Alignment: Lawful Evil
Status: Recommended
 
 

Province	Law	Temples	Guilds	Sources
Sivlstarr (0/5)	JL (0)	-	-	-
Tenhamm (1/4)	JL (1)	NTA (1)	OT (1)	-
Smouldering Hills (0/10)	JL (0)	-	-	HB (5)
Verwood (3/4)	JL (3)*	NTA (3)	OT (2)	-
Delinona (2/3)	JL (2)	NTA (2)	OT (1)	-
Doom's Peaks (0/7)	JL (0)	-	OT (0)	HB (2)*
Karnanu (3/2)	JL (3)	NTA (3)	OT (0)	-
	-	TCB (0)	-	-
Southern Hills (0/6)	JL (0)	-	-	-

 
* Fortified holding
 
Abbreviations: JL = Jarn Leorinic (King of Ornasis); NTA = Northern Temple of Azari (Unknown); OT = Ornasis Trading (Kerri Summarn); HB = Harold the Black; TCB = True Church of Brenna (Untrini the wise).

Province/Holdings: Ornasis in ruled by the powerful King Jarn Leorinic. Almost nothing exists in his kingdom without his permission, or that of the ruling nobles and the people live in constant fear of being arrested and executed for plotting against the king.

• Law: All of the law is in the hands of the King. No other law holder is permitted and the king uses his armies to ensure that no-one challenges him.
• Temples: The only temple permitted to exist is the Northern Temple of Azari. Recently however a small shrine to Brenna has been set up in the southern province of Karnanu.
• Guilds: The Kings cousin, Kerri Summarn runs the only guild permitted inside Ornasis. Any merchant wishing to live in Ornasis must join the guild or risk execution.
• Sources: Just recently a mage from Anuire, Harold the Black, has come south to take control of the powerful magic of the hills provinces of Ornasis. The king has yet to learn of his presence.

Army: The King maintains an army of 5 units of infantry, and 3 units of archers. These soldiers are constantly being used to put down even the slightest indication of a rebellion. Ornasis does not own any ships currently.

Regent: The current king of Ornasis is the brutal Jarn Leorinic (MNe; F6/P7; Unblooded; Age 34). He came to office three years ago after slaughtering all other claimants for the throne. The king now rules his subjects with an iron fist and allows no challengers, including those from his own family. Unlike many in the kingdom Jarn was a member of the original Nehalim expedition that came north thirty years ago to settle this rough land. Because of this he thinks himself above the rules of other men and treats all others as though they were beneath him. Once this kingdom was considered part of the principality of Aral which lies to the south, but since King Jarn has come to power it has been a separate state. Twice in the last year alone the Aral has sent an army north to retake Ornasis, but each time the King has marched into battle at the head of his own armies and the southern forces been defeated. With the current war between Nehalim and Aduria the King is sure that the Nehalim Empire will not be concerned about its former colonies and hopes to carve a large state out of these hills. He has recently sent expeditions east to try to cross the hills and reach a rich land that is said to lie far to the east, but so far his scouts have had little success passing the smouldering hills.

Lieutenants: The king trusts few others to assist him in the rule of his kingdom so has no lieutenants at the moment. His younger brother Harri (MNe; F1; Unblooded; Age 31) leads his armies when the King is busy elsewhere, but Jarn does not trust him enough to let Harri deal with other matters of state.

