Quote:
Originally Posted by patchwork
Question 106 Who is the current political authority in the city of Rahalar?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by patchwork
Question 107 Describe the collapse of the Rahalar empire. Did its portals fail all at once, or slowly and intermittently? How did the central government react? The people? Was this predicted, or a complete surprise? How long ago did this happen?
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Answer 106 - The Mantikores of Rahalar
The current rulers of Rahalar are mantikores. Nominally, the humanoid subjects of the city recognise Mavarid as the Elder Matriarch, but to properly understand who is in charge needs some knowledge of mantikore social groupings.
Mantikores follow similar social patterns to lions. Females and their offspring form prides that control a particular piece of territory, such as a mountain range, forest, sea or city. The pride, formed of 5-10 female adults and twice as many offspring, is ruled over by two or three of the eldest matriarchs in amicable cooperation. Adult male mantikores either roam the planes as solo nomads or join one of the handful of large stable groups, known as a cabals, of anywhere between 5 and 30. The cabals specialise in different schools of sorcery and are somewhat selective about accepting disciples. An established pride will then accept up to 4 or 5 males at a time as residents, and generally have a longstanding arrangement with a particular cabal that provides them, although they often accept nomad mantikores that might meet the matriarchs' selection criteria. The strongest or fiercest of these resident males may then become the ruler of the pride, although a pride may go for a while without a patriarch, until someone younger deposes him or until the matriarchs repeal his rule. Finally, older males, ejected from their prides, return to their cabals or go into nomadic hermitude.
Rahalar has been the territory of the Siyohran Pride for the last several centuries, and rose to its peak under their rule, along with the co-rule of a line of patriarchs from the Olami Cabal. However, the alliance between the Olami and the Siyohran no longer holds, and Rahalar is thus ruled solely by Elder Matriarch Mavarid and her pride-sisters. The pride is currently home to three resident males, but they have no cabalic connection - nomads, and not yet recognised as patriarch material. As for daily governance, how exactly the matriarchs divide up their decision-making is not clear to the human and humanoid officials that form the layer of bureaucracy between the mantikores and their subjects. As long as their overlords are not demanding to eat the flesh of half the civil service, then the bureaucrats can feel happy they've correctly interpreted their orders.
Answer 107 - Collapse of the Rahalari Empire
Rahalar rose to ascendancy under the co-rule of the Siyohran Pride and a line of patriarchs from the Olami Cabal- a cabal of mantikore sorcerers whose powers gave them control over the material stuff and energies of the Distorted Lands. A strong Olami sorcerer has the power to step into the Distorted Lands and form an army of
tulpa warriors that he can lead back to the material realms, given access to appropriate portals. A lot of the architectural glory of Rahalar and its subject cities is also due to the ability of Olami sorcerers to create grand towers and temples as
thoughtforms that retain their reality in the material realms. So, it was mainly through the might of the Olami Patriarchs combined with Rahalar's access to the Great Astral Portal to the Distorted Lands that allowed them to conquer and hold a dozen realms for the span of six centuries.
The Rahalari Empire in this form ended seven decades ago, under the rule of the ninth patriarch, Shonsharid, when the Great Astral Portal was destroyed and access to the Distorted Lands was cut off for Shonsharid and his cabal-brothers. With the loss of their power, they fled Rahalar before they could be deposed by younger contenders.
The subject realms of the empire did not all break away immediately, yet all bar one did so eventually, and each in their own way. Some were conquered by eager rivals, seeing that their mantikore protectors had lost their bite. Others were overthrown in rebellion, while still others politely stated they were now going their own way. The remaining allied city, Pichoqir, remains allied due to having a strong sub-pride of the Siyohran.
The Siyohran Pride have agreed to the terms of the Five Banner Concordat to keep them from losing their two remaining realms to rival polities, but see this as a stopgap measure until they can align with a new powerful patriarch. The Ogre Knights are actually keen on making contact with this Olami Cabal, apparently having useful knowledge of the Distorted Lands, and very useful magicks, so are hoping to eventually make contact somehow through the Siyohran matriarchs. They fear, however, that the Olami have disbanded or have hidden themselves deep away somewhere and may not wish to be found.
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Question 127 [RAH] - The Portal of Rahalar
What was the catastrophe that destroyed the Great Astral Portal? Internecine bickering? A rival cabal? An extra powerful nomadic mantikore? Some external enemy? Hubris? And is this historical event somehow relevant today?