Sanemi

Sanemi, officially the Kingdom of Sanemi (seSanemi: zweNkotsi baSanemi) and also known as baSanemi, is a multiethnic tribal state in the southeast of Kylorne, centered around the Iwolintshi Mountains and Sea of Gumbalho. Its current official capital is the ruined city of Okidza, but its de facto capital is the village of Udongajete.

Etymology
The name “Sanemi” is derived from the words sa-, meaning “to do”, and nemi, meaning “just” or “right”. Thus, sanemi means “to do what is right”, reflecting on the founding of the state by Sifiso IV Obhejane, who sought to abolish the institution of slavery and end the constant warring of the small kingdoms that came before him. The term Zwenkotsi in the country’s full official name roughly translates to “land-of-king”, and baSanemi is simply sanemi with the ba- prefix added, denoting its title as a country or land.

The term ‘Sanemi’ can be modified by several means. baSanemi refers specifically to the country; umSanemi refers to an individual from Sanemi, maSanemi refers to the people as a whole, as well as the culture; and seSanemi refers to the Sanemi language.

Early History
Sanemi's history and prehistory goes back thousands of years, as evidenced by many ancient artifacts and remains found in the land. However, much of this archaic past lies unexplored.

The oldest written records known come from those written in the ancient Olanwezi script. Originally developed out of simple glyphs made using a bird's feather and clay tablet, these were used to record trade deals, government affairs, and temple practices. This era saw a number of many tribes and kingdoms warring and fighting amongst each other, eventually resulting in a brief ethnic Shani kingdom ruling over many of them before it eventually collapsed back into multiple states once more.

The First Union Period, beginning in 1908 BSS, saw a collective of tribes formed around the city of Imbalitsi. The Imbalitsi Confederation was the first major state to form in the region of baSanemi, not including the first Shani Kingdom. The confederation eventually grew corrupt itself as its leaders grew rich on slave labor, and the state collapsed into warring tribes.

Following the collapse of the Confederation in 1641 BSS, the city of Imbalitsi was abandoned, and thus began the Imp'inkathi Ngoja, or "Middle War Period". Centuries of war broke out between different tribes, chiefdoms, kingdoms, and other entities; however, this era also experienced much in the way of arts and literature.

Kingdom of baSanemi
The Imp'inkathi Ngoja ended with the rise of Sifiso IV Obhejane, a Shani man born into slavery who eventually rose to become king. This kingdom, now known as baSanemi, reached a golden age by the time of Sifiso's passing, having standardized measurements, built infrastructure, and abolishing the war and slavery that wreaked havoc across the land for centuries.

The successors of Sifiso "the Liberator" came to rule for nearly 400 years. However, in the last century of the rule, multiple disasters struck. Decreasing farmland fertility caused food shortages and famine; many of the lands went fallow. Undead monsters roamed the land in droves, attacking the living and destroying settlements. Incompetent rule meant that the government had no control over this unnatural horde, and compounded upon it came a plague. An extreme succession crisis occurred, as many potential royals were killed by usurpers, monsters, or disease, and the state fell into another anarchic era around 30 BSS, with the capital of Okidza being destroyed and abandoned in the year 3 BSS.

Reign of Zoziyu kaThemba Inyoni
The line of potential successors found its way to a young refugee distantly related to the Obhejane clan- a former student turned farmer named Zoziyu kaThemba Inyoni. Having survived the worst of the crisis and bearing a decent education and birth status, she was chosen in the year 1 PSS by several surviving court officials as the only legitimate queen of Sanemi. Her power base, established in the town of Udongajete, serves as the de facto capital in her attempt to restore order over the ravaged land and defeat all other pretenders to the throne.

Climate
The climate of Sanemi varies across its claimed and occupied territories. In the furthest north, humid subtropical climates prevail, though they become drier as one travels further south along the Iwolintshi Mountains. The Sea of Gumbahlo moderates temperatures in the continental interior, and the true coastal region on the world's ocean is bathed in moderately warm and dry climates year-round. While dry and warm, it is far from desert, and temperatures hardly vary. The south of the country, the miombo and desert, is much hotter, with a brief rainy season and long dry season.

