The people of the Five Nations know little of Valenar, and if you intend to travel to Taer Valaestas, you would do well to learn the history of this land. Human, elf, or Khoravar, the people of Valenar are proud folk, and their ways are quite different from those of the Five Nations. The differences between villages are remarkable; the khunan people of Ariolan still speak the Old Common tongue their ancestors carried from Sarlona, while Moonshadow is a new settlement founded by House Lyrandar and populated entirely by the Khoravar.
Valenar is home to two sorts of people: the restless and the anchored. The warbands of the Valaes Tairn remain in constant motion, traveling along the Old Road and through the wilds. Even those who serve the Darkwood Crown as defenders of the kingdom rarely dine in the villages they protect, preferring to live off the land using their skills and cualra. But while you may not see elves in the villages of Valenar, you will certainly encounter a warband before you have spent a day in the realm. Expect to be stalked by the Tairnadal as you travel across the land. Some will act openly, while others will watch you from the shadows. Unless you actually seek battle with the Valaes Tairn, your wisest course of action is to ignore any provocation. Act with humility. Conceal what gifts you have, and pretend that you do not see their hidden scouts. Don't make the mistake of thinking yourself so mighty that the elves pose no threat to you; it was this pride that laid low the giants of Xen'drik. Your magic and mettle may be more than sufficient to overcome a warband in fair combat. But the Valaes Tairn love nothing more than to find a worthy foe, and many of their greatest warriors care nothing for honor in battle -- only victory. If you make yourself a prize, you will face ambushes and challenges from one end of Valenar to the other, and each victory will simply draw the attention of more talented elves and teach them your strengths and weaknesses. Show humility, pose no threat, and the Valaes Tairn will pass you by.
Where the restless elves hate to stand still, most of the other people of Valenar might as well be rooted to the earth. The humans of this land live in villages, hamlets, and thorps, and few of these people have ever traveled farther than ten leagues from the ground on which they were born. By and large, the only traditions the people of Shivairn have in common with the folk of Norinath are those forced upon them by the lords of Galifar –- including distrust and sometimes open hostility towards westerners. Those who venture off the Old Road will find a cold welcome in Valenar villages, along with few services for travelers; the humans of Valenar keep to themselves and expect the same of their neighbors.
Most of these anchored people of Valenar are humans and half-elves. Most humans can trace their roots back to the fallen nation of Khunan in Sarlona, and they are proud of their ties to the soil of the east; along the old road, Shivairn, Keth, and Norinath are largely human communities. The Khoravar are more recent arrivals, who have traveled east over the course of the last four decades. Some have founded new communities, such as Moonshadow. Others have settled in Jal Paeridor, Taer Valaestas, and Pylas Maradal, and it is these newcomers who maintain these cities. With that said, there are a few elves among the anchored population. The stories that reach the west paint the Tairnadal as warriors hungry for battle, and for the most part these tales are true. But where do the Valenar get their fine weapons and armor? Who raises their legendary horses?
Source: Crossing Valenar Expeditionary Dispatch
While the Host of Valenar claims rulership over Valenar, the occupying elves only make up less than a third of the population. The plurality of residents are humans who have lived in Valenar since Lhazaar’s famous voyage. Halflings and goblinoids, despite making up a much smaller percentage of the population, have lived in these lands since before humans even arrived in Khorvaire. Finally, the Khoravar, led by House Lyrandar, have begun to transform Valenar into their homeland.
The Elves
The nominal lords of Valenar are the elves, who maintain a feudal structure of lands and military obligations. High King Shaeras Vadallia rewards successful commanders with lands and titles in elaborate ceremonies. The truth of these actions is they are ultimately a show for outsiders – the military hierarchy of the Tairnadal defines their relationships, not fanciful mockeries of the titles of Galifar that the elves have replaced.
The elves have replicated their nomadic lifestyle in Valenar, living off the land that they have carefully cultivated over the last five decades. The druidic magic of the Siyal Marrain allows the warclans to patrol Valenar without worrying about replenishing food supplies, allowing the farmers to live unmolested, unlike the farmers in occupied territories in the rest of Khorvaire.
Half of the warclans are under the direct command of var-shan Shaeras Vadallia, patrolling areas assigned to them. Warclans assigned to guard the borders are eager to prove their worth, sallying forth and picking fights with whatever they find. Clans assigned to the interior are less able to find immediate threats. While some bands choose to pick fights with worthy foes who wander through their territory, others have spent decades restoring elven ruins to their former glory.
