Basics of NS are finished, waiting for approval before I start fishing for mutual histories. Several areas I want to flesh out more pending interactions with other posters. Planning on making individual descriptions for each settlement and surrounding environs if this goes anywhere.

[hider=Nation Sheet][center][h2]Pravarum[/h2]

[sub]Pravarum is a riven and sundered land filled with toxic hallucinogenic fumes, crumbling derelict ruins, and disturbed centuries-old battlegrounds. Ordinary living is only possible around oceanic rivers and streams carrying fresh air into interior pockets. The wildlife is singularly awful and unpleasant, and all of the plantlife exotic and poisonous. An order of religious pilgrims who live in the wastes and have a tolerance for the toxic atmosphere form a rough-shod de-facto aritocracy, but there is no formal government or ruling body. The cultivation of multiple species of allegedly mystical flowers are used in the manufacture of narcotic substances with remarkable tonic effects, most infamously including memory loss. Pravarum is thusly a land of exiles, pariahs, vagrants, criminals, and misfits due to the ease of vanishing and starting a second life there, although many are forced into slavery maintained through use of opiates and sedatives.[/sub][/center]

[hider=Geography][hider=Map][u][b]Legend:[/b][/u]
Diamonds - Settlements
Pentagons - Forts/Citadels
Arrows - Lighthouse
Fourstar - Haunted Area
Fivestar - Capital[img]http://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/9dac4db6-70f4-4212-9330-18d1418ea025.png[/img][/hider]Pravarum is a shattered land. After the second eruption of Mt. Ceryx two-thousand years ago, the entire region was reduced to the sorry state it is known for today. The land is ringed by what was once a neat and almost precisely circular mountain chain, still present but sundered in places - the remainder of the land has settled into the earth, having fallen below sea-level during the event itself. Every major lake and the inland sea of Pravarum were created by the ocean rushing into the region through the various cracks in the barrier of mountains, and every major river and stream in Pravarum is oceanic, flowing inland downhill. Despite this, enough of the exterior mountain chain remained intact to render most of Pravarum a largely dry and barren wasteland perpetually covered in ash.

The external ring of mountains also serves to trap the endless venting of volcanic fumes from the active underground, and Pravarum is infamous for its toxic atmosphere. Exposure causes severe hallucinations and invites delirium, and in certain areas it is possible for people to asphyxiate or else succumb to the air's toxicity. The only safe areas are in proximity to the oceanic streams and rivers that flow into the region, as currents of air carried along by them create safe pockets of atmosphere - most of the settlements in Pravarum are built around rivers and streams for this precise reason. 

The wildlife in Pravarum consists largely of foreign species that migrated into the region and adapted over time to the new, startling conditions - the second eruption of Mt. Ceryx rendered most of the true indigenous wildlife extinct. The new fauna of the region are typically smaller if hardier breeds of species present in neighboring regions. Unfortunately, the only other animals capable of surviving in the wilderness are dire beasts drawn to the ancient battlegrounds and which prey upon the roadways.

Most indigenous flora were also rendered extinct after the second erupt of Mt. Ceryx, but new species of detrivorous plants shortly flourished in the many battlefields of the wasteland. In particular were many species of wildflowers colloquially referred to as grave-flowers, known to grow best in plains of volcanic ash with exposure to both high concentrations of volcanic gasses and human remains. While unusually colorful, these wildflowers are typically very small and commonly mistaken for weeds, belying their potency. When ground and processed into concentrated tinctures, each species of flower supplies particular tonic effects, and they are common used in the concoction of various medicinal substances including opiates and narcotic sedatives.[/hider][hider=Species of Grave Flowers]If you have suggestions for additional flower species: I can accommodate.

