The Taiyō Shogunate

The Taiyo Shogunate is an absolute monarchy that champions the ideals of Adzahnar, the Rising Son. Despite the more egalitarian nature of the religion, the Shogunate features an extremely strict caste system, which has waxed and waned as Shoguns have come and gone. While many things within the Shogunate have changed since the founding in the first year of the Fourth Era (or as it's known in Aramia, the Age of Adzahnar), what has not changed is the absolute power of the Shogun. Rebellions, revolts and movements against this power are often crushed by the Shogun's elite guard, the Arak Guard. Some speculate the Shoganai Period, named after the Aramikku leader who championed it, may soon end with the fair more progressive and direct Shogun Taiyo Yoshinobu.

First and Second Age
The first settlers of the people’s homeland are rumored to have come from seafarers, who had settled the larger islands to the east of Aramia, believed to have originated from the Khiv as it grew more and more populated, and space began to wear thin in the sea side towns and cities, later to be joined by refugees from the lands of the Swareli and of the Antitovia coast when the great Legionist Empire, as it was called by the Aramian people, fell into rubble. The settlers were welcomed by a rich, forested island, with a strong ecosystem, high rising tries, healthy rains, fertile soil, and one of the world’s greatest barriers, the open sea.

They quickly began to develop towns and settlements, which would grow into local powers, all waging their own wars, until they wound be invaded and conquered by the Theocracy in the early years of the 2nd Era. Rebellions, revolts and dissent would grip the island after the founding of Adzamism in the then Legionist Holy City of Aram, which served as the seat of power for the Aramikku clan.

In the following years, the Aramikku Clan would move to spread their newfound faith, and their borders through wars against the crumbling Theocracy before the leader of the clan, Aramikku Shoganai, would lead the final Siege at Khizthe. The Aramikku Clan would take control of the island, ruling over the minor clans under them. Aramikku Shoganai would soon after die, but not before seeing the whole of Aramia converted and stabilized under his reign. The title of “Shogun” would be derived from his name, and after his death the Aramikku Shogunate would be declared, based upon a nickname given to the island by what few traders were permitted to trade. Aramikku would also serve as the basis for the island’s name, with the original name now having been long lost to history.

The Aramikku Shogunate was one that hosted ideals of a decentralized empire, with an Ruler that stood only to protect from external threats, including stopping nearly all trade to the island, sending out missionaries to spread the word of the Adzamist faith and stop internal conflict, and for 40 years Aramia was at peace, however upon the death of the third Aramikku Shogun, whose name was lost to history, violence between the island’s clans once more began to grow.

Third Age of Man
In the dawn of the 3rd Age of Man, famine would strike the island, and wars would rock the region as each clan fought over power and resources. When the Shogun would rally his armies to take control of the island once more, his throat would be slit by an assassin in the night, and for the next 363 years, the people of Aramia would never know peace. In the 236 year of the 3rd Era, a small and disgraced clan, the Taiyō, or Great Phoenix, would rise to take over the last few settlements of the Aramikku clan, then marrying it’s last claimants into it’s own family. Soon after this, the Taiyō would ally with the Hisui through a political marriage, and begin a century long series of conquests over the island.

For the next several decades, the armies of Aramia would clash against one another, only unifying in times of external threat. Yet in the end, through the threat of force and a complex web of treaties, alliances and marriages, Taiyō Yunifaia the Great would be hailed as Shogun of Aramia, Speaker for Adzahnar, and the Herald of a New Age, the Age of Adzahnar as it was known to Aramia, and as it's known to the wider world, the Fourth Age of Man.

Dawn of the Fourth Age
Peace would not remain in the Shogunate for long, as in the 12th year of the Fourth Age, the clan Azure would raise their swords in opposition to the Shogun, being joined by thousands of Meiyo Nashi warriors. For 13 years the rebellion would wage before the Shogun would attain victory, due to a highly complex and efficient bureaucracy, as well as warriors from the Yoitsu, known as the Arak, who would prove as essential to the Shogunate’s victory, and would soon afterwards officially become the Shogun’s elite guards, with it forbidden for any many from the Shogunate to join the group, and for them to be instead recruited from the Yoitsu.

