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"

Desi
''“Amid the towering dunes stood a mystifying sight – for me, who had been alone to the company of sun, moon, stars and the endless sands for much too long – a city of pearls embraced by the touch of blessed flora nestled in a coarse cradle. For a moment, I considered the possibility of having gone insane, but – to my surprise – after pinching myself till blood drew more than thrice, I was hit with the realization that the strange settlement was more than fabrications created by a wayward madman.”'' - Unknown

Desi is a city settled at the bottom of the eastern basin of Bel’Hor which doubles as a trading hub and community centre for surrounding rural settlements. Waterwells are a common sight to see scattered around Desi as underground water reservoirs are crucial for survival and long-term sustainability in the area. Architecture is kept relatively simple, consisting primarily of various sandstones with wood being reserved for things such as tools, furniture, and fuel. Prior to the formation of the Monastrate of Bel’Hor, Desi played a similar role to modern day Desi as a place to convene between unaffiliated tribes in the surrounding region and trade resources. While most travellers crossing the desert don’t intend to come across Desi, all usually end up coming across its tell-tale sandstone gates at some point during their journey; the oasis city seeming to lead those lost amid the dunes back on track.

Ce'Sai
Fort town located in Bel'Hor's northern Mesa

Vadesdi
City located in Bel'Hor's Southern Mesa

Eandelan
Holy site located on the southern coast of Bel'Hor

The Monastrate
the 'Monastrate' Of Bel'Hor, as indicated by it's designation, is run by a formerly monastic religious council made up of a mix of several classes of clergymen who elect two head speakers, one of each gender, to finalize and publicize political decisions. this Patriarch and Matriarch are re-elected every couple of months.

Governant representatives
Governant representatives are a small group of religious delegates sent to the Highest Holy Monastrate though election by the Monasterial councils of each governorate, the number sent is dependent on the population of the governate they represent. They serve as mouthpieces for each governorate's interests, alerting the Highest Holy Monastrate of the needs of their respective governates.

Guild of temples
The Guild of temples where the group the Highest Holy Monastrate was built around. Their purpose is to coordinate the allocation of resources to individual sites of worship, if a certain district sees an increase in sermon attendance, it is their job to advocate for the allocation of resources to said district, they play an important role in the preparation of festivities involving major religious holidays. They also send a significant envoy to the Highest holy Monastrate.

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. As such, most of Bel'hor's ethnic groups are composed of Meimeienn populations and cultures.

Homesteader peoples
The homesteaders are the Largest Meimeienn ethnocultural group in Bel'Hor, descended from entirely nomadic groups. Their shift to an agricultural lifestyle along the bleeding river allowed them to supplant the stonecarver cultural group as the dominant group in the basin after their collapse. This shift is reflected in the monastrate's linguistics, Horatii is a homesteader language and the lingua franca of the state. All formal holy texts are kept in old Horatii and it is the primary language of education and commerce. Some Homesteader groups still retain a nomadic lifestyle in the country's central regions, these tribes often act as couriers between major population centers not connected by sea or river. Homesteaders tend towards leaner taller bodies and have blue-blackish to purple skintones.

Stonecarver peoples
Stonecarvers are a cultural group currently native to the south of Bel'hor, they are a far less urbanized set of peoples than the homesteaders on average, although this was not always the case. The presence of red stone ruins scattered throughout the central and coastal regions of the country indicate Stonecarves once held a cultural and political hold on the entirety of the basin. It is thought their civilization underwent a collapse several millennia ago, leaving the slate clear for homesteaders to fill the power vacuum left by their now dilapidated city states. Artifacts such as the singing stone of Eandelan indicate these groups had a much firmer grasp of magic than the modern homesteader or Stonecarver populations. Certain cities such as Vadesdi still seem to retain traces of ancient urbanized Stonecarver society however, most Stonecarver groups, such as the Ido of the southern mesa or the Stonesteppers of the stepped coast, remain in small or semi nomadic settlements. Stonecarvers seem to have higher human admixture than other Meimeienn groups, likely from the southern section of Rozakko'ra. They are shorter than Homesteaders and hold more body fat on average. Their hair trends towards slightly blonder shades and their skin tones range towards red to plum shades.

Age of migration
The Age of Migration was the Period during which many of the Meimeienn and other human groups that now inhabit the basin migrated in. This age came to a slow stop with the domestication of wheat by a stonecarver group, this staple crop allowed for greater sedentarization starting in the south of the country and spreading along rivers and mountainsides.

Age of stones and spellcraft
The Age of stones and spellcraft was the historical period during which the stonecarver cultural group had hegemonic control over the basin. It is during this period that many of the red stone-carved ruins scattered around the basin where built. Many of these ruins and relics are imbued with undecipherable enchantments, a major example being Eandelan's singing stone, a small carved temple that can translate anything sung into it into the local liturgical language.

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.