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Navarr people

(Created page with "The Navarr, like the Suaq in Wintermark, have been here for a long time. Their culture predates the arrival of the Highborn from the South. No-one is quite clear how old, but ...")
 
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The Navarr, like the Suaq in Wintermark, have been here for a long time. Their culture predates the arrival of the Highborn from the South. No-one is quite clear how old, but it is known that the Navarr once had beautiful cities which are now fallen.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tricksy Y'Basden.jpg|align=right|caption=Heirs to a fallen Empire.|width=450}}
The Navarr were once part of a great nation that was lost to Orcs and failed magic centuries before the Empire began. Although they continue to wander through the wild places, they embrace the Empire as an opportunity to be a part of a great civilisation again. Their cities still exist, buried in the depths of their forests and infested by the [[vallorn]], a monstrous presence from the past.


While the Navarr are, in general, a cheerful and welcoming folk, the brutal practicality that they employ in the defence of the Empire can offend the sensibilities of those who regard themselves as more civilised. The Navarr are not an overtly hostile people – at least not to the nations of the Empire – but, at times, take a stance which others see as unreasonable or downright unfriendly.
Today the people dwell in [[steading|Steadings]], settlements cut into the heart of the woods, or travel in loose groups called [[striding|Stridings]]. Individual Navarr move back and forth between the settled life of a steading and the mobile life of a striding as the mood takes them or circumstance dictates.  


The Navarri attitude towards the brash and the foolish is born from what lurks within the great forests of the Empire, a threat which the Navarr take great pains to keep contained. Here there are areas which are alive, malevolent, and terribly, terribly dangerous. The Navarr call them the [[Vallorn]]. A Vallorn may be quiescent, but it’s all too easy for the unwary to stray into a Vallorn’s realm of influence and risk waking it. Deliberately treading in a Vallorn-infested area is seen as rank madness. It is the duty of the Navarr who dwell in the Steadings to see that the Vallorn are not disturbed, so they keep a careful watch to ensure that no-one stumbles into such areas, not even barbarian invaders.
The Navarr love to travel. The journey can be a means to an end or an end in itself. Some of their journeys serve an arcane purpose, but wherever they are travelling they carry news, messages and people with them. The Navarr see moving people and items around the Empire, to the places where they can do the most good, as a method to solve many problems. The philosophy of the [[Navarr Culture and Customs#The Great Dance|Great Dance]] teaches that everyone has a place where they can prosper, and helping other people find that place is a calling for many Navarr.
{{CaptionedImage|file=PensiveGuide.jpg|align=left|width=300|caption=The Navarr value self-sufficiency, and seek to test themselves<br/>against the world|title=A Navarr guide, taking a moment to consider his place in the Great Dance.}}
They value self-sufficiency, priding themselves on their ability to prosper in dangerous and inhospitable areas. They make a virtue of being prepared and ready. Many Navarr love the excitement of the hunt; stalking prey heightens their senses and tests their skills and the thrill of the chase gets their blood pumping, reminding them they are alive. Young Navarr, especially, like to test themselves against the world; they like to push themselves, whether it is conquering a mountain peak or blazing a trail to a new destination. They enjoy demonstrating their mastery over nature.


By Imperial Law the Navarr have the right to kill anything they encounter which is leaving a Vallorn-infested area unless it is accompanied by a Navarr. The Navarr take this law and the responsibility that comes with it very seriously. They fight a constant battle against the dreadful creatures that inhabit the Vallorn’s glades, and this war means they are guarded and wary of any stranger in the wild, no matter what shape they take. By eliminating those who have no right to be there, the Navarr are able to ensure that the Vallorn’s influence does not spread.
The Navarr are sophisticated enough to realise that self-sufficiency does not mean each individual stands alone. They are a gregarious folk who welcome strangers to their steadings and stridings. They like to cultivate friends and alliances, and relish the opportunity to work as go-betweens. Anyone in the Empire who needs to travel somewhere, or who is looking for a new start, knows that the Navarr are happy to embrace fellow travellers.  


Aside from the Steadings the most commonly encountered Navarri communities are the Stridings. These are travelling groups that move between the Steadings across the Empire and beyond.
The Navarr keep a watch throughout the Empire. When they move through an area, they make an effort to look for problems and dangers, and warn their fellow Imperial citizens about them. A Navarr who discovers a ruined Marcher fortress is now a haven of orcs or bandits will seek out nearby Marcher stewards and beaters, inform them of the problem, and offer whatever assistance they can to help them deal with the threat.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Steading together.jpg|width=450|caption=Self sufficient does not have to mean standing alone.|align=right}}
They also maintain a network of small shelters or safe havens along the trods known as Tarries. Each Tarry is a well-prepared shelter stocked with enough a supply of firewood and dried food for a day or two. These can be used by any traveller in need of shelter, so long as the food and firewood is restocked in return.


