"Faith and Farhammers."

The Vurmark Raj, simply known as Vurmark, is a small kingdom on the western shores of Eqos. North of the Swarna Authority on a small strip of lush and arable land known as the Akshos Highlands, the kingdom uses the Km’mala Peaks as their eastern border with the Kasaaqi Dynasty. Originally a native  march, it was raided often by “vikings” from Teer. Eventually, they were successfully repelled from the Aatrii Kingdom, but a lot of those raiders took over and settled in these borderlands between the Goldheim Rainforest and al-Shhubus in the north. The first monarch of the kingdom was the leader of the varangian raiders, named Johan Tokisson. His group, once known as the “Farhammers”, took control of the villages that would one day become the city of Eddai. He adopted much of the native culture, eventually leading to the hybridized culture of Vurmark today. Johan married a local vedavin noble named Aruvanki, and founded the royal House of Eddavin. The house has ruled for the past few hundred years without much opposition.

The unique fantasy blend of norse, dravidian, and burmese inspirations has made Vurmark an interesting nation within Eqos. Arguably the smallest kingdom, they get by through trade and self-sustaining agriculture. The land route through the Km’mala Peaks into the Kasaaqi Dynasty is often shorter than the sea route around the entire northern coast, which leads to Vurmark enjoying the taxation that they put on the merchants passing through. Despite the teerian settlers following their own sect of Aeterism called Meiðrism, Vurmark adopted Ashtadharma as their state religion to better fit in with both the Hukumat and the Swarna Authority. The House of Eddavin is known for their sages and religious record-keeping, having built a large dharmic library within their capital city of Eddai. They do not have a large military, but they have just enough of an army and navy to protect themselves against pirates and bandits. Due to this perceived lack of strength, many see Vurmark as a puppet state of the Swarna Authority and speculate that the House of Eddavin will one day meet the same fate as the other noble houses of the region, losing all power to the merchant guilds. 

Goals

Vurmark prefers to be left alone, and focuses inward on building up its own shores and islands. While they do enjoy trade with the rest of Eqos, they want to prove themselves as a truly eqosi nation instead of some colonizer like the lunars are. Their geographic position isolates them from most world events, and entire wars and revolutions simply pass them by.

The House of Eddavin focuses on becoming a center for Ashtadharma, in hopes of turning the city of Eddai into one of the many holy sites for the religion. They are banking on religious tourism and the pursuit of divine knowledge leading them to a greater position within the power structures of Eqos.

Relationships

Despite their militaristic beginning, the Vurmark Raj has never been at war with any other nation in its entire history. They do not have the army nor navy to effectively fight any of the powers around them, so they maintain good trade relationships and alliances with the Kasaaqi Dynasty, the Swarna Authority, as well as the Kingdom of Jördheim. Prince Rakald II married into one of the important mahaan families of the Kav’orra to gain a true alliance.

They have a neutral relationship with the Kingdom of Yoldra and the Calamity Covenant as a whole, as their problems seem entirely too far away for Vurmark. There is an unspoken mutual agreement between the dragonborn and the vurmese that neither really lays any claim to the central mountain passageways. Vurmark keeps the dark forces of al-Shhubus at bay at their northern border, and hosts some members of the Veiled Guard. They do not have a wall like the Kav’orra to keep out the undeath, relying solely on a few forts and their small army to regulate passageways to Shhai.

Military

They do not have a large military, but they have just enough of an army and navy to protect themselves against pirates and bandits. Raja Rakald II has worked to improve the military and navy of the small nation instead of just beautifying the city like his father did, and has had moderate success in toughening up the military over his few decades on the throne.

History

There have been eight rulers of the Vurmark Raj since its founding:

TBD

Farhammers

Wife Aruvanki