While some mention has been made in the past of the Pepper Plains, the Eastern Savannah's, and its three 'kingdoms', this strange and wonderous land has not recieved the attention it deserves. Rather than compound this difficulty by attempting to discuss the entire region in one go, this study shall focus instead on the recent history and current politics of the nation of Wei.
Fifety years ago, Wei was not a nation, was not even a city. What we call Wei today was merely a small fishing village on the shores of Jummaku!gai Lake. They paid tribute to the distant cities of Humntrp and Lobilei, depending on whose troops were closest at any given time. Lobilei was a smaller, minor city, but closer.
The son of the local chief was bold and brash, a hero to the youths of the village, beloved of the women for his handsome looks. Many deeds were attributed to him, wrestling a water god to its death, slaying a two headed beast that had developed a taste for human flesh. He agitated for aggressive defense of the village from these soldiers who came for what pitiful wealth they could squeeze from the people of Wei; and was exiled for a time after striking his father. He took with him several of the youths into exile.
He returned five years later with a blade of black iron and an infant son, his followers faces blackened and burnt, the light of religious ecstasy burning in their eyes. He quarreled again with his father, slew him, declaring that his true father was the Sun, and mobilized the village, and the other nearby villages, into a ragged army. He marched them without food or rest for four days to Lobilei and destroyed it, slaughtering all the men of Lobilei and forcing the women and children to haul their city away, stone by stone to the banks of Jummaku!gai Lake. Those who died were thrown into the lake to become the foundation of the new city of Wei, built on the lake itself, rather than upon the shore. It took only two years, and the deaths of thousands, to build the city.
Once it was built the soldiers of Humntrp came. It is said that many turned upon their brothers, slaying them and joining the Wei. It is also said that the King's son, the infant he had brought with him out of exile was murdered in the night by an assassin, but when the Sun rose over his small corpse he rose again without a wound on him.
When the boy was ten, the king walked down the steps from his throne, into the lake, never to rise again, leaving the youth holding the sword. The young king took no name, but simply the title Wei Shakti, and has ruled ever since. Wei Shakti means Sun over Wei, more or less. The Wei Shakti, as befitting a living god in local custom has never allowed clothing to cover his holy flesh, and lives his life according to ritual and custom.
In the thirty years of his rule, the city of Wei has grown into a real power in the Eastern Savannahs. Often sited as a cause is the defensiveness of the city, their command over the lake and other 'incidentals'. However, a serious study shows that the Wei Shakti himself is very much cause for most of the growth of his nation. The religious fervor he can inspire among his people is unmatched in modern leaders, at least in the North, and is rightly feared by his neighbors. The military, under the personal command of the Wei Shakti, is as disciplined and professional as any. While their equipment, specifically the lack of dedicated cavalry or heavy armored troops puts them at a weakness compared to the Nornsan or Tenebrian martial traditions. However, due to a lack of good fodder, the presence of dangerous predatory beasts and the high temperatures of the Savannahs, none of the local powers possess the ability to properly field heavy cavalry or armor. As the Tenebrian's learned centuries ago, the native military traditions are perfectly adapted to their environment. Savannah bred mercenaries are used as top of the line skirmishers and light infantry from time to time. The armies of Wei are the closest to what can be considered heavy infantry, with their massive greatswords known locally as Egaku (unique for their wide black blades and ring shaped handles in place of hilts) and their tendancy towards wearing the bones of their enemies (human and beast) as armor. The Wei Shakti runs his soldiers daily on patrols, and to stumble or fail on a run is to volunteer as a human sacrifice before the next battle, burned to please the Sun... who may or may not also be the Wei Shakti, local traditions are muddled. There is a very high number of Orcish hybrids in the Wei armies, which is not surprising all things considered.