Biodiversity
Sanemi is a very biodiverse country. Its flora vary from region to region, and many of the aquatic organisms of the Sea of Gumbahlo, such as the Kiridinalo Dolphin, are endemic. One of the most charismatic creatures of Sanemi is the indlhovu, known varyingly as the Sanemi Elephant or Sanemi Mammoth in foreign sources. Herds of these massive beasts roam across much of the countryside and wilderness, and are held in high respect by the maSanemi people.

Environment
The northern frontiers of the maSanemi's lands are the subtropical broadleaf forests of Habewaland. These forests give way to a strip of fertile grassland; in the east, along the Sea of Gumbahlo, lies the Ij'oki Plain, and the Momashani Plain lays to the west along the coast. The Iwolintshi mountains separate the Gumbahlo from the rest of the world ocean, and this region is typified by eroded mountains of sedimentary rock.

The southern stretch of the Iwolintshi range extends into the region of miombo biome that lies between the Sand River and Sea of Gumbahlo. It is exposed to brief but torrential rains, and is a sparse, open woodland with little grass. Yet still, there is still enough food for wildlife and herds of livestock here, mostly goats, and the soil is very fertile when irrigated.

Language
seSanemi is the largest language, official language of business and government, and is the lingua franca of the nation. Originating from a pidgin largely of the siShani and seNkondo languages, the two languages effectively merged into one tongue in the intervening years since the formation of the baSanemi Kingdom.

The second largest language, siBewa, is spoken primarily among the rural Habewa peoples. A siBewa-seSanemi pidgin dialect exists in the urban Habewa settlements as well. siBewa, in return, has greatly influenced the national language since the formation of the kingdom. siBewa, while similar to seSanemi, often has different sounds. For example, where a hl- would be in seSanemi, an umBewa would say tl-.

The Kice and Muqolo among themselves speak several small languages, with few of them having over a few hundred speakers. They are considered highly endangered tongues by some; however, these languages will likely maintain their existence so long as the people speaking them remain isolated. Many scholars have attempted to categorize and record the Kice-Muqolo languages, which form a language family separate from nearly all human languages. The Kice-Muqolo languages are known for having a significant amount of click consonants, which in some local languages may be included in nearly every word.

Ethnicities
The primary ethnic groups of Sanemi, in order of largest to smallest population are the Nkondo, Habewa, Enka, Shani, and the Kice-Muqolo peoples. A small number of immigrant peoples also exist, but most citizens are locals.

Nkondo
The Nkondo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in the country. Generally settled in the towns along the Sea of Gumbahlo and Sand River, the Nkondo have generally been large city-builders, constructing many towns of stone and terracotta along the freshwater shores of the miombo biome. They are otherwise farmers, and grow many crops. The seSanemi language is based on the original seNkondo language, which has since gone extinct in the previous centuries.

Enka
The Enka are a separate group related heavily to both the Nkondo and Habewa. A smaller group of coastal peoples, centered around the western coasts of the Iwolintshi and northwestern miombo, they are often employed in boatbuilding, fishing, and other maritime trades. Their cuisine is heavily based around seafood, and their many seafood dishes are well-renowned across the country. They are a younger ethnic group, having formed out of coastward-bound maNkondo some 600 years BSS. They generally speak seSanemi, but their building style is more similar to the Habewa.

Shani
In the Momashani and Ok'iji Plains, the Shani people travel around, guiding their livestock from pasture to pasture. The Shani have historically been a separate group, but have also intermixed with the Nkondo heavily in the past few centuries. As such, many Shani have also ended up in the cities as well. They speak seSanemi and siShani varyingly. Being pastoralists, they are often hard to govern, but their wares- mostly meat, dairy, leather, and other animal products- are essential to the national economy.

