Ramashal (pronounced RAH-mah-shahl) is an Amshani vassal. Centuries ago Amshan promised autonomy to those who settled the wild lands south of the Khalhu River, and many soon flocked to the region. In the years since then great river cities have been developed in Ramashal, but so too has a new social class, a nobility untethered from the traditional clans of Amshan. This nobility has more recently started minor yet escalating land feuds with the orcs of Kudurru, even as their mutual overlord attempts to bring them in line.
Geography, flora, and fauna
Nestled between the mountains of the Shields to the west and the Kirnashal Sea to the east, the Ramashal is more temperate than the largely arid landscape of Kudurru and Amshan to its north. Low density forests cover much of the terrain, transforming into more tropical forests towards the west.
Two major rivers can through Ramashal. On its northern border, the Khalhu River begins in the Shields before flowing out to the sea, much like the Azzanath River does in the central part of the nation. Nearly all large settlements in Ramashal have grown along, or quite near, these two rivers, though the number of rapids and many waterfalls continue to hinder navigation.
Ramashal is warm to hot year-round, though with some seasonal variation. Precipitation increases in the winter months.
History
The lands south of the Khalhu had long posed challenges for the Amshani dynasts. As in neighboring Kudurru, they were full of dangerous creatures, magical and mundane alike, that hindered settlement, even by the hardened clans of the deserts. This was exacerbated by the many pirate and outlaw bases up the Azzanath River, from which they would strike at ships navigating around the Ashara Peninsula before retreating into the uncharted waterway.
By the early ninth millennium, these issues, exacerbated by the increasing populations south of the Isturraka, forced Amshan to act. In Y8111* Dynast Tauaspa rel Trere, seeing the success of similar efforts in Kudurru in the prior century, issued a proclamation offering wealth and granting autonomy to any intrepid enough to cross the Khalhu, depose the bandit-kings, and settle Ramashal. A slow trickle of migrants seeking new lives began traveling south, but it was not until roughly fifty years later that movement south began in earnest. By Y8200* the bandits and pirates had been pushed out of their strongholds, with the few who remained retreating to the wilds away from the rivers.
Loosed from the confines of the traditional Amshani clans, gradually a new social structure began to take shape in Ramashal, one based not around ancient family ties but rather around personal wealth and the loyalty of local settler-militias. As the centuries dragged on, these new nobles, discontent to split rule of the few major Ramashali cities, began seeking to expand their domains into other communities. Unwilling to pick fights with the Amshani clans to their north, they directed their attentions towards the orcs of Kudurru, beginning a series of small yet escalating feuds against the orcish princes for control of territory on the opposite side of the Khalhu. While these clashes have remained relatively small so far, in no minor part due to the work of Amshani mediators, Ramashali ambitions have not lessened, and some see it as only a matter of time before something is forced to change.
Demographics
The population of Ramashal is largely human, but small numbers of orcs and half-orcs live in the region as well. Many ratfolk regularly enter the region from the Thorn Roads, with some choosing to stay over the centuries.
Culture
Ramashali culture is much alike that of Amshan, from which the ancestors of nearly all inhabitants of the nation hailed. Still, it has had plenty of time to develop its own traditions and practices as well. Most notably is the complete absence of the ancient clans and their influence. Many in Ramashal see this as liberating, as they are no longer forced to abide by old treaties, byzantine alliances and rivalries, and the careful balance of power cultivated over decades and centuries. The Ramashali people generally see themselves as more personally independent and able to shape their own fates, for good or for ill.
Despite the lack of the clans, relics of them have persisted in Ramashali names, as many continue to use clan names as surnames.
Government
Ramashali governance centers around a small number of personally powerful figures, most of whom take the title river-prince. Unlike the traditional clan-based structures of Amshan, or the martial prowess-based rulers of Kudurru, those of Ramashal gain legitimacy and power through their ability to organize and gain the loyalty of local militias, usually through the promise of lands of their own. As a result there has been a vast proliferation of titles, frequently referred to as hill-princes, who control small realms of marginal lands away from the rivers, seeing themselves as minor nobility but lacking any real power or authority in the sparsely settled landscape.