Trova

Economy

Currency:Vit
The vast majority of Trovian wealth is developed through their trade routes. Control of over half of the Ohthurnuk Sea, several major rivers that flow into the sea, and relatively flat plains with Kingdom maintained roads, has led to Trova controlling trade. Western metals and exotic spices move through Trova before being traded for eastern resources and livestock. Up north, the Alliances have been trying to boycott trade through Trova, but with poor control over their roadways, much of the central trade moves south before heading through the rest of Trova.   Agriculture is the second largest source of national wealth, with border communities often trading excess supplies outward for exotic materials. Most villages and cities will perform collective bargaining, keeping a portion for social development or to pass on to the Holds for taxation.   The average individual lives in poverty by modern standards, but fair better than isolated communities in Balor as a whole. Most villages and cities have communal farms that the community will rotate work on, rationing the food out. Beyond the communal work, individuals have their own private professions. Some are craftsmen, often in necessary fields such as carpentry, while others dabble in more exotic trades, such as teameisters.   Trade is officially done with the national currency, the Vit, but most actual trade is simply bartering one form of goods for another. The Vit comes in three values: The Crown, Plow, and Nub. Crown's are largely used for holding-to-holding interactions, but are seen in the largest cities. Most daily transactions use Plow's and Nub's, with a single Plow being worth 40 Nub's. For context, the loaf of bread at a traditional bakery is worth 2 Nub's.  

History

An abbreviated look at Trovian History, full text here
 

Pre-Migration Balor

Prior to the arrival of human and elven migrants, Balor was a sparsely populated island of dragon settlements. Though little remains of their ancient settlements, evidence does suggest that some primitive stonework was being done. As both dragon races were predominately on @Dinwon, it's believed that they may have migrated from @Ruva before reaching Balor.   No advanced settlements seemed to be created prior to the extinction event that had wiped the dragon races from the greater part of the world. Those that remained on Balor seemed to have reverted back to a primitive development, only rising technologically when the first migrants resurfaced.  

Early Migrations (~1500 CE - 2000 CE)

Multiple waves of migrants came to Balor, but most of these seemed to become isolated and died off in smaller family units. While the exact cause isn't certain, the mountainous ring around Balor may have been too difficult for most settlers to traverse, causing only small numbers to arrive, often dwindling further from the journey.   The development of greater balor elven cultures in the north was definitively established by as early as 2100, with evidence suggesting human settlements in the western reaches of Balor a few hundred years prior. Both the ardisonik and devican tribes had shown evidence of greater organization, perhaps keeping Trovian settlment from occurring , as well as stopping elven encroachment into the northeastern Balor.  

Expansion of the Strags (2100 - 2600 CE)

From the west, through mountains beasts of burdens, the human population of ethnic Hada's began mass migration eastward toward the more futile land. This exodus is speculated to be due to famine, with a large portion of the population simply leaving their homes for an easier life. Open fields with pockets of forest and lakes made migration relatively easy, the fertile ground quickly giving the population stability.   Within a few generations, new styles of architecture, language, and arts began to differentiate the modern Strag humans from their ancestral Hada. Their communities, mostly farming, grew exponentially, pushing further and further east as an agricultural boom expanded the population within modern Trova. Many of the larger modern cities that exist today originally started as major fertile areas with massive crop yields.   around 2510 CE, devican warbands began moving westward into these farming communities. Most of the rural communities fell to these warbands, the city-states that had rose up faring better, but suffering heavy loses from starvation as their farms were razed and livestock taken. Several areas established new devican clans, keeping a foothold within Trova that warbands would continue to strike out from.   In 2633, the last devican war-city of Thakdul succumbed to an elven siege. In the preceding years, it was abandon due to devican harassment, but was never reclaimed.  

Merchant War-Bands (2500's - 2800's CE)

Human war-bands from the western hills of Trova had started a new system of tributary cities. Large, roving bands would raid vulnerable communities, taking charge, then establishing trade networks between their various communities, taking heavy portions for themselves. These bands proved to be stabilizing in the area, slowly pushing their influence eastward until southern Balor had become a human dominated influence.   While the bands were able to resist other war-bands, including the devican pushes from the east, they did prove vulnerable to more established organizations. Several western bands fell to the older kingdoms in the western mountains. A few city-states that had resisted the war-band demands had managed to steal key cities, destabilizing the trade routes.   In the north, elven kingdoms were growing larger, more organized, and started getting longer and longer occupations past the forest lines.  

