Navarr people

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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 of the journey, 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 the their forests and infested by the Vallorn, a monstrous presence from the past.

Today the people dwell in steadings, great 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.

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 every man for himself. 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 lords and beaters, inform them of the problem, offering whatever assistance she can to help them deal with the threat.

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.

CUT

The Navarr are commited to the containment of a threat that lies at the heart of their territories, and is occasionally encountered elsewhere. Areas of malevolent growth called Vallorn occupy the ancient Navarri cities, teeming with hungry life and hordes of monstrous insect creatures. When the unwary stray into a Vallorn’s realm of influence they court a horrible death and - potentially - risk rousing it and the creatures that inhabit it.

Part of the duty of the Navarri who dwell in the Steadings is 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. Interfering with the Vallorn without the approval of the Senate is a serious crime, and the Navarr keep watch for such interlopers, handing them over to magistrates for judgement. Several Steadings are built in and around the ruins of Teruni'el, whether that is an old garrison, the remains of a town, or a still-flourishing sacred shrine, preserved library or reclaimed mine. The population of a Steading supports itself by hunting, and with whatever limited agriculture they can arrange in the forests.

Steadings vary in size and composition. A few are shaped as natural parts of the forest, especially if they are important to the Vates, but most are constructed of wood - of which there is a clear abundance in the Navarr heartlands. Some are built among the trees, some on hilly clearings, a few are even constructed on great platforms on the waters of freshwater lakes. In almost every case. the design is adapted to make the most of the terrain, and with an eye towards the purpose of the settlement. For example, a small Steading built around a shrine is a different affair to a prosperous Steading with a ring of cleared farmland surrounding it.

Counterpart to the Steadings are the Stridings. These are travelling groups that largelly follow the established routes of the Trods around the Empire. Walking the Trods is neccessary to maintain the magic that keeps the Vallorn quiescent. 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 near those routes. The Trods themselves are infused with moderately subtle magic that grants vitality to the traveller - after spending a day walking a Trod, a traveller is much less tired than he might expect. The magic also tends to keep the area around the Trod relatively wild - man-made structures tend to fall into ruin. This means that while the routes pass near villages and resting places, these are built a short distance from the Trods themselves.

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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. Many Navarri are comfortable walking for days on end, and the power of the Trods supports them and enhances the endurance of newcomers. Some Stridings eschew wagons altogether, 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, especially if they are transporting tools such as books or smithing materials over great distances.

The Stridings support themselves in three ways: they carry staples with them; they contain hunters who range to either side of the Trod staying alert not only for food but also potential dangers; and they trade with the people they encounter en-route, For some Imperial citizens, the Navarri are the only regular contact they have with the Empire. Navarri Stridings are usually welcome, as they bring messages and news of events elsewhere in the Empire. In addition the Navarri 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.

As well as the dark forests that Navarri now think of as home, the wild places between towns, burghs, fortresses and temples are hardly safe and the Navarri are practical about these dangers. They travel in well-armed groups and set regular watches. As they travel they remain alert for danger, and it is often Navarri who bring word of potential threats to their cousins in the other nations.

Names

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Navarri names have a flavour of the fantastic, drawing on the sounds of Welsh or Celtic and Tolkien elvish.

A Navarri takes the name of their steading or striding as their second name. Names are not static and change with the choices of the individual.

Each Striding or Steading has a name that ends in 'el. For example, Riodan'el, or Teyrn'el.

A child's name is given to a Navarri at birth by the parents, an adult's name is taken during the Binding of Thorns. It is not uncommon for a newly-adult Navarr to keep the name their parents gave them as a mark of love and respect,

On occasion a Navarri may be given an honorific name to exemplify some great deed of magic, politics, trade or war. These individuals are collectively known as the Thornborn.

Sample names

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

Other examples are easy enough to find on the internet if you are lacking inspiration. These links to Celtic names, elven names or Welsh boys or girls names can provide a starting point.