Of the four Samulian empires, Tuhet is perhaps the only one that deserves the term. In the south of the continent, just before it becomes steppe, Tuhet has expanded to the east and maintains a standing army against the steppe tribes that wish to do what the First Emperor did and conquer at least a part of the peninsular continent. It has also crossed the southern sea and conquered its other shore, penetrating deep into the desert. Internal exile into the desert outposts is a common sentence for dissidents.
The common epoch is the conquest of Ruotet, the capital of Tuhet.
Given the sheer size of Tuhet, let us concentrate on the onomastics of the majority ethnicity of the imperial center.
Given names are typically nature nouns or virtues, with the occasional kinship term e.g. Laker "sister". Flowers are typically gendered female, and strength male, but other than that, there is no universal rule as to the gender of the name's bearer. Some examples are:
Surnames come from original patronyms formed from bynames. (E.g. Chatol Hutar "Chatol the Joyful" -> Hutawuachar "Joy's son" -> Hutach "Joyson".) Wuachar "son" has been shortened to -wach, -ach, or often simply -ch, when used as a suffix.
Other major naming schemes include:
Zlas (Northern border with Zlas)
Chuharah (Western coast)
Qiatskeb (throughout the peninsular heartland)
Island Dabrı (bay between Tuhet and Chuharah)
Eut (Northern border with Eut)
[unnamed Samulian language] (Eastern reaches, near the steppes)
[unnamed Eutian language]
[multiple related languages] (Desert holdings on the Southern continent)
One will commonly see hybrid schemes: very commonly, the surname will be a non-Tuhetian one, and the given name Tuhetian: Ietot Eyabayoi (even for a woman), Rihat Kuwk.
One might also see an adaptation into the Tuhetian surname scheme: Ietot Eyach, Rihat Kuwach; Sepot Choppuch (Qiatskeb čöppu "hill"), Uochal Holmoch (Dabrı ǧolmo "village").
The imperial family claims descend from the First Emperor and the divine mares Tuawol, Lael, and Kuol. The Emperor symbolically marries a golden bay divine mare as his Empress on the dawn of the spring equinox following his enthronement. (The spring equinox is symbolic of the beginning of the Sun's dominance over night, auspicious for the beginning of a reign.) In case the previous Emperor died on the spring equinox, or rarely otherwise, the Emperor may instead marry a black divine mare on the dusk of the autumn equinox following his enthronement. If the omens from the previous foaling season have been bad and the Emperor is feeling ambitious, he may also marry a gray divine mare at midnight on the full moon closest to the winter solstice, though this is rare and was last reported to happen some 450 years ago.
In addition to the official Empress, the Emperor maintains a harem of women from all corners of the Empire, in addition to occasional diplomat or treaty wives from neighboring or client states. There is a rank structure where women can be promoted within the harem, typically for contributions to the arts, but sometimes simply due to favor and bearing a son.
The dynastic surname was first Ruachech, but in 1699, they were usurped by a cadet branch that changed the surname to Tuawoch. The heir by custom holds the surname of Laech.
On the spring equinox at dawn, the man who would become the First Emperor was performing libations for the Sun, all alone, for his people had fallen under the thrall of foreign gods. As a reward for his dutifulness in providing the Sun with food and drink on its daily journey, the Sun came down in the form of a horse, Tuawol.
Astride this divine horse, the First Emperor rode to his people. They fell to their knees before Tuawol's radiance and begged for forgiveness for the error in their ways. Tuawol spoke, "Lo! Follow this man into battle and conquer for him all my rays touch," and all the First Emperor's people did just so. Once they had conquered the lands to the mountains in the West, Tuawol bore the First Emperor a son as thanks, then rose back to the skies.
When the Second Emperor had inherited the Empire, At dusk of the autumn equinox, he performed libations to the setting Sun, asking it for advice, when behind him he heard a voice say: "Lo! I am Lael, the other side of the day, and I have come to your aid."
He turned and saw the Night, come to him in the form of a horse. And with Lael he rode out, cold frost erupting from her hoofprints, devouring the crops of those who did not bow to the Sun. Together they stormed through the pass in the mountains, conquering all the grasslands beyond, and then had a son, before Lael returned to the Night.
Yet the people beyond the grasslands still remained, and they, and the conquered peoples, with their false gods, did not wish to worship the Sun. The Third Emperor despaired, and at midnight on the winter solstice, he was performing libations for the Sun's rebirth, when the full moon leapt down from the skies in the form of a horse, who said, "Lo! I am Kuol, that which waxes and wanes and eternally changes, and I have come to change these lands."
The Third Emperor and Kuol set out, and the armies of Ruotet fell before them, and they rode through the eternal city of Ruotet victorious. Thus the Empire of Ruotet became the Empire of Tuhet, and the Third Emperor made it his capital, erecting three large shrines to the divine Tuawol, Lael, and Kuol. As thanks, Kuol bore him a son, before returning to the skies.
While the state religion recognizes divinity only in the Sun and things created by the Sun (the Emperors, divine horses), in practice it is less monotheistic than henolatric: as long as subject peoples worship the Sun (Tuawol) as divine, as well as the night (Lael), the moon (Kuol), the First Emperor, the Second Emperor, the Third Emperor, the current Emperor, and divine horses in general, they are free to additionally worship their own, native gods. (Which of the first three emperors is considered most important to venerate depends on current imperial fashions.) This will include native forms of worship of the native Sun god(s) (assumed to be a misinterpretation of Tuawol/the imperial Sun god), as well as other, unrelated gods.