Numérie
| Numeria | |
| |
| Nation | |
| Titre | Land of Fallen Stars |
| Pays: | {{{land}}} |
| Alignement | Chaotic neutral |
| Capitale | Starfall |
| Dirigeant | Kevoth-Kul, The Black Sovereign |
| Gouvernement | Barbaric monarchy |
| natives | Numerians |
| adjective | Numerian |
| Languages | Hallit |
| religions | Abadar, Brigh, Desna, Erastil, Gorum, Iomedae, Nethys Baphomet, Deskari, the Iron Gods |
| regionmap | |
| source | Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars |
Numeria (pronounced new-MARE-ee-uh)[1] is a barren, harsh land inhabited by tribes of savage barbarians and ruled over by the Black Sovereign, currently Kevoth-Kul, a despot controlled by a manipulative group of mages who toy with forces they do not understand.[2]
History
Quest for Sky
The Kellids of what will later be known as Numeria began to be pushed out the caves they had been living in since Earthfall in -5051 AR. This is instigated by the orcs of the Darklands slowly being pushed to the surface by the dwarves during their Quest for Sky.[3]
Rain of Stars
None are certain when the Rain of Stars occurred, as Numeria was still a pre-literate, tribal society then, but it was certainly a very long time ago, perhaps even before the Age of Darkness. Nevertheless, such a dramatic and consequential event indelibly burns its way into a people's collective memory. That night a metal mountain fell from the sky and lit up the plains of Numeria. Modern scholars believe that it was a vessel from outer space, but that night it appeared as a raging fireball. As it streaked through the atmosphere, the vessel broke apart and fell in pieces across the land. Some chunks were the size of a fist, while others were the size of whole towns. The largest chunk is known today as the Silver Mount, and fell near the capital city of Starfall; the city itself derives its name from this event.[2] The fragments gave off a strange radiation that persists to this day, mutating nearby life.[4]
Tiger Lords
The Tiger Lords were once a mighty Kellid barbarian tribe from the Realm of the Mammoth Lords. Led by the chief Armag, they left their homelands and traveled eastward, warring with the many tribes of the southeastern Numerian plains in -1003 AR. Their eastward march was eventually halted by the Iobarian warlords and centaur tribes of Casmaron.[5] Today, they are a shadow of their former glory, recently led by a man known as Armag the Twice-Born, who claims to be the resurrected spirit of the tribe's ancient warlord.[6]
Pathfinders and exploration
In 4308 AR, Gojan the Sharp—one of the first Pathfinders—petitioned Ontar the Black Sovereign for permission to explore the nation's technological ruins. After 10 years of trials and near-enslavement under Ontar, the Black Sovereign relented and granted Gojan permission. The Pathfinder Society published his findings the next year the third volume of the Pathfinder Chronicles, which spurred interest in Numerian artifacts. By 4498 AR, fewer than 200 years later, the densest collection of technological items and skymetals at Scrapwall would be fully depleted.[7]
Founding of the Technic League
The appearance of a woman preaching opposition to Kellid taboos against technology and recruiting spellcasters to aid her in 4501 AR soon led to the founding of the Technic League. While this founder was assassinated in 4509 AR by her lieutenant Mulrach-Zeer, the League persisted in its mission to exploit the alien technology and eventually gained entry to the Silver Mount in 4512 AR. It then quickly ascended to a position of power in Numeria that continues largely unchallenged to this day.[8]
Fall of Sarkoris
The Rain of Stars is of course ancient history and much has happened since then. Before the Age of Lost Omens, Numeria was a rising power in northeastern Avistan. It was considered the largest, most powerful, and most aggressive of the River Kingdoms (which it was considered a part of at the time), and many thought that it was only a matter of time before the Numerians would unite several neighbouring River Kingdoms and created eastern Avistan's first true empire.
