Astirawen

Astirawen is a country located in the northwest of the continent. It's only land borders are with Werissa and Roend, both of which are reached through the Barrier Peaks in the south. The north, east and west borders of the country lead into the ocean. The country takes up the entirety of the Jungle of Life, sometimes called the Jungle of Blood, or the Cursed Jungle by foreigners.

Politics
Astirawen is a matriarchal theocracy. It is ruled by the Priestesses of the World, a religious order focused around the Heart of the World. The head of the order is the Bride of the World. She is the only person who may interact with the heart of the world, and her insight and wisdom is consulted on all manners. Despite her position as the head of the order, the Bride of the World is not actually the head of state. The head of state is a joint position shared by the High Priestesses of the World. They meet regularly to decide the direction of the country. Outside of the capital their power is diminished, as many members of society despise the Priestesses of the World, due to their bloodthirsty nature. They do however have authority on matters of law, but their ability to sway public opinion is limited to the fear they can install. Outside of the capital the Heartseekers are the highest authority. They have the capacity to ship anyone off to the capital for service to the Heart of the World, and as such are generally treated with respect when they're around. Behind their backs the Heartseekers are the most despised of any element of the Priestesses.

Social Classes and Gender Roles
On account of being a matriarchy, the line between social class and gender roles is hard to see. The highest class of society is the Priestesses of the World. All elvish girls are educated in the ways of the Priestesses when they're young, and as such they all belong to the order in some capacity or another. The Priestesses of the World have an elaborate internal heirarchy, starting with the Bride, then going down to the High Priestesses, the Heartseekers, the Bloodhunters, and finally the Priestesses. The Bride is in charge of handling the blood sacrifices, as well as extracting the gifts from the Heart of the World. She is regarded as the most holy of any member, and to deny her a request is the greatest offence. The High Priestesses accompany the Bride in her duties, and have similar levels of respect, though in the presence of the Bride are largely ignored.

Below them are the Heartseekers and Bloodhunters. The Heartseekers enlist the help of the Bloodhunters in finding anyone who is deemed an acceptable sacrifice. The Heartseekers act as an inquisition, investigating the locale they're assigned to, to root out as much crime and heresy as possible. When working with Heartseekers the Bloodhunters fill the role of muscle, moving in on targets identified by the Heartseekers and tracking down the intended sacrifice when they try to escape. Outside of the command of the Heartseekers the Bloodhunters form the military of Astirawen, and they are one of the most plentiful positions in the Priestesses of the World.

The final position within the Priestesses is the actual Priestesses. This position varies, from the women who have elected not to be involved with the proceedings of the organisation, and instead live and work as normal citizens, to the women who are seeking advancement in the order. Those who are actively working to climb the ranks fill the role of the back up priestesses during the sacrifices, as well as performing the Rites of the World outside of the capital for the citizens who need them. While there is no clear internal hierarchy within this position, priestesses range in influence, from those who have just begun, to those who are about to become High Priestesses.

The Priestesses of the World believe that it is the heat of the body that provides the power to Heart of the World, and as such their dress evolves as they progress through the ranks, slowly baring more and more skin, as well as more smearing and paintings of blood to their skin. By exposing their skin the Priestesses prove that they have a lot of body heat, making them suitable for the Heart of the World, as well as offering their heat to the heart, as it is exposed, and thus capable of radiating out of their bodies. The Bloodhunters are the exception to this rule, as practicality forces them to don thick leather armour to protect themselves in the course of their work. They make up for this by mimicking the high priestesses headdresses with their armour, covering it in feathers to show their position. On account of their position, they also have fairly regular access to blood, be it of wild animals they have had to hunt, the victims they've captured, or each other's in the course of sparring. This means they are among the most blood-adorned members of the Priestesses. The priestesses who distance themselves from the organization also act in contrary to this ideal, intentionally dressing in very concealing clothing in protest to their demanded service.

Below the Priestesses lay the general citizens. The general citizens are male elves who live in Asitrawen, as well as any other members of any other races who have managed to receive citizenship. Originally this process was nearly impossible, and members of other races were taken as slaves almost instantly. In recent times the process by which citizenship is obtained has been significantly improved, largely on account of the increasingly interconnected ways of the world, and the value that merchants bring to the nation. The citizens outside of the capital are all largely workers, keeping the cities of the coast running, and making a living. In the capital however the citizens live lives of luxury, not expected to do any work, as the slaves do it all for them. They instead spend their time engaging in sporting events, as well as watching the Rites of the World. The citizens in the capital are, however, largely at the whims of the priestesses, and as such most citizens who live in the capital are either the husbands or family of priestesses, thus giving them a relatively free pass. It's not unknown for non-elvish citizens to end up in the capital, though like all other citizens in the capital, they are usually significant to one of the priestesses in some way or another.

