Bel'Hor

Bel'Hor, officially the Monastrate of Bel'Hor, is a centralized theocratic country ruled by a monastic council referred to as the monastrate, ruling over several Governorates, Bel'hor is located on the southern continent of Rozakko'ra where it occupies an arid region between the continent's two large mesas. The Nation is united By its faith, Our Highest Family, a bitheistic religion which worships Abba and Amma, a Paternal lunar god and a Maternal Solar Godess.

Physical geography
Bel'Hor occupies a central location in Rozakko'ra, sitting on a geographically distinct region known as the Bel'Hor basin, a desert bordered to the north by the Red Earth Plateau, the Bearded Mountains to the south and the Gulf of coral to the east. These mountain ranges keep the region hot and dry and are paradoxically the source of the Bleeding river that flows down from the Red earth plateau in the north, through the basin and into the Gulf of Coral. the Basin is dominated by dune fields and sparse flora along the banks of the bleeding river. The red earth plateau and foothills of the bearded mountains, due to currents from the gulf, are able to sustain fog forests and lusher grassland which extend down to the stepped coasts of Eandelan and bleed into the jungles of the Khashivan peninsula.

Political geography
The Monastrate is divided into several Governorates, the governorate of Bel’Jasṭuś being built around the capital city of Tadhu'Huvesh being the predecessor to the Modern Monastrate. The Red Earth Governorate is the second oldest to be established, lying in the north of the country around the fort city of Ce'sai. The Saffron Dunes Governorate is the largest and most sparsely populated, occupying most of the Desi basin and harboring the nation's largest dune-fields. While the southern governorates of Stepped-Coast and Eandelan and Bel'Vadesdi have the highest levels of precipitation and produce many of the crops unable to grow in the drier northern and central regions.

Settlements,
Bel'hor has multiple settlements peppered throughout it's territory, the largest being the city of Tadhu'Huvesh which also acts as the national capital. Due to the many geographical and cultural differences within the Bel'hor's borders, these settlements are as unique as they are numerous.

Tadhu'Huvesh
Tadhu'Huvesh is the Largest city and acting capital of the monastrate of Bel'hor. it is located near the mouth of the Bleeding River and subsequently, the coast of the gulf of coral. This location has made the city a historically important commercial hub, with goods flowing in from the bay and along the north-south axis of Rozakko'ra' s northerly peninsula. It's place at the center of the continent's 'dust belt' makes it's colourful towers a welcome site for weary travelers. It was the beating heart of Bel’Jasṭuś, Bel'hor's parent state and the place where the 'Our celestial family' became an institutionalized faith. Consequently, the city hosts the highest national and religious authority in the country, 'The Highest Holy Monastrate'. Because of it's important role as a regionally stable passageway, it has gained the Moniker "the city of a thousand doorways" or "the city of safe passage"

The Meimeienn
Meimeienn are a particularly odd species of human spread out around much of central Rozakko'ra and in sporadic pockets on Kejafros, they possess many Lepidopteriform features not found in other human ethnicities and constitute the majority of Bel'hor's population. The majority possess a set of antennae akin to that of moths, the bristles covering them are notably not like mammalian hair and have more in common with the Setae of insects, allowing Meimeienn or mixed humans with these antennae to sense incredibly minute changes in air pressure. This gives them fantastic intuition of changes in weather before any visible effects become ovious, making them adept sailors and desert travelers. They tend to have white to blond body and head hair with rare exceptions in mixed individuals or those with other human ancestry. Meimeienn have a secondary class of pigment alongside melanins known as Meionins which give them a much greater range of skin hues, with reds purples and indigos being common in their population. Meimeienn also often have long, thin, prehensile tails tipped with a small fanlike structure of white hairs. The sclera of their eyes are heavily melanated and appear black to dark brown while their irises appear various shades or red orange or gold.

Premodern age and foundation
The Monastrate of Bel’hor was established over the remains of its parent state, the Kingdom of Bel’Jasṭuś, a state that once ruler over the current capital of Tadhu Xuveis and its surroundings. Bel’Jasṭuś incorporated the city's burgeoning 'guild of temples' a once monasterial group that had grown with the city, keeping its temples maintained and growing to manage things like commute to sites of prayer. The set of folk beliefs that was indigenous to most of the river basin had rigidified in and around Tadhu Xuveis, the guild of temples coming to serve an increasingly important role as recorders of scripture. The king of Bel’Jasṭuś saw it fit to incorporate the guild into the government of the polity, religious affairs becoming a part of the government proved useful for stability as well as managing the flow of pilgrims in and out of the city. The temples guild found itself placed in the role of 'official' religious authority of a faith that had, until now, been a loose set of beliefs with as many interpretations as there were towns. The 'monastrate' as it was now called, operated within the kingdom as a group that amassed holy text and produced many new ones which were much more tied to local beliefs than from those of the many other cities dotting the region. The faith proved a far more effective political uniter than any royal family's authority, so as the polity expanded and incorporated local monasteries into its structure and the state grew, the monastrate's power increased far faster in the recently conquered territories than that of the monarchy. This stayed the status quo until eventually the disparity in power tipped the kingdom into officially restructuring into a Monastrate, a structure that more accurately reflected the balance of power between the royals and the clerical council which had wound itself into every major and minor state institution

Early cometfolk raids on Bel'Hor
Shortly after the Arrival of the comet and it's star people, the previously tranquil seas off of Bel'hor's coast began to bustle with pirates and desperate Rathamite escapees turning to violence in their desperation. Tadhu Huvesh, being a large coastal city, took the brunt of the raiding, its ports and farming districts being hit with several waves of raiding from sailors originating primarily from Livland slaying citizens and decimating the city's cattle. Bel'hor found itself having to mobilize for the first time since its initial expansion, sending a vanguard to the town of Cervidae. This escalation was short lived as the Town's leader has been unaware of his citizen's activities, confusion on both sides leading to an apology and the establishment of formal and rather amicable relations between the two nations.