Navarr people
The Navarr were once part of a great nation that was lost to orcs and failed magic centuries before the Empire began. Although they continue to wander through the wild places of the journey, they embrac the Empire as an opportunity to be a part of a great civilisation again. Their cities still exist, buried in the depths of the their forests and infested by the Vallorn, a monstrous presence from the past.
Today the people live in settlements called steadings, or travel in loose groups called stridings. Individual Navarr move back and forth between the settled life of a steading and the mobile life of a striding as the mood takes them or circumstance dictates.
The Navarr love to travel. The journey can be a means to an end or an end in itself. Some of their journeys serve an arcane purpose, but wherever they are travelling they carry news, messages and people with them. The Navarr see moving people and items around the Empire, to the places where they can do the most good, as a method to solve many problems. The philosophy of the Great Dance teaches that everyone has a place where they can prosper, and helping other people find that place is a calling for many Navarr.
They value self-sufficiency, priding themselves on their ability to prosper in dangerous and inhospitable areas. Many Navarr love the excitement of the hunt; stalking prey heightens their senses and tests their skills and the thrill of the chase gets their blood pumping, reminding them they are alive. Young Navarr especially, like to test themselves against the world; they like to push themselves, whether it is conquering a mountain peak or blazing a trail to a new destination. They enjoy demonstrating their mastery over nature.
The Navarr are sophisticated enough to realise that self-sufficiency does not mean every man for himself. They are a gregarious folk who welcome strangers to their steadings and stridings. They like to cultivate friends and alliances, and relish the opportunity to work as go-betweens. Anyone in the Empire who needs to travel somewhere, or who is looking for a new start, knows that the Navarr are happy to embrace fellow travellers.
The Navarr keep a watch throughout the Empire. When they move through an area, they make an effort to look for problems and dangers, and warn their fellow imperial citizens about them. A Navarr who discovers a ruined Marcher fortress is now a haven of orcs or bandits will seek out nearby Marcher lords and beaters, inform them of the problem, offering whatever assistance she can to help them deal with the threat.
The Navarr are as fierce towards their enemies as they are welcoming to their allies. When they march to battle they don war-paint so their allies can see they have committed themselves to the fight and their enemies know to be afraid. They do not pick a fight lightly, but they deal ruthlessly with enemies. The Navarr have little time for notions of honourable combat. Ambushes, traps, misdirection and poison are all weapons that the Navarr readily employ against their enemies.
To the Navarr guile is used to defeat their enemies and the things they hunt, to deliberately trick someone is to mark them out as an enemy. They are not truthful in the way the Freeborn are obsessively honest, but they prefer to reserve their wiles for their enemies.
Names
Navarri names have a flavour of the fantastic, drawing on the sounds of Welsh or Celtic and Tolkien elvish.
A Navarri takes the name of their steading or striding as their second name. Names are not static and change with the choices of the individual.
Each Striding or Steading has a name that ends in 'el. For example, Riodan'el, or Teyrn'el.
A child's name is given to a Navarri at birth by the parents, an adult's name is taken during the Binding of Thorns. It is not uncommon for a newly-adult Navarr to keep the name their parents gave them as a mark of love and respect,
On occasion a Navarri may be given an honorific name to exemplify some great deed of magic, politics, trade or war. These individuals are collectively known as the Thornborn.
Sample names
- Male: Aedan, Arawn, Dradan, Breanainn, Cadaen, Caiside, Donndubhan, Drustan, Elisedd, Faelan,Hywel, Ifan, Lindir, Logan, Maddoc, Paul, Saeros,Tomas,Wyl
- Female: Angharad, Brianna, Bronwen, Cordelia, Enys, Gwynedd, Iona, Megan, Myfanwy, Niamh, Olwen, Raelyn, Siani, Rhiannon, Teleri
Other examples are easy enough to find on the internet if you are lacking inspiration. These links to Celtic names, elven names or Welsh boys or girls names can provide a starting point.