Akatzar

Akatzar
Capital	None
Ruler	Multiple
Government	Tribal monarchs
Demonym	Akatzari (tribal or city preferred)
Adjective	Akatzari (tribal or city preferred)
Languages	Uulam; Aanar; Qaani; Ukkarak
Religions	Ezun; Qenga visitants; ancestor monoliths

Akatzar (pronounced ah-KAT-zar) in the southern Stormlands encompasses much of the land between the Storm-Path in the north and the O'oen Ice Sheet in the south, including the entire Zkher Steppe. The nomadic hobgoblins of Akatzar rule uncontested the open steppe while holding the settled peoples of the rivers and coast as vassals. The tribes regularly clash with each other and with those outside Akatzar in the name of their living war god Ezun.

Geography

See also: Zkher Steppe

The most defining geographical feature of Akatzar is the Zkher Steppe, a vast expanse of shrublands that stretches from the [[[Amanas Mountains]] in the west to the shores of the Na-Gaesa Ocean in the east. Herds of herbivorous creatures cross the steppe in search of grazing grounds, which can be quite far apart and separated by long treks across rough rocks where little grows.

Eastern and southern Akatzar is more hospitable than the western and northern steppe. Many rivers cross the landscape there, such as the Erash, Vakheq, Utanvra, Eero, and Haikak, which are fed by snowmelt in the Barricades and the Silent Hills. The effects of the Great Tempests have drawn away all water from the Southern Rim, and so no rivers emerge from the northern mountains of Akatzar. It is around these rivers where the majority of the population of Akatzar lives, within great cities that rely heavily on the seasonal waters for irrigation. Trees cluster around these rivers as well, part of a far more diverse ecosystem of plants than can be found in the west.

The climate of Akatzar is broadly cool and dry. Parts of the steppe see so little rainfall that they verge on desert, while the east closer to the coast is somewhat wetter and more temperate. Snowfall is common in Akatzar not just in the winters but for nearly a full half of the year.

History

Though the region has been populated to some degree for quite a long time, the origins of Akatzar as a culturally if not typically politically unified area only begins with the first appearance of the war god Ezun millennia ago. The god's campaigns to subjugate the hobgoblin tribes brought them together for the first time, and after his appearance his followers' devoted drives to prove themselves his avatar have continued to centralize the tribes and their subject cities under singular figures for brief times, though such efforts nearly always quickly fall apart.

Demographics

humans, kobolds, and dwarves account for most of the population of Akatzar, primarily living in the riverside cities and towns in the southeast and along the coast. Through politically dominant, the tribes of hobgoblins are proportionally a much smaller part of the population.

Culture

Government

Governance in Akatzar is based far more upon personal loyalties than any sort of institution. This is most famously the case with the hobgoblin tribes, who tend to follow leaders who prove themselves through personal feats and often rule by fear, but is no less true in the cities of the southeast, where various clans often vie for influence through patronage networks based on competitive gift giving. Prominent figures and families are likely to throw their support behind whoever promises them the most, but these loyalties are fickle in such a cutthroat environment, and an offer of a greater reward from their current rivals may soon cause a switch in sides.

Together, the hobgoblin tribes consider the settled peoples to be something akin to vassals or tributaries. The tribes compete amongst themselves for influence over a given city or area, but rarely involve the city itself in the fighting, as doing so would spoil the prize. These vassal arrangements are usually, but not always, rather hands-off, with taxes in the form of corvee labor demanded in exchange for protection, through such protection is typically from wild beasts and creatures rather than from other tribes due to the aforementioned arrangement.