norvair

A Brief Account on the Founding of Norvair, by Bragg Huldson

Norvair was the first nation to join Arvair when it became the Arvairian Empire and was originally an Arvairian colony. It’s the northernmost Imperial Province, taking up a hefty portion of the western part of the cold continent of Mistlorn.

Back in the day, the lands that Norvair occupies belonged to the ancestors of the Thousand Eye pirates, a people called the Gants. But even back then, the Gants weren’t exactly pleasant neighbors. Farming on Mistlorn isn’t as productive as it is in the south, making getting enough food to feed a civilization a problem. So even though they had pretty big fishing fleet, the Gants raided their neighbors to the south, from Kantle to Faidmiir, to stock up on food before each winter. That went on for a long time. And since they never really caused too big of a problem Arvair and the other countries on Kindreth decided to tolerate it instead of sailing to war.

But, about four hundred years ago, the country of Costavil lost a war for territory to their neighbors in Tranth, and lost a bunch of their standing army. When the Gants caught wind of this, they jumped to it, raiding Costailian storehouses near the coast and stealing boatloads of Costavil’s largest export and main subsistence food: wheat. Big mistake. The next winter was hard not just for Costavil, but for the nearby Arvairian towns that relied on imported wheat. The next spring, the Arvairian’s sailed north to give the Gants their reply.

It started with patrols in Halet’s Channel and hits on Gantish harbors, and eventually led to occupation of their entire southern shoreline. Over the next few years the Gants began to move west, to the outlying islands that make up the Thousand Eyes. After a while, the Arvairians were the only presence left in Gant and the King of Arvair granted the land to the occupying soldiers and their families. These men and women were mostly of a subset of Arvairian culture who lived in the northern parts of Varrus and Stormcoast. Since we emigrated to Mistlorn, the cultural gap between us and our southern cousins has become even more pronounced.