Alikar Kingdom

The northern half of the historic Alikar Kingdom, also referred to as the River Kingdom.

History
Ancient Alikar was one of the first human kingdoms established on Aegeron, unfortunately much of its history has been lost over the ages. The unbroken rule of Ailkarian kings came to an end during the Century of Conquest when the Imperium unleashed a curse of unimaginable power to stop the Pigris river. Without its water the kingdom fell into ruin within days, and after a week the mob stormed the Royal Palace in Msalu and ended the bloodline of Alikarian kings, thus ending the curse and allowing the Imperium to absorb the realm.

In A.I. 398, a few years before the fall of the Imperium, a large-scale revolt broke out in Alikar, although historians are unsure about the exact grievances that led to both nobles and commoners take up arms. The Imperium sent General Benduzi of the Imperial Legion to crush the rebels, but hunting guerillas in the desert proved more difficult the he thought.

Benduzi was midway through his campaign when the Imperial City fell. Unlike the other generals of the Imperial Legion he did not rush to the defense of imperial heartlands, instead he saw it as an opportunity to install himself as the ruler of Alikar, founding the Benduzi Sultanate. But the rebels were far from beaten, so he had to spend most of the Succession Wars fighting them. In the end the province of Alikar was divided between the Benduzi Sultanate and the Alikar Kingdom.

Life
After a long war with the legions of Benduzi the ancient kingdom of Alikar was reestablished, its old traditions reinstated. The Alikar Kingdom functions similarly to other monarchies with one great difference: Alikar is one of the few meritocratic monarchies, where government functions are not delegated to nobles, instead they are given to well-educated servants (the nobility still has privileges though). An obvious manifestation of this mindset in Alikar is the tradition of philosopher kings. By law, kings are required to show excellence in arts and science as well as governance. If an heir fails in their studies, the crown goes to the first in the line of succession who did not fail. The current ruler is King Shalmah I, who took over from his father when his older brother Musa failed the stringent tests their father set up.

Alikar, just like its southern neighbor, is dependent on the Pigris River whose floodplains are covered by fertile soil every year, allowing the otherwise barren kingdom to produce enough food to even export it to their neighbors. It is no wonder that the Pigris River has a special place in the Alikar culture and that many show special attention to Obad-Hai, God of Nature.

Most of the land in the Alikar Kingdom belongs to the Great Waste, an endless desert. While most people live along the Pigris River, there are hundreds of small settlements built around the many oases scattered in the desert. It often takes a week to travel between these villages on camel, making them isolated and tempting targets for raids from barbarians and monsters, thus the people of these places are wary of outsiders and know how to take care of themselves. This led to a stark difference in mentality between those who live along the Pigris (the "riverfolk") and the people who come from the desert (the "nomads", even if they come from villages).