Kingdom of Verzavek (Ver-Zuh-Vek)

Verzavek is a smaller, even more moderate and welcoming Kizen: a slice of equal-opportunity riverside paradise where anyone who can work hard is welcome and cared for, watched over by paternalistic Kivishta Kobolds who guide society for the benefit of everyone. Safety, community, discipline, and fun are all encouraged; there aren't any ancient sins or terrible weapons, those are the other Kobolds you must be thinking of! This is a prosperous land, a peaceful land, a place of universal brotherhood dedicated to building an orderly society that will rise above the chaos. Those who won't work hard or get along won't prosper here, but the wasteland has no mercy for such characters anyways. And the knights, priests, and Kivish landlords will decide exactly who isn't being cooperative.
As a kingdom, Verzavek is a local power that dreams of being a regional trade power, North of Andrig, and South of Gennorholn. It also dreams of transcending Stildane, to become something more than a buttress against chaos, but to be a true economic and cultural entity connected to a broader world. Whether it will ever live up to its many ambitions is yet to be seen - Verzavek is a young kingdom, with much unrealized potential.

Structure

Verzavek is a bureaucratic monarchy supported by an aristocracy of major landowning families. This aristocracy is fairly limited, with almost all titles being the Herzogs (major central landowners) and Margreves (military borderlands aristocrats) and their feudal privileges being extremely limited in scope. Title mostly relates to guaranteed representation in the administration rather than any kind of true feudalism, and are granted to families rather than individuals. Noble families have representation in the Vanstag (pronounced Vahn-shtahg), the psuedo-parliamentary council that advises the monarch and helps manage the bureaucracy. The Vanstag is relatively small (being only 30 people) and is dominated by a group of 8 major players, and unless it has a supermajority its powers are relatively limited if pitted against the monarch. If over 2/3rds of the Vanstag agree to oust the monarch, though, they have the power to elect a new family to royal standing as a kind of nuclear option. This has yet to occur, as the country is still new.
The current monarch is Queen Nilara Sargesh, an older Kobold and the granddaughter of the first monarch, Merika Sargesh. The Sargesh family is one of the richest and most influential of the lot, and have a stranglehold over the lands surrounding the capital, Savelov. Nilara is a alright administrator, who has surrounded herself with brilliant scholars and natural philosophers tied to Orchid of Blue and Emesh, and who has been focused on stability and technological-magical innovation. Her modest ambitions of slow and domestic social change and her comfort with delegating tasks has allowed the country to prosper despite her mediocrity with military or economic leadership, and the people of Verzavek regard her as a brilliant and beloved monarch. Her hands-off approach has led to some low-level corruption and aristocratic shenanigans, but her reputation is spotless. She is particularly beloved among non-Kobolds, for whom she has championed minor land and property reform to help and for whom she has shown incredible empathy.
Nilara's granddaughter and heir, Belesha Sargesh, has none of her grandmother's straight-talking charisma or empathy but is a far more traditionally-competent administrator in military and economic matters. Belesha also has the ambition her grandmother does not, though whether that will lead her towards ruin or success is anyone's guess. Belesha has been increasingly involved in the Orchid faction as a matter of international influence and subterfuge, and has been eyeing trying to compete with Kizen economically through cooperating with the distant Sunekans and Darzan University . She has had difficulty making that work, but her ruthless single-mindedness could make her wild dream a reality. If her cruel and mean-spirited way of approaching diplomacy doesn't undermine her completely, of course.