Following this war, the Shogun would enact the Buke Shohatto, a series of laws, rules and regulations placed upon the Kizoku in order to make future rebellions, in theory, impossible. After the end of the Azure Rebellion, and the stabilization of Aramia under the Shogun’s iron fist, the Shogunate as whole would enter a period of reformation, and globalization, as the Shogun sought to put the expansion of Adzamism at the core of his foreign policy, rather than as a pet project pursued by various lords. The Abhyasi, while previously having large amounts of de facto power, were added into the official ranks of the Shogunate’s caste system, leading to them becoming often times becoming the most powerful men and women in any given region, both in practice and in truth, say for in Aram, where the Shogun presided.

Taiyō Yunifaia would then proceed to declare himself the living representative and voice of Adzahnar, and the head of the Adzamist church, using this new position to organize centralized and well funded expeditions to further expand the reach of the Rising Son. Taiyō Yunifaia would spend the rest of his life reforming, recreating and restructuring the Shogunate into his image, where loyalty to Adzahnar, and by extension the Shogun, as well as skill and basic ability is valued above all. In the 31st year of the Fourth Era of man, Shogun Taiyō Yunifaia would die in his sleep, and his son Taiyō Dull I, known for his skill as a diplomat and leader, would be crowned Shogun of the lands of the Rising Sun.

The Sora Era
While for years, Shogun after Shogun would take command of the island and people of Aramia, so far only one other has been able to reach the reverence and respect commanded by the first Shogun, and that man was in fact, a woman, the first female Shogun of Aramia, Taiyō Sora. Taiyō Sora was an incredibly devout follower of Adzamism, and the driving force behind more egalitarian ideals for the Shogunate. Born to the previous Shogun and a young concubine, she would work dutifully as both a warrior of scholar, something which breached traditional gender roles from the Shogunate, and would slowly rise to become her father’s favored child. In the 181st year of the Fourth Era, her father would proclaim her his heir, and the next Shogun while resting on his deathbed, only a month before his death.

When her father died, Taiyō Sora was near instantly attacked by other claimants, nearly threatening to collapse the Shogunate into a civil war, before nearly 150 assassinations over the course of a year would cement her as the undisputed ruler of the Shogunate, and she would be crowned in the 183rd year of the Fourth Era. Her first act as Shogun was to change the castes to be more flexible and open, allowing for Senshi and Sensi to much more easily switch from one caste to the next, as well as opening dozens of traditionally male and female jobs or professions to either gender. With this accomplished, she would begin to prepare the single greatest military campaign in the Shogunate’s history, and in the 187th year of the Fourth Era, the soldiers of Adzahnar would arrive on the shores of Birukhar under the banner of Taiyō Sora.

While many would debate how much of an impact her reforms would have upon the Shogunate, there are none who disputed that it was by the actions of Shogun Taiyō Sora that the Taiyo Shogunate went from a guiding force of the Adaznist faith, to the driving force and sword of Adzahnar and his will upon the world of Pallacia. There were very few among the people of Aram who did not mourn her death in the 213th year of the Fourth Era, and Shoguns after her would continue the conversion of Birukhar, by both the word and by the sword.

Modern History
Since the founding of the Shogunate, there have been 2 Sugureta rīdā, the Great Leaders, and 15 Nashonarurīdā, National Leaders. With the death of the previous Shogun, Taiyō Dull III, and the ascension of the new Shogun, Taiyō Yoshinobu, the Shogunate turns to face the heretical armies of legionism. Internal conflicts brew, as a growing faction of the lower castes begin to cry out for greater equality, using the egalitarian views of Adzamism as their basis, and the actions of Shogun Taiyō Sora as their icon. In the overseas domains of the Shogun, younger lords look for their chance for power and glory, with or without the Shogun, as every generation, hundreds or thousands of warriors forswear their oaths of loyalty, to travel to the shores of foreign lands in the name of the Rising Son.

