Malari (Mal-arr-ee)

The Kingdom of Malari is situated in the northeast of Eidoris and is ruled over by the human King Tirrah Ariah and his wife Queen Annari. The country was settled in 1E 645 by a group of sailors and warriors from Zeyesh, who wiped out most of the local fauna that had previously left the land uninhabitable.
Malari is covered in snow and ice, and a mountain range and a forest with very little planes and valleys. Roads wind between the Koro Mountains and the Malar Woods, mainly used to move goods to different cities and into the towns and settlements that dot the small country of Malari.
There are three cities and two towns in Malari, with small settlements dotted around that mainly govern themselves. The capital city Rhine, on the northwestern coast, is a port city that handles most of the trade and commerce with the rest of Eidoris. Vethri is a port city in the country's southwest, and is the main hub for tourism as it is the warmest city in ice-covered Malari and is the home of the Moon Dancers. Boome is the smallest of the three cities and is home to the largest Temple to Malar, the Goddess of the Third Moon. The two towns on the map, Khorine and Malpha, are used as stopping points on journeys between the three cities, as passing through the mountains is impossible.

Moon Dancers Guild

She'd wanted to be a Moon Dancer since she first saw them perform when she was six years old. The glittery costumes, the movements that flowed like water--and the sharp swords that glittered in the moonlight, twirling around with the bodies of the women that had been chosen to learn the craft.
No one could forget that, despite these lavish performances they put on for the city of Vethri, they were warriors first, and knew how to kill.

The Moon Dancers are a guild of female warriors that can be hired as mercenaries and performers alike. Every year the open the doors of their Temple and allow "auditions" from fifteen year old girls that wish to join, selecting only twenty out of hundreds that audition. Those that get chosen are then trained in the way of the warrior and survival, living inside the temple walls until they reach twenty and training six days a week.
It is unknown what exactly happens inside the walls, as no one can enter unless they are part of the guild, or they are auditioning to join (and even then, those auditioning cannot be accompaned). But people can assume some of it has to do with the Moon Goddess Malar, as their organisation was created for her. Apart from being warriors that can be hired for many means in many lands, they are also performers, and perform during Malar's festivals and Her Summoning Day. They also perform in front of kings, queens, and their children on special days, such as birthdays or corrinations.
The Moon Dancers were created by Madam Diora Diavarish in 2E 97, the Head Priestess of the Temple of the Third Moon at the time. She petitioned Queen Isarus II to create a guild of warrior women, as they are hardly considered as warriors despite helping with the Dragon Insurrection just a hundred years prior. Isarus II granted the guild, and gave them the old Temple of the Third Moon in Vethri for them to practice and train young women that wish to be warriors.
There are rumours that Madam Diora had other reasons for creating the Moon Dancers, though none of them can be proven and most are pure speculation. No matter the reasoning for creating the Dancers, they are now part of Malari culture, and no one can imagine a time without them.

Koro Mountains

"Be careful when travelling. You never know who or what could be with you."

A common saying to those travelling Malari.
The Koro Mountaints take up half of Malari, spreading from Rhine down to the lowest point of the Kali Road and up to the intersection between the Kali Road and the Moonlit Road. There are no paths through the Koro Mountains as they are steep, and of those who have tried only a handful have returned.
The Koro Mountains are occupied by hostile creatures that attack most things on site. All of the survivors explain them as large wolves with thick, white fur, blood forever staining the fur around their mouths, with four pairs of eyes and what looked like wings coming out of their backs, though they couldn't fly. Everyone has called these creatures "Sanines".
There are many half-carved paths through the mountains, though any wanderer is warned about the dangers of trekking through them. There are stories of creatures worse than the Sanines, that even they are scared of, but what they could be, no one knows.

