Salvar Question

[Lye]

Present [CP 1801] [2001 DW]

Haidia: Banishment of other races ends. Antioch: An uneasy peace has crossed the land of Antioch. Morian sits in his keep a Liche Necromancer, still plotting to gain more power. The centaurs of Victoria have been corrupted to his will, and Larapool stands to be the only way to stop Morian from entering Althanas as a whole.

Fallien: Jya has called together warriors from across Althanas, in order to go to the southern ruins of Kithdir, in hopes of finding more information about the Vadhya. She also wishes to look into rumors that the Kehtal clan hides there, plotting another assassination attempt.

Salvar: The Entente of the Light, under the banner of ending the Salvarian slave trade and on invented evidence of the collusion of the king with the Forgotten Ones, lands in Salvar and marches to the Knife’s Edge. Power hungry nobles who wish to overthrow both the king and the Council of State join in the Entente’s march. The king, who has been convinced by the duplicitous Nar’oth of the Ozternbergians, Joachim von Ribbentrophen, that the Entente is marching to the Knife’s Edge to help him assert his authority over the continent, does nothing to stop the march. The army reaches the Knife’s Edge, lays brief siege to it, and takes the city. The king is deposed, and Leopold Stevens is made figurehead king in his place. A new ruling council is created out of the nobles who joined the march on the Knife’s Edge, headed by von Ribbentrophen, which holds true executive power in the kingdom. This turn of events causes an upsurge of uncertainty and war in Salvar as various nobles rebel against the new government and others attempt to jockey for power within it. With an unstable government at its head and unrest throughout its lands, Salvar is a continent ripe for the picking.

This is taken from the official Althanas history. I plan to try and read through the whole thing, but I reckon that since my character is 25, the most recent entries are the most pertinent. I'm currently in a thread and looking for some world-relevant information to help drive the story. I have gotten a general idea of the lay of the land, but I'm shoddy on the politics. In the above quote, it makes mention to a march under the rouse of ending slave trade. I would like to know if slave trade is still an issue? Is it more of a black market situation or something similar to US history around the civil war with warring factions?

I also read in the character creation guide that the land homes mostly humans, but dark elves and orcs as well. Is there a place that makes mention of the habitat of these two races? Also, would it be more common to encounter scout/patrol teams of the warring nations at this time? Has there been any updates to the Althanas timeline for this region?

I believe that's all for now, but my primary interest is in the status of the slave market. It may provide some talking points between the two cast characters.

[Edit]

I found some information on where the Orcs and Dark Elves are found on the Salvar Wiki. So that has been taken care of.

I found more information implying that the The Vogruk - Stokes Trading Company still actively participates in slave trade. They also supplied armaments to both sides during the civil war making them a neutral entity. If this company is still around, then slave trade should still be an existing economy in Salvar. I would like confirmation.

[Warpath]

The slave trade is definitely still active in Salvar despite it's illegality. Slavers show up as antagonists all the time. I'm not sure if anybody's fully explored it (ie, I have no idea who is buying the majority of slaves or why. Probably want to get Christoph in here). Southern Salvar is a breadbasket, though, so it seems probable that the country's economy hinges on feudalism crossed with slave labor.

Flint was enslaved. I know Green is the new black had a thread going with somebody where they were fighting slavers. And Duffy's got a thread going with slavers in it.

Definitely still a thing.

[Lye]

Excellent, that should give me some meat for the current story. I may need to explore that venue a bit more for my future stories. Seems like Althanas could use a Salvarian event thread something this or next year.

[Christoph]

The Salvar wiki is your best bet for reliable information, including history specific to that area (more so than the official Althanas history area, which isn't exactly up to date or coherent). Granted, the history section even in Salvar's wiki could probably use a bit more work on recent (past century or so) events and laws. I'll be getting to that in the near future.

As for your questions... Slavery is technically illegal in Salvar, though nations like Alerar that allow slavery are quick to point out that serfs aren't much different, realistically speaking. However, the Vorgruk-Stokes Trading Company does still deal secretly in slaves, especially during and after the war. They just keep a low profile and hide their operations as bandits, and ship captives to other nations (Alerar and probably for-flung places like Fallien and Dheathain). I'm actually almost finished with a thread with one of my alts that involves uncovering such a slaving plot, so word might get out pretty soon.

As for the government, the civil war ended with a truce between the Church of the Ethereal Sway and an alliance of powerful nobles, though at great cost. A new king has been selected, since all members of the previous royal lineage are either dead or presumed dead. Things are still pretty bad in Salvar, but you'd be more likely to encounter bandits (or slavers) or orc raiding parties growing more bold than foreign powers.

If you would like to know anything else or just want help brainstorming, I'm on AIM and in the chat fairly often.

[Lye]

This is all good information. I will be keeping in touch for future projects. Thank you for helping clarify.

One last question, is there any monster lore per continent, or are the creatures left to the minds of the players?

[Christoph]

Bestiaries are coming up soon, but players are always welcome to fill in gaps with their own imaginations.