Namorn

Template:Location infobox The Empire of Namorn (pronounced nahm-ORN) is a large country in the Circle Universe. It is ruled by a powerful woman, Berenene dor Ocmore, the famed omnipotent empress.

Geography

Location and climate

The empire is extremely vast and extends from Yanjing to the Western Sea. Being in the north, it has incredibly cold and snowy winters. The mountain passes also become unsafe during the winter months, thus making travel to the south almost impossible. During the summer, it gets mildly warm, but they still get an occasional chill wind from the Syth.

Landforms and bodies of water

Their main body of water is the huge treacherous lake called the Syth, named for the trickster god Sythuthan because of its unexpected storminess. Near the Olart border, there is Lake Glaise, a large body of water that is less stormy than the Syth. Near Lake Glaise, there is a mountain range known as the Carakathy Mountains. It has quite a few other mountain ranges, rivers, and bodies of water.

Near the Yanjing border, there is a huge plain known as the Sea of Grass. Besides that, it has desertland, farms, forests, mines, and other such things.

Politics

Government

Head of state and councils

Namorn is ruled by an emperor or empress. In 1043 KF and before then, Namorn is ruled by Berenene dor Ocmore. It is unknown for how long House Ocmore ruled Namorn, but it is assumed to be quite a long time. There is a council of nobles, a large assembly, and other such councils to help run Namorn. The Mages' Society of Namorn is also quite powerful, as it is headed by very popular and powerful academic and ambient mages.

Aristocracy and feudal lords

As Namorn is a feudal monarchy, aristocrats have tremendous power in the realm, depending on their title, money, and lands.

Noble titles are as follows:

• Bidis/Bidisa — literally means "dagger", the 1st rank of nobility, baron/baroness
• Saghad/Saghada — literally means "arrow", the 2nd rank of nobility, lord/lady
• Cleham/Clehame — literally means "sword", the 3rd rank of nobility, count/countess
• Giath/Giatha — literally means "shield", the highest rank of nobility, duke/duchess

The nobles of the realm have a history of being hotblooded and sometimes violent. They would fight with each other, extending their lands, titles, and terrain, and occasionally they are known to turn against the Crown. Empress Berenene prevented this in her realm by beggaring the great nobles through taxation and loopholes in noble privileges. She also uses her beauty and sexuality to entrance the masses, knowing that if men's time is spent in getting her to fall in love with them, and to look upon them favorably, they would have less time to fight against her.

Fiefs in Namorn include:

• Landreg
• Roth
• Ocmore
• Sarajane
• Dalach
• Hurich
• Holm
• Haugh
• Pennan
• Eileag
  (and many more)

The rights of women and commoners

Women

Women are considered second-class citizens, and it is very difficult for a woman to wield power in the empire. Even though Namorn is ruled by a woman, there have been very few improvements for women. For example, the bride kidnapping custom that ran rampant in Western Namorn still exists under Berenene. The custom dictates that a man may kidnap a woman and somehow break her will for her to sign a marriage contract. Once the contract is signed by the woman, she has no rights, and she essentially belongs to her husband. The custom technically only applies to women who are taken out in the open, and when they are not under the protection of their liege lords. While women may go to their liege lords and ask for the marriage to be severed, not all liege lords or ladies are sympathetic. This includes Empress Berenene, who believes that a woman who is silly enough to be taken is a caged bird by nature and deserves and needs a keeper.

The custom applies to every unmarried woman in Namorn, even those who are related to or are members of the Imperial Family, including Berenene before she became all powerful. Noblewomen, of course, are considered more desirable victims due to their wealth, but the station of their noble birth keeps kidnappers from physically harming them. Berenene was kidnapped a couple of times as a princess, and the men who took her were a lot more careful with her than say Halmar Iarun was with Gudruny.

The empress also uses the custom to her advantage, especially involving Sandrilene fa Toren, whom she wanted to keep in Namorn. The bride kidnapping custom would have forced Sandry to stay with her husband and to have no rights under Namornese law, unless given by her liege lord, which in this case would be the empress. Even Dymytur fer Holm and Yeskoy fer Haugh recognized that they would not incur much imperial wrath from the empress if they succeeded in forcing Sandry into a marriage contract, as the empress did want Sandry to remain in Namorn.

Some families are able to avoid being targets of the custom simply by their power. The Bancanors of Kugisko were considered to powerful to offend in such a way, as Kolborn Bancanor owned most of the banks in the city.

