Obenzaya
From Almeopedia
| Obenzaya | |
| Native: | Ubiŋkayaz |
| Verdurian: | Obenzaya |
| Characteristics | |
| Capital: | Vižaya |
| Government: | Monarchy |
| Language: | Obenzayet |
| Relative prosperity: | 18 |
| % Pagan: | 37 |
| % Eleďe: | 27 |
| % Naviu paganism: | 36 |
| < OBENZAYA |
Obenzaya [o bɛn ˈzɑ ja] is a kingdom in the southwest corner of Eretald. Unlike most countries to the north, but like the nomadic tribes to the south, the population speaks a Naviu language. Obenzayet is of great interest to Verdurian linguists due to its conservatism, making it useful for the reconstruction of Proto-Eastern. Obenzayet is the only Naviu language to have a written form (since c. 3300); it uses a modified form of the Verdurian alphabet.
The present area of Obenzaya was under the rule of Caďinas until roughly 2000, when it was occupied by the Coruo (a Karazi people). It was overrun by the Gelyet in the 2500s, and after the collapse of their empire the region formed the borderland between Curiya, Deštai, and Bešbalic.
The Obenzayet themselves are first recorded as a component tribe in the Naviu invasions of the mid-2800s. They lived to the south of present-day Obenzaya for some centuries, till they were pushed north by an eastern movement of the Somoyi-Meťelyi in the 3000s. About two centuries later the Obenzayet defeated the Kačanöt, the easternmost of these peoples.
Over the centuries the Obenzayet who lived in the valley of the Neši, while never wholly giving up herding, have taken more and more to agriculture. Their nobles tended to adopt Caďinorian paganism, while the peasants were more likely to adopt Eleďát. (Many of these are in fact descendants of Caďinorians and speak a dialect of Verdurian.) The Obenzayet nomads to the south have retained their own form of paganism. Within the last century the Neši valley has been organized as a kingdom; in the time of war the king has the allegiance of the nomads as well. Politically, the kingdom looks to Eretald rather than to the barbarians. Trade is strong, though handled almost entirely by Verdurian speakers.
Neighbors: Bešbalic (to NW), Deštai (to SE), Curiya (to NE), Eluye-Makši Naviu tribes to SW.
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Countries and important regions in or near Eretald: |
| Author: BGMan |
