# Atvar Confederacy
The Atvar Confederacy is located on the Southeastern lowlands of Narrin, West of the Nolurweitz Mountains. The Confederacy is a land of wealthy nobles and poor commoners with few cities and many castles and manor houses. The people of the Confederacy see it as the cultural, educational and economic epicenter of Temnia.
## History
### Founding
>[!Notes]
>After the dissolution of the Miryag nation, Toman Atvar took his clan, and those loyal to him, back to sea. They did not travel far, seeing a hospitable land just South of Sulima. They encountered the Aklish natives, and initially intended to remain on the Eastern Shore of their new home. The other Atvaran clans wanted to expand their territory, and provoked the naturally distrustful Aklish into attacking the settlements.
### Settlement Campaign
>[!Notes]
>With the prospect of coexistence seemingly gone, the Atvarans waged a war of conquest against the Aklish. This war looked to end with the Volke Accord, leaving approximately one-half of the land for the Atvarans, and the other for the Aklish. However, a conspiracy between Atvaran war hawks and Aklish dissidents resulted in an attempted assassination of Toman Atvar. St. Toman lives, but Werden Auzast died, as did any hope of peace with the Aklish. Sebrus Ord lead a brutal campaign westward, with the goal of exterminating the natives and seizing the entire Southern half of the island.
### Civil War
>[!Notes]
> Toman Atvar died before the Settlement Campaign was complete, and Aldon Atvar, Toman's son, was ill-suited to fill in his father's shoes. Aldon was committed to the Confederacy as conceived by Toman, but he trusted too much in the ability (or willingness) of his peers to act in the interests of the common good. This left the 7 largest clans to work out how the Confederacy would come together. Shortly after the Settlement Campaign had ended, Inda Ord (nee Varg) attempted to wrest control of House Ord from her husband Sebrus. Sebrus resisted, but found that Inda had gathered quite a few allies and significant power. The struggle for leadership of House Ord almost resulted in a civil war, but a peaceful solution was reached. There would be 8 co-equal states of the Confederacy, each major house would be granted their own territory to parcel out and control as they saw fit. No family could maintain holdings in more than one state, and only the unanimous agreement of all the major houses could impose law across the Confederacy.
### Legacy of the Founding Elders
>[!notes]
> The events of the Atvar Confederacy in the generations after St. Toman and the Founding Elders fell out of living memory.
## Government
Weak and chaotic are the words most often used to describe the Confederacy, and in general they are well chosen. The **Conclave of Nobles** is a gathering of the lords and ladies of the confederacy that meets once each month to vote upon laws proposed by the **Council of Governors**. The standing rule of the Conclave is that all measures must pass with a unanimous vote, and it is for this reason that very little gets done at the highest levels of the government. The Confederacy is divided into 8 states, each named for its founder. These states are the lasting legacy of the founding elders, but do little more than put borders and a flag on the power of the noble families.
By law, no noble family can own land in more than one state. Each state elects a governor, who in turn represents the state in Council, but only the dukes and duchesses can vote or serve as governor, which makes the office little more than a trophy for “most influential noble.” The dukes and duchesses hold ultimate authority in the states. The Governors can request gold, troops and other resources, but cannot levy taxes or compel service. This means that state is little more than a figleaf for whichever high noble happens to be power at the time. The dukes and duchesses can grant noble titles within their lands, deciding upon the landgraves, counts, viscounts, and barons within their domain. Nobles can grant and revoke titles of lords two or more ranks below their own as well, provided no one of higher rank objects. Barons decide their own baronets and knights, and while higher nobles can strip these titles, few high lords bother to micromanage such matters. The dynamic between barons and commoners is quite similar across the Confederacy, but the upper nobles tend to vary more between the individual state of the Confederacy. There are eight states in the confederacy: Auzast, Bryn, Gur, Ord, Runde, Spen, Tolle and Varg. Nobles are forbidden by Confederate law to hold lands in more than one state, and the labyrinth of noble alliances has made seizure by force an unpalatable option.
