Nosso Lar

The promised land known as "Nosso Lar", as stated in the Arundani religion, is populated by the Aruandans. These feather wearing, dark skinned tribal people used to live to the north of the peninsula, but when Renne, the exiled Azanneese princess, landed with her exile army, they got conquered and subjugated. 
That changed when Candomblé, their shaman elder, started a slave rebellion in the city of Moridan, leading his people to the subtropical lands to the south. Having somewhat rebuilt their society, they plan on reclaiming their ancestral home. 
It's said that an Azanneese envoy has landed in Nosso Lar, supplying the locals with arms and spies against the Blind Bastard.
The Aruandans love dancing in the demonic rhythm of their shamans, often indulging in "spirit orgies", as they call them, that they claim help reconcile a tribe and create spiritual unity between them. The Aruandans have developed a certain style of fighting, created in the slave pits of Moridan. This fighting style is disguised as a dance, and was instrumental in defeaing the Moridan guards during the slave rebellion.
== History ==
The aruandans have inhabited the northernmost side of the Great Norossor Peninsula for many millennia. They were one of the many cultures who fought for control of the region, since its geographically advantageous position meant great riches and prosperity for those who controlled the cities along the coast of the U’ritass Inner Sea and the Strait of the Dead Emperor. The aruandans kept a constant fight for the control of the region, not only against their neighbors, but also against foreign powers who sought to establish themselves in the area. The first one to really make itself felt in the area was the Kingdom of Gilgemash, who managed to control the northwest of the region, as well as a strip of land along the coast of the U’ritass Inner Sea. The gilgemashi managed to control the region for a long time, even managing to push back the khenomeric attempts of creating important colonies in the region. The only true colony the khenomeri managed to create, Avathornis (created three mere years before the Battle of Empires), was abandoned fifty years after its founding, to the point many historians forget they even were in the region.
As time passed, however, Gilgemash began losing control over the region, both due to inner corruption and logistical problems and due to the pressure from the local nations. By the year 1.230 ABE, the gilgemashi lost the few remaining enclaves they still had on the Great Norossor Peninsula. This led to an increase in the infighting between the local nations for control of the region, and it was in this state of disarray when the Azan Empire reached the region. By that time, the aruandans had become the strongest local power in the region, having defeated and absorbed most of the other groups in the region, which had given them quite a lot of influence and power. The azanese authorities, once they reached the Strait of the Dead Emperor in 1.302 ABE, knew that to control the incredibly profitable trade through the region, they needed to control both sides of the Strait of the Dead Emperor. And the sheer amount of problems that presented, from logistics to administration to diplomatic ties with Gilgemash (who still had interests in the region) meant that going to war with the aruandans was not an option.
This was a daunting task. The empire would not authorize any major military campaign in the region, due to the sheer amount of logistical and diplomatic problems bringing the army so far away from the central provinces would cause. It would also have to account for Gilgemash, a powerful kingdom who had been cut in two by the advance of azan towards the sea, and was waiting for an opportunity to reunite the nation once again, as well as retake the lands lost in the Great Norossor Peninsula. Finally, it would have to do all of that with the knowledge that any help from Nananikor would take too long to be of use (travelling from the Strait of the Dead Emperor to the capital would take more than a year), and thus it had to leave this task to men of absolute confidence. Men absolutely loyal to Azan who would not take advantage of the long distances to forge their own fiefdom. The emperor at the time entrusted this work to Nareses Batelios, a strange choice in the eyes of most of the imperial court. Nareses was a very old man, who had served most of his life as a high-level administrator, being an excellent bureaucrat and lawman. He was a eunuch, having been rescued from an illegal slave ring when he was a child, and given an education by the local priesthood, who noticed his abilities and sent him to the royal court.