Habewa
Also known as simply the Bewa, the Habewa are a large ethnic group that reside in the subtropical forests of Sanemi’s more humid northern regions. They have a strong literary tradition, as Habewa scholars tried to copy books before their humid climate could tatter and destroy them, and the exporting of books to drier regions to better preserve the books themselves caused Habewa literature to spread far across the region for centuries. The Habewa speak siBewa, the second largest language in the country, and have an architectural style primarily utilizing wood and sloped roofs unlike the Nkondo to the south. The Habewa also have a storied and well-developed tradition of being weavers, creating cloth patterns that have since become known worldwide.

Kice
The Kice are a collection of related hunter-gatherer tribes that roam the countryside of Sanemi and its surrounding lands. Much like the Shani and Muqolo herd their livestock, the Kice follow the wild game as they migrate across the country. They generally do not build anything larger than small temporary shelters or firepits, and are a staunchly traditional people. Their languages feature a large number of click consonants- as many as 30 in some Kice languages. Their material culture consists only of their clothes and tools which they can carry on their backs.

Muqolo
The Muqolo people are very similar to the Kice in language and culture, with a large key difference; the Muqolo are pastoralists, and not foragers. They live almost entirely outdoors, sleeping among their cattle. However, they have interacted significantly with their fellow pastoralists, the Shani, and their cultures overlap much more. However, they participate mostly in subsistence farming, and do not trade much with the settled peoples or partake in the large cattle drives that the Shani do. The Muqolo languages number about 15 or so, and it is thought that it is from the Muqolo that the Shani & Nkondo picked up the click consonants in modern seSanemi.

Religion
Religion in Sanemi most often takes the form of spirit worship and folk superstition. These spirits are considered to be both large and small, and inherent to all things, including inanimate objects. Collectively this system is known as Sanemi Animism or Sanemi Paganism depending on the author writing; in seSanemi the phrase used is taMaxonga weBasanemi (Spirit System of the land of Sanemi), but the phrase is only used in the context of other faiths or outside viewpoints.

Religion is often localized, with the worship of local spirits and one’s ancestors, as well as a few major worldwide spirits; these include the sun, moon, sky, and earth god-spirits as well as the elemental god-spirits. These can be syncretized with the gods of other faiths, as differing interpretations of the same deity. However, other Sanemi theologians consider the spirits and and gods of both Sanemi and foreign lands to be endemic to their native lands only, and that most foreign gods only have control over the lands where they are worshipped. This interpretation means that many maSanemi are skeptical or hostile to foreign faiths, as they do not want the realm of their gods to be encroached upon or stolen by foreign ones.

Administrative Regions
Being in a tribal state, there are currently no administrative regions. Much of the country is currently autonomous outside of the de facto capital, and there is a complete lack of any hard and enforced borders. The "kingdom" at current essentially functions as a tribal anarchy, with the highest leaders being village elders and councils outside of the direct domain of the current monarch Zoziyu I.

Law
While law existed under the original Sanemi government, primarily in the cities prior to their abandonment, the countryside practices traditional law based on a familial honor code. Eye-for-eye revenge justice and vigilantism are common, and often it is the leaders of the village who have the final say in the law.

Foreign Relations
Though few maSanemi speak a language from outside of their native tongue, positive relations have been attempted with the tribes to the east, primarily the Tsaytsa and Fitek Tenkiswi. However, neither party's officials can fully understand the other's language, and only a few pidgin speakers can facilitate trade between the tribes.

Military
No official military is present in baSanemi. Local militias can be summoned of the able-bodied members of a village, and they are called upon to fight hostile animals and monsters, or solve inter-village disputes. While once common, dangerous monsters (primarily the undead and hostile tree spirits) are a rarer sight in Sanemi in recent times than they were in the peak of the Kylorne-wide crisis. Many locals believe that the reconstruction of the baSanemi state militarily will cause these creatures to disappear for good.

National Symbols
There are multiple national symbols representing baSanemi to both its own people and the world at large.

Arts
There exists a long literary tradition in Sanemi; however, much of it is lost. Two of the most influential remaining works are the Kulayenza weThuma, a story of the creation of the world, and the Habewa Corpus, which delves into philosophy and metaphysics. Many other magic and medicinal texts are still maintained as well.