The Stridings that migrate around and through of the Empire follow ancient Trods, fixed routes laid down in time-out-of-mind. It’s said that walking the Trods is a necessity to maintain the magic that keeps the Vallorn contained. The Trods pass through all nations of the Empire, so now many travellers prefer to use the Navarri Trods as trade routes and roads, and villages and resting places have grown up over the years along those routes.
The Navarr are as fierce towards their enemies as they are welcoming to their allies. When they march to battle they don war-paint so their allies can see they have committed themselves to the fight and their enemies know to be afraid. The Navarr have little time for notions of honourable combat; ambush, traps, misdirection and poison are all weapons that the Navarr readily employ.


Stridings vary significantly in size and make-up. In a normal Striding, most participants are on foot, usually with a few narrow wagons pulled by oxen or similar beasts to carry essential supplies. Most Navarr are comfortable walking for days on end, and some Stridings eschew wagons, making it a rule to own nothing more than they can carry with them at all times. Others take the opposite approach, using larger covered wagons which can serve as living quarters.
==Names==
===First names===
Navarr names are primarily Celtic, mainly drawing on Welsh names.


For some Imperial citizens the Navarr are the only contact they have with the Empire. Navarr Stridings are usually welcome everywhere, as they bring messages and news of events elsewhere in the Empire. Civil servants and magistrates travel with the Navarr to reach isolated communities and sometimes the Navarr bring individuals seeking a home with precisely the skills a community needs to survive and prosper. In addition the Navarr have become skilled at adapting to fill the roles required of them in the different Nations they travel through, for instance performing Fayres in Dawn or working as pedlars in the Marches.
A child's name is given to a Navarr at birth by the parents, whereas an adult chooses the name they wish to be known by during the [[Navarr Culture and Customs|Binding of Thorns]].


As well as the dark forests that Navarr think of as home, the wild places between towns, burghs, fortresses and temples are hardly safe and the Navarr are practical about these dangers. They travel in large well-armed groups and set regular watches. They also move in and out of the frontiers of the Empire and when invaders threaten, it is usually the Navarr who bring word to their cousins in the other nations.
===Sample Names===
Aedan, Angharad, Arawn, Breanainn, Brianna, Bronwen, Cadaen, Caiside, Cordelia, Donndubhan, Dradan, Drustan, Elisedd, Enys, Faelan, Gwynedd, Hywel, Ifan, Iona, Lindir, Logan, Maddoc, Megan, Myfanwy, Niamh, Olwen, Paul, Raelyn, Rhiannon, Saeros, Siani, Teleri, Tomas, Wyl


Navarr that spend much of their time walking Trods outside the Imperial boundaries are sometimes referred to as ‘The Eyes of the Empire’. Due to the danger they’re constantly in, and their time amongst foreign and barbarian peoples, they often come across as aloof and belligerent to other Imperial citizens. However, it’s said that they know more about the wider world than anyone. They are utterly loyal to the Empire – travel narrows the mind beautifully.
N.B. Whilst some names are inspired by real world names which may be given to specific genders, Empire is a gender blind setting and people of any gender choose any name they like that is appropriate to their nation.


[[Category:Navarr]]
===Naming resources===
[[Category:Nations]]
* [http://www.babynames.org.uk/celtic-baby-names.htm Celtic names]  
* [https://www.thebump.com/b/welsh-baby-names Welsh names]
 
===Second names===
A Navarr takes the name of their Steading or Striding as their second name.
 
Steadings and Stridings are named for the event that founded them but these are commonly abbreviated or inferred from a much longer descriptive. The oldest communities have names founded in the myths of the Nation while those more recently founded may seem more mundane by comparison.
===Sample second names===
* '''Seventh Day''' - Abbreviated from "On the seventh day of the Battle of Lower Mirsh, Pwyll slew the Warlord of the Scaled Host"
* '''Black Blood''' - Abbreviated from "... the rivers of Mitwold ran black with the blood of the traitors."
* '''Long Stride''' - Inferred from "... and we parted ways in 307 YE as Dylan and Lowri the Vate of our Striding could not keep pace with us."
 
Names are not static; when a Navarr moves between the steadings and the stridings they change their name accordingly.
{{Navarr Links}}
 
__NOTOC__

Latest revision as of 01:20, 7 February 2024

Tricksy Y'Basden.jpg
Heirs to a fallen Empire.

