Ma'at Island

Ma'at Island

Statistics
Japanese Name:
English Name:
Region:	South Blue, approximately 500 km south of the Grand Line.

Introduction[]

A medium sized island nation consisting of 5 major cities-states; Suchos, Khnum, Heru, Anpu and Djehuty.

Geography[]

The northern most part of the island is covered in lush rain forest. During monsoon season there is hardly ever a day of clear skies. It rains near constantly, and even during the dry season the humidity is quite high. In this part of the island, known as the Als'akhada, or The Green Ribbon, two of the city states are located; Suchos on the eastern coast, and Djehuty tucked into the ribbon itself, at the base of one of the many mountains that make up the range of Ma'at.

South of the ribbon the mountain range, Snanswa or the Black Teeth, cut through Ma'at from North West to due East. South of the range is the vast expanse of desert that makes up the majority of Ma'at. The city states of Khnum and Anpu are south of this desert, and there are multiple shrines and small towns along the coast or in the scrub lands next to the few oases or rivers that they can be built next to. The only exception is the city of Heru, which is built in the middle of Ma'at's great desert on a sheer cliff of sandstone.

Architecture[]

The Architectural style of Ma'at is mostly Egyptian, built primarily from sandstone and often times painted for decoration.

Culture[]

There are many differences between the five city states, but one thing that remains true is that each of the cities believe in a pantheon of gods; Among those most revered are Vrei the goddess of the sun and creation, Sa'ib the god of the sea, Saleem the goddess of knowledge and magic, Zahir the god of justice and vengeance, Fihr the god of the desert and fire, and Wana, the goddess of the harvest.

There are many others but these six are seen as the oldest and most important. There are shrines littered throughout the island dedicated to those six, and each city-state has at least one temple to them within.

There're many stories that the people tell about these six gods; Vrei creating human kind from the dust on her back after a day of hiking, Fihr blasting the Snanswa range in half in a fit of anger and creating the desert beyond, Zahir and the witch who stole the moon, but the most important and the one that shapes the city states even today is the tale of how the Ihatshara, or, the Devil Fruit came to be.

As the story goes, a creature, a great black serpent, captured Vrei when she settled down for the night. The snake wrapped Vrei in its coils and swallowed her whole.When the sun did not rise the next day, the other gods began to panic. The gods attempted to slay the beast themselves, but they lacked the power and the numbers to do so. So they turned to Vrei's own creations, the humans, to fill their army. The gods all contributed to the act; Saleem provided the knowledge, Zahir and Fihr provided the power, and Wana provided the container. Only Sa'ib refused to take part in the creation of the fruit, and that's why the power of the fruit is effect so strongly by the sea.

The fruit of the gods rained down on mankind and those who took it were given great power. They fought along side the gods and it was gods and man together who slew the great snake and ripped the sun herself from its insides.Even now, perhaps more than anywhere else in the world, Devil Fruit and their hosts are feared and respected above all others, because as the story goes, they are extensions of the gods themselves.

Government[]

Each city state is a bit different in terms of how they run things.

Suchos: Suchos is a trading city, exporting vast stores of tropical fruit to the rest of the world, importing spices from elsewhere, and the center of commerce for all of Ma'at.They have a Plutocracy, the city-state split into 6 sections ruled by the wealthiest and most influential families.

Djehuty: The patron city of Saleem, Djehuty is a place of higher education and a warehouse for knowledge. They have a Noocracy, in which someone studies for no less than 10 years before they are eligible to be seen to take up a place of rule. The ruler's term is set for life, when the previous ruler dies their bodies are cremated and a likeness of them is made as a Canopic jar for the ashes. These kings and queens of the past are set on shelves around the throne room so that the current king or queen, elected by their peers, can look to the jars for guidance.

Khnum: Khnum has a direct democracy in which people vote on new issues and laws that effect them directly. There is no one ruler, but a group of government officials that carry out the ruling of the people.

Anpu: The second largest of the city states, next to Suchos, Anpu has a representative democracy, in which they elect a leader every 5 years to represent their interests. This leader, their king, then deligates some of his duties to those of his compatriots who might have more knowledge on any given subject than he/she does.

Heru: The newest of the five states, Heru is less than five years old and is a constitutional monarchy. The king has approximately 20 members on his council, and decisions are made by a council vote. The 20 members are considered equal in this voting process, but the king is allowed five votes on any given issue.

Citizens[]

Bin'Yamin Dagher :Current king of the City-state of Heru