Nations of Kudahn

Compiled by Kasseri Konya, Sc.N.P., Department of Sovereign Dynamics, Oso Arcanum

Doran

A nation which has changed nearly everything but its name over the course of its history. The Doran of old was a small spiritual population clustered around Andoran nestled at the confluence of two rivers lead by religious leaders. And it remained so for many hundreds of years, coexisting peacefully with its neighbors. However, a brush with near destruction by imperially minded neighbors convinced the people and high lama that they must adapt or be destroyed. Andoran dispatched scouts and scholars around the continent to learn how best to meet this new threat and the nation gathered and applied knowledge from around the continent. Slowly Doran transitioned from defensless theocracy to a major military power led in tandem by the supreme general and the theocratically appointed Emperor. The Dorani rejoiced in their newfound strength and national pride, but the Dorani did not foresee that the newly fashioned war machine would require constant fuel. Soon Doran began gobbling up its neighbors in acts of outright aggression, growing its territory to many times its original size, soon the theocratic leaders were overthrown by the military and the wars raged for hundreds of years during which countless lives were lost, cities were sacked, and cultures were erased. Eventually Doran had assimilated the entirety of the lowlands stretching from the western sea to the mountains of Uro’s Spine and from the Buckler mountains which shielded the Umbar to the Northern Cloudpeaks which the Ysgr guarded fiercely. When enemies without became impractical to fight, and with a growing desperation to demonstrate a need for its existence, the military turned inward and began campaigns against the elves who were once an integral part of the theocratic part of Dorani society but had transitioned to vocal critics of the imperialistic government. Over the next 30 years Doran declared all elves enemies of the state, and attacked them with propaganda and military might. Soon the Dorani military has all but exterminated the Elves within its borders . Over the next generation the military began to stagnate and the people grew to oppose it’s broad powers. A Republic was formed with each province chosing senators to represent them in the capital city of Dan Kadar. Today Doran has settled into a relative peace with military industry being turned to civic technology and infrastructure. Modern Doran is somewhat of a hodge-podge of races and cultures as the recent expansion has assimilated so many formerly disparate peoples. There are still many who would see Doran destroyed as retribution for the many people and cultures damaged or destroyed by the hundreds of years of war but for every detractor there are many who are enthusiastic about their new Dorani citizenship. All races are now welcome but humans dominate by a large margin. The forests of Doran once contained most of the Elves on the continent but the elf campaigns saw major population centers destroyed. Although many elves may still live in the massive forests they now do so in secret. Historically the close proximity of elves and humans makes half-elves and those of eleven descent very common but anti-elf sentiment is still prevalent and most keep their ancestry to themselves. ​

Tadros​

The oldest country on the continent of Khudan and has an appropriately long and complex history. Oral tradition suggest that this first settlement was a comprised of a small group of settler somewhere in the vicinity of Oso. Although their continent of origin is not known, scholars believe that these early Tadrosi are likely to have been driven off their original course by a storm and ended up travelling across the eastern sea to Khudan. The theory assumes that despite the meager landscape of Tadros, these intrepid settlers could not return home and so worked the land and plied the waters off the coast.

Despite the scarce and irregular rains, land-based explorations away from Oso were complicated by the nearly inhospitable climate of the Tadrosi steppe and mountain chains to the west, the frozen wastes of Ysrgr to the north and the sea to the east. Still expeditions to the south by land and Sea continued for some time and slowly Tadros began to grow physically and culturally.

Over time, Tadrosi culture became obsessed with water; it’s flow, it’s seasonality, and it’s important to life. These skills blended well with the native goblins and particularly Orcs who revered the land and sea in a religious sense. A friendly relationship led to a long history of exchange between the cultures including the development of methods of securing water for the long term. Elaborate canals, cisterns, and underground piping were created to capture the fresh water that would normally erupt from the sky and pour into the ocean during flash floods and fields of enormous moisture traps were designed and built to harness water carried by the maritime breeze. To this day much of tadrosi society is conducted beneath the earth and the largest cities often contain as much infrastructure underground as above it.

In addition to their knowledge of the natural world, the Orcs shared their knowledge of the four primordials and the Tadrosi were quick to incorporate these new gods into their religious beliefs. Today most Tadrosi are strong believers in the power of the primordials and they are the basis of religious life in the nation. Mariners frequently have mermaid avatars of Eloa or Storm clouds representing Aea tattooed on them, warriors pray to Shaír before battle, and farmers thank Ur for their harvest for their harvest ever year at the festival of the moons.

