The Shadow of Numilvara

The Land of Sair

6 min read

The Land of Sair

The great empire of Sair and its borderlands to the north lie at the heart of this campaign. There are three major deities worshipped by its citizens:

  • Numilvara the Bounteous, goddess of Sair proper and dedicated to providing for and protecting its people. Her power is greatest within the ancient borders of Sair.
  • Talavosh the Tiger Prince, son of Numilvara and Lord of the Immaculate Hierarchy. He and his servants are dedicated to spreading order and expanding the Sairan empire’s reach.
  • The Binding Flame, a mysterious entity dedicated to binding and containing otherworldly evils. Its followers believe a pillar of silver fire still burns in Flamekeep, a castle across the Scion’s Sea. The faith is the living descendant of the church once called the Silver Flame, and its clerics carry Silver Flame medallions to this day.

Within the realm there are also antiquarians and archaics who dedicate themselves to the worship of older gods they call Sovereigns. Though tolerated within the empire, they are uncommon within Sair proper - whether due to discrimination or simply because the bounty of Numilvara is too great to deny is hard to say.

Peoples of Sair

The population of Sair is majority human, and it is ruled by a human empress, though many other species make their homes within:

  • The reforged, a constructed race granted the capacity for reproduction by Numilvara. They have sturdy bodies made of a wood-like substance and their native language is spoken in a range from high-pitched beeps to loud clicks and harsh, cog-like whirring sounds.
  • Dwarves and orcblooded once native to the Ironroot Mountains were both allowed safe haven in Sair during the Year of Trembling. The dwarves use their natural propensity for mining to help secure Sair’s growth, and the orcblooded make excellent use of their brawn in defense of Sair.
  • Gnomes of Zilargo (a land far to the south) once sailed the skies on mighty airships. Though the magics that powered such vessels are lost, Sairan gnomes retain an innate affinity for elemental bindings.
  • A colony of dark-skinned elves known as drow were transplanted to Sair from their jungle homes in Xen’drik. Though naturally reclusive and often treated with suspicion, the drow are gifted with natural affinity for all things arcane. Rumors that they still harbor worshippers of terrifying scorpion-gods or spider-demons are routinely denounced as hateful lies.
  • Sair is also home to a race of changelings, masters of mimicry able to change their appearance and imitate almost anyone. They are treated with inherent mistrust; no one likes the feeling that they might be fooled by a stranger wearing the face of a loved one.

Some other fantastical races, such as the serpentine shulassakar or the sapient sakhalin wolves, may also make an appearance.

Sairan Nobility

The Sairan empire supports a wide array of noble houses, major and minor. A sampling of the local nobility in the north of Sair:

The Dragon Houses

Some noble houses make ancestral claims to Marks of the Dragons. Though the marks have faded, these Dragon Houses have great mercantile and magical power. They are forbidden from holding political ranks beyond that of Count.

  • The human House D’neith claims to have held the Mark of Sentinel, and to this day maintains the only schools to teach the secret art of warcraft.
  • The human House Vitalia claims to have held the Mark of Handling, and their beast-masters remain the best breeders and cross-breeders in the empire.
  • The human House Cannith claims to have held the Mark of Making, and their fluxionists and machinists remain pre-eminent crafters of magical infusions and steam-powered automatons.
  • The human House Orien claims to have held the Mark of Passage, and their trailblazers remain the best couriers and scouts on the frontier.
  • The dwarven House Kundarak claims to have held the Mark of Warding, and the vaults of their trustees are known to be the safest among dwarf-kind.
  • The gnomish House Sivis claims to have held the Mark of Scribing; their scriveners remain experts in scroll and cipher.
  • The orcblooded House Tharashk tells of having held the Mark of Finding. Their freebooters and shamans remain the best at tracking down lost individuals and rare objects.

Legends tell of lost Marks as well, such as those once held by “halflings” (nobody has seen a halfling in over two centuries) and those once held by the pale elves of Valeria or Lhazaar.

The Borderlands

Caernathi Nationalism

In the Year of Trembling, the old nations fell. One such example is Caernath, to the north of Sair. When its capital, Corth, proved unable to patrol and preserve their lands, their largest cities (including Atur and Vedycaer) declared independence. The Sairan empire has expanded widely into this territory. Some caernathi people welcome the law and order provided by Sairan intervention, others dream of rising from the ashes and re-forging their own nation.

Valerian Desert Elves and the “Bloody” Plains

The Blade Desert is the natural boundary between Sair and Valeria, home to an elven population. The people of Sair have held a grudge against Valeria since the Day of Mourning, when Valerian border patrols massacred refugees fleeing the destruction of old Cyre. Since the Year of Trembling, Valerian elves have been refused citizenship in Sair, and the relations between the two countries have ranged from border skirmishes to outright war.

The site of much current fighting is the “Bloody” Talenta Plains. Caernathi exiles, Sairan settlers, and Valerian raiders clash constantly over its fertile soil, herds of game animals, and natural resources.

Scion’s Sea

Mercantile traffic over the Scion’s Sea is regular (though dangerous) between Sair and northern ports, such as Corth and Atur. Particularly brave merchants sometimes make great profits sailing far to the west and returning with exotic goods. This in turn has driven an increase in piracy throughout the shores.

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