[u][b]Gamaranthis:[/b][/u] A diminutive, four-petaled pale yellow flower that grows out of human bone in environs containing high concentrations of sulfur. Safe to ingest and readily used for tea; has a faintly tangy flavor that subsides into a chalky taste. When ground and mixed with a paste of powdered and boiled tooth enamel and saltwater, the resulting mixture induces profound memory loss upon ingestion, even in small doses. Less than half a milligram can cause persistent and chronic problems with recollection, while anything higher typically causes total and complete loss of all past memories. The loss occurs over a period of approximately four hours, as the substance is absorbed and digested. The Ceryx Pilgrims claims ingestion also bestows eternal life, which remains to be seen despite two-thousand years of very hesitant experimentation by other interested parties. Non-soluble with water, but noted by poisoners to bake well into most grains.

[b][u]Waxshine:[/u][/b] An extremely delicate flower with seven translucent petals that have glossy, wax-like lining. Grows only in volcanic ash with traces of both molten bronze and dried human blood. Ingestion can cause lightheadedness and cause the formation of stomach ulcers. Tastes like snot smeared around insect wings and makes for utterly vile tea. When boiled and mixed with wasp honey and fish oil, results in a mild stimulant of indifferent taste which is known to enhance mood and drastically reduces anxiety. Known side effects include a temporary and mild impairment of the vestibulary system, causing a pleasant, fuzzy feeling of lightheadedness, as well as slight relaxation of antagonist muscle fibers. Commonly used to relieve colds and congestion in small doses. In extremely large doses, it acts as a mild laxative. Dissolves instantly in water, broth, and liquors. Overdoses can result in an painfully increased sensitivity to light and auditory hallucinations, rumored by miscreants to be the voices of angelic muses.

[b][u]Sparkheart:[/u][/b] A vibrant orange flower with carmine flecks and prominent stamen. Grows only in volcanic ash with traces of molten steel and brass. Mildly poisonous and causes severe stomach cramps upon ingestion, tasting nearly indistinguishable from grass. When dried out for several days, the wilted petals can be boiled with a mix of quicklime. The resulting powder is a somewhat caustic but otherwise (debatably) harmless if powerful stimulant. Known to improve visual acuity and is said to grant mental clarity, also increasing metabolism, blood pressure, and arousal. Large doses can result in severe dietary problems and esophageal scarring, but it is frequently ingested in small doses safely. Rare individuals claim clairvoyance with extended use of particularly pure mixtures. Soluble with water but possesses a faint brown coloration.

[b][u]An's Breath:[/u][/b] A deceptively pleasant looking cyan flower with prominent white fuzz on the underside of each petal. Grows only from human bone in very thin atmospheres with extremely high exposure to sunlight and small amounts of saltwater. Melts upon the tongue when eaten and tastes like buttery water. Kills in minutes; victims inhale and breath normally but appear to be unable to use oxygen, inevitably asphyxiating. Makes for bland and invariably lethal tea. when crushed with pestles of jet and mixed with spirits before being left as a paste to dry for several hours, results in chalky blocks. Ingestion leads to powerful visual and auditory hallucinations and partially paralyzes the diaphragm. Results in a shortness of breath and lethargy; those who use it in large quantities insist they can read minds and are known to compulsively engage in dangerous activities that can result in them drowning or suffocating due to an accompanying impression of breathlessness and feelings of invincibility. Dangerous narcotic substance that is highly physiologically addictive; victims feel as though they cannot breath properly with it. Overdose leads to abrupt cardiac arrest.

[b][u]Poe's Eye:[/u][/b] A purple flower with white flecks and sharp-cornered, obliquely curved petals. Grows seemingly wherever it wants to, but notably only in the vicinity of Human remains in atmospheres with concentrations of hydrogen sulfide. Causes very painful burning sensation when ingested and can cause scarring in the tongue and esophagus, and very large ulcers in the stomach. Tea useful only as a means of torture or else as a means of staying awake for long periods of time, or both. When mixed with tar and bromide and left to harden, forms disgusting nodules. Consumption results in drastically increased visual acuity; users can see through thin walls and most other obstructions including other people. Severe visual hallucinations occur, users claim procognitive foresight. Results in swelling of agonist muscle fibers and erratic motor control plus increased aggression. Highly psychologically addicting, victims become highly paranoid. Overdoses can lead to severe muscular atrophy and deterioration.

