Jyvestra

Patron: Sulahder Ektan (Titan)
Ruler: Tuella Parata, Archgeneral
Capital: Erren's Camp
Primary Race: Hobgoblin, Human
Primary Language: Jyve
Suggested Traits: Child of the North, Cooperative, Courageous, Defiance, Kitted Out, Militia, Natural Born Leader, Survivor, Work Hard
Regional Feat: Wall of Iron

Description

Jyvestra has been called a war with borders, though that does make it sound more ominous than the militocracy truly is.  What it is is a nation built entirely around the idea of preparedness for conflict, which has served them incredibly well.

Government and the military are completely intertwined, with every military rank carrying civil duties as well as military ones, every citizen required to serve at least four years beneath a helmet, and the 'cult of the veteran' permeating every aspect of life.  They even call their cities 'garrisons,' each of which is ruled by an Oath Captain who is one part captain of the guard and one part mayor.  Militia training is constant and practically universal, even when mandatory military enlistment is completed, and when danger threatens a garrison, the entire population is called out to defend.

History

The hobgoblins of Gaddac were a stalwart group and actually weathered the years following the loss of numina better than almost any other nation.  But when the frost giants came thundering down out of the Wall, their nation was cut in half.  The eastern portion stayed lock in combat with them, only to eventually join together with them and form Voad.  But the western cities of Gaddac instead withdrew, abandoning their homes and instead following human refugees from the Confederated Cities of the Reach until they came to the shores of the Sea of the Watchers.

Here, hobgoblin and human alike would make their stand, the sea at their back and defensible lines of hills surrounding them.  They battled for nearly a century, until their descendants owned all the land in a fifty-mile-wide corridor between a ridge and a river leading from the great lake in the north to the Sea of the Watchers.  It was in the waters of that lake that some fisherman made a discovery, when their net snagged on something massive and golden.  Their entire village tried to excavate the find, but rather than dredge it up, they succeeded in waking it.

Rising from the waters, standing a hundred feet tall and clad entirely in golden armor, was a figure none had ever thought to behold: a titan.  A warrior and a general of his primal people who had been lain low by the magic of a Walking God during that first great war between the children of the Five Crowns.  He introduced himself as Sulahder Ektan and quickly made the acquaintance of Jyvestra's leaders.  Over the centuries, he served as an advisor to the leaders of Jyvestra, and then as their patron when word of the power of such worship reached the Jyvestrans from allies in the Council of Wyrms.  Ektan has claimed a position apparently unique in the modern world: though he is patron to the people of Jyvestra, he is not their ruler and does not interfere with civil matters at all.  Even in military matters, he will only advise, though his 'advice' tends to carry as much weight as lawful orders.

Foreign Relations

The people of Jyvestra are wary, for two of their nearest neighbors are the monstrous frost trolls of Möth Unvidia and the frost giants of Voad.  Life is already difficult enough in the modern era, but with these forces for company, it is more difficult that it really needs to be.  Luckily, they have found ready allies in both Kyth and the Council of Wyrms, with whom they maintain warm diplomatic and economic ties.