Jomzaar

Legend

“Oh, so rash, always eager to show themselves… yet, that was what gave us the mightiest of deeds.”

Skjald Yell'a'Beard

 

History

Second Age

According to Kanziganthir, they were born before Vular, who, on the other hand, slightly surpassed them in skills and use of Magic, but never as seafarers and navigators. Some tales state they share roots with the Vular, but it’s rather unlikely, as their official annals reveal they have always been on hostile terms towards each other. They are considered to have been the second wave of Wanderers crossing The Rim, and their tales tell of fire raining from the sky and earth raining upwards when they crossed.

Skjald Sigurd

 

Third Age

When they came across The Rim between Dalip and West Fjella and set foot on the shores of Bowei at Dalip, they met with some Ogryl and Ljost Alfar. To these, their leader presented themselves as ‘Stewards of the Overseas’, as they seemingly had a King back home down below the Rim. Thus, no Jomzaar has ever claimed the status of king, but many have been princes, princesses, or lower-ranking nobility, in their itinerant court.

As they seemingly hunted the Vular and The Bullheaded God, their vanguard rushed along Midgard and Fjella coasts trailing their foes towards Ljostari. Advancing, they left settlements behind that were to secure supply lines and act as tactical retreat points. All these settlements were built as fortified camps, which grew into large harbour forts, great castles, or huge walled cities. Each of these settlements became known as feitoria’s, each led by an appointed leader who became part of an itinerant court as well as hosts for the travelling court.

Skjald Vinotis

 

As the third age unfolded, they built on Dalip, Midgard, and Fjella—as it was before that island split in halves. Soon they had established seaside colonies along their supply route, where a selected few Indigenous families were chosen as liaisons between the races. These liasons greatly benefited, while their commoners worked hard at starvation rates, filling the coffers of liasons and Jomzaar alike. The few times a local liason reconsidered for the sake of their people, the Jomzaar effectively squashed the resistance, destroyed the entire family of the former liasons, and then appointed another liaison.

As centuries passed, the Overseas Stewards grew immensly rich and used their wealth, force, and cunning to scheme within local politics and secure their positions. Sometimes they allied with humans against other races; at other times, they turned around and allied with other races to eradicate human threats. Their vast merchant and armed fleet was a key in this, and the mere sight of their sails or a ship anchored up could sway negotiations about the tides of a battle.

In 1001, they used the Borji population animosity towards the Shunz Dynasty, and their agents succeeded in instilling a Borji revolt. As the Licheng Schunz’s empire crumbled, Jomzaar leaders managed to secure several inland sites and began fortifying those to secure their footholds. They also secretly backed two of the key Borji figures, thus dividing the Borji. So, in 1002, the Weborji, Sourji, and Eastji tribes began a century-long infight. With Borji in reins, and Tatongōl and Moss'Ari, not really caring about urban sites, they focused on steering free of Ogryl, Archaic, and Fautyr issues.

This allowed the Jomzaar to construct an inland network of granges connecting their settlements as a backup to seaway links. Sometimes as close to an Astral Site/Gate as possible to accommodate Astravel emergency support, even though Astravel was not a preferred or trusted means of transport, as feeding Gods was not a Jomzaar game.

Around the year 1300, the Jomzaar had become so powerful that none dared a direct war against them, and only the Vular opposed them openly. Mostly due to their ancient rivalry but also because the Vular made certain that their best Mana Manipulators was onboard their vessels or in every contingent marching forth. As Jomzaar numbers and military superiority were easily matched by Magic Paths, clashes were often a draw or a Jomzaar loss. So, the Jomzaar began to ally up with Ljost Alfar and Dwarves, to also learn what Vular had learned and to field Dwarves war engines.

In 1451, as they had ventured into the countries of Midgard, they also met the Ughuz, where Kazan Chorniz managed to befriend seven of the most powerful Jomzaar leaders: Gonzalo de Mendoza, Macas Malaver de Silva, Pedro Luis Marin, Baltasar de Mazariegos, Juan Pedro Maldonado, and Pedro Menéndez de Diego. Kazan thought it was his mastermind that brought these to his side, strengthening his position amongst the Ughuz, but in reality, these seven Jomzaar were merely using him as a tool to influence and keep the Ughuz from attacking and destroying their granges or strongholds. The masterminds behind this Jomzaar move were Hernán de Coronado, Juán Cortés, and Vázquez de la Cosa. Planning this out and keeping their distance from Ughuz and all other indigenous people elevated them into the upper ranks of their itinerant court.