Ethnically, the people of the Lake were a distinct group compared to most humans and orcish tribes and villages dotting the Pepper Plains. Historgraphers suggest that the lake peoples may be the decendents of the original inhabitants who were forced to flee from whatever disaster destroyed the ability of the Savannahs to grow edible foods... aside from the eponymous Peppers the region is famed for. If so, their time finally ended with the construction of Wei with the massive influx of Lobilei bloodlines. While there are a few 'pure' Wei in the city still, notably the Wei Shakti himself, the majority of the population was decended from outsiders. Lobilei was ruled by what outsiders would call Orcs... note that such a racial distinction is actually not made on the plains. Thus there is a large percentage of hybrids. Oddly, however, elvish hybrids are forbidden from setting foot on the 'sacred waters' of the city, though 'pure' elves are welcome. There are no native dwarven populations, and most trade is conducted by humans or orcish hybrids.
Ironically, the Lake also makes Wei the poorest of the three kingdoms, as they must grow the peppers that are the only real source of wealth in the region elsewhere, the Lake being poor ground for crop cultivation. However, the prevelance of fish and edible aquatic grasses makes the population much better fed. Wei tend to be taller and more muscular, even accounting for the orcish blood, than their neighbors. It is not recommended that visitors swim away from the city, however, as most of the fish are large and vicious.
The City of Wei is built on a massive stone disc some ways out on the waters of the lake, connected to the land by a wide gated causeway. The banks and area around the shore gate are occupied by a semipermanent shanty town of sorts, the huts constructed of bundled grasses and mud. There is not much to recommend to visitors in the Shanty-Town, though it is no worse than most large villages in the region, except for the more permanent 'Elf-Quarter' where elvish hybrids live in exile from the city. This 'quarter' is also occupied, though voluntarily, by the Sorcerers, who often have a taboo against approaching the Wei Shakti too closely, lest they lose their powers.
The Causeway becomes a wide road that crosses the entire city, ending in the temple/throne of the Wei Shakti. One can walk straight from shore up the steps of the temple to the throne, which is uncovered from the Sun, a simple block of stone, unprepossessing. There is no obvious entrance to the temple, and during the day the elite guardians of the Wei Shakti stand on the steps leading up to him, one on each side, blade held at arms.
At dawn the Wei Shakti rises from inside his temple, is painted with gold oils by his priests and from dawn to dusk will never leave the eye of the Sun, wether seated upon his throne with blade across his knees, or out with his Army training or fighting. At dusk he dives from the back of the temple into the lake and disappears. Supplicants, including women wishing to be blessed as a bride of the sun, approach freely during the day, though wasting the Sun's time is... dangerous. More than one supplicant has returned down the steps short a vital portion of their anatomy. 'Brides' are taken into the temple by hidden entrance and prepared for their night comforting the Sun on his nightly rest and are presented in the morning, a jeweled medallion is driven into their forheads to signify their status. Such a tradition is not unique to Wei, but only the Wei Shakti marries every woman he 'plows'. According to the Brides, the Wei Shakti rises from a pool within the temple and breaks his fast with his Brides (apparently not only will he take more than one a night, if available, but there are some who never leave the temple in the morning, but live out their lives within...). The Wei Shakti, however, puts no stock in the many children he must have fathered, and the people grow nervous about the possible succession of their God-King. The Wei Shakti has proficized his own death in battle, but sad nothing as to who could replace him.
There are other temples surrounding the great plaza before the God-King's temple. Notable to travelers is the Temple of Pfn!'loc, called simply the 'Traveling God' by foriegners, where those who have no home in Wei may stay for a time, though the temple does not provide any amenities other than a place to sleep, and for a fee may provide guides and translators. Each of the dozen temples serves a different God, the Water God's temple (Huihuchok) is right next to the God-King's throne, a display of their relative power in the City. Adding to their prestige is the recent 'addition' to the temple in the form of a 'River God', a thirty foot long crocadile stolen from the river in Hesh by an ambitious Nornsan who worshipped Gamaliel, the Keeper of knowledge. Prior to this feat, all 'libraries' were kept by the temples, each temple having their own storehouse of knowledge. The small, unprepossesing temple in the middle of the square is a new addition, a temple-library of Gamaliel, where all knowledge is kept and shared for the benefit of all. The position of the temple-library was chosen by the Wei Shakti to remind all that He is the source of this new blessing for the city, that HE can command the other temples and gods to do his bidding.