Culture

Work, Play, Cooperation, and Food

Work hard, play hard - that is a Verzaven motto to live by. Hard work and working with others are seen as essential moral values, and anyone who can do those things is worthy of acceptance and kindness. Community spirit and obedience are big deals here, though personal expression is still allowed (especially off of work). But while life is toil, every person who puts in their time for the community is entitled to rest and the occasional festivity. Religious holidays are celebrated across religious lines, with many Uvarans welcomed into Kivish festivals and Kivish in Uvaran ones. When a major holiday comes around, everyone comes together to make it a wild one (and is expected to do so by social contract). People are expected to have hobbies or arts, lives outside of work as well as a disciplined and thorough work life. 
When pursuing one's work or community duty, religious and species lines are expected to be ignored. In fact, Verzaven culture has a curious attitude where cross-group cooperation is seen as beneficial; Kivish and non-Kivish working together are seen as more effective than just one. This is true for guild work, merchant deals, combat, and even farming - the smart and dutiful Kobold should show their community spirit by including a false species member to ground their ideas in the logic of the dream. Kobold leaders often hire special advisor-servants to ground them in this way (and to warn them away from excessive pride). 
As for food, pork and chicken dishes are extremely common here among those who can eat them. Steamed pork sandwiches slathered in bone-broth sauce, breaded chicken or fish fried in grease, sausages lightly spiced, and offal dishes are all common staples of Verzaven cuisine. 

Species, Class, Custom

Kobolds rule here; they make up the aristocracy, the chief bureaucrats, the top judges, and the richest merchant families. Kobold aristocrats own the bulk of the land (though not all of it). Society caters to Kobold needs (such as meat production) and around Kobold abilities. Not all non-Kobolds are poor, and the mixed staffing of the upper crust means that many non-Kobolds are moderately wealthy and involved in administration - they just don't get to make the final call on decisions or join the elites as full members. Non-Kobolds also have their bits of land, owned by descendants of elite bastards or servants typically. It is an uncomfortable balance for many; an uneven society that fundamentally thinks of Kobolds first, but seems to make at least a halfhearted attempt to be egalitarian. Non-Kobolds are almost like trophies, held up to show how well they are doing to prove Verzavek's virtue to the world but denied any systemic power. Their voices are always heard, but never with authority; their bellies are kept fed, but no one is under the illusion that a famine would impact both groups equally. 
As for inter-species romance, Verzaven culture has a 'tolerant' status quo that is unusual for Kivishta, but not entirely as kind as it appears. Kobolds and other species are allowed to have romances, and even inter-breed, but their relationships are always secondary to Kobold-Kobold relationships. When a Kobold and a non-Kobold have a kid, the resulting child is only legally the Kobold's if the child is a Kobold; otherwise, they have no legal or cultural obligation to materially support them. Kobolds can marry non-Kobolds, but may still be expected to also marry a Kobold for the real family. 
The approach to species and class are not as far apart as many Kobolds would like to believe. Before species-prejudice is class prejudice here, as the income gulf between commoner and elite is quite large. And the condescending 'cooperative' attitude is extended to class as well; the poor are often invited to have their grievances and ideas heard, but the act of listening can be a ritual performance more than anything actionable. It is all about the illusion of inclusion and agency, an illusion that can actually be repeated among the poor at times - when times are good, the delusion of agency and inevitable improvement can be assuring. And relationships across class lines can be just as flimsy and legally imbalanced as with species lines, almost as if the Kivish elite see poor Kobolds as just as  imaginary as non-Kobolds.

History

The Kivish Lands (490 - 1000)

Verzavek's earliest history is largely lost to the ages; so many cities and cultures have grown along the Onaren river, only to be wiped out by Ederstone meteors or Kivishta invaders. By 490 ME the original inhabitants of modern-day Verzavek had been either enslaved and dispersed or made into Kivish warbeasts. What replaced them was a Kivish colony that grew to be the most populous and developed part of their empire, a second Kizen in the South. When the Kivish empire set about building long-term infrastructure and cities outside of Kizen in 730 ME, Verzavek was at the heart of this new development. The city of Savelov (to this day Verzavek's largest city and capital) was built during this development spree and became the Southern headquarters of the old Kivish empire. 
Verzavek grew to be an autonomous political and economic body during the final days of the first Kivish empire, which the emperors and empresses of Kizen often resented as a possible threat to Kivish unity. In the early 900s, Verzavek's local elites had their power curtailed and their assets seized, leading to a growing resistance among the officers, priests, and nobles. The mystics that were so popular in Verzavek began drifting down a different path than mainline Kivishta, and their hidden meetings and revelations took a decidedly anti-imperial turn. When the Mageplague hit Verzavek and devastated the land in 930, this anti-imperial sentiment radicalized into a whole different religious movement: the Liberated Path of Kivishta, which rejected militarism and centralized structure for a reverence of Ederstone and a total freedom of thought. This religious movement lurked underground for years but courted many disillusioned local elites and merchants to their side over the 900s. In 1000, the first Kivish empire collapsed and the Liberated Path marched out to enforce their vision of the world. The Liberated Path held onto Verzavek's heartlands for much of the 1000s during the ensuing civil war, but a different rebellious religious movement from the North ultimately won the war and occupied the region: the Reverent Path of Kivishta, a less-militaristic but still centralized pragmatic interpretation of Kivish religion. 