Commoners

Commoners, known somewhat pejoratively as "peasants", live on the lands of the nobles and are tenants of those liege lords. Some liege lords are more sympathetic to the rights of commoners, others are not. Commoners are treated as property of their noble liege lord in Namornese law, and many of the rights of commoners are under the jurisdiction of their liege lord. They must always show proper deference to the nobility. There have been some cases, as mentioned by Finlach fer Hurich, in which nobles did not properly look over their peasants, thus forcing Crown officials to kill and imprison rebels. Many nobles look down on commoners even if they are responsible for them, including Fin, who called them "cabbage heads". The treatment of peasants made Sandry incredibly uncomfortable, as she was used to the iron kindness shown by her uncle in dealing with those under his rank. She was also uncomfortable and shocked when hearing about the law which that imperial officials could kill commoners if they did not show proper deference to their liege lords.

Namorn's treatment of women and commoners were one of the main reasons why Briar Moss and even Daja Kisubo decided to leave Namorn. Briar, ever the man to support the underdog, didn't see how he and people without privilege would be safe if even Sandrilene fa Toren, a countess with imperial blood, was not.

International relations

Namorn is bordered by Yanjing in the east, and Lairan, Irod, Olart, and Capchen in the south. Namorn has been in an on and off war with Yanjing for the past few years.

Empress Berenene has a tremendous amount of political pull. To force Duke Vedris IV to urge Sandrilene fa Toren to come to Namorn, Berenene threatened monetary repercussions on Emelan. She said that Namorn and Emelan have been allies in the past, but the empire's smile may fade away from Emelan. This proved remarkably effective, especially when Sandry heard about the threats.

There was fighting on the border of Lairan in years prior to 1043 KF. They did seem to be improving relations, as the Lairanese ambassador was given quite a welcome in the Imperial Palace in Dancruan.

Culture

Known cities

• Dancruan, the capital of Namorn and the location of the Imperial Palace
• Kugisko, the archipelagic city on the Syth

Religion

Western Namorn also has its own gods, separate from those of the Living Circle.

Gods of Namorn

• Qunoc - Goddess of Crops
• Vrohain - God of Justice
• Sythuthan — trickster god of the Syth.
• Yorgiry — merciful goddess of healing and death.

Language

Unlike most countries around the Pebbled Sea, Namorn has its own language called Namornese.

• argib - currency of the Empire
• amdain - fool(s)
• bidis, bidisa - Baron or Baroness, first level of nobility
• bidisat - baron or baroness's estate
• cleham, clehame - Count or Countess, third level of nobility
• clehamat - a count's or countess's estate
• giath, giatha - Duke or Duchess, fourth level of nobility
• giathat - a duke or duchess's estate
• naliz - piece of dung
• Ravvi - Mrs.
• Ravvikki - Miss.
• Ravvot -Mr.
• Ravvotki - Master (as in title, not position)
• saghad, saghada - Lord or Lady, second level of nobility
• saghadat a lord's or lady's estate
• Viynain, Viymese - mage or wizard

Fashion and dress

Women's fashion

Court fashion
Wealthy Namornese women wear a visible undercoat and an overcoat that adds to the splendor of the outfit. For example, in the Imperial Palace where Empress Berenene first officially met Sandrilene fa Toren, the empress wore a dusty-rose colored open robe over a cream undergown, with a veil of sheer, cream-tinted silk.

Hunting dress
Berenene wore wide-legged breeches and a very formfitting jacket.

Merchant-class fashion
Sandry, knowing that Trisana Chandler does not like gaudy clothing, always makes sure that everything is sensible, even for Namornese court dress. For one party, Tris wore a sensible blue overgown and a white undergown. This reflects Tris's less opulent style.

Architecture

The country's nobles have the money and the lands to build castles made of stone. The castles are done in the classic manner, but range in size, fashion, and comfort. The old Haidheltac castle Dragonstone, the old imperial castle, was built in a way that would protect it from attack, with large ramparts and walls. The Imperial Palace of Namorn and the Sablaliz Palace, the former built during a prior time of peace and the latter built after the Empress came to power, reflect the relatively peaceful times of the empire.

In Kugisko, it is the fashion for the wealthy merchant families and the poorer classes to build their homes in wood, to set themselves apart from the Kugiskan and general Namornese nobility. These homes exhibit ornate carvings and woodwork that are expertly done.

While in power, Empress Berenene made efforts to build and repair bridges, roads, build hospitals and schools, and other such things that benefit the empire.

