In order to contrast each of the kingdoms of the Eastern Savannah, we find it nessessary to cover more than one. Thus we turn our humble attentions to the City-State of Xibaltci; the most southern and western of all the kingdoms of  the Pepper Plains.

Xibaltci has the priviledge of being the single oldest city-state on the Savannah, though one might not guess that from looking at it. Xibaltci has stood the test of time, weathering the Warlord's March, the Tenebrian invasion, and countless smaller, local wars.  As such, the culture of this city-state is unique and complex compared to her neighbors, evolved over millenia rather than mere centuries or decades.  Perhaps their close proximity to the forest and the Siti elves have much to do with this.  Certainly, of all the nations of the Plains, Xibaltci has the widest array of riches. They have access to wood, to more fertile land for crops, even limited mining. What they do not have, however, is easy access to trade routes outside the Savannahs, their only trade partners being the Siti Elves, who need little from the nations of Men.

Xibaltci herself is not much to look at. Wooden walls, rough hewn timber, mixed with the same mud and stick construction used throughout the plains. The Grand Palace of Xibaltci's queen is made of mud brick, the only such building in the entire city.

The Xibaltcian's worship Lord Falcon, and view their king... or queen in this case, as the physical incarnation of His Will.  This is rather more complex than it sounds: The monarch is not literally Lord Falcon, not divine in any meaningful way... but is rather the appointed leader of his people in a fashion akin to marriage.  Importantly, the hereditary Nobility does not apply to the monarch, but stands apart from them.  The Nobility are granted their status by Divine Right, and stand as a sort of hereditary priesthood, though few Nobles actually run the various temples to the lesser Gods. The current Queen was originally a battle captive, meant as a sacrifical bride for the old King, she who was to embody the female aspect of Lord Falcon to consumate the marriage in an annual ritual before being sacrificed. When the old King died during the ceremony, she was appointed King, her 'husband' being that year's sacrifice by Divine Decree.  This angered the nobility, as the old King, like so many, had come from their ranks and was viewed as sympathetic to their views, while the new Queen, was nothing less than a usurper. The political battle has been waged for twenty some years without end, though in recent years it has turned very ugly.  The Queen has further angered the nobility by refusing to take sacrifical husbands, knowing full well that should she do so it would be her life that would become forfiet.  

The Queen has the full support of the Army and is quite popular with the citizens of the city. However, in the various scattered villages where the nobility reign, she is reviled. Those who do not hold Lord Falcon as the primary god, for example many of the preists, also revile the Queen, who is to their mind nothing more than an administrator who has overstepped her authority.

Xibaltci, as you might expect, therefore has one of the most evolved political structures, and the most political strife.  The nobility, with the priests supporting them, wish to tear down the Queen. They are divided between those who wish simply to replace her with a more sympathetic and malleable monarch and those who wish to destroy entirely the current Kingship. On the other side you have the entirety of a beaurocratic system that keeps the kingdom functioning smoothly, a tiny and largely powerless preisthood, though with a powerful patron in Lord Falcon, and the Army supporting the Queen, all for different reasons. The beaurocrats desire to preserve the status quo and their own power, the priests have the divine mandate to support Lord Falcon's chosen bride and the army?

The Army is personally loyal to the queen on many levels. The Army has traditionally enjoyed the patronage of Lord Falcon, and feathers and wings from the totemic animal are used as symbols of rank. Futhermore the queen has supported them financially and politically, has earned their loyalty as a leader through wisdom and charisma, and has the personal, if chaste, love of her General... a feeling he shares with others under his command.   While the noblity also has military power, none can match the army alone, and they are too fractious and... personally motivated, to work together against the army. Many are to wise to put the kingdom itself at risk, though the threat of internal strife keeps Xibaltci from flexing her muscles much. This only increases the divide between the city and the countryside, as many loyal villages feel abandoned by the Queen, as well as some of the otherwise sympathetic nobles living far from the capitol, who must often stand alone against potentially superior enemies looking for a piece of a rival's land.  Xibaltci is the only Savannah kingdom with fixed borders and an organized system of collecting taxes, and nobles who collect from other villages are more oppertunistic bandits than agressive expansionists.

