Nabopolassar's Host (pronounced nah-boh-poh-LASS-sar) is a term used to refer to both a mercenary company and the land that mercenary company currently occupies, centered around a group of formerly abandoned forts on the southern coast of the Chaska Sea.
The fortresses and the Host
The mercenary company is named after its long-time leader, the dwarf Nabopolassar.
Nabopolassar's Host is a mercenary company recruited primarily from among the soldiers and adventurers of Dalbanu, Barat Rkund, and the Arrajan Wilds. The Host has gained quite a reputation in the world as effective and reliable soldiers, frequently taking on contracts others considered too dangerous or risky. Nabopolassar refuses to allow the Host to work for those with nefarious aims, and he carefully investigates all opportunities to ensure they are not being deceived. The Host's professionalism is a major point of pride among its membership.
Abednego, Meshach, and Shadrach, the three forts around the Bay of Ammit are immense sandstone edifices facing the sea. Constructed in the ancient and enduring Khapeshan style, with tall, sloped walls, flat roofs, and many vantage points, they have nevertheless decayed greatly in the more than five millennia since they were built. All three have ports and space for small farms within their walls, to better ensure the survival of any potential assault and siege. The forts have significant underground sections, with as many rooms and open spaces below ground as above. There appear to be extensive tunnel networks connecting the forts, but these have not yet been fully re-excavated and explored by the Host.
Nabopolassar has been forthright about the Host's intentions in the region. He wishes to restore the fortresses to a usable condition, then use them as a base of operations and capital from which to unite the disparate communities of the Akrotirian Isles. This is a long-term effort that he does not expect will be accomplished within his lifetime.
Geography, flora, and fauna
The territory controlled by Nabopolassar's Host centers around the Bay of Ammit, an inlet on the southern coast of the Chaska Sea. The coast in this region is arid but not inhospitable - while rocky and dry, plenty of plants and trees adapted to these conditions grow along the shoreline as well as farther inland.
Similar to the rest of the southern coast of the Chaska Sea, the climate of the region is quite stable. Summers are warm but not usually excessively hot, with cooler but not cold winters. The summer months are typically fairly dry, and the winter sometimes brings torrential rain.
The Resheph River is the only major river in the region, though it is a dry bed for much of the year. Smaller streams feed into this river from the inland hills, but they too have long dry periods.
The plant life of the region is well-adjusted to the drier conditions of the local climate. Carob, thuya, wild olive, and cork oak trees are common, alongside smaller shrubs and grasses that can find purchase in the rocky landscape.
The fauna in the territory claimed by Nabopolassar's Host includes a significant number of large animals, such as lions, wolves, doedicurus, hyaenodons, thylacines, deer, boars, and gazelles. They are joined by plentiful smaller animals as well, including various mammals, reptiles, birds, and fish. Spotted dolphins and giant crabs are frequent sights along the coast. Pards, shocker lizards, reefclaws, snallygasters, thought eaters, and shotalashu are just some of the magical or aberrant creatures that can be found in the area.
History
Ancient past
The three forts of Abednego, Meshach, and Shadrach were built around the Bay of Ammit during the Khapeshan Age of Expansion - the exact dates of their construction are unknown, but they are generally believed to date to their reign of Khapesh's King Necho, from Y4568* to Y4624*. Necho was known to be keenly interested in expanding his kingdom's influence further afield, but the exact purpose the forts were intended to serve has been lost to time.
Modern period
In Y9932* Nabopolassar's Host arrived in the region, occupying the three ruined forts and laying claim to the surrounding towns and villages. The forts had seen occasional use in the past five millennia, but all prior occupants had long ago left. The Host set to work restoring the fortresses, beginning with the largest of the three, Abednego.
Demographics
The town of Soloi is the only major population center controlled by the Host, along with a handful of small villages. The inhabitants of the town and villages are primarily humans or half-elves, with small numbers of catfolk, ratfolk, and kobolds.
The membership of the Host itself is largely human, dwarven, ifrit, half-orc, and suli.
Culture
Religion
The people of the region largely worship the deities of the Chaskan and Khapeshan pantheons, especially Usumu, Marya, and Aya. Though they primarily use the gods' Chaskan names, their practices and beliefs are more similar to their Khapeshan aspects. A small number of Monadists live in Soloi as well. The membership of the Host worship largely the same gods as the original inhabitants of the area, and frequently build small private shrines in their homes.