The rest of the city is alternately built of the same grey stones as the 'sacred waters' the city is built upon, or the same reed bundles of the shanty towns. Those who wish to bath do so in the Lake, walking down stone steps in the rim to reasonably protected pools in the greater lake itself. The city is one of the most comfortable in the Savannahs, the opressive heat lessened by the balmy waters, though the stinging insects make the bark of the camphor tree particularly popular as an incense and perfume oil. The humidity, however, makes the Wei fashion even more minimal than found on the rest of the Savannahs. Clothing for many is a mere decoration or a means of establishing rank or caste. Soldiers, for example, wear kilts of boiled leather flaps, died in colors to represent their ranks, undyed leather meaning mercenary or unemployed. As an insult to Xibaltci to the south and west, the lowest rank of soldier wears green leather.
Sorcerers: The magi of the Savannahs all follow like traditions, though there are minor variations for regions. All sorcerers practice mortification of the flesh for power, necromantic rituals and the enslavement of minor demons and spirits into fetishes of power. They are powerful and greatly feared by most, but are beyond mortal ambitions by the time they have acheived enough personal power to threaten kings and priests they can no longer care. They congregate among their own kind to trade rituals, to aide one another in the destruction of the flesh for the growth of the spirit and to... according to their own lores, enact great rituals to ward off terrible evils. Strange among seekers of lore and knowledge, but removal of the tongue and destruction of the eyes or ears are all very common mortification rituals, though by no means necessary ones. The most common ritual, nigh unto universal in Wei, is the consumption of one's on flesh in a cannabalistic feast. Only slightly less universal is the hanging, where the sorcerer is suspended above the ground out of doors by hooks and bone slivers for days, until the flesh where they are peirced begins to rot. No food or drink may be consumed during the ritual, and those unable to sustain their lives by magic often die during the process.
Military: The armies of Wei fall under the direct command of the Wei Shakti. This is not a formality but a military fact. There is no general, no command staff, only the Wei Shakti. This reliance upon one man to command all battles might be viewed as a strategic weakness, but this fails to account for the fanatic resolve his presence on the battlefield provides his men, and for the military genius the God-King seems to possess.
The Army has a very simple organizational priciple, uncommon even in the region. Units are composed of a few dozen men, each being fairly unique in size, led by a single appointed officer. That officer is personally responsible for his unit, but has a great deal of autonomy in the field. While the word of the Wei Shakti is law, all else is up to that officer. Officers are highly visible on the battlefield, with gilt on their leather kilts, large headdresses and large personal standards that they use as signalling devices, and occasionally as weapons. Each officer has a handful of men, controlling smaller elements of the unit, noted for their red dyed kilts and smaller unique standards. Veterans, scattered among the rank and personally responsible for one or two junior soldiers wear blue, and the junior soldiers and raw recruits wear green. Each unit is responsible for both melee and ranged combat, most units use short, broad bladed spears unique to the region along with oxhide sheilds, Wei uses slings with clay bullets for ranged combat, rather than javelins as the other nations do. Every unit is expected to train with slings as well as their weapons, and elite units carry the metal intensive Egaku and do not use sheilds. Despite this shallow command chain, Wei's army tends to function very well on the battlefield. Loss of a commander does not cause a unit to cease to function, the Wei Shakti's orders are still law to the troops. It has been known for the various Red Skirts to divide a unit up amongst themselves over differences in how to follow the last command after the loss of an Officer, however. The Wei do not believe in personal glory so much as glory to the Sun, which gives them a distinctly regimented method of fighting among the savage nations, their army is rightly feared despite it's relatively small size. It has been said that the Wei Shakti might order the meanest and least disciplined unit to conqure Xibaltci, and rest contented knowing that they would fight to the last drop of blood to tear the city down.
One aspect that deserves mention, however. Whenever possible, before a major battle where the Wei Shakti is present, one soldier will walk from the ranks before the enemy and immolate himself, sacrificing himself to the Sun over Wei that the army should not balk. This act often demoralizes the enemy, depite repitition. Occasionally the sacrifice will, burning alive, run screaming towards the enemy seeking to take them down with him, entire armies have been said to flee without taking a loss on such occasions, those that did not have been destroyed to a man... or so it is said.