The lowest class is the slaves. They are the menial labour in the capital, as well as any Bloodhunter outposts, as well as the blood sacrifices to the Heart of the World. They are comprised of elvish criminals, or members of the other races who have been abducted from their homes by raiding Bloodhunters, and brought back to Astirawen. As they are to be made offerings to the Heart of the World they are generally well treated, allowed to intermingle during their free time, and are well fed and rested. They are however, forced to work to long hours, and failure is rarely tolerated by the Priestesses. Some slaves are taken on by Priestesses as personal property, to serve them around their house. Such slaves have a significantly longer life expectancy, as the Priestesses dislike training up new slaves. The rare slaves who were previously Priestesses are typically snapped up by another Priestess for personal use very quickly. If they aren't, they are generally sacrificed very early, as the Priestesses are deemed the most acceptable sacrifices.

Races
The majority of Astirawen is elvish, with elves accounting for 70% of the population. The second highest population density is the kehrno who immigrate to the country on account of it's jungle terrain. They make up around 15% of the population, with the majority of that living on the coast. The remaining 15% of the population is split between humans and half-elves, with only a minuscule amount of the population being made up of great animals. Great Animals are generally considered very good sacrifices, and as such only the most stubborn of the native population remain, hidden in the Jungle.

Economics
The primary coin of Astirawen is the Golden Heart. It is a very small gold coin, and thus is valued at around 8 Hearts to a Gold Plain. The creation of the Golden Heart has taken up the majority of the gold in Astirawen, and as such they are a very stable coin, on account of new ones being very rarely minted.

The economy of Astirawen is a strange one. The highly rigid control of the Priestesses has resulted in an almost communist approach to food, with the vast majority of it produced in the capital, and exported out to the coastal cities. The food in the coastal cities is sold to the citizens there, resulting in the closest thing to taxation in Astirawen. Since the Priestesses control the majority of food produced they do not bother to tax anything else, making the coastal cities of Astirawen a very open market where almost anything can be traded. The Priestesses get involved here too, as they use the open market to sell the unwanted magical items created by the Heart of the World. The money from this is used to purchase mundane weapons that cannot be made in Astirawen, as well as any other luxury goods the Priestesses desire. The coastal cities focus on the production of goods available natively in Astirawen, largely the goods produced by the jungle, wooden craftings, as well as all forms of braided goods. The clothing and trinkets of Astirawen are very popular among the richer citizens of the world, and so the moving of them is a very profitable endeavor. Additionally many citizens work as fixers for the nobles, with large networks being set up to accommodate merchants looking to make unusual purchases. This system lead to the founding of the Elf Houses found in every port, most of which are still connected to a network in Astirawen.

Internally Astirawen's production is very stifled, as the dwarves keep the elves from expanding into the mountains. This has resulted in very little metal being in circulation. The only metal that is native to Astirawen is a small vein of mithril that has long since been mined up. This vein was used in the creation of the Bride's Knife, as well as a set of one hundred weapons to arm the first Bloodhunters. Since then more metal has been imported to add to the arms available, however most of them are made of iron now. Prior to the obtaining of mithril. The cities of Astirawen are built out of stone bricks, carved using stone tools enchanted by the Heart of the World. Very little wood is used in Astirawen construction, as it is saved mostly for decorations and the making of ships.

Organisation
The military of Astirawen is comprised of the Bloodhunters. It is lead by a single High Priestess, the only High Priestess who is recruited from the ranks of Bloodhunters. When she is to be sacrificed, she picks the next High Priestess, who is expected to perform the sacrifice to symbolize the passing of the mantle. On account of the High Priestesses other duties, she assigns a council to lead in her place in the field. The council comprises of the thirteen most successful Bloodhunters. Below each Council Member serves three Captains, and three Stalkers. A Captain is the leader of a ship and it's crew of fifty hunters. They sail the world raiding and capturing new slaves. The Stalkers lead a pack of fifty Bloodhunters. These packs patrol the wilderness, ensuring the safety of the nation. Additional Bloodhunters exist as a garrison for the capital, where they train in the hopes of being picked up by one of the Captains or Stalkers. This garrison is also used to supply Heartseekers with their enforcers.

Becoming a Bloodhunter is a highly ritualized, though very sudden endeavor. There is no formal training, nor an application process. A Priestess that wishes to become a Bloodhunter informs a member of the garrison that she is going on a hunt to become a Bloodhunter. The garrison member organizes as small witness party, and accompanies the aspiring Bloodhunter into the jungle. The Aspirant is expected to hunt and kill a Giganotosaurus alone. The witness party does not intervene, and if the aspirant fails, she is typically killed in the process. If she succeeds, the witnesses help her carry the Giganotosaurus back to the city. There it is cut open, and the aspirant bathes in it's blood. After this bath she emerges as a new Bloodhunter. The skin of the Giganotosaurus is used to create the armour of the new Bloodhunter, and she joins the garrison in training. The equipment of the Bloodhunters is completely unregulated, though once a weapon has been selected, a Bloodhunter is obliged to stick with their weapon throughout her service. Typically a new Bloodhunter will stick to one of the traditional weapons, a Bow, Club, Net, Quarterstaff, Spear, or Whip. Once the decision has been made, her weapon of choice will be enchanted, as will all the other gear she requires. As a Bloodhunter proceeds through the ranks and becomes more accomplished her gear will be re-enchanted with more and more powerful enhancements.