Deshret
by WingofCootPopulation 380,000: 97+% humans, 2% Hutaaka, <1% other
Introduction
The most fractious subject nation of the Empire, Deshret lies east of the lands of the Grens, off the routes of the canal system. Its borders are not marked by any clear natural features, except for a small section of its western border which runs along the coast of the Moonslight Sea. To north, east, and south, Deshret borders on vast barren lands not inhabited by any humanoid or settled intelligent beings; westward it meets the lands of the northern (Moonslight) Gren and the giff nation of Hippania.
Outside the single coastal city of Protia, the people of Deshret survive amid harsh deserts by the use of great magic and the relics of even greater magic their ancestors wielded. Much of the land is blighted by a strange curse dating back to the Deshri's arrival on Vaniae but greatly worsened by a terrible magical war; the population is concentrated into oasis city-states.
Early History
Nithian spellcasters first reached Vaniae surprisingly early in the history of Nithia's magical development, probably aided by contact with the Chak. During this time (c. 1250 BC by the current Mystaran calendar), Vaniae was in the height of its Second Canal-Building Era, and not so thoroughly desert as it has now become. At that time, the northern ocean had ceased to be a single connected body of water, but the northern hemisphere was still relatively watery - in addition to the major remnant seas, a great number of shallow lakes and expansive marshes were present in areas that have since become desert.
Real settlement on a significant scale began early in Nithia's golden age, over two centuries later (c. 1000 BC in Mystaran terms). Areas reached by the early explorers had become notably drier, but this was little challenge to the immense magic of Nithia at its height. Permanent vortices were opened to the Plane of Water, each becoming the heart of one of Deshret's oasis cities.
Deshret - in its origin - was not a conventional colony; it was a magical research project of a scale that few other civilizations could even consider. The early explorers had found hints of the great, primeval magical "terraforming" of Vaniae, and the true purpose of Deshret was to investigate that ancient project and discover its secrets. In addition to the researchers themselves - magic-users, clerics of several Immortals of Thought, explorers, and sages - a large population of peasants was brought along to support them. (Already in this era, before its Entropic corruption set in, Nithia was becoming controlled by spellcasting lords ruling over the common populace.)
The great project took generations - though many of those involved had magically extended lives. Over time, those who were clerics received messages from their Immortals that Nithia was becoming corrupted. More and more, Deshret began to shift from a cluster of small settlements centered around research to a society attempting to recapture Nithia's golden age on a new world.
And then the Empire arrived. Deshret was forced together - in a real political union, not merely a common cultural goal - by this outside threat. At first the Empire made gains, but when the Deshri truly united, they fought back fiercely - and finally they unleashed the terrible war magic of ancient Nithia, completely destroying the Empire's foothold on Deshret's land. This was something which even Brissard, the Immortal behind the Empire, did not expect, as the Deshri had never had a reason to unleash such destruction before. But there was a terrible cost. The destructive super-spells burned and blasted the land, and a large region of Deshret's rich coast was reduced to ruin and wasteland.
For over five Mystaran centuries, the Empire did not try another invasion of Deshret, so terrible had the cost been.
The Union of Deshret
The oasis city-states cooperated to rebuild the coastal settlements (on the part of the coast that had not been ruined) and this effort completed what the war effort had begun - within twenty local years after the war's end, what had been an union of necessity became a true nation. Each city-state retained its own lord, but a formal Council of Union was formed in the new coastal city of Protia to govern the nation overall and resolve disputes between city-states.
The Council was composed of representatives of each lord and advised by experts in law and spellcasters skilled in detection/informational magic. The Council was also given power to select a grand marshal, a single representative in time of war to coordinate the overall effort of the nation.
For several generations, the new union of Deshret was vigilant against the Empire. But as centuries passed without any renewed offensive - without even any hint of military buildup or other signs of hostility - the lords of Deshret turned inward and focused on their internal politicking for power. This became a crisis when the lord of Ankhata (at that time the most populous city-state of Deshret) died without a clear heir, and two claimants contested for the position. The other city-states' lords took sides, and the Council was divided, unable to settle the dispute; outright civil war loomed.
The Second Deshret War
It was then that the Empire struck. Brissard, being Immortal and operating on a time scale far beyond the human one, had waited for his moment. The Second Deshret War began without warning, with magical forces suddenly teleporting into Protia. The Council fled from Protia to Ankhara, which became the center of the war effort. The Deshri were unwilling to unleash the devastating war magics of ancient times again upon Protia, and soon that city fell to the Empire.