### Auzast
Auzast was named in honor of **Werden Auzast**, the leader of the Atvaran settlement campaign against the Akalish natives. It was so named by **Toman Atvar** himself, in memory of the man who gave his life to defend his fellows from a cowardly sneak attack by Akalish forces. Auzast was a great warrior and skilled tactician who made a point of leading by example, and that legacy has imprinted itself upon the state that bears his name. What little enthusiasm there is for a unified Confederacy lies within the noble houses of Auzast. Unlike most states, the court militia (the armed branch of the state government) is an actual, credible peacekeeping force. Usually, such militias are dumping grounds for members of noble houses unfit to wear their colors, or exiled victims of internal power struggles. Here, it is a position of great repute. While few would ever admit it, the Auzast militia might be the most powerful military force in the Confederacy. In addition to this, Auzast himself had established the **Order of Heldaran**, a noble army that serves to defend the principles and common good of the Confederacy. Any noble family can call upon the order, and the order would be honor bound to defend family’s interests. By Atvaran law, the Order has full jurisdiction over any territory they are called to defend. Those within Auzast make careful use of the Order, but those in other lands would never call them into their own domain in any but the most desperate of circumstances. The church of St. Toman also has a strong presence in Auzast. The **College of Consensus** sits within the city of Atvar, and most noble families of sufficient means send lower-stationed children to the seminary to learn the craft of negotiation. The body of St. Toman himself is interred within the college, and legend holds that Toman’s spirit suffuses the entire city, fostering peace and cooperation, quelling the destructive and aggressive instincts with the people of the city.
### Bryn
Founded by **Selder Bryn**, who was one of the most influential and knowledgeable human wizards of his day. Brynian spellcasting (also known as eistervadenkreit or “staff and circle” casting) was at the forefront of human arcane knowledge until **Olidarus** revolutionized the practice in 1285. Selder believed that education, rather than bloodlines, were the true test of nobility, and to that end he established the **University of Thaumaturgic and Artistic Studies at Lekart**, though it’s colloquially known as _Selder University_. By law, any aspiring noble must attend and graduate the university in order to inherit the title. The greater the title, higher the education needed. This is, naturally, and incredibly expensive requirement but many nobles and willing to help lesser lords and ladies to be with tuition, in exchange for the appropriate concessions. Over the generations, the prestige of the University has lost its luster. Internal politics and pressures from noble donors have turned the once great institution into little more than a collection of self-aggrandizing sophists handing out degrees in exchange for gold. The University and the nobility refuse to accept this reality, and graduates affect an air of intellectual grandeur that only the half-informed could truly muster. Brynic nobles are the source of a great deal of dreadfully pretentious art, overwrought literature, and frankly baffling poetry. Their inflated pride in their collective intelligence has also made a unnavigable mess of their legal system. Because of this, magistrates have become the most influential members of the aristocracy, as it is their interpretations are the key to settling the inevitable legal disputes between rival families. It has also created an army of clerks, scribes and bureaucrats who are essential to the day-to-day navigation of the regulatory morass.
