C!verse: Saddle Arabia · 1:09pm Nov 22nd, 2013
I know it's not 'entirely' necessary, but I rather like this species and I've finally gotten an idea of what I want to do with them.
Basics:
Saddle Arabia is a large nation/empire that rests across the sea from Equestria. It has an extremely hot climate and cold nights, large river crisscross the nation fueling farms and cities. Magically created pumps pull more water from the depths of the earth and water tanks are common for everyday use, magic can sometimes be employed to alter the weather.
Clothes, primarily howdah and coupers & bridles, are much more common in Saddle Arabia, both as protection and as a fashion statement. Coffee is also an extremely popular drink and has been so for centuries. When one wants to stop being served coffee they should shake their mug.
Industrial or "forge" cities cities are taking off and a great deal of trade is done in metals, partially thanks to the Djinn's magic. Much of their trade is done by sea and they have long been acquainted with Equestria, even if communication has been sparse.
There is some immigration and Saddle Arabians and ponies can interbreed with one another, though conception is more difficult. Sandstone is a traditional construction material and there are cities carved out of mountain walls.
Culture:
Arabian society is nominally led by and ruled by the Shahanshah or (king/queen of kings/queens) who makes their home in the capital city. But despite their rather loft title they have had to deputize much of their power into local princes/princess's or emirs who rule over city's and provinces in their name. Emirs more often than not wield impressive magical abilities, but this has become less common in recent years.
The individuals power is not all encompassing, a nearly equal amount of power has been placed in the hooves of elected officials, mayors, governors ETC. Elected officials are usually picked from the scholarly class.
The easiest way to explain it is that the elected officials doe most of the local day to day work, while the royalty have more sweeping overall power and if one wants to get something accomplished they generally have to work with one another. The emirs can usually claim some sort of relation to the head of the "empire" but many come from "appointed royalty" the titles and powers are inherited, though there is little idea regarding the "noble blood" being corrupted so royalty often marry wealthy or well to do "commoners."
In many cases the emirs may not take their powers and responsibilities very seriously, allowing the elected officials more control, this is particularly true in one industrial city where the emir spends more time creating secret clubs and partying than doing his job, though he's quite friendly. Similarly, there are areas where the royals have significantly more sway than the elected officials and it usually comes down to chance as to who has the most influence in which area.
Arabian society is heavily class based and strictly organised along the lines of commoner, artisans, service class, middle class, nobility, scholar, magical entity and religious figures. These lines have become less defined as as magic and wealth have become more common amongst the lower classes, but a good deal of importance is still based in these ideas and one's birth class can and does have a large affect on their life in the future.
Magical entities are treated with a great deal of respect, many of them holding royal titles and the primary religion holds a great deal of sway amongst the middle class, less so amongst the working class.
Elementals are also far more common here than anywhere else in the world.
Religion
Saddle Arabian religion is complicated. But put simply they worship concepts and ideals over individuals or spirits, the church itself is broken up into various philosophical groups who study in different temples and dedicate themselves to different ideals.
Most medical practitioners are from the church of mercy, kindness and health. Many churches and ideals being shared in one space, usually serving to further distinguish individuals within the church.
Much of the police force are knights from the order of justice, peace and civility. While the military is made up with more Djinns and primarily with working class people, except for the order/knights/paladins of war who serve as elite soldiers and generals being the most well equipped, trained and dangerous.
There are naturally other schools of thought within the church, one dedicated to the collection of knowledge and education known as the Scribes of history, the future, ETC.
There are numerous places of worship in any city or town, with different section or tiers of the temples dedicated to different ideals. Those who wish to become paladins or high ranking scholars are adopted into the religions boarding schools at the age of 14.
There has been tension between the church, the nobility and the commoners for centuries as each group has been forced to work together but are always trying to secure the advantage. The church is often somewhat distrustful of Djinn and even more so of foreign magic. The church at one point wielded more power and influence than any other facet of Saddle Arabian society, but that is falling to the wayside, somewhat, but they still recall when they made all the decision form a historical perspective. They dress in layered robes.
Magic
In Saddle Arabian society there are certain children who are born 'blessed' under the spirits of the elements. These Arabians are born and named Jinn/Djin/Genies. They don't have the sort of powers many western cultures associate with them though and some of their magic is inspired by old doctrines surrounding them and a lot by my own random musings and the above image.
These Djinn are born with a natural magical connection to the natural, elemental forces of the world, including magic. The world/universe of Equestria is a magic saturated place, everything from plants to rocks to animals have some slightly unique magic contained within them. The Djinns connections allows their magic to 'express' itself as a similar sort of magical energy that is found in different parts of nature, they can alter, empower and in some rare cases outright become the element they are bound to.