The death of Aroden and the opening of the Abyssal portal in the north of neighboring Sarkoris in 4606 AR changed all of this.[2] With an increase in the frequency of demonic attacks from the northwest, Numeria gave up its territorial ambitions and focused instead on protecting its borders.[2] At the same time, thousands of refugees fled across the borders from Sarkoris, fleeing the demonic hordes,[9] but found little welcome among the Numerians.[10]
Numeria became an important waystop for crusaders against the demonic horde, including the crusaders building and donating Castle Urion to then-Black Sovereign Traskind Elf-Eye in 4629 AR.[11]
Rise of Kevoth-Kul
Recent decades have seen the rise of a new ruler in Numeria, the man known as the Black Sovereign. Once, the Black Sovereign was a true leader of the people of Numeria called Kevoth-Kul. He was a warlord of great renown whose massive greatsword cleaved through those with whom he could not reason. Kevoth-Kul managed to forge strong alliances between many of the tribes and many of his followers believed that he would push the borders further than they had ever been and forge a stronger nation from Numeria.
Kevoth's downfall came when he claimed the city of Starfall as his capital and began to listen to the honeyed words of the Technic League, debased technomancers who seek to unlock the powers hidden within the alien artifacts found in the Silver Mount. Kevoth-Kul even began to consume the addictive fluids leaking from Silver Mount. Whatever these substances are, they changed Kevoth-Kul: he became a darker, more brooding man, abandoned his quest to expand Numeria, and instead began indulging in pleasures of the flesh best left unmentioned.[2]
Government
Numeria is ruled by the Black Sovereign Kevoth-Kul, a drug-addicted despot who resides within his capital of Starfall. His reign is almost completely unopposed by the people of Numeria, but his control is far from complete; Numeria is too vast a country to rule effectively with an iron fist. The people of Numeria instead try to avoid the gaze of their tyrannical ruler and continue living life much as they always have.
Those who actively oppose the Black Sovereign find he is a tenacious opponent supported by vast legions of troops, along with the mages of the Technic League and their fearsome gearsmen.[2] These gearsmen appeared a generation ago, brought forth from a previously unknown chamber in the Silver Mount, and are controlled by members of the Technic League. Their control does not seem to be complete, however, as gearsmen occasionally directly disobey orders without explanation.[4]
Geography
Numeria is a harsh land of windswept plains, and while nearly devoid of valuable trade resources, the land possess its own harsh, rugged beauty. Despite this beauty, the land is naturally barren and only the strong live to survive. The land has few geographical features; the biggest is the vast Lake of Mists and Veils that forms its northeastern border. The southern region also contains the northern headwaters of several of the rivers that eventually make their way into the River Kingdoms and is also crossed by the Sellen River, which eventually empties into the Inner Sea. To its west lies insular, undead-haunted Ustalav, to its northwest the demon-haunted wasteland of the Worldwound, and to the south the eternal war and turbulence of the River Kingdoms. The only stable nations that lie on Numeria's borders are the crusader nation of Mendev to the north and the kingdom of Brevoy to the east.[2][12]
Economy
Numeria is for the most part a land of few natural resources. It contains large, windswept plains and few forests of any size. It is, however, the largest supplier of skymetals in the Inner Sea region, seven rare metals that were part of the ship that crashed on Numeria's plains during the Rain of Stars. These skymetals each have their own distinct properties and are useful in the construction of weapons and various magical artifacts. Of the seven, adamantine is the most common and known throughout the region as "Numerian steel".[4] Another alien artifact common to Numeria are silverdisks: small, etched metallic disks frequently used as currency.[4]
In ancient times, the tribes of Numeria exported a type of light-green rock rippled with dark-green fissures known as veinstone. This stone was a particularly popular building material in Ancient Osirion, and the Four Pharaohs of Ascension constructed their true pyramid of it.[13]
The Mendevian Crusades provide an additional lucrative source of income for the nation, as the Sellen River is the main artery for crusaders travelling to Mendev from the south. This River Road begins in the Inner Sea and travels up the many tangled branches of the Sellen and West Sellen Rivers to the harbor city of Chesed on the Lake of Mists and Veils. Even though the crusades have brought strange faces and foreign ideas to Numeria, the Black Sovereign and the Technic League welcome them with open arms while overcharging them for even basic necessities, and make sure that they leave with little more than their fervent faith to battle the demonic hordes of the Worldwound.[4]