Important NPCs: Kerri Summarn (FNe; T2; Unblooded; Age 38), the Kings cousin runs the only guild in the kingdom. As it is supported by the King, in return for a large portion of any profits, Kerri is assured of control in her small realm. The Ornasis Trading Guild mines the mountains and hills of the kingdom, exporting large amounts of ore and timber to the southern colonies, and even to Nehalim itself. Most of this trade is carried by road, along the original path carved out by the southern settlers over thirty years ago. She is currently out of the kingdom in the southern realm of Nordli, hoping to purchase several ships which can be used to increase the export of ore and timber out of Ornasis, and avoid the high taxes placed on her merchants by Aral and Eiflholt to the south. Her guild's only ship was lost five years ago when a sea monster from the north raided the Dalkstien harbour.
Untrini the wise, the head of the Aral temple of Brenna has recently moved into the kingdom in an attempt to break the stranglehold the temple of Azari has on the people faith. He has had little success however as the temple of Azari is supported by the crown and other faiths ruthlessly crushed. Still he hopes one day to remove the priests of Azari and carve out a domain to rival the massive temple of the southern lands. Know one is sure who runs the temple of Azari in Ornasis, but some have claimed that it is the King himself who leads the priest of the black temple. Unlike many of Azari's temple in the south the Ornasian temple does not require a blood sacrifice. This is mainly due to the small population of the kingdom, than any change of heart by the priests. Only during special ceremonies does the temple perform a sacrifice.
Harold the Black (MA; W10; An, minor, 23) is a wizard who arrived in Ornasis five years ago after leaving the Anuirean colony of Mieres to do a little exploring. He had just reached the hills east of Ornasis when he encountered a small group of warriors coming from the west. He decided to see where they were from, as he had not seen their like before and followed them as the headed back to the west. In the province of Smouldering Hills the warriors were killed by a giant lizard, which are common in the province and Harold discovered what is perhaps the most powerful source of mebhaighl anywhere. In a cave beneath the lizards lair he discovered a pool of pure magic, so powerful Harold was almost overcome by it and nearly died. Since then he has learnt to tap into the pool and can now control a part of it, enough to cast powerful realm magic. Harold has been very busy since that time and has built a large tower in the province and begun to experiment. Needing subjects for some of his experiments he captures any scouts sent east by the King.

Description/History: Ornasis as the northern most outpost of the Nehalim people is a rough land. Along the coast life is pleasant enough, although the people live in poverty compared to the luxuries of the south. The streets of the capital Dalkstien are still unpaved and water must still be drawn from wells, unlike Aral and the other southern lands where it is piped into the home of the city. The people of Ornasis seemed to have adjusted to this way of life, although luxuries from the south are still the most profitable import for the guild in Ornasis. Farming and herding are the main occupations, along with mining and similar work. Unlike the south there are few slaves, so much of the work is done by the land owners themselves. Only the richest can afford to import southern slaves, although the few criminals sentenced to slavery in Ornasis are available.
Ornasis was settled thirty years ago during the last days of the great Nehalim expansion. For two hundred year the Empire of Nehalim had sent out teams of explorers north, after finally making a pass through the east of the Azure peaks and past Halwan, the tiny kingdom that had kept them at bay for centuries. These waves of settlers spread along the fertile western coast of northern Aduria and have now reach the northern coast of Aduria. Ornasis was where the last of the settlers arrived. Discovering the ruins of an ancient city on the coast, near a stream of clear water and a large wood they built what is now the city of Dalkstien. For the next twenty years the population of the provinces grew rapidly as Nehalim sent more and more settlers north. About ten years ago however the war between Aduria and Nehalim began again and the Empire was forced into a fight that has gone ever since. With most of Emperor's attention focused on the east and the war the settlers of the north have been abandoned to live as the please.
The last imperial Governor of Ornasis died five years ago when the vessel he was travelling on was destroyed by a sea monster as he left the harbour. One of the survivors of the crew said that the huge monster rose out of the sea before the boat and spoke in a strange tongue. When the governor could not respond the monster attacked sinking the galley and taking the governor and a large amount of gold ore to the bottom of the sea. Several time since stories have been heard of the monster swimming off the coast of Ornasis and most people now fear to travel out to sea in case it returns. Ornasis therefore has few fishermen, at least few who own boats.
When King Jarn came to the throne he decided to declare Ornasis independent of Nehalim and so far the Empire has not done anything about this. This declaration has not pleased Ornasis's neighbours to the south, and the Principality of Aral has several time attempted to reclaim Ornasis for the empire with little success so far.
Since declaring independence the King has attempted to expand as much as possible. His troops have now taken control of all the land up to the northern shore of Aduria, and have even claimed some of the Azure Peaks. Mining has recently been expanded into these mountains and reports are good on possible riches lying beneath the ground. Other reports also speak of hideous monsters in the mountains including a misshapen creature that is said to walk the mountains waving a long pole around. Other reports speak of a race of creatures living beneath the mountains that occasionally come to the surface an attack anything that moves. There has been no proof of either story though.

