Sultanate is accountable for almost all of the world's commercial-grade obsidian supply. The Sultanate enjoys a similar worldwide monopoly in most sects of materials science and engineering, being the primarity export of a legion of metals with ranging malleabilities, ductilities, conductivities, and other key properties employed in construction, engineering and defense worldwide. Fluids, gases, and gels are also increasingly prominent in the Dashari export stage, as the increasing technological front of Aquila demands a variety of materials with dozens of specific properties. The prominence of the materials industry, known as the Syddanlus, has served to diversify the Dashari economy away from the hegemony of the military and to bolster its educational and scientific sectors. A chain of synthetic and natural reactors dot Dashari provinces in contribution to this exponentially growing industry, and leadership hopes to have synthetic reactors be the majority by the 4870s, with the goal being at least partial renewable production of all materials.

Indeed, in the current millennium, Dashari has also accelerated their scientific research and materials procurement, resulting in an increasingly well-funded education and healthcare sector. The nation also has high investment in those vital sectors of nearby societies, namely the Oceanic Republic, and is a key trading partner. Dashari's rapidly modernizing and robust trading system has left it with one of the highest trade surpluses in the world. Quotas and tariffs remain in place on Dashari's key goods, dissuading purchases of central items like precious minerals elsewhere, albeit with little to no detrimental effects.

The Dashari tax system, as facilitated by its culture of devotion and humility, is generally stringent, with most citizens giving up about three fifths of their yearly gross income. The system is flexible, however, and strengthened or loosened by the council to manipulate aggregate demand and close recessionary or inflationary gaps. As a result of the technocrat-devised fiscal and monetary policy, Dashari for the past decades has lingered near its full employment rate of 98%. Inflation is also minimal, allowing for minimization of the impact of slow wage growth. Dashari's federal reserves are supple, numbering around ∈210 billion in value.

The largest sources of employment, in order, are the military (any of its defense, intelligence, or research-based branches), agriculture and food, and the metals industry. The fastest growing fields are medical ones (surgeons, physicians, pharmacists etc.) and those in commerce and accounting as a result of a quickly growing stake in the world economy.

### Technology

Throughout history, self-sufficiency, industrialization, and a focus on harnessing the earth's resources efficiently have made Dashari by far the most technologically advanced power in its world quadrant. From the historical entrapment and refining of redstone and its large and renowned metallurgical practices to the modern-day electronics and codanium revolution, it has existed as a scientific leader. Modern cutthroat competition from its ambitious and young southern nemesis had the Sultanate momentarily dazed in the early 49th century. After a devastating conflict with Dreiton that ended in a virtual stalemate, with Dashari extracting only minimal territorial concessions, the military and industrial complexes went into a research, development, and production overdrive. Alongside the replacement of the dated railroads with top-speed bullet trains powered by the novel crystal codanium came breakthroughs in warfare, such as the quick maneuverable airship and a speed cruiser for the nascent navy.

The foundation and focus of Dashari scientists since the dawn of time has been alchemy and chemistry, by which they transform the raw power of the earth into refined polymers and employ them in their society to further develop in the name of Ayndr. There exist the powerful and prestigious metallurgy sector, which develops and manipulates alloys for construction, industry, and warfare; the medical industry, which harnesses the fluids and resins of plants and transforms them to lifesaving solutions in the laboratory; energy, which uses the raw fuels of the earth to power society and expansion, and military chemistry, the controversial sector that uses resources to power machines of war as well as destroy enemy livelihoods. At the time being, military chemistry is focused more on machinery and health of personnel than violence, but it is unknown how much of a stress must be applied to break this paradigm.

Since the 4830s, interest in communications technology has skyrocketed, and most households are equipped with inexpensive radio sets that allow citizens to tune in to political speeches and news on every level of government, as well as entertainment programs such as music and cooking shows. This, combined with the expansive and uniform system of high-speed trains, has led to a more unified national identity than ever, and radio and electric technology is near the forefront of research for both civilian and military use.

On a similar topic, military science is the vehicle by which many modern developments spill into other areas of society. Rezmeniel, for example, was an ultrahard yet light alloy designed to replace obsidian as mech armor; however, it was adopted in industry for its impressive electrical conductivity. Military and religious culture in Dashari have also further fueled the arms and science race between the two Aphelian superpowers, one which the Sultanate is not keen on losing.

Current areas of research in Dashari include: the aforementioned materials science; commercial aeronautics, by which Sultanate physicists hope to safely fly dozens of people at once across the world through the air; and breaking the emanation and phantom energy barriers in the sky and outer reaches of the world. Rudimentary technology has allowed sustained flight in the air in small capsules.

There is also pronounced interest in charting and conquering the Rift.