### Gur
**Georden Gur** was probably the single person most responsible for the founding elders failing to deliver upon St. Toman’s dream of a functioning Confederacy. Uncompromising, relentless, and with a crystalline vision of justice, Georden Gur’s watchful eye burned away corruption and conspiracy in the early days of the confederacy. After Toman had died, so too did much of Gur’s influence. Once it was clear that the others were not interested in instilling the land of order and justice she envisioned, Gur set about doing what she could, establishing order in her dominion, and ensuring that the others ambitions were thwarted as best she could. The law of Gur is set forth in the **Mandate**, the supreme law under which all (even the nobility) are subordinate. The Mandate established the **Supreme Order of Knight Adjudicators**, which are a responsible for enforcing the Mandate, and have broad powers allowing them to do so. The leader of the Order, which is also the head of state, is known as the **Absolute**, and under her are the **Justices** who are responsible for the 5 duchies of the state. Each duke answers to their Justice, and while the Justices have the authority to command house armies, they also have the ability to appoint new Knight Adjudicators (commonly referred to as “Judges”) who are responsible for dispensing justice throughout the land. In return for this power, the Justices are forbidden to own lands, hold contracts with noble families, vote on noble affairs or participate in Confederacy governance. They are, however, permitted to commandeer resources necessary to perform their duties. The Absolute is voted upon by the nobles of Gur, but the only eligible candidates are the members of the Order, who themselves are appointed by the Absolute, or by a Justice (unless vetoed by the Absolute or all four of the other justices). Unlike most other states, barons are not permitted their own magistrates and cannot act as their own magistrate. The nobles have a healthy fear of the Supreme Order, but the Mandate has little impact on internal workings of the noble houses. Mostly it exists to prevent intrafamily conflict, and to ensure the rights and property of the nobility is maintained against common violence or noble malfeasance. By and large, they are grateful for the stabilizing influence of the order. The lack of appropriate oversight in other states have made Gurens distrustful of nobles from beyond their borders.
### Ord
**Sebrus “Blood and Iron” Ord** was a hero of the settlement campaign, credited with “settling” the western frontier. A more accurate description would be that he slaughtered the remnants of the Akalish foolish enough to flee West after the massacre at Lake Volke. Ord knew that St. Toman and the others thought of Auzast as the greatest hero of the Atvar people, and he sought to prove his superior valor with ever greater (and more ruthless) deeds on behalf of his people. When the conquest of the frontier was complete, Ord was the largest territory within the Confederacy. This changed when the marriage of Sebrus and his wife **Inda Varg** ended. The ensuing feud threatened to destroy the Confederacy. Families across the land were tied together in webs of alliance so vast and tangled that a armed conflict for control of the Ord state would have sparked a civil war. Fortunately, an accord was reached that established the state of Varg, and established the doctrine of exclusive sovereignty, which prohibited families from owning land in more than one state. The nobles of Ord are a sour and fractious lot. The reputation of Sebrus himself had taken quite a beating over the generations, and most do not see the old war hero in a pleasant light. The common disparagement of their state hero and their relatively meager wealth have left the Ordan nobles somewhat insecure about their status, and thus they tend to respond quite forcefully to insults, real or perceived. Ordan nobles tend to treat their subjects and servants more harshly, stand by the formal rules of etiquette more sternly, and respond to breeches of etiquette more severely. Ordan nobility are notorious for issuing dueling challenges, a tradition that is still legally valid but considered gauche by most Atvarans, for minor insults.
### Ründe
If Geordan Gur was the reason that Toman Atavar’s dream of a unified confederacy died unfulfilled, **Emcer Ründe** is the reason the Confederacy itself did not die with it. Runde was the sort of fellow one simply couldn’t hate. She was known to be rather puerile and occasionally vulgar, but she was well-read and insightful; never at a loss for the right thing to say. She was a master wordsmith, a voracious reader, a learned scholar, a captivating orator and a shrewd negotiator. Many credit her with almost single-handedly defusing the civil war that Sebrus Ord and Inda Varg's divorce nearly created. The nobles of Ründe idolize Emcer as a paragon of nobility. They see refinement and class as creating beauty in the world. To them, beauty and utility are opposite ends of a continuum, and for those of low station, their lives are consumed by the “necessary.” Their lives are growing of food, the building of structures, the cleaning of clothing and similarly needful things. As one's pursuits become less “necessary” they become more “beautiful” and thus befitting people of higher station. This is why Ründeinian nobles tend to occupy themselves with travel, fashion, singing, artistry, writing works of fiction and other similarly beautiful endeavors. Much of the world’s most popular literature and theater comes from Ründe, and the epicenter of Ründeinian culture is the Aldervaagen Theater. The most famous and accomplished bards, singers, playwrights and actors dream of having their talents highlighted on the grandest of stages. Aldervaagen has spawned an entire entertainment industry. Smaller regional theaters, performance halls and bardics colleges were built to take advantage of the influx of creative talent striving for a change to perform on the famed “Silver Stage.”