Free Verzavek (1000 - 1440)

While the Reverent Path triumphed militarily in 1080 ME, its attempts to stitch the empire back together failed entirely in 1095. The religious movements formally diverged and called a truce in 1100 at the great council of Rumakel, and both groups retreated from formal political rulership. The Reverent Path had left its mark on Verzavek and recruited many of the local elites to their side, and the Liberated Path had spread out across the South from Verzavek (and would continue dispersing across the wasteland, until every corner of Stildane had some trace of their group). Verzavek was left independent, ruled by a Reverent Path clique of military officers. This oligarchy feuded briefly in 1110 and became a monarchy in 1112, which adopted a feudalistic social structure to govern the countryside while the royals held to most prosperous riverlands and cities. This monarchy claimed the trappings of the old Kivish empire for themselves, and tentatively expanded to legitimize their claim as the Kivish of the South. Gennorholn, Andrig, and parts of Tugrik all were conquered by Verzavek. And for a time, their light-handed feudalism was accepted, even lauded, as a moderate and just form of governance by their neighbors. They even forged a defensive alliance with the Kingdom of Hain in 1290, a first for Kivish diplomacy.
In 1350, this period of feudalistic free Verzavek came to an end. The Second Kizen Empire, which had been rising steadily since 1300 under their Empress Kazalima the Phoenix, invaded across Verzavek's Northern border. The ensuing war of Kivish reunification was brutal, and Verzavek ultimately lost in 1385. Kizen triumphed and the Kivish empire was renewed in all its bloody glory. The tensions within the new Kivish empire were overwhelming, though; the chaos the empire brought undermined itself and stirred the pot of ideological dissent. In 1420, a succession crisis erupted into a full-on civil war and religious schism in what is now known as the War of False Prophets. Many of the more radical militarists of Verzavek were swept away into the Exalted Kivish movement (which saw the world as needing to be traveled across and destroyed to reveal the purpose of life), and some of the old feudalistic moderates were absorbed into the exiled Promised Kivish movement (which seeks to give meaning and sentience to non-Kobolds through dynastic obedience). Non-Kobolds who wished to continue fighting against the renewed Kivish empire fled East, into the mountains, where they set up their own Kingdom (known as Kagaren). And so Verzavek's fight was drained out of it, and the region settled into a part of Kizen once more.

Southern Kizen (1440 - 1680)

