Nadera

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Nadera

The Kingdom of Nadera

Geographic Info

Continent: Gallorea

Location: A peninsula jutting into the southeastern Betshaban Ocean.

Government

Government Type: Constitutional Monarchy (King, Prince, Archduke, Duke, Earl, Count, Viscount, Baron, Baronet, Knight, Mayor, Guildmaster)

Ruler: King Goren Orzaiz (Nob 8, Thf 6)

Arms: A gray column with two green snakes intertwined under a broken gray chain on a white field.

Coinage: 2 Ha'pennies = 1 Penny (1 cp); 50 Pennies = 1 Argent (1sp), 50 Argents = 1 Sword (1 ep); 5 Swords = 1 Crown (1 gp); 100 Crowns = 1 Dragon (1 Pp)

Capital: Garza (pop 34,500)

Alliances: Trade treaty with Adanar, Oridal, Haleland, Halgard, Palerean and Zengara.

Hostilities: Mendar

Society

Population: 475,000 (90% human, 5% half-elven, 1% hobbit, 4% other)

Languages: Adan

Important Persons: Various members of the Chamber of Princes, including Prince Unax Arostegi of Talergo (Nob 2, Thf 12), Prince Zumar Etxeleku of Bastida (Ftr 12, Nob 5, Thf 2), Prince Ibar Gainza of Gaenland (Nob 1, Ftr 15), Princess Askoa Izuel of Trivena (Nob 12, Thf 5).

Religious Info

Pantheon: Aebasan

Patron: None

History

Once the frontier of the ancient Empire of Balguran, Nadera quietly gained autonomy after the rebellion of the first Adan King, Falgran, seven centuries ago. At that time, Nadera was primarily a fishing community, generally uninterested in the affairs of the world. After the removal of the Balguric bureaucracy, the Naderans made no real effort to create a centralized government and instead divided into numerous townships and city states, few of which were interested in conquering their neighbors.

In 7342 A.C., a Dregnosti mercenary lord by the name of Simon Gaut was exiled from the Kingdom of Dregnost and sailed south into Nadera. When there, he claimed that he was descendant of the last Balguric ruler of the region and had come to reclaim his birthright. After several quick and decisive battles against the unprepared Naderans, Gaut took control of several key centers of commerce and was crowned King of Nadera by the local patriarch of Kratos. Though most Naderans hated the imposition of his rule, there were few armed rebellions again the new King. Though Gaut was often given to violent rages, he married a local woman and founded a dynasty that would last for three generations.

Under the Simonide Dynasty, Nadera began to involve itself in international politics and economics. The Naderans soon realized that they had little to offer other nations in trade, but the merchants of the nation still tried to ply their trade wherever they could. A few major shipyards arose as some began to use local shipbuilding techniques to build larger merchant galleys, but nothing remarkable came out of the Naderan shipyards during the Simonide Dynasty. Though Naderan ships were tough, oceangoing vessels, they were notoriously difficult to handle. Few knew that this lack of handling would result in the end of the Simonide Dynasty and more than a century of foreign rule.

In the winter of 7450 A.C., during the reign of Berig, great-grandson of Simon Gaut, a merchant vessel known as the Green Man was docking in Tivolko Bay in Lagorka when it struck a local merchant vessel and sank her. The local vessel, owned by the powerful Vazdid family, went down with most of her crew, including the patriarch of the Vazdid family himself. Not understanding the complex familial politics of Lagorka, King Berig sent several apologies and much gold from his coffers to the Mareil family, which he understood to be the royal family of Lagorka. The Vazdids, deadly enemies of the Mareils at the time, were incensed. Thinking that Nadera was in league with the Mareils, the Vazdids purchased several mercenary companies and launched their entire fleet across the Ygarlsed Sea.

Though not as defenseless as before, Nadera was unprepared for the cruel onslaught that followed. For six long years the Vazdids attacked Nadera, at first burning every city they captured. Eventually, they realized that conquering the nation was actually within their grasp and the Vazdid forces began to settle in the region. In the summer of 7457 A.C., King Berig was captured at the battle of the Dusk Hills and forced to grant all of his lands to the Vazdid family. In turn, the Vazdid's rounded up the King's extended family and forced them onto the royal barge. Berig's ship was taken out to sea and lit aflame by the Vazdids, permanently ending the Simonide Dynasty. It is said that Berig's Barge, ghostly flames still leaping from its masts, hunts the seas near Nadera searching for Lagorkan ships it can destroy.

The Vazdids did not replace the monarchy, but instead maintained the nation as a colony for family interests. Most of the mercenary companies that served the Vazdids retired to the region, often becoming part of the Saphracine Watch, named after Saphrax Vazdid, their first commander. The Saphracine Guard were organized to insure the compliance of the locals in supporting Vazdid interests in the region, but often were little more than bandits and thugs with an office of authority.

