The Jungle Kingdom of Keshara is a realm of hot, clicking jungles and stone cities inhabited by the rakshasa, a scheming race of felinoid cat-men. They are a power-hungry, scheming race that never act on their own when they can use proxies or pawns to do their bidding instead. They make masterful use of spies, assassins, saboteurs and mercenaries to achieve their goals, and are just as duplicitous with each other as they are with outsiders. They are bitter enemies of the Ti-Amatu and have warred with them for countless centuries over the fertile lands in the border region between the two kingdoms.
The Rashasa
The rakshasa are a species of feline humanoids, ranging in height from five to six and a half feet. They are covered in fur, the color of which varies greatly but usually comes in combinations of black, orange, white, tawny, and brown. They have feline tails and humanoid hands, but walk on digitigrade paws. They have retractable claws and long, sharp teeth and ears that sit atop their skulls. The movement of a rakshasa's ears and tail is often a hint at their mood or mindset, and in a society as treacherous as theirs, learning how to control such things is a survival skill many Kesharans work hard to master. Their eyes are typically amber, emerald green, or deep blue and have vertical pupils like those of a cat. And like cats, they have a natural, exceptional gift for stealth, agility and bursts of sudden speed. Each rakshasa is lithe and powerfully built. Their senses of smell and hearing are particularly acute and far exceed that of humans.
Rakshasa give birth to live young in litters of two to six, and the newborns are already covered in a soft down that quickly grows into the sleek fur of their adulthood. Their eyes open after two weeks and they are weaned and walking within a month. The young are taught the art of deception and the value of power from the moment they can understand speech, often being pitted against each other in games that test their cunning and guile. It is not uncommon for siblings to turn on each other in these early contests, setting the stage for a lifetime of competition and mistrust. Rakshasan parents are only too happy to encourage this mentality and mated couples often seek to manipulate their own offspring into serving their own ends. As the cubs get older, fratricide is far from uncommon as each littermate seeks to eliminate potential future rivals. This cutthroat upbringing ensures that only the most cunning and ruthless survive to reach maturity.
The Jungle-Realm of Keshara is a confederation of city-states whose leaders make up the ruling council, the Claw. It is always from within their ranks that the next king of Keshara is chosen, and typically, the position is filled by the most cunning and most ruthless among them. The political scheming within the Lords is vicious and brutal, and rivalries between different city-states can and have erupted into bloodshed. Unlike the Ti-Amatu, the power of the Kesharan kings is not absolute. The extent of each king's authority is directly dependent on that particular king's ability to manipulate and control the council, as well as the extent of the king's own power base and level of political and military influence. For some Kesharan kings, their power ends at the walls of whichever city-state they control. For others, it extends over all of Keshara. The latest king, Kashtarhak, is no exception to this rule. Like most Kesharan kings he has managed to secure his position on the throne through a series of calculated moves, strategic alliances, brutal assassinations and blood-soaked coupes. What makes him exceptional is the scale of his stunning success. He is the first Kesharan king in many centuries to cement his power so thoroughly. At the foot of his throne, the 12 remaining members of the Claw stand with their heads bowed in feigned respect, each simultaneously plotting against and allying with the others in the never-ending bid to advance their own position.
The Kesharan political system has fostered a culture steeped in intrigue and treachery. The rakshasa believe in a form of brutal meritocracy, and their society rewards those who are Machiavellian enough and wicked enough to climb to the top of the heap. Even the lowest of their kind can, in theory, ascend to the heights of power if they are willing to spill enough blood and play the games of politics and power. The rakshasa are proud of this twisted form of social mobility and those who deign to speak with outsiders often boast that their society is one of the few that truly values intelligence and cunning over birthright. In practice, however, it often leads to a great deal of chaos and instability. Rivalries and enmities between the Kesharan city-states run deep and have been known to boil over into all-out war with alarming regularity, though King Kashtarhak has harshly cracked down on this and after making several bloody examples, tensions between city-states have been kept a low simmer.
