Diria Glo

The Theocracy of Diria Glo ዲሪአገሎ
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Motto:  "ኔቅድቢ•ቅተኮጀ•አ'ፘረደ" "The Gods and Rarad Guide Us."
Capital and largest city	Nyteruri Rarad
Official languages	Diragloan
Ethnic groups	Bisuku, Kimywaraa
Demonym(s)	Dirian(s), Bisuku, Kimywaraa
Government	Theocratic Autocracy
• Ruler	The Rarad
• Elected Officials	Diryk Idolol (Bisuku) Zalumit Anosyse (Kimywaraa)
Establishment
• Disasters on the Coast	~10 kya
• Mass Exodus	~10 kya
• Discovery of Nasar Eruri and The First Rarad	1 Y1R (8861 BC)
• Foundation of Diria Glo	5 Y1R (8856 BC)
Area
• Total	174,185 km2 (67,253 sq mi)
• Water (%)	0.8
Population
• Estimate	2 million
• Density	11.5/km2 (29.8/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	9 Y272R estimate
• Total	$36 million
• Per capita	$18
HDI (9 Y272R)	0 low
Currency	Seyr

Diria Glo (/'dɪəriːɑː gloʊ/, Diragloan: ዲሪአገሎ [ɖiɽiʌ ɠɫœ̃]) is a small country located in Katzen to the north of southwestern Decladonia. Most of the country is comprised of the Basuk Desert, although the southwestern portions of the country take up part of the Kemywerea Savanna. The Basuk Desert expands from the country's northeastern borders, and the Kemywerea Savanna expands from it to the southwest. While the government is centralized and no official provinces exist within the country, there is a distinct cultural difference between the desert and savanna populations; however, while the two groups are quite different from one another, they both share a common tribal ancestor that binds them together into a nation.

History

Both cultural groups stemmed from the original tribe of Buxywari people that fled from the natural disasters that ravaged the southwestern coastline for many years. They ultimately chose the location of Diria Glo not only due to its proximity to the mountains, but due to a vision the tribe leader had at the first oasis in the desert.

Geography

Diria Glo's capital city, Nyteruri Rarad is situated around an oasis, which has become the geographic center of the country's lands. Nyteruri Rarad is the home to the clergy, and, while they can visit the city (and are encouraged to do so), commoners are forbidden from living in or immediately around the capital. Instead, the Bisuku live in small, nomadic tribes that farm cattle and farm what they can in certain seasons and the Kimywaraa live in agricultural villages and towns established around religious locations or shrines.

Politics and Government

Diria Glo is a theocracy ruled by a religious leader known as the Rarad who takes advice from two elected officials representing the Bisuku and Kimywaraa populations. The Rarad is the highest title bestowed upon a person who often (but not always) is a high-ranking part of the clergy; this person is either believed to be the incarnation of one of the religion's many deities, an oracle, or, in the absence of a person meeting the previous two criteria, is a person who has shown limitless compassion and endless loyalty to the church. When the previous Rarad passes, the elected officials who served under them and an elected high priest or priestess will rule in the Rarad's absence while the clergy scours their ranks and the land for the next Rarad. Typically, when the Rarad is expected to be in mortal peril or is advanced in age, the clergy will be scouting for the new incarnation of the title; however, this is not always possible, and the Rarad can sometimes be impossible to locate. If the Rarad is not found within two years of the passing of the previous Rarad, the elected high priest/ess will become the next Rarad either until the true Rarad is found or upon the event of their death.

Foreign Relations

The nation is not a large one, and largely keeps to itself. While the Rarad and their officials are aware of politics of nations near them, they are much more focused on the well-being of their own nation and do their best to keep their hands out of foreign affairs.

Dirians as a whole also rarely emigrate; those that do find that other countries lack a population of Dirian people and often have no resources for people who speak Dirigloan, so they tend to either return to their homeland or quickly adapt to the new culture around them.

Economy

Diria Glo overwhelmingly operates on a traditional economy where good and services are exchanged for each other rather than any sort of formal currency. Despite this, the country still has coinage in seyrs, although they are not nationally minted.

Seyrs

Instead, a seyr is a coin made from some sort of smelted metal-- typically iron --with a family crest pressed into one side and the tribal crest on its other. Tribes also make seyrs for their entire people, and these seyrs are typically bronze or gold with their tribal crest on both sides. When that family or tribe is in desperate need of a service, but otherwise unable to exchange a good/service of their own, they instead offer a singular seyr in order to obtain what they need. A seyr is essentially an IOU, and will be gifted back to its home tribe or family upon fulfillment of the IOU. Seyrs are usually only used in absolute emergencies, because some dishonest people and tribes are known to accumulate seyrs in order to make families and tribes eternally in debt to them, as the IOU that a seyr stands for has very few limitations. This makes their exchange fairly dangerous, especially between rivals, although exchanges between trusted people still tend to be very tense, formal affairs.

Most families are only able to have one or two seyrs to their name, as seyrs are minted from whatever stray ore people find. Tribes usually have more than families, simply through generations of accumulation.

In the agricultural regions of the country, exchange of seyrs has become slightly more commonplace, although the heavy implications of a seyr exchange still are prominent in the culture's conscience.

Demographics

Religion

The central religion of Diria Glo focuses around a pantheon of twenty-seven deities, all of which hold equal status within the pantheon. The typical Dirian actively worships two or three deities and celebrates the others. Members of the clergy select patron deities and study under the priesthood of that specific deity. Due to the number of gods in the pantheon, there are many holidays throughout the year ranging from celebrations of life and harvest to contemplating death and one's impact upon the world.

The vast majority of Dirians are religious, as non-religious people are often exiled from their communities due to being blamed for local tragedies. Most exiles succumb to the elements, although some manage to flee to neighboring countries.

Despite ideological differences, religion unifies the country not only through celebration, but by bringing both the Bisuku and Kimywaraa together within the clergy and reminding them of their shared roots.

Culture

The country is also not tourist-friendly; there is very little infrastructure and living is quite primitive in most parts of the country, making it unattractive to the average tourist. Those who do dare to visit Diria Glo find the locals to be very friendly and as accommodating as possible, but the population lacks education on foreign cultures and languages, so communication is difficult and culture shock is not uncommon to those who visit; it isn't uncommon for visitors to get sucked into local activities that benefit the community as opposed to spending time doing leisurely activities.