Located on the southwest shore of the Caragan Sea in what is now part of the Three Kingdoms and Selcaria, the Indus was a human nation that thrived before rise of the First Irillian Empire. Still astride the major east-west trade route as well as controlling the best ports on the western shore of the Caragan gave the Indus control over the price of many goods. This made the Indus people very wealthy and the envy of their neighbors.

The Indus started as a small religion who believed that their god-king embodied true divinity. This religion was centered around the port city of Indus from whence it took its name. The first god-king was a man named Yilm, who stood as a giant among men in the city. After a disastrous fire on the docks killed dozens of works, Yilm and his followers took to the streets to spread their beliefs. Within two years Yilm had overthrown the king and declared himself the true god-king of the Indus. As followers flocked to his banner he looked upon his neighbors lands with desire.

For ten years Yilm led his army in battle against the cities around him. Several times his followers fanatical devotion carried the field even when they lost the battle. No city could stand against a people dedicated to serving their god. Entire cities surrendered just seeing him army on the horizon. At the end of ten years the holy land of the Indus stretched around the entire southwest of the Caragan. The war would have continued except that Yilm fell sick and ten days later died. For this reason the Indus never again expanded their borders as Yilm had determined its true holy nature.

Although the expansion of the Indus stopped the desire for new goods from its people continued to grow. Newly ennobled people controlled much of the land and its wealth and they wanted their goods to reflect this wealth. Those with great wealth were truly blessed by the god-king, which drove nobles to compete with each other to see who controlled the most wealth. Thus these large landowners sent their men into other lands to trade for never before seen goods.

As the city-princes gained in power, the Indus grew wealthy and even commoners often were able to afford things what were unheard of in other lands. As the Indus grew increasingly wealthy everything became increasingly expensive, which meant that the merchants were being forced to pay higher and higher taxes.

Things would have stayed this way until the system collapsed except that an Irillian merchant named Valpis founded the trading port town of Valparia due north of Indus territory. Although it was several days journey from the large Indus markets, the low wharfage and hawking fees meant that many traders began using that town for all east-west trade.

As the Irillian port city of Valparia grew, the fortunes of the Indus waned. The people had grown wealthy from controlling the largest ports on the Caragan and the southern trade routes. The large trade ships of the Irillians were able to sail the entire breadth of the Caragan safely in all but the worst storms. Because of this they no longer needed to use the southern overland route. Villages that grew wealthy along this trade route suffered.

Atahscar, the god-king at the time, heard the plight of his people and vowed to destroy the city of Valparia and push the Irillians from the western shore. With his people in control of the port, the Irillians would have to capitulate or suffer a complete cessation of all trade. Furthermore his advisers assured him that Bzynathim would surely support such a move as they had also suffered as the Irillians tightened their control.

The Irillian army was strong and in order to ensure victory Atahscar bargained with Nokhask, the leader of a tribe of orcs driven further north by the Irillians. The orcs were promised gold and a large number of Irillians as their prizes. In the end the Indus, supported by a large number of orcs and Bzynathim mercenaries attacked Valparia. The Governor of Valparia was foolish and had most of his army scattered over his lands, thus the city fell with little resistance. Its wealth was plundered and many of its free populace given over to Nokhask's tribesmen.

Unthos Maximus, the Irillian Emperor, was incensed at this betrayal, but it was the turning over of Irillian citizens to the orcs that fueled his rage. In response to the attack, Unthos had the entire household of the Indus consul hung and their bodies left to rot. The consul was gelded and had his eyes plucked out before being allowed to return home. Three legions where raised (II Valparia, III Valparia, and IV Valparia) and immediately marched on Indus.

The Irillian Army took no prisoners as each village they passed through was put to the sword. Crops were burned and livestock killed and left rotting in the sun. The Indus received no help as the Irillian Navy landed north of Valparia cutting them off from Nokhask's tribesmen. Surrounded and with no hope of defeating the Irillian Army, Atahscar tried to end the war on peaceful terms - but it was far too late for negotiation.

With the sacking of Ind-yauri, the Indus capitol, and slaying of Atahscar the destruction of the Indus was complete. The smaller villages that escaped the wrath of the Irillian Army was all that remained of an entire civilization. The II and III Valparia were immediately dispatched to regain full control over the Denarius providence. The IV was divided into its centuries and given the task of hunting down any stragglers until nothing remained of the Indus. This took three years, but in the end the entire civilization was destroyed.

