The Grand Sultancy Of Alan Ackman

Player handout 3 – the grand Sultancy

Overview

The grand Sultancy of Aman Akhaman.

To the South, in the centre of this floating continent, lies the current dominating world power: the Grand Sultancy. They have trading interests from the gladden falls to the white mounts, and as far south again as the burning sea. Their army is unrivalled in the world. Tan skinned for every race, and well educated by and large. Lead by the undisputed might of the Grand Sultan himself, undisputed ruler by right and virtue, this nation is eclectic in its makeup and aggressive in its desire to bless the rest of the world with its particular version of enlightenment. They build roads and aqueducts where- ever they conquer, I mean go. Seriously, civil strive dramatically decreases under the stern but fair hand of the Sultancy.

In spite of being a theocracy, the Sultancy is very eclectic, and values the contributions of other cultures, usually allowing concurred cultures to keep many of their own laws and traditions.

Geography

Circular. The burning sun pillar, a mountain with a sun mounted on top, is the focus of their daily life. They believe the gods made it, and their prayers help maintain it. Their enormous walled capital city of Ya-Kamah is set like a crescent moon around the burning desert that surrounds the pillar, living as close as possible to it without needing magical protection.

The further one moves from the capital, the cooler the land becomes. The Sultancy is surrounded by wide, fertile plains that turn into massive forests to the north, a great sea to the south, and enormous mountains to the west and east until the land drops away into the darkness that surrounds the floating islands and continents of this realm.

Military

Huge. Compulsory for all youths beginning their adult years. This highly eclectic and magical army is unmatched in this realm so far, and is still carrying on dozens of campaigns across the stars. They are very well trained and respected.

Daily life

Work hard. Four compulsory prayers each day.

Government

The Sultancy is a Theocracy, ruled autocratically by the inspired hand of the Grand Sultan who rules as prophet and king. Once in their life time, the Grand sultan will name a successor. This is usually done to give the successor many many years to prepare. While there is some precedent for father-son successors this is in no way expected, and some of the strangest individuals have been chosen, as diamonds in the rough, to become the next sultan. The decision is based on, supposedly, inspiration regarding who will be the best fo the job and not family preference.

Religion

The basic religion is based on a broad selection of readings from “The grand text” – which concerns itself predominantly with defining a ‘wise soul’. The ‘wise soul’ is kind to his enemies, speaks softly to children, keeps his promise etc. It includes numerous stories of good deeds, fables to illustrate ideals (‘a certain man was fallen among thieves… and there passed by that way a wise soul etc), and historical instances, including conundrums various wise souls of the past have had to face where all obvious options led to undesirable ends – until the ‘wise soul’ found a better way. Needless to say, wisdom is a big part of the culture. It is expected that the current High Sultan will add a page or two to the grand text, and only the highest Judges have the ability to formally add stories and saying to the text – the best of them might get to add a sentence or two.

The Sultancy also has a rich oral storytelling culture, and it is a highly valued skill. Three attributes are explicitly celebrated by the culture, Love, honour and beauty, and these virtues tend to triumph over all in various texts. To die for one of these virtues is highly respected.

Crime and punishment

The Judges form an important role in the culture, and are almost exclusively clerics and experts in the Grand Text. They are given special treatment while abroad, and expected to quote the grand text in small speeches whenever invited to meals. They are also not above the law, and a judge may only be tried by a higher judge or three lesser judges.

Punishment is based on ‘an eye for an eye’, with an emphasis on favouring the victims. Apologies are highly valued in the culture, and criminals, real or framed, can spend years in prison for refusing to apologise (which can be a problem since honour is highly valued in this culture). So a stolen cow must be replaced, blinding is met with blinding, incarceration with incarceration, false accusation with the punishment you attempted to extort from another, etc. The system tries to be fair.



Cultural oddities

* It is customary to allow your opponents, even in lethal combats, two or three rounds to buff up. Only the lowest of the low, such as highway robbers, attack in the surprise round.



* Females traditionally wear veils, but this is more to counter the ageing affects of being so near the burning sun than any thing else. Social rank is very important in this culture – peasant, merchant, royal, and one higher ranked than yourself has many privileges, including who speaks first and interruption rights – interrupting one higher than yourself is a terrible sign of disrespect.


* The Veil dancer - Veil dancers are exotic fighters from far away lands, clothed only in seven thin sheets of fabric. They learn magical techniques of turning their own clothing into dangerous weapons, their sheets acting as whips, blades and ropes.