Linvarre

Linvarre

(Nation)

Titles

Kingdom of the Reborn Lotus

Capital

New Oppara

Ruler

General Jiayi Vannisar

Government

Military stratocracy

Demonym

Linvarran

Adjective

Linvarran

Languages

Taldane, Taltien, Tien

Religions

Abadar, Baekho, Irori, Lady Jingxi, Pharasma, Qi Zhong, Shelyn, Shizuru

Images of Linvarre

Source: Tian Xia World Guide, pg(s). 130–137

The nation of Linvarre (pronounced lin-vaar) is a recently independent nation that was formerly a colony of the Empire of Taldor named Amanandar. It is located in the heart of the continent of Tian Xia.

History

Founding as Amanandar

See also: Amanandar

Linvarre's history began in 4606 AR with the Eighth Army of Exploration. Before this, the region had merely been another province of the empire of Imperial Lung Wa. With the fall of Lung Wa, chaos engulfed the region much as it did across the rest of Tian Xia.

Unbeknownst to the people of the land that would become Amanandar, months and months before this on the opposite side of Golarion, the Eighth Army of Exploration, led by General Orphyrea Amanandar, had set out in search of new lands. This army's mission was ostensibly in honour of the return of Aroden but, more specifically, it was an attempt to revitalize the failing nation of Taldor, which had been in decline for centuries.

While the army set out with an optimistic goal, the unexpected demise of Aroden spawned terrible and destructive storms that battered the fleet. The harrowing journey's survivors in the Eighth Army of Exploration landed on the northernmost reaches of the nation of Shenmen, from whence Orphyrea Amanandar led her forces north along the Gan-Tzou River until they encountered the abandoned city of Kamikobu. The city was being fought over by twelve different bandit lords who all sought sole rulership.

Despite being exhausted from their unimaginable journey they had endured, Orphyrea Amanandar and the remnants of the Eighth Army of Exploration—joining an existing alliance of Tianjing and Zi Ha—overcame all of the bandit warlords. Amanandar had requested permission from Tianjing and Zi Ha to form a new nation from the ruins of Kamikobu, and despite those nations' confusion, they rewarded her aid with the formerly anarchic land.

Orphyrea Amanandar became the new land's governor, named it after herself, and renamed Kamikobu to New Oppara in 4608 AR. This act officially established the Taldan colony of Amanandar and became celebrated annually as the holiday of Founder's Day—also known as Orphyrea's Day—on 7 Abadius.

Independence

Orphyrea Amanandar's goal of revitalizing Taldor through the colony never came to fruition, but Amanandar itself prospered. Its people paid taxes and dealt with Taldan bureaucracy for more than a century, and their complaints became formal petitions following the colony's centennial; Taldor nonetheless ignored them.

This changed following the War for the Crown in 4718 AR, which upended Taldan politics and ended with the installation of progressive Princess Eutropia Stavian becoming Taldor's new ruler. Amanandar gained independence on 23 Kuthona 7220 IC and renamed itself Linvarre, after the Tien word for lotus and an old Taldane word for kingdom. The lotus is associated with rebirth, and Linvarre became known as the Kingdom of the Reborn Lotus. Linvarre also celebrates its independence as a holiday, the Grand Day of Independence, with fireworks and military parades.

Geography

Linvarre is located to the north of the centre of the continent of Tian Xia. It has a single port city, Mallaru, located on the Sea of Ghosts to the south, a recent expansion of its borders into territory once claimed by Shenmen. The Enlightened River, most often referred to as the Ilushe River and also known as the Gan-Tzou River, flows through the center of the land from Zi Ha to the Sea of Ghosts, and all of Linvarre's major settlements are located with a day's journey of the river.

Linvarre occupies a large land gap between the imposing geographical features of the Enlightened Mountains to the north and the Gossamer Mountains and Specterwood to the south. Linvarre also has many neighbours: to the north, the mountainous kingdom of Zi Ha; to the north-east, Wanshou; to the east, Kwanlai; to the south, Shenmen; to the south-west, Songbai; and to the west, the elven kingdom of Jinin.

Linvarre's highly seasonal climate resembles Taldor's, and features ocean breezes from the Sea of Ghosts and cold mountain winds from the northern mountains.

Economy

Linvarre's economic centers are its large but organized hawker centers, which consolidate shops, production, and cuisine in close proximity. These centers rarely close even overnight, resulting in a Linvarrans maxim: "Taldans sleep while Tians wake, but Linvarrans are up 24 hours a day."

Due to its central position, New Oppara is a vital trade city along one of Imperial Lung Wa's most important trade routes. As such, the entire province was thought of as a rich breadbasket for the empire, making it a tempting target for bandits as soon as Imperial Lung Wa fell. Linvarre's pastures along the Ilushe River feed flocks of sheep and goats descended from the Eight Army's stocks which produce wool and goat's milk as popular exports. For example, goat milk from Linvarre is featured in Goka's popular sparkle teas.

Taldan-made goods also remain popular, and the trade of weapons, armor, trinkets, wool, and goat's milk sustains the nation's economy through winters.