Xibaltcians denote caste by means of color above all else. Green, for example, is reserved for the nobility, white for priests of all the Gods, and Blue, the rarest of dyes in the Savannah, is reserved for the Queen and her personal servants.  Red was once the color of farmers and slaves, but the increased presence of the Maxcai nomads in Xibaltcian lands has seen this custom ended. It is said that the queen was once a Maxcai princess, and that the Falcon was her spirit Guardian, though there is no proof of this. It is a popular legend, however, even among the Maxcai, who certainly appreicate the freedom she has granted them in her lands. Maxcai duellists and hunters willingly hire on as mercenaries to deal with unruly nobles when the Army can not, and many Maxcai youths have joined the Falcon Mother's army, particularly if they wish a blessing from that spirit.  There is friction between the Xibaltcian populace and the Maxcai, naturally, though few civilians would pick a fight with the fearsome tribesmen.  The influx of Maxcai has also seen a minor exodus of sorcerers, as the tribal shamen are opposed to sorcerous activities, and are not adverse to sending hunters to slay wayward sorcerers.  This exodus is by no means absolute, as the Xibaltcian lands are filled with ancient ruins and relics and places of power to a degree unmatched by the rest of the Savannahs.

Military: There are two military powers in Xibaltci, the state army and the noble levy.  Currently the State Army has the power and organization, though at various points in history the Noble Levy has been ascendant.

The State Army is commanded by the General, currently General Wkho, who is annointed by the priests of Lord Falcon and is referred to as 'the Spear of God'.  As he has no other duties, and no other loves before Duty, the Spear of God is traditionally castrated, any wives or children must be married/adopted by another or sacrificed.  The General must come from the ranks of the Army and is chosen by augery and omen... and must have the support of the 'Five Talons'. Originally these were the five regimental commanders, but currently there are more than twenty regiments, and thus twenty Talons.  The Talons, depite their offical role as commanders never directly lead their troops, but instead function as advisors and liaison's with the regiments.  Like the General, the Talon's must come from the ranks and are chosen by the priests of Lord Falcon, with again, support from the standing Talons.

The army is then divided into regiments, each regiment is an organic 'mini-army', complete with it's own cadre of infantry; typically armed with spears and wooden shields, Archer; unique among the savannahs for their crude but powerful crossbows, and other elements such as warwagons and 'seige' equipment. War wagons are larger takes on chariots, designed to wreak havok among the enemy by virtue of near immunity and 'firepower' than speed and shock. War Wagons are towed into battle by oxen, then 'launched' at the enemy by simply rolling down hill at them, with a heavy, tough, rope attached to 'haul' it back as the enemy adapts to its presence. Some war wagons are large enough to launch sorties of infantry from them, others are merely semi-mobile bunkers for archers and a few 'pike'men to hunker down in and harass the enemy.  Even the famed Wei forces have broken to clever employment of warwagons.

If any nation in the Savannahs can lay claim to 'Knights' it is the Xibaltci Noble Levy that fills the bill.  As divinely imbued protectors and leaders of the people of Xibaltci, the noblity has a long martial tradition, and the taxes they collect are used to directly fuel their military duties before being passed up to run the kingdom.  In recent centuries the portion of the taxes payed by the nobility to the crown have dropped to nothing, leaving the kingdom fueled by taxes directly collected in the city and from tariffs on trade.