Still, the Kesharans take this tradition of internecine warfare in stride, and if Kashtarhak's rule falters, such conflicts will quickly resume. Indeed, they believe that such chaos provides ample opportunity for the most cunning and most driven among them to ascend to greater heights. However, in the absence of such internal strife the rakshasa are happy to turn their viciousness onto their ancestral enemies, the serpent-men of the desert kingdom of Ti-Amatu. Raids into the serpent-kingdom, coupled with political machinations and covert operations, are a constant source of conflict between the two realms and King Kashtarhak has escalated them dramatically since the start of his reign. The hide of slain Ti-Amatu is a prized commodity in Keshara and the throne of the Kesharan king is traditionally adorned with such hides, including the hide of at least one Ti-Amatu monarch.
The long-term goals of the Jungle Realm are simple: to expand their territory, increase their own power, and weaken--or preferably destroy--the Ti-Amatu. However, the arrival of the United States in Loriath has thrown these longstanding goals into chaos. The Kesharans view the Americans with the same contempt they hold for all other outsiders, seeing them as potential tools to manipulate or as obstacles to be eliminated, but this contempt is leavened with a deep-seated fear. The Kesharans have heard tales of the power of the Americans' weapons and the might of their military, and they know that their own ancient sorcery and tactics may not be enough to match such forces. They are determined to employ all their arts of subterfuge to weaken the United States from within and get their paws on as many of its technological secrets and other knowledge as they can. On the battlefield the Americans may be unbeatable, but the rakshasa are confident that assassination, sabotage, blackmail and bribery defeat them the way armies and fleets of ships cannot. King Kashtarhak knows that if the Ti-Amatu manage to draw the Americans into an alliance, the balance of power will shift dramatically against Keshara. He has therefore made it his top priority to prevent such an alliance from forming at any cost.
The realm of the rakshasa has a number of assets and natural resources. The dense jungles of Keshara are home to exotic and often dangerous creatures, and the rakshasa have learned to harness them for their own ends. They are renowned beast-tamers and incorporate the use of many different monstrous creatures in their armies: hydras, manticores, and even the mighty purple death-worms of the deep earth serve as steeds and siege engines in their endless war with the Ti-Amatu. These beasts are also exported around the world and sold at immense profit. The wood produced by Kesharan trees is renowned for its strength and resistance to decay, making it highly sought after by shipwrights and carpenters across the sea. More, the rakshasa are regarded as master alchemists and poisoners. They use the poison from exotic jungle plants to craft toxins of unsurpassed lethality. These are then sold for exorbitant prices to the highest bidder, regardless of their alignment or intent.
The Kesharan jungle is a huge expanse of thick, dense rainforest stretching across almost a third of Loriath's southernmost continent. It is bordered to the north by the Serpent-Realm and the Sultanate of Jal-Hadar, and to the south, west and east by ocean.
The Kesharans would much rather avoid fighting a pitched, open battle if they can possibly help it and they usually succeed in doing so. Their web of spies, assassins, blackmailers and other agents is so vast and stretches across so many lands that wars can usually be avoided simply by plucking the right strings. Kesharans loathe the very idea of fighting an open conflict and view warfare as beneath their talents, but when there is no other recourse, the rakshasa emerge from the jungles armed with every dirty trick and underhanded tactic their cunning minds can devise. Kesharan military doctrine emphasizes maneuverability, speed, deception and adaptability. Rather than rely on heavy infantry, their tactics rely instead on swift, lightly armored infantry and skirmishers that allow them to use their natural feline grace and agility to the greatest extent and pelt the enemy with a steady rain of arrows, spears and stones long before the two forces close with each other. Every arrow, spear and sword is always coated with the most agonizing, lethal poisons their alchemists can concoct and even a single scratch is usually enough to condemn an enemy soldier to a slow, painful death. Fighting the Kesharans has been likened to fighting a swarm of bees. The standard Kesharan soldier is equipped with light armor consisting of a sturdy leather chest piece made from stiff animal hide, with greaves and gauntlets of boiled leather and a helmet of leather coated with iron scales that often features an elaborate crest of feathers or fur from the local fauna. Each soldier is armed with a bow, a quiver of at least twenty venom-tipped arrows, a short curved sword with a poisoned edge, and several throwing spears. The Kesharans disdain the use of shields and instead employ their superior reflexes and speed to dodge attacks. Kesharans are also trained in the use of whips made from the hide of jungle beasts and which are often tipped with venomous barbs. These unpredictable, unusual weapons can wrench swords from an enemy's grasp, dart around the edge of shields and pierce weak spots in an opponent's armor.
