The Country of Moshven

The Country of Moshven is located on the southern edge of the continent of Cellenda. Its northern border neighbors are Azin and the City of the Holy See. To the west of Moshven is the City State of Koalh.

The country is roughly rectangular and its length is approximately 4100 miles from its east coast at (city name) to its west coast at Oceanbay.

The current capitol is the Port of Silk, located in the center of the southern coastline.

Port of Silk Coat of Arms

The former capitol, Staren is located 130 hundred miles north of the Port of Silk in the center of the country.

The main chapterhouse of the Brotherhood of the Voices of Da-Gyver is located 35 miles north of the Port of Silk near Mount Promise. It is also near where the southern end of the Forked Mountains merges in. This is the location of the University of Inspiration and Thought.

Major rivers and canals in Moshven are:

The Silver River, which comes out of the Southern Forked Mountains, ranges to the southern coastline. Tributaries spread out to various ports along the coast including Oceanbay.

The Moshven River waters the Great Moshven Plains and has its mouth at the Port of Silk.

The River of Silk comes out of the Cardiff Mountains.

Running across the center of the country and connecting all three rivers to the eastern and western coasts is the Great Golden Canal, also known as the Money Canal. This canal leads to the former capital of Staren in the heart of the country.

Moshven

The ruling family of Kysten had ruled Moshven for over 600 hundred years. The Kystens had the final decisions over the laws and customs of the country of Moshven. Currently, the position which had been held by the leader of the Kysten family and that was known colloquially as "The Merchant Prince of Moshven" is held by Her Grace, Duchess Morwenna Kysten, the Military Governess of Azin.

The country is comprised of 26 shires. Each shire has representation on the Ruling Council of Moshven. Each shire has a governing body called the Dwelling of Deliberations in which governing issues are deliberated. Each Dwelling of Deliberation chooses three members to represent the shire at the Ruling Council of Moshven. The Ruling Council of Moshven manages day-to-day or month-to-month operations of the country and acts as advisors to the Kysten family.

The country of Moshven is a country of merchants and producers of fine goods. The Kysten family's primary edict was to ensure the well-being of their people by ensuring that there was an ample food supply and required goods for a good life. The Kysten family ordered schools for the ordinary populace and outlawed the practice of serfdom in all of their lands. The Kysten family fostered independent thought and ambition among its people.

The three Universities of Merchants and Producers were created at Ghent, Staren, and the harbor city of Oceanbay.

The Kysten Family

Until recently, the Kysten family ruled Moshven with a velvet-covered gauntlet.

The Kystens had been merchants for over 1000 years and continued to profit and survive as merchants to the present day. When the family first began to be noticed for their business dealings, they began to acquire lands to support and foster their dealings. In less than 100 years, their various holdings rivaled many of the chieftains in the area.

Many of the surrounding chieftains feared that the Kysten family would try to take their lands, either by arms or by trickery. Thus, the chieftains banded together and began a campaign to destroy the economic empire of the Kysten family. To their surprise, their own forces refused to fight for them. While the chieftains had been plotting, the Kysten family had quietly made known to the troops the prosperity that people had under their rule. This refusal to fight effectively ended the campaign against the Kysten family. Shortly after this refusal, many of the chieftains no longer ruled their own territories. The Kysten family, in less than a single generation, found that they controlled the entire area of Moshven. In order to manage such a large area with fairness and to avoid another such power struggle, Rylan Kysten, the then patriarch of the Kystens, instituted the Dwellings of Deliberation and the Ruling Council of Moshven.

The Kysten family is thought to be blessed as economic prosperity grows with anything they touch. The Kysten family has not forgotten the people that serve them. The town, cities and villages of Moshven have prospered under the rule of the Kysten family for hundreds of years. This has allowed the Kysten family to consolidate their power and create a governing body that is both effective and loyal to the Kysten family. In addition, the people of Moshven are fiercely devoted to the Kysten family as the protectors of their livelihood.

Even during the dark times of the Horde invasions, the Kysten family was in complete control of their country's destiny. They sent negotiators to meet with the Horde invaders on their beech head. The Horde demanded that the entire country capitulate and welcome Horde Rule. Taking a page from their ancestor, the Kysten family had these words from the Horde spread to every village; town and city. They also included the statement that the Kysten family would step down to protect their people, as defiance would mean that the Horde would start decimating the population. The response was immediate from the people of Moshven. They would fight to the very last man, woman, and child to stop the Horde from taking the country or capturing any member of the Kysten family.

Moshven and Azin

As conditions improved within the country, the greater the surplus of food and drink that began to accumulate. The Kysten family found their northern neighbors to be fine customers of their surplus. This beneficial relationship with Azin grew.

The Nari' family of Azin wanted to reduce their dependency on the goods from Moshven without destroying relations with the Moshven people. The ruling family of Azin arranged the sale and construction of a merchant fleet and three Gate Portals to Moshven. This allowed the goods of Moshven to be exported to any country. The country of Azin gets a small percentage on the returns from the Moshven merchant ventures through the gate and that use the merchant fleet. In return, the 4th Azin fleet is at the disposal of the Moshven merchant fleet. On midwinter's day of 1015 TK the head of the Kysten family Lord Merchant Bradley Kysten and the High King of Azin Darius Nari' signed the treaty of the Three Sisters, which sealed the military, economic, and cultural alliance between the two countries. The first true test of the alliance was only a few years off.