### Military and Security

The military has been the distinguishing emblem of the Sultanate for millennia. It is robust in number, well-armed, well-led, and well-trained. The military is split into branches: the land army (Ayndrvunlas), the navy (Fydanvunlas), the newborn air wing (Fehtvunlas), the intelligence wing (Dydelvunlas), and the quickly strengthening scientific and research-based branch (Pynehvunlas). The land army is by far the largest, with the newer four rapidly establishing a new foothold in honor and respect.

Roughly 28% of women - 14% of the total population - are employed in a military wing at various ranks.

The Ayndrvunlas is charged with protecting the terrestrial borders, crushing insurgency, maintaining internal instability, managing and protecting national intraconnectivity via the railways, and otherwise securing the desert by beating back any hostile creature that attacks smaller settlements. They are the oldest and most mythicized, and most young women take pride in qualifying for service in this branch when drafted. The lowest-level infantrywomen are equipped with sturdy and well-ventilated diamond armor, heavy and serrated obsidian greatswords, large longbows, and satchels of miscellaneous supplies. Officers are clad in more intimidating obsidian gear. Women who make up this branch are not necessarily less intelligent, but have less of an academic inclination, are less inquisitive, and have a stronger loyalty to the Sultana. It is headquartered in Dashari, with other bases of operations throughout northern Aphelion.

The Fydanvunlas is a newer and more unorthodox wing, leaving the land and patrolling the straits of Corona as well as the waters near and beyond Dorama. They hold a growing amount of cruisers and gunboats, and there is research underway to combine the air wing and the navy in the way of aircraft carriers. Its goal is to secure trade routes, crush amphibian invasions, and protect allies. The women of the Fydanvunlas are often those with higher scholastic performance and less unconditional reverence toward the government. They are assigned to the naval force to capitalize on their desire for knowledge and adventure in hopes that they will soon represent the Sultanate and its strength on the world stage. It is headquarted in Kydafyas, with other bases of operations in the Uneahdyas (oriental islands) Lymysedas and Canahedas.

The Fehtvunlas is the skyfaring wing and somewhat of a display stage for Dashari technological breakthroughs. It is composed of hawkeyed women piloting a series of armed airships. Its purpose is to conduct recon and maintain aerial control of the continent and also serves to transport troops over land. As the sands settled on the Dune War, the newborn air wing became the subject of booming investment, R&D, and a complete tactical revamp focused on aerial supremacy over Aphelion and surrounding waters rather than blind air combat. This is the only military wing currently considering male employment; there is a minute section of the Fehtvunlas that is a segregated male-exclusive air squadron. It is headquartered in Ymuas and Canjydas, the industrial forefronts of the Sultanate.

The Dydelvunlas and the Pynehvunlas, the intelligence and science wings respectively, are not engaged in any sort of physical warfare. Both are composed of the sharpest minds from around the continent, with those in the Dydel opting to further serve the Sultanate out of sheer loyalty while those in the Pyneh seek to advance its technological supremacy. The Dydel focuses on propaganda, monitoring insurgencies, and aiding police in tracking wanted criminals. The Pyneh is at the forefront of the Dashari scientific scene, being responsible for breakthroughs in mech armoring, communications, and even nutritional chemistry. Like the air wing, the Pyneh also employs men, wasting no potential. However, the intelligence wing opts not to, believing men are suited for mental labor but not for strenuous mental warfare.

Dashari's largest active threat comes from within, in the form of the violent terrorist group **Sujasahd vun dra Luhxiacd uv dra Bmyhad** (Sisterhood for World Conquest). Their ideology is extremely conservative and authoritarian; they advocate for the complete control of the government under one Sultana elected by the trials, as well as the complete annexation of all Aphelion, the erasure of Dreiton, and the reversal of any social liberalization that contradicts strictly interpreted Old Ayndrism, such as expanded gender equality. They remain mostly confined to south Dashari; however, they are guilty there for a number of crimes such as political bombings, kidnappings, and executions, in a low-level war known as the Jedneum.

### Foreign Relations

As a result of its speedy and semi-voluntary introduction to the world at large, the Sultanate of Dashari has found itself shielding some nations while pointing the greatsword at others.

### **Allies**

**Voshe** - Trading partner and military ally. Voshe is currently the largest importer of Dashari goods as well as comfortable destination for many Dashari citizens who are sympathetic to the bloody Voshi past. Dashari guarantees Voshi independence under promise of severe military and economic reprisal to any violators. After the entrance of Voshe to the world markets, Dashari has positioned itself even more as the island's guardian, deterring any military action against it by those who seek to keep the Sultanate as an ally - or, at least, not an enemy.

