Lore: Locations: Furon (“the Islands”)

Primary language: Alhara

Primary religion: The Church of the Divine Balance was founded here. It’s not officially a state religion, but it has close ties to the monarchy.

Government: Monarchy. The monarch tends to have a cabinet of advisors drawn from across the Islands who may be noble or commoner, but the crown itself is handed down through bloodlines.

Geography: A subtropical archipelago, some distance southeast of Nessiny and Achusa. 

Historical and cultural notes

Close to the equator and some distance overseas from the other countries touched upon in the story so far, Furon has had influence over this half of the world for a thousand years. Its position as an island nation spurred a nearly unmatched expertise in navigation and seacraft.  Its location midway between the temperate zone that is home to Nessiny, Achusa, Kavera and Yanwei and the tropical regions further to the south led to a vibrant trade in goods running in both directions.

Once Furoni traders made contact in Nessiny, they found a country amenable to their Divine Balance missionaries and more rich in timber than most of their trading partners so far. Trade with Nessiny helped to accelerate the shipbuilding trade, often carried out in Nessiny’s ports with Furoni expertise and funding. Meanwhile, the Church of the Divine Balance established a strong foothold in northern Nessiny, and began to teach its more formalized form of healing magic to the Nessinians.

This led to a strong current of Furoni influence through Nessiny that continues to this day; aside from the Church’s presence, Nessiny still uses Furon’s language in scientific and medical contexts.

Similarly, Nessiny’s neighbor Achusa traded freely through its one major port, though its cooler climate and more mountainous geography led to fewer trade goods that interested Furon’s traders.

Furon’s attempts to proselytize and trade further west had mixed results: Kavera traded willingly, but the country had been converted firmly to the Church of the Four by Yanweian missionaries generations ago. Yanwei’s steep tariffs on imports and its distance from Furon proved prohibitive to most trade.

Correspondence between scholars proved more fruitful, once the language barriers were overcome; the Church of Tufar in Yanwei welcomed the Islanders’ knowledge of astronomy, mathematics and medicine and shared what they had learned over their own long history.

Meanwhile, Furon enjoyed continued prosperity at home, building on its alliances throughout the region.