Lhazaar Principalities
A loose confederacy of pirate lords, sea barons, and merchant princes controls the area east of the Hoarfrost Mountains. This strip of the continent’s eastern shore, along with the chain of islands that wraps around the coast and extends north into the Bitter Sea, makes up the region known as the Lhazaar Principalities. Named for the nearmythic explorer who led the humans to Khorvaire some three thousand years ago, the Lhazaar Principalities have always been grouped together—even though the individual princes rarely see themselves as part of a greater whole.
The Principalities developed during the same period when the Five Nations were formed, more than a thousand years before the birth of Galifar. By the time King Galifar I was uniting the Five Nations, the Principalities were well established, as was their inhabitants’ well-deserved reputation as raiders and pirates. When Galifar proclaimed that his kingdom “stretched across the width and breadth of Khorvaire,” the Lhazaar princes ignored him. Their domains were far from the great cities of the Five Nations, separated by a formidable mountain range and the endless seas over which the princes ruled supreme.
By 28 YK, King Galifar had fortified his hold over the Five Nations and turned his attention to the threat from the east. The Lhazaar princes and sea barons were wreaking havoc among the coastal communities, interfering with shipping and refusing to bend to the will of the crown. Thus began the Galifar–Lhazaar War, a series of naval engagements that lasted nearly a decade. The sea barons knew the currents better and started out with better vessels, but Galifar dedicated his efforts to building a powerful navy. Aided by magic and the help of some of the dragonmarked houses, Galifar was able to garner enough victories to force the Lhazaar princes to meet to discuss terms. In the end, the Principalities became part of Galifar’s kingdom but remained autonomous, the Lhazaar princes more or less independent within their own domains yet agreeing to pay tribute to Galifar and recognize him as the legitimate ruler of the mainland kingdom.
For the next eight hundred years, the Lhazaar princes continued to live in relative harmony with the Five Nations. Lhazaar pirates slowly developed into traders and explorers, keeping their illicit activities to a minimum so as not to attract the attention of Galifar’s ever-improving navy. When the Last War broke out, the Lhazaar princes initially stayed out of the fray. As the months of conflict and unresolved issues of rulership wore on, the princes decided that their longstanding agreement was with the united Galifar, not the individual successor kingdoms. With the kingdom shattered, the princes felt no obligation to honor the ancient pact.
During the century of conflict, the Lhazaar princes one by one reverted to their ancient ways. First, the princes (and their subjects) fought against each other for dominance in the Principalities. Then they turned their sights toward more lucrative prey. Throughout the war, Lhazaar ships engaged in piracy, hired out as privateers, and began to carve out their own pieces from the corpse of the once great kingdom. Under the leadership of Prince Ryger ir’Wynarn, who claims that the royal blood of Galifar flows through his veins, the Principalities settled their own differences long enough to present a united front at the peace treaty talks on Thronehold.
Now, with the Principalities recognized as a legitimate confederacy by the rest of Khorvaire, the princes have once again traded their pirate flags for the colors of merchants—at least outwardly (what may be a merchant vessel today can switch its flag and sail as a pirate or raiding vessel tomorrow). Prince Ryger is determined to unite the Principalities and create a naval force the likes of which Khorvaire has never seen before. Then, whatever happens on the mainland, the Principalities will be safe, secure, and powerful beyond imagining. Unfortunately, none of the other princes are quite ready to bend their knees to Ryger, and so his dream remains unfulfilled.
Demography and Population
500,000 (42% human, 16% gnome, 14% halfelf, 12% changeling, 5% dwarf, 4% elf, 4% halfling, 3% other)
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