Languages
Chaskan is the most commonly spoken language in this stretch of the Chaskan coast - this is one of the few regions of the world in which this archaic tongue remains in use. It is also typical for local inhabitants to understand Common, relevant racial languages, and regional languages like Meroitic and Dalbar.
Arts
Music in the Host's territory is primarily used for religious services, usually taking the form of hymns. Music as entertainment is popular as well, and many villages host a resident bard who is able to earn a living with regular performances. Woodwind instruments are the most common, but other types are used as well.
Food and cuisine
The farmers of the region both grow crops and keep livestock. Sheep and goats are the most common livestock, used for milk and meat. Common crops include wheat, olives, an array of vegetables, and fruits such as figs, pomegranates, plums, dates, carobs, and tamarinds.
Local cuisine makes effective use of all the local ingredients available. Mutton is the most used meat, with beef, poultry, and game seeing use as well. Common crops include potatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes, garlic, eggplant, olives, cardoons, pine nuts, and legumes. The Host has also introduced various ingredients and techniques of food preparation from the eastern Chaska, some of which have been widely adopted by the local population.
Architecture
The architecture used in the region is vaguely similar to that of Khapesh, mostly for practical reasons. The region does not see great amounts of rainfall, so the same type of rectangular, flat-roofed, stone buildings are practical. Wood is fairly widely used as a building material in addition to stone, for framing, doors, shutters, and the like. Many smaller villages have large tents over their common areas to keep the sun away from market stalls and such.
Society
Soloi is the only major concentration of population within the Host's territory. Most inhabitants of the region live in smaller villages along the coast, but in general the population of the region is quite low. Many consider themselves Bronze-Armed, an identity formed by the descendants of Rothurlandic settlers that arrived in the area long ago.
Nabopolassar's Host maintains its own small fleet, which it uses to move its forces around and transport material to the fortresses. As long as there is space, locals are welcomed to use the ships for transportation as well.
The Host sponsors schools, hospitals, and religious services for the people living under their control. Most of the time, these are in the same facilities, and the clerics of the temples also serve as teachers and healers. Nabopolassar does not wish to rule by force or fear, and attempts to support and provide for the local populace.
Though dangerous to hunt, the hide and tails of the native doedicurus are traditionally used to craft armors and maces.
Travel
Other than the Host's arrival in the preceding decades, few come to this stretch of the southern coast of the Chaska Sea. The region is not rich in natural wealth and the rough landscape does not make for easy farming, so most see little purpose in traveling to the Bay of Ammit. Adventurers have occasionally stopped by to pick through the rubble of the forts, but this has stopped now that the Host has laid claim to them.
Magic
Most practitioners of magic in the region are divine spellcasters, though other forms of magic are of course not unknown. The latent psychic energy that pervades the Akrotirian Isles stretches to the southern coast as well, and a disproportionate segment of the local population is capable of psychic magic.
Fashion
The clothing worn by local residents is usually made of wool, and most commonly takes the form of sleeveless tunics and loose robes. It is traditional for both men and women to wear hats when outside the house, a practice followed widely by individuals of all races. In the decades since the arrival of Nabopolassar's Host, clothing styles have begun to take a great deal of influence from traditional Dalbanu styles as well.
Government
Nabopolassar's Host is a mercenary company, under the direct control of its titular leader. Nabopolassar has the authority to direct all activities of the company and the forts and towns they occupy, though in practice often leaves most of the decision-making to his lieutenants. The leadership structure of the Host is very similar to that of a professional military, with tiered ranks and chains of command.
In Soloi as well as in the smaller villages that the Host controls, much of the day-to-day governance is left to local leaders, as long as they maintain contact with the Host.
Economy
The people living within the territory in which the Host now claims continue to live and work much as they did prior to their arrival. Largely self-sufficient, they produce and trade amongst themselves. Merchant ships from the Akrotirian Isles, Khapesh, and elsewhere occasionally make port in Soloi, which allows the town's inhabitants to acquire items they could not find nearby.
Relations
The Host has mostly good relations with the surroundings peoples of the Western Coast. The mercenary company is more interested in trade than conquest, despite their strongly martial society, and they have forget mercantile ties with nearby settlements as a means of gaining additional supplies as they attempt to reconstruct the ancient fortresses.
The inhabitants of the Akrotirian Isles to the north are, as of yet, not unduly concerned with the presence of the mercenary company to their south. The islands do, after all, have a tendency to make life difficult for any who would seek to control them...
[[Category:Western Coast