Maelstrom Campaign - Major Nations: Amun-Sa

Amun-Sa is one of the oldest civilisations of the Known World and the wemics who live here pride themselves on their long tradition of culture and learning. Architecture has long been a pivotal part of the great heritage of Amun-Sa and the land is home to thousands of extraordinary buildings. The people of Amun-Sa are devout and pious and they have raised great monuments to the Gods, massive statues which rise hundreds of feet from the sandy desert floor. Along their borders there are vast stone fortifications designed to deter attacks from the Mayans. In the First City, there are stunning hanging gardens cunningly wrought to frame the beauty of the king's palace. Only the mightiest of the temples to the Gods that adorn the land can match the palace for wonder and magnificence.

The king of Amun-Sa rules the land with the able support of the many learned priests that live here. Every religion is well represented in Amun-Sa and many of the populace make devotions at every nearby temple on holy days. The priests help to administer the smooth running of the land, acting as judges, regional governors and bureaucrats. Respect for the priesthood means that few begrudge them their role in collecting taxes and tithes.

The priests of the Smith, who is known in Amun-Sa as the Soldier, also control the elite military strength of Amun-Sa, the awesome fighting might of the Mameluks. These wemic slaves are bought as children from traders and taught the religious doctrine of the Soldier as well as fighting techniques. They are trained to fight with the clavate, an extremely heavy mace which requires massive upper body strength to use effectively. Although they are few in number the Mameluks are renowned for their awesome discipline and loyalty.

First meeting
To preserve the purity of their culture, foreigners in Amun-Sa are restricted to special areas of the cities that are designated for their use. You are likely to be directed towards the foreign quarter as soon as you arrive and you should follow the directions carefully. It is possible to get a permit from one of the temples to leave the merchant district but, unless you are a religious pilgrim, they can be difficult to obtain. If you are planning to stay long, you will need to find an Amun-Sa native who can lease you a residence, as only natives are permitted to buy land.

At the centre of the merchant district in every city there is a thriving bazaar where almost anything can be bought for a price. There is no universally accepted currency and the local merchants have an uncanny knack for realising when you are not familiar with local prices, so it is essential to be wary when buying or selling here. Fortunately, if you do purchase something from the locals, then you can be confident that the vendor will be genuine. This is partly due to the basic honesty of the people of Amun-Sa and partly due to the strict vigilance of the priests in maintaining honest trade in the market place.

Fashion
The great heat of the deserts ensures that anyone who spends much time in Amun-Sa soon adopts the local garb; a loose fitting robe (often white with a decorated hem) tied with a simple belt and topped off with a headdress. The headdress provides protection against the sun and should match the robe where possible. The common exception is the Mameluks, who in spite of the heat, wear leather armour. There is a growing trend amongst the more cosmopolitan inhabitants of the kingdom to wear a tunic shirt and breeches topped off with a fez or more traditional headgear.

Religion
All the Gods are well served by their own priesthoods in Amun-Sa. However, the fact that the priests of the Soldier administer and lead the Mameluk armies that serve as the backbone of the nation’s fighting capabilities gives them considerable influence. Nhairtoum is the head of the priesthood of the Soldier in Amun-Sa and commands the loyalty of many priests of the Smith in foreign lands.

Amun-Sa is not precisely a theocracy, the king rules the twin thrones of Amun-Sa and is answerable to no-one but the Gods. Whilst the king continues to enjoy the patronage of the Gods, the priests act as his servants and advisors, ensuring the honest and fair running of the land. The current monarch is King Adities the Third. Amun-Sa no longer allows women to ascend the throne.

Strict religious observance is required of everyone whilst in Amun-Sa. There are priests of the five Gods in every town and city of Amun-Sa and everyone in the land observes the holy days and festivals. The penalties for those who break doctrine are severe. Those whose beliefs deviate from the worship of the five Gods as they are prescribed by the priests of Amun-Sa are strongly advised to be very discrete in their attitudes whilst visiting the most pious of the lands of the Known World.

Trade
Amun-Sa has no currency of its own. Instead you will need to come to an arrangement with a specific merchant for the value he will place on your coin. More enterprising merchants are now beginning to trade in the Rimici Capell Letters of Credit, but may charge a high price for taking them.

Amun-Sa has excellent slave markets and slaves fetch a reasonable price here. In particular, very young wemics are eagerly purchased by the priests of the Soldier to be trained as Mameluks. In recent times the king has ordered the formation of levied militias for defence of the border from renewed Mayan attacks and a shortage of skilled smiths capable of making weapons means even crude metalwork like Gnoll weaponry can be sold for a price. Darkpowder weapons are almost unknown in these lands and whilst you might sell one or two as a novelty they are not seen as effective weapons of war.

Ornaments, decorative fabrics, and pottery all sell well, as do exotic foodstuffs. It is possible to purchase the clavate, the heavy metal mace wielded by the Mameluks but they require a great deal of training to use effectively and most of the trade is in ornamental ones for sale as curios. A good telescope can usually be had in Amun-Sa for a reasonable price as the science of astronomy is considered well by the priests.

And so it began......

Dawn breaks, war looms, the evil Lord is gathering his armies to wage a campaign of destruction upon the free peoples of the world. It is up to I, Sir Maximilan Pegasus to stop him, with my trusted band of adventurers we must gather the enchanted sword of Tek, the Shield of Way-Lem and the amulet of Subsidence and together we shall slay this abomination! “TIME FREEZE” And bam, the fantasy world fades away, the enchanted sword of Tek in my hand is a rubber sword smothered in coloured ribbons with a laminated card cable tied to the hilt, I look down and I’m wearing plastic armour and unflattering heropants, and the magical world of my imagination washes away to reveal a field in Wigan, but you know what? It’s larp and I’m a larper, it’s what I do.
I started larping when I was 17, I’d never role-played before, I’d never played D&D or Warhammer, never played WoW or any form of online game, I’d never even read Lord of the Rings, I feel somewhat privileged that I hadn’t done any of those things, I think it gave me an untainted attitude towards what larp could be, I had no preconceptions about saving the maiden fair, slaying the dragon or smiting the liche, to me it was just a new thing to try.
It was cold, really cold, 10am on a September morning, the rain was battering down and I’d been given a faux fur tunic, a mouldy old sword and been pointed towards a man and told, “You’re monstering, there’s the ref he’ll tell you what to do.” I obeyed, I played wave after wave of zombies, orcs and various line monsters and to be honest, was cold, bored and hungry. That is, until lunchtime, the teams switched sides, I got into the kit I’d scrounged up, as with most first timers, a black trenchcoat. I took the mouldy old sword, stood with my fellow adventurers and it hit me, I’m a god damn hero!
Pow, there it was, a new larper was born.