In there, he had proven his capabilities time and time again, optimizing tax collection in the capital and helping the empire codify many laws. He had been the one who successfully organized the first census of the empire in 1.287 ABE, the biggest census ever done in the history of Giantstep. However, Nareses had never exited Azan, and many doubted he had the experience required for diplomatic dealings, let alone the arts of warfare if the worst-case scenario happened. And many thought that sending an old man to the region would be seen by both the gilgemashi and the locals in the Great Norossor Peninsula as a sign of weakness. He was quite frail, and needed the help of a pair of assistants to walk around. Still, the emperor entrusted the task to Nareses, and he began formulating a diplomatic plan of action.
First, he visited the araundans warriors, who, to the surprise of many, received the old man with great honors. The affable and gregarious nature of Nareses meant the chieftains of the araundans bonded quickly with the emissary of the distant lands. Plus, if they had sent such an old man to deal with warriors, he must be a great expert in the theory of war. He demonstrated his knowledge in the arts of war by helping the araundan fleet to fend off a series of attacks from the gilgemashi fleet, in an attempt of recovering a bridgehead in the region. Hiding as a native leader, he led the small araundan fleet to many victories, crippling the gilgemashi fleet and managing to create the illusion that the araundans threatened to capture the island of Moarnias, in the mouth of the Strait of the Dead Emperor. He then travelled to Gilgemash as the azanese ambassador to convince the gilgemashi king that, in exchange for respecting the strip of land Azan had gained through Gilgemash, he himself would go to the araundans and make them stop their attempts to invade gilgemashi territory. The plan worked, and Azan managed to secure the azanese strip to the eastern seas, as well as stopping the gilgemashi’s plans for the Great Norossor Peninsula, since their fleet had been battered against the araundans.
The araundans were thankful for the help, and this set the araundans as solid allies to the Azan Empire. Nareses further helped the araundans by counseling the chieftains to win their wars against the other nations, expanding through most of the northern Great Norossor Peninsula. Nareses offered the chieftains great gifts from the distant land of Azan, and began consolidating the araundans into a singular nation, all the while pulling the strings of who gained power and influence in this burgeoning kingdom. The last bit of maneuvering consisted in grooming a candidate for the throne of “Nosso Lar” (in araundan meaning “the promised land”), and made him accepted by all chieftains, warlords and leaders with influence in the region. Nareses then proposed to marry the future king with an azanese princess, an exquisite beauty and noblest of princesses, a daughter of the Emperor himself, sealing the bonds of eternal friendship and loyalty between Azan and Nosso Lar. In reality, Nareses had chosen for a king a man who, while in the outside looked imposing and decisive, in reality he was easy to persuade and to influence. In contrast, the chosen princess was a woman of tremendous character and political ambition, but highly loyal to Azan. The union between the two may have looked like the birth of a new country, but in reality, Nosso Lar had become a province of Azan, and all without shedding a drop of azanese blood.
The work of Nareses did not stop there. During the rest of his life, he created an extensive administration in the region, well aware that the province’s biggest threat was its long distance to the empire. A cut of communications was thought to be something inevitable, and thus Nareses prepared the region needed to be self-reliant, as well as loyal to the core to the empire. He pushed many reforms and public works that benefited the population immensely, gaining their love and trust, and since he brought many of those advancements from the distant lands of Azan, the araundans developed a real loyalty to the empire. Nareses also dedicated extensive efforts to create a system of education that would push azanese values and loyalties, all in the guise of freedom and prosperity. This included the education of the royal family, who needed azanese approval for a candidate to rise to the throne, and the academies gave all the information they needed to the azanese court about the potential heirs. By the time Nareses died of old age, he had successfully created one of the most prosperous provinces in the entire empire. As a reward for the work done over a lifetime, the azanese emperor honored him with the creation of a colossal statue of him in Nananikor, statue that still stands to this day. He was buried in the capital of Nosso Lar, and a great library was created above his tomb to commemorate his contributions to the region. Even to this day, many araundans called their firstborn Nareses, in remembrance of the man.