The Bakuhan System
The bakuhan system is the primary political system in the Taiyō Shogunate. Baku is an abbreviation of bakufu, meaning "military government" while the han are the domains headed by Kizoku. Beginning from Taiyō Yunifaia the Great’s reign as shogun in 1 FA, but especially after the Taiyō victory in 15 FA against the Tanoshī-Konpeki alliance in the Azure Rebellion. Because of that conflict, the last major, island wide revolt until the Sengoku Rebellion in 536 FA, various policies were implemented to assert the Shogunate's control, which severely curtailed the Kizoku's independence. The number of Kizoku varies but stabilizes at 24.

The bakuhan system splits executive power between the Shogunate in Aram and the Kizoku with domains throughout Aramia and her territories. The Shōgun and lords were all Kizoku: lords with their own bureaucracies, policies, and territories. Provinces have a degree of sovereignty and are allowed an independent administration of the han in exchange for loyalty to the Shōgun, who is responsible for foreign relations, national security, coinage, weights and measures, and transportation.

The Shōgun also administered the most powerful han, the hereditary fief of the House of Taiyō, which also included many mines, dense forests and swathes of the most fertile land on the island. In the current state of the Shogunate, the Taiyō clan hold around 290,000 koku of land (tenryō), including 84,000 koku held by direct vassals, out of 505,500 in the country. The other 215,500 koku are held by other Kizoku.

The number of han fluctuated throughout the peaceful periods of unification, growing and changing as populations moved and grew, however would reach it’s peak of 24 with the conquest of coastal regions of Birukhar in. They were ranked by size, which was measured as the number of koku of food that the domain produced each year. One koku was the amount of food necessary to feed one adult male for one year. The minimum number for a Kizoku was a thousand koku; the largest, apart from the Shōgun, was more than a million koku.

Major Cities
Aram, Capitol of Aramia and the Shogunate

Khiz

Zazizir

Unzinhur

Khun

Nakil

Bumush

Kinzathaz

Arabulundi

Narakzir

Domains
The lands of the Taiyo Shogunate as of circa 270 FA encompassed roughly 18,000 square miles (47,000 square Kilometers), making it the world's 8th largest country. According to recent census, the population at roughly the same time was 1.6 million, making it the 6th most populace nation on the globe. This is divided into 39 settlements of varying sizes. It is believed that of this number, roughly 96,000 can be called upon in times of war as Samurai or Noble warriors, and 200,000 can be called upon as peasant levies.

Aramia
Aramia is the core of the Shogunate, serving the heart of it's culture, power and influence in the world. Home to the Taiyo seat of power, and holy city of Aram, it also serves as the center of the Adzamist world. It holds 694,000 citizens, near entirely of Akzah culture, as of the last census, making up 43% of the entire population. Aramia encompasses 7,000 square miles (18,000 square Kilometers) of land, 39% of the Shogunate's total landmass.Aramia's climate is extremely temperate and offers bountiful harvests. This fact, coupled with vast forests, a long coast line, large oceans that make invasion expensive, and the highest urbanization rate in the world, a total of 33% percent of the population, has allowed the island to quickly form into a region, then global super power.

Birukhar
Birukhar is a comparatively region of the Shogunate when compared to the Aramian heartland. The invasion of the region began in the 187th year of the Fourth Era, under Shogun Taiyo Sora, and conversion began soon after. The population of the region is roughly 880,000, of which an estimated 825,000 are Akzah, with the other 54,000 being Atheshi. The even more dividing faction in the region, is the reason of the Taiyo invasion, religion. However after nearly 3 centuries of warfare and conversion, only about 100,000 members of the Atheshi Legionist church remain in Taiyo held territory, with the rest of the population having largely converted to Adzamism.