Inhabitants
Numeria is a harsh, often brutal land that raises hard, often brutal people. The land's primary inhabitants are humans of Kellid stock who, outside of the large cities like Starfall and Chesed, tend to organise themselves along tribal lines. While in theory these tribes all owe fealty to the Black Sovereign, outside of Numeria's big settlements and beyond the reach of the Black Sovereign's armies, life continues much as it has for eons.[2] Raiding is still a popular and lucrative lifestyle, especially into the poorly organized River Kingdoms, although those lands are not defenseless:[14] river pirates often travel up the Sellen and West Sellen Rivers to attack Numerian settlements before quickly retreating back south.[15]
Gearsmen
The most unique inhabitants of Numeria are doubtlessly the gearsmen who patrol the streets of Starfall. These creatures, if creatures they can be called, were found by the Technic League within the Silver Mount less than a generation ago.[2]
Androids
A new and quite unusual race has begun to emerge from the scattered alien ruins of Numeria: androids. Like the gearsmen, these sentient, humanoid creatures are created, not born. Unlike the gearsmen, they can almost be mistaken for humans, if it weren't for the glowing runes and circuits criss-crossing their bodies or their awkward, stilted mannerisms that make it difficult to relate to others.[16]
Culture
Because of their long exposure to the manipulations of the Technic League, many Numerians who live outside of the major cities are wary and superstitious of both technology and magic.[17]
Religion
Ancient gods such as Gorum and Desna remain popular in much of Numeria, while Nethys is a favorite among the mages of the Technic League. Brigh, the goddess of invention, also has many followers, including a chapel within the chaotic Scrapwall; Scrapwall also hosts a cult-like gang known as the Lords of Rust who worship a little-known god named Hellion. There is some worship of Abadar, mostly in the larger cities. Erastil has many followers, and the people of Iadenveigh are particularly devout.[18] Even new gods like Iomedae have begun to make inroads in the last century thanks to the increasing presence of Mendevian Crusaders.[4] Since the opening of the Worldwound, demonic cults have grown in popularity as well, particularly those of the demon lords Deskari[19] and Baphomet.[20]
Death and burial
While Starfall's inhabitants bury or cremate their dead much as those of most other cities do, more rural stretches of the country follow older customs. Villagers may leave bodies out for scavenging animals to flense, bury their dead in soft soil, or construct deep barrows or build tombs in deep caverns. Loved ones leave keepsakes and tokens with the remains and maintain the deceased's memories through artwork, storytelling, or historical stone cairns.[21]
References
Paizo published a sourcebook titled Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars. The Iron Gods Adventure Path is set in Numeria, and the Iron Gods Poster Map Folio contains a poster map of the nation.
- ↑ Erik Mona et al. (2008). Campaign Setting, p. 247. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-112-1
- ↑ 2,0 2,1 2,2 2,3 2,4 2,5 2,6 2,7 et 2,8 Erik Mona et al. (2008). Campaign Setting, p. 114-115. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-112-1
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars
- ↑ 4,0 4,1 4,2 4,3 4,4 et 4,5 James Jacobs et al. (2011). The Inner Sea World Guide, p. 142-143. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-269-2
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Blood for Blood
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Blood for Blood
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/The Sarkorian Prophecy
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Lost Kingdoms
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars
- ↑ Erik Mona et al. (2008). Campaign Setting, p. Poster Map. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-112-1
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Entombed with the Pharaohs
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Masks of the Living God
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Pirates of the Inner Sea
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Inner Sea Bestiary
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Kingmaker Player's Guide
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Iron Gods Player's Guide
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Lords of Chaos
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/The Worldwound Incursion
- ↑ Modèle:Cite book/Valley of the Brain Collectors