Khapesh

Khapesh
Capital	Pharonic palace complex
Ruler	Chephren the Learned
Government	Bureaucratic monarchy
Demonym	Khapeshan
Adjective	Khapeshan
Languages	Common, Meritoic
Religions	Khapeshan pantheon, especially Ra and Isis. Other pantheons as well to lesser degrees.

Khapesh, formally the Kingdom of Khapesh, is an ancient land full of mysteries and remnants of the distant past. Old ruins are frequently only a short distance from major cities, and the remains of a prehistoric civilization hide beneath the sands. One of the most densely populated regions of the world, the Aur River provides the lifeblood of Khapesh within the inhospitable deserts of the Red Lands.

Geography, flora, and fauna

Khapesh is centered around the Aur River, its lifeblood in the otherwise hot and inhospitable Sangora Desolation. Aside from small settlements around oases within the Red Lands, the Khapeshan term for the Desolation, almost the entire population of Khapesh lives along the river. The Aur River provides the means of transportation that ties the kingdom together by trade, and the river’s regular yearly cycles of flooding ensures agricultural plenty in the middle of the desert. Farmlands, mostly growing wheat and other grains, cling close to the river. Reeds and other tall grasses grow along the riverbank in places where it is not cultivated.

To the north the Aur reaches the Chaska Sea - most international travel and trade from Khapesh comes and goes by this route. To the east is the Salt Coast of the Kilche Sea. Far less kind to human habitation than the northern coast, there is little here beyond beaches of salt and outposts established to collect it. Some small fortresses exist here as well, in an attempt to deter pirates along the trade routes between Avaris, Rudamun, and Tarkuss.

Sandstorms are a periodic concern to the inhabitants of Khapesh. Sometimes taking days to pass, these storms inhibit travel, damage crops, pose health concerns, and cover settlements with a thick layer of sand once they pass.

The Red Lands are a barren wasteland of rocky sand and dunes. Small shrubs and cacti, well adapted to live in these dry conditions, are the only vegetation to be seen. Most vegetation in the Red Lands is inedible to people, save for sparse prickly pair cacti, black persimmon, and a handful of other species. Few choose to travel through these harsh conditions, much less live in it.

Along with a handful of smaller oases, the Turquoise and Kharga Oases are the major sites away from the Aur River. These refuges from the desert remain sparsely inhabited, though ancient ruins are common sights near both. Rumors abound of strange phenomena surrounding both oases. However, there is little to entice adventurers, and most stay away.

The fauna of Khapesh is separated based on proximity to water. Along the river, northern coast, and oases, one can find crocodiles, hippopotami, and large flocks of birds. Within the Red Lands, there are few animals besides scorpions, snakes, small rodents and reptiles, jackals, and foxes. Magical creatures are also relatively commonplace within Khapesh. While most native magical creatures live only in remote parts of the river or in the desert away from civilization, non-native magical creatures can be found with relative ease near the cities, whether they moved there by choice or were inadvertently set free.

The Red Lands are home to a number of sphinx, generally in remote locations where they can avoid those that wish to seek their advice.

Some bagiennik live in the reeds along the Aur River. While their pranks can be an annoyance to farmers and those travelling the river, many towns accept or even welcome their presence due to their healing abilities and their enthusiasm to use them.

History

The Kingdom of Khapesh is an ancient kingdom built on the ruins of civilizations even older. Founded somewhere around Y300 by the quasi-mythical Narmer the Conqueror, Khapesh has been ruled since by monarchs of thirty-one dynasties. This has not all been a time of peace, with many wars, both external and within, breaking up long periods of fairly high degrees of stability. At times the lands of Khapesh have been temporarily divided among multiple states and later reunified again.

Prehistory

Relics and ruins of civilizations even older than Khapesh can be found by adventurers, provided they are willing to go deep enough or far enough out into the Red Lands. Architecturally these ruins look utterly alien to Khapesh: circular structures carved deep into the earth, with impenetrable walls of perfectly smooth metals and green lights embedded within. Surviving relics are treated with great scholarly curiosity, though their purposes are rarely understood. The Incident at Faiyan, in which a legion of constructed creations terrorized the region around its namesake city, was by far the largest “discovery” of relics of this civilization. Very little is known about the creators of these artifacts, save that they were vaguely humanoid and had a grasp of magic and technology extremely rare within the world now.

Unification - Y300 (approx)

Though historical records are inexact, sometime around Y300 Khapesh was founded by Narmer the Conqueror, bringing the separate small kingdoms and city states along the Aur River into a unified nation. Contrary to the name given to him by later historians, evidence points to the unification as a mostly diplomatic effort, not borne of conflict.

First Dynastic Period - Y300 (approx) to Y1087

Not much can be conclusively dated from this time, and few records exist. Settlements began to be founded in Upper Khapesh, away from the early unification in the delta. Worship of the Osiron pantheon became well established in this period, as temples began to be established around these local dieties.

The lands outside the river are known to have been more habitable in this period - mostly arid grasslands instead of barren desert. Most of the ancient ruins away from the river originate from this period in Khapesh’s history.

The Stoics of Iteru were formed during the First Dynastic Period. While they have varied in size and influence since, the order of living monoliths remains active to the present day.

First Intermediate Period - Y1087 to Y1292

The Scouring, a massive centuries-long magical sandstorm, forced drastic changes in Khapesh, causing a near total societal collapse. Those that survived were forced into a pattern of yearly or sometimes seasonal migrations along the river, moving to avoid the worst of the storm. Most settlements are abandoned during this time. It is unknown what caused this storm.

Second Dynastic Period - Y1292 to Y4030

During the later part of this period, the kingdom reached its greatest extent, stretching east up to the Tela River and the Lakes of False Promises, and south to Lake Nulukkhaz.

King Khentimeresh the Evil reigned from Y1756 to Y2001. A despotic tyrant, Khentimeresh is best remembered for his attempts to attain immortality via lichdom. Legends hold that magical countermeasures of some type were put in place so that this could not happen again, though there is much dispute as to what form this would take.

Second Intermediate Period - Y4030 to Y4955

Internal wars caused by droughts and famines brought upon the separation of Khapesh into shifting alliances of city states. Control of Khapesh’s outer territories collapsed, helped by scavenging bandits and raider lords.

Third Dynastic Period - Y4955 to present

The Third Dynastic Period has been an n almost two millennia long era with a high degree of stability

In Y5940, the mages and scholars that would later found the Citadel of Yhidothrus within the Arnkelvik Magocracy were expelled from Khapesh.

During the Incident at Faiyan in Y6975, ancient automatons under the control of Zamanth, one of the vizers of Faiyan, terrorized the area around the city before they were defeated and contained.

Clearsilence Noir, also known as Chephren the Learned, took the throne of Khapesh in Y6976 after the disappearance of Menes II.

Demographics

The population of Khapesh is mostly Common-speaking humans, though especially within the northern cities there are large populations of other races as well. There are sizable gnomish, tengu, and catfolk communities, especially in Lower Khapesh. Khapeshan cities are quite cosmopolitan, and individuals of most races can be sighted without much searching.

Away from the river, bands of kasatha live within the Red Lands. Not large in number and to a significant degree separate from the rest of Khapeshan society, these kasatha live as nomadic hunters within the desert. It is rare for a kasatha to live in a river-dwelling community, though some find work as guards and guides.