Religion and secular life is so tightly intertwined in Indus society that the men that govern the daily affairs of the people are chosen by the god-king. The nobility are granted this right by the god-king until a new god-king is chosen - or the head of the noble family commits a sin against the god-king. When a new god-king reaches his tenth birthday each of the heads of the noble families, and other family heads seeking ennoblement, present themselves before the new god-king to receive his blessing. Those blessed have their blood ennobled while those rejected are killed. Often those seeking the blessing bring great gifts to present to the god-king to show their fealty to him.

The nobility are responsible for the daily life of the Indus. When they are ennobled they are given lands to oversee and have complete control over that land as they serve in the name of the god-king. When the male head of a family is ennobled all male children as likewise considered ennobled as well; although only the head of the family is granted land. It is rare for a new god-king to refuse an existing noble family as this would cast doubt upon this predecessor. Instead they are more likely to show disfavor by ennobling another family and granting them most of the others' land. Anyone ennobled must have land, but it can be little more than a hand-spans bit of land at the bottom of the Caragan.

The children of the god-king (god-child) are considered noble upon birth. These children are not granted lands, but instead to serve their father in overseeing the nobility. These children resolve disputes between nobles, act as consul, and lead the Indus warriors into battle. A god-king with too few children often has to claim other children as his offspring in order to fulfill these tasks or risk the nobility gaining too much independent control.

A god-king that has too few children to perform all the tasks required can raise someone to the position of vis-churi, which means like my child. This allows someone to serve in the same position as one of his children without being his direct issue. Often these children are chosen from his uncles and cousins, but the god-king can raise anyone to vis-churi.

The priests stand outside of the government structure. They serve the god-king and act as his closest advisers. They are not considered ennobled and in fact have no family, existing only to serve their god-king. However, they often times have more control than any noble or god-child for the simple matter than during the god-kings first ten years they were the only ones, other than the predecessor's priests, to see the god-king. This creates a strong bond between a god-king and his priests. Because the god-king must stay within his palace it is left to his priests to travel the lands and inform him truly.

The Indus economy relied on three large factors. The first was its trade in sheep and grains, the second was as the largest marketplace around the Caragan Sea, finally it enjoyed a monopoly on much of the trade of dwarven goods. Given that the land was self-sufficient in most raw materials it was able to trade most any good in demand.

The monopoly on dwarven goods is of particular interest in that it was sponsored by a single clan. The Hammerzeit Clan was not the largest dwarven clan, but they were successful merchants for many generations. They entered into contracts with many of the larger clans to sell their goods in lands far from their dwarven homes. This clan favored the Indus because their god-king at the time offered them the best deal. They paid far less of a business and hawking fee in exchange for the exclusive ability to sell dwarven goods. While it is true that the Hammerzeit clan sold exceptionally expensive goods elsewhere they kept to the deal enough that the Indus thrived.

Known as the Indian Road, this major east-west trade route connected Irillian Empire, Pah, Indus and Bzynathim; allowing trade to flow quickly. As most of the road traveled through Indus and that it was centrally located the Indus markets became a central point where western traders and eastern traders met. The god-king wisely understood the benefit of trade and thus was loathe to do anything to disrupt it. He would interfere when the merchants grew too complacent, but he would let his children deal with the daily affairs.

Main article: Indus Religion

At the center of the Indus religion was the god-king figure. This figure served as both the head of state as well as the primus of their religion. The god-king was the body of a mortal man whose spirit descended from the heavens to rule the Indus. The god-king had absolute power over the Indus. The children of the god-king were considered to be doubly-blessed and spoke with authority on those matters the god-king would not. For this reason the god-king would mate with any woman that he desired, regardless of her current position. The fortunes of the Indus was believed to rise and fall as counted by the number of children the god-king fathered.

Upon the death of the god-king all of his surviving children and all woman carrying his child where gathered before the great temple where their father was buried. At sunrise of each morning one child, starting from the oldest, was killed, which was followed by a festival. When the youngest child was killed, often a woman who just quickened, the Indus mourned the passing the god-king. At the next sunrise the male children of all nobles born within the last year would be gathered around the temple. The priests who served the god-king would pass among them and find the one who now possessed the spirit of the god and thus would be the new god-king. Each priest would then select their replacement from among the other children. All of the other children would be killed and burned so that their false blood would not harm the true people.

For ten years the priests will rule the Indus and see to the new god-king's upbringing. On the morning of his tenth birthday a Grand Festival is held to welcome his reign as the new god-king. This festival lasts until the night of the new moon. On that dark night everyone gathers around the tomb of the old god-king and pray as the priests seal themselves inside. This solemn moment marks the start of the rule of the new god-king and the priests that serve him.