Aihanla Occupations (2742 - 2858 CE)

The largest elven nation, a protorepublic of the central-eastern Great Expanse, began pushing south when their food productions began slowing. The Aihanla Republic managed to claim several large cities and huge expanses of land, forcing serfdom on the human inhabitants. Their territory cut off many of the major routes east, allowing devican war tribes to push further inland. The city-states across southern Balor began a steady economic decline that would last hundreds of years.   Aihanla remained strong, slowly adding more villages as the military grew larger. The "Poisoning of Lithihan" marked the beginning of the rampant corruption that would break their republic apart. The human territories, largely free of the turmoil thanks to the centralized control by Councilman Adarak, quickly became cut off when civil war erupted. He refused to return the republic troops that were performing peace keeping of the serfs and raised his own forces to defend against separatists moving south. In 2858, he declared independence from the republic and began ruling himself.  

Saik'Numia Rulership (2858 - 3002 CE)

Adarak took the local title "Lihvor", and ruled, naming his new kingdom after his eldest son, Saik, and daughter, Numia. He was struck with the problem of having a significant military force that were home-sick. To occupy them, he sent what he could south and west, establishing control where the city-states could not, and growing larger.   With the decline of the city-states and the slow rebuild of the elven nations, Saik'Numia was largely unchallenged. Each subsequent monarch took in more territory until nearly all of modern Trova fell under their control. While Adarak and Saik were pure elven blood, Saik had taken a human woman as a bride, and his half-elven son, Mordith took a human bride. The royal line would intermingle back and forth, creating a mixed bloodline among the aristocratic elite, while the soldiers were often forced into marrying each other or humans in order to have families.   Under Lihvor Kahlio, his erratic decrees threatened to destroy the kingdom within years of his ruling. The heads of prominent families came together in the Council of Fenul, plotting to kill Lihvor Kahlio.  

Fenul City-States (3002 - 3247 CE)

With the assassination of Lihvor Kahlio, the council initially ruled through the Lihvor's wife as a puppet. Sick with The Long Shiver, she stepped down from her role, declaring the city states to be free under an alliance. She helped the council draft an agreement, effectively making the entire land of Saik'Numia into a Confederation. These city-states would each raise their levies in defense of one another and practiced open trade with one another.   As the individual nations grew stronger, and as disagreements grew more frequent, the various city-state councils came together and came to the agreement that a rotating Lihvor would help keep stability and enforce demand. The first Lihvor was Kvorik Degen, and he proved to be a brilliant leader for the Alliance. He drafted a full Rite of Defense, establishing the official defense strategy, forced fair trading to prevent a province from suffering over squabbles among the council, and gave the council a clearly defined, if weaker than before, role within his rule.   His son was present for every decision he made, groomed as a natural leader. When Kvorik passed, his son was given the crown, setting the hereditary standard that continued.  

Degen Dynasty (3247 - 3343 CE)

Under the Degen family, the realm was prosperous. Famine struck the north, reducing the elven population significantly, protecting the borders from an organized invasion. In 3291, a plague swept through the devican and ardasonik lands, breaking their nations apart for decades. An agricultural revolution gave Trova a boon, allowing the nation to grow further and consolidate the last remaining territories under their control.   In 3308, the nation pushed into western Balor, crushing the petty kingdoms that existed in the landscape. An assault from the Grand Dragons eventually forced the Trovian military back home, but the rubble of the west is still trying to recover from the almost occupation that occurred.  

Vil'Ladu Dynasty (3339 - Present)

In 3334, Sokar Vil'Ladu rose from seemingly nowhere with a cohort of elite soldiers. Sokar Vil'Ladu was the same name of the last Queen of Saik'Numia's husband, giving rise to the fear that he was an elven ghoul come to extract revenge on the legacy of the Fenul Alliance.   His campaign was relatively short lived. He garnered support from many in his short time rising up, and moved against the Degen family. In 3343, he officially was crowned the new Lihvor, exiling all remaining Degen descendants to the west. He embarked on a modernization campaign immediately upon taking the throne. When the first nations from beyond Balor began to arrive, he opened negotiations to help elevate Trova ahead of it's time.