After its sudden onset, the war settled into a brief stalemate. Any force crossing the desert from Protia to the inland city-states overland or by air would be destroyed en route (that land was already essentially uninhabited, and so could be devastated with little cost). Conventional forces were brought up from the Empire to garrison and occupy Protia, so that the magical forces could be freed up for a second teleportation attack, but this process took time, and the Deshri prepared formidable defenses while it was done. The Council conferred the powers of grand marshal on the lord of Ankhara.
When the second strike did come, at the oasis city-state of Thetophis, mighty warding magic killed or misdirected many of the teleporting attackers. But many others did arrive, and a terrible battle erupted over Thetophis. Many of Deshret's own magical defenders teleported to Thetophis, and flying forces were redirected there. The Battle of Thetophis was utterly devastating to the forces of both sides; while the great landscape-destroying magics were not deployed there, lightning and fire, ice storms and meteor swarms, beams of disintegration and rays of paralyzation crisscrossed the skies of the city-state. When the battle finally ended, the majority of both sides' highly mobile forces in the area were destroyed.
However, the Empire could bring more flying forces up from distant regions and Deshret could not. A tense council of war ensued in Dathys, divided between unleashing ancient magic to utterly destroy Protia (along with Deshret's best remaining lands and at least a fifth of its population); marching a largely conventional army over the road to besiege Protia; or seeking terms of peace. Ultimately, the siege was chosen, and a second brief pause in the fighting occurred as both sides gathered their troops - the Empire sent more into Protia and Deshret gathered its army at Ankhata. Soon, the Deshri army marched on Protia overland, protected by what little was left of Deshret's own aerial forces. The Empire's superior flying forces struck, but Deshri mages with the ground troops assisted, and the aerial fight was largely inconclusive. The army reached the outskirts of Protia with relatively few losses, and set its siege lines beyond bowshot or spell range from the walls.
Protia could be supplied by water, however, and the siege forces' attempts to attack shipping with the shreds of their remaining aerial capability were a dismal failure. Imperial forces gathered further, and in the bloody Second Battle of Protia the siege was broken. Deshret was forced to sue for peace, its military almost gone, and became a subject nation of the Empire.
Imperial Deshret
The great defeat greatly reduced the status of the lord of Ankhara, and to a degree that of all the lords. At the same time, the clerical power gained prominence as the guarantor of Deshri's cultural survival under the Empire's rule. Deshri shifted from a federation of feudal magocracies to a theocracy. The military position of grand marshal (outlawed by the treaty of annexation that brought Deshret under the Empire's rule) was replaced by a High Cleric, originally simply a religious figure recognized by the Council as a symbol of Deshret's culture. But as clerics gained more power on the Council, eventually becoming the majority, the High Cleric became more and more the effective ruler of Deshret (though legally the Council ruled under the Emperor).
The placement of the Imperial administration, and main Imperial garrison, in Protia has made Deshret a divided nation over time. Protia is much more cosmopolitan, but also much more firmly under the Empire's thumb; the oasis city-states often deal with local affairs essentially independently, but the economic and governmental importance of Protia leaves them unable to break free. It is this division, more than anything else, that maintains the Empire's tenuous control over proud and fractious Deshret.
Religion
Deshret's religion is centered on the Immortals viewed as masters of the Four Elements (corresponding to their Spheres). The current version of this religion holds Water as highest of the four, source of life and growth - as is somewhat natural for a desert society. Fire is held next in rank, then Air, and Earth is considered least noble.
While the Deshri acknowledge that many Immortals exist, those which form a key part of the national religion are the four Elemasters, locally named Nu (Water), Re (Fire), Shu (Air), and Geb (Earth); Protius; Ixion (locally known as Horon); Rathanos; Pflarr; and Valerias (Isiris). Protius is seen as the most prestigious of the Immortals, but not as a ruler. These nine are grouped into an "Ennead". Thus, a circle with nine rays represents the Deshri religion; it is often seen in architecture and as a kind of badge worn proudly by many Deshri.