The half not under the direct command wander freely throughout Khorvaire, with many contracting through Deneith. Clans that are not contracted this way proactively search for fights beyond Valenar’s borders, striking north through the Talenta Plains into Karrnath or northeast into Q’barra. These wandering clans still operate with the same goals as the ones directly under the High King’s command but have more room to interpret the objective.
The Khoravar
Three thousand years ago, the Undying Court exterminated its rivals – the line of Vol – and triggered an exodus of refugees and dissidents. Since then, the half-elven descendants have graced the finest halls of Khorvaire, even having a significant presence amongst the nobility of Aundair and its predecessor nation, Thaliost.
Despite never facing open discrimination, the Khoravar have always stood apart. On a biological level, a khoravar has twice the lifespan of the average human but only a third of the lifespan of an elf. As such, a khoravar will see their human friends age and die in front of them, while the reverse happens with their elven friends. Despite this isolation, khoravar have found incredible success – a thriving combination of the proactive drive of humans with the patience and persistence of elves.
Still, without a nation to themselves they have remained a distinct minority subject to the rule of other races, never finding validation at the highest levels of government. The half-elven King Laeran ir’Wynarn’s betrayal by his younger (human) brother in the seventh century ignited a movement from the sparks of discontent that had long smoldered. Laraen’s Dream called for a separate home ruled by Khoravar, equal to the Mror and Zilargo duchies.
The annexation of Valenar was an opportunity for a proper Khoravar state to replace the human lords that had ruled during the Kingdom of Galifar. Through House Lyrandar, these activists have seized control of the administrative state in Valenar. Formally, the elves hold the titles the thrones once held – for example, the human Duke of Southport has been replaced by the elven Duke of Pylas Maradal. In truth, the elven “nobles” delegate the entirety of governing to the khoravar stewards. Laeran’s Dream has latched onto House Lyrandar as a way to gain the lands they’ve long desired, but this is limited to the shared goal – the followers of Laeran’s Dream aren’t interested in helping Lyrandar with its other projects unless the house reciprocates the favor.
The khoravar immigrants have pursued a mix of founding their own settlements and acting as a bridge between the Host of Valenar and the human civilians. Although the Tairnadal do not believe khoravar are worthy of the patron ancestors, the khoravar’s longer lives and cultural hospitality have ingratiated them to the High King
The most important cultural and political event amongst the Khoravar is the weekly unity meal. The intricacies of these events vary, as each gathering has its own pecking order. In the newly founded communities like Moonshadow, the unity meal is an open event in the largest building in the town, reminding the immigrants of the importance of sticking together.
By contrast, unity meals in the majority-human villages and towns are closed, invite-only affairs. While a traveling Khoravar can always join, their companions are much less likely to be welcome. Here, the unity meal serves to keep the Khoravar identity distinct from the human majority, while providing an opportunity to coordinate the administrative relationship with the ruling elves.
House Lyrandar
Lord Seneschal Enilam d’Lyrandar is the leading member of the house in Valenar. While not all Khoravar in Valenar are members of the house or work for one of its guilds, the house is understood to speak on behalf of the community to the High King. These relationships go back to the start of the war when Queen Mishann in a desperate search for allies used the House to entreat the elven warriors. When King Vadallia annexed Eastern Cyre, Seneschal Enilam stepped in and offered the services of the region’s khoravar as a replacement for the now-deposed human lords. This support for the Valenar conquest drew heavy criticism throughout the five nations, but none had the resources to sanction the House’s actions.
Even though the house’s operations in Stormhome absolutely violate the Korth Edicts, if brought to trial the House would still argue that it pays a paltry sum of rent to the Aundairian crown each year. By contrast, the Host of Valenar does not bother with the formalities and has granted the house not only land but broad administrative control within Valenar. Conspiratorial newspapers (such as the Five Voices) have seized on this alliance to label all members of the house as traitors working to weaken their nations from within to prepare for the elven invasion.
House Lyrandar’s alliance with the Host of Valenar not only involves civic administration but military matters. While the Tairnadal have many renowned riders and mages, cavalry and magic are no replacement for engineering. As such, the Host of Valenar has grown dependent on the ships of House Lyrandar to transport its forces to Valenar and elsewhere.
The Humans
Long ago on the far away continent of Sarlona, the magical might of the nation of Khunan awed its neighbors into submission. Despite this strength, the Khunan wizards made a deadly mistake in invading its agrarian neighbor Lamecha. This invasion united Khunan’s neighbors, igniting the first of the magewars that would reshape the face of Sarlona. Khunan was the undisputed loser in this conflict, reduced to ruins and rubble by united opposition.