From 1440 to 1600, Verzavek recovered and rebuilt. The cities were built up, the irrigation systems were expanded, the wasteland was beaten back. At first, the reclamation of the wasteland and the securing of the borders against monsters brought immense profit and prosperity, but this tactic brought diminishing returns and increasing expenses. As the gains declined and the costs were pushed onto locals, it became more and more obvious that the imperial administration was exploiting the South rather than building them up. While that source of dissent slowly crept up on Verzavek over the centuries, a separate crisis of trade laid the groundwork for future rebellions and undermined imperial legitimacy. Local Verzevan merchants and elites wanted to trade more with Hain and with the inland mountain kingdoms, particularly when the exile-Kingdom of Kagaren discovered Starmetal in 1550 and other beneficially-mutated precious metals in the ensuing mining rush. Kizen preferred that Verzavek trade within the empire and that external trade be managed by Northerners, especially since Kagaren and Hain were considered foreign enemies. Add to this that Verzaven traders traditionally included Starspawn partners and apprentices to better establish relationships with outsiders and to appear less zealously Kivish - a practice that bordered on taboo in the North - and you had a political-cultural crisis ready to happen. 
From 1565 to 1612, North Kizen fought skirmishes with Kagaren, revoked local autonomy in neighboring Gennorholn, and started imposing licensing requirements for Verzaven merchants wishing to trade abroad. Dissent slowly grew, though the continued prosperity of the land reclamations still kept the situation from boiling into full rebellion. In 1612, Kizen invaded Kagaren and seized the mountain kingdoms for themselves. It was an extremely costly war and occupation, fought with Verzaven conscripts and funded with Verzaven taxes - the war was seen as a local problem, to be handled with local assets. The war was also an excuse for the Northern administration to heighten their control over trade and administration in the South; all trade would now be handled by Northerners, as would much of the governance. And when local residents of Kagaren refused to work in the mines and fled into the periphery once again, Verzaven subjects were compelled to replace them for low wages. All this combined to create widespread disillusionment with the empire and an economic recession. And as the 1600s saw an end to the land reclamation bubble and more resources were diverted Northward to stop a recession there, this resentment alchemized into rage. When petitions for aid were ignored in 1626, Verzavek entered open rebellion. 
The rebellion failed to win any major battles, but also avoided any devastating losses. The chaos and slow radicalization towards full secession was enough to scare the Empire into negotiating: most of the major leaders were pardoned, reforms were passed, and the taxes were lowered. The rebel lands celebrated and toasted the Empress; but the North raged at her "meekness". For decades the Kivish heartlands had sustained their economic prosperity by draining the rest of the Empire - now they were hit by the recession everyone else had been living in. 
Verzaven local elites gained the most from this victory, and began consolidating their influence and landholdings in the South like feudal lords of old. Big landowners, with their large ranches and mine ownership, took over where the Empire left off; they continued their regime of low wages in Kagaran mines, they monopolized foreign trade, and they ate up local property for their businesses. The excessive cruelty and Kobold-only policies of the North were ended but the deterioration of the old standards of living had only been softened, not stopped. Kobold middling elites who felt like their promised futures had been robbed from them were particularly vulnerable to radical movements that came in from the North, which argued that the domination of non-Kivish and the lack of imperial pillaging had created a weak and decaying state that could only be saved through restorative violence. These movements were stronger in the North, but they weren't without followers here. And in 1680, these radical movements couped the imperial government and began what is known as the "Children of Verkhon" period. 

The Fifth Scouring (1680 - 1750)

The radical regime that took control in 1680 was horribly devastating domestically and internationally. Local elites who associated with non-Kobolds were stripped of their lands and wealth and thrown from power, replaced by bloodthirsty radicals. Rebels were crushed through Ederstone weapons, collateral be damned. The war with Hain was reignited, with mass conscription following. In 1700 non-Kobold slavery was reintroduced, and land was systematically stripped from all non-Kobolds and divvied out among loyalists. Tiny rebellions and resistance cells nipped at the ankles of the new regime across Verzavek, but the stunning violence of the new Kivish prevented any kind of consolidation. Unlike the Reverent Path regimes, this new empire cared more for power than wealth or resources and was resistant to the kinds of protests and economic rebellions Verzaven communities had used in the past. 
Many of the Verzaven big landowners that had risen in the mid-1600s initially profited off the new regime, but grew discontent as the pointless wars and social disturbances dragged on. They began to plot against the regime within the ranks of the military elite, and actively undermined the war effort in the 1710s and 1720s. A military conspiracy attempted to outright hijack the Kizen army in 1726, but was undone and crushed by regime loyalist General Salvda Kianem. Finally, when the Hainish military defeated the Kivish loyalists and captured General Salvda at the Battle of Salhov in 1728, Verzaven elites were ready to actually launch their grand revolt. The rebellion was messy and a bit disorganized, but with Hainish cooperation it was able to liberate Verzavek in 1730. The radical regime was over; slavery was abolished, order was restored, and the Ederstone weapons were put away. 
The Hainish military's prominent role enabling and leading the rebellion let them shape how the resulting peace looked. While local Verzaven elites were allowed to autonomously run their estates and play local political roles, Verzavek was rolled into a Hainish-ruled occupied state. This kingdom was formalized into the Kingdom of Ustavet in 1740.