The next great event in the tadrosi progression (and by extension all of the Old Races) was again brought on by the Orcs who showed the tadrosi how to access the magical energies concentrated in the area. The tadrosi took to the manipulation and use of magical energy rapidly and it quickly became a part of their society. Only a few centuries later the great mage Ksaran Narakess would discover the Oso locus laying the groundwork for a magical renaissance of culture and technology. However, many also blame Narakess for the cavalier attitude toward magic which led to the later magical disasters that would alter the course of history.

As most of the data has been collected from oral tradition, and archaeological inference the exact date of the cataclysm is unknown but the scholarly consensus states that somewhere in the vicinity of 750 thousand years ago a great magical force was unleashed on the city of Oso and may have stretched far beyond its borders. The city and its population was almost entirely destroyed. However, goblinoid oral traditions contain mentions of strange small creatures without claws or sharp teeth appearing among them. Thus, it is thought that groups of tadrosi were transported to far flung corners of Khudan. The majority of those transported are likely to have perished shortly thereafter but it is thought that the remaining Old Races (humans, elves, and dwarves) are derived from the surviving groups.

After such a large setback Tadros was sent into a dark age of small fishing communities primarily along the coast of the eastern sea. The orcs, having witnessed the calamity and wary of the consequences of assisting the tadrosi, left them to their own devices. Of course, over time the settler of tadros reclaimed their heritage and rebuilt Oso but the process is thought to have been around 10 thousand years in the making. In spite of this history or perhaps because of it Tadors today is the defining force in what is considered the eastern style of magic and the Oso Arcanum is widely regarded as the most prestigious of those schools. Over the years the arcanum has defined every aspect of Tadrosi life, discovering new applications of magic and propellgin Tadros to a major world power. The Archanum and the council of the magi are now the seat of government for the country. Magic permeates every aspect of tadrosi life and the government is no exception. Tadros is ruled from Oso by a council of magi. These councilors are chosen by city representatives elected by representatives of the arcanum democratically and serve a 5 year term as Archmagi before rotating. Magi can only be removed by other Magi and many serve for life. Thus Oso is the seat of both enormous governmental power and magical force. The system has served Tadros well as a whole and led to a country with incredible wealth. Much of the Andori conquests were fueled by tadrosi capitalists: “Andori arrows are fletched with Tadrosi silver”.

Looming large in Tadrosi society are the problems of corruption and an economy addicted to magic. The ancient locus discovered near Oso fueled its rapid expansion and implosion and many see this as a parable for modern Tadros. The current crop of Magi believe that aggressive expansionist policies which secure and safely tap loci found around the continent are in the best interests of tadrosi citizens but many are in vocal opposition to these policies. In either case the use and export of Khudaros, a sort of magical energy which can be used to refresh a magic-user or restore the health of the ailing, is a massive business.

Arcanum Titles: Scholar, Sage, Magus, Archmagus Arcanum major disciplines: Natural Philosophy, Arcanics, Comparative Religious Studies,

Munar

A rugged landscape characterized by rocky terrain, jagged coastline and dramatic mountains. The people of Munar survived by being as tough and wild as their environment but also by forging intense bonds with each other. Here the strength of a man’s word, sword arm, and back are weighed in equal measure. The populace is organized into clans which are loosely governed by an Alderman who is chosen at birth and trained to be as selfless and educated as possible. Each Alderman is also afforded a seat at the council of Mun where larger decisions are made. The geography of Munar makes flat arable land a rarity. Thus Munar has always had a sizable maritime presence. Historically, raiding the western coasts of the nearby mainland was a common practice and a way to substantiate what little resources the island had. The ancient history of Munar is primarily driven by conflict with Ysgr whose raids into Ysgr land across the Styvyr straits and the shining sea have defined the people of the northwest. Even one of the dominant religions of Munar has it’s roots in the deliberations of Aerodyn, an ancient warlord who had a revelation of the divine after losing everything to the orcish raiders. Like the animists of Ysgr, Aerodynites consider all life to be part of the same whole and all minds to be expressions of a great interconnected universal consciousness. (though religious scholars believe this may have simply been a repackaged Illusi faith). Today Aerodynism is the dominant religion and the Munar are spiritually advanced with a powerful sense of connection to all things resulting in a generally compassionate society. Eventually many Munar raiders settled in what would become the western coasts of Ysgr and Doran. Today the Ysgr and Munar have become allies primarily driven by their mutual distaste for the Dorani to the south. Marriages between Orcs and humans are probably more common here than anywhere else in Khudan but so too are those between elves, dwarves, and even goblins. As a result the genetics of the area are highly mixed and most simply refer to themselves as Munari. Recent loss of territory from Dorani incursions has only increased the importance of maritime trade and naval power. Thus Munari are some of the more common fishermen, whalers, traders, sailors, and privateers. Navies aroudn the world are bolstered by Munar seamen and the best even still the schools of navigation and oceanography can be found on the island. The Munar are fond of saying that they have more knowledge of the nature of the sea than the Tadrosi of magic. In truth, the people of Munar are a well educated society with many Alderman reachign the ranks of the religious and civic scholars of Tadros. Unlike Tadros, Munar has been content to maintain its borders, a policy which some decry as unrealistic in an increasingly militaristic world. ​