Rural folk near the Ilushe River also supplement their incomes by working on ferries that haul cargo and transport people between New Oppara and Mallaru.

The colony of Amanandar enforced conscription upon all citizens ages 16 to 45, a practice that while since abandoned produced a large population of professional soldiers, and mercenary work remains common for Linvarrans. Most Linvarrans who leave on mercenary work or as adventurers embark in the fall, spurring a local saying that "falling leaves settle on the ground as ardent hearts leave home".

Government

Linvarre is ruled by its last colonial leader, General Jiayi Vannisar, who as of 4724 AR maintained the colonial-era practice of stratocracy in which only military leaders of Taldan heritage can assume leadership. These Taldan-blooded rulers were advised by a General Staff of advisors open to anyone in the nation. Vannisar was the daughter of General Audrya Vannisar, who died in 4720 AR when Jiayi was 27 years old; Jiayi became the youngest General in history on the year the nation declared its independence.

Jiayi Vannisar was responsible for rescinding Amanandar's policy of conscription and replacing it with compulsory education in reading, writing, mathematics, and the histories of both Taldor and Linvarre until the age of 13. Each day also includes an hour of physical activity, which often centers around the rondelero fighting style of Taldan nobles and the Tian and Qadiran techniques from the Order of the Stalwart Fist.

The nation's young leader also promoted Linvarrans who lacked Taldan blood, opened talks with the Tagamallaru, and began efforts to transition the nation to democratic rule, all proposals that have drawn favorable comparisons to Taldor's reformist Princess Eutropia Stavian or complaints that such changes could bring ruin to the nation. She is advised by Lieutenant General Gennius Bursio, who leads the nation's Lion Blades-inspired spy organization known as the Liger Spears, and her peaceful cousin Kindra Vannisar of the Qi Zhong Society of the Five-Spoked Wheel.

Jiayi Vannisar's rule is chiefly opposed by Major General Kestrel Zentria and her father, General Staff member Stefanos Zentria, both of the Zentria family. The traditionalists trace their lineage to the Taldan predecessor Principalities of Taldaris, and Kestrel Zentria was a colleague of Jiayi's who turned rival, then opponent, as Jiayi rapidly climbed the nation's military ranks.

Culture

The colonial flag of Amanandar with the symbol of Taldor. The Linvarran flag, adopted upon its first Grand Day of Independence, replaced only the Taldan symbol with a golden lotus flower to acknowledge its history while reducing its colonial influence.

Linvarran culture combines many elements of Taldan and Tian societies. Its flag and national anthem were both designed to highlight its multiculturalism, and as of 4724 AR its leader General Jiayi Vannisar is the daughter of a Taldan woman and a father of both Tian-Shu and Tian-Hwan heritages.

Lion dances inspired by Taldan leonal iconography are performed in guises that resemble the six-eyed Taldan Grogrisant or the deity Baekho, who is sometimes depicted as a cross between a lion and a tiger. Dragon boat races in Linvarre feature boats bearing the faces of Avistani dragons associated with Taldor's Dragon Plague. The Taldan Coats of Arms dueling card-game pastime, which featured card faces of Taldan heraldry and was introduced to locals by the Eighth Army, adapted to use the flags of Successor States in Linvarre.

Inhabitants

A rondelero fighter from Linvarre.

Linvarre is unique in all Tian Xia as it is the only nation where humans of the Taldan ethnicity live in any significant number. After Taldans, the next most common ethnicity is the Tian-Shu people and, beyond humans, Linvarre is also home to significant populations of celestial-touched, samsarans, elves, and tengu, the latter two of which are Linvarre's fastest-growing populations. Two-thirds of Linvarrans are of mixed ancestry.

While schools in Linvarre teach both Taldane and Tien languages, many Linvarrans speak a pidgin of both known as Taltien. The dialect has a mixed reputation among Tien speakers but is a point of pride among Linvarrans, whose scholars have advocated for it to become a global trade language.

Religion

As is to be expected from a nation with such a heavy Taldan influence, many of the gods worshipped in Linvarre are also deities popular in Taldor and Avistan: Abadar, God of Walls and Ditches; Irori, the Enlightened One; and Pharasma, the Mother of Souls; and Shelyn, whose Temple of the Eternal and Exquisite Rose in Vannisaria is the largest to the deity in Tian Xia.

Linvarran Shelynites also celebrate Crystalhue as a festive winter holiday, while Abadarans from the farms to the hawker centers celebrate the autumnal harvest on and after the holiday of Market's Door.

Linvarrans also worship deities common in Tian Xia, such as Lady Jingxi, Shizuru, and in rural areas Baekho.

Points of interest

Daigaki Castle in southern Linvarre was a stronghold of the bandit Tsubokandu, who prior to Amanandar's founding was one of the bandit lords ruling Kamikobu. His restless spirit attempted to raise a militia of undead from the castle 100 years after his defeat but was defeated a second time in 7211 AR by forces led by Jiayi and Audrya Vannisar.