The Noble Levy has always been a sort of 'Heavy Infantry' sort of unit. Each noble and his retinue, when called up to service, is a single 'unit' of the military.  Typically they wear breastplates and legplates of carven wood with stretched and boiled leather outers, use weapons handed down through generations often enchanted or blessed, their troops equipped from private arsenals.  The most powerful noble will lead the 'army', more by force of personality and tradition than actual ability or true authority, and individual units often set their own tactical agendas based off of pillage, glory or misguided sense of duty. Were it not for the high degree of skill in battle and the general eliteness of the troops in general, in terms of equipment and morale, the Noble Levy would be a useless force on the battlefield alone.  However, as many nobles can call upon a lifetime of training and powerful blessings from their patron god, not to mention prebattle blessings from their personal preists, these units are rightly feared as the finest to be found within a thousand miles.  For all their petty bickering and fueding, on the battlefield many nobles can trust their fellows to work with them towards military victory.  Saving the life of another is a powerful political coup that may be called in generations later.  Note, however, that many noble families have fallen into disarray or decadance and no longer field elite troops when called, particularly near the capitol, where there is little direct violence. Such nobles, if pressed, would more likely hire mercenaries of one stripe or another.  Archers from the Siti are particularly valued for their skill and rarity.

Note: there are no 'ranks' within the nobility as there are in the Nornsan regions and even the tenebrian empire.  Wealth, lands and location are primary means of judging relative power, though the closer to the city of Xibaltci the more likely political standing is to play a factor, the farther away the more likely military prowess is to count.

As of this writing the queen is a virtual shut in. Terrible demonic assassins have been sent into the palace and sorcerous and worse assualts have been made.  The Queen herself is relatively safe, but someone close to her is threatened in ways poorly understood outside of her immedeate circle.

The Spear of God is easily recognizable by the armor made entirely of Falcon wings he wears. The wings themselves are preserved in such a way as to make them stiff as steel, and are mounted upon boiled oxhide shaped to his body. His helmet is of bronze with wings outspread from it. Only his feet are uncovered, his hands have mounted talons of unusual size as gloves.  The 'talons' wear cloaks of feathers and have sculpted falcon beaked helmets.  The Spear of God and the Talons use swords forged of the black iron found in the region but rarely, the rest of the army uses spears primarily, even the lowest ranking soldier will have a single falcon feather as part of his uniform.

The Nobility favor a traditional weapon known as the 'Caobon', a shaped paddle of wood with teeth of chipped stone or forged metal as an 'edge'.  Many Caobon have sharpened hilts that can be used to spike enemies in combat. Some only have 'teeth' on one edge, the back edge used to crush bones. Being slapped with the flat can be a terrible insult or a sign of respect depending on many factors. Counting Coup in this fashion is a great honor to the warrior who does it. It can mean that the opponent is not considered a threat, unworthy of death or it can mean that the opponent is a great threat or greatly respected, and thus worth more as a rival... and more as glory for having been 'slapped'.  Often a 'Slapped' rival will seek out the other for the express purpose of slapping back, rather than killing.  Notable is the long standing rivalry between the Jdok and Bvilen!g clans, who for seven hundred years have refused to kill each other in battle, despite many bloodly clashes over a contested valley known for it's clean water and a small, but valuable, mine. Each time they meet the scions of the respective families insist on counting coup rather than killing their opposite numbers.  It has been suggested that the first family to break with tradition will lose to the other at that moment.  Due to frequent duels in Xibaltci, both families are under injunction never to visit the capitol while the other is in residence... something that has only increased the friction as they go through incredible efforts to deny the other access for as long as possible.  Currently the Jdok are 'up' in Coup counting, with five slaps not repayed, having won hands down the last battle that saw 85 soldiers killed and the Jdok netting 17 slaps over their rivals. The Bvilen!g however, have managed to camp in Xibaltci for over 20 years, denying the Jdok access, forcing them to work through allies for political gain.  It is rumored that the Jdok have hired assassins to kill the Bvilen!g priest in the city, and the Bvilen!g have mobilized to send more of their clan in, but the Jdok have blockaded the road leading to the city... were the Queen less distracted she would surely have intervened to prevent an outright seige of the kingdom's roads.