[b][u]Spotted Mannet:[/u][/b] A very stiff and brittle ash-colored flower with black spots that grows in proximity to human remains and volcanic glass. Tastes like burnt hay; causes an intense albeit brief fever upon consumption. Makes for a very stirring tea. When crumbled and soaked with urine, will form small, brittle brown crystals that are soluble in water. Acts as a potent steroid and immune booster, but leads to a drastic increase in body temperature over time. Causes mild auditory hallucinations and is a moderately powerful depressant, inflicting melancholy and leading to anti-social behavior. Users describe the experience as akin to spending several hours in a sauna. Overdosing can lead to severe dehydration. Used more frequently for its medicinal properties than its recreational ones; prolonged use can induce catatonic states.

[b][u]Leadthorn:[/u][/b] More of a vine with flower sprouts than a true wildflower, Leadthorn only grows in and along human bone in an atmosphere with high concentrations of lead and volcanic ash. The body of the vine itself is black and is harmless, chewy, and has a faintly bitter flavor that some describe as sophisticated albeit acquired taste. The thorns, which grow directly underneath budding yellow flower petals on the vine, are covered in countless, microscopic splinters that catch and tear at skin when touched. Eating the thorns is very much like eating broken glass, but they have no apparent caustic or otherwise toxic qualities. However, when ground into a fine powder and mixed with a molten vitreous enamel solution tainted with the body of the vine itself and blood, will result in a sticky and viscous tar-like solution that is non-soluble with water. Via unknown chemical processes, exposure to any kind of organic tissue converts the tissue into more Leadthorn concentrate. Can spread in a process very much akin to rot in settlements with predominantly wooden architecture. Exposure to spirits with cause the substance to dissolve; most water-based fluids will simply spread it around.

[b][u]Stepdown:[/u] The smallest species of grave-flower known to currently exist, the Stepdown is twelve-petaled flower with an unassuming and uniform copper coloration. Ingestion results in severe and traumatic hallucinations across all five senses and results in the rapid onset of madness and fugue, eventually dying of starvation or thirst if they do not meet violent ends. Victims are said to be able to pass through matter like ghosts, though these are but rumors. The Ceryx Pilgrims revere it as sacred and claim those who survive the visions are granted enlightenment and supreme mental clarity.[/b][/hider][hider=History]Two-thousand years ago, Pravarum was known as Ghul Decus, and was the seat of a powerful Plutocratic Republic. The land was famous for its arrangement of precise, concentric, circular mountain ranges - which not only made Ghul Decus nearly impervious to invasion by its neighbors, but created amazingly fertile agricultural conditions in the mountain valleys due to a year-round abundance of meltwater streams. The empire of Ghul Decus was a glorious and stable one that valued order, prosperity, and communal agency.

As it turned out, the range of precisely spaced, concentric, circular mountain ranges was due to the presence of a massive magma under the center of the subcontinent - as they were the remnant of a millennia-old eruption. When Mt. Ceryx finally erupted a second time, the results were even more cataclysm than the forces that had originally shaped the mountain ranges. In a span of weeks, the entire subcontinent was torn to pieces by a series of earthquakes in conjunction with the land sinking into the rapidly emptied magma chamber of the caldera - where Ghul Decus had been almost entirely above sea-level, the new landscape shifted below sea-level. Only the relative integrity of the exterior ring of mountains prevents the ocean from rushing in and flooding the entire subcontinent. This same ring of mountains served to trap the venting of the various volcanic gases and fumes from the second eruption, cutting off air currents and circulating winds that might have carried them away.

