Hello this is an attempt for a big fan overhaul of Araby lore. Just cause I felt it's annoying that only a few of the human civilizations aren't fleshed out/actually interesting. I guess also learning about Sultan Jaffar broke me and made me want to do this. I eventually want to do the same with Estalia and Tilea.
This I feel is the bare bones enough to get across the general idea. I'll probably add some more to it in future posts.
What is Araby?
Araby a name for the geographic location. A massive peninsula south west of the empire and south east of Ulthuan. Broken up into three regions, the western coast, the great desert of Araby, and the mountain range that separates the previous two regions. Home to mainly humans.
Araby in the Past.
A coastline of disparate states, home to merchant dynasties, god-kings, sorcerer kings, warlords, and pirate kings. Massive inequity between the classes of people, despite it holding some of the highest concentration of wealth in the old world. Slavery was practiced by most of the states. Most of the elites were some of the most learned humans in the world due to the of the Lashiek Library & Academy. One of the most prestigious houses of learning in the human world (both back then and now). Home to some of the deadliest pirates to have ever live. To the point that there were high elf plans to eradicate the area and play king maker with the state that held the high elves interest in high regard.
The Cyrus Slave Revolt AKA The Junoqim Revolution.
However their plans were partially fulfilled when a slave revolution overthrew it's state, and declare war on the rest of the Araby coast. The high elves pitching it with assistance once they saw that this revolution might have a chance.
The revolution was headed by, Cyrus, an ex-slave. Who while suffering in an oubliette, calling out for just the smallest bit of comfort before his death, he was visited by a god. A being of innumerable arms and infinite love embraced him. It told him he can come with it, but Cyrus refused. Having felt the happiness a person could attain while alive made him want to live and give the opportunity to others to feel it too. He asked god it's name so that he can ride in it's name. It answered Junoqim, and then engraved it's name onto Cyrus three times. One on his forehead, one over his heart, and one over his belly button. A sign of protection and luck on his journey.
After rallying both the citizenry and elites, he would eventually succeed and fully conquer the Araby coast. After years of diplomatic and administrative work stabilizing the realm, turning it into a republic, and making worship of Junoqim the state religion, Cyrus finally and suddenly died. The flesh of his body turning to dust, leaving behind his bones which had hand prints burned into them. And whenever his bones would touch dead and infertile land and water it would be purified.
The day of his death is national holiday for the Republic of Araby.
Government.
Araby is broken up into multiple population centers, each center votes and elects a person to represent them into government. Along with governing the center they belong to, they vote on laws, bring up issues in their providence hoping for help from the government, determine budgets, etc.
They also have the responsibility of endorsing a citizen of the republic to be Cyrus when the current Cyrus dies. The Cyrus is the head of state. Their job is to propagate specific laws, act as commander of the army in times of war, and communicate with other political bodies.
After all the possible Cyrus are endorsed the House of Elders, a group made up of the highest ranks of judges, military leaders, civil servants, and diplomats, would vote on who would become the Cyrus. The winner becomes the Cyrus, taking the position for life.
Junoqim.
Junoqim will only show their miracles and powers in times of great peril, pain, and uncertainty. No chance of calling it's wrath. Junoqim being all powerful is called upon for all of their worshiper's woes.
Strictures
- Abolish slavery and free slaves whenever you can. Any slave who set's foot on Junoqim land is automatically freed.
- Kill slavers and slave holders. Do not be fooled by those that dress up the word slave in more politer terms such as “serf” or “indentured servant”.
- Work towards making the world a place where anybody can experience happiness in their life. Thwart those that would only bring pain and misery to others.
- If accused of a crime, the accused is always to be considered innocent unless proven guilty.
- Punishment must never include the interment or imprisonment of the guilty. Imprisonment must only be used to keep the guilty in place so punishment can be applied.
- All beings have the right to Junoqim's love, not just humans.
- Do not forcibly convert others to worship Junoqim, they must worship it of their own free will.
- Those that take Junoqim's name in vain must be punished, if they keep doing it they must be killed.
- Worshipers of other religions should be tolerated to live in Junoqim's land if they follow the rules below. Otherwise they are to be deported.
- You must pay higher taxes.
- You cannot marry or have children with a worshiper of Junoqim.
- You are barred from becoming a governmental representative, The Cyrus, a judge, a civil servant, a military officer, or a diplomat.
Araby in the Present.
The republic of Araby is a mighty nation, the republic is also a very sick and injured nation. One of the most technologically advanced human nations in the world, but held back by intense corruption and an oppressed population. Causing a rise in organized crime, piracy, religious fundamentalism, and political radicalization. Civil war lingers in the air...
Outside Threats & Rivals
Tomb Kings trying to expand into and conquer Araby. The great Araby desert being a constant battleground. The Araby military and air force must constantly rip out any roots laid by the undead who can withstand the harsh environment.
Since the birth of the republic, a rivalry formed with Estalia and Tilea. Caused by various trade wars, navy skirmishes, and two failed invasions of Araby. The most recent incident that has primed the populace is the attempted theft of the Original Cyrus' bones by Estalia and Tilea mercenaries. The government being silent on any attempt for reparations for this affront.
The odd greenskin warband or (Junoqim forbid) a waagh spilling over from the badlands. Dark elves slavers, pirates, vampire pirates… anything in a boat that hates us and/or wants to steal from us. Sometimes we even get greenskins in boats. Terrifying sight.
Corrupt Government.