Skjald Valgrif

 

For the next centuries, Jomzaar and Vular kept rivalling, although it was for the destruction of the other. All races in Naldar, Dalip, Midgard, West Fjella, East Fjella, Ljostari, Markeoy, Findon, and at Darin, benefitted from the two races continued urge to trade, learn, innovate, and teach. Many things were created due to their warfare and urge to offer in return for alliances. The only shadows were the ones Vular cast on Ljost Alfar and Dwarves and the one Jomzaar cast on the indigenous of the islands. It was though voiceless shadows as Vular returned opposition to raw Mana, and Jomzaar enforced silence and obidience in their characteristic breastplates and helmets, wielding sabres, and muskets.

But slowly tension grew, and as decades and centuries passed, their agenda became clear to even the simplest of minds, and even the most greedy liason began to rethink what was best for their people. So, in 3637, a conflict with the Borji broke out that saw Jomzaar lose quite a large number of their inland settlements. Their attempt to march in and reclaim territories and punish was halted by a Borji, Ogryl, Tatongol, and Archaic coalition.

Almost ready to march to war and squash the revolts, the Ughuz joined the liberation wave, which effectively made Jomzar give up as good as all non-coastal settlements in Midgard. A full-scale war and onslaught were avoided by swift action and the signing of truce and withdraval agreements. A decision that brought quite a large amount of internal unrest to their locations at the shores, as a plenitude of inland mixed-race couples had to seek refuge there, crowding every inn, tavern, and barn.

Skjald Sejrik

 

It was a hard blow to lose vast incomes from the inlands of Midgard, but luckily it didn’t spread to Dalip, or ‘the Fjellas’, and they still had a thin line of granges as well as their fortified port cities generating income. And with Vular deep into a growing conflict with Ljost Alfar and Dwarves, they were in no immediate danger. So, in 3695, they began sailing to Naldar, Markeoy, and past Ljostari to Darin. Some even to Utari, and Findon, and a few all the way to Mealis. New races were encountered, new markets opened up, new goods found their old customers, and the wealth of the ‘Overseas Stewards’ grew to such proportions that there became a distinct difference among those of the itinerant court. But around 3700, their strongholds also became the target of ‘unflagged’ pirates, as no race or country dared show their colours in the profitable raids.

So as the 37th century dawned on the Jomzaar north of the Rim, a need for securing their wealth and ship cargo arose. Thus they began strengthening some of their fortified towns, so that they became great walled cities, stuffed with Ughuz cannon, Borji rockets, and large garrisons of battle-hardened veterans. Slowly, this led to increased documentation of stored wealth, logs of visitors, and deals, to such an extent that the transport of those as the court travelled became a burden and security risk. So slowly, priveously preferred sites were no longer visited, and the places of court meetings narrowed down to a dozen, then a handful, then two, and eventually became permanent in the great city of Boalis.

In 3725, Rodrigo de la Fuente, Felipe de Heredia, Nuño von Hutten, Domingi Martínaz y Figueroa, Pedro Holguín de Rodas, and Miguel Rodríguez Suárez, secured the courts permanent residence in Boalis, and after two years of careful plotting and cunning moanouvering, they announced Rodrigo de la Fuente as the 1st overseas ‘Great Steward’ in 3733. The wisest of the feitoria leaders immediately left Boalis and headed for the safety of their own feitorias. And then a purge began at the court, in which the Great Steward began eliminating the group’s opponents, and when a frim hold was established, the Jomzariaan Empire was announced in 3735, claiming sovereignty over all feitoria—just as those who fled had expected.

Skjald Ulrich

 

During the next decades, the Jomzaar empire slowly squashed all opposing feitoria, and the strong empire greatly benefited from new markets at Naldar, Findon, and Midgard’s upper coastal areas. There was a huge difference though, in the strength of their footholds, as on Naldar it was but small trade outposts and fortified harbours; meanwhile, they managed to penetrate deep into the societies of Clovincaz and create a few really big settlements at Ortagui lands. But slowly, these tribes also grew weary of Jomzaar’s presence, yet aware of Jomzaar’s might, they laid a plan—some say it was orchestrated by the Vular.

