Continuing on our tour of the Halystrian Empire, this week we’ll enter Ephyria. This powerful province is situated between the banks of the Illydia and the Gray Mountains. It is bordered to the northwest by Tythia and to the south by Halystria. The dwarf kingdoms lie not far to the east of Ephyria, among the peaks of the mountains. Ephyria is bounded to the north by the Derenor River and the bogland known as Haldin’s Slog.
Ephyria is one of the Empire’s most powerful provinces both in military might and economic strength. It’s long border along the Illydia supplies the region’s farms with alluvial soil, while the mountains provide a rich source of ore. Trade has long been a great source of wealth for Ephyria, and its caravans regularly travel as far afield as the Frostlands and the Yrfed Kingdoms. Chief of Ephyria’s trading partners are the dwarfs of the Gray Mountains, who have long supplied the province with gems and finely wrought steel. Ephyria’s capital, Illyricum, lies near the confluence of the Illydia and Evidon rivers, making the area one of the most fertile in the Empire and a natural convergence of trade routes. The Evidon allows Illyricum to profit from trade with such far provinces as Bythnia and Rhegia, markets whose distance would otherwise render them nigh inaccessible.
Illyricum itself is a city that rivals the capital in opulence if not in grandeur. The city’s great buildings are constructed of myriad colors of marble which were quarried from the mountains, though white and green are its primary constituents. As in Parthicum, the city rises towards the east, which is where the majority of its great houses may be found. The wealth which Ephyria has brought her nobility ensures that they hold some of the Empire’s highest political powers, and Illyricum’s east side is continually changing as the noble houses seek to outdo one another.
Ephyria’s military prowess goes back to the days when Illyricum was only a city-state. At it’s height, Illyricum’s domains extended throughout all of Ephyria, into much of Tythia, and threatened the very gates of Parthicum. It was Aurelanus Denarius’s conquests of other regions that gave him sufficient strength to finally subdue the Ephyrian kingdom. Ephyria responded to the defeat by wholeheartedly engaging in the politics of the new Empire, so that the endless power struggle between Ephyria and Halystria continues in the Senate chamber.
During the recent Halystrian Expansion Wars, Ephyria was placed on the front lines against the dwarfs of the Gray Mountains. Though the campaigns were initially successful, they ground to halt during the interminable sieges of the great dwarf strongholds. The ensuing economic burden, combined with loss of life, was a blow to Ephyria from which she is still recovering. The reopening of trade with the dwarves has been integral in restoring Ephyria to her former prosperity, a decision that has made Ephyria staunch supporters of the Emperor Tiberius. Ephyria’s amiable history with the dwarves has made the province the nucleus for reestablishing a friendship between the two nations. The nobles in Illyricum have been winning the goodwill of the dwarves the only way they know how: with opulent parties and generous displays of wealth.
In The Wind from Faerie, Kellan meets Varrus Calavius, who is a native of Ephyria. The Calavius family is a powerful noble house that maintains a large residence in Illyricum’s east side. The Calavius’s have a distinguished ancestry going back to the days of Ephyria’s independence and are a formidable force in imperial politics today.
The Sensiahd word of the day is “arganth“ meaning “silver” or “money”. Example sentence: Es ean dhun arganth. I’ll give you silver.