History

Ancient history

Before the Namornese empire, the land originally belonged to the Haidheltac Empire, an ancient realm. It is unknown whether the Haidheltac Empire stood during the time of the Kurchal Empire, the realm that gave the countries south of Namorn their language, their calendar, and their borders. Dragonstone was an old Haidheltac castle that was the main imperial residence until Empress Berenene took power. The custom of bride kidnapping was also popular during Haidheltac times, and was mostly rampant in the west but then spread to the east.

Berenene's reign

When Berenene's father died when she was sixteen, she, as the only living heir, was crowned Empress of Namorn. There were many challenges to her rule, and several assassination attempts on her life. Sometime after she took power, there was a peasant uprising that took thousands of soldiers to put down.

Known Namornese

A list of all the named Namornese who appear or are mentioned in the books.

The Imperial Court

• Berenene dor Ocmore, empress of Namorn
  • Ishabal Ladyhammer, head of the empress's mages
  • Quenaill Shieldsman, mage bodyguard for the empress
  • Pershan fer Roth, Master of the Hunt Berenene's former official lover, disgraced
  • Finlach fer Hurich, young nobleman, formerly one of Berenene's husband choices for Sandry, disgraced
  • Jakuben fer Pennun, one of Berenene's choices for Sandry, disgraced when he refused to use the bride kidnapping custom against her
  • Rizuka fa Dalach, Mistress of the Robe
  • Caidlene fa Sarajane, lady-in-waiting
  • Olfeon, nobleman in love with the empress

Other nobles

• Maedryan dor Ocmore, heiress apparent of Namorn
• Amiliane fa Landreg (deceased), Clehame fa Landreg until her death
• Ambros fer Landreg, steward of Landreg until 1043 KF, then Count
• Ealaga fa Landreg, Ambros's wife, Countess of Landreg
• Sandrilene fa Toren, Namornese through her mother, Emelanese through her father and through naturalization, the Countess of Landreg until 1043 KF
• The Duke of Eileag, mentioned by Olennika Potcracker
• Saghad Gurkoy, nobleman beggared by the empress
• Yeskoy fer Haugh, beggared nobleman, tried to capture Sandry
• Dymytur fer Holm, beggared nobleman, tried to capture Sandry

Mages

• Notalos fer Hurich, head of the Mages' Society of Namorn
• Master Northice, head of the Mages' Society of Kugisko
• Olennika Potcracker, great mage, cook-mage
• Camoc Oakborn, Kugiskan carpentry mage
• Heluda Salt, magistrate's mage
• Niamara and Jorality Bancanor, twin Kugiskan mages
• Breechbranch, Kugiskan carpenter mage
• Valerian, Kugiskan cook-mage
• Kethlun Warder, Imperial Glassmaker by 1043 KF, was Trisana Chandler's first student
• Zhegorz Fiavrus, seer, was locked up in Yorgiry's Hospital for a time
• Arnen, Oakborn's apprentice
• Eoban, mage apprentice
• Inagru, Kugiskan cook-mage
• Pawel Godsforge, famed fire mage

Merchants, bourgeoisie, and guildsmen

• Kolborn Bancanor, head of the Goldsmith's Guild of Kugisko and Namorn
  • His wife Matazidah
    • Peigine, Eidart, and the twins (mentioned above)
• Morrachane Ladradun, and her son Bennat (both deceased)
• Domanus Moykep, wealthy shipbuilder
• Teraud Voskajo, head of the smith's guild
• Nushenya Voskajo, Teraud's wife
• Romachko Skuretty, Alakut Island councilmember
• Chiora Jossaryk, Skuretty's mistress
• Olaksan Jossaryk, killed in fire set by Ladradun
• Hafgwyn, head of glassblower's guild in Dancruan

Working class

Landreg tenants and servants

• Gudruny Iarun, wife of Halmar then lady's maid to Sandry
• Halmar Iarun, miller on Landreg
• Wenoura, head cook of Landreg townhouse
• Maghen, young girl in Pofkim

Kugiskans

• Anyussa, head cook of Bancanor House
• Serg, sleigh driver for the Bancanors
• Gruzha, blind Kugiskan woman
• Varesha, housekeeper at Bancanor House
• Yulanny, maid at Ladradun House

See also

• Dancruan, the capital city of Namorn
• Kugisko, and archipelagic city located on the Syth
• Yanjing, Namorn's most powerful (and most hostile) neighbor
• Emelan, large duchy to the south

Appearances

• Sandry's Book (mentioned)
• Cold Fire (appears)
• The Will of the Empress (appears)
• Melting Stones (mentioned)