Inchar
From MeiLinWiki
Inchar, pron. IN-CHARR
Inchar is a continent to the south of Ammasia, the continent almost entirely ruled by Tremont. Much of Inchar is subject to Tremont as well. Inchar is made up mostly of principalities which are technically sovereign but which recognize the king of Tremont as their emperor. Though Tremontines see them as a monolithic people, there are actually many ethnic groups and languages within Inchar, the largest of which is Herdilan; their language is Herdani, which is the predominant lingua franca of trade throughout the continent. Some Inchari territories to the south and west still resist Tremontine rule, and there are independence movements throughout the continent that have harassed the Tremontines to varying degrees for more than a hundred years.
Many young Tremontine men go to Inchar to make their fortunes, either as businessmen or as soldiers. Inchar exports a wide range of goods to Tremont, ranging from textiles to diamonds. One of the main trading companies is the Seventeen Gentlemen of Inchar.
Tremontines consider the Inchari to be barbarians. When they're not using them as bogeymen, Tremontines sentimentalize Incharis as a charming, exotic, rather childlike people in need of a strong northern hand to keep them from descending into internecine squabbling.
In reality, the Southern Territories of Inchar are for all intents and purposes a colony, and Tremont exploits them as such. Inchari trade goods, especially textiles, are taking jobs from Tremontine cities, leading to increasing unrest. Incharis are also brought into slavery, sometimes legitimately through temporary indenture, but once in Tremont their contracts are often extended indefinitely. Increasingly, children born to indentured Inchari women are considered slaves for life. The Fathers have not ruled definitively on this issue, but the nobility leans strongly in this direction, and hold that all Inchari indentures are for life.
Tremontine men also eroticize Inchari women, who are considered more sexual than Tremontine women (though in reality restrictions on female sexuality in Inchar may be even more stringent). Herdani women shave their bodies from the neck down while Tremontine women do not, for instance. This is considered extremely naughty in Tremont, and no respectable Tremontine woman would do so. There is a brisk trade in Inchari or faux-Inchari prostitutes or entire houses of prostitution throughout Tremont (though far from the majority of the market) where the women are shaved.
The Inchari follow the Tremontine/Sairish Gods, who are found around the world in one form or another. The Herdani's own variation is to splinter the Gods into so many aspects that it's almost a separate religion.
original entry, no longer necessarily canon:
Inchar is a continent to the south of the Tremontine continent. Almost the entire continent is subject to Tremont. Inchar is made up mostly of petty principalities which are technically sovereign but which recognize the king of Tremont as their emperor. There are a very few Inchari territories which are resisting Tremontine rule; there has been war or occupation on the Inchari frontier for more than a hundred years. Many young Tremontine men go to Inchar to make their fortunes, either as businessmen or as soldiers. Inchar exports a wide range of goods to Tremont, ranging from textiles to diamonds.
Tremontines consider the Inchari to be barbarians. When they're not using them as bogeymen, Tremontines sentimentalize Incharis as a charming, exotic, rather childlike people in need of a strong northern hand to keep them from descending into internecine squabbling. In reality, the Southern Territories of Inchar are for all intents and purposes a colony, and Tremont exploits them as such. Inchari trade goods, especially textiles, are taking jobs from Tremontine cities, leading to increasing unrest. In the rural areas, notably in Valmouth, there has been experimentation with bringing in slave labor from Inchar, to the great displeasure and displacement of the local tenant farmers.
The Inchari follow their own pantheon of gods, which number in the thousands. They have incorporated the Tremontine/Sairish gods into this pantheon.
