Phoena

Phoena
Capital	Jardin
Religion	Saphorism
Government	Parliamentary monarchy
King	Jassar
Legislature	Madrassa

Phoena is a large imperial state in Rhys.

Government

On paper, Phoena is a divine monarchy wherein the king rules by divine decree and is believed to be the reincarnation of the god Mishra. In practice, however, the king's power is limited by the Madrassa (the Phoenic parliament) and Phoena's powerful merchant, noble, and priestly classes.

Much of the king's power is informal and dependent on his personal ability to rein in the landed nobles, merchant princes, religious authorities, and entrenched bureaucrats who surround him. Historically, there have been kings who ruled with absolute power and kings who were hardly more than puppets of the Phoenic elite.

The current king is Jassar, who is regarded as an above-average king. He helped to end the Black Terror at the start of his reign, and led Phoena through the Eighth Occaria. Although Phoena suffered a humiliating defeat in that war, Jassar put down Ramal Shirka's rebellion and kept Phoena from outright crumbling. Most of the blame for Phoena's defeat is placed on its Lucian minority population.

Religion

Main article: Saphorism

The Phoenics are largely polytheistic. They worship a divine family of gods descendant from Ra, god of the sun. Their principal deities are Ra; Mishra, the divine king; and Vaisha, the Queen of Heaven.

A significant minority of Phoenics are worshipers of the god Casir, the dark lord of the desert.

Diplomacy

Phoena's diplomatic archenemy is the Alicantian Empire. Phoena was involved in numerous occarias (Lucian great holy wars). Millions of Phoenics have lost their lives at Alicantian hands.

Phoena is a frequent ally of Riyan, a large empire to its south.

Phoena has often found common ground with Vallyra, but the relationship is purely pragmatic: Vallyra is far too Lucian for Phoena's liking.