Vale of Cosmos
Nestled in the largest mountain chain on the continent, the Vale of Cosmos is the isolated home to House Voldr.
Geography
Looking to travel to the Vale in the winter?
Too bad.
The entire province is located in one massive volcanic crater inside the Silent Mountains. It is surrounded on all sides by tall, harsh peaks, and has infamously few routes into it, most of which will become impassable once the storms and snow take over. The position is so isolated that invaders have been known to get lost in the mountains and lose most of their army when trying to take the Vale. It's a common wisdom that, if you're going to the Vale, you do it in summer.
Structure
The Vale is overseen by the Celestial Court, the ruling body of House Voldr. The Vale is the only province that is purely the domain of the Voldrs, so House Voldr retains very tight control of its hierarchy.
History
Long ago, the Silent Mountains were part of the Wight nation. Not much is known about this time, as all that is left are a few ruins channeled into the mountainsides.
In 1276 BEC, a group of explorers from the Nebezni Empire first encountered Wights in the Silent Mountains. This began a period of trade and cooperation between the Wights and the Nebezni.
In 1166 BEC, the Nebezni were allowed by the Wights to establish Obsidian as an outpost in Wight territory. This included the beginnings of what would become the University of Obsidian--at the time, it was a center of diplomacy and learning shared between the Nebezni and local Wights. It helped that Sorcerer's Ore had been discovered nearby, allowing the Nebezni mages to bolster their magical abilities.
Mage War - 930-922 BEC
In 930 BEC, the Nebezni Empire broke out in a massive civil war among the mage class (called Voldrs) . This culminated in the Vastrei Incident, wherein a large part of the Nebezni Empire was destroyed in a magical explosion (creating the Nebezni Wasteland). Any mages caught west of the blast fled into the Vale, where the Wights offered them amnesty from the hostile Nebezni still on the plains.
The following century saw the Nebezni refugees establishing communities throughout the Vale. Histories claim that the Wights ceded lands to the Nebezni-turned-Valeans as needed until pretty much the entire valley belonged to the Valeans... but it is prudent to point out that all of those histories were penned by a Valean hand.
That said, it is worth noting that the growing Mukala Dominion were known to have made some attempts at the Vale during this time period as well--which is also what the Wights' northern exodus is often attributed to. It is said that this was when [REDACTED] silently established allies in the Vale. The Mukala incursions into the Vale were unsuccessful, often attributed to a combination of Voldr sorcerers, [REDACTED] subtlety, and sheer geography. This is thought to be the origin of the old wisdom, "Do not travel to the Vale in winter."
In any case, the 800s BEC saw the former Nebezni establish settlements throughout the Vale, while the Wights all but disappeared from the area.
Obsidian Restoration - 775 BEC
In 775 BEC, prominent descendants of the former Voldr class gathered in Obsidian. There, they restored the old university as a place of knowledge, and also formally laid out the structure of their new lands. This was the first Celestial Court.
From that point forward, the Vale was content to generally mind its own business, though it began reaching out feelers to the nearby powers of Estana. They had spies in most major foreign courts.
The Great Plague hit in 533. During this time, the Vale largely drew into itself, watching as Lumina grew to prominence and the Dominion fell apart.
350 BEC saw the publishing of the first of The Treatises Arcana by Balthazier Voldr. In Obsidian, the Treatises revolutionized how magic was understood, even as Balthazier enraged the Celestial Court by snubbing their insights.
Flanking War - 258-242 BEC
In 258, the Mekulet Kingdom (part of what is now Heartland) sought to conquer the Vale. The Vale sued Lumina for aid, defeating the smaller kingdom. However, seeing Valean sorcery firsthand largely displeased Lumina, souring the Vale's relations with the superpower.
Meanwhile, to the east, Silven was rising in power. By the time Lumina had fractured under the weight of a civil war in 160 BEC, Silven had gained a foothold as a dominant power, finally opening trade to the Vale in 152 BEC.
Then, in 0 EC, some upstart in the Riverlands sought to conquer the nearby Sheyla kingdom, and the Vale lent a hand, earning their representatives a place of power in the newfound King Primas the Great's court.
Thus, "House Voldr" became one of the three branches of Primas' government, despite not having an active presence in the area. Behind closed doors, Voldrs claim that this is because Primas was one of theirs... but this is best digested with a grain of salt, as all three Great Houses make the same claim.
The Vale took an active interest in the rise of the nearby Heartland kingdom, the Celestial Court actively influencing the Heartland Voldrs. However, Lumina was nervous of this shadow alliance, which culminated in Queen Celia--Primas' wife of Lumina descent--curtailing House Voldr in particular. Queen Celia died under suspicious circumstances in 21 EC.
The Valean Affair - 53-56 EC
Following King Primas' death and a revolution that killed most of the royal family, the Vale went a bit too far in their meddling and were rebuffed. Relations with the Heartland became strained.
Empress Laestre Crowned - 62 EC
Then, Laestre--Primas' descendant through a Valean mistress--was put on the Heartland throne by the Triam. This strengthened Valean power in their court and instigated Heartland's Lumina War.
By 70 EC, Lumina was absorbed into the newfound Triamic Empire, once again weakening the Vale's power there. However, Laestre remained an advocate for the Vale, establishing psychic officials in one another's courts in what is commonly considered to be the first Network.
By 79 EC, however, relations continued to strain. The Triamics refused to go to war with the Vale despite catching multiple spies. However, Valean agents tended to disappear--rumored to be the work of [REDACTED]. The Imperial House Voldr experienced a spit between Obsidianites who still remained loyal to the Vale and Separatists who wished to divorce themselves from the Celestial Court.
The Celestial Court does not take kindly to the latter.
The War that Never Happened - 82-88 EC
Emperor Ceres I and the Valean Celestial Court thus engaged in a battle of wits and diplomacy that lasted the better part of six years. During this time, Obsidianite Voldrs were used by the Vale as agents, until they were decimated by a series of convenient deaths that drove the remaining Obsidianites underground.
This was complicated in no small part by the fact that, in 88 EC, Emperor Ceres' 17-year-old brother, Phelonus, ran away to study at Obsidian. He was used as leverage against the emperor, even as Phelonus and Laestre both actively worked against Ceres in favor of the Vale.
"It perhaps should have been expected that the Vale did not fight with armies, but rather with intrigue."
Long story short, the Vale joined the Empire, and the Celestial court reintegrated House Voldr.
Demography and Population
Valeans are culturally distinct. Descended from the Nebezni Empire, they share a cultural history with the Silvenni, but isolation in the Vale has allowed Valeans to adapt a very unique cultural identity.
See the Valean ethnicity for more on the Valean people.
For all its cultural isolation, the population is relatively dense. A number of sizeable cities dot the Vale, the largest of which is Obsidian, which is worthy of sitting at one of the terminuses of the largest river system in the Triamic Empire.
Valeans speak Imperial Common. The upper class tend to learn the language of their ancestors, Valean, but it is considered by most to be a dead language only kept alive for bragging rights. The religion of the region is astrological, and is the source of the Triamic Empire's celebration of the solstices and equinoxes.
Education
The Vale of Cosmos is absolutely renowned for its higher scholarship thanks to the University of Obsidian. The nobility get a high quality, organized education. However, the general population are not afforded the same opportunities, driving the commonfolk toward trades.
Type
Geopolitical, Province
Alternative Names
The Vale
Demonym
Valean
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations
Related Ethnicities
The Triamic Empire
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