Ysgr

Ysgr is a land dominated by the cold. The jagged northern coast is a maze of Fjords and glacially carved valleys surrounded by a sea of shifting ice. The land here is steep, rugged, and beautiful. Farther inland is a vast expanse of tundra and longest stretch of continuous grassland on the continent. Finally the tundra gives way to the massive Bristlecone Taiga; a frozen forest which stretches unbroken from the eastern to the western sea. This tremendous expanse of dark green foliage ends at the foot of the cloudpeak mountains where the altitude reduces the altitude of the treeline to a few hundred feet here a massive steppe dominates before the cloudpeak mountains reach the sky. The extremely short growing season combined with the scarcity of arable land makes farming virtually impossible. This has led to a highly dispersed people with very low density everywhere except the western coast. Nomadic reindeer herders, hunter gatherers, and small fishing villages dominate the country outside of these settlements. The end of the mountains marks the end of modern Ysgr Sovereignty. However, Ysgr was once several times it current size covering nearly all of the Dorani shield. A thousand years ago the country was united by the great army of Yvg Ysgr for which the nation is now named. Ysgr is said to have led an uncountable number of reindeer cavalry through the mountains and into the valleys of the south, sweeping over the entire continent like a great wave. But was Yvg a conqueror and not a statesman and his empire fell apart nearly as quickly as it was assembled. A strong warrior culture runs through the country to this day though this has taken the form of athletic competition, traditional arts, and ceremonial rites of passage. Due to the lack of infrastructure, the people are closely connected with the nature and druidcraft, ancestor worship, and shamanism are widely practiced. Although the Ysgr do not have a formal religion most share a common set of concepts and rituals that reinforce their shared heritage many based on reindeer riding, hunting, bushcraft, and other traditional pastimes. Although Orcs and Goblins pre-dated all humanoid settlers, they were eventually joined by the dwarves who migrated north from the Cloudpeak mountains and whose naturally hardy constitution made them resistant to the biting cold and whose love of the mountains saw them settle all over the cloudpeak range. Slowly the dwarves learned to adapt to the snow and ice and built the city of Ntuk in the west. Humans and elves eventually followed to trade and share and explore the new land. Humans intermingled and even interbred with dwarves but the elves kept to the Taiga. Despite a migration of elves to the Taiga after the Elf Purges of Doran the forest’s vastness and hostility has obscured the true number of elves within it since the beginning.

The Aongh

The Isles of Aohng are a string of volcanic islands at the southern tip of the continent. The inhabitants are primarily fisherman with the majority of agriculture taking place on Ahngo the largest island and the largest city Nao Aongo. Although a warrior culture has always been a part of Ahngo society they were not prepared for economic takeover. ​Still, the Aohng often trade their exotic goods with the rest of the continent with Tadros usually acting as the intermediary. Despite their good nature, Aohngo are primarily human and intensely superstitious resulting in a subtle distrust of outsiders and other races. Tadros’ incursion has not helped in this regard. The Isles of Aohng have a diverse religious beliefs with several animist, monotheistic, and polytheistic religions native to each island.

Zidan

is known as the cloud kingdom as nearly all of its settlements are perched along the massive mountain range known as the Spine of Ūro and some in the northern cloudpeaks. Their people are resilient and resourceful and comprised of master miners, smiths, architects, builders, and, farmers who transform the jungle-covered mountains into terraced fields with homes and roads carved into the rocks themselves. Zidan is not the most heavily populated nation but their cities are extremely dense and all races are welcome. Among the Zidan humans are less common but still make up a sizable portion of the populace. The Zidatan are extremely pragmatic, logical thinkers and among the most common religions is a passive agnostic materialism that eschews the worship of any particular god on the grounds that they are most likley unknowable.

Ulangatun

An independent City state surrounded by Umbar territory on the southern tip of Kudahn. Manages to maintain sovereignty through clever trade and a host of historically beneficial marriages. Initially Ulangatun was a city of Umbar and the the tropical getaway of royalty but then becoming wealthy enough in its own right to become a sovereign city. Ulangatun is primarily populated by Humans, Gnomes, and Goblins. The city has an unmatched advanced good economy where raw materials are imported and master craftsmen pump out some of the finest clockwork mechanisms, jewelry, silks, and art in the world.