The whips are also made in deliberate imitation of the deadly manticore that calls the humid jungles home. Kesharans revere the beast as the embodiment of their own treacherous nature and their most elite soldiers, the Talons, are allowed the privilege of riding these terrible beasts into battle. Also known as Manticore Knights, these deadly soldiers are the cream of Keshara's military crop and are feared by all who face them in combat. Astride their monstrous mounts, they soar over the battlefield and strike the foe with unparalleled viciousness and cruelty. King Kashtarhak himself rides into battle mounted on an enormous white and black-striped manticore named Nightshade.
The rakshasa also make heavy use of other creatures in their military, for they are renowned for their skill as beast-tamers and pride themselves on the variety of terrible monsters they can unleash. Acid-spewing, many-headed hydras are prodded onto the battlefield by minders wielding whips and hot irons, so their toxic breath can melt enemy soldiers into puddles of slurry. Jungle trolls, bound and broken to the will of their sadistic masters, lumber forward armed with giant wooden clubs or boulders until they crash into enemy lines with earth-shattering force. Gigantic tropical spiders of tremendous size skitter forward with archers or spearmen mounted on their backs. Imps--malevolent, dark-natured monkeys with batlike wings--soar through the air, dropping ceramic jars filled with caustic acid, poisonous gases or deadly combustibles that explode on impact and sow terror and death in the enemy ranks.
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The Kesharans are also notorious for making extensive use of dark sorcery in their warmaking. The magic of the rakshasa is especially sinister; rather than calling down fire or lightning, it uses terrible illusions and psychomancy to demoralize and terrify their enemies, breaking their minds until they are reduced to quivering wrecks. Kesharan illusion magic is so powerful and so refined that they can make an army appear many times its actual size, or drive their foes insane by making them experience their worst fears and phobias. This latter type of spell is often used against enemy commanders as a way to destroy an opposing army's chain of command and demoralize its soldiers by driving its leaders into irreversible insanity. For Kesharans, the sight of an enemy broken in mind and will is a far sweeter victory than one won by brute force alone. No other race, perhaps not even the vaunted High Elves of the Glittering Isles, can match the rakshasa's mastery of illusion magic. No other weapon of war in their arsenal is as horrifying as their ability to turn even the strongest enemy champion into a drooling, quivering, mind-broken shell.
In addition to their own formidable forces, Keshara also employs a wide array of mercenaries drawn from across the world. The Jungle-Realm's coffers are deep and they make full use of their wealth to to hire the most ruthless and skilled soldiers from distant lands to fight alongside their armies. Orcs, goblins, and other mercenaries are often used as shock troops to supplement the Kesharans' own forces, while pirates and privateers of every stripe are employed to harass and raid coastal settlements and supply lines. Assassins are sent into even the most heavily-guarded keeps to eliminate enemy commanders, poisoners are dispatched to taint the water supplies of enemy cities, and spies infiltrate the courts of potential allies to learn their secrets and exploit their weaknesses. Even giants have been known to march to war alongside the cat-men for the right price. This diverse and ever-shifting tapestry of soldiers makes the Keshara's military a truly terrifying force to face, as one never truly knows what they might be facing until it is too late. This element of unpredictability gives the rakshasa a fearsome advantage in any open conflict.
