Malovazen

## Common Knowledge

Historians, especially those from Argider, Cotidia, Daugon, Faidor, K’vestem, Marujai, or even Duryem or the Sym’fadé Confederacy. might have read about the ancient Malovazen. This powerful nation of mostly humans collapsed after engagements with a nation whose name was lost (or was assumed too great to be forgotten), shattering into the nations of central northern Orelisle.

## Topography and Climate

Malovazen was a massive nation, which at its peak covered much of central orelisle north of what would become the Binturian forest. Most of the region was heavily forested or grasslands, with wide plains on the east and west edges and a large swamp in its center.

In modern terms, Malovazen covered most of K’Vesten, Daugon, Faidor, Taphran, the Aetorg Lands, Brogkt, and Cotidia, as well as large areas in Argider, Marujai, Duryem, and Dahaan Havazh.

## Population

At its height, Malovazen had a population of around 3 million. This massive group followed the following distribution:

* 60% Humans
* 20% Gnomes
* 8% Elves
* 7% Halflings
* 6% Beast-Folk
* 5% Dwarves, Pionus, etc.

## Exports and Trades

Ores, crafts, lumber, food, weapons, quarried stone, raw metals, grain, fine textiles, magic items.

Territory was large enough that there were not many large trends in occupation. Most were peasants in some fashion, some were craftspeople, and so on.

## Government

Malovazen went through various forms of government in its efforts to hold itself together, beginning as a loose coalition of allied clans, then transitioning to an absolute monarchy, and in its waning years moved towards an undemocratic constitutional monarchy.

## Military

Small standing army and a lot of local militias. Gradually increased in size as the government grew more authoritative.

## Social Hierarchy and Culture

As one of the longest-lasting and oldest nations on Orelisle, Malovazen’s culture has shifted in many different directions. In broad strokes, most of its history was characterised by a highly stratified society, not unlike the ones seen in its successor nations of Cotidia and Daugon. The head of state, usually a monarch, would grant power and land to wealthy and influential families, who had their own retinues of knights for protection and peasants for labor. Politics were dominated by an intricate web of family feuds and marriages, especially between the great houses of Argider, Daugon, and Faidor.

Magic was highly respected, and in the kingdom’s final years became an excellent path for social mobility and political dominion.

Malovazen had a vibrant spiritual life, which later rulers would grind into powder and destroy. Among their gods were the Celestial Spirits of the Heavens (later rediscovered by Taphran), the Terrestrial Spirits of the Elements (imported from Arlaven Glades minus Mar’nek), and the forbidden but powerful Pantheon of Fools (whose worship happened only in crisis, and even then only in whispers).

The oppression Malovazens would suffer under their tyrannical lords produced a strong culture of resilience and resistance, and a willingness to endure which persists in many parts of northern Orelisle today.

## Cities, Towns, and Villages

### Malovazen

Original capital city, home of the royal castle. Currently the capital city of Daugon.

### K’Vesten

Heavily-fortified swamp region, used as a secure fortress for monarchs and magisters in times of danger. Now formally recognized as the nation of K’Vesten.

## Alliances

Malovazen cared little for allies, but when it invaded Old Binturia during the Conduit War it allied itself with Aldenlied, Jericho, Gel’daf, and the United Delegacy Dominion of Oraefin.

## Enemy Countries

Malovazen considered any dissenters to their rule an enemy, and went to great lengths to eliminate or reconquer such parties. Such “dissenters” included the regions which would later be acknowledged as legitimate states named Argider, Cotidia, Daugon, Duryem, Faidor, Marujai, and Taphran.

Ancient familial divisions would sometimes tinge interactions between nobility, government officials, and mages, so in some ways Malovazen could be called its own enemy.

Near the end of its existence, Malovazen had a state-level policy of acerbic hatred towards Binturia and the Pionus. It also considered the dark elven population of the Underdark and early Sym’fade Confederacy an enemy.

