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.

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.

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