Modern Verzavek (1750 - Present)

Ustavet was not a popular or stable regime, but it was a tolerable replacement for the radical Kivish. Money was funneled from Verzavek to the Northern region of Gennorholn, which provoked a great deal of inter-regional rivalry and discontent. The government was aggressively feudal, and arbitrarily either elevated or destroyed the major landowners families based on perceived Kivish collaboration (but more rooted in personal connections and politics among the Hainish aristocracy). The government was corrupt and largely allowed its feudal landlords to act with absolute freedom, and even went as far as to try and re-introduce serfdom. The ruling families from Hain fought among themselves and broke the country apart in a civil war from 1870 to 1874. Verzavek used this opportunity to drift away into self-government, and Hainish support for Ustavet dwindled. In the 1870s and 1880s, a new Empire of Kizen began dipping its toes into local politics, supporting Verzaven merchants and Kivishta priests through trade subsidies and arms deals. The Ustavet elites tried to reassert themselves in the 1880s and 1890s, but they lacked the wealth or stability to really pull Verzavek back to them. The royal family finally decided to rebuild Verzavek from the ground up in 1902 through mass land redistribution and refeudalization, but Verzaven elites rebelled. The mountain kingdoms, sick of Hainish serfdom, followed suit, and the Kingdom of Ustavet entered its death throes. Kizen sent in military and financial support, and the matter was settled in 1904 with a partition of Ustavet. Verzavek was independent once more, though financially tied to Kizen. 
The Verzaven landowners elected a leader from among themselves in that year, and the modern monarchy was born. Verzavek has since walked a careful line towards reconstruction that has prioritized stability and commercial success over military expansion or even expansion into the wasteland. It hasn't been perfectly smooth sailing, particularly on the matter of restoring the lands of non-Kobolds impacted by the 1680 regime, but the monarchy has unexpectedly supported modest land reform since the riots of the 1960s. While the big Kobold families have remained the top dogs, Verzavek has been fairer and more even-handed than Kizen and has (again, modestly) shared its recent prosperity across society. Verzavek has come out as the richest and most stable of the former-Ustavet states, and it has leaned hard on its Kizen trade connections and naturally abundant landscape to make the most of this moment.

Demography and Population

Around 1 million humanoids live in Verzavek, making it easily the most densely populated kingdom of the region. The species breakdown of the population is 40% kobold, 25% dryad, 15% starspawn, 15% human, and 5% Other. Much of the population is concentrated along the Onaren river, the coast, and the rich farmland on the Northern side of the river.

Territories

Verzavek is a strip of mostly-flat temperate forest surrounding the Western reaches of the Onaren river. Verzavek covers 123 miles of coast and follows the river 111 miles inland. While most of Verzavek is insulated from chaos wastes by other regions, a small segment of the Southeastern border is a heavily-fortified boundary with the wasteland of Scourging's End - a malevolent and twisted forest known for producing individually powerful monstrosities. While Scourging's End is mostly considered under-control, the Tarrasque has been known to periodically punch through and rampage before disappearing. 
Verzavek's capital and largest city is Savelov, which is on the Northern side of Onaren river, near where it meets the sea.

Military

The Verzaven military is organized by a central military bureaucracy that draws its leadership from the 30 or so noble families of Verzavek. A modest standing army is maintained to patrol the border and respond to monster attacks, but large-scale mobilization would depend on levies and conscripts. The elites of the army, and the rapid responders to monster attacks, are the beastriders- elite light cavalry trained to ride horse-sized warbeasts into battle, and typically armed with bows as well as lances. Heavier monster-riding knights are also supported in small numbers. Most of the infantry and archers tends to be lightly armored and mobile, and they often are either partially mounted or move by wagon to increased their speed and mobility. 
In case of emergencies, Verzavek also has a very small cache of Ederstone weaponry and old Kivish warbeasts - the truly large and intelligent ones, whose existence are considered to be a sin by many Uvarans. These are kept out of the way, to avoid public discontent or diplomatic repercussions. Both of these emergency weapons exist in too small of quantities to seriously alter a war, but they are considered too possibly useful for turning a particular battle to fully throw away.