The lands of Birukhar are treacherous in their design, one might spend days trudging through rainforest only for it to suddenly open up into a large valley, then abruptly become hills and canyons. Yet over the course of several centuries, the Taiyo have managed to master the land to the best of their ability, even admits constant and unending conflict with Legionist zealots.

In comparison to the peaceful and stable lands of Aramia, Birukhar is a constant battleground, as the armies of Adzahnar, regardless of their national or personal allegiance, do battle against the countless Legionist zealots who march to do battle with his holy word. Birukhar is the gateway to Varras, and already the port city of Zazizir lay less than a 70 mile sail from the Legionist holy city. In mockery, the city has been named the capitol of Birukhar, and is jokingly referred to as 'Advar', a slang word meaning "Adzamist Varras".

Caste and Culture
The culture of the Shogunate is highly based around a strict caste system, where the only true social mobility is granted by the Shogun, often as promotion for great deeds, or as punishment for great sins. The Shogun sits at the top of this hierarchy, seen as the living representative of Adzahnar, who is blessed by the Rising Sun to rule over the Shogunate with divine grace, which is supported and upheld by the Abhyasi, who stand as the second highest caste and the religious body of the Shogunate. This is followed by the Kizoku, who serve as the lords and ladies of the realm, making up roughly 2% of the total population, with the Senshi military class remaining the most honored, besides for the Shogun and Kizoku. The Senshi caste of male dominated noble warriors make up around 6% of the total population, while their wives make up the majority of the Sensei class. The Sensei caste is pivotal in the social, moral and technological development of the nation, serving as scholars, teachers and tutors to both their children, as well as the children of friends and family. Below the Senshi is the Sōdokurafutā caste with 3% of the population, who serve as a caste of smiths and their apprentices. They work for their local Kizoku as metallurgy experts, largely for militant items such as swords, in which they are especially skilled in creating, widely renowned for extremely high quality work. However, the Sōdokurafutā also work on other tasks, such as: chandeliers, cups, silverware and gem encrusted jewelry.

Under the Sōdokurafutā are the Meiyo Nashi, Senshi warriors who have abandoned their code of honor and forsaken their masters, as well as women who have taken up the oath of the Senshi but not received the Shogun's blessing. Male members of this caste tend to be bandits and mercenaries, often in that order, while the females work to gain membership in the Senshi caste, which can only be granted by the Shogun himself and the clergy of the Adzamist church. The largest of the castes in the peasant caste, which is made of farmers, miners, workers and the common man of the Shogunate. These people account for nearly 76% of the total population, and serve as the largely submissive majority.

Below the peasants are the craftsmen, who are seen as one of the lowest castes in the Shogunate, as they do not make items of their own, instead they work off the labor of others in order to create their own goods, instead of laboring themselves. However, the Merchant class is officially the lowest tier in society, despite their importance and often respectable amount of wealth. The merchant class is theoretically shunned by general society for not contributing with their own work, instead they profit off of the work of others for personal gain, however since the widespread acceptance of Adzamism, many traders have been treated more akin to the Senshi, especially as many of the peasantry have begun to try and join the ranks of these traders and merchants.

An unofficial caste, known as the Eirians, exists for those who live inside the borders of the Shogunate but do not live by its customs. The caste exists only within the minds of the nobles and people of the innermost landlocked regions of the Shogunate, as port cities tend to be more open and welcoming of newcomers.

Classification
The Taiyō clan works to further ensure loyalty by maintaining a dogmatic insistence on loyalty to the Shōgun. As such, Kizoku are classified into three main categories:


 * Shinpan ("relatives") were 3 clans established by sons of Yunifaia, as well as certain sons of his close allies, who were made Kizoku. They would provide an heir to the Shogunate if the shogun didn't have an heir.
 * Fudai ("hereditary") were mostly vassals of Yunifaia and the Taiyō clan before the Battle of Kindushurga. They rule their han (estate) and serve as high officials in the Shogunate, although their han tend to be smaller compared to the tozama domains.
 * Tozama ("outsiders") were around 14 Kizoku, most of whom became vassals of the Taiyō clan after the Battle of Kindushurga. Some fought against Taiyō forces, although some were neutral and even fought on the side of the Taiyō clan, as allies rather than vassals. The tozama Kizoku tend to have the largest han, with many of the largest Kizoku in this category.

