Tianar

Tianar is the Southern gate of Samvara, a region of rivers and small kingdoms that fade into soaring mountains and dense jungles. South of Tianar is the urbanized tropical realm of Sumaren, who serve as middle-men for the treasures and luxuries of the Sonev.
Tianar itself is something of a wild stepchild of Samvara. The culture of this region has long valued personal freedom above social cohesion, and there is a deep suspicion of states and institutions here. Sumoxan religion is very deeply entrenched, but greater Sumoxan institutions are viewed as dubious and untrustworthy. Mild xenophobia, mixed with beliefs that foreign religions are insidious conspiracies run by malicious druid-tyrants, is fairly common. Local monastic orders, known as The Azraic Orders (pronounced Az-ray-ick), actively stir all of these attitudes and serve as the main religious class in Tianar.
Monks of the Azraic Orders, frequently Dhampires but sometimes druids or warlocks, are a far cry from the disciplined monks of other lands. The Azraics demand total obedience and frequent training, but they are equally committed to hedonism and drug use. They have an ancient vendetta against the clergy of Pratasam, and resent attempts to directly rule Tianar by the Sumoxan leadership.
Two major kingdoms occupy most of Northern Tianar: The Western Kingdom of Tilahm and the Eastern Kingdom of Hargeta. Both struggle to control territory in such a fiercely local and rebellious region, and both have a love-hate relationship with the local Azraics. Tilahm in particular has more of a "hate" relationship at the moment, as the Azraics have recently refused to pay taxes and have gone so far as to assault tax collectors in their territory. Civil war is expected any week now.
While the Azraics may be considered chaos agents in the Northern kingdoms of Tianar, they are the harbingers of stability, order, and hierarchy in the Southern half of the region. Southern Tianar is defined by the conflict between the Azraic-backed-states and anti-establishment groups that range from local freedom fighters and paranoid traditionalists to nomadic bandit-merchant raiders. Two loosely organized groups cause the majority of this chaos: the Defenders of Litija and The Carvers.
The Defenders of Litija are a network of raiders, nomads, bandits, merchants, and local independent communities who are all united in their desire for a totally independent Southern Tianar free of state encroachment and outside invasion. They vet incoming merchants and raid those who fail to either join their ranks or pay their tolls. They have an infamous hatred for druidic religions such as Pratasam, Areto, and Halikvar.
The Carvers, meanwhile, are the largest and toughest mercenary guild in the region. They have little tolerance for competition and a reputation for ruthlessness. They also have a reputation for artistry - their name is both a reference to their ruthless violence and their culture of artistic expression. Guild culture emphasizes artistic production (often religiously Sumoxan in nature, but not necessarily) for any seeking leadership positions within the Carvers. One's artistic prowess is seen as a demonstration of one's willingness to learn the traditions of the guild and respect it as a culture and organization rather than just a means to an end. The Carvers and the warriors of Litija have a lot of overlap (unsurprisingly) but they are definitely not synonymous.
While the Defenders and the Carvers make outside conquest and settlement even more difficult than it already was, some local groups have risen over others to make their own small isolated kingdoms. Two of these microstates have become local forces in the far South - the trading kingdoms of Galwa and Meshvem.
On the outskirts of Tianar, the equatorial mountains hide a number of isolated Kima Cities and reclusive independent prism-holds.

Geography

Tianar is 500 by 800 miles across, counting lands claimed and unclaimed by sedentary states. Its borders are defined by great Aveka Mountains, which rise to its West, East, and South. Much of life centers around the great Suweti river, which winds down from the land of Sumaren for almost a thousand miles to the inland Dasaran Sea to the North. 
Three main feeder rivers fuse together to become the Suweti river: the Western Bashidar river, the Eastern Mivadar river, and the central Etidar river. 
The land itself if tropical, hilly, and often rocky.

Natural Resources

Rubber farming is the largest growing industry here. Cocoa, coffee, and bananas are also grown.

