Rovakhit

Rovakhit
Capital	Rovakhad
Ruler	Ether Council
Government	Autocratic mage-council
Demonym	Rovakhit
Adjective	Rovakhit
Languages	Targai; Common; Elven; Orcish
Religions	Abanir pantheon; dead moon cults

Rovakhit {{Pronunciation|ROW-vah-keet}, located at the eastern terminus of the Hundred Days Road, exports large amounts of onyx, porcelain, amber, and petrified wood. This wealthy nation is ruled by a council of auguries who base their decisions on their divination of the future.

Geography, flora, and fauna

Rovakhit lies along the eastern edge of the Uxtamazata Desert where the sands give way to the mountains of the Cage. Despite the extremely dry conditions that characterize most of the Uxtamazata, Rovakhit has no such issues, centered as it is around a collection of large lakes: Lake Sakal, Lake Xaraton, and the Black Stone Lakes. These bodies of water are fed by seasonal rivers originating in the Cage that carry snowmelt down from the peaks each spring.

Trees and other plants thrive around the lakes. Away from them, however, conditions in Rovakhit are as harsh as they are elsewhere in the desert.

The climate of Rovakhit is one of extremes. The Uxtamazata is a cold desert, and winters on the open sand can be brutally cold. Summers provide no respite, however, as though the desert does not approach the heat of the Sangora Desolation, it can still easily prove treacherous to the unprepared. Large temperature variations can be observed over the course of a single days as well, as the desert cools rapidly at night. Snow sometimes falls in Rovakhit during the winter.

Even in this inhospitable landscape some animals manage to survive and thrive. Birds of many kinds live around the lakes, as do antelopes, camels, and others. The Rovakhit horse, a small yet very hardy breed, has long thrived on the edges of the desert.

In the south of Rovakhit lies the Frozen Forests, a vast expanse of ancient petrified trees.

History

As one of the few refuges from the harsh conditions of the Uxtamazata, the shores of the lakes of Rovakhit have been inhabited for thousands of years, yet it was not until roughly Y8800^* that the transient communities of desert-dwelling nomads began to establish the larger communities that would grow into the modern nation. Villages grew into towns and then into cities, bolstered by the trade in amber, petrified wood, and onyx.

As the clans and tribes started to monopolize the eastern terminus of the Hundred Days Road, they gradually centralized to take advantage of the trade and the wealth it brought. Through a not entirely peaceful process the old tribal lines were broken, replaced by a series of kings who each attempted to hold the peoples of the lakes under their thumb. None succeeded for long. By Y9300^*, however, power moved to a new seat: the Ether Council, augur-shamans from each of the old tribes who brought Rovakhad under their control before extending to all of Rovakhit. While their authority was heavily contested at first, their accurate divination and warning of the Cagebreaker in Y9303^* cemented their rule.

Demographics

Most inhabitants of Rovakhit are human, yet they also include orcs, half-orcs, and elves amongst their number. Individuals of many other ancestries are brought by the Hundred Days Road to the region, some of whom have chosen to remain in the cities of the desert.

Culture

Languages

Targai is by far the most widely spoken language in Rovakhit. Ancestral tongues, particularly Orcish and Elven, can also be heard, but the use of other regional languages is uncommon. Unlike in Abanir, Common is relatively widely understood in Rovakhit, as it is critical for engaging in trade with visiting merchant caravans.

Trade

See also: Hundred Days Road

The Hundred Days Road, a trade route that passes across the breadth of the steppe, is the most important and frequently traveled of the routes that connect Rovakhit and the nations of the Phiora and Kirnashal seas. Despite how crucial it is to their livelihoods, and how wealthy it has made them, the people of Rovakhit rely primarily on outside caravans to carry their goods across the Aban Steppe. The value of everything they have to offer renders this no obstacle in keeping the gold flowing in. Onyx, amber, petrified wood, porcelain, high-quality mirrors, and more are sold to merchant caravans, who then transport these items to far away places where they can fetch quite high prices. In exchange, Rovakhit receives all manner of trade goods, luxuries and otherwise, but most have a particular preference for gold and silver in exchange.

Necromancy

In contrast to the clans of Abanir, the people of Rovakhit hold no cultural prohibition against necromancy and the creation of undead. Centuries ago, before the nation was founded, local clans of the desert often engaged in such practices for the purpose of creating ever-vigilant and tireless soldiers. Today, however, all necromancy is banned in Rovakhit. There remains little in the way of a cultural objection to the magic, as this ban is more economic in nature - the onyx required for rituals that raise the dead brings more value when sold to outsiders than it does when used locally.