### Spen
**Heinrick Spen** is best known as an outdoorsman, explorer author and philosopher. Spen’s seminal work is **Destiny Made Manifest**, an account of his exploration of Southern Corsu in the early years of the Confederacy. He famously refused to participate in the settlement campaign, claiming that Aklish were a dignified people whose destruction would sully the glorious lands that St. Toman had led his people to. This made Spen a pariah in his day, but the intervening years have been kinder to Heinrick’s legacy. The state of Spen was originally named so as a sign of defiance against the Confederacy. Nobles disenfranchised or disillusioned with confederate politics had come to see Heinrick Spen as the ideal of nobility. Peaceful, thoughtful, just, and steadfast in his beliefs, even when threatened with imprisonment or death. The nobles of Spen revere Heinrick more even than Toman himself. They leave vast swathes of their lands untouched for the joy of looking upon its unspoiled beauty. They take up hunting and trailblazing and other outdoorsman activity with great enthusiasm, and have little patience for their soft, sheltered and spoiled peers. Estates tend to be modestly sized with simplistic architecture, but often feature lavish gardens, picturesque grottos, and other grand naturalistic flourishes.
### Tolle
**Frenkel Tolle** believed that the moral measure of a man could be measured on the gold he carried. He argued that reason is what separates men from beasts, and greater people from lesser. Wealth is a direct consequence of a person’s ability to leverage his reason to his own advantage in a free society (which is that Tolle exemplifies and the Confederacy strives toward). Those who are poor and wretched are always so because of some flaw or combination of flaws to which they choose to cling. Tollein nobility tend to believe themselves better than their peers, being creatures of “pure reason” and not suffering from flaws of irrationality, altruism or self-sacrifice. They speak a great deal of the inherent equality of all persons, but are quick to point out faults in those who they have chosen to see as lessers. They speak highly of the value of freedom, but usually as a justification for taking selfish advantage of another’s unfortunate circumstance.
### Varg
Vargan nobles revere the tradition of **Inda Varg**. Inda had been a women of a small social status and meager wealth, but had leveraged her charm and wit into a marriage to the much more powerful **Sebrus Ord**. She then used the marriage to guide Sebrus to greater acclaim and authority, while amassing her own power, gathering allies, and positioning herself to replace Sebrus as the head of the Ord house. While this plan ultimately failed, Inda did manage to create her own state, and to take the all the best assets and most powerful allies from Sebrus' noble house. Vargan nobles have learned well from Inda's example, and are some of the most charming, articulate, glamorous and sociable people in the Confederacy. Those who accept them as such at face value often come to regret it. Most Vargans affect an air of disinterest in politics or business, preferring to project an image of themselves as socialites, mondaines, sophisticates and dilettantes. But under the facade of vapidity often lies a keen mind and observant gaze. A Vargan noble could learn more about a rival in an hour’s conversation about theater and fashion than a trained spy could in an entire day of reading through correspondence. Vargans also tend to be averse to direct violence, or overt displays of fear, anger, hatred or similarly “brutish” emotions. Even if insult is given, one does not respond by challenging the lout to a fist-fight like some country boys fighting over the last scrap of bread. The resulting loss of respect would be far more damaging than the insult itself. Proper restitution is subtle, clever, and at all times civilized.
### Guilds and Factions
While no lord or lady can hold lands outside their own state, alliances beyond state borders are common. These alliances have broadened into three large political parties, each with their own vision for the future of the Confederacy.