While many survivors fled to elsewhere in Sarlona, some fled across the Lhazaar Sea and landed in modern Valenar. Here, the survivors built a life for themselves, scavenging from haunted ruins of elves and goblins. These settlers relied on the Blade Desert to ward off neighboring Metrol. Despite this geographic independence, the humans never organized themselves into a greater kingdom, content to live in their established villages and towns without broader integration. It was during this time that the Khunan humans solidified a distrust of magic, the stories and myths from Khunan transforming into warnings about the dangers of neighboring Metrol. Some mythology tracing to this time seemingly predicts the Day of Mourning – the Mournland mists allegedly matching the borders of the old kingdom of Metrol.
This era of relative freedom came to a violent end when King Galifar conquered Khorvaire. To appease the nobles of defeated Metrol, Galifar granted them dominion over Eastern Cyre – modern Valenar. These “thrones” divvied the land up into only a pair of grand duchies, based out of Keth and Southport (now Pylas Maradal). The two nobles then divvied up Eastern Cyre, with the Duke of Keth governing the northern half and the Duke of Southport governing the southern half.
Within these autonomous regions, counts freely abused their power and the people. Centuries of mismanagement drained the soil of life, as feckless lords leaned on Deneith mercenaries to enforce order and quell rebellions. While there were several uprisings throughout the Kingdom of Galifar, none were successful until the elven annexation of the region during the Last War, when the human serfs gladly accepted the Host of Valenar as their new lords.
This change has led to a flourishing of the traditional Khunan faith, which was historically suppressed by the thrones. Rather than worshipping a pantheon of nine or fifteen deities, the Khunan religion believes in a great cycle of reincarnation. Particularly important and holy ancestors are believed to have escaped the cycle and ascended after “finding the spark of divinity”, continuing to guide their modern descendents from beyond this world.
Religious scholars might note that the cycle of rebirth bears some similarity to the Path of Inspiration. In truth, the Quori found it easier to corrupt existing institutions and beliefs than form new ones – the Khunan religion included, where the Quori grafted on a caste system.
While the humans of Valenar generally distrust arcane magic – believing that all arcane magic is just magic with a less understood power source, and thus an avenue for the corruption that befell the mighty wizards of Khunan – they are far more accepting of the Dragonmarked houses. The power of the houses is both limited and clearly comes from their marks, rather than unidentified eldritch horrors from the planes or stars.
Other Residents
While elves, half-elves, and humans make up almost the entirety of the population of Valenar, two minorities also bear mentioning – halfling immigrants from the Talenta Plains, and the dar who have lived in these lands since the Dhakaani Empire.
Not all halflings are happy with the permanent nomadic lifestyle of the Talenta Plains. The tribes that occupy the southern reaches sometimes venture through the Blade Desert to trade with the settled inhabitants beyond the desert. The halflings who chose to stay make up a notable minority in the northern reaches and are often the most accessible guides through the desert.
Goblinoids have existed in Valenar since the height of the Dhakaani Empire, and their ruins are scattered throughout Valenar. The beginning of the fall of the empire drained soldiers away from the outposts, and the Kapaa’vola reduced the remaining commanders to fractious warlords, easily pushed to the fringes and enslaved by the human settlers. Galifar’s edict of freedom rang hollow in a land that swiftly replaced slavery with a legal system that privileged humanity over goblinoids.
When the elves returned at the start of the Last War they hoped they could find leftover Dhakaani, but have thus far been unable to do so. The new administration has generally been kinder to goblinoids but is far from establishing real equality. Some Khoravar have begun to act as a bridge between peoples, listening to the concerns of the dar. Unfortunately, some of the more militant activists of Laraen’s Dream have simply replaced the human-favored administration of justice with a Khoravar-favored one that maintains systemic discrimination against the “monstrous” goblinoids.
Kech Nasaar
What the Host of Valenar does not know is the goblins are being secretly organized by the Kech Nasaar, the “Keepers of Night”. Led by the millennia old vampires Iraala and Muurat, the Kech Nasaar have found the ruins of Valenar ideal for a resurgent Dhakaani empire. While the Host of Valenar has spent decades preparing the local terrain for success, the Kech Nasaar have the element of surprise and a similar ability to seed the battlefields with their own inventions and schemes.
More dangerously, both the Valaes Tairn and the Kech Nasaar are willing to achieve victory through any means necessary. One of the most dark and dangerous magics the Keepers of Night could use is a repurposed form of the Kapaa’vola to sever the Tairnadal from their patron ancestors, replicating the cataclysmic destruction of the Dhakaani’s bond with the Uul Dhakaan.
Source: Politics of Valenar