Naba'al

The Kingdom of Naba'al is one of the Six Great Nations of Alter-Mana, occupying the south-east most portion of that world's Me'Diel continent. Naba'al was only unified just prior to the start of the War of Threes. Before that, the desert sub-continent that comprises the whole of Naba'al's territory was fragmented among several semi-nomadic tribes of desert riders.

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Star of the Desert

Land

Naba'al occupies the whole of the Scorching Desert, a bulging sub-continental mass at the southern tip of Me'Diel. The nation was unified a generation ago by the mighty Flamekhan, but still retains internal divisions into several smaller tribal states.

Map of Naba'al

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Population

Humans form the largest racial segment of Naba'al's population, followed by Nekos and Mallardans. All three races tend to mingle freely among the various Naba'alian tribes, though a few tribes enjoy pronounced racial biases (the Raiders, for example, are mostly human with a small number of Nekos, while the Flamelicks are all Mallardans).

Religion

The Naba'alians were long ago unified under a strict Elementalist theocracy based out of the city of Sultan. While the Sultanates are no longer in power, their legacy remains in the form of the orthodox elementalism traditionally practiced by the desert tribesmen of Naba'al. Several aspects of the local Naba'alian brand of the religion are not endorsed by the larger Wendelian Church, but the Naba'alian sect is nonetheless recognized.

Economy

Naba'al was one of the first nations of Alter-Mana to break out from under the Guardian aegis. They associated freely with the Esper Union, and even briefly retained a membership in SRAN. Those associations yielded lasting trade relationships and technology exchanges that helped to fuel a developing industrial economy.

In addition to trade with Guardia, Esper and various other former and current SRAN members, Naba'al engages in trade of the illicit kind on the Fringe and throughout the Core (by proxy of various distributors). The most valuable export of Naba'al is the narcotic agent Spice, which is produced in Naba'al. Naba'al's government does not officially have a hand in the Spice trade. Unofficially... they have a hand in the Spice trade!!

Law

It is said that there are two kinds of Naba'alian law: Sultan's Law, and the Khan's Law.

Sultan's Law is religious law, handed down by the Sultanate theocrats in olden times, and in modern times by the self-appointed keepers of the orthodoxy that reside in Sultan's old temples.

The Khan's Law, in the other hand, is nominally a secular authority, handed down by the Khan of the Tribes who rules from the Raiders' Fortress of Naba'al. Presently, the Khan's law is dominant: the sitting Khan has absolute authority over the nation (ensuring Naba'al fit in well among the largely fascist membership of SRAN).

Government

In addition to the Khan, there is an informal gathering of tribal chiefs that meets irregularly to deal with matters of importance to the state, but these chiefs are more like a caste of petty nobility than a true organ of government. True, absolute and final governmental authority rests with the Khan.

Internal Politics

Most internal politics in Naba'al can be traced back to the rivalries that were had between the various desert tribes: blood feuds that may never reach anything resembling a resolution. There are dozens of tribes scattered throughout the Scorching Desert, most of them small close-knit kin groups that revolve around one or several larger tribes. There are eight major tribes, however, that have significant influence on the politics of the nation:

• The Flamelicks: This fierce all-Mallardan tribe lairs in the Valley of Flames, and the foothills of the Flaming Mountains beyond. They pride themselves on their racial purity, being not only 100% pure Mallardan, but also refusing to mix or mingle with Mallardans from other tribes. Generations of ritual incest has taken its toll on the Flamelicks -- they are, by and large, not the brightest suns in the sky, and their birth rate is plagued by numerous defects and stillbirths. That said, the Flamelicks have historically been among the most ferocious warriors in Naba'al.
• The Sunbrothers: The traditional enemies of the Flamelicks, and sometimes allies of the Scorchers. Where the Flamelicks pride themselves on racial purity, the Sunbrothers are strong advocates of racial tolerance and diversity: their tribe boasts a nearly even mixture of races native to Naba'al, and is the only major tribe that is willing to initiate foreigners into their ranks. Their main outpost is the Sunbrother Stand, due south from the fortress of Naba'al. The Sunbrothers were one of the first tribes to be won over into Flamekhan's tribal union, which established the Naba'alian nation.
• The Sandriders: This tribe produces some of the best horsemen and chocobo riders in the entire Web of Worlds. The Sandrider cavalry has been nearly unbeatable in the history of tribal warfare in the Scorching Desert, but conquest is not the Sandrider way. The Sandriders instead tend to their herds of gray oxen, which they drive from their Sandrider Outpost in the high desert down to the oasis city of Deen, and then back again. The battles they have fought (and mostly won) have been incidental to the calling of tending their herds: Sandriders fight to protect their animals, to protect their families, and to protect their territory.
• The Scorchers: One of the only tribes that boasts a minority population of humans. The Scorchers dominate the southern reaches of Naba'al's desert valley, from their walled city of Scorch Run, a trek south from (but still within reasonable travel of) the oasis of Deen. The Scorchers have a long and bloody history of violence with the Flamelicks, and are sometimes allies of the Sunbrothers. The tribe was founded by Neko merchants, and its founding members (mostly Neko and Mallardan mercenaries) were the protective entourages of the tribe's travelling traders. To this day trade remains the focus of the Scorcher tribe; apart from the Flamelicks, the Scorchers have historically maintained friendly relations with most of the other major tribes. The Scorchers have a history of alliance and association with the Luon Federation's Neko Merchant's Guild.
• The Sons of Scorpid: This tribe broke away from the Raiders several generations ago, lead by a ninja named Scorpid who had tried (and failed) to usurp his tribe's chieftainship. An ad-hoc (and ultimately ill-fated) alliance between the Sons of Scorpid and the Flamelicks was the last obstacle that Flamekhan faced in his quest to unify the tribes under the nation of Naba'al. The Sons of Scorpid blame the Raiders' ultimate victory on the failures of the Flamelicks, and so the Scorpids now count themselves among the Flamelicks' many, many enemies.
• The Bulette Masters: This tribe derives their name from the small saurian lizards that they have trained as war mounts. Confrontations between the Bulette Masters and the Sandriders were common in olden times, especially when the Sandrider drovers would arrive at Deen's watering holes while the Bulette Masters were there to water their mounts. Clashes were often biased in favor of the swifted Sandriders, though the Bulette Masters were hard opponents to defeat decisively.
• Noonburn-Crawl: This tribe is actually the result of several smaller tribes joining together for mutual protection from the Sandriders (whose herd migration path cut through several smaller tribes' territory). The tribe takes its name from the two largest tribes in the mix: the Noonburns and the Crawlers.
• The Raiders: The largest and most powerful tribe in the desert, the Raiders of Naba'al are now dominant. Under the rule of Flamekhan, the Raiders unified the major tribes, and from that union forged the nation that he named after his tribe's immense fortress-city.

Foreign Politics

Naba'al is closest with the Kingdom of Laurent, and Khan-mandated reforms of the orthodoxy in Sultan have garnered much favor for the Khan in the Holy City of Wendel. Since the New Wraith Incident, these three nations (Naba'al, Laurent and Wendel) appear to be moving closer and closer to what some speculate will eventually be a unification.

Officially, Naba'al maintains an alliance with Forthena, the Beast Kingdom and Altena, though Khan Hawkeye's relationship with Irzoile is somewhat chilly.

Military

Naba'al is one of the only nations in Alter-Mana to field a modern military navy -- the result of Naba'al's ties with the Esperians. Naba'al also fields an impressive land army, airforce and space fleet that synthesizes Guardian and Esperian technological elements. The Naba'alian space fleet is decidedly more low-key than the Forthenan Grand Fleet -- this is because most of Naba'al's fleet is currently tasked with shipping or protecting shipments of Spice to other destinations in the Web.