Religion

Verzavek is a Reverent Path Kivishta country with a large Uvaran population. Generally, the law tends to be a secular royal law rather than any kind of religious law, though communities can receive royal permissions to locally enforce religious law on those legally accepted as that religion. Some Kivish hardliners exist in the larger settlements, but for the most part such a withdrawal from mixed society is considered infantile and excessive. Unusually, Verzavek also allows other Kivish paths to exist in contained communities, as long as they follow the law. There is one exception: all Kobolds must donate their bodies to Rumakel, regardless of Path. 
Local Verzaven religion gives off the appearance of being hyper-moderate, but make no mistake that the ruling establishment is thoroughly Reverent Path, and entering elite circles is restricted to those of the correct Path. Reverent Path temples receive preference, as do Uvaran temples that refrain from taking Kobold members. Verzavek just prefers a light touch and a more forgiving stance towards error, but any substantial religious movement that challenges the status quo tends to be persecuted by the state as "cult activity".

Foreign Relations

Verzavek is a trade partner and de-facto satellite of the Empire of Kizen, though it has yet to manifest in a full formal alliance. It has worked hard to maintain friendly relations with its neighbors in Andrig, Tugrik, and Kagaren, as well as with Hain. Verzavek has much poorer relations with Gennorholn to the North.

Agriculture & Industry

Verzavek is largely agricultural, though its towns and cities are also larger than those of its neighbors and sport larger manufacturing sectors. The countryside ranches exceptionally large slightly-mutated cows, as well as large numbers of pigs and chickens. Fleshy, feathered melons that are edible by carnivores (known as Onomelon, as they only grow in the Onaren river) also are farmed along with Giant Lobsters in the river. Multicolored algae, possibly native to Hain, ais also farmed and gathered in the river and used for dye production. Hay, wheat, rice, and potatoes are grown across the heartlands, and monsters are ranched in the Southeast (near the Ederstone wastes). Lumber is also harvested and shipped down the river, and forests of specially bred mutant trees are kept and farmed sustainably. 
In the towns, textiles are woven, wood is carved and shaped, leather is tanned and used for goods, and algaes are processed into dyes. Traditionally, ore from the hill kingdoms would be smelted here as well, though Kizen merchants have largely killed that trade to divert ore processing to their home kingdom.

Trade & Transport

Guilds organize small-scale production in the towns, while merchant companies (often associated with major commercial families) manage exports and major movement of trade goods. Foreign merchants from the Empire of Kizen, which are supported and subsidized by Kizen's network of trade and influence, have immense influence here and have even suppressed certain industries to better protect Kizen's workshops and commercial sector. Local merchant companies have had to adjust to avoid directly competing with these powerful foreign actors, often by working with them; there is a major flow of ore from Kagaren and Tugrik to Kizen through Verzavek that many Verzaven merchants have inserted themselves in. Local Verzaven merchant companies are, by tradition, a mixture of Kobold and non-Kobold (typically Starspawn), as local custom holds that business dealings need a true soul and a dream together to have a truly balanced perspective.

"Those Who Build, Prosper"

Founding Date

1904 ME

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Demonym

Verzevan

Government System

Monarchy, Theocratic

Currency

Sunekan Gold Lions, Silver Foxes, Copper Stars

Major Exports

lumber, dyes, livestock

Major Imports

Metals, stone, textiles

Legislative Body

The Vanstag

Official State Religion

Kivishta

Location

Stildane

Official Languages

• Wakingtongue language

Related Ranks & Titles

• Burgrave
• Graf
• Herzog

Neighboring Nations

• Kingdom of Vetenka
• The Kingdom of Gennorholn