Asmya-ap-Damar

The People

The people of Asmya are hard-working and deeply reverent people. They show reverence for the God King, as well as a healthy dose of fear. His word is law and they will follow it to the letter, upsetting him comes with consequences that don’t bear thinking about, so most people don’t. They just try and stick to the rules. Their reverence is also shown to the Undead belonging to the God King (all undead within the borders of Asmya) and licensed necromancers, who have been granted the ability to cast by the God King, for the God King. 

Many families seek a necromancy license as being granted one is a great honour, that increases their chances of receiving the even greater honour of undeath from the God King (better still if it’s sentient Undeath). 

Though it may seem as though the people of Asmya only live to serve, they also love to live and will take every opportunity to celebrate in their communities. Even small achievements are lauded. However, this is a double-edged sword as there is also a culture of people trying to better themselves even at the expense of others. Everyone wants the life of luxury offered by being Chosen, and they can and will remove perceived threats to their chances. The more parties thrown for someone, the more danger they’re in. 

Life is hard, the people are hardy too, but not well-traveled. It is hard to move around Asmya and as such many of the residents do not travel outside of the lands of the God King. This is further influenced by the fact that many that leave do not return. However, to make a pilgrimage to the pyramid is seen as a great journey and many choose to take it either on coming of age, or as they feel their strength fading, in the hope of attracting the attention of the God King one last time.  

Popular Clothing 

The hot temperatures and harsh sands dictate most of what gets worn in Asmya, with people preferring light fabrics like linens and cottons for the hot days, layered for colder climes or moving around at night. Head and face coverings to keep sand and sun away from the skin are commonplace. People of all genders wear robes and dresses as a base layer and build from there. 

Clothes are usually plain in natural or block colours, but those with money and those with power will use patterned fabric as a showcase of their wealth. Heavily patterned cloth means the wearer is wealthy. The silhouette doesn’t change much between social classes, but the colours do. 

Those lucky few who are chosen to become undead tend to alter their outfits to show off their status and their lack of human needs. Shunning the covering of the head and face as they no longer require protection, or even positioning their outfits to show off bones, organs or similar obvious signs of being undead. However, they are still expected to wear clothes and cover themselves to a socially acceptable degree as they would have when mortal. 

Leather armour or painted plate/scalemail are common amongst the fighters of Asmya. Plate is less often used due to the extreme heat, but it’s not unheard of.

Culture and Customs 

Culturally, Asyma-ap-Damar is a place where any success is celebrated, the successes of your family, your neighbours and your friends are turned into social events, parties and celebrations. The whole community comes together to celebrate big milestones. These celebrations can include street parties for the community, or household celebrations. The bigger the success, the bigger the celebration as villages and towns hope to attract the attention of the God King or his agents. 

Milestones can include: Major life events such as births and marriages, academic achievements such as graduations, work achievements such as promotions or new jobs. But the biggest celebrations come if a family achieves some kind of status. This could be gaining a necromancy license, as this is seen as a venerated role, becoming an particularly powerful necromancer, becoming an agent for the God King, or becoming a sentient undead in the legions of the God King. All of these things are seen as huge achievements. 

Similarly there are several holy days where celebration of the God King is enforced, his ascension day is the biggest of them all, a day where no-one works and all spend their time showcasing their love for their ruler.   

History

Asyma-ap-Damar has had many rulers, at one point there were multiple God Kings, all vying for territory with the others, creating a culture of in-fighting and making life hard and bloody for the citizens who had to suffer the wars of god-like beings. 

In recent history, the God-King Al-Rakhim was resurrected in 1110AC and began a campaign to hunt down the Gods themselves, not content to simply attack the other God Kings. He wanted to fuel his ascension. This was thwarted by intervention by the Cult fo the Wyld, The temples of Life and Death and, of course, the Aberddu Adventurers’ Guild. 

The defeat of Al-Rakhim gave rise to Ibn-an-Serat, who ruled for several years until the demon war, during which time the Demon Emperor turned him into a demon against his will. Ibn-an-Serat is killed by a disciple of Death. 

With the fall of Ibn-an-Serat the God Kings of Asmya began to recover from the threat that he had posed them, and started to bicker over his lands amongst themselves. Akhim-al-Ra did not wait for diplomacy and instead employed a ruthless attack on the other God Kings, betraying his rivals and killing them one by one, scattering their remains so they could never be resurrected. 

He has claimed the land of Asmya for his own in its entirety, this is his dominion and he holds unimaginable power within it. Where once there were many God Kings, there is now only one. He has placed rulership of territories in Mortal Kings instead, and restricted anything that could be a threat to him. Particularly the study of necromancy, known as the Ladder of Immortality. This can now only be studied under his tutelage, with a license of his creation. Only with his direct permission can one become Immortal (Undead) in his domain.

Leadership

Asmya is ruled by the God King, Akhem-al-Ra. He holds all power in his lands, as a voidal being of near god-like strength and power within the borders of Asyma. He has decreed that all must worship him and bend to his whims. 

The mortal settlements are run by mortal Kings, who rule by appointment of the God King. He does not care for the petty day-to-day running of his empire and leaves it to them. These mortal Kings often squabble amongst themselves in an attempt to curry favour with the God King and gain his affection. All of these mortal kings are aiming for a place at his side into eternity and are hoping that he will bestow upon them the great honour of Undeath. 

The God King’s rule is strict and he has control over all necromancers and undead within his Kingdom. All necromancers must acquire a license from the agents of the God King in order to practice. Becoming or summoning undead without permission is illegal and will be punished. There are specialist agents employed by the God King in order to hunt necromancers, these are called [insert name here] and can be citizens of Asmya or hired mercenaries from outside the country. 

Religious Beliefs 

The only permitted religion in Asmya-ap-Damar is worship of the God King. Worshipping other Gods or false idols is illegal. Nothing should threaten the power and influence of the Almighty God King. 

However this doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, underground worship of the Gods can and does happen, but when caught these insurrectionists are dealt with accordingly, being hunted down and violently dispatched by agents of the God King. 

The people of Asmya don’t see undeath as evil, in fact they revere it. Sentient undeath is considered a great honour that seemingly everyone in the country strives for, but even becoming a mindless undead is still considered an honour. The chance to serve the God King even after death. Bodies of the deceased are often taken to temples where the deceased and their family are judged by agents of the God King and then it is decided if the deceased can join the legion of the undead. It is said that the type of undead someone becomes is a sign of how well they served the God King in life. 

Those who have trespassed against the will of the God King, such as unauthorised necromancers or those who worship false gods, are denied even the honour of becoming a zombie. Their bodies are burned instead. To be denied brings great dishonour to a family, and can lead to social repercussions and ostracisation. 

The journey to the Temples can be long and dangerous and it is not always possible to offer up a body to the God King’s Agents and when that is the case a family will simply affect a simple burial with prayers to the God King in the hope that he might notice them from afar and raise their loved one anyway. In practice, these prayers are not answered, unless the country is at war and all the buried dead are called forth to serve.