Home to the crown, Bowen is one of the largest provinces in Tora Danya, filling the eastern-central regions all the way down to Callan Bay. 

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-GEOGRAPHY-

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Landscape

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The northern reaches are home to the same temperate fields and hills that are common in the upper half of the landmass. The stretch of coastline to the east features calmer waters than those off Orandel’s shores, allowing for easy sailing in and out of port. The Cinder River Delta also opens here, sustaining a fertile region near the bay. The Pinton River, a tributary of the Cinder, branches off into a network of man-made tributaries created by Ladinian settlers in order to irrigate the land. Much of southern Bowen is filled by roughly half of the Sablespire Mountains, which feature man-made passed that require extensive maintenance. The portion of the Sablespires belonging to Bowen contain the highest peak on the landmass, Durakoy, which rises 12,135 feet from the center of the chain. Eshlyn, standing at the northern end, is the kingdom’s third highest peak at 8,214 feet, behind only Durakoy and Redwind (in the Carmine Range).

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Various forests scattered through the northern regions feed Bowen with timber, but much of their wood is brought in from other provinces.

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Major Settlements

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Nedo, as the capital city of Bowen and Tora Danya as a whole, is the most populous city on the landmass, featuring everything from the richest of the rich to the poorest of the poor. However, it’s not the only noteworthy city in Bowen.

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Sunbury, which lies near the border of Orandel not far from the Great Watchtower, is a steadily growing community. Along the coast, Port Carris is the most active port in the kingdom, and down by the fertile Cinder River Delta, Therenette and Port Thunder are connected cities despite their centers being miles apart.

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While the Sablespires take up a great deal of territory, countless mining colonies have sprung up around them. The most notable in Bowen is Weldon, which services the royal city with gems and iron.

 

 

-HISTORY-

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Formation

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Leading up to Ladinia’s fall, Bowen was held by Royce, the first cousin of the royal line. Upon the king’s assassination, Royce was considered next in the line of succession, as the king died young and with no heirs. But Royce was an eccentric fellow, and he suffered accusations from those claiming that he planned the assassination to claim the throne. In the wake of Tora’s disappearance, these charges were the first true cracks in the land’s unity.

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As tensions grew, Lord Regent Crael convinced Royce to withdraw his claim in hopes of proving his good faith, though Royce believed it was both his right and his duty to take the empty throne. Following Crael’s death at the hands of the Niranites (or Nira herself, as some say), Royce put in an official claim as the only remaining blood relative to the throne, but he was opposed by Grand General Lucas, who believed that Royce was somehow connected to both the assassination and the Niranite attack that killed Crael. Lucas established martial law in the broken remains of the royal city, insistent that he was protecting what was left of the Monarchy, and he refused to allow Royce access. This sparked a bitter rivalry between the regions that became Bowen and Arinnley, which lasted until the end of the SA.

Bowen also developed a dysfunctional relationship with the Stoneforged in Shuro, who set out to dominate the landmass. Royce and his descendants, seeing themselves as the last bastion of Ladinian royalty, took their aggressive attempts at conquest as a personal affront. For centuries, Bowen fought bitterly with Arinnley and Shuro, climaxing in 515 SA at the Battle of Three Betrayals, when all three armies clashed.

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Edgar the Great and Tora Danya
 

Following a tense period of rising and falling alliances, King Edwulf of Bowen was approached in 535 SA by King Joshua of Oceanward, who claimed that Edwulf had Ladinian royal blood flowing through his veins. A vision shared by Joshua and his father, Samson, had revealed that the time was coming for the land to be healed and that Edwulf’s son would rise to become the hero who reunited the fragments into a new kingdom. Not long after, a son was born to Edwulf’s wife, who was previously thought to be barren. Allying with Oceanward, Edwulf began to lay the groundwork for peace talks, while his son, Edgar, was combed for leadership. After Edgar’s coronation, he went on to do exactly as the prophecy claimed, employing a combination of diplomacy, manipulation, and military action to forge the land into Tora Danya.

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He is remembered as Edgar the Great, first king of Tora Danya.

 

Conflict Over the Crown

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Even though the treaty that created Tora Danya was willingly signed by all provinces, leadership has changed hands several times. A mere 32 years into Tora Danya’s life, the crown was violently claimed by Arik of Shuro, who believed that his land had been forced into signing the treaty. In the decades that followed, the crown was reclaimed by Bowen and then again by Shuro, until a younger generation agreed to bury the hatchet when Dana of Bowen, the rightful heir to the throne, married Harald of Shuro, also known as Harald the Martyr. This act joined the two regions once and for all, and Dana went forth to stomp out all opposition. In the year 71 TA, she was crowned Queen of Tora Danya and brought about a golden age. Political stability followed, until 1036 TA, when King Griffith the Fat (or Lazy, or Dreadful) forced a revolution by dragging the Monarchy into a cycle of gluttony and decadence, at which time the crown passed into the hands of the MacDougals of Arinnley. They held it for several generations before it was ceded back to Bowen in 1100 TA to crown Owen the Mighty, who had earned the love of the kingdom by