Jinifarian Caliphates
The caliphates of Jinifar were military organizations run by noble families. They constantly competed with each other for the sultan's favour.
The caliphates were rules by Jinifarian lords known as the caliphs. Caliphs were extraordinarily wealthy, but more akin to businessmen rather than military generals. They sought to curry favour with the sultan in order to amass power and wealth. The primary method of garnering this favour was by offering their soldiers--the cataphracts--in the service of Jinifar's royalty at a good price.
During Jinifar's earliest days, dozens of caliphates were spread throughout the Kaktis Desert. As time went on, many caliphates began to merge in order to increase their political influence. By the time the Demon Wars began, two poignant caliphates were the main contenders for power within Jinifar--the Astral Caliphate and the Steel Caliphate.
While the main battleground between these two caliphates was in Jinifar's courts where spirited debates raged, multiple instances of inter-Jinifarian wars have transpired as a result of escalated hostility between caliphs. The escalation of a disagreement into armed conflict also depended on the sultan of Jinifar at the time. Some sultans viewed these civil wars as entertaining, encouraging the conflict if only to watch (until the stability of the kingdom came under threat). Other sultans preferred to quell the spats in order to maintain order throughout Jinifar.
The Jinifarian caliphates were largely wiped out during The Pharaoh's conquest of Jinifar. One by one, the caliphates' strongholds were overrun by undead forces, and every living caliph was taken prisoner before being executed by one of the Pharaoh's Dead Sand Lectors.
Astral Caliphate #
The Astral Caliphate and its astral cataphracts clung to tradition and the ancient ways. It was comprised of many united caliphates that merged hundreds of years ago, and its caliphs were given epithets like "Wise", "Peacemaker", "Learned", "Teacher", or "Firm".
The Astral Caliphate held the belief that the cataphracts were the greatest soldiers in all of Legere--or at least, in all of Hohm. To them, the esteemed warrior myth of the cataphracts was something to be proud of and embraced. The Astral Caliphs placed great emphasis on the arts and history, claiming that half of what made their caliphate so powerful was their meticulous documentation of events and their wondrous artwork that depicted the past and inspired future heroes of war.
Astral Cataphracts were recognizable by their ornamented armour, which was usually embellished with bronze fittings and painted with elaborate accursed cacti resin patterns.
The Steel Caliphate saw the Astral Caliphate as an echo chamber of men stuck in the past, wasting time on fanciful things that didn't meaningfully fortify Jinifar's strength. They commonly criticized the Astral Caliphs of wasting the resources granted to them by the sultan on frivolous art and meaningless decor. Time set aside by the Astral Caliphs for meditation, ceremony, and other rituals was seen as time wasted--time which could be used to hone the skills of their cataphracts.
Steel Caliphate #
The Steel Caliphate was a council of pragmatists and progressives. They saw that the military landscape of Legere was changing at an exponential rate, and the cataphracts of Jinifar must change too. The Steel Caliphs come from a smaller pool of noble families, but these families are just as old and reputable as the many who comprise the Astral Caliphate. Caliphs of the Steel Caliphate were given epithets like "Visionary", "Honourable", "Strong", or "Quick".
The Steel Caliphate looked to incorporate as many advantages into the cataphract arsenal by reaching out to other nations for technological and arcane advancements. They believed that the strength of other nations should be appropriated by the cataphracts in order to elevate Jinifar's military strength beyond any other lands'.
Steel Cataphracts wore simple, but well-maintained armour that was meticulously polished and waxed. While the Steel Caliphs saw basic ornamentation as a way of designating individuals or rank, excessive adornment (such as the type done by the Astral Caliphate's cataphracts) were unnecessary and wasteful. However, a warrior should take pride in their armour and keep it in the best shape possible--oftentimes, the less-embellished armour of a Steel Cataphract was more impressive to look at than the dusty, dull, unpolished-yet-heavily ornamented armour of an Astral Cataphract.
The Astral Caliphate viewed the Steel Caliphate as a dangerous group of liberals who could undermine the sovereignty of Jinifar's own sultan by introducing alien ideals which contaminated their external procurement of advancements. They commonly criticized the Steel Caliphs for their fraternization with "the enemy" (even during times of peace with neighboring nations), and would frequently throw baseless accusations at them for treason or harbouring foreign spies. The Astral Caliphate would also accuse the Steel Caliphate of hating Jinifarian culture due to their rejection of traditions that they viewed as vestigial.