A northern kingdom of Terath. Narovo is in recovering after falling to Typhon, the Father of Monsters, in late 212. There is a tension in this kingdom between the official ruling family of Narovo, and the tribal parthan war chief known as Pride Lord Firefoot.
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Important figures
Monarch: Kazan III: After the death of Kazan II, the present king took the throne begrudgingly. Kazan is a human with no interest in ruling. He is fond of social events, throwing parties, and tasting fine wines and exotic food. He has no understanding of politics and no particular fondness for politicians. He is perfectly contented to let the ruling council run the country while he makes appearances at public functions.
Hazara Mi’ere (parthan): Hazara is the leader and longest serving member of the ruling council of Narovo. Representing the interests of the large migratory parthan clans of the north, she has been the true power in the country for almost 20 years, although much of her authority has been recently subsumed with the recent rise of Pride Lord Firefoot.
Kurad Earthbrewer (dwarf): Representative of dwarven interests in Narovo, he owns large stakes in most of the northern mines and actively participates in trade relations with other nations, with Kazan’s blessing. Recently, he has vanished along with a considerable majority of the other Narovi Dwarves, in order to “Serve the Verdant Lord.”
Pride Lord Firefoot (parthan): Originally hailing from Lairroth, Firefoot fought lived in the Verdant Lord’s jungle for over a year, and emerged from the jungle to take up arms against the monstrous hordes that threatened Narovo during Typhon’s Invasion. Since then, he has risen to prominence and has taken a leadership role among the Parthan Tribes. A treaty with the ruling council of Narovo grants the Pride Lord the authority to strike down any proposed laws which effect the kingdom of Narovo as a whole.
Verdant Lord: The strange, enigmatic entity ruling over a vast jungle he has created in the formerly Unquenchable Desert in the far north, who he is and what his purposes are remain a mystery. He has vast power at his disposal and has taken to collecting “servants” among the parthan tribes and dwarves of Narovo, even going so far as to requisition the vast ritual component mines for his own uses. This has caused a shortage felt throughout the continent. His servant is a strange man named Kobayashi, whose origins and purposes are equally mysterious.
Domestic products
Ritual components, spices, nuts, various gemstones & geodes, sand.
Relations with other nations
The Ethlin Isles: The Elves of The Spire are not fooling anyone. The Narovi know very well that their independence was a “gift” given by the elves to essentially get rid of them. Relations with the elven kingdom are not violent, but are volatile and usually strained. Diplomats from the Ethlin Isles are actively trying to change this, as they very much covet the ritual components found in Narovo’s mines.
Everyone else: Everyone wants ritual components, and so everyone tries to keep relatively good relations with Narovo. Narovo generally does not get involved in external politics and acts xenophobic in regards to other nations.
Brief Summary of Culture
The ruling family of Narovo is human, but parthan make up most of the citizenry of the country. Because of the off-putting climate and insular nature of the parthan tribes, very little is known about the their cultural practices. Significant human and dwarven populations exist in the south of the country, along with all of the cities and permanent structures. These cities seem similar in nature to those found in Chindius or the outskirts of Ethlinspire.
The north of the country, home to the migratory tribes, is almost a complete mystery. They willingly trade ritual components for both coin and mundane items, but generally snub magic items altogether. This may have something to do with the role of magic in the transformation of the land so many generations ago.
The ruling council is made up of representatives of the various races or tribes of Narovo. In ages past, the council was a body of advisors to the crown. However, progressive generations of the Severius line have shown little inclination or ability to rule, and the council has taken up the reins in their stead, carving out power where they can. This is in large part due to the machinations of Hazara Mi’ere, though the lack of reliable information about other members of the council does not preclude their importance in internal politics.
Ancient History of Narovo
Narovo, like the Kingdom of Chindius, was once a colony of the Elven Nation of Ethlinspire. Although thick and verdant rain forests blanket the far northern borders of Narovo, this land was not always split as it is now; between far northern jungles, midland desert tundra, and southern temperate zones.
The persistent rumor is that the potent alchemical and magical meddling of the Elves caused a rain of SkyFire that forever changed the face of the land many millenia ago. Ethlinspire has never confirmed or denied such an event, but whatever the actual cause, living things ceased to grow in the northern territories. Over the course of many centuries, Narovo became a part of what is known as The Unquenchable Desert.
Historic records show that the dwarven settlements and parthan tribes within this desert became part of a single Ethlin colonial territory, named Narovo, and controlled by the Elves of The Ethlin Spire. The elves used the territory of Narovo primarily as a source for the valuable prismatic gems that came from the dwarven mines, which they used to empower their magic.
Recent History of Narovo
Centuries ago, after an untold number of years as an Ethlin Colonial Territory, eventually the Elves of Ethlinspire granted the Narovi people full autonomy. This occurred shortly after the Kingdom of Chindius was also granted its independence by the elves, and was ostensibly done for the same reasons.
The elves argued that their claim over the Narovi people had been a stewardship, preparing them for independence, and not merely a means to gain access to Narovo’s valuable natural resources. However, most Narovi staunchly believe the elves were trying to cut their losses and dodge responsibility for the havoc they’d caused with their ancient SkyFire. This idea was only reinforced by the willing exodus of almost all elves from Narovo upon announcement of its separation from the Ethlin kingdom.
The southern city of Severius became the official capitol of Narovo, and many humans came from the other realms of Terath into the attempt to fill roles of leadership which had been so abruptly abandoned by the elves. To this day, the ruling family of Narovo is human, although parthan make up most of the citizenry of the country.
This had been the state of affairs for the entire history of the Narovo, until very recently. The appearance of an ancient and mysterious entity, known only as The Verdant Lord, has radically changed the countryside. The Unquenchable Desert in the far north was magically transformed in an unimaginably brief period of time, and now seems overgrown by an Impassable Jungle, bringing an end to the devastation of the Sky Fire.
A great number of the Narovi Dwarves, and many of the Parthan, travelled into the jungle to offer their service to The Verdant Lord, but otherwise life has changed very little in the southern cities of Narovo.
5 Things You Know
1) Narovi are fiercely loyal to family but are also fiercely competitive. A common saying, especially in the north, is “I and my brothers against my cousins. I, my brothers and my cousins against the world.”
2) Narovo is the least populous nation in Terath. Humans are also in the minority. It puzzles some that the nobility all seem to be human, but the prevailing theory is that the other races present in Narovo have their own hierarchies and care little for what the humans are doing. However, the recent rise of Pride Lord Firefoot seems to be altering the balance of power between the races.
3) Discoveries of ruined cities are commonplace in the desert; however, the city in question is as likely to have been abandoned 100 years ago as 10,000. Tomb raiders and archaeological opportunists abound within the borders of Narovo.
4) Narovo has always been a land which is rich with magical energies. In fact, the weather of certain regions within the desert seem to be directly connected to the use of elemental magic. A powerful breeze can heighten the power of wind magic, while fire spells cast in these regions are empowered during certain parts of the day. At night, ice magic is enhanced, while Sandstorms empower spells of stone and earth. Powerful hermetic elementalists (especially anti-social ones) often set up shop in these areas for research.
5) Elves of all kinds often face the sort of persecution in Narovo that other races find themselves confronting in Ethlinspire. A parthan from Narovo will almost always hold as much contempt for elves as they do towards their natural enemies, the orcs, often to the confusion of their Lairrothian counterparts.