The tozama Kizoku who fought against the Taiyō clan in the Battle of Kindushurga had their estate reduced substantially. They were often placed in smaller or far away areas, or placed between most trusted Kizoku. Early in the Taiyō period, the Shogunate viewed the tozama as the least likely to be loyal; over time, strategic marriages and the entrenchment of the system made the tozama less likely to rebel. In the end, however, it's still the great tozama of Nabar, Ziragz and Khammunz, and to a lesser extent Unbibun, that have the power to potentially bring down the Shogunate. These four states are called the Four Western Clans, or Satchotohi for short.

Control Over the Kizoku
The main policies of the Shogunate on the Kizoku included:


 * The principle that each Kizoku (including those who were previously independent of the Taiyō family) submitted to the shogunate, and each han required the Shogunate's recognition and were subject to its land redistributions. Kizoku swore allegiance to each shogun and acknowledged the Laws for Warrior Houses, or buke Shohatto.
 * The Sankin-Kōtai system, which required Kizoku to travel to and reside in Aram every other year, and for their families to remain in Aram during their absence to be held hostage and ensure loyalty.
 * The Ikkoku Ichijyō rei, which allowed each Kizoku's han to retain only one fortification, at the kizoku's residence, however rare exceptions are granted by the Shogun.

The Laws for the Military Houses (Buke Shohatto), the first of which in 25 FA forbade the building of new fortifications or repairing existing ones without bakufu approval, admitting fugitives of the Shogunate, and arranging marriages of the Kizoku's families without official permission and many other similar laws. Additional rules on the Senshi were also issued over the years, designed largely the limit the existence of the masterless warriors known as the Meiyo Nashi, as well as reducing the Senshi’s caste’s internal political influence,

Although the shogun issued certain laws, such as the Buke Shohatto on the Kizoku and the rest of the Senshi class, each han administers its own autonomous system of laws and taxation. The Shōgun does not interfere in a han's governance unless major incompetence (such as large rebellions) is shown, nor are central taxes issued. Instead, each han provides feudal duties, such as maintaining roads and official currier stations, building canals and harbors, providing troops, and relieving famines.

The Shogunate still wields the power to discard, annex, and transform domains, although they were rarely and carefully exercised after the early years of the Shogunate, to prevent Kizoku from banding together. The sankin-kōtai system of alternative residence required each Kizoku to reside in alternate years between their han and the court in Aram. During their absences from Aram, it was also required that they leave their family as hostages until their return. The hostages and the huge expenditure sankin-kōtai imposed on each han is designed to ensure loyalty to the Shōgun. By the 380’s, the vast majority of Kizoku would be born in Aram, and most would consider it their homes. Some Kizoku had little interest in their domains and needed to be begged to return "home".

In return for the centralization, peace among the Kizoku were maintained; unlike in the Aramikku era or periods, Kizoku no longer worried about conflicts with one another. In addition, hereditary succession was guaranteed as internal usurpations within domains are not recognized by the Shogunate.

The Buke Shohatto
The Buke Shohatto was written and enforced following the Azure Rebellion in 12 FA. Since then, new laws have bene codified and added to it. The underlying goal of the Buke Shohatto is to curb the power of the Shogunate's military houses. The codes in theory remain in full force in the Birukhar region, however in practice the Shogun often ignores many violations of it, due to the ongoing conflict against the Atheshi church in the region.

