The May’Kar Dominion recognizes two types of territories within its borders: The first are the Ukorates, riverine city-states that make up the heart of the Dominion. The second are the algari, peripheral lands from beyond the river’s reaches.
The Ukorates are highly developed and urbanized areas, grown by the Ukor River. Most areas that became Ukorates predate the Dominion, and even its previous iteration as the kingdom of Saresh, back from a time where independent Princes vied for control of the region. Those Princes that allowed themselves to be absorbed peacefully into Saresh during its campaigns of expansion kept their leadership and a degree of autonomy and independence, becoming vassal states. Those that resisted, however, had their leaders deposed and replaced with governors loyal to the crown.
The Prince-led Ukorates are able to maintain their own cultural and religious distinctiveness, traditions, and institutions. They’ve continued to evolve over the centuries independently of May’Kar, but also as subjects of it. Many of them are still ruled by nobility which trace their lineage back to the days of the city-states, and these nobles tend to be well-represented among the yazi, the Mahsai, and other prestigious administrative offices. The degree of autonomy to which these Ukorates enjoy varies; the southernmost Princes, by necessity due to their distance from the capital, have comparatively limited oversight over their actions.
Each Ukorate is permitted to keep its own small garrison of troops to defend itself and collect taxes, but is expected to commit the majority of its conscripts to the crown’s Army. They’re responsible for maintaining their own internal courts and enforcing their own laws, but are also obligated to leave all matters of interfaith disputes to the Mahsai, and are similarly obligated to build and maintain a Mahsai temple in their capitals so that its local judges and advocates might have a place to work from.
One major power that is expressly out of the hands of these Princes and governors is the power to manage or extract the water of the Ukor River. Instead, the crown assigns a magistrate to the region, who has the sole authority over such matters. Magistrates determine things like when and where canals, aqueducts, and water screws can be built; which areas get prioritized in times of drought; and are the only ones permitted to finalize trade agreements in which river water is bought or sold. Water is a major limiting factor in the expansion and upkeep of the Ukorates, and these matters are at the magistrates’ discretion, so most Ukorate leaders will do whatever they can to stay in their good graces.