## Historical Timeline

* C. 100,000 B.B. - 40,000 B.B. - Widespread Human Clan Wars
* 40,000 B.B. - 31,000 B.B. - Clans Argider, Faidor, Daugon become dominant human powers north of Binturia, still fight amongst each other with no clear winner
* 31,296 B.B. - 31,254 B.B. - Argider-Faidor war instigated by Daugon; Daugon builds up defenses and military while remaining out of conflict
* 31,245 B.B. - 31,233 B.B. - Argider and and Faidor forge an alliance dedicated to subjugating Daugon and taking their land & bounty, spend a decade building themselves up
* 31,233 B.B. - 31,149 B.B. - Clans Argider and Faidor go to town on Daugon, drive it into the deepest heartlands of heartlands
	+ Daugon asks Binturia for help, they say no (literally why would they care)
* 31,149 B.B. - Clan Leader prays to literally anyone who will listen to ask for help, and hears back from the Lorn Mother (Pantheon of Fools). Leader spreads info about the Pantheon of Fools throughout their clan
* 31,149 B.B. - 30,914 B.B. - Harsh bargains made with the Pantheon of Fools (especially Y’th) turn the tide for Daugon. Clan Daugon reclaims their lost territory, but others learn their secret when they try to press their advantage into other clans’ territories. Wars between the three powers continue, now with the added horrors created by the Pantheon of Fools
* 30,914 B.B. - Clans Daugon, Faidor, and Argider agree to a temporary ceasefire
	+ Too low on people, resources, money (or equivalent) to keep fighting, needed time to build back resources
	+ At the time, all three clan leaders expected to betray the other two, but by conspiracies against them or new leaders taking their place, the ceasefire holds
* 28,747 B.B. - 28,205 B.B. - Led by their goddess, all drow everywhere mobilize into a massive army hellbent on destroying and/or subjugating all other races in the world
	+ Daugon, Faidor, Argider forced into an alliance for self-preservation
		- Alliance also included most other human clans (Reclilt, Lumberel, Balaur, any smaller ones)
		- Notably not allied with Binturia
		- 3 nations act as powerhouse of tactics
	+ Referred to as the “Dusk War” by future historians in these regions
* 28,205 B.B. - 3 clans recognize that they work better together than against each other, formalize a peace at a city all 3 had owned at one time or another (but was at that time under Daugon’s control) called Malovazen. Referred to externally as the Malovazen Coalition
* 26,742 B.B. - 26,428 B.B. - After agreeing that organizing themselves into a proper nationstate kingdom was a good idea, clans engage in political maneuvering for centuries to make sure that their family is royalty (ensuring dominance over the others)
* 26,428 B.B. - Kakta Argider crowned first king of Malovazen
* 26,372 B.B. - King Aaru Argider falls ill and dies, elder daughter Dova Argider becomes Queen.
* 26,368 B.B. - Queen Dova Argider exiles her sister Philomela after she confesses to 18 different attempts to assassinate or otherwise render Dova incapable of ruling so she could take the crown
* 26,367 B.B. - Philomela returns from exile to make amends, but Queen Dova’s court goes mad and attacks her. Philomela is the only valid heir, so she is crowned Queen. It rapidly becomes clear that Philomela bewitched her sister and her court somehow, but anyone who accuses her of such meets a similar fate or is otherwise arrested.
* 26,339 B.B. - A clanless knight named Teyfar challenges Philomela’s rule, and somehow deflects her bewitching song and magic back at her and renders her mad. Teyfar is crowned King Teyfar Malovazen I by the leaders of the major clans.
* C. 22,980 B.B. - Based on celestial bodies visible from Temporis (ACTUAL constellations, not the Constellations in the Astral Plane), worship of the Celestial Spirits of the Heavens begins. Starts with Clan Faidor and spreads.
	+ Ran’Tao the Lion, Spirit of the Sun
	+ Randel’nar the Wolf, Spirit of the Moon
	+ Rik’Athir the Doe, Spirit of the Stars
	+ Syncretism w/ Arlaven Glades deities, leave these out For Now.
* C. 13,000 B.B. - Humanitarian crisis on western reaches of empire as Fyaeyoa erupts
	+ Devastates large regions
