The Sharvas

The Sharvas (humans)

Humans were created on the coast of the Gulf of Storms near the end of the Age of Song, but had spread across Nirn by the Sundering of the Song. They brought with them their language, and their stories, and most importantly their dreams. While all the peoples of Nirn have hopes, and aspirations, humans have a preternatural ability to make them real. In fact humans’ name for themselves, Sharvas, means “The Dreamers”. Though they are the shortest lived people of Nirn, humans have an almost limitless ability to make things happen. Empires can rise or fall in the lifetime of a single human, sometimes because of that single human. This kind of ambition, driven in part by the desire to make their dreams reality before they slip their mortal coil, is what gives rise to their vaunted adaptability. That same short lifespan has also led to a lot of their past being forgotten, or misremembered, or even purposefully altered. It’s a simple fact that when there is no one left alive who remembers how a thing happened, the history becomes little more than a tale. Tales change in the telling and grow into legends, and legends slowly fade into myth. Though this is true for all sapient beings, humans experience the process on an accelerated timescale, not only because they are short lived, but because of their ambition. It is often expedient for those that seek power and influence to manipulate the historical record for their own gain, twisting facts or destroying records, leaving nothing but the stories. 

There are human communities dotted across Nirn, remnants of explorers and expeditions so ancient that their descendants think that they’ve always been there. Trade Tongue has long supplanted the ancient mother language of humanity, and even in places where a human language is dominant, so little of the original tongue remains that only one word is commonly known. Sharva is the one word that unites humans, reminds them that they were once one people, and might still be. Ambitious humans throughout history have sought to lay claim to the word, declare that their people the true Sharvas, and all others are impure or imposters. The Reth’Shee sage Gin’Kai’Gin opined that it seemed like the only thing that would truly remind humans that they were all fruit of the same tree.

The Cÿraafan Empire

Cÿraafan is a small island located in the Talon Straits. It is considered to be the boundary between the Maeziir Sea and the Aval Sea, and its capital city Cÿr is a frequent port of call for trade between the far north and the Aval. The empire was once a warring collection of city-states forming a dizzying array of constantly shifting political and trade alliances until The Old Dragon, Empress Ylbakuneezra I of Clade Fairweather brought the holy word of the goddess Solusia, the living spirit of the summer cycle, and her Heavenly Mandate to the other Cities of Cÿraafan. She spread the gospel by diplomacy when she could, and by the sword when she had to until the whole of the island was united under the banner of the Sun Queen. Once unified, the fledgling empire turned its gaze to the enemies within. Sacrilegious monuments, and so-called sacred landscapes were razed. Every grove established by anyone so much as suspected of practicing The Green Creed was clear cut, and the lumber used to build churches and shrines dedicated to the true Goddess of Cÿraafan. The false high gods were revealed to be rebellious saints and angels eventually redeemed and brought back into the fold. Treacherous non-humans were driven out, and those wicked enough, or mad enough to meddle with The Work were executed wholesale. It was a bloody process, but it is what made the Cÿraafan empire what it is today, at least according to The Lore-Keepers of the The Imperial Library in Raafchya.

The Young Dragon, Emperor Gierntoriis II of Clade Fairweather oversaw the glorious end of this process, declaring in his speech to the people gathered at his fifth annual meeting with the Goddess in the agora at Cÿr, “Empires, like the blades that win them, are forged by Shavra hands. The final test of the swordsmith’s art is the quenching. Well countrymen, friends, I am here to tell you—The Quenching Years are finally over”. That summer cycle, the Armies of Cÿraafan set sail across the Talon Straits to conquer for the first time. They landed upon the mainland at a cape now known as the Cÿrviin or Cÿr Point in Trade Tongue. Like a bolt of lightning striking from the blue the Cÿraafan host set the coastal plains ablaze with the fires of war. Before Emperor Gierntoriis was cremated in the ruddy dawn light of  a sweltering High Summer, most of the north eastern Aval coast paid tribute to Cÿr, and bent the knee to Solusia Sun Queen.

Today, the Cÿraafan Empire is a major trade power, controlling the flow of goods from the north into The Aval. Its close neighbors must either accept the status of Client-state, and the presence of Solusian missionaries, or maintain a robust military posture lest Cÿraafan decide that they fall under the Heavenly Mandate.

