Duja

Duja (asaGira uduDjá "the veldt") is a broad region spanning most of the west of the island continent of Mocueyoh. The region in fact encompasses multiple different cultures; the most notable are the Gira in the highlands (which they call omoQobo "the region"), the Machu in the lowlands and temperate rainforest (which they call Imechi), and various tribes living in the high pantanal wetlands surrounded by the highlands.

Rainforest

Constant rains from the Elephantine Ocean have made this region quite fertile, with some of the largest trees on the continent. It is said that one can travel west to east on treetop, hundreds of feet in the air, not touching the ground once.

Prairie

Inland from the coastal forests, closer to the mountains, the trees shrink away and a verdant grassland takes its place. Here, and in the rainforest, one finds the city-states of the Machu, ruled by kingdoms under a High King and multiple Lords Paramount. The chief religion here is Kathan.

Highlands

Closer to the equator, but further from the rains, the landscape is rockier and home to pastoral peoples. Of these the most prominent are the Gira, ruled by an oQobo ("emperor") from the City of Sapphire. Their chief religion is Izfaism.

City of Sapphire

A place of considerable wealth, the City of Sapphire is the primary trading hub in omoQobo, and the centre of government. Residents of this highland metropolis often dress in fashions derived from those of nearby Ilocan and Yashdar, although there are always a few who prefer the traditional kilt-and-cloak of the ancestral Gira.

Government of the Gira

Historically the Gira were divided into numerous tribes, each with their own tutelary deities. All men were required to hunt and herd, all women to tend to the homestead and cook and weave. Although there was, in theory, a king who could call them to war, in practice the Gira followed no authority greater than that of the homesteader; decisions were made in council between local pastors.

The first emperor of the Gira, from the City of Tea, changed this. All who swore allegiance to him forfeited any ancestral claim to their lands, and would pay tribute to the palace—but they would also be given a voice at the annual assemblies, and be protected by the laws of the land. More to the point, it wasn't as though they had to move; the emperor simply maintains the right of monopoly, but any citizen of the Gira is free to settle in any place in omoQobo, provided there isn't another Gira living in the same spot. (Other peoples don't count, or didn't until the Gira came across the cities of the Machu.)

The first emperor of the Gira also united the people by converting to Izfaism, and "taught the gods of the Izfa" by bringing them to his palace in the highland grasses and placing them as tribute around the ceremonial altar to Abbat. (His nephew, who founded a short-lived kingdom in rebellion, stole his uncle's copy of the Ayyal and sat on it like a throne for the rest of his rule.)

All placeholder images from stock photos or Mage.

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