Kovir & Poviss
ere are several small feuding principalities or duchies north of Redania. The two most powerful, Kovir and Poviss, are joined under King Tankred at this time. They are not involved with the Nilfgaardian War other than to send significant monetary support to the North. Originally given to a castoff member of Redanian royalty, the backwater of Kovir and Poviss became very successful after finding large veins of rare minerals, including dimeritium and 80% of the world’s current gold deposits, in their territory. King Tankred has also made a point of saving and employing sorceresses cast off , and in some cases tortured or imprisoned, by Redania.
There are some who say that the University of Lan Exeter in the Koviri capital has long surpassed Oxenfurt as a seat of knowledge. Lan Exeter is a beautiful city, but Port Vanis, the summer capital on the Gulf of Praxeda, has no equal for elegance. In August, many nobles leave their summer homes and throw extravagant parties on brightly decorated barges plying the Grand Canal. The canal frames the perfect view of the summer palace of Ensenada and is lined with the summer homes of nobles, mining magnates, and trade barons. The houses are very narrow, as they are taxed by canal frontage foot.
Although not in power herself, Dowager Queen Zuleyka has long had strong influence in Kovir and Poviss. She is an enthusiastic follower of St. Lebioda and his “Good Book,” much of which is common-sense homilies and parables. It is believed that this common sense has seen these countries through some sticky situations.