Kingdom of Dvin

About Dvin

"Dvina" is sylvan for 'sunrise'. Since until (relatively) recently Dvin was the simply the easternmost part of the Carentan Forest, the area was known as the 'sunrise lands.'
If the High Kingdom of Nymera is the heart of the Caisheni Kingdoms and the South, then the Kingdom of Dvin is the caishenic heart of Nymera. Legend says that thousands of years ago in northwestern Dvin, the Archdruid Caishen unlocked the secrets of 'interspecies fertility', allowing ausrani, yesreni, dragonkin, fey, and intelligent animals to produce children if they couldn't before.
While the High Kingdom is ancient, it has traditionally been centered on the coast. Dvin has been a part of Nymera for less than thousand years. Before that, it was part of the trackless Carentan Forest before the Dvinish formed an independent kingdom in the wake of the Halaanic Wars.
Until the Halaanic Wars a thousand years ago (223 to 297 A.C.), the Dvinish people were among the many peoples of the forest. Halaan's invasion resulted in waves of armies, refugees, and veterans which unraveled the eastern Carentan societies. It was at this time, for instance, that the Cinarians of the Eastmarches settled their city at Maergoth, hundreds of miles west deeper into the Carentan Forest than Dvin.
At War's End, the Dvinish peoples declared their independence, anointing the wise old lizardfolk chieftain Quchaun as their first king. King Quchaun had no living children after the war, and upon his death the Dvinish chose the half giant general Rhomaneser to be king.
Dvin is culturally divided between the Carentan Forest-centered Western Dvin, and the Nymeran-coastal culture of Eastern Dvin.

For the past 432 years, Dvin has been ruled by the Oara family -- the hereditary archdukes of Rhomaneser.

The capital of Dvin is at the Rhomanesan city of Bassam.

The current ruler of Dvin is Queen Nian VI.

Like everyone in the royal family, the Queen was trained as a druid. Moderately talented, she never had a passion for the druidic arts. From a young age she was always more interested in history and politics.

Western Dvin

Western Dvin is ecologically part of the massive Carentan Forest stretching to the west. It has been continually occupied for hundreds of thousands of years by successive waves of yesreni, fey, ausrani, and Caisheni. However, it has been demographically stable for thousands of years.
Settled long ago by people indigenous to the Carentan Forest, which Escatonah and Tvor were once part of.

Made up of the Druidic Principality of Escatonah in the north and the Hierophancy of Tvor to the south.

Almost everyone worships the Old Gods exclusively, placing Antu, Shepherd of the Forest at the center of the pantheon. To the western Dvins, Antu is the wisest and most powerful of the gods.

A major theological dispute is over natural disasters. Why does Antu allow forest fires and drought to kill off the forests he is the god of, if he is the most powerful of the gods?

Some say that Antu is in constant conflict with Maeslyn the Firesister, elemental goddess of fire. We know that Antu is the most powerful because most of the time the forest thrives. But no god is all-powerful, and occasionally Maeslyn gets the best of him temporarily and that is why we have forest fires and drought. Conflict with other gods explains other disasters.

Some say that disasters like forest fires and drought emanate from Antu himself. They are the punishments sent by the god of forests and prophecy as either a warning or a culling. Either way, disasters are evidence that Antu is angry with his mortal followers and they must correct their behavior. This is the minority view.

The unpatrolled nature of the western Dvinish border with the Carentan Forest means that animals, monsters, and people find it easy to pass back and forth – sometimes not even realizing they have.

Much of the Carentan frontier is indistinguishable from Dvinish territory – the Forest has always extended this far east, someone just decided to put a border across part of it.

The western Dvinish largely descend from the first ausrani to settle this part of the forest tens of thousands of years ago, amplified by the wave of caisheni that emerged in the south in the wake of Caishen’s Triumph.

The Carentan culture and economy is heavily dependent on druidic magic for food, water, shelter, and defense. Druids therefore occupy the highest strata of the Carentan society that Dvin is a part of.

The western Dvins have close ties to the Cinarians of the Eastmarch. The Kingdom of Dvin keeps an informal ‘embassy’ in the Cinarian capital at Maergoth, and the Cinarians do the same, though not in the Dvinish capital, but in the Escatonan capital of Athren.

Eastern Dvin

Eastern Dvin was once also part of the Carentan cultural sphere. However in the wake of the Halaanic Wars a thousand years ago, waves of settlers moved west into Dvin from the Nymeran kingdoms farther east along the coast. Largely caisheni with some ausrani elements, these colonists drove out the indigenous Dvins, pushing them westward into Tvor and Escatonah.
While retaining many elements of Nymeran coastal culture, the invaders were ultimately assimilated to many Carentan ways. Peace was forged, and homelands for the colonizers were agreed to. Over the centuries, the invaders have become the Eastern Dvins, and loyal to both the Queen of Dvin and High King of Nymera.

Settled mainly by people expanding westward from the coast.

They worship every pantheon of gods, including Antu and the other Old Gods, but also the draconic, fey, and ausrani pantheons.

Comprised of the Grand Protectorate of Rhomaneser, the Archbishopric of Kvas, and the Magocracy of Quossa.

The Kingdom of Dvin

The High Kingdom of Nymera

Maps

• 

  Dvin, Nymeran Kingdom of

Founding Date

c. 297 A.C.

Capital

City of Bassam

Demonym

Dvinish

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Feudal state

Economic System

Mixed economy

Subsidiary Organizations

• Hierophancy of Tvor

Neighboring Nations

• Kingdom of Baijan
• Kingdom of Khishri
• Kingdom of Vishayn
• Principality of Myaneska