During many centuries, Nosso Lar became wealthy thanks to the trade, and the land prospered. The need to organize and to defend the region brought many men and women from the empire, and it became an attractive for nobility to travel and settle, especially those young nobles who had little chance of inheriting any major title at home. This resulted in the expansion of the local aristocracy, who intermarried with local araundan nobles and chieftains, eventually creating a very powerful and influential elite. The administration set up by Nareses began struggling to control the growing influence of this new aristocracy, but it was still capable enough to hold the reins of power in the region.
In 1.910 ABE, the recently created Witchelven Empire began attacking the borders of the azanese empire. This would start a long period of crisis for the Azan Empire that would change the fate of Nosso Lar dramatically. The wars with the witchelven to the east and the drow uprisings to the west threatened the empire in a way they had not been before, and they began rerouting many resources to defend their borders, which included the defense of the strip of land connecting Azan with Nosso Lar. The region was frequently attacked by gökmavi raiders, who were resentful of the azanese for taking over the region, and the need to send men to the wars with the witchelven and the drow left the strip undefended. This caused problems in Nosso Lar, leaving the territory uncommunicated for years at a time. The region was not in danger, but the growing independence of the region fostered ambitions in the minds of many of the nobles. This became even worse once the Azanese Civil War started.
Nosso Lar fought in the war on the side of Azan, but its contribution was sparse due to the distances in question. Worse still, the changrilese collaborated with the gökmavi tribes to increase the attacks to the strip, finally blocking any land communication between Azan and Nosso Lar. Following the gökmavi, Gilgemash also took the chance to retake the lands of the strip of land in 2.141 ABE, leaving Nosso Lar to its fate. By the time the Treaty of Nefkin was signed 2.181 ABE, Nosso Lar had been left completely isolated. It still considered itself a part of the Azan Empire, and it’s a testament to the talent of the administration left by Nareses that this state of affair was maintained for nearly a millennia more, but slowly the land began fracturing. Many nobles saw this opportunity to carve their own fiefdoms exclusively for themselves. This became worse due to the religious problems in the empire, with the clash between the old and the new azanese faiths. The kings of Nosso Lar pushed for conversions to the new azanese faith, but many nobles refused, seeing this as an opportunity to push back against the influence of the kings of Nosso Lar and its administration. The nobility also pushed for a resurgence of the old aruandan beliefs, trying to present the new azanese faith as something antithetical to the region.
Slowly but surely, the region began fracturing. Many noble families began creating their fiefdoms, becoming de facto independent to avoid paying the increasing taxation. At the same time, many of the cultures absorbed by the azanese and the araundans began pushing back for independence. The inner crisis in the region was noticed by foreign powers, with Gilgemash beginning to extend their influence over the seas, weakening the Nosso Lar fleet. This, in turn, allowed for a resurgence of piracy in the area, with many pirates and bandits finding refuge in the fiefdoms of the corrupt nobility in exchange of a cut of the profits.
The downfall of Nosso Lar began in the city of Moridan. The city of Moridan was one of the most prosperous of the region, but over time, it had become twisted into a den of hedonism and corruption, rejecting the authority of the azanese administration while at the same time demanding protection from pirates and bandits. Moridan became particularly powerful once the Great War of the Gnoll caused waves of refugees to the region. Moridian crime sindicates and warlords were able to use the chaos and misery the sudden human influx to create private armies, taking over the city and the surrounding lands. Soon enough, Moridan started fighting against the rest of Nosso Lar for control of the region, weakening both sides immensely, all while gnoll sea raids began weakening the remains of the Nosso Lar fleet. Nosso Lar managed to push back the moridan criminal families, which caused an internal war in the region.
The moridan fights were ended with the arrival of an unexpected power. In 3.132 ABE, a mysterious woman calling herself “the heiress to Azan”, Renne of Azan began beating the gangs into submission, using the force of her words, her charisma and her gökmavi mercenaries. She quickly took over Moridan and organized a force of pirates and bandits to take over the region. Her success pushing back the gnoll sea raids and a surprising victory against the gilgemashi fleet managed to cement her position as the most powerful warlord in the region. The fragmented kingdom of Nosso Lar could not stop her from conquering the region, with her armies invading from land and sea and many subverted groups dismantling the nation from within. The resisting araundans were given an offer to submit or be enslaved, but they refused to acquiesce. The defeated araundans were enslaved by the recently created Blind Bastard’s Domain.