Provinces: Ornasis is made up of eight province, although if the king had his way it would be more. Five of these provinces are on the fertile western coast of Aduria, while the remaining three are in the foot hills of the Azure Peaks, otherwise known as the Deismaar range.

• Sivlstarr (0/5) is the most northern of the eight provinces. It is situated in the far north of Ornasis, across the water from Baerghos island. Only a few animal herders and escaped slaves live in this province and even they wish they were somewhere else. The land is fertile enough, but stories of strange ships and monsters on the sea to the north have scared off many of the people. Also recently several farmers have vanished, never to be seen again. This has mainly occurred in the south of the province.

• Tenhamm (1/4) is found west of Sivlstarr. This province is sparsely populated by farmers and other workers of the land. Life is peaceful for those who do live here, although many miss the luxury of life in the south. 
  
  
• Smouldering Hills (0/10) south of Sivlstarr this province blocks further expansion to the east. A hilly wasteland it has resisted any attempt by the Kings scouts to cross it. These hills were once part of the Deismaar range and the province itself lies just west of where the land bridge to Anuire once was. When Deismaar was destroyed these hills were also badly damaged, and even till this day the effects of the explosion can be seen. Wisps of smoke continually rise from the land in the province, and on a bad day can cover the entire province in a thick smog. Another feature of the province is the powerful magic that hums beneath the soil. It is the large amounts of mebhaighl that are causing the smoke, perhaps because the land contains more mebhaighl than is healthy.
  
  
• Verwood (3/6) is home to the city of Dalkstien, the capital of Ornasis. It is also the most highly populated province of the kingdom. Named after the large forest that dominates the eastern half of the province, Verwood is the source of much of the kingdom's timber exports. Dalkstien is also the only harbour in Ornasis capable of serving a large ocean going vessel, although no vessel's larger than a fishing boat have visited the harbour in five years. A road does run south from the capital carrying goods though, including massive wagons, pulled by oxen, carrying the timber to be exported.
  
  
• Delinona (2/3) lies south of Verwood. It is a province dedicated to farming and logging. Roads lead south to Karnanu, north to Verwood, and east into the mountains.
  
  
• Doom's Peaks (0/7) is situated east of Delinona. The province has only just been settled in the past two years and is home to the Ornasis mining operations. Large numbers of workers are moving to the province to work in the new mines and already ore is making its way south. Although the province still has a low population compared to the coastal provinces it is home to nearly a thousand workers.
  
  
• Karnanu (3/2) lies in the south of the kingdom, just over the border from Aral. It is home to much of the Ornasis army and the King is often seen in the province directing the activities of his soldiers. Raiders from the south sometimes cross the border to attack farms and small villages in the province.
  
  
• Southern Hills (0/6) lies to the south and east of Karnanu. It has yet to be exploited for it possible mineral wealth and is only claimed by the King because of the large river that runs though it, down into Aral. The King has hopes to dam the river and cut of much of the water supply to the Aral capital. His engineers and soldiers are the only occupants of the province at the moment, although the eastern hills are sometimes overrun by strange short creatures in plate armour that run around and attack anything that ventures near them.

Enemies: Aral the land just south of Ornasis was most upset when the kingdom abandoned the Nehalim Empire and has sent several armies north to reclaim the lost lands. None have so far succeeded. Apart from Halwan, the ancient enemy of the empire, Ornasis has no other enemies, although if the King continues in his expansion plans he will soon have plenty.

 
By Ian Hoskins

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