Post by TeutonicToltec on Feb 16, 2023 3:00:04 GMT
The Chapparal Confederacy: a land sandwiched between an ocean and a mountain range and arid, hilly deserts and a sparse but hardy people in between. Chapparal is synonymous with its ranch culture. Large swaths of territory are controlled by regional lords. Territorial control is vital to prosperity in the Chapparals and a strict system of codes of honor are enforced upon the rancheros regarding the rites of land. Herding culture is not the entirety of this confederation, however. The south contains the most arable land due to the far lusher and cooler climate as well as the region’s major river basin. This breadbasket is the source of Chapparal’s other staple: maize. As such this anomaly is far more centralized, and the location of Chapparal’s capital and king. There remains a balance of power between the more centralized royal seat in the south and the rugged local powers of the north. However, power has been known to swing between the king and a de facto ranchero-junta, depending on the politics of the day and the competency of the leader.
The people of the Chapparals believe in a supreme entity. This entity’s goals and purposes are unknown, but most chaparrals believe it is a benevolent being. Among the many strange customs, the Chapparals follow when worshipping this entity, an abhorrence of placing fellow humans or imagery in its place. There have been many interpretations of this worship, some insisting there are many aspects of this entity, others that it’s singular "El Todopoderoso". The Chapparals certainly don’t expect foreigners to heed their faith and many see other religions as simply another path the entity has placed a different people on.
For many years balance of power between the royal south and the aristocratic north was maintained, keeping this massive confederacy together, and in centuries past their influence of power extended much farther beyond their borders. Given their size and population, they could be a force to be reckoned with, however the confederacy has stagnated, leaving it one of the lesser developed countries in the world. While neighboring powers have undergone the growing pains of industrialization and implemented sweeping reforms, Chapparals internal, decentralized nature has remained almost entirely agrarian, with only a handful of industrialized coastal cities in the north, only barely utilizing the rich deposits of minerals along its northern border. Today the confederacy is run by his majesty his court and a semi legislative body “La Cortes Reales” filled with noblemen (acting as a de facto power in the north). Various factions can be found within the Cortes, some staunch monarchists, others liberal reformers. Smaller labor rights factions have also formed from the industrial cities.
The people of the Chapparals believe in a supreme entity. This entity’s goals and purposes are unknown, but most chaparrals believe it is a benevolent being. Among the many strange customs, the Chapparals follow when worshipping this entity, an abhorrence of placing fellow humans or imagery in its place. There have been many interpretations of this worship, some insisting there are many aspects of this entity, others that it’s singular "El Todopoderoso". The Chapparals certainly don’t expect foreigners to heed their faith and many see other religions as simply another path the entity has placed a different people on.
For many years balance of power between the royal south and the aristocratic north was maintained, keeping this massive confederacy together, and in centuries past their influence of power extended much farther beyond their borders. Given their size and population, they could be a force to be reckoned with, however the confederacy has stagnated, leaving it one of the lesser developed countries in the world. While neighboring powers have undergone the growing pains of industrialization and implemented sweeping reforms, Chapparals internal, decentralized nature has remained almost entirely agrarian, with only a handful of industrialized coastal cities in the north, only barely utilizing the rich deposits of minerals along its northern border. Today the confederacy is run by his majesty his court and a semi legislative body “La Cortes Reales” filled with noblemen (acting as a de facto power in the north). Various factions can be found within the Cortes, some staunch monarchists, others liberal reformers. Smaller labor rights factions have also formed from the industrial cities.