Wahat Almarjan

Wahat Almarjan (Arcadian: Axatu Marǧejá [ɐxaˑtu mɐrd͡ʒɛˈja]) is the capital city of the Sublime Arcadian Altanate, located on the northern shores of Koganon. It was founded by Pitru Punstraia (IAmTheSenate13) on April 12th, 2021 as a home for the faith of Mufijo. The town grew very slowly over its first 2 months and even was disbanded at one point, partly due to Senate wishing to welcome more people into the town before expanding it further. However, the town was reestablished on June 29th, 2021 and experienced a rapid expansion after more people joined in the following weeks. The city would later grow to be one of the largest by area in the entire Altanate, even as its population was comparatively small to towns such as Kais Termina and Kais Kogong. Today, the city continues to build out into the sea, to remedy the small area on the thin peninsula of its founding.

Wahat is host to the great Council Chamber of the Altanate (in the past known as the Senate Building), which has been the sight of several international meetings and Arcadian political machinations, along with the Grand Mosque of Jiba the Wise, the to be finished center of the Mufijo Faith. The city also hosts great stores of resources for construction, baths for civilians to relax, as well as several marketplaces and shops open to Arcadians and foreigners alike. Notable residents include the now disappeared founder and first Altan of Arcadia, Pitru Punstraia, the retired Mumba (founder of Arcadia) Pmak, and the great builder SquishyPinks.

Etymology
The name "Wahat Almarjan" is fact only an anglicization (converted to English) of the city's Arcadian name. Axatu Marǧejá, as it known to its Arcadian residents, directly translates to "Coral Oasis." This name was chosen by the city's founder, Pitru, to reflect the coral reef that adjacent to the peninsula, and its contrast as an oasis of color in a sea of blue.

Before the Punstraia
In the immediate years before the arrival of Pitru Punstraia (also known as Senate), the Arcadian Peninsula on which Wahat now sits was devoid of any permanent settlement. The area was mainly a place of rest for local Kogongi fishermen, with some saying the best fish of Morgana Bay could be found upon the peninsula's shores. These Kogongi gave the name to the peninsula, as the place of the rising and setting sun. When the anarchist federation of Kogongu was founded in Kais Kogong, the nearby Arcadian Peninsula was claimed as territory of the federation, with not much thought given to its resources or strategic position on the bay.

Founding and Early Years
After his captivity in Lothridge and the attempt of his jailers at reeducation, the weary and god-fearing Pitru Punstraia searched for the Kogongi people he had heard of during his imprisonment. Pitru eventually crossed the sea from Prospit, landing on Koganon travelling west to the nascent city of Kais Kogong. In the city, he would have a fateful meeting with the druid Vasya and co-founder Glider Fraemani. Senate wished for a home, a farm, and a place to centralize his faith in Alathra, while the two Kogongi wished to establish a more firm grip on the peninsula to their north.

Pitru agreed to stay loyal to the Kogongi and their federation, and travelled north to establish the town of Wahat Almarjan on April 12, 2021. The weary man constructed a home, and a farm, just as intended, and began planning the construction of a mosque to be center of the Mufijo Faith in Alathra. A mine was also established south of the town, in modern-day Gint, where one day the Butter Knife would be found. Further, Pitru began to coax the various Mufijo clans nearby, most of which descended from the legendary Itrian Empire of the fallen deity Arop, to come to his burgeoning settlement and consolidate their faith. Most ignored Pitru's call, but the few clan envoys that came did not find much of a town for which to make their new home, so they returned to their lives of relative stability on the other side of the Atolia Channel. Never a fantastic builder, Senate soon began to feel overly burdened by working on such a project as large as what was supposed to be the great center of his faith, and over time simply ceased construction of the structure entirely. For two long years (two months OOC), Pitru would farm carrots and breed horses, content with a simple life of poverty. The rudimentary government of the town collapsed, as Senate cared not for politics at the time, resulting in the disbanding of the town for some time. In these two long years of poverty, the great city of Lothridge fell from grace, the zealous Kingdom of God was felled, and Kogongu marched onwards, nearly forgetting about their little hut of a town north of Kais.

