BeronTheGrey/HundredKingdomsMayavati

Mayavati, "Gap Between the Mountains"

GEOGRAPHY

The name "Mayavati" literally means "Gap between the mountains".

This country is a small roughly triangular country, surrounded on two sides by mountains, and on the third by a river. The river is slow moving and picks up sediment from the mountains which makes it undrinkable without filtering. Also the land is very sandy and little grows in it. So life here is very limited. As a result the few tribes who do live here are very poor (compared with other countries). As a result, they avoid contact with outsiders, and shun anyone who comes into the country.

HISTORY

Mayavati has had no great wars, and has played no huge part in other's wars. However its seclusion has allowed a few very wealthy people to set up their manses in the country. These manses, if found by the locals, are often attacked, with all inside killed and the building looted and then destroyed. As a result, any manses are usually well hidden and guarded.

GOVERNMENT

There is a king in Karea, the biggest town (Mayavati has no cities as such). However power rests in his "advisors" who represent the old ways. A few laws are passed from time to time, but most of the population is more involved in survival than caring about any laws. So what laws there are often involve keeping out foreigners, and heavily taxing any goods that actually do come in or out of the country.

CRIME

Crime doesn't really exist much - not because people are satisfied, but usually because there are no official laws to ban what they are doing. For example if one tribesperson kills another, this will be dealt with by the tribe. The usual punishments of "death", "limb severing" or "thrown out of the tribe" are handed out by the tribal elder and that's the end of the matter. Note that different tribes will act differently to the same incident.

RELIGION AND FESTIVALS

The main gods represent birth, growth and death. However "Cormma" (the god of birth and renewal) is pronounced "Cormah" in the west and "Cormak" in the north. As literacy is at around 1%, none of these names are written down, and such consistency is unnecessary.

The main festivals of the year are centred around the weather. For example "Dophest", or "First Rain" occurs at the first day in spring when enough rain falls so that plant are seen. So it is often celebrated on different days by different tribes.

Just occasionally the king will announce a festival in his honour. Often after a lot of rain, or a clearing in the river water making it drinkable and irrigating plants. The festival will usually be in his honour, thanking him for providing the favourable weather (which he takes full credit for).

RESOURCES

Mayavati is rich in some minerals. However they are deep underground, and setting up a mining operation has proved very difficult, because attempts are raided and destroyed. "We don't need no outsiders in our land". If a way of mining without the locals knowing were set up, it could prove very profitable.

STORIES

VEIN OF GOLD: There is rumoured to be a rich vein of gold under the dead "Forgo" river (a river that dried up years ago). Small nuggets of gold were found on the river bed on spring after a layer of ice had cleared.

ANDAROS: Andaros was a very wealthy merchant who suddenly vanished with much of his wealth. It was widely known that he intended to retire somewhere quiet to spend the rest of his days, and wanted maximum privacy. The story goes that he came to mayavati and built a large manse into the mountainside itself. It was reportedly laden with riches beyond anything the people of Mayavati could dream of. Then he recreated the wall of the mountain to seal himself in and was never seen or heard of again. Unfortunately those who built the fortress never told of its location (this may be because they mere made to forget). Many searches have been made but it has not yet been found.

DOR HIBOON: Dor was a great fighter. When a neighbouring country was attacking them, and was almost certainly going to conquer them, Dor sneaked into the other country and, at night, killed the captain of the attacking force. When the army did not stop, he went to the capital and broke into the castle, killing four guards, before getting to the king and killing him as well. It is told that Dor escaped but as he did so, he said that he would kill anyone who attacked Mayavati. He is a national hero and a role model for young boys.