The Travelers (D’jilaan)

The grandmothers say that long, long ago, humanity had a true homeland. A storm tossed little kingdom called D’jila overlooking the sea. In the Reign of Queen Cÿraa, an army of Gren marshaled by Zhuulkova the Wicked, last scion of the regal line of Kashalbin, swept down out of the north, and razed the whole of the kingdom to the ground. This war sent humanity wandering, searching for a new home, and the memory of D’jila was lost to the mists of time before the 1st age began. Years passed, and humans spread the world over, settling in new lands and creating new stories to replace what they had lost. The descendants of the royal household however, never settled, and they never forgot D’jila. Now they have scattered to the eight winds, and wander Nirn in small caravans of brightly painted wagons and boats, ever in search of the ruins of their lost home. 

D’jilaan caravans are usually made up of a handful of families at most, and rarely grow larger than 50 people. Each member of the caravan carries a title of nobility that dates back to the kingdom of D’jila. These titles are mostly ceremonial, and often not hereditary, but the tradition is continued in the hope that one day a caravan will find the ruins of D’jila and found the kingdom anew. This makes some rulers nervous, and has led to strained relations between the D’jilaan and governments across Nirn. This paranoia sometimes seeps into the culture of the common folk, like in Cÿraafan where the D’jilaan are suspected of practicing magic by most, but largely people feel no more ill will towards them than they do towards any outsider, and around The Lost Sea they are welcomed as storytellers and traders.

Many D’jilaan have a bit of elfish blood, and they often interact with the Reth’yaak, who taught them the best routes for moving livestock on the steppe in days long past, and the Reth’ara, from whom they derived the practice of painting their caravans. Like most of the nomadic peoples of Nirn, the D’jilaan prefer to overwinter in established camps, usually traveling from Leave Taking until Last Harvest, and spending the depth of the winter cycle in fellowship with the other caravans making use of the camp. Occasionally, D’jilaan caravans will travel in winter, but only if they are forced out of their camp by local landholders, or strife with another caravan. Even more rarely if a caravan believes that they have found the homeland, and a Kingmeet is called, every D’jilaan is expected to come at once, though it has been many generations since this last happened. 

The Zharail League-

Though not a centralized empire like Cÿraafan, the Zharail League is considerably larger by most metrics. Comprised of more than 100 City-States, petty kingdoms, freehold farming collectives, autonomous port towns, large scale fishing communities, and one rebellious Reth’shee tribe who refused to bow to Shee’orrix Maag’yiya’kawl when she usurped her cousin and took the Crown of Thorns, the League is a loose association of nations whose members have committed to common defense, maintenance of League wide trade routes, and nonviolent negotiation of Intraleague hostilities. Though member states are largely autonomous, all are required to abide by the agreements made by the triennial Zharail Council. 

The league was founded with the signing of the Whitefish Compact by the leaders of 6 large, and prosperous city-states located on the northern shore of Whitefish Bay. The compact made the signatories a regional trade power, and a military alliance not to be scoffed at. In short order more Cities sought to join, and share in the wealth and security. Under the original Compact only independent cities were allowed entry, but this led to a fractured system, and much negotiation with other states to obtain the necessary rights for the building of trade roads between member states. The Compact was amended by the Zharail Council in the Year of Five Floods to allow any community of more than 1000 people to petition for admittance, after which the league saw a massive surge in membership, and a solidification of its territory. Every member state is given three seats at councils, and the passage of an Agreement requires that at least one representative from every state vote for it. This practice, meant to ensure that no state’s voice is silenced, has led to very few Agreements being ratified. Besides the basic principles of cooperation, and diplomacy set out in the Compact, there have been 5 major Agreements since the Five Floods Amendment including the Dol’reth Proclamation, which guaranteed universal suffrage and outlawed any form of slavery or indentured servitude, and ~20 minor Agreements mostly related to international trade treaties. 

The lack of cultural homogeneity often takes visitors to The Zharail League aback, especially if they have only had business with a limited number of member states. Though it is thought of primarily as a human nation by outsiders, The Zharail League prides itself on being a multicultural mosaic—a patchwork of different Human, Halfling, and Elfish communities coming together to create a beautiful, if complex whole. This self-conception is not always completely accurate as humans are the clear majority, albeit a fractious one. Still, if there is an overriding culture in Zharail it is one of independence.