Declaration of the Altanate
The town's desolation would be interrupted when a Kogongi man, Pmak, arrived poor and destitute, looking for a residence and a purpose. Pitru took him in, teaching the lowly traveler of the faith, to which Pmak soon converted. Pitru, now with a helping hand and a renewed sense of purpose from Pmak's conversion, finally felt ready to build his town. Just as these plans were being drawn up, frightening word arrived from Prospit. The Acquendavians appeared to threaten the Kogongi, stoking a widespread paranoia and fear throughout the federation. In response, Pitru constructed the town's first structure besides his own home: a low, yet functional wall. As an unintended consequence of their expansion towards Koganon, the Acquendavians had also scared away many of the same Mufijo clans that had ignored Pitru's call. The Vrestó, Dirmaxí, Etrec, Biqeš, and Iqari clans all fled to Wahat in this time, bringing a much needed workforce and population to the town. An optimism would spread through these new arrivals, who were finally in a place specifically made for their faith. Even as the Acquendavian threat died down, this happy spirit of the new residents convinced them to stay in Wahat permanently, and contributed heavily to the reestablishment of the town's government and a spree of new construction.

Not long after the arrival of the clans, yet another visitor came to Wahat. Glider Fraemani, Pitru's old friend from Kais Kogong, made the decision to leave the city and do what he could to help the hopelessly burdened Pitru with governance and construction. While visiting, Fraemani would convert to the Mufijo faith just as Pmak months before. Pitru, Glider, and Pmak would in time becomem the town's leading citizens, working to build the first shops and designing the Great Mosque. The destiny of the town as just another prosperous town in Kogongu would change drastically, however. On a calm summer's night, the aforementioned three leading citizens would be visited in their dreams by the three gods (Setrusi in Arcadian) of the Mufijo faith. Pitru by Afi - God of the Sun and patron of the town, Glider by Zamu - God of the Earth, and Pmak by Jorb - God of the Moon and Death. The Setrusi would bestow upon these three the title of Mumba, tasking their new servants to not just build the Great Mosque, but create a whole nation for the now united Mufijo faith in Alathra.

When they awoke, the now Mumbas called a meeting amongst the clans and citizens in the rudimentary town square, just as the sun began to set on the waters of Morgana Bay. Announcing their dreams to the populace, on July 21, 2021, the Mumbas declared the creation of the Arcadian Altanate, named after the peninsula upon which it sat. Pmak and Glider then proclaimed Pitru of the Clan Punstraia as Altan, a religious and political title used to signify the leader of the faith. The Mumbas then asked the citizens whether they would follow them down this drastic new path. With cheers from the crowd, popular support was achieved. The Mumbas then turned to the Sifans (Leaders) of the Clans, asking if they would swear fealty to this new state, to which they knelt to their new Altan. All that remained was to inform the Kogongi of the change in governance. Glider, as a respected founder of Kogongu himself, made the short journey to Kais Kogong, to announce the declaration of the Altanate. The tacit approval of Kogongu's de facto leader, Vasya, rid the final hurdle to statehood from the Altanate's path, and the sun rose the next day on an independent Arcadia, with Wahat as its crown.

Reign of Pitru
With the declaration of the Altanate, Wahat would undergo its first period of rapid growth. Shops began to spring up near the homes of the Mumbas, at the northern tip of the peninsula. The Great Mosque of Jiba the Wise also resumed construction, after a lengthy period of negligence by Pitru. The clans that had come to Wahat would have fiefs carved out of the developing city's land to govern local affairs, and to placate their desires for lordship that they had once had back on Prospit.

Geography
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Gižaraša
Wahat's government is structured as a feudal lordship, led by a Gižaraša [ˈɡiʒɐ.rɐʃa]. The office of Gižaraša comes with many obligations, specifically running the day to day affairs of the city, holding court, and receiving petitions from the clans and residents of the city. The Gižaraša is given command a personal guard of 20, the Aximarreš [ɐçiˈmarɛʃ] or Akhimarres, all of whom were nominated and selected for their unique fighting skill by the once 5, now 4 greatest clans. Each clan nominates 5 of these warriors to swear sacred oaths to the Gižaraša, and to serve them and their household, rather than their own clans. Traditionally, the Gižaraša holds court in the Senate Building, although occasionally pre-arranged meetings take place in the Gižaraša's own residence, the Primal Abode. The office of Gižaraša has no official law of succession, with each past holder of the title leaving office in different ways. In the event of a Gižaraša leaving office, the most accepted method of succession, perhaps for its adherence to laws of the Mufijo Faith, is for the outgoing Gižaraša to specify a chosen heir in their will, although this has only been the mode of succession once. The current Gižaraša is Arrim of Clan Miraz-Vrestó, who ascended to the throne on Vex 8, Thaw, 21 AZ (May 8, 2022).