History

Early History

Tianar was densely populated even before the arrival of Dryads at the dawn of the Divine Era. Ever since then, it has been downright filled with people. Migrations out of Tianar were common throughout the Divine Era, and its incredibly population allowed for consistent trade through the region despite its formidable terrain. Many failed attempts at city building marked the Divine Era, almost all of which crumbled due to a combination of plague, flooding, food access, and soil degradation. The arrival of dryad-specific diseases in the late Divine Era was the nail in the coffin of an early urbanized Tianar, and city-living soon became associated with foolish foreigners. 
When Naram introduced Dhampirism in the late Divine Era, he passed it to an eccentric mystic by the name of Asrami. Asrami was something of a hedonist, a mystic, and a traditionalist: they despised change, preached living in the moment, and spread Dhampirism to those who followed them as a way to channel the sacred experience of living in the moment. 
Asrami's followers became known as the Asraic Mysteries, and they became the new religious elite and enforcers of the status quo over the centuries. The Mysteries were themselves co-opted by a rising religious leader in the 500s ME: Moxima Sutia, a Dhampire-philosopher from Sumaren who arrived in Tianar in 533 and left with a number of young disciples in tow in 537. Moxima would later return to Tianar to impart their wisdom to those Asraics who remained, and soon the Mysteries were divided between the warrior-philosophers of Moxima and the traditionalists of the old ways. 
Eventually, the philosophy-minded Moximans were able to integrate enough of the old ways to bring most of Tianar together into one monastic movement - the Asraic Orders. Those Mysteries who refused to join either faded from relevance or shifted into a new role as travelling warrior-mystics and merchants. 

Faiths and Conquerors

From 600 ME to 800 ME, this was the new status quo. Tiny trading kingdoms based around Asraic monasteries would gather food from neighboring communities and compete to project influence. When conflicts did emerge, they tended to be relatively contained, and the wealthy-but-small trading kingdoms often turned to mercenaries to do the fighting for them. The wandering mystics evolved to fill this role, and over the years the old Mysteries became the Lodge of Litija, a mercenary warrior lodge that managed most of the inter-fief fighting in the region.
In the 800s, conquerors and merchants aligned with Pratasa and Aretan temples began moving into the region to seize the trade route to Sonev for themselves. The Asraic Orders and Litijan mercenaries fought back, and the region was plunged into periods of religious war. The back-and-forth of conflict left behind land-oriented kingdoms like one would find anywhere in Samvara holding the North, while the South was relatively untouched.
In the 1200s, Pratasa druidic families and temples seized control of the riverways and began trying to project power Southward. The Asraic Orders lacked the centralized organization to contain them, and the Litajan Lodge was divided: were they mystics opposing encroaching powers, or were they mercenaries? in 1301, the Lodge split - those who wished to wage war at any cost became the Defenders of Litaja, and those who wished to practice as mercenaries became the Carvers. Over time, the Defenders of Litaja radicalized in their efforts. They began targeting any sedentary Northern kingdom, any Pratasa merchants, and any city-dwellers they could in a desperate effort to reclaim the North. 

Sumoxa Supreme

In 1550, the newborn faith of Sumoxa descended from the North to claim the Southern sea for their ideology. The Asraic Orders, who considered themselves the heirs of Moxima, called out for liberation. In 1556, the Apostle Rabefna arrives in Tianar with a small force of devoted zealots and the Asraics rose up against the Pratasa kingdoms. After years of grueling guerilla warfare, the Pratasa were completely driven out of Tianar and the region was claimed for the Empire of the Flock (the sacred state of Sumoxa). 
From 1550 - 1730, the Empire of the Flock ruled. But the Empire was decentralized and unstable, and power quickly reverted to the Asraics once more. In 1730, a tax dispute between the Governor, the Grand Shepherd, and the Asraics escalated into a full-fledged tax rebellion, and that tax rebellion escalated into a war of secession. Tianar completely broke away from the crumbling empire in 1736 as the Independent Kingdom of Tianar. 
But not everyone in the region recognized this new kingdom. The Litaja barely recognized Sumoxa as a legitimate religion - and certainly did not recognize this secessionist successor state. And while the Empire had been content with letting the border tropics exist in a non-taxable limbo state, Tianar began trying to actually exert its authority in its supposed territory. Rebellions ensued. Poor budgeting and intrigues made the problems worse. In 1802, Tianar fell into a civil war and completely collapsed into a fragmented mess of tiny kingdoms.

Tourism

Tianar sits on a trade route into Sumaren, which leads to Sonev.

Type

Region

Location under

Samvara