Of the visual arts, cloth weaving is most famous outside of Sanemi. The Habewa weavers are some of the most talented in the known world, creating intricate patterns each with a specific meaning. Certain clans may have a clan cloth pattern, as may a particular village. It is also not uncommon for the pattern to be painted on a house's walls.

Family and Gender
Family is very important in maSanemi culture. The system of naming in Sanemi culture features a matronymic clan name, as well as a given one; one generally takes the given name and clan name of their birthgiver. Clans are matrilineal, and a clan is considered to be the unit in the social hierarchy above the immediate family, but below the political or ethnic group. Clans derive their names from colors, jobs, animals, plants, and animal features. These clan names often arise from the animal properties of the clan’s umangwu members- a clan founded by a fox umangwu may be called the fox clan (zamiki Impungushe), for instance.

Sanemi culture has traditionally held particular gender roles for society. While they are not absolute, they have been strongly enforced at times. Generally, men are assigned to be warriors, builders, and doing other hard labor tasks; conversely, women are assumed to work in more tedious jobs such as weaving, homemaking, gardening, art, and writing. There are notable examples of notable female warriors and male artists in Sanemi history however, and many modern maSanemi instead insist that one partake in all of these activities regardless of gender. Other tasks, such as magic, business, and political leadership are deemed non-gendered and have historically been very open, and transgender and nonbinary umSanemi are well-treated by society at large.

Aside from gender roles, the focus on family is often a large pressure for maSanemi adults. Fertile couples are traditionally expected to birth as many children as possible. Those who cannot birth children- usually the impotent, homosexual couples, and asexual people- are encouraged to either adopt orphans or invest heavily into raising their relatives’ children. Children are generally raised by their parents, and both are expected to contribute; however, neighbors, relatives, and friends are also expected to participate in bringing children up, as isolation is deemed very unhealthy for growing children.

Festivals
While Sanemi may have strict cultural gender roles, it is not impossible to cross over. The Rebirth Festival (Madu weJuyutha Kulawache) is held for many transgender maSanemi as a kind of late coming-of-age ceremony, usually occurring in their late teenage or young adult years. From here, a transgender umSanemi will have their body ritually cleansed and “reborn” as the gender of their soul, which may be male, female, or neither. The recipient will be showered in gifts of clothing and other keepsakes, and is from thence on expected to be treated accordingly gender-wise.

Medicine
Endocrinology has been practiced by many maSanemi traditional doctors (umnwabu) for over a millennium. Extract of oats and the urine of mares, called wo'elangele wexonga mo'ihashi or “mare’s soul”, are often used as rejuvenating medicines for women, and are generally prescribed by an umnwabu to transgender or menopausal women. Similarly, an extract called wo'elangele muzenyege, made of salted & dried bull testicle mixed with vegetables, is used to treat men, usually to build muscle or to regain sexual virility. These extracts, among others, are found in potion books dating back as far as 1848 BSS.

Immunology has also been necessary for the maSanemi, living among livestock and many tropical diseases. A method of vaccination, made from heating the blood of an infected person or animal and then keeping it frozen, then placing it into a healthy person by a “purified” needle puncture (sanitized by burning the blade with an enchanted strong alcohol). This practice, developed by skilled Habewa potioneer Agyenim Kafua in 416 BSS has saved thousands of lives from smallpox, and later even a similar malaria vaccination procedure was developed in 373 BSS by her apprentice and successor Kwame Abrema.

Umangwu
The Umangwu, or “animal-people”, are a phenomenon wherein a typical human bears animal or plant characteristics. An umangwu is fundamentally an otherwise normal umSanemi human, but bears either plant or fungal growth, or certain animal body parts and abilities. This is often related to the clan name system, wherein an umangwu member of a particular clan is born with the characteristics of the namesake animal, plant, or feature of their clan.

It is largely unknown when or why the umangwu first started appearing, though folktales explaining their existence have been told for centuries. Recent finds of paintings show that umangwu were well-recognized in proto-Sanemi society as far back as the latest Neolithic, and they traditionally held roles as semlingo and other magic practitioners due to their curious and magical nature.