* C. 10,000 B.B. - To further magical knowledge for political purposes and to spy on their neighbors & populace, a Malovazen ruler formally establishes the body of the Malovazen Magisters: 13 powerful mages hand-picked by the ruler to act as magical advisors, consultants, military tacticians, master physicians, and anything else the royal family or kingdom at large may need
* C. 5,000 B.B. - Old Binturia extorts Malovazen for resources, especially mystical materials from Twyla Mirav, anything supposedly blessed by their gods, and anything at all magical. They do this once every hundred years, to the day
* 4,279 B.B. - Malovazen tries to resist the extortion, and attempts to invade Old Binturia. This does not go well, and they are immediately rebuffed.
* 4,259 B.B. - After twenty years of preparation, Malovazen tries to invade Old Binturia again, this time disabling the various wards around the nation keeping them out
* 4,212 B.B. - The Malovazen-Binturian war comes to an abrupt end when Malovazen agents assassinate the prince and his husband-to-be. The Binturian King, who had until this point been holding back to eventually break the invaders’ spirit by attrition, sends two of the nations’ most elite military squadrons, two airships, and all of his Mortal Mages to wipe out the invaders, drive them back into their territory, and then all the way back to their capital, just to show that they could. The gains the surging Binturians gained in a single month were returned to their respective owners, as a final taunting to Malovazen.
	+ It is during this time that the Magisters first hear about a potential power source for Old Binturia’s power
* 4,212 B.B. - 3,548 B.B. - Counter-invasion throws Malovazen into crisis, various factions break away from the main national government, especially along religious lines. In response, Malovazen king outlaws all god worship, seizes church/temple land, and has military comb through nation and destroy any religious icons they can find
	+ Resulting instability leads to further violations of human rights
	+ To protect the monarch’s safety, their home is relocated from the royal palace of Malovazen to a heavily-fortified region of swamp, called K’Vesten
	+ By 3,548 B.B., all public depictions and knowledge of all deities are eradicated. Some still worship in secret, but are very careful not to indicate so
	+ Celestial Spirits & Terrestrial Spirits, who would feasibly be progenitors by this point, drastically weakened, become almost powerless
	+ Pantheon of Fools is fine, their power isn’t based on faith
* 500 B.B. - After millennia of scrying, Magisters discover the source of Binturian power, an object (or a place?) called the Conduit. They summon a coalition of other nations averse to Binturia and inform them of this development
* 0 A.B. - Unified Aldenlied-Gel’daf-Jericho-Malovazen-Oraefin army storms Old Binturia
	+ Binturia Falls, the Beast is Born
	+ Armies are obliterated or otherwise routed
* 286 A.B. - Internal pressures cause the total collapse of Malovazen, rough approximations of ancient clan boundaries form, with three exceptions
	+ The dwarves of Duryem begin to defend their borders
	+ The family of House Taphran forms their own territory in the harsher northlands
	+ A confederacy of smaller lordships in the east, called Cotidia, decides they want to be left the hell alone
* 287 A.B. - 816 A.B. - K’Vesten uses military intervention and espionage to try and reconstitute Malovazen, successfully re-annexing the lands of Faidor and Daugon
* 2,069 A.B. - Stress of K’Vesten wiping out Meztec Empire causes them to lose Faidor and Daugon again
* 2,069 A.B. - 2,082 A.B. - K’Vesten tries to use military force to regain its lost territory in Faidor and Daugon lands, all former Malovazen nations form a temporary alliance to beat K’Vesten back
* 2,082 A.B. - Malovazen formally dissolved, nationstates Argider, Cotidia, Daugon, Faidor, and Taphran formally recognized by K’Vesten
* 9,763 A.B. - Daugon revitalizes the idea of Malovazen (but not its government) for propaganda purposes, mobilizing its nation towards reconquering “their” land.
	+ Partially a justification for the war against Taphran instigated by agents of K’Vesten

## Further Information

* Aetorg Lands
* Amageala
* Argider
* The Beast
* Binturia
* Brogkt
* Cotidia
* Dahaan Havazh
* Daugon
* Duryem
* Faidor
* Goddess of Serenity
* Humans
* K’Vesten
* Meztec Empire
* Northern Spirits
* Old Binturia
* Pantheon of Fools
* Sym’fadè Confederacy
* Taphran