In the immediate aftermath of the second eruption, the various powers of Ghul Decus succumbed to previously dormant paranoia and lust for power, the wealthy rulers of the land amassed their forces against each other - they and their armies were brought low through exposure to the land's new toxic atmosphere, fragmenting even further and falling upon their own ranks. To this day, Pravarum is filled with ancient battlefields where the glorious armies of Ghul Decus fell prey to the blood of the earth and fought their own kinsmen to a pitiful death in the few remaining open, ash-covered fields.

Ghul Decus became known as a cursed land, and through centuries of corrupted linguistic gymnastics the description became its true name - Pravarum is often invoked not only in reference to the land itself, but often as an invective praying for the cataclysmic misfortune of others.

Despite the barren nature of the land however, life went on. New towns and even cities eventually formed around oceanic rivers and streams that made it through the external mountain range, which carried with them water-borne air currents, forming pockets of livable space. Although nearly all plant and wildlife died out during the years following the second eruption, Human importation and the natural migration of other animal species gradually repopulated Pravarum with new plant and wildlife adapted to the hostile conditions of the land. A modest agricultural base formed, and minor lanes of trade with other settlements in neighboring lands resumed. None of the surrounding powers bothered to step forward and claim Pravarum as part of their own dominion to the stigmatism associated with it, in addition to the dearth of any actual value left to reclaim in the land beyond what could be scavenged from the dead amidst the toxic battlefields.

As time went on, more people began venturing into the wastes, voluntarily or otherwise, which resulted in the creation of a settlement of far-flung pilgrims amidst the wastes - pilgrims who had developed a high degree of tolerance for the toxic environment in which they lived. By reconnecting with society at large, these pilgrims became valued members of Pravarum society, forming into the semblance of an aristocratic class due to the advantage of being able to safely navigate Pravarum's terrain. Their importance was only reinforced as the years wore on, and as the battlefields and roads of Pravarum became home to dire beasts drawn to feast on the corpse of the fallen empire - and as rumors of ghosts and maddened wraiths began to circulate.

As years turned to decades, and decades turned to centuries, the society of pilgrims developed into a religious order known as the Pilgrims of Ceryx. They began spreading word that venturing into the wastelands would grant people a second life, one which would not succumb to the savagery of time and would remain eternal - at the cost of all living memory of one's past life. This doctrine was predicated upon the cultivation of a particular species of flower known as Gamaranthis, a detrivorous species of wildflower which grew exclusively in the ash-covered, toxic-aired environment of Pravarum's many battlefields. Refined Gamaranthis, processed into a concentrated tincture, caused severe and permanent memory loss in those who drank it - and as claimed by the Pilgrims, also granted eternal life, with some of their order claiming to have lived for hundreds of years. To this day the claim remains unsubstantiated, in part due to the large number of consumers who die violent as opposed to natural deaths. 

Despite the issue of memory loss, thousands of people flocked to the Pilgrim's cause at the mere promise of being able to start a second life free of all the burdens of their first - not merely natives of Pravarum, but also miscreants and the outcasts of other lands fleeing persecution. Over a few short years, Pravarum's population exploded in size, and the Pilgrims of Ceryx were overwhelmed by outcasts who would risk venturing into the toxic wastes to join them - the pressure of managing the massive number of people served as the impetus for the creation of the slave trade in Pravarum. Many individuals who partook of Gamaranthis, upon losing their memory, would be forced into indentured servitude for various purposes - and in less than a decade, Pravarum bloomed from a dead, desolate land into a modestly wealth region populated with taskmasters and narcotic workshops, with one of the biggest agricultural and labor industries in the world. Slavemasters answering to none save the Pilgrims of Ceryx dominate the surrounding areas from the few remaining Ghul Decus forts and citadels, while small towns and cities upholding the plutocratic values of the empire that came before exist as well-to-do breadbaskets, with massive slave populations toiling in the calamitous conditions of the wastes to maintain them.