The current Cyrus is an incompetent figurehead. Certain seats are essentially the property of a single powerful family that live in the population center they represent. The open secret of wealthy citizens and non-citizens being able to bribe their way into passing laws that play into their favor. The house of elders is a hive of corruption, nepotism, and incompetency. The few seat-holders that are trying to fix things are held back at every turn. There are even a few seat-holders that think it would be best for the citizens to vote on everything rather than electing representatives.
Wealth gap between the richest and poorest have regressed to the time before Cyrus founded the republic. Government welfare has dried up in order to fatten the pockets of the “elites”. Citizens are getting desperate and angry at their government.
Leading to a rise of organized crime and piracy so that people can make ends meet. As well as political radicalization of the populace. Law enforcers overplaying the "crimes" done by citizens that protest and critique the government in order to inflict harsher punishment directly linked to an uptick of radicalization.
Fundamentalist Rise.
People turning to religious fundamentalists to help save their land from corrupting influences. The group lead by a man who calls himself the Child of Junoqim, Cyrus the Second. Said fundies plan to save Araby by turning it into a conservative hellscape of religious intolerance, martial law to “cleanse” the land of parasites, and cut back on rights that gave people too much freedom and lead to the situation in the first place. Like giving independence to women from men, allowing Dawi to infest our beautiful mountains and land with their infernal machinery, and not castrating the slaanemites who think love between the same sex is natural.
As they gain more power, there have been reports of certain members of these “fundamentalists” coverting with mysterious figures. The symbols of Junoqim's arms being twisted and changed to include new symbols. Which certain people have recognized as symbols of Khorne and Slaanesh. The darkest news is that the so-called “Child of Junoqim” has personally summoned deamons who masquerade as his aids.
Dawi Influence.
The mountain range of Araby is now home to many newly made Dawi holds. In the past a Cyrus wanted to invite Dawi over to live in the mountains and build holds so that they could help Araby manufacture better guns. This ended up calling in a lot of the more eccentric Dawi, younger and more forward thinking ones who wanted to strike out on their own. And through this cooperation it caused a sharing of ideas, technology, and skills that helped both parties.
Some of the more specific knock on effects of this are:
- Araby becoming one of the biggest high quality producers and exporter of firearms in the world.
- The popularization of gun melee weapon hybirds and other experimental weapons. The gun sword being one of their most iconic weapons.
- A massive railway network stretching from one side of Araby to other. Smaller train networks within cities for transportation.
- Heavy dawi influence in architecture due to them being required for any construction project. Aesthetically it's mix of araby styles with dawi flairs.
- “Tamed Lightning” which allows them to create light without fire and keep cities lit at night.
Dawi aren't subject to the higher taxation rate that non-worshipers of Junoqim are, in order to further attract them to Araby. While a good amount have actually converted to worshiping the Junoqim, there's still a handful set in their religious ways. This had lead to long time friction with extremely devout Junoqim worshipers.
Learning & Magic.
The Lashiek Library & Academy has remained the top house of learning since the olden days. Seemingly unmatched in the sciences, medicine, humanities, and of course magic. Even after a few fires and attempts to destroy it's vast store of knowledge for the sake of political agendas. Both of those has lead it to branch out and create other libraries throughout araby, as well as vaults to keep the knowledge safe in case it's fully lost.
Due to such a focus on learning, Araby has had one of the highest literacy rates among human societies in the past. But this has since taken a down turn due to the current political climate. Government spending to pay for citizens to become students and to upkeep the libraries have vanished. Deemed “a waste”. Making these houses of learning the playgrounds of the elites once again. Of course you can't forget the fundamentalist groups demanding that certain knowledge be removed and destroyed (some forcefully doing it themselves). Claiming it's corrupted and will mislead the common man into doing evil.
It's also home to a specific learning of magic, in which wizards are taught only a handful of spells. Basically making them optimized casters of those spells. They don't “Ignite” the winds of magic to fuel their spells (like imperial magisters), the act of which causes the chance for tzeentch's curse to activate. They instead mold their bodies to be able to safely process the winds into their desired effect.
Araby & Skaven.
Araby has suffered little influence from the Skaven. A policy of giving
the population knowledge of the rat men, and dedicating military forces
to kill them in their underground home have greatly helped. Of course
the Skaven have never let this go, and still attempt to undermine Araby
to this day.
Sadly the underground military forces have been suffering a death by a thousand cuts. As the government slowly but surely cuts their budget, relocates their equipment, and reassigns their personnel. All made with the arguments of "no longer needing an army to hold back enemies that are no longer there". So this might leave the Skaven an opening to make a come back.
Military.
The araby military is mainly a human force with dawi support. Heavy focus on firearms, artillery, war machines (which includes the navy and air force), experimental weapons, squads of wizards dedicated to casting specific spells, their navy. One of their latest initiatives of their Air Force are the brand new flyers, called "Rocs". Essentially metal fixed wing aircraft.
Chaos.
Chaos worship is dealt with execution, but unless there is irrefutable proof of their chaos worship they must tried and found guilty of such. In general chaos is seen as a force that takes some truths about life and twists them out of control. Only causing pain to everyone.
Nekahara Survivors.
Very Tangential side note. While I know that Nagash supposed killed everyone but one person in Nekahara with his death and undead raise spell. I wanted there to be at least some survivors. These survivors have split off into multiple directions. Most immigrated to other human civilizations (specifically current day Tilea, Estalia, and Araby).
But an ambitious noble (and their servants) founded a city state in the badlands, called Ketkhara. Priests belonging to Basth, Djaf, and Asaph were the only ones remaining in this group. Eventually leading to the worship of these gods to expand their purview to needs of the citizenry. Asaph being one of the most unrecognizable, turning into a god that represents all the evils of the world.