The rulership of the Vazdids was not only harsh and tyrannical, but also often completely arbitrary in its enforcement of local laws and traditions. Naderan lands were often confiscated for use by retired soldiers or members of the family and while huge estates began to appear in the rocky countryside, more and more natives fled to the cities to find work. This suited the Vazdid family nicely, as they needed cheap labor to work in the thousands of shipyards that littered the urban coast. The strait that connected the Betshaban Waters to the Ygarlsed Sea was claimed by the family and constantly patrolled to insure a trade monopoly by the family with points north. Heady from their success in Nadera, the Vazdids even attacked Palerean, often paying privateers exorbitant sums for flags captured from Paleric ships. For two centuries, the corrupt Vazdid family held Nadera in a strangle-hold. During this time, various resistance movements rose and fell in opposition to the Vazdids; those who opposed the Vazdids directly often fell while those who acted more indirectly met with some success.

Eventually, the power of the Vazdids waned in Lagorka and they found it more and more difficult to sustain their interests in Nadera. In a treaty with the rising Valia family, they surrendered all their holdings in Nadera. Though some of the Vazdid supporters chose to stay in Nadera, those that returned to Lagorka raped the Naderans for all they were worth. Ships laden with Naderan gold, wood and slaves fled to Vazdid-controlled lands in Lagorka. The Valias, uninterested in finding themselves in the same trap as the Vazdids had in Nadera, granted independence to the people there, but not before themselves picking over whatever the Vazdids had chosen to leave behind.

In the first decade of the 77th century A.C., Nadera was in ruins and anarchy was the only law. Though an attempt was made to return to the city-state existence of the pre-Simonide era, the lack of an agrarian labor force made this all but impossible. In 7614 A.C., a woman by the name of Aishah Izuel, who had rise to power in the city of Trivena, swore to bring order to the nation. Desirous of organization and awed by her charisma, various cities flocked to her banner. Those that refused to recognize her as Queen of Nadera were besieged and defeated, their children executed and fed to her troops for their trouble. Within two years, all of Nadera had fallen under the rulership of Queen Aishah "the Bloody." Despite her violent rise to power, Aishah proved to be a wise and wily, if not always merciful, ruler. She imposed harsh taxes on the urban centers, forcing many to return to the fields and coastal fishing villages and provide the nation with a food source. Most significantly, she gathered together the remaining members of the Saphracine Watch and reinstated their authority. This move was violently opposed by her regular army, most of which had nothing to do with the Saphracines, and Aishah faced the possibility of open rebellion within six months of gaining the throne. To diffuse the situation, Aishah directed the standing army to involve itself in the protection of the nation and enforcing the Queen's Law. The Saphracines, many of whom were already very experienced in court intrigue and underhanded operations, were given the directive of enforcing the Moral Code, which detailed precisely how a Naderan was supposed to interact with others, both in business and personal affairs.

The extreme order of the next sixty years was a stark contrast to the anarchy of the post-Lagorkan period. The Saphracine Watch, which became colloquially known as just the Watch, became a feared and highly organized enforcer of the Moral Code and were often left to interpret the Code how they pleased. Over the next few decades, the Royal Court gave over more and more power to the Watch, much to the consternation of the citizenry. In 7655 A.C., Queen Zebba expanded the jurisdiction of the Watch to include the nobility as well. This edict was met with much opposition, but those nobles who were too vocal in their criticism of the crown were silenced by the Watch, some even without the traditional trial by the Royal Court. This served to effectively silence those remaining nobles who opposed the Watch and the turmoil surrounding the expansion of power quickly dissipated.

This period of calm quickly disappeared in 7680 with the death of Queen Zebba. Her successor and niece, Innana, was assassinated minutes after her coronation and the Watch revealed that she had been quietly working against them for the last several years. civil war immediately erupted as various factions began to vie for the throne. Most modern historians agree that the assassination of Innana was planned by a militant faction of the Watch, without the permission of its leaders. The civil war wasn't just a dissolution of the structure of the local nobility, but a war between various factions within the Watch as well.

For the next two decades, the Princes and greater nobility of Nadera fought against one another, with various factions of the Watch fighting in the shadows. Chaos reigned until two faction leaders, Prince Uan Arostegi of Talergo and Prince Gezer Gainza of Gaenland, signed the Treaty of Talergo. This treaty, which eventually evolved into the Naderan Royal Code, dictated that the Princes would form a governing body that would enact and enforce laws within the nation. The powerful Princes were able to convince many other nobles to sign on and the combined armies of the factions that supported the Treaty defeated those that refused. In the summer of 7700 A.C., the victorious Princes gathered and signed the Naderan Royal Code, a constitution based on the Treaty which gave much power to the local nobility, including the ability to elect one of their members to the Royal Seat.