Both the relative prestige of the Immortals and the ranking of the Elements/Spheres has changed over Deshret's history. Ancient, pre-Union Deshret held Fire as highest, due to its association with magic use. Even once the religion shifted to Water-centered, Nu was considered the highest Immortal for a time; Protius was originally the patron Immortal of the city of Protia, but not the chief Immortal of the entire religion. While the last dozen High Clerics have all been clerics of Protius, this is not strictly required by the law.
Thanatos is seen as the greatest evil in Deshri religion; Brissard, patron of the Empire, is often said to be Thanatos' second in command and chief champion, but this is never written down, only spoken between Deshri when no Imperials are able to hear. In the written teachings, Orcus and Ranivorus are usually named as demons subservient to Thanatos.
Of course, Imperials within Deshret practice the Imperial religion (worship of Brissard), and this is taught in the university in Protia, though it receives few real converts (ambitious Deshri may well give lip service, however.) The small Imperial contingents in the other city-states do not even attempt to spread the Imperial religion.
Note
If HW Nithia is fantasy Pharaohs-era/Dynastic Ancient Egypt, Deshret is Ptolemaic or Roman Egypt with magic - mixed with a bit of the older civilizations of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars, like Manator, Gathol, and Lothar.
Geography
Deshret is a nation of small, densely populated city-states separated by wide expanses of desert and tied together by a theocratic religious system headed by the Pharaoh. The vast majority of the land within its expansive borders is unpopulated wilderness, Deshri land in name only.
The Deserts
The land of Deshret outside the coast and the city-state oases is all arid, but of three types:
Low Deserts: The low deserts make up the majority of Deshret's land area. These are the portions of the former seafloor of the northern ocean outside the oases which have not been touched by the Warping. These lands may appear lifeless at first glance, but desert vegetation does exist here, most of it subtle - such as lichen-like flora or near-microscopic growths that bind together the fine-grained silt of the old seafloor. Organic life is generally very small; the large 'life forms' here are creatures of Earth such as desert ghosts.
Hills and Low Mountains: Former islands in the northern ocean, these are now rocky highlands. Deshret has no truly high mountains; the tallest peaks rise as much as 3500-4000 feet above the former seafloor. The hills are mostly barren except for lichen-like growths, but some of the higher peaks capture enough atmospheric moisture to support small islands of desert scrub and colorful cacti, and a few shaded canyons support shrubs clinging to the rock. These pockets of vegetation are often home to some monster.
Accursed Barrens: This blighted landscape is not merely dry, but afflicted by a strange magical effect known as the Warping - akin to, but not the same as, the Red Curse of Mystara's Savage Coast. The name comes from the severe mutations that occur in many people under its effect. The mind and spirit are usually twisted as well as the body, leading to strange magical powers and often berserk fury. Some who are Warped become able to survive without food or water, living on the ambient magical "radiation", and continue to mutate living in the waste, absorbing even more warping magic, until they are completely unrecognizable as having once been human.
The Warping does not limit itself to humans: animals that wander into the Accursed Barrens can also become warped and transformed, and many of them hunt madly - not needing food to survive any more, but retaining their predatory instincts none the less.
The City-States
The three chief city-states of Deshret are Protia, Dathys, and Ankhata. Together they make up more than 60% of the total population.
A Deshri city-state is not merely a city. With the exception of Protia, the city-state also includes the entire oasis area of agricultural land that supports the city. Thus, a large majority of the city-state's population lives outside the walls of the 'city proper'.
Protia
Population 60,000
Lying on the shore of the Moonslight Sea, the port city-state of Protia is both wealthy and thoroughly under the thumb of the Empire. By controlling Deshret's economic heart, the Empire keeps its tenuous grip on the nation.
Protia is the official capital of Deshret and the seat of the Council of Union, but a major Imperial garrison - stationed in a great citadel within the city - represents the power of the Empire, and so the Imperial governor is the true master of the city.
Protia's boundaries are drawn much more narrowly than those of the other city-states. It includes only the walled city itself, the port/docks district, and about five miles of coast outside it. The rest of the strip of fishing villages and small towns along the coast is not considered part of the city-state of Protia (it is a separate unit of government, the Magistracy of the Coast).
Protia is essentially a 'double-walled' city, with the outer city walls and the inner citadel of the Imperial garrison and administration.
The Imperial-sponsored university in Deshret is also located here, so that the Empire can keep tabs on promising young Deshri and recruit them.