Jovu

Jovu the Shrewd was the King of Nomzamo from 614 AoVL to 668 AoVL. He often visited the Temple of the Rivers, thus he encouraged intellect and personality over displays of faith and war. His reign was prosperous and marked a great achievement for Nomzamo. He oversaw the construction of Nomzamo's lift system and rebuilt strained friendships with both Valthos and Heimark.
In 582 AoVL a young wizard's pupil named Ziyad visited Zulesh, and after seeing their lifts, conceived the idea of traveling above the trees on one. He imagined lines carrying people across the land, like riding the backs of couatl sky serpents above the canopy. His interests slowly shifted from magic to technology.
His family drew up the plans for a nationwide lift and cable system to enable safe and fast travel. After forty-one years of hard planning and figuring out how to efficiently engineer with the materials they had, presented their proposal to King Jovu in 623 AoVL. Jovu was blown away by the plan and ordered immediate construction, but not with the materials they had planned. Instead, he had an idea that gained him his title of "the Shrewd".
He spent a fortune in gold and favors to renew ties between Nomzamo and Valthos, nations who had been side-eyeing each other over mining rights for some years. He reached out to Heimark for blacksmiths, who fashioned much of the gearwork. Finally, and most expensively, he ordered a team of divers to mine the underwater meteor that lay in Fallen Star Cove, a massive hunk of xalinite. Dozens of divers died in this endeavor, but King Jovu merely honored their deaths and continued the operation. This xalinite was woven into the near-unbreakable cables that run through Nomzamo. The construction took over two decades.
As payment for their help, Jovu also had two gauntlets made from the xalinite. He gave the left one to Heimark and the right to Valthos in payment for their aid and as a symbol of strong, helping hands.
King Jovu finally saw the completion of his pet project in 644 AoVL. His nurturing of the mind and character helped ease tensions and repair friendships that had been broken during the reigns of previous kings. He was succeeded by his son upon his death in 668 AoVL.
Category:Characters
Category:Human