In TK 1023, the Horde sent an expeditionary force to Moshven to make way for the conquering of the entire continent. The Clan of the Broken Spear was led to believe that the people of Moshven would not put up much of a fight and that the treaty with Azin was not worth the paper it was written on since the King who signed it now lies in the temple of Heroes. The Moshven military acted quickly to create a bottleneck through which the Horde would need to travel. Combined, this action along with the swift action of the Azin people to fulfill their part of the treaty of the Three Sisters by deploying 1/3 of the standing army by sea, surprised the Horde troops. The Horde expeditionary force was destroyed. They had never able to achieve a foothold. The Horde expeditionary force was driven back into the sea.

TK 1046

In TK 1046, on the 32nd day of Growth, the 172nd day of the year, a mercenary force of over 15,000 strong stormed and captured the Port of Silk in Moshven in a surprise attack. From there, the mercenary force ravaged the countryside and enslaved the population. What they did not enslave, they plundered, raped and murdered. On the 4th day of Frolic, the 179th day of the year, this included the entire ruling line of the Kysten family that had been captured outside the capital of Staren.

Azin, Moshven's northern neighbor and ally, sent troops to free the country. After the mercenary force was destroyed, King Rene' of Azin installed Duchess Morwenna Kysten, a member of a cadet branch of the Kysten family, as Moshven's Military Governess. Morwenna had been serving under the Duchess of Kent prior to her being elevated to the rank of Military Governess of Moshven.

Since her installation as Military Governess, the country of Moshven has begun to rebuild. Because she wished to oversee the reconstruction of the Port of Silk personally, Morwenna began holding her court at her family's estates just outside the city. She has continued this practice after the reconstruction was completed. She has said she will not take up residence in the Palace of the Merchant Prince in Staren under any circumstances. Currently, the Palace is undergoing some minor reconstruction, so no one has dared to suggest otherwise.

In TK 1048 through her powers of negotiation, Morwenna secured several exclusive and very lucrative contracts. Like her ancestors, Morwenna is committed to the welfare of her people. She has made it a personal quest to secure her people's safety and preserve their wellbeing. Given that she is a known Mage and is known to be of some respectable power, people tend to be very respectful around her.

In TK 1050, it was discovered that a prominent family, the DeRylans, had engineered the downfall of the Port of Silk and the ruling members of the Kysten Family in TK 1046. Her Grace verified the evidence presented to her and then acted. The DeRylans were deposed from their holdings and the holdings were transferred to the Lyonnes family. Executions of the members that were actually involved in the plot followed shortly thereafter.

Moshven and the Holy See

In TK 1046, the Holy See moved its center of power to a donated location on the border of Azin and Moshven. The Military Governess was not pleased by its presence but agreed with the move. She has been a polite and respectful neighbor to the Holy City, albeit slightly distant and formal in her relations with them.

Moshven and Koalh

Moshven enjoys friendly relations with its neighbor the Haeflin City of Koalh. Both countries find that a mutual partnership in trade and defense is a profitable relationship for all involved.

The Shires of Moshven

The 26 shires of Moshven each have a shire center of government. Either a city or a town fulfills this role. In addition, the center of government functions as the military center for the shire. At the shire center of government will be located the shire stronghold either a fortified city or a fortified town that has been designed to accommodate the population of the shire during times of need. It is due to the economic prosperity that these fortified communities are able to lodge the entire shire population for up to two years.

Each shire is self sufficient in terms of food supply, water supply and resources for the population to live. Each shire has set aside 15% of their lands for the sole purpose of developing resources and or products for export. The people in each shire receive a percentage off their taxes for working these set aside lands, mills and workshops. As an example, the people in the Shire of Ula harvest plant and wildlife from the sea. The land set aside in their shire is devoted to preparing the results of the harvest. If a member of the shire of Ula works 10 hours a week in the preparation of the exported goods, there is enough revenue from their work to negate their entire tax to their village / town / city, the shire and to the country of Moshven each year. This differs from shire to shire. The shire of Ula is one of the richest in the country.

The table below contains the names of each shire, what the names mean and the center of government town or city.

Shire Name	Name Meaning	Shire Center City / Town
Ghent	Place of Judgment	City of Ghent
Blair	Plains Dweller	Town of Blair
Yula	Young	Town of Yula
Oona	Unity	City of Carda
Tigris	Tiger	City of Kiffen (cub)
Falda	Folded Wings	Town of Flight
Neala	Champions	City of Victory
Ethne	Fire	Town of Blaze
Ula	Jewel of the Ocean	Pearl Township
Gin	Silver	City of Aggen
Ruri	Emerald	Town of Jade
Alida	Small Winged	Town of Falden
Bryn	From the boundary Line	City of North-Hold
Elita	Chosen	City of Ellen
Cyra	Sun	Town of Gallison*
Melcia	Ambitious	City of Kysten
Aisla	Noble	Town of Lords
Maiba	Serious	Town of Arms
Chai	Life	Town of Viven
Thalassa	Ocean	Town of Turtlebay
Calypso	Concealer	Town of Heir
Beryl	Sea Green Jewel	City of Oceanbay
Galena	Healer	City of Litten
Cyanea	Blue	Town of Sapphire
Alda	Elder	City of Staren (capital city)
Berit	Glorious	City of Athena
* Formerly the Town of Sol

The City of Staren

The city is located in the center of the country. The Kysten family moved the capital to the center of the country over 300 years ago for military reasons. Staren is completely made of stone as it was the Kysten family's wishes as to prevent catastrophe by fire in their city. The legends of the Great Imperial city burning to the ground due to an accident with a torch was the deciding factor when Staren was built. Staren itself has never fallen but it has been surrendered.

The Trading Merchant Cities

The Port of Silk is located in the Shire of Gin
The Port of Spice is located in the Shire of Thalassa
The Port of Grain is located in the Shire of Thalassa
The Port of Oceanbay is located in the Shire of Beryl