Daarion

Daarion is the northernmost province of the Empire of the Southern Sun. It encompasses the northern cloud forests along the line of the Greenwall, as well as the more temperate forests between the highlands and the central plains. It has a poor agricultural base, but the mountains are rich in mineral resources. Throughout the history of the region, the people of the highlands - primarily high Elves and Dwarfs - have possessed the bulk of the power and wealth, while the lowlanders - mostly Gnomes and Humans - have worked forest farms to support both their own communities and their overlords above.   Over time, the tribal groups of the highlands built strongholds - part temple, part palace, dedicated first to an eclectic assemblage of local gods, and later to the genasi faith of Foundation - to control their own territory, protect their people and their gold, and project power over their neighbours and their lowland clients. These nascent Holds formed alliances, bringing the lowland cultures with them to form the state - later the province - of Daarion under the leadership of the dwarf-genasi Daarium dynasty.   The Holds and their ruling dynasties continue to form the centre of Daarian society, with the Hold of Daarium serving as provincial capital. Community is everything to the Daarians, with a resultant focus on local over provincial alliances. This limits the influence of the province over affairs of the wider Empire, due to a lack of centralised leadership, and Daarium is the only Imperial House never to have held the Sun Throne. Additionally, as the first line of defence against hypothetical Federation hostility, the province plays host to a significant body of Imperial troops, which sometimes strains both local authority and local relations.   The economic base of the province is in mining, smithing and defence, the latter assisted by the Imperial garrison. Navy air patrols, supported by eagle riders of the Daarion Imperial Spears, maintain a watch over the peaks of the Greenwall. The dwarvern influence on the culture translates into a strong value placed on labour and labourers, especially miners and smiths, at least among the highland Holds. The lowlanders maintain a stubbornly independent culture, ironically much more closely aligned with an imperial identity, rather than Daarian. Since the highlanders tend to identify with Hold rather than province, very few people actually call themselves Daarian.