The araundans became enslaved to Rene’s will. This was a particularly bad pill to swallow, since she claimed they were the traitors, as she represented the true authority of Azan, and their resistance was only a show of insubordination. In 3.152 ABE, a slave rebellion leaded by the shaman Candomblé, successfully triumphed in Moridan, freeing thousands of slaves and burning half of the city. However, after the slave revolt could not take over the city, they decided to march south, searching for a place to fortify against the pirates, and freeing further thousands of araundans in the process. In 3.154 ABE, they founded an undefended enclave to the north of the Destert of the Weariest, which they named “Nosso Lar”, and began rebuilding their society. They swore an oath to retake their lands from the pirates and from the false heir to the throne of Azan, and they continue to fight the Blind Bastard’s Domain to this day.
== Culture ==
=== Shark hunting ===
Shark hunting is a traditional, albeit dangerous fishing method practiced by the Aruandans of Nosso Lar. This practice was a developed in times when the soil of the Aruandans was poor, or when their swine and hens would fall dead due to sickness, leading them to pursue different ways to fill their bellies. 
The hunters would set out in the Lamaholot Sea using small wooden canoes that were suitable for seafaring. The leader of the hunting party, also known as the Shaman, The shaman would drop many bells tied to a rod in the sea, and would rattle them for many minutes. Inside the bells there usually is chicken meat that would release in the rich waters. This action would attract fish such as barracudas and swordfish near the vicinity of the hunters. As such, a shark was sure to follow shortly after.
When a shark is sighted, a dead fish tightened to a bamboo rod is used to entice him into a noose which is attached to a curved stick. The noose is pulled tightly and the shark is clubbed to death.
This hunt is used as a rite of passage into adulthood for many tribal Aruandans. The young boy that participates in the hunt is usually escorted by an older member of the tribe, and in order to pass the test, the boy has to kill the shark bare handed, not being permitted to use a club or a knife.
When a shark is killed, its oil and blubber is extracted and sold, while the meat is used in a big feast, where the Aruandans thank the mother of the seas for their catch.
The biggest sharks in the Lamaholot sea are Clubheaded sharks. These predators are by far the riskiest prey, and only the most experienced and boldest hunters undertake the task of hunting them. Some Clubheaded sharks can even reach the size of a big cannoe, and thus the most viable option of killing one is through cooperation of many hunters at once that occupy several different cannoes.
=== Shark Riding ===
Even though most sharks are hunted by the Aruandans, the whale-shark (known as "Segara" in their language) is not seen as prey or food, but rather as a sacred creature. The whale shark is so respected that the banner of Aruanda (or, as it's commonly called now, Nosso Lar) is a whale-shark surrounded by colourful feathers on a light blue background.
When travelling by cannoe, it's typical of an Aruandan to carry with him a small cage filled with prawns. If the cannoe is capsized, destroyed, or the person is somehow stranded, he'd release the prawn cage in order to attract a nearby whale shark, as it's the only species of large shark that's attracted by the scent of these particular species of prawn. In less than an hour a whale-shark usually appears and surfaces in order to consume the bait.
Then, the Aruandan would use this opportunity in order to jump on top of the whale shark's body. The shark then thinks that the human will help it get clean of parasites - as many fish do - and for that reason alone it stays barely submerged, allowing for the person to hold onto its dorsal fin while travelling for dozen of kilometres on its back. The ride stops when the whale shark gets tired, who then dives to the depths in order to feed again.
Even though whale sharks are docile towards humans, this practice is only meant to use as a last resort, as even whale sharks are not immune to attacks by colossal aquatic animals, such as giant squids, rhino whales and other, more eldritch creaures.
Category:Nations
Category:Giantstep