The Jungle-Realm's technological level is a curious blend of the ancient and the avant-garde. While they lack the mechanical wonders of the United States and the arcane or steam powered machines of the Dwarves, the rakshasa have developed a range of ingenious devices and weapons that make full use of the natural resources at their disposal. They are fully capable of creating and shaping steel, iron and bronze as well as wood, obsidian, and animal bone, and this blend of primitive and advanced materials creates a unique look to their armaments and structures. The rakshasa are particularly fond of inventing traps and siege engines that make use of the local wildlife; a common sight in a Kesharan siege is a giant wooden catapult hurling venom-soaked logs tipped with iron spikes, or a hydra-drawn carriage bristling with archers and crossbowmen. The rakshasa are also master alchemists and their apothecaries are renowned for their ability to concoct toxins that can kill a man with a single touch or leave him paralyzed for hours, allowing an assassin to escape unseen.
The Kesharans worship a deity called Chitrasena, a god often depicted as a night-black rakshasa surrounded by shadow. Chitrasena embodies all that Kesharans believe in: cunning, treachery, stealth, deceit, and the pursuit of power at any cost. Chitrasena has no established priesthood, but all Kesharans revere him and offer sacrifices, including sacrifices of captives and other Kesharans unfortunate enough to find themselves on the wrong side of another rakshasa's schemes, to Chitrasena before embarking on any significant endeavor, especially before battle. The most pious among them believe that their successes are a direct result of Chitrasena's favor, and that their failures are a test of their cleverness and adaptability.
The Kesharans, as previously stated, are bitter, ancient enemies of the Ti-Amatu kingdom and their relations with other realms are not much better. Wherever there is chaos, discord, strife or civil war, one can usually find a Kesharan somewhere behind the scenes acting to ensure that the interests of the Jungle-Realm are furthered in some way. Kesharans have a policy of gleeful intervention in the affairs of others and delight in manipulating the domestic politics of foreign lands to further their goals. Usually, these other nations are completely unaware of Kesharan meddling and that is precisely how the rakshasa prefer it. They use intermediaries, mercenaries, and all manner of go-betweens to cover their tracks as much as possible.
Kesharan law, like so much else of their society, varies from city-state to city-state but it almost always boils down to a simple credo: if you can get away with it, it's legal. Punishments for crimes are not, strictly speaking, meant to deter such crimes from happening but rather to illustrate the importance of not getting caught. In Keshara, anything goes--as long as you're cunning enough.
The Kesharan jungle provides a wealth of natural produce, although clearing land for agriculture is very labor-intensive and slow due to the dense underbrush and predatory fauna. As a result, the rakshasa have developed a complex system of farming using terraces in a manner similar to the ancient Mayans. Walls are built to create flat fields on steep hillsides, increasing the amount of farmland available while also allowing the soil to be replenished with nutrients from the crops. Raised fields are also used to keep crops from being waterlogged and are created by filling in areas with fertile sediment from floodplains. This sophisticated farming technique allows the rakshasa to maintain their vast cities and feed their large populations in a sustainable manner. Staple crops grown in Keshara are rice, maize, and a variety of tubers and legumes that thrive in the humid conditions. In terms of industrial capacity, the Kesharans do have access to iron, copper, tin and other metals, but they tend to prioritize the production of weapons and armor over other goods and many day-to-day to implements are instead crafted of carved stone, wood, and bone. Keshara's mineral wealth is greater than that of their Ti-Amatu enemies, but large-scale industrialization is extremely limited due to the difficulties of moving goods and resources through the jungle. Simply carving a road through the dense forest is very time-consuming and labor-intensive, and maintaining it even more so. As such, trade is often conducted via river routes wherever possible and it is waterways, not roads, that connect the different city-states to one another.
