Bohaar

Bohaar
Capital	Imperial Palace
Ruler	Emperor-Priest Aan Eke Oaare
Government	Theocratic monarchyu
Demonym	Bohaari
Adjective	Bohaari
Languages	Aanar; Ukkarak; other languages of the Stormlands
Religions	Bohaar pantheon; ancestor monoliths

Bohaar (pronounced boh-HAHR) is a nation in the northern Stormlands. Much more verdant than the rest of the continent, innumerable rivers and bodies of water define the landscape of Bohaar. Once far more unified, today this hydraulic empire remains only loosely connected, the lake-cities paying only nominal heed to the decrees of the central Imperial Palace.

Geography

Bohaar lies between two mountain ranges - the Amanas Mountains in the west and the Rain-Shroud in the east, where water collects into streams then rivers that flow down into the floodplains of the lowlands. It is around these rivers, and the lakes they feed, that Bohaar has grown. The largest - the Thorn, Shroud-Ran, Dtiir, Ice, Vire, Harii, and Hummingbird rivers - all eventually meander and flow into the immense and marshy Reed-Crowned Lake, the seat of Bohaari power and civilization. From there they drain out through the Gold-Hewn River into the Gulf of Bohaar in the north.

In the south Bohaar is bordered by the drier regions north of the Tazak Mountains but south of the floodplains.

Most of the landscape of Bohaar is remarkably flat, aside from the foothills of the mountain ranges and some uplifted regions between the rivers. A mix of temperate forests and grasslands cover the terrain.

While significantly warmer than much of the southern Stormlands, and in general more moderated than on the plateau or the southern steppes, the weather in Bohaar can be highly variable. Summers are warm and rainy, while winters bring snow and cause the rivers to freeze.

History

The empire of Bohaar is quite ancient, by the standards of the Stormlands, having first formed around the Reed-Crowned Lake in the middle of the eighth millennium. From there it slowly spread outwards, incorporating one by one the previously independent city states along the many rivers of the land. Unification, while certainly involving conquest, was much more driven by religious concerns, as the successive emperor-priests and emperor-priestesses had the close support of the clergy of Eraamn and Seriil. Over the centuries and millennia their control of the floodplains waxed and waned, as they came into conflict with the tribes of the forests and the hobgoblins to their south. These nearly constant clashes greatly increased the influence of the emperors of Bohaar, as they were able to ensure a semblance of security through directing imperial armies and mage-generals where needed.

By the middle of the tenth millennium Bohaar had unified the forests and grasslands, either driving out or assimilating the various tribes, and only its long-time foes of the hobgoblins yet remained, but in Y9628^* this threat too was removed. The hobgoblin tribes, who had long coveted the wealthy and prosperity of Bohaar, looked in fear at the rise of the mage-autocrats of Tazak to the south, and together approached the emperor-priestess with an offer - in exchange for imperial support in the form of weapons, advisors, and regular payment of gold and silver, they would cease their raids on the southern cities of Bohaar and become loyal subjects of the empire. The emperor-priestess agreed, and thus the vassal nation of Kad was organized from the tribes. Bohaar was finally at a state of peace that could be enjoyed by all in the empire, not only those in the core around the Reed-Crowned Lake.

Ultimately, however, it was this peace that would lead to the slow decline of Bohaar. Without an external threat - and with the clergy of the Bohaar pantheon having slowly decentralized away from the Imperial Palace - it became less necessary to heed the orders of the emperor, and the armies slowly returned to their home cities, their previous centralization always a matter of convenience rather than loyalty. By Y9900 the emperor-priests of Bohaar, once leaders of the most centralized state in the Stormlands and its only empire, were almost vestigial, relegated to a role that was only ceremonial and spiritual rather than political.

Demographics

The people of Bohaar are largely human, hobgoblin, and dwarven, with considerably smaller numbers of tengu, elves, and other ancestries.

Government

Though they continue to style themselves as emperors, today the rulers of Bohaar only have direct influence around their strongholds of the Imperial Palace in the Reed-Crowned Lake and the Imperial Retreat to its southeast. To the other cities and settlements of Bohaar, their orders matter little, followed if convenient and ignored if not. Still, due to their ongoing close association to the clergy of Bohaar the emperor-priests and emperor-priestesses continue to be spiritually important as the foremost diviner of the word of the gods. While not hereditary - each emperor is chosen by the combined clergy of Eraamn and Seriil upon the death of the previous individual in the role - certain families have nonetheless formed dynasties, albeit ones that rarely hold the throne in succession.

The various cities and smaller communities of Bohaar are also heavily theocratic in nature, though where some are autocratic others are instead ruled by councils of priests. The few remaining forest tribes, meanwhile, tend to prefer consensus-based direct democracy.