The Night Realm of Zuvinara

The mere name of the dreaded night realm is enough to strike fear into even the bravest of human hearts (though not the stupidest as lions regularly demonstrate).

Very little is actually known about the dreaded night realm as few who enter or are born their ever leave alive but those who do quickly wither away from overexposer to dark magic and general fear. While they remain alive they tell of horrific castles radiating dark magic and evil counts who rule with an iron first that put's Leonese nobles to shame.

Officially Zuvinara does not exist, being part of either Narlwage or Achthal according to the Achthalians and Narlwagians respectively. It is also as yet unclear whether Zuvinara is ruled by vampire counts or just evil humans. While most believe that the later is more likely there are a few, mainly of the adventurous type, who claim that the vampires, or even Ichthor Mortimus himself, have returned. This fear has been fuelled by recent reporting by Novorosist but most consider the article to prove that it is only a few nutters who think that he has returned.

Most evidence points towards The Night Realm being run much like The Petty Kingdoms, as a set of nations with no common ruler. A few vampires have been revealed since the demise of Ichthor and based on these an assessment in 956 PA by The Mirror suggested that the Valadavas, a blood line founded by Tamia Valadava, are the most powerful.

History

Zuvinara was always at the periferies of Euphoria and while Aruseus's influence did reach the area, it did not result in much. After he died, both Narlwage and Aruseus's Land clamed the land though both were nominal. In the 200s there was some actual Narlwegian influence in the form of warriors who attacked eastern Zuvinara for plunder though this would die down. In the late 400s the area became increasingly darker until the events of The Rise of The Dead.

Population

According to a popular estimate, Zuvinara has a effective area of about 20,000 square kilometres and a population density of 25 people per square kilometre giving it a population of 500,000.

Government

Law

Outside of major towns, the law - to the extent that such a thing exists in Achthal or Zuvinara - has no presence. In villages, justice is dished out by nobles or mob rule. Outside bandits roam freely, kept in check only by hired guards and mercenary patrols sent out from towns by powerful companies.

It is no wonder then that necromancery and other rogue wizardry is such a big problem in the area. This is recognised by major external powers and tackling the problem has nominally been given to the Council of Anti-Necroman'y which is supposed to be a religious body under the auspices of The Holy States. In reality it is nothing more than an excuse for other countries to send in forces to deal with Necromancery and any other problems (real or imaginary) that take their fancy without having to take responsibility for dealing with Zuvinara.

In reality, the largest force dealing with the problem are The Witch Hunters who deploy a number of agents secretly into Zuvinara. There is also The Hunter's League, a more ad hoc body that formed out of the Vampire Hunters though has nothing to do with them. This operates out of Soultava and is a group that shares knowledge on combatting Necromancery, Undead, suspected Vampire activity, and any other wrongs.

Towns

Vaskovo

Placed on the outskirts of the midnight forest on the far side to the tall towers, Vaskovo is the largest town in Zuvinara proper.

Soultava

See also: Soultava

On the mouth of the blood river, Soultava is a town of sorts where the drains into the northern sea. It contains nearly a thousand souls though has more than that pass through it every day due to its position on an important trading route.

Businesses Directory

• Tonal Publications - Soultava is home to NVR (Novorosist), publishers of The North Today (TNTD). NVR gets most of its money from Narlwage but makes some on the side from various operations including a book binding, selling and illumination buissness (along with renting out their water powered printing press).
• Creative Industries Associated - Most wizards commit heresy when they are old and have little to lose. Most wizards only have to flee to the next valley or next town to seek refuge. So when a young wizard turned up calling himself Joseph Jonas (though he will be the first to admit that that is an alias) it was clear he had done something which had really upset somebody, the only problem was that he wouldn't tell anyone what it was. As time went buy, the residents accepted Joseph Jonas as a hedge wizard who was better than average at curing injuries and before long Jonas found himself with some time on his hands.

He took up sculpture and attracted various other residents of Zuvinara to join him. They ranged from artists to poets to book writers (much to NVR's horror). Before long the grouping was calling themselves Creative Industries Associated or C.I. Asso. for short.

Spoiler: Click expand to open
C.I. Asso. is just a front for another operation which is infact in direct competition with NVR - a intelligence gathering operation. Joseph Jonas fled north because he published a paper suggesting how such an organisation would work and has now put his ideas into practice.

• Lockland Brewing Incorporated - While technically no longer in Soultava, Lockland inc. is still a major impact, a tavern not selling Lockland mead will struggle to remain in business while Soultava's warehouses fill with Lockland before the next Pleitsdorf great ship arrives to take it away.
• Talmaa Winter Equipment - cloths manufacturer and store with a wide range though significantly higher prices.
• Cloths Store (in Thym) - A cloths seller and reseller
• Gera Kopsov - Gera Kopsov is a chicken butcher that runs a shop on the out skirts of Soultava. While it has a poor reputation amongst merchants and captains, many of Soultava's residents use it to purchase there meals.
• House Dyatlov Trading - The older of the two great houses, Dyatlov owns most of the warehouse space and trading contracts along the river front. Recently it has found itself competing with House Antonov who own much larger warehouses and docks on the sea front. While some merchants and captains still refuse to go through Antonov, Dyatlov is struggling to compete thanks to their inability to expand. So they had cut warehouse space even further, preferring instead to become the landlord of a number of neighbourhoods that have attracted many a visitor to, at least for a while, settle in Soultava.
• Antonov Inc. - Demitri Antonov, the founder of Antonov Inc. is often regarded as the most powerful man in Soultava.
• Sombora - weekly coach service from Soultava to Vaskovo.