4140 was the year the plan to remove Jomzaar was launched, and it was a simple act of halting supplies and stopping trade. The worst blow to Jomzaar was that there was no obvious enemy to attack, and their feitoria soon began to lack supplies for upholding garrisons and further taxes to the Great Steward. It was not long, though, before the plot dimmed to the central court, and they dispatched envoys to try to remedy situations. But it soon became clear that it was too late; the indigenous and other races had decided to push Jomzaar out. So slowly the mixed-couples and their descendants retracted to the feitoria’s. Then, as these became too crowded and supplies were declining, they began migrating to the larger feitoria’s down at their original entry and coastal route towards Ljostari.

Several centuries went on like this, slowly dimming the Jomzaar empire and their might. Yet many of the old feitoria’s still had a small mission, maybe a small garrison; their local presence was vague. And then in 4286, a disaster hit, much more so than the pushing-out strategy. Ljostari sank, and Mt. Vula erupted.

Skjald El Mary

 

Fourth Age

With the Deep Blue Tsunami, came a new age and the hardest blow to Jomzaar; hundreds of their settlements were smashed and flooded, and almost half their fleet sank or was oblitterated against the shores. Their backbone was lost, their military hand was crippled, and local populations were in a state of anarchy. Their surviving feitorias saw a rise in local revolts. In settlements without walls, or those breached by the tsunami wave, garrisons were attacked, killed, or driven out. Their mixed-race descendants were likewise killed or driven off. But, luckily for their arch enemies, the Vular was struck equally hard, so in that regard, there was still balance. Although the court at Boalis survived, their empire was effectively dead.

Amidst this chaos, suddenly long-dead ancestors, victims of the tsunami, revolts, or other crimes Arisen were walking among the living and claiming their living spots back, or taking revenge against their killers. Some of these arisen humans, the target of everyone’s wrath, disregarded prior racial heritage and huddled up in razed feitoria’s. Thus, these were rebuilt, and they now thrive alongside all other races. Some have, though, also seen the arrival of Liches, making the Arisen sites a tad dangerous to visit.

But as time passed, everyone found their place in the newly reshaped World, with so much land gone and Fjella even splitting in two halves. All races and tribes thrived, and wealth rolled in anew. The only ones that never recovered fully were the Vular and the First House of Dwarves, led by Ühmrar Zänziliibûhr, as they lost Ljostari and Mt. Ljostia. Dwarves even existed in an existence as horrible as Arisen, as they became Lava Imp.

Skjald Vinotis

 

The habit of families from various human races, tribes, and clans outmanouver and outshine their leaders and detach themselves from former bonds even impacted the Jomzaar. These new entities were the reason the period became known as Age of Hordes. And as their power and independence grew, the less the influence was from Boalis. So, they once again grew in might, but this time in equality with the other neighbours of indigenous and other race origin. Thus, a new type of co-existence sprang forth, and it became an integral part of island evolution. They were the vanguard of the southern Mannish races when The Realm was under threat, and their aid was an important factor in fighting down The Great Invasion.

Skjald Sejrik

 

Description

Their lifespan is far greater than that of the other Mannish races, and they are considered the most gifted Mariners of the realm. They are exceptional Sailors and Navigators. They are capable of feats of greatness that have fostered many legends, and some have gained respect and friendship from the leaders of most other races.

Skjald Kazumix

 

Environment

They are spread out throughout the southern Isles of Naldar, Dalip, West Fjella, East Fjella, and the southern parts of Midgard. and in three cities at Markeoy. Normally they mind their own business and don’t mingle with the lesser races, but at times they both visit and settle in their hubs. And unlike their Vular and Rimzir kin, they don’t fancy the other races very much.

Skjald Vinotis

 

Cartography

They are spread throughout the following Isles. and countries

Midgard: Scia, Økatuur, Lesmus, Gaslug, Kustu,

Gaslug, Kustu, Ladris, Scia, Trov

Naldar: Jabos, Lioni, Karoly, Seviels

Dalip: Aigon, Bowei

West Fjella: Apal, Claun, Esly, Oglan

East Fjella: Grebi, Tornix, Tusla, Usai

Skjald Ulrich

 

Organisation

They are living together in large communities, adhering to a strict system of social ranks. All following the decisions of the Council of the ‘Overseas Stewards. They are also one of the ancestors of the Symmeraqui.

Skjald El Mary

 

Special

They are considered the best Navigators in the realm. They are practical, rugged, straightforward, proud, somewhat loud, and warlike but ‘good’. It is the very rare individual among them who knows the languages only briefly touched by their culture.

Skjald Valgrif