Khartur: It's origins,

As seen in the ending of E Thabelledrin (The Book of the First Days):

[quote]
“And now I give you a promise and a commandment, and all who believe in him who is to come must obey the commandment an they would be blessed by the promise.
“The world will soon be changed, so that you will not know it at all. The sun will rise in the east and go to rest in the west. Look into the rising sun, and north will be on your left hand, south on your right.” [For before the changing of the earth there was no south and east and west and north; for there was no sun, because Ainatar was their light.] “And the commandment is this: go from where you stand when the earth is stilled again, and travel to the east until in the south is a great sea, in the north a dry desert, in the east a range of tall mountains; west and north a sea ringed all around by land; west and south a forbidding mountain with two heads standing alone on a plain by the sea. In that place, in the midst of all these things, and in no other, make a kingdom for my name.
“There you will find my servants, and they will teach you my commandments and statutes, and you shall follow their words.
“And this is the promise: If you shall obey my word that I speak to you today, and make a kingdom for my name in the place that I have told you, and pay heed to all the words that my servants there shall speak to you—then I shall bless you richly and cause you to prosper in the face of your foes and to defeat them when they come against you. And yet more, for when decay takes your body, your soul shall come to commune with me in blessedness and holiness, if you truly believe in Him who is to come.
“But if you do not obey my words, cursing shall follow you wherever you go and in all your endeavors. And if the kingdom you raise up for my name falls away from my service, it shall not stand.
“But there shall always be some who remain true to me; for I am with those who are with me.”
Then Ainatar ceased speaking for a moment, and the Min rose up again. Some then turned wholly back to Ainatar again, but the greater part did not. And they saw the Min that Erag had trampled in his haste to get him gone from there, and perceived that they were dead. And it was a great sorrow to many, for this was the first death to come upon them. But it was not the last.
Then Ainatar called the Attar to come, and they came from around the Min and stood by. And the Min stood all around them still, not knowing what to do or where to go. Ainatar spoke a word more to them then, and his voice trumpeted through all the land, and they all—Min and Attar alike—felt Ainatar’s power.
“The changing of the world is come, and we go to a place prepared beforehand where you will see us no more, neither my glory nor the brightness of the Attar.
“Let the curse fall upon this world! We go!”

And as he said the words, there was a great shaking of the earth, so that all the Min fell down for fear and because of the shaking of the earth. But where Ainatar was, and the Attar around him, the ground was firm as rock. Then a bright flash of light, blinding and awe-full, burst forth more bright than lightning from the earth to the heavens where Ainatar and the Attar were. And when the Min looked again, they were gone. And darkness fell upon the earth.
Then the earth split outward from the place where Ainatar had been, and like rays of gloaming darkness cracks widened and divided the earth into pieces. And the Min, standing on the earth, were divided also. But the family of Aimen, who had turned again to Ainatar when He spoke to them, was not divided, and on one great piece of land they stood together, but in great fear.
And after a time, which seemed weary and long to the Min, because of the tribulation of the earth, amid the darkness arose a light: silvery and slight, and it was round in the sky, and went from the horizon to the heights of heaven, and down again to the other horizon. And many of the Min who had not turned again to Ainatar worshipped the light, for it was like Ainatar when he dimmed his light. And though they knew it was against his will, still they worshipped the light, and called it Muin-eltareth, or simply Muin. And the earth did not cease its shaking all that time.
But when the light of the heavens, Muin-eltareth, had reached the horizon after its flight through the heavens, a light, strong, warm, and golden, brightened near where the silver light had gone down. And the Min remembered Ainatar’s words and called that way east, and the other directions by their names also. And as soon as this second light was fully above the horizon, too bright to look at in its golden fury, the earth ceased it’s shaking, and the lands were brought together again, though different than they had been before.
And because the earth came together when this second light had arisen, many of the Min called this light Silna-minetheld, or simply Silna, and worshipped it also, and gave it much greater reverence than they had Muin-eltareth. Though because of Muin-eltareth’s gentleness on the eyes, some loved that first light the greater, and because it had risen when all other light was ceased. But others held that Silna-minetheld had ceased the earth’s travail and made all come together again in peace, and loved it better.
Yet the family of Aimen worshipped neither, for they knew that Ainatar had made them both; and worshipped Him for these new gifts of light to them. And they began their journey in accordance with the commandment that Ainatar had given unto them. And after many trials that happened to them by storms and fell beasts and quarrels with other Min, they came at last to that land which answered the description that Ainatar had given them. To the south, the great sea, which they called Tiulesper; in the north, the desert, and they gave it the name Faor; and east were the mountains, and they called them Varagrim. North and west was the inland sea, which they called Kargoluk. South and west was the lone mountain with two heads on the plain by the southern sea. They called it Varkaldi.
And they met the servants of Ainatar there in that land, who called themselves the Rhosdel. A little people, like men, yet very much smaller; and they climbed mostly in trees, and lived in secret underground, and did not show themselves often, except at first, when they gave the family of Aimen the words and commandments of Ainatar, and wrote them for them in books. These books Aimen and his family copied, for they learned to write as the Rhosdel, for that they were Ainatar’s servants.
And there were another type of these servants of Ainatar, who called themselves the Dulrattin, and they had great beards, and came seldom out of their caves under the earth, where they smithyed many things of great beauty.
And the Rhosdel drew out boundaries for the kingdom that they were to set up there in that land, and crafted a great golden crown, and crowned Aimen to be the first king of that land, which they called Khartur. In later time, the region in which Khartur lay was called Bhursaht.
And Aimen and his family had many ata, so that they were greatly prospered. And they followed the commands that Ainatar had given to them through his servants the Rhosdel, and were blessed. The kingdom, Khartur, grew great and strong when the other families of the Min, who did not do as Ainatar had commanded, were only beginning to establish themselves upon the new earth in other places.