Encouraged by the proclivities of greed-driven Taskmasters, most of the battlefields and ancient ruins of Ghul Decus were explored, revealing over time an increasing number of flower species growing exclusively near human remains in conjunction with the toxic environment of Pravarum. Many, including Waxshine and Sparkheart, are wholly benign stimulants used almost universally throughout Lyria, while others such as Leadthorn and Stepdown remain some of the most dangerous and strictly proscribed substances. Gamaranthis itself in particular has been viewed with some measure of disfavor by political forces since the first time it was used to poison and erase the memory of local rulers, although it along with several other breeds of Pravarum flowers enjoy a regular degree of trade and cultivation in foreign lands despite the difficulty in growing them.[/hider][hider=Culture]The lifestyle of Pravarum peasantry is something of a paroxysm. It is not unusual even for poor families to own at least one slave, but very few families are wealthy no matter how many slaves they might own. The predominant industry in Pravarum is agriculture, and even a well-off family with many slaves might struggle. The basic cereals grown in most of Pravarum's safer fields have delicate growing conditions and poor overall nutritional value, with nearly all of it being given as tribute to local Taskmasters and the remainder being both sold in foreign markets and used for basic subsistence. Pravarum is known as a land without boundaries for those with the inclination to wander, but the dangers of traveling even via road are such that most individuals are effectively trapped in the town or city they reside in. Most are too poor to afford to move via ship or carriage, and so only those who are desperate enough to wander into the toxic atmosphere of the wastes or else are willing to join the ranks of the Ceryx Pilgrim - at the risk of becoming a slave - can readily move about the region.

Individual villages, townships, and cities are usually ruled over by prominent Taskmasters, most of whom own thousands of slaves and possess a tight stranglehold on Ceryx cultivation farms. Acting almost akin to warlords, Taskmasters maintain a roughshod degree of order and stability locally through use of force and a widespread profusion of opiates and sedatives, enforcing taxation barely a step above base extortion from the local populace, usually claiming a significant stake in all locally grown cereals and grains in order to maintain their vast slave holdings. However, in truth the Taskmasters are little more than militia leaders, since the entirety of their supply of Ceryx flowers and their ability to move goods and slaves through the roads and wastes of Pravarum depends wholly upon the cooperation of the Ceryx Pilgrims.

The Ceryx Pilgrims are mystical and largely detached, members of their order are often perceived as being unmoved by earthly desire. Possessing an innate tolerance for the toxic fumes of the Pravarum countryside, they are the only ones who can safely guide travelers through the wastes, and they are pleased to do so. They are common sights at city and village outskirts, freely available to guide travelers between settlements safely. However, they act in concert with the reigning Taskmaster at hand - and in most cases, there are mandates forbidding Pravarum natives from leaving their steadings. This has most Pilgrims pulling double-duty as custom officials, as they often require proof of identity in order to escort anybody. Many foreign travelers who have misplaced their papers have been dismayed upon being led into a town only to learn that the Pilgrims will not lead them back out.

Alternatively, as a condition of their cooperation and services with the Taskmasters, the Pilgrims may freely offer to induct anybody they see fit into their religious order - an offer which implicitly brings with it a guaranteed loss of memory and the potential of being enslaved if one is not found worthy of joining the body of Pilgrims proper.

The Pilgrims maintain the cultivation of Pravarum's many species of infamous grave-flowers, maintaining shrines near the ancient battlefields of ancient Ghul Decus where the flowers grow best. They also maintain greenhouses in various cities, though under the more sterile conditions grave-flowers do not grow as well. The Ceryx Pilgrims, being mendicants, make a modest living for themselves by concocting various medicinal substances, teaching others how to cultivate various forms of plantlife, and of course by guiding travellers through the wastes. They are known to frequently undergo pilgrimages to other lands, and can occasionally be found begging in the streets of larger settlements outside of Pravarum.