Due to its largely antagonistic relationships with other powers, Keshara's trade relations are limited. However, it does produce a number of things that are widely desired and which the rakshasa are happy to sell at vastly inflated prices. One of the most prized is manticore venom, which is harvested at great risk to life and limb from the manticores tamed for the rakshasan military and sold to the highest bidder. Many of the beasts tamed by the rakshasa are also sold in bazaars across Loriath to nobles wishing to stock their menageries or fill their armies with fearsome creatures, and here again, the manticore is prized above all others. The Kesharans are loathe to part with their most favored beasts, but will sell manticore mounts to those willing to pay a king's ransom in gold or silver. Other exotic products from the Jungle Realm include rare spices, exotic fruits, and many types of rare birds, which are sold live as pets or harvested for their feathers. Wood from Keshara's many types of trees is also a prized commodity for shipbuilding and construction due to its natural resilience and resistance to decay.
Most of Keshara's infrastructure is built around two things: defensibility and access to the rivers which serve as the Jungle-Realm's lifeblood. The stone cities are constructed atop high plateaus or in vast clearings deep in the jungle, surrounded by moats filled with water from the rivers and teeming with carnivorous fish. Access to the cities is controlled by ingenious systems of rope bridges, winches and hidden trapdoors, making it incredibly difficult for an attacking force to breach the defenses without significant casualties. Kesharan cities are made of wood and stone, with the former used to build homes and the latter for fortifications. The buildings are often tall and slender, designed to allow for air circulation and to minimize the impact of the heavy rains that sweep through the jungle. The streets are narrow and twisting, making it difficult for large groups to move through the city quickly and providing natural chokepoints for defense. The rakshasa are masters of using their environment to their advantage and their cities reflect this, with buildings often blending seamlessly into the surrounding jungle, covered in vines and foliage. Kesharan architecture favors tall spires and sharp angles that give its cities a thorny, sinister appearance.
Currency
The Kesharans use a barter system for most transactions, but coins from other nations and races--almost always stolen or acquired through other questionable means--are often exchanged as well. The use of coinage varies from one Kesharan city-state to another.
Legislative Body
The Kingdom of Keshara has no legislative body, but the Lords of the Claw often function as one in practice. When the Lords reach a decision about a certain issue, it is presented to the King who decides whether or not to enact it. The reign of King Kashtarhak, however, has seen this practice fall by the wayside. So secure is he in his position on the throne that he can afford to rule as an absolute monarch, and the Claw-Lords can do little to stop him...for now.
Judicial Body
The Kesharans have no established court system. Each city-state is responsible for maintaining order and King Kashtarhak allows them a certain amount of latitude to dispense justice (or not) how they see fit--so long as his rule is not challenged or questioned.
King Kashtarhak
King Kashtarhak is the current King of Keshara and is the most powerful ruler to sit on the throne in centuries. He has consolidated his power and cemented his rule more thoroughly than any previous Kesharan monarch, to the point where every city-state of the Jungle-Realm now bends its knee to him. As a result, the Jungle-Realm has entered a state of unprecedented political stability and for the first time, the rakshasa are more unified than ever before. Kashtarhak's ascent to power was drenched in blood--his rise began as an officer in the Kesharan military, where he assumed command of a sizable force after orchestrating the assassination of his superiors. After seizing the generalship, Kashtarhak began a series of bloody, brutal and brilliant campaigns against every city-state in the Jungle Realm. Through bribery, blackmail, assassination and one battle after another, he steadily grew in power until he finally stepped over the corpses of his enemies to sit upon the Kesharan throne.
After spending years consolidating his rule and destroying any remaining or potential rivals, Kashtarhak now rules as the first true absolute monarch in rakshasan history. His reign has been marked by a relentless expansionist policy, pushing the boundaries of Keshara further into Ti-Amatu territory and using Keshara's vast network of spies, mercenaries and hired killers to meddle in the affairs of other nations more than ever before. From his court in Kamulak, he has ordered the deaths of princes, nobles, generals, and even other kings across Loriath to ensure that no alliance can form against him. How this malevolent monarch will react to the arrival of America in Loriath is unknown…but it will surely mean the worse for all involved.