This is the end of E Thabelledrin; yet what the Rhosdel taught unto Aimen and his family is written hereafter in other books.
[quote]

I'll give you more about Khartur, it's governmental structure and etc., at a later date.

Areth,

Ka

The philosophical/theological foundation of Khartur, as opposed to the cultures around it, is very strongly centered on the strength of community. But not just any type of community.

Kharturi community is Ainatarist.

Ainatarism is the belief that Eos created men to exist in familial communion with Himself and with other humans (Ainatar brings to mind God's fathership). The rules of such communities are revealed in the words that Eos revealed in the Kharturi Scriptures (the first book of which is E Thabelledrin).
Essentially, an Ainatarist believes that there is no true, lasting strength in any community that does not base it's communal horizontal unity on individual vertical unity with Eos, and which does not follow His rules.

All other cultures are bound to fall. But true Ainatarism will remain forever. No other culture can destroy it, no other culture can approximate the unity and communion that Ainatarists enjoy, and no other culture can hold the true (spiritual) power that Ainatarist communities have.

In a broad sense, all the books in the Tales of Khartur series show the superiority of Ainatarist community (which is really just a different way to say the church ). Different philosophies about community and the source of strength and etc. rise up from outside and inside to destroy Khartur, but despite it all, Khartur survives (or, more specifically, Ainatarism).
There are many other aspects of Ainatarism, but this is the main culturally distinguishing feature of it.

Because Ainatarism has an intensely religious foundation, the priests are very important figureheads of society. However, because Ainatarist communities focus on the familial aspect - the local priest pretty much has the greatest power over (a small portion of) the people themselves. There are higher-ranking priests, but they do not have much of a hold on the people. They would be more concerned with keeping Ainatarist doctrine true to the Scriptures, dealing with heretics, judging conflicts between communities.

Thus, the civil sphere is (in the original design of things) confined to administering punishment (as well as punishments handed down by priests upon spiritually wayward members of the community), and international affairs (treaties/protecting the nation from outside threats). To support the king (and council) in these things, there is a standing army.

Now. This is Kharturi society (aka Ainatarism) as it is supposed to be. There's not really any time that it's really that way, especially when the first novel in the series begins, which is right now just a plot.

But anyway, that was fun. I always kinda wondered how exactly Ainatarism worked. I mean, there's still a bunch to go through, but this is the basic framework.

Areth,

Ka