The Code

 * 1) The Senshi class should devote itself to pursuits appropriate to the warrior aristocracy, such as archery, swordsmanship, horsemanship, and classical literature.
 * 2) Amusements and entertainments are to be kept within reasonable bounds and expenses for such activities are not to be excessive.
 * 3) The han (feudal domains) are not to harbor fugitives and outlaws.
 * 4) Domains must expel rebels and murderers from their service and from their lands.
 * 5) Kizoku are not to engage in social interactions with the people (neither samurai nor commoners) of other domains.
 * 6) Castles may be repaired, but such activity must be reported to the Shogunate. Structural innovations and expansions are forbidden.
 * 7) The formation of cliques for scheming or conspiracy in neighboring domains must be reported to the Shogunate without delay, as must the expansion of defenses, fortifications, or military forces.
 * 8) Marriages among Kizoku and related persons of power or importance must not be arranged privately.
 * 9) Kizoku must present themselves at Aram for service to the Shogunate.
 * 10) Conventions regarding formal uniform must be followed.
 * 11) Miscellaneous persons are not to ride in palanquins.
 * 12) Senshi throughout the realm are to practice frugality.
 * 13) Kizoku must select men of ability to serve as administrators and bureaucrats.

The Shogunate's income
The primary source of the Shogunate's income is the tax (around 40%) levied on harvests in the Taiyō clan's personal domains (tenryō). No taxes were historically levied on domains of Kizoku, who instead provided military duty, public works and corvee, however Shogun Taiyō Dull III imposed a small tax on Kizoku (around 5%) in order to further bolster the Shogunate’s coffers. The Shogunate also obtains loans from merchants, which are sometimes seen more as forced donations, although commerce is left untaxed between internal realms of the Shogunate and other Adzamist realms, however any non Adzamist trade routes are typically taxed heavily to discourage trading with heretics, though some nations have been exempted from this. Travel itself remains unrestricted. Special levies were also imposed for infrastructure-building, and military construction projects.

Overview
Legionism has served as one of the greatest enemies to the Shogunate, since before it was united under the Adzamist faith. Legionist warriors, especially those of the seemingly dominant Atheshi Church, has fought the armies of the Shogun for centuries, most notably in the region of Birukhar, where the Shogunate continues to press it's borders against the Legionists remaining in the region. However, this open hostility was not always the law of the land, and there was once a semblance of peace between the two religions, even if only for a handful of years.

The First Council of Pan-Religionism
In the early days of the Atheshi church, the reigning Abhyasi of the time, a man by the name of Eiji Hashimoto, saw the threat of a united Legionist church to the Adzamist faith. Hoping to mend relations, and stem the religion fervor of the Atheshi, Eiji Hashimoto would call a Pan-Religious Council in the town of Sharevia that would last 2 weeks. For the first 11 days, no progress would be made as both sides shouted at each other, and tensions rose as threats of force became commonplace. However, when a young scribe in training by the name of Moto Shigichi arrived on the island, he was stunned by what he saw as poor arguments on both sides. Moto would spend the entire night writing speeches, talking points, and arguments to present, and would join the debate under a false identity, a name that is even now known through most of Pallacia: Sestelier, the Atheshi word for "Orator."

Sestelier would be given 5 minutes to speak, his opening statements would blast open the contradictions of the Atheshi church and it's doctrine, before he yielded his time to the Atheshi, would could only provided a quick and confused denial. The next day, Sestelier would tell the story of a Girkish child, living under the Theocracy, twisting the moral of the story to yield proof of an Atheshi Scheme to undermine the authority of the Church of Wickneth. The Atheshi were so stunned that one member of the scheme confessed to it on the spot. From then on, the Adzamist debaters would yield their time to Sestelier, who would make great use of it. At the end of the day, the Atheshi would declare the conference to be over, a day earlier than planned, due to domestic issues. 40% of the Atheshi who were present at the Conference would convert to Adzamism, and Atheshi leaders would lose several trade deals and diplomats pact as a consequence of Sestelier's words.