The Chamber of Princes was established in Garza, a very defensible but insignificant town along the Interior Shore, and Prince Cyrus Etxeleku of Bastida was the first elected King and would serve for ten years before retiring (which became a tradition thereafter). Under the Code, the King was responsible mainly for foreign affairs, though he did have some influence on domestic policy as well, any domestic decision had to be ratified by the Chamber. In a coup for Royal power, authority over the Watch was given to the King. The absolute power of the Watch, however, had dissolved completely. The Treaty of Talergo had no real affect on the shadow war that the factions of the Watch were conducting and assassinations of various minor officials who were later revealed to be members of one faction or another continued for the duration of Cyrus' reign.

Upon Cyrus' retirement in 7710 A.C., Prince Salabus Arostegi of Talergo was elected to the Royal Seat and immediately set about reorganizing the Watch. Rumored to have been the leader of one of the major factions of the Watch, he quickly removed many officials who refused to acknowledge his leadership and those who were working against the Chamber of Princes. An ardent believer in the Code, Salabus' reorganization focused on turning the Watch into a means of gathering information on Nadera's neighbors. Though his reorganization solidified the power of the Chamber, it was not received well by foreign powers and trade tariffs increased.

Never a nation rife with resources, the Naderan economy began a slow decline in the 78th century. The agrarian population had lost many of its traditions during the Vazdid occupation and foodstuffs were not always readily available. This slow decline would continue for much of the century, until the election of Prince Myrsus Varuna of Relar to the throne in 7780 A.C. A relatively weak member of the Chamber, as King, Myrsus closely examined his nation's resources and foreign policy. In 7782 A.C., he sent ambassadors to neighboring countries and struck lucrative trade bargains with most of them. What few realized at the time was that Prince Myrsus had discovered his nation's most powerful resources: the extensive information network of the Watch. The trade agreements he signed with his neighbors each included a secret clause that would funnel information to the various powers of the region, each feeling that they were the only benefactors of the Watch's information. As the money flowed into Nadera and the nation pulled itself out of poverty, spying became a way of life. Membership in the Watch expanded to include much of the population (modern estimates suggest that at least one out of every ten Naderan citizens are full members of the Watch, with many more at least periphery members.

Nadera today is a relatively wealthy nation who is viewed as a necessary evil by most of its neighbors. Naderan spies ply their trade as far away as Aebasa, selling and buying information as a commodity. Though few nations actually sanction Naderan spies, most have made no effort to uncover the network in their borders. Of the neighboring nations, only the newly-established dwarven nation of Valduran has publicly denounced the spy network, though even still, many humans of the region still rely on Naderans for hard-to-find information on their enemies. Nadera has wormed its way into international politics and has become a necessary, and accepted, political expedient.

One major problem that many sages have noted is that, though the Watch is much more public than it was during the Izuel Dynasty, it is also much, much larger. Factions have again risen within the group and historians suggest that the situation is rife for another shadow war. Detractors of these theories point out that most of the rivalries within the Watch are taken with a grain of salt and a sly grin. Though there is still no honor among thieves in Nadera, there is some level of honor and tradition among its spies.

Economy

Naderan economy is based almost entirely on the lucrative trade agreements sustained by the activities of the Watch. Its agrarian population is still very small and generally unskilled, so foodstuffs are a major import. A number of shipyards have sprung up since the departure of the Vazdids and Nadera is again known for making some of the best ships to ply the oceans (and they have learned how to make their ships much more maneuverable while maintaining their traditional hardiness). Other than information and ocean-going ships, however, Nadera has little in the way of resources. King Goren Orzaiz, who is at the end of his traditional tenure, has made an attempt to diversify his nation's resources by hiring agricultural experts to teach the agrarian population how to raise grapes and make wine with some success, but it is unknown if his successor will continue this policy.

Religion

Britomaris, god of thievery, is by far the most popular deity in Nadera, though his priests hold no real official function in relation to the government. Pothos, god of vice, is popular in major urban centers, as is Bellona, goddess of wealth and Minos, god of commerce. Most citizens enjoy the festivals of Themis, god of mischief, which are typically affairs filled with drunken revelry and practical jokes (which many Naderans pride themselves as experts on). Along the extensive shoreline, Pavor, god of travel, is significant with regards to shipbuilding, as is the worship of Betshaba, goddess of water. Vitulus, god of cities, has a strong, stable clergy there and, though small, they tend to exert the most obvious political influence. King Goren has funded a major temple to Furinus, god of wine, in Garza, but the clergy there is still new and their favor with the government may only be a passing fad.

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