The Navarr were once part of a great nation that was lost to Orcs and failed magic centuries before the Empire began. Although they continue to wander through the wild places, they embrace the Empire as an opportunity to be a part of a great civilisation again. Their cities still exist, buried in the depths of their forests and infested by the vallorn, a monstrous presence from the past.

Today the people dwell in Steadings, settlements cut into the heart of the woods, or travel in loose groups called Stridings. Individual Navarr move back and forth between the settled life of a steading and the mobile life of a striding as the mood takes them or circumstance dictates.

The Navarr love to travel. The journey can be a means to an end or an end in itself. Some of their journeys serve an arcane purpose, but wherever they are travelling they carry news, messages and people with them. The Navarr see moving people and items around the Empire, to the places where they can do the most good, as a method to solve many problems. The philosophy of the Great Dance teaches that everyone has a place where they can prosper, and helping other people find that place is a calling for many Navarr.

A Navarr guide, taking a moment to consider his place in the Great Dance.
The Navarr value self-sufficiency, and seek to test themselves
against the world

They value self-sufficiency, priding themselves on their ability to prosper in dangerous and inhospitable areas. They make a virtue of being prepared and ready. Many Navarr love the excitement of the hunt; stalking prey heightens their senses and tests their skills and the thrill of the chase gets their blood pumping, reminding them they are alive. Young Navarr, especially, like to test themselves against the world; they like to push themselves, whether it is conquering a mountain peak or blazing a trail to a new destination. They enjoy demonstrating their mastery over nature.

The Navarr are sophisticated enough to realise that self-sufficiency does not mean each individual stands alone. They are a gregarious folk who welcome strangers to their steadings and stridings. They like to cultivate friends and alliances, and relish the opportunity to work as go-betweens. Anyone in the Empire who needs to travel somewhere, or who is looking for a new start, knows that the Navarr are happy to embrace fellow travellers.

The Navarr keep a watch throughout the Empire. When they move through an area, they make an effort to look for problems and dangers, and warn their fellow Imperial citizens about them. A Navarr who discovers a ruined Marcher fortress is now a haven of orcs or bandits will seek out nearby Marcher stewards and beaters, inform them of the problem, and offer whatever assistance they can to help them deal with the threat.

Steading together.jpg
Self sufficient does not have to mean standing alone.

They also maintain a network of small shelters or safe havens along the trods known as Tarries. Each Tarry is a well-prepared shelter stocked with enough a supply of firewood and dried food for a day or two. These can be used by any traveller in need of shelter, so long as the food and firewood is restocked in return.

The Navarr are as fierce towards their enemies as they are welcoming to their allies. When they march to battle they don war-paint so their allies can see they have committed themselves to the fight and their enemies know to be afraid. The Navarr have little time for notions of honourable combat; ambush, traps, misdirection and poison are all weapons that the Navarr readily employ.

Names

First names

Navarr names are primarily Celtic, mainly drawing on Welsh names.

A child's name is given to a Navarr at birth by the parents, whereas an adult chooses the name they wish to be known by during the Binding of Thorns.

Sample Names

Aedan, Angharad, Arawn, Breanainn, Brianna, Bronwen, Cadaen, Caiside, Cordelia, Donndubhan, Dradan, Drustan, Elisedd, Enys, Faelan, Gwynedd, Hywel, Ifan, Iona, Lindir, Logan, Maddoc, Megan, Myfanwy, Niamh, Olwen, Paul, Raelyn, Rhiannon, Saeros, Siani, Teleri, Tomas, Wyl

N.B. Whilst some names are inspired by real world names which may be given to specific genders, Empire is a gender blind setting and people of any gender choose any name they like that is appropriate to their nation.

Naming resources

Second names

A Navarr takes the name of their Steading or Striding as their second name.

Steadings and Stridings are named for the event that founded them but these are commonly abbreviated or inferred from a much longer descriptive. The oldest communities have names founded in the myths of the Nation while those more recently founded may seem more mundane by comparison.

Sample second names

  • Seventh Day - Abbreviated from "On the seventh day of the Battle of Lower Mirsh, Pwyll slew the Warlord of the Scaled Host"
  • Black Blood - Abbreviated from "... the rivers of Mitwold ran black with the blood of the traitors."
  • Long Stride - Inferred from "... and we parted ways in 307 YE as Dylan and Lowri the Vate of our Striding could not keep pace with us."

Names are not static; when a Navarr moves between the steadings and the stridings they change their name accordingly.

Further Reading

Core Brief

Additional Information


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