Ayodeshi States

 

As early as 3000 BCB conquests bewteen city states in western Ayodesh had led to the formation of Odomsh Empire, but as with other proto-Empires of the Second Epoch, the Odomsh Empire would not survive the Ash Winter. The short lived Hormoz nation which formed around the Azure Sea around the year 0 would quickly fragment into a collection of city states.

Ayodesh was largely untouched by the orcish conquests, and a centralized empire was not established there as a response to those wars. However, Ayodesh was invaded from across the Sea of Tears by the Kingdom of Tuloz during the Imperial Era, and continuous conflict led to the emergence of a loose confederation in the center of the continent that would remain in place hundreds of years later. While Ayodesh is organized into four political regions, all of these with the exception of the Principality of Marqash to the far west are essentially regions of autonomous city states.

Confederated States of Ayodesh

The city states of central Ayodesh are joined in a loose confederation that arose from a need to unify in order to repel invaders from Tulosz. While technically there is a loose centralized government here, operated from Mushadeh, it is largely concerned with management of treaties, and economic and trade relations between its member city states. The Confederation has no jurisdiction over individuals, and does make laws or govern directly. It is supported by contributions from member states.

Kash-Odeshi City States

The Kash-Odeshi City States are a group of autonomous states on the Isthmus of Desh and the coast of the Odeshi Wastes, east of the Zararil River. The states here have no formal centralized structure, but are strongly allied due to their common geography.

Odeshi Free Cities

The Odeshi Free Cities are essentially eleven autonomous city states, each surrounded by the ungoverned desert wilderness of the Odeshi Wastes. These cities have no shared, centralized governance. The border city states of Papyrus, Esfedi, Argenta and Goldport have stronger and more formalized ties to their neighbouring regions than to most of the other Odeshi Free Cities. The port cities of Sandhaven, Obelisk, Qaldehish and Azane's Anvil are similarly more closely allied with the cities they are connected to along sea routes. The internal city states of Brimstone, Lastwell and Oasis are in more or less constant conflict with raiding nomadic tribes in the wastes.

Principality of Marqash

The Principality of Marqash is a vassal state to the Domain of Tulosz, part of the remnants of the Kingdom of Tulosz which disintegrated at the end of the Imperial Era. The Plains of Marqash were first invaded from across the Sea of Tears by the Kingdom of Tulosz in 705. After 750 years of fighting, during which the Tuloszian forces made it all the way to Shahaifor before being beaten back, the Kingdom of Tulosz became insolvent and was broken up. The remnants of the Kingdom, eventually stablized to form the Domain of Tulosz, and holdings in western Ayodesh were reformed as the Principality of Marqash - an nation state governed by a council of representatives from Great Houses across the region, with a hereditary regent serving as a ceremonial figurehead without legislative or executive authority. Technically, the two states form a federation, but practically, given the distance between them, they autonomous allies.