Malar Woods

The Malar Woods are far nicer than its accompanying mountains, but don't be fooled into complacency--the forest has its own dangers to worry about. Tree Crawlers, six legged monkey-like creatures that live in the treetops, using their long front limbs to grab unsuspecting travellers and rip them apart in the trees. They are fast and silent but they are few in numbers and it is uncommon to run across them. Apart from the Tree Crawlers, the forest is covered in snow and ice and can be beautiful in the early morning sun.
There are a couple villages in the Malar Woods that mainly stick to themselves except for when they need supplies. These are few and far between and tend to be on the coastline. They have constant guards around the outskirts of the villages to ward off the Tree Crawlers, of which they have figured out the creatures' hunting patterns, and often use them for food. Not many people from these villages end up leaving, and spend most of their lives inside these forest villages.

History

The country of Malari was established in the Eidoris lexicon in 1E 645 by founder Alix Terpin, a warrior-turned-king that came over on The Moon's Light from nearby country Zeyesh. Alix I was voted as ruler of the country after they created their settlement in what is now Boome, where he set up the largest Temple to Malar in history. A palace was built for him and his family, and Boome became the capital of Malari as expansion started westward, driving back the hostile creatures that called the island their home. Two hundred and thirty-seven years later, during the reign of Alix III, the capital was moved to Rhine, which had a larger and safer port than Boome, and has since been used for trade between other countries.
Malari was mainly left alone in conflicts, both because of its placement in the northeastern-most point of the map, and the cold climate it housed, but the few it did engage in they won victory. The War of Corylyn in 1E 994, on Bale-Shom's north coast, lasted seven months and ended in Malari victory, and showed they were not to be messed with. The War of Brothers spanning from 1E 985 to 1E 987, between twin brothers Griege and Uara who both thought they should be king, ended in King Uara's victory, and he moved in to the Rhime Castle from where he resided in Vethri.
1E 1336 saw the end of the Terpin line when Queen Terrin II was slain at the Battle of the Gorge, and for the next ten years there was a power vaccuum as people of the court fought to become the next ruler of Malari. The victor was Zeiara, who became the first King of the Coarah line, which lasted four hundred years before King Henley, known as the Coward King, was killed and usurped by King Tirrok Vessius. During the four hundred years of Coarah Reign, they fought battles with sea monsters that attacked their ships. King Jerriah, Tirrok's heir, solved that problem by changing the paint colour used on the boats.
At the end of the first era, during the Dragon Isurrection, the Reignhart clan led Malari to capturing and defeating the dreaded dragon Zayldrus. It is unknown where his body ended up, but the Crown of Malari has been dotted with dragon scales ever since.
The Reignhart rule ended when, in a surprising move in 2E 316, King Ynes tried to create a path through the Koro Mountains. After trying to convince people that the path was clear, he took his wife, three children, and an envoy of guards through the path that hadn't been finished yet and were never seen again. With no one else in his family, the crown was passed to his wife's brother, who had grown up with the late king, and thus starting the reign of Zheth.
The reign of Zheth was a bloody one, and lasted only two hundred years before the common folk rose up against him and instated the current ruling family, Ariah. The kings and queens of the Zheth bloodline were nasty and cruel, executing those that didn't agree with them and trying to get rid of the villages in the Malar Woods.
The next three hundred years have been peaceful, which the people are thankful for. In the past ten years, though, attacks from the mountains have grown, and no one's really sure why. King Tirrah II has sent scouts to find out what has changed in the mountains, but none of them have ever returned. People are starting to get worried for what it means, and what happens when it starts to expand out of the mountains.

Capital City: Rhine
Cities: Vethri, Boome
Towns: Khorine, Malpha
Religion: Temple of the Third Moon | Malar

Royal Family

The Ariah Family of Malari is the sixth family to rule Malari since its inception in 1E 645. It currently consists of King Tirrah, his wife Queen Annari, and their four children, the Princes Cassan and Perrah and the Princesses Venora and Rhel. Read more here.

Temple of the Third Moon

The religion centred around the Moon Goddess Malar, patroness of Malari. The main temple is in Boome, the oldest city of Malari, and takes care of the sick and needy of Boome. They look over the rest of the temples in Malari and even in other countries where Malar's presence is felt. Read more here.

Military

Malari has a fearsome military that is trained in killing, scouting, and others from as young as fifteen. When not in wartimes they are patrolling the cities, towns, and roads of Malari as its Guard, waiting to be deployed at a moments' notice. Read more here.

Type

Geopolitical, Country