App
Civilization name: the Dakmari
Civilization location: the lands of Banda, Arafura and Timor.
Civilization leader: Grand General Harun
Describe culture: the Dakmari culture is very militaristic, with its society being run by a caste of warrior-priests. It values ability and determination both in fighting and in everyday life. The army is the pride of this civilization and many men join it, risking themselves for a life of prestige and potentially joining public life. Mental acuity is also valued, as a warrior that is not sound of mind - be it from psychological problems or inebriation - is like a dulled tool. Indulging deeply in vices is badly seen. Its architecture and other craftsmanship is noted for its durability and practicality being set above all else. Despite all this, the Dakmari are not without sensibility. They show a high respect for one another, in a sense of fraternity, and even more for the dead.
Describe religion: the major religion of the Dakmari professes that, once, there were many gods that worked jointly on building Earth. However, one of them was ambitious and cunning, and is known only as "the Deceiver". He envied his brothers' parts in the creation and craved to claim them all for himself. Unfortunately, he found that, if he learned their true names, he could render their bodies weak and destructible, and thus used subterfuge to learn their names and slay many, one by one, and steal their souls for his personal gain. Few managed to flee in terror as they realized they were now vulnerable. Only one, known only as "the Keeper", perceived the Deceiver's trickery and confronted him before it was too late. He managed to amass the former gods that survived, guiding them to settle Earth and produce mortal offspring, thus generating humanity. To this day, the Deceiver attempts to create illusions in the forms of dreams and false religions so that humans stray from the righteous path and surrender their souls to him, and the Keeper attempts to save them through the guidance of his warrior-priests.
Describe history: it has been thousands of years since the Dakmari migrated into the lands they currently inhabit from the Pacific Steppes through the Torres Isthmus. They brought with them horses and metallurgy, and taught the natives to till the land. Throughout the ages, they prospered enough that cities were formed. When waves of raiders from the Australian Sea started pillaging these cities, they formed a defensive alliance and successfully drove the invaders away. Year after year, the cities' armies were mobilized to defend one another. Eventually, contact between the armies helped spread the cult of the Keeper, and the general of the city that would come to be the capital convinced the generals of the other most important cities to form a military junta and perform a coup as, soon, the armies had more in common with each other than with their rulers back home, whom they saw as a band of lazy fat men bossing them around from atop their comfortable mansions. This way, they united the lands of the Dakmari under a regime that has now lasted hundreds of years. This regime's primary goal is to ensure the continued existence of the Dakmari peoples and their sovereignty, something for which the Grand Generals have found an interesting technique: keeping their existence useful for their neighbors as mercenary troops.