Each of these Djinn children is born with a natural connection to a specific element or energy, sand, water fire and in some even rarer cases 'pure magic' allowing them to express their power with great variety. (The picture above is about as close to a pure expression of such power as I can imagine) this is extremely rare though.
Under more normal circumstances a Djinn might be able to master two or three "elements" sometimes in different "schools" such as sand and stone or entirely different elements such as fire and water. Its worth noting that is is as much about the "expression" of that element as it is the element itself, someone might be able to use ice but not water and would instead be mroe inclined towards stone. Both the compound elements and the form they take and are most easily expressed in are important.
Djinn are quite rare, something close to every one in twenty children are born with the ability. Exactly how far this can go depends on the Djinn in question, some might be able to only ever focus on one raw element and posses only slight control others can posses great power and skill.
On the most basic level being a Djinn allows the Arabian to force magic form their body into a pre-existing element nearby, such as a stone, once their own magic has connected with the stones the Djinn could, for example, levitate it to another location. A more advanced Djinn could potential change it's shape and the most advanced could convert it into another 'similar' element, sand to stone, for instance. Further along on the chain of advancement is the ability for a Djinn to temporarily summon/create a desired element, this cannot last however so it is of little use in farming for instance.
At it's most advanced level a Djinn can even convert their own body into their chosen element, this is almost always only a single element and some are slightly easier than others. The above picture is an example of an Arabian turning themselves into incorporeal mana; another Djinn could convert their body into mobile stone that moves as though it were their own body, but has the strength of compound rock. This is exhausting and extremely difficult and also quite risky, especially becoming something like sand, air, or magic as it is easier to fall apart and harder to control and maintain. It is sometimes called Smokeless Fire.
This magic is something like a mix between pegasi and earth pony with just a dash of unicorn.
Djinn often work as builders, weather controllers (when they can) and serve whatever other ole their natural ability might grant them. They are 'somewhat' less relevant in the modern day, but still an integral part of Saddle Arabian society and the birth of one amongst commoners is a good omen.
More often than not they are taught either by a matured master in an apprenticeship program or, very rarely, by an elemental spirit. Many now make up the nobility of Saddle Arabia, but being born as a jinn is no assurance of an easy life. They have excellent senses and connections to nature and this can lead to conflict when they now how nature wishes to move and how their fellows wish it to move, having a connection to all that surrounds them, even a slight one can be very alienating. Some seek out isolation in retreats and high mountain peaks, this isn't a problem as they can travel very quickly.
Saddle Arabians may also have another way to cast spells. namely through word and rituals, this can allow them to mold their natural magic into spells they could not cast naturally. This method may be primarily held by the churches, or the royalty or a certain sect of commoners. This magic can be used by Djinn/Elementalists as well.
Notes:
Anyway those are my C!verse musing for the moment, I hope you guys found them interesting and if you have anything to add please do so in the comments section, I love to hear more opinions and ideas on this and other matters.
Extra note, regardless of what happens in S4, I am treating my own C!verse as an alternate universe to the show similar to the "Return of Nightmare Moon" I'd still try to primarily borrow form the show, but if something comes up that doesn't suit my current designs I may opt to ignore it. This isn't meant as a sign of disrespect, just different stroke for different folks.
I wish writing stories was as quick and "easy" as world building. XD
Suggestion? Use something like "Shah" or, if you want to go for emperor, Padishah. Both are Persian and roughly translate as "king" and "great king," respectively. Or Shahanshah ("king of kings")
If you want to keep it Arabic rather than Persian flavored, there's also Malik ("king, chieftain"), emir ("prince"), and sultan (basically "emperor")
It's actually nice to see an Arabian-type culture with a religion not based off of a pastiche of Islam. We fill pseudo-Europes in D&D with polytheistic pantheons, after all, even though "medieval Europe, without Christianity" is roughly analogous to saying "the Pacific Ocean, without water."
Hmm. Using the population of Saudi Arabia (29,195,895 as of a 2012 estimate according to Wiki) as an example, this would mean that there's 1,459,795 jinn (I rounded up). Small, but still a significant minority.
I actually really like it!
1529321
Woah, thanks for the awesome comment! I love getting stuff like this.
I really like those suggestion, princess/princes has been changed to the (n this case) gender neutral emir and I've opted to go with Shahanshah or maybe later just Shah in place of emperor, sultan makes me think too much of Disney.
Glad you like the religions, I wanted to avoid tying it to real life stuff and this also gave me a chance to play with a religion I designed, first for a different fic and then for an original fantasy setting. Though that one also invoked idols that channeled powers form the ancestors to strengthen paladins.
I never even considered doing that good idea, that's an excellent way to describe them as well it more or less summaries my take on their presence in the culture.
Thanks again for the comment!