Dah’Rem is the oldest surviving nation. It’s often referred to as “The Spiritual Capital of the World”. Lots of the nations history, and politics is tied directly to the influences of Zarathem, Aeytr, and various other religious groups. Dah’Rem is one of the few nations that still institutes a monarchy, in particular they have a religious monarch who is the leader of the Av’Brak (Dynar).
Basic Information
Capital: Av'Brak
Nodes: 4
Provinces: 3
Cities: 321
Monarch: Yes
Commissioners & Ministers
Dah’Rem is one of the few nations that still has a monarchy, as such the Dynar of the nation has full veto powers, except if more than %60 of the commissioners deny the veto. If this is the case a referendum will be held for the decision 30 days from when denied, and must be completed within 90 days. If more than 6 decisions are denied within a year a referendum is held to replace or retain the monarch.
- Commissioner of Justice
- Minister of Law
- Minister of Enforcement
- Commissioner of Commerce & Finance
- Minister of Business
- Minister of The Treasury
- Commissioner of Art & culture
- Minister of Anthropology
- Minister of Architecture
- Minister of Religion
- Commissioner of Education
- Minister of Primary Education
- Minister of Secondary Education
- Minister of Research
- Commissioner of Foreign Affairs
- Minister of Military Affairs
- Minister of Foreign Trade
- Commissioner of Domestic Affairs
- Minister of Property
- Minister of policing
Notable places (TODO)
- Av’Brak
- Mount Farheid
- Paracus monastery
- Mount At’Rius
- Mount Farheid
Notable People (TODO)
Zarathem
…
Denominations
There are many denominations of Zarathem that are practiced, however there are a handful of primary denominations that house the majority of followers. There are also sub-denominations, and differences of opinions within individual denominations. Some of these denominations have major differences with one another in how they view the texts, and particularly the modifications Uerties made.
Av’Brak
The Av’Brak are the most popular denomination, making up nearly 2/3 of followers. The Dynar is the spiritual leader, who is also the monarch of Dah’Rem. They are followers of Uerties and believe he is the paramount prophet, who gives the correct interpretation of the Zarathem Faith. As such they believe in all three of The Books, however they defer any contradictions to The Uerties and whatever it says about the topic, considering it the penultimate book. On top of just the regular beliefs specified in The Books, there is also a focus on preparing for the end of the world. In particular, they believe that passion will help save them as it did with Yaelrion.
*An artist rendition of the Paracus monastery with mount At’Rius in the background
In order to train their passion, they have various traditions to fight off the cold. Many of their most sacred monasteries are high in the mountains. Monks and priests frequently practice sleeping outside, going for walks in storms, and sitting naked outdoors in the monasteries. They believe the fortitude to manage pain, and overcoming the cold is the way to a spiritual form of Aezreth.
*An artist rendition of the Flame Festival, conducted at the top of mount At’Rius each year
Differences in Flame Festival
Many denominations interpret and practice the flame festival differently. The Av’Brak have a ceremony in which the heads of each monastery make a yearly pilgrimage to mount At’Rius. They believe that Tajan left some of the “cinders of creation” in the mountain, so torches are lit, then carried rom mount At’Rius to the Paracus monastery where a ritual is conducted, and the monks robes are lit on fire.
Sal’em
The Sal’em are the second largest denomination of Zarathem, accounting for roughly %9 of followers. They are also followers of Uerties, they believe he was a prophet, but that he wasn’t the most important prophet. They revere Zarath, Uerties, and other prophets relatively equally. They believe primarily that giving oneself to the world is a form of spiritual Aezreth, as such many of their monks and priests are highly educated seeing it as part of their faith. Due to this many of their monasteries are in remote parts of the world, primarily in jungles (such as Bar’eth), where they spend a lot of time categorizing and researching the animals and plants.
*Painting of the Sal’em monastery in Bar’eth
*Painting of the entrance inside of the Sal’em monastery in Bar’eth
A common practice for Sal’em monasteries is to have open pyres in the trees. They have these fires, and cover the main building in Karlin, a flame retardant that keeps fire from spreading. This is also the chemical used during other denominations Flame Festivals to keep the participants from burning. For the Sal’em they often also use Flaryn, which is an accelerant that keeps the underlying surface from being burned, while allowing the flame to continue. This is because the Flayrn vaporizes into a flammable gas from a solid when heat is applied, allowing the fire to keep burning.
Flame Festival Practices
During the Flame Festival the Sal’em burn effigies of the sculptors instead of having monks participate like the Av’Brak. For the Sal’em, people participating directly are emulating new sculptors as a normal person, which is tantamount to blasphemy. They believe in a strict hierarchy of beings that should be followed, and humans as lesser beings acting as if they are sculptors is disrespectful to the sculptors, and creation itself.
*Painting of the Sal’em flame festival
Tyreth
The Tyreth are the third largest denomination, estimates place them at %4 of the population of followers, however these numbers are likely inaccurate due to a lack of census data. They are one of the main groups that broke off during the Uertian split, and as such they only follow the original texts of The Quereth and The Rathem. The Tyreth are very difficult to get information about, primarily information comes from apostates who leave the faith.
Seclusion
“To grow the passion in your soul, you must first understand your soul. That understanding comes from being with oneself long enough to know themselves.”
