Introduction to Nashriam

Taken from The Musings of a Wanderer by Bevel Dart

Nashriam is the jewel of the civilized world. And I’m not saying that just because I call the nation my home, what!

Nashriam boasts a flourishing center of learning, arts, engineering, and healing. The nation enjoys a strong economy and an excess of most resources. And there is opportunity for anybody of any race or background.

Note to writers: Bevel appears to be wearing rose-colored glasses and may be biased due to Nashriam being his home. The nation IS prosperous, but as you will see, opportunity is not so readily available as he would have you believe.

Industrialized Agriculture

The root of Nashriam’s strength is its fertile valley. Most anything will grow abundantly here, and as such, the nation’s food supplies remain constantly affluent. This is further reinforced by Nashriam’s great congruence technologies in agriculture.

Unlike in Caliharah where farms are small, family affairs, or in Curath where farms are feudal possessions tended by hand, large swaths of Nashriam’s farmland are owned and farmed by the Great Houses of Nashriam. These houses have developed several jālaorin for large-scale, specialized functions. One of note is a jālaorin in which you place cut wheat stalks that then outputs perfectly dry, clean, separated grains. Another of note is a jālaorin that takes grains and quickly produces smooth, rich flour. These jālaorin are closely guarded secrets. Each is accompanied by at least a platoon of guards, and they are stored in secure warehouses while not in use.

Learning, Arts, Engineering, Healing

This surplus gives Nashriam the strength to appreciate and pursue higher purposes. The Great Houses have established theaters, schools, and healing centers, which compete with one another for the prestige of new ideas, inventions, and accomplishments. The patronage of a Great House is the goal of any great academic or master craftsman.

Schools are headed by these great academics, and prospective pupils must petition for admittance. As most school bodies number only a few score, competition is fierce. Star pupils are invited upon research expeditions and social experiments. Note to writers: These schools are modeled after ancient Greek academies.

Rikjosom

The star of Nashriam is Rikjosom, the capital. Rikjosom stands at the mouth of the Storjot River. The city enjoys a massive natural harbor. The wealth of the fertile valley flows down to Rikjosom and enriches the lives of all who live there.

The most distinguishing and jaw-dropping marker of the city is its color. In a decree long ago passed by and still enforce by the Great Houses, structures larger than a small home must always be constructed of yellow stone (typically quarried in the mountains to the west, and rumored to have originally been quarried from the mountains of the Blighted Lands, which are betrayed by a slightly darker, richer yellow stone). Any smaller structure can be made of other materials, but the majority of it must be painted or stained yellow.

The core of Rikjosom is The Vellidan, the great center of healing. The Great Houses are all collective patrons of The Vellidan. The complex is old and is built of dark yellow stone. It houses the greatest concentration of healers in the world. People and beings of all ailments are welcomed into its wards. No injury is too grievous; no illness is too horrifying. Medical research, both congruence and mundane, is conducted on a vast array of ailments.

Governance

Nashriam is governed by a council elected by the citizenry. Citizens are primarily native-born humans, however anyone, of any race, of any origin, may earn their citizenship through exceptional research and contribution. It is quite common to see synthoids and cryptum weigh in. Citizens may vote in council members from their districts.

Note to writers: Again, Bevel’s partiality to Nashriam leads him to leaving out a few important details. The nomination of council candidates, and the elections of them, are heavily influenced by the Great Houses. The real struggles exist in the manors and chateaus of the Great Houses, where bargains and alliances are struck and broken. Additionally, earning citizenship through “exceptional research and contribution” effectively means giving away your ideas.

Military

The Nashriam military leans heavily into the nation’s focus on research. They are not numerically vast like Curath, but they are force to be reckoned with. Jālaorin and chukl weapons are commonplace, and larger field pieces can be quickly installed in strategic locations on battlefields to devastating effect.

Each of the Great Houses also maintain moderate-sized forces of their own. Their primary focuses are, of course, the houses’ interests and protecting the secrets of the agricultural jālaorin, but when faced with a national emergency these forces banded together outnumber the nation’s military.

Trade

Nashriam conducts trade across the continent, primarily over land. Nashriam’s greatest trading partner, Curath, is also their most powerful rival. Though Nashriam has a strong natural harbor at Rikjosom, most of the trade conducted goes up and down the Storjot River and by land routes. Alvanian ships are a common-enough sight at Rikjosom’s piers and typically convey the bulk of the over-water trade.

Notable Relations with Other Nations

Nashriam’s and Curath's relationship is one of grudging truce. The two nations share a long border in the great fertile valley and have shed much blood over the centuries, however they have settled into a state of balance, which has led to mutually-beneficial trade. Thus invested, monied powers are hesitant to energize armed conflict.

The fledgling nation of Karg originated from a Nashriam extremist. Relations are cordial but limited.

Note to writers: Sorry… starting to lose patience with Bevel. Karg’s founder who Bevel calls an extremist was indeed from Nashriam, but he felt the Great House’s meddling led to a false republic and set out to create a nation of true democracy.

Vas’tek and Nashriam enjoy prosperous but limited trade. There is almost no history of violence between the nations. Precious stones from Vas’tek often find their way into Nashriam markets and into the manors of the Great Houses. Vas’tek has the allure of many archeological finds beneath its shifting sands, which draws expeditions from Nashriam’s adventurers and researchers.

Moijavera

Rikjosom’s dominance is increasingly challenged by the great trade city of Moijavera. Moijavera lacks the prestige of the great yellow city, but its grand bizarre makes up for it. Moijavera is located at a great crossroads between Rikjosom, Curath (via the Storjot River), and the rest of the eastern nations. You can buy goods of any kind and any quantity. You can trade information and secrets. You can hire an expedition or caravan with ease.

I am conflicted about Moijavera. The city’s quest for wealth and stature betrays the learned heart of Nashriam, however the trade results in fantastic new information, learning, arotiles, and jālaorin.

Religion

Religion varies throughout Nashriam. Some even forgo the idea of religion completely! Stuff and nonsense. I have quested the wide world long enough to see the touch of Divinities upon the land.

The most notable religion on Nashriam is the religion common among the healers, the Inviolable Hands.

Note to writers: A few of the Great Houses are controlled secretly by Divinities, often from supporting positions such as stewards, spymasters, and master clerks. There seems to be a great game being played between them.

{Blighted Lands}

The proximity of the Blighted Lands drives many a young Nashriam academic to study it, including yours truly. I have found it only leads to a headache.

Haelast Outpost

Located on the swirl of land to the south of Nashriam is the Haelast Outpost. The lands and waters there are exceedingly dangerous. Haelast Outpost routinely fights for survival against the flora and fauna native there. I had the displeasure of cutting my teeth a’quest’n in that treacherous place. Expeditions come back with amazing discoveries, and hunters come back with the most curious cores, if they come back.