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.
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.
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
Religion
Society
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 Abanir more broadly, Common is relatively widely understood in Rovakhit, as it is critical for engaging in trade with visiting merchant caravans.