Navarr people

The Navarri, 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 Navarri once had beautiful cities which are now fallen.

While the Navarri 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 Navarri 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.

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 Navarri take great pains to keep contained. Here there are areas which are alive, malevolent, and terribly, terribly dangerous. The Navarri 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 Navarri 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.

By Imperial Law the Navarri have the right to kill anything they encounter which is leaving a Vallorn-infested area unless it is accompanied by a Navarri. The Navarri 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.

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 Stridings that migrate around and through 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.

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 Navarri 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.

For some Imperial citizens the Navarri are the only contact they have with the Empire. Navarri Stridings are usually welcome everywhere, as they bring messages and news of events elsewhere in the Empire. Civil servants and magistrates travel with the Navarri to reach isolated communities and sometimes the Navarri bring individuals seeking a home with precisely the skills a community needs to survive and prosper. 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 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 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 Navarri who brings word to their cousins in the other nations.

Navarri 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.

Names

Once an adult, the Navarri adopts the name of their Steading or Striding as their second name. Names, therefore, are not static and change with the choices of the individual. 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.

A child's name is given to a Navarri at birth by the parents, an adult's name is given during the Binding of Thorns. Their actions that night earn them their given name, by agreement between the elders – there’s usually a significant reason for it.

Each Striding or Steading has a name that ends in 'el. For example, Riodan'el, or Teyrn'el. And each Navarri's full name -- the name they will give to others -- is their earned name followed by the name of their group.

Sample names

• Rhiannon of Teyrn’el
• Alva of Riodan’el.

Navarri names are primarily Celtic in flavour, with perhaps a touch of Tolkien elvish.