La Cavalcade

The following was penned by Balven Flitmore, Tedorian Professor Emeritus of Archaeology, in 549 AF.

La Cavalcade is sea-faring nation, made up of mostly islands and coastal locations. Helmed by the Grand Preneur, who oversees his Preneurs and Preneusses, La Cavalcade is governed from the Soggy Court.

## La Cavalcade

### Fractalization of the Region

The history of La Cavalcade is a complex one; its historically chaotic successions often have resulted in complete erasures of the legacies of past regimes, and its diverse cultures rarely band together for long enough to facilitate serious academic progress. Nonetheless, there are some histories that are generally agreed upon by the region's multifarious populations and their more civilized neighbors. These histories have been recorded here for posterity's sake.

It is generally accepted, in both Canoit and Flonlaide, that the islands that make up La Cavalcade once comprised a single contiguous landmass adjoined to the rest of Torrovion, though largely isolated by the Ghrondashii mountain range. It is unknown how this landmass was referred to, and modern academics struggle to agree upon a name; most frequently, academic texts refer to it as "Archaic Cavalcade" (which is often condensed to "Archaval"), but more progressive scholars refer to it exclusively in lizardfolk and Yuan-Ti tongues, which, due to their complexity, cannot be transcribed in this script.

Archaval existed well before the founding of Tedoria, and is expected to have reached its zenith alongside the First Miznir Sultanate, which is estimated to have occurred from 1300 to 1100 Before Founding. The civilization is believed to have been populated almost exclusively by what historians now refer to as the "Scaled Folk" (or, those who believe it offensive to label a culture by their appearance, "Archavalians"), a loosely-confederated nation of lizardfolk, yuan-ti, locathahs, kua-toa, and similar races, each frequently at war with each other; Tedorian archaeologists contend that the Scaled Folk only banded together when facing threats from what they deemed to be "foreign" invaders, such as the Wilderfolk from the north or the various tribes of Norgarrese from the south. Scholars from all sides concur that the Archavalians met these foreigners with enmity and, frequently, outright hostility.

The lack of written records and centralized governance has resulted in little objective truth to be known about the fall of the Archavalians, but it is generally agreed upon to have coincided with the fall of the First Miznir Sultanate, shortly after the death of Sultan Derzhia in the Great Sinking of 1098 BF. The collapse of the northern Miznirri landmass into what is now referred to as the Derzhian sea is thought to have caused a mass emigration of a significant portion of the nation's population, as an estimated quarter of their realm had been sent to the depths of the sea in the war with the native tritons.

Archaeological records suggest intense fighting occurred for dozens of years; many Archaval settlements have been found leagues below sea level, suggesting that the Miznirri may have enlisted triton mercenaries in their war for a new homeland. What is less certain, however, is the exact cause of the fractalization that now characterizes the region. Modern Cavalcadians, particularly the seafaring ones, claim that Umberlee herself came to their ancestors' aid and washed the Scaled Folk away in a great flood; this belief is reflected in the region's nomenclature, as latter generations of human settlers took to referring to the region's many sea stacks as "The Teeth of Umberlee" and its great maelstrom as "The Eye of Umberlee."

However, more recently, scholars out of Sa'Palbho have contended that the fractalization was in fact caused by Blibdoolpoolp, the patron mother-goddess of the kua-toa, who was summoned in a last-ditch ever to preserve their confederacy's autonomy. Unfortunately, this argument is only anecdotally supported, and it raises more questions than it answers. If Blibdoolpoolp fractured Archaval, then why did her children still lose the war? Why were the rest of the Archavalians forced underground, into Norgarron, or into only the most remote and uninhabitable isles of the Expanse? Surely, if Blibdoolpoolp did fracture the region, she would have done so in a manner that would have aided her own worshippers.

It does strike me as odd, however, for the Miznirri to propose an idea that runs directly counter to their interests and ego; I shall request a meeting with their scholars, and I will return to this entry once I have learned more. Perhaps I will travel there myself.

### Founding of the Modern Cavalcade

While some within my own department may disagree, I contend that the Modern Cavalcade began in the year 238 AF. I concede to my colleagues that Canoit was settled well before that, as was the village that would eventually grow into Fourneusse, but 238 AF marks the year where the first ship captain (or *capitaine*, as the Cavalcadians style themselves) managed, through cannon and powder, to unite the majority of the hitherto disparate and autonomous captains into one fleet. This captain, known as "Plank-Walker Loom" (the forename given after he survived an attempted execution not twice, but thrice, and the surname seemingly a hold-over from his civil occupation), initially referred to his newfound fleet as "The Salty Sails," but this moniker would soon be replaced with a more foreboding one.

On Wealday, the 14th of Dusk, 238 AF, Tedorian governor at Lathander's Leap received a letter; it was unadorned and penned in plain black ink. It was addressed to "Dog" and read, simply: "My fleet, a cavalcade of terror, approaches." The letter was accompanied with a solid black flag. I feel it is important to mention that the governor of Tedoria's then-developing port city was not, in fact, a dog; while well-bred, he was a rather dull and, dare I write, forgettable human named Bart Tabernacky. Rather, he would be forgettable if he had not been the very same governor who had only been recently appointed and was thus grossly undereducated in maritime signaling. Had he known the significance of the solid-colored flag, he surely would have met Plank-Walker Loom's "Salty Sails" with more than six sloops and two galleons, and perhaps would've prevented the veritable wave of carnage that spread through his city, and many neighboring villages, over the course of the following months. It should also be mentioned that the flag is still in Tedorian custody; I have handled it and the letter myself, and I find Loom's scrawl to be somewhat lacking. He would have benefited from my class.

The news of Loom's "Cavalcade of Terror" spread rapidly through Tedoria, thus earning Loom the ire of the entire nation. Indeed, it wasn't long before the populace began referring to their nautical neighbors as "The Cavalcade," and Loom seemingly enjoyed this infamy; after he was captured in 250 AF, his ship was impounded, and the documents therein indicate that he has been referring to himself as "The Big Taker," or "La Grande Preneur" as early as 240 AF, though it is unclear as to when this title was adopted by Cavalcadians at large.

Though he was executed hastily after trial, and though his reign as "The Big Taker" was relatively brief, Plank-Walker Loom's impact on Torrovion nations is undeniable. Future Big Takers would emulate his methods, periodically organizing their population into massive fleets and giving their victims little to no warning of their arrival. Some Takers attempted to adopt Loom's ominous letter-and-flag method, but few managed to gain the renown and notoriety that Loom did.

### Culture

Simply put, modern Cavalcadians are those humanfolk who descended from the Miznirri survivors of the Great Sinking. Resultantly, the two nations share some cultural commonalities: a tendency towards decentralized governance, a propensity for violence, and an instinctive, almost innate yearning for travel and adventure. Few Cavalcadians settle in one place for too long, and, if their ships' logs can be trusted, the overwhelming majority of modern Cavalcadians enlist in a nautical crew by the age of sixteen, with some as young as ten or eleven. Many Cavalcadians have little connection to their families after leaving home, though noted exceptions do occur among particularly well-off merchant families, where sailing vessels are inherited much as a Tedorian might inherit lands or titles. Unlike Tedoria, however, there are no courts in the Cavalcade; in all cases, it appears that they have adopted a "might makes right" approach to resolving disputes, familial or otherwise.

## Key NPCs

Francois

Luc Du Villier

Prenuesse Gaelle

## Culture

As a sailing nation, La Cavalcade is no doubt home to a number of sea shanties.

*Pour le Capitain*