Although far from being anything approaching an official religion, the Ceryx Pilgrims follow a philosophical school of thought concerning the pursuit of mental clarity and power born through the use of destructive, chaotic forces as a catalyst for salubrious development of the mind. They claim to operate in pursuit of a higher form of idealized society, where all men are eternal and wise beyond the reckoning of contemporary standards. They seek to reshape mankind through use of select catalysts and mental disciplines in order to elevate Humanity as whole, which is what drives their cultivation and study of the various species of Pravarum grave-flowers and their effects on the mind. The Taskmasters and peasantry of Pravarum are understandably wary of this ethos, as one nearly needs to look to the thronging masses of slaves - essentially the failed and cast-aside efforts of the Ceryx Pilgrims - to see that their pursuits are not as tidy as they would have one believe.

As the original culture of Ghul Decus was nearly wholly obliterated by the second eruption of Mt. Ceryx, the various practices and sentiments of the native people are distorted variants of cultural lifestyles in neighboring lands adapted to the harsh conditions of Pravarum living.[/hider][hider=Military][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeecIUvjmBU]Many slaves, but few warriors[/url]. The 'armies' of Pravarum, so far as they can even be called such, are little more than ranks of human fodder armed with whatever their Taskmasters deign to equip them with. Most are far from trained and have little in the way of experience beyond beating unarmed peasants, an issue greatly exacerbated by the fact that many if not nearly all of them have no memories of their past lives and any useful battlefield skills they might have possessed. 

Their only true advantage over the common soldier is their lack of self-identity. Most of them known nothing beyond serving their masters, and are wholly enthralled by their dependency upon narcotic opiates - many will unthinkingly charge into spear-walls if for no other reason than because they have nowhere else to run and no future of great note. The more cunning Taskmasters of Pravarum often take advantage of this very quality, supplying their battle-slaves with numbing droughts and stimulants to transform them into brutish juggernauts of a sort.

Their same lack of identity also prevents them from acting as in any exceptional capacity. They do not have any creative or clever battlefield tacticians, nor quick-thinking captains to lead squads through complex battlefield maneuvers in an orderly fashion - and their utter dependency upon the whims of their masters makes them largely despondent in nature, unwilling to act with any kind of initiative, often leaving them flat-footed in fights. Lacking memory of their previous lives, few of them even know how to properly handle more sophisticated weapons and arms, including bows, siege equipment, or even the basic use of platemail armor. Most are armed with crude improvised implements, farming equipment, and if they are very fortunate they might possess wooden shields and chainmail alongside cheap or stolen weaponry. There is therefore no question that any professional army or other fighting force would be able to rout any slave army they came across, even if badly outnumbered - the hostile Pravarum terrain is more of a threat.

The biggest threat such slave forces pose is not upon the open field of battle, but instead in the cramped and sullen conditions of the towns and cities they occupy. In the narrow and twisting labyrinths of various streets and buildings, they can easily overwhelm most enemies from every direction, cutting off routes of escape and drowning their opponents under the weight of their own dead bodies if need be. They serve as excellent enforcers and garrison forces, as that is the very purpose to which they have put to for centuries.

The only true warriors in all of Pravarum are so-called Slave-Knights, individual slaves of particular proficiency and skill who have been afforded training and conditioning for the purposes of serving as bodyguards and lieutenants to the Taskmasters. Little expense is spared with them, and they are a sight apart from the rest of their kind - often fully and heavily armored in platemail, wielding tower shields and lances or maces further supplemented by crossbows, even the least of them is a daunting opponent. They are made all the more worrisome by their use of spectacularly potent pharmaceutical tinctures that render them numb to pain and increase their strength, reflexes, senses, and mental acuity greatly during the heat of battle. These same tinctures tend to drastically shorten the lifespan of such slave-knights, burning them out in a matter of years - but more of their kind are readily procured from the masses. Thankfully they are few in number, typically only seen in proximity to their Taskmasters or else acting in the capacity of their agents, and they are almost never seen outside of Pravarum.[/hider][hider=Economy](tl;dr at the bottom)

The Pravarum economy is best described as diverse. There is no official currency, and the common people and peasantry often have little if anything in the way of foreign coinage. Even at the level of towns and cities, the economy is essentially barter-and-trade. Only regional Taskmasters typically possess any significant amount of wealth beyond what property they control, and even then it typically comes in the form of foreign currencies. This has the effect of massively inflating the value of basic coinage from neighboring regions. 