**Union Party:** Led by Lord Byran Jarek, the Union Party espouses a philosophy of change to the fundamental structure of the Conclave and the Confederacy itself. The Union party wants a stronger Conclave at the expense of the rights of the nobles. Jarek and his allies believe that the spirit of unification that Saint Toman espoused has been forgotten, and the principle of unanimity is foolish. After years of agitating amongst the Lords and Ladies, Jarek now controls the majority of the Conclave, and is preparing to force the issue of Union before too long. If the Conclave does not ratify Jarek's new proposal, though, there are dark murmurs that the Confederacy may erupt in civil war for the first time in the three hundred and fifty-five years since the founding by Toman Atvar.
**Liberty Party:** Walyr Esda runs the Liberty party with one goal in mind: thwart Byran Jarek. Principally concerned with the reinforcing of the nobles' rights and the preservation of the status quo, the Liberty party is composed of conservatives who strongly believe that Jarek and the fools who follow him will be the death of the Confederacy.
**Sybarite Party:** Although their name seems to imply that these Lords and Ladies prefer their pleasures to their work, nothing could be further from the truth. The Sybarite party, led by Jyanna Morin, is devoted to the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the assumption that the nobles, who do what they want in their own territories anyway, should be left alone to govern their regions. Without the distraction of a central government, they reason, the people will be happier. Besides, why should the subjects of Lord Gren pay taxes to ensure that the subjects of Lady Breter don't starve? The life of the common person in the Confederacy is service to their lord. Most know little beyond the Baronet or Baron whom they serve, and the work they do in their service. Occasionally a higher lord will learn of particularly skilled tradesmen and recruit them into house service. Barons will refer such people to their senior lords as a way to curry favor, while the commoners see this as the best means of escaping their impoverished condition. Barons typically have their own magistrates, who are responsible for rendering judgement and passing sentence on criminals. Each baron also has a knight, who is the leader of the local house guard, which keeps order in the baronage. Some barons will take the duty of magistrate or upon themselves, or actively participate in the defense of their lands, but most would rather dedicate their time to enjoying the wealth of their position, or actively curry favor with the noble superiors.
**Nalatians:** Anarchists and agitators, the Naltians are dedicated to the destruction of the nobility and the fall of confederate government. Some rally to the cause to combat the corruption and tyranny of the feudal system, some simply want to reform the nobility, to ensure that they act in the best interests of all, poor and wealthy alike. Others still are sadists, murders and thieves simply looking for a outlet for their destructive impulses.
## Inhabitants
...
### Dragonborn
Aklish tribes had spread across the South of Corsu long before the arrival of Miryag settlers. The Miryag waged a decades long war against the Aklish, stealing their lands and slaughtering their people. The Aklish can still be found in the wilds of the Confederacy and at the edges of Confederate territory. Other Dragonborn people have fled persecution of enslavement from the Tyrennhian Imperium, but they find little in the way of welcome or succor from the Atvarans. The Aklish are distrustful of them as well, leaving them few options beyond life as an outlaw.
### Dwarf
Dwarven merchants from the Rassmussen and Thrumsul Kingdoms can be found in Mornberg, and along trade routes to the larger noble holdings. Exiled worshipers of Inkarha have created communities around the confederacy. Some of these are stand-alone villages, while others are ethnic neighborhoods in larger towns or cities.
### Halflings
As with many other nations across Temnia, the Atvar Confederacy has attracted a number of refugees from the destroyed Saccorantti nation. Almost any town of village will have at least one or two halfling families living there, and larger cities will have entire "smalltowns" with thriving halfling communities.
### Humans, Corsuan
The Confederacy had a reasonable distrust of the Tyrennhian Imperium, that doesn't stop trade or travel over the mountain passes. Some of the Shellitash people fled into the Confederacy in wake wake of Imperial occupation, preferring to embrace their native culture in exile, rather than see it subordinated and consumed by the Tyrennhians.
### Humans, Miryag
Humans make up the majority of the inhabitants of the Confederacy. Most are descendants of the Atvar clan and their followers, but immigrants, scholars, pilgrims and merchants from other Miryag nations have made their way into Confederate lands, mostly from the Polimon Sulinate and Dayrin League.
## Society and Culture
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## Faith and Religion
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