**Kazimir Empire**

**Western Aphelian Micronations** - Trading partners.

### **Neutral-Friendly**

**Commonwealth of Dreiton** - Trading partner. A former blood enemy of Dashari and the first to challenge the Sultanate in centuries. The two are currently embroiled in a vigorous race for technological conquest. Even so, trade and border demilitarization between the two is underway. Dreiton responded to Voshe's blossoming with eagerness to trade, which has left Dashari wary of the Commonwealth, who the Sultanate believes might be trying to exercise political influence over the island republic.

### Ongoing Conflicts

**Pacification of the Old Ways (4835-):** Dashari is involved in the extermination of black mage hegemonies around Aquila, most in Kazimir and Alamut under the auspices of their governments, but also including others in islands in the Aetherial, Corona and Starfall seas, as well as minor covens in Eletsya. Multiple allies.

**Alamutan Civil War (4841-):** An asymmetric war pitting the Sultanate and its allies in the weak Alamutan government against syndicalist guerillas with reported connections to the Old Ways, as well as a more direct and successful war against anti-Dashari warlords. Due to the unstable state of the Zalibar government, Dashari co-occupies the safe haven city of Aetreus and oversees its governance under Alamutan decree, and guarantees a naval presence in Zalibar Bay as well as around the coast of Alamut, in addition to their commitments on land. Dashari also guaranteed Alamutan independence during the War of the Sunflower; however, it and to a lesser extent its partner in the Kazimir Empire have occupied large portions of fertile or military desirable land in areas farther from Zalibar in what seems to be a venture of joined colonialism. While Dashari supports the government in the vicinity of the capital, many coastal regions are part of a de facto military dictatorship under Dashari command. Because their occupation is seen as far gentler, less corrupt, and more profitable than warlord rule, it is widely supported in those territories.

**Anti-Piracy Campaigns (4835-):** A series of naval involvements by the Fydanvulas around the world in persecution of piracy and its foci. Dashari admirals and fleets are regularly invited and dispatched throughout Aquila to protect trade convoys and crush naval instability in what is a widely successful and popular campaign of naval power projection.

**The Jedneum (4828-):** A low-level war concentrated in the southern border of Dashari near Kantoon, carried out by ultraconservative former military officials and involving acts of terrorism such as kidnappings and bombings. Most has been contained by Yspedas, but minor factions continue to wage insurrection from the scalding hills and caves.

### National Metrics

The following data are expressed as functions of years since 4800 (years are on x-axis).

**Aquilan Development Index (ADI)**

The Sultanate is among the world's five most developed nations, competing for top three in terms of ADI every year alongside Dreiton and Nova Aquila. Its rapid growth throughout the first half of the 49th century was due to a technological boom as well as the loosening of civil restrictions, cutting-edge transportation projects, lessened jingoism, and a stronger focus on universal rights. The main weakness in its ADI remains civil and political liberties. It is currently in the "High" ADI region, and projected to transition to "Very High" by the third quarter of the century.

**Population Growth**

The desert superpower has experienced impressive population growth throughout the first half of the 49th century, largely due to a permeating religious influence on family, three postbellum economic booms, and territorial expansion. Dashari population currently stands at around 23 million, making it Aphelion's most populated state as well as one of the world's most populated countries. Even so, as with most Aquilan countries, population density is exceedingly low, lingering around 12.8 people per square kilometer.

**Percent Agrarianism (PA)**

Dashari has existed for millennia as its own chief source of food, and largely remains so even as international barriers weaken and collapse. The agricultural sector is the Sultanate's second-largest employer behind the military. Due to the predominant biomes being desert and savannah, the focus is on animal farms and agriculture, although there exists extensive irrigation systems and research is being conducted into arid pomology. Although the PA has decreased slightly over the last five decades, it is projected to remain steady as dispersed agricultural conglomerates and private citizens continue to work in the field.

**Urban/Rural Ratio (URR)**

There exists a cultural ambivalence in Dashari over rural and urban living, with rural living sometimes seen as being closer to Ayndr. The mode of living is by and large smaller towns inhabited by a couple thousand people. For the sake of this paper, urban residents are those who live in a square kilometer populated by more than 1,000 people. After the Aether War and then after the Dune War, the URR rose as urban life became more prosperous and popular. However, following rapid territorial expansion, transportation subsidies, and a new conservative and religious cultural campaign encouraging a renewed spirituality and the settlement of the western territories, the URR rapidly dropped to earlier levels. The current URR is 0.68, meaning rural life is prevalent; 13.9 million Dashari live in rural areas. The URR is projected to continue to fall slightly.

## Footnotes

1. The Untays have been abolished, and Yspedas will be the last to possibly have her throne contested through them. The amendment, although internationally considered a surprise from the nationalist, conservative and devout Sultana, was received with wide applause in the Sultanate and heralded as a new way of worshipping Ayndr. Political freedoms nonetheless remain widely challenged.

## Further Reading

* Declaration of the Eleventh Amendment to the Ayndric Charter
* Merlena the Ambitious