However a new Gižaraša is chosen, their coronation is completed not long after. The coronation of a Gižaraša begins with a march on horseback by the Gižaraša apparent, dressed in a blue robe, from the gates of the city towards the Great Mosque of Jiba the Wise. Along the way, bystanders throw a red-orange spice onto the Gižaraša apparent, which plays an important part later in the ritual. Upon reaching the Mosque, the Gižaraša apparent dismounts and is followed into a secluded room by the Sifans of the Great Clans, and priests of the faith. The spice-caked Gižaraša apparent is than bathed in three separate oils by three different priests, one for each major deity of the Mufijo Faith. The first oil, representing Jorb - God of the Moon and Death, discolors the originally golden spice to a faded orange. The second oil, representing Zamu - God of the Earth and Sea, loosens the spice. The third and final oil, representing Afi - God of the Sun and patron of the city, washes the Gižaraša apparent clean of all the spice, which is later collected and burnt atop the tallest tower in the city. This process represents the cleansing of the Gižaraša apparent's sins, and their return to the heavens to show the gods that the Gižaraša apparent has made progress on the Path of Mufijo. After shortly drying, the Gižaraša apparent is taken onto the steps of the Senate Building, dawning the armor and weapons of Pitru Punstraia. Dressed in this ceremonial regalia, the Gižaraša apparent recites a short prayer of his choosing, and is then officially named Gižaraša of Wahat Almarjan by a Sifan of one of the Great Clans. Traditionally, the crowd and Sifans will then kneel in submission to the newly declared Gižaraša, before rising and celebrating their ascension to the throne.

In the early days of the city, during the rule of Pitru Punstraia, the titles of Altan of Arcadia and Gižaraša of Wahat were synonymous. In these days, the power of the Gižaraša was nearly unquestioned, with no city official nor clan Sifan able to challenge his decisions. In practice though, Pitru listened to the residents of the city frequently, and left much of the governance of its different areas to the clans of Wahat, on account of his heavy obligations as Altan. After Pitru's abdication, however, the Gižaraša took a much larger role in the city's affairs, yet simultaneously gave more duties to the clans. After the disappearance of Pitru Punstraia, the office of Gižaraša was given to his former servant, Hugosombi Imparva, in accordance with Pitru's final letter to the city. Imparva focused heavily on the city's development, but could not put his plans in action before his sudden death from disease. With no heir specified, the Great Clans of the city held a special council, electing the Lord Zeta of Clan Iqari as Acting Gižaraša, as a compromise between the bickering clans. Another council to determine a new, official Gižaraša of the city was planned, but never carried out after the Lord Iqari's tyrannical concentration of power. After his overthrow and subsequent murder, however, the office of Gižaraša passed to a relatively unknown priest associated with Vrestó Clan, Arrim Miraz-Vrestó. Although another compromise candidate, Miraz underwent an official coronation (unlike Iqari), and was considered honorable enough to rule by each of the remaining Great Clans. As an antithesis to the Lord Iqari's reign as Gižaraša, Miraz has worked to rule with the Great Clans, rather than exercising the full, tyrannical potential of his office.

Clans
Mufijo clans are integral structures to the Mufijo Faith, acting as families even if not related by ancestral blood. A clan is led by a Sifan, who makes political, legal, and economical decisions on behalf of the entire clan. Traditionally, Sifans are elected by members of the clan, although if a clan is composed a single family, either the matriarch or patriarch of the family is usually Sifan by default. The city of Wahat has numerous lesser clans, most of which are blood-related families and moderately wealthy merchant dynasties. However, the true power of clans in the city comes from the Great Clans. The number of Great Clans in Wahat has fluctuated since the city's founding, however they are generally defined by their large influence, wealth, or historical status. The Great Clans meet in a council known as the Atredezdó [ɐtre.dɛzˈdo], literally meaning "many clans" in Arcadian. The Atredezdó does not have any official legislative purpose, and is mainly in place to check the powers of the Gižaraša. Listed below are all members of the Atredezdó, former and current.

Culture
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Economy
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