As of 5/24/99
Ruler - King Manosh Ottre
Kingdom Population - Approx. 745,000 (Demi-humans included)
Capital City: ASHKUM
Population: 72,800
Demi-humans: Few (approx. 8%)
Humanoids: Few (approx. 6%)
Resources: Trade, foodstuff, cloth, military power, shipbuilding, lumber, slave trade,
rarities, precious metals, gems, fishing vessels and nets
Military Power (army):
2,500 light cavalry
16,000 regular infantry
Military Power (navy):
1,400 marines
1,100 sailors
40+ warships
The Kingdom of Aarenki is situated in the southern region of Western Glashia, with the Sea of Sorrow to the north, Sorrow's Pass to the east, the Sea of Heredia to the south, and the Independent State of Western Glashia to the west. Because of its location, the southern half of the Kingdom of Aarenki receives very little snow in the colder seasons of the year, thus allowing for great fields of foodstuff and cotton to grow nearly year-round, making Aarenki a major exporter of foodstuff to the rest of Western Glashia.
The old kingdom, neck-deep in traditions brought over from the Sembiac Empire by the first settlers and handed down for nearly twelve hundred years, is ruled by King Manosh Ottre, from the Aarenki's capital city of Ashkum, 
located on the northern coast and the Sea of Sorrow. King Manosh is a descendent to the first ruler of the Kingdom of Aarenki, King Tajhamosh Yaryrr Ottre, also known as Tajhamosh the Cruel, Tajhamosh the Mad, and Tajhamosh the Bringer of Death. Fortunately for the citizens of the Kingdom of Aarenki, the moods of the Ottre family have become somewhat benevolent over the past twelve hundred years, with King Manosh carrying the nickname of the Kinderman's King; however, he has also been known as King Manosh the Cunning and King Manosh the Corner-Eyed, for it is said that, during the signing of trade alliances with other nations or when dealing with a major trading cartel, King Manosh Ottre is constantly looking at all others out of the corners of his eyes, with a smirk on his face able to cut glass.
Relations between the Kingdom of Aarenki and the Kingdoms of Langington and Jordyen are comfortable, with a peace treaty scribed on paper between Aarenki and the two kingdoms, as well as dozens of trading alliances between the governing bodies of Aarenki and the Kingdoms of Langington and Jordyen, and those established with independent trading companies and cartels. Aside from having a huge foodstuff industry, Aarenki is also known for its cloth making and shipbuilding, as well as the smaller industries of cattle, lumber, and mining (primarily silver, copper, and gems). But all of this falls to the wayside when compared to the Kingdom of Aarenki's tremendous fishing industry. An untold number of fishing vessels sail the waters of the Sea of Heredia, the Sea of Sorrow, and the waterway connecting the Sea of Heredia to the Vast Sea, gathering scaled- and shelled-fish, as well as some of the more monstrous creatures that roam the waters surrounding the kingdom.
Aarenki is also known for Tajhamosh's Cage, a penal colony named after the Kingdom's first ruler, located along several of the larger islands that make up the Aarenki Isles. It is second in size to Langington's Orr-Natel--Dervatear for "guiltyman's bed"--located on an island in the center of Lake Gideon. But unlike Orr-Natel, where most of its prisoners are placed in a state of never-ending slumber through the powers of magic, Tajhamosh's Cage is a training ground for Aarenki's great army and navy. Persons found guilty of crimes punishable by being sent to Tajhamosh's Cage are given a choice: join the military, be sold on the slave block (slavery being legal in Aarenki), or die. Some say, though, that the rigorous training that takes place, and the verbal and physical beatings that go along with it are, in and of themselves, a form of death, and that seven out of ten of those who join the military are dead within a tenday, their last resting place being the feeding grounds of the great Heredian sealions that roam the coastlines of the Kingdom of Aarenki.
The second choice of a convicted prisoner sent to Tajhamosh's Cage is to be sold on the slave block in either the capital city of Ashkum, or one of the other larger cities of the Kingdom of Aarekni. Aside from the sale of slaves that goes on in some of the smaller territories of the Independent State of Western Glashia, the Kingdom of Aarenki is the only nation in Western Glashia that condones slavery and sells the lives of its convicted citizens freely. Fortunately for the slaves, as well as the treaties and trading alliances established between Aarenki and other nations, King Manosh is a benevolent ruler and controls the slaves and slave trade with a gentle hand. This is unlike the slavers of the Independent State, where a strong-backed Glashian is easier to sell than a well-fed cow.
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