Most individuals rely on slaves for basic purposes of subsistence and dedicate their personal time to a particular professional trade, through which they trade goods and services for basic needs. A family might make and mend clothes, tailoring and selling them in exchange for lumber, various tools, meat, liquor, etcetera. Due in part to the massive reliance on slaves by most of the base populace, all trade is skewed in favor of provision of natural materials that cannot be crafted or fabricated, with scarcity being the predominant determinator of worth. Craftswork related labor in Pravarum is thus some of the cheapest in the entire world, with individual family members typically working for nearly sixteen hours a day in order to meet basic needs (especially during the winter season).

The volcanic terrain severely limits the natural resources available to the people of Pravarum. Inhospital, gas-filled and treacherous underground conditions make mining beyond basic quarry-excavations an impossibility. Little to nothing exists in the form of woody plantlife, and there is very little in the way of safe grazing space for cattle while the wildlife is typically not worth hunting. The volcanic soil, even laden with ash, is remarkably fertile and permits for vast fields of basic crop to be grown as long as one does not mind subjecting a workforce to the harsh conditions of the countryside. With Pravarum's massive slave force, agriculture is effectively Pravarum's largest industry. The crop grown is delicate despite its adaptations to the local environment, and has poor overall nutritional value.

Most of Pravarum's crop harvest is given as tribute to the Taskmasters in order to sustain their slave forces, with a large chunk of the remainder being shipped to foreign nations. Combined with the regions large craftsman base, with Pravarum importing various materials that are then worked into finished goods and resold, Pravarum is one of the biggest producers of basic staples in agriculture, craft-trades, and textiles. They trade both for what they need to survive, as well as for additional materials needed to continue plying their regular trade.

Perhaps the most noteworthy if not necessarily the most important items of note in Pravarum's economy are its diverse medicinals and pharmaceuticals. The Ceryx Pilgrims produce a large excess of various opiates, sedatives, stimulants, and various narcotics which they both distribute to the rest of the world via the Pravarum markets and also by carrying with them during pilgrimages to other regions. Many of these substances are produced either entirely or in part the many species of grave-flowers that the Pilgrims cultivate, and although they do not possess a monopoly the region is unarguably the best environment for their growth and overall quality. These substances tend to be produced and sold at outrageously low cost, but also in small quantities. The concentration of the tinctures the Pilgrims make is so high that even a small thimble of their most benign remedies might kill a man, which enables buyers to get a lot of use out of the small shipments - but also carries with it the cost of very strict trade regulations and provisions in foreign markets.

Overall, Pravarum's is a flagging subsistence economy. It is an immense breadbasket and is labor-rich, but the lack of any formal government, aristocratic hierarchy, or currency in combination with the severe dearth of valuable material resources limits the accumulation of wealth even amongst the Taskmasters. The wealthiest Taskmasters in Pravarum are just rich enough that they could be considered poor by the ruling nobility of other lands and of midling financial stability by wealthy trade guilds, since most of each Taskmasters' value is in property and slave labor rather than in goods and currency.

[b][u]Imports:[/u][/b]
Meat (All Kinds)
Lumber
Textiles
Common Metals
Precious Metals
Fuel
Currency
Exiles, Outcasts, Pariahs

[b][u]Exports:[/u][/b]
Cereals (Grains, Vegetables)
Clothing
Stone
Tools (Craftsman)
Medicinals
Labor (Slaves)
Exotic Flowers[/hider]
[hr]
[center][h2]The Ceryx Pilgrims[/h2][/center]
WIP
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