- Zarath, The Rathem
As followers of the Killmaei, they believe that seclusion is the way to achieving a form of enlightenment similar to Aezreth. They believe that seclusion helps you to not get attached to the outside world, making you less likely to spend your coins after death. Due to this the Tyreth live in underground monasteries that were built to ensure seclusion from the outside world. This has lead to much speculation about their practices and behaviors. In general we know they are very anti-technology, and rely primarily on hand tools, and primitive technologies to get by.
*The entrance to the Tyreth monastery in Heiyul
*The entrance to the Tyreth monastery in Gur’men
*The entrance to the Tyreth monastery in Dalopania
This seclusion provided many advantages, including during the expansion of the Dah’Rem empire, they were able to stave off most attacks because of the inability to get into their encampments. Most of the monasteries had a large stone door to block off the entrance, and they would often leave a small hole for Flayrn to be poured into the entrance, which could then be lit to burn the soldiers alive. The largest casualties of the expansion came from the attempts to break into the Tyreth monasteries.
Depiction in Media
Much of the speculation surrounding the Tyreth has lead to them being included in a large portion of fantasy media. There are stories of their monasteries being filled with various ancient crystals, powders, and artifacts that bring people power. Often these depictions have lead to expeditions from explorers in search of treasure who harass the local population. There has been no evidence presented by anyone that the cave monasteries possess any of these treasures.
Satellite imaging suggests that the monasteries themselves are relatively minimalistic, and consist primarily of simple stone and wood structures, with crops and animals being kept in areas that have the most sunlight. Much of the building, and practices seem to be similar to the same practices that were happening in Dah’Rem prior to the industrial revolution.
Link to original
*Depiction of a Tyreth monastery in “The heroes journey”, a fantasy experience by ExperiNow
*Depiction of a Tyreth monastery in “Darkest fantasy”, a fantasy Movie by Oblong Entertainment
*Depiction of a Tyreth monastery in “A knights last love”, a romance novel by Katria Fet’mayin
History
Pre-Kliever Dah’Rem
Prior to the adoption of The Kliever model Dah’Rem had a long history of primarily warring tribes. However in the more recent past Dah’Rem became one of the colonial powerhouses, conquering a large portion of land under the first Dynar. This expansionist attitude continued for decades while Dah’Rem encountered external, and internal resistance. Much of the land they took over were not primarily Zarathem, leading to many internal struggles within the nations’ borders (leading to the eventual Ishitar Rebellion). This along with many external power struggles has lead to much of the pre-Kliever history being rife with conflict.
Dahrem
*Please note that to make differentiation simple we have used Dahrem to represent the man, and Dah’Rem for the nation, however Dahrem was officially known as Dah’Rem in most texts after his Engulfing
Dahrem was the son of Uerties, who became the first Dynar of Dah’Rem. The nation itself is named after him due to his influence on it’s formation. Dahrem was known primarily for his military acumen, and religious zealotry. During his rule he expanded the territory that was owned by the Zarathem faith by nearly 100x. His kingdom overtook many of the nations we know of today, and was at various points in history the strongest military force.
Unlike his father, Dahrem was incredibly agressive, and many argued that he was simply interested in the power the faith brought him. He is one of the only Uilerate reformists1 that is well known.
In his early 50’s Dahrem became sick with various cardiovascular ailments. At the time, the majority of the citizens in the kingdom were not originally Zarathem. This issue is largely a reason why Ishitar was allowed to be a “separate nation”, though many thought of it as a colony. Fearing retaliation from the citizens after his death, His second wife (Wa’an) negotiated a deal with the leader (Raeila) of modern day Arzentia, to help kill him in exchange for her, and her son’s (Remond) safety. After Wa’an poisoned him, Raeila released her letters of the plan to smear her in the public eye, and eventually executed Wa’an and her Remond. Raeila attempted to use this destabilization to take over the nation, but the next Dynar had already been selected (Kal’Eid) from a popular temple who immediately took power. As a show of force Kal’Eid marched forces through Arzentia, took Raeila hostage, and executed her in the city square.
Religious Divide
Dah’rem has several major religions that call the region home. As such there has consistently been many extremist organizations that found their start in Dah’rem. The most quintessential example of this is the Aeytr, who’s purist denomination are labeled as an extremist group in most nations. There have been dozens of historical attacks against national infrastructure, and shows of force from and against these sorts of groups.
There has also been a long standing history of discrimination against minority religious groups in Dah’Rem. This includes in particular groups that are overtly anti “traditional religion”, and any groups that have different languages (such as the Aeytr with aetorish). Currently any “anti-religious” demonstration carries with it a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, depending on the nature, size, and voracity of the demonstrations. There has been much critique for the asymmetric enforcement of such laws, where the penalties are typically only applied to anti-Zarathem demonstrations. Whereas cases such as the burning of a famous Aeytr effigy in front of one of their temples was considered “protected speech”.
For languages, there have been many forms of discrimination. One such example is the “literacy doctrine”, which states that “No person shall be allowed to hold any office of any government in Dah’Rem if they are unable to conduct such duties strictly in Dorish, as such a person will be considered to be too illiterate to hold such a position”. Being that roughly 80 cities (or roughly %25) in Dah’Rem do not have Dorish listed as being a primary spoken language, this stops officials who would be better suited to run those regions from being elected. Likewise, all goods within the nation are required to have Dorish packaging. This requirement often limits the amount of goods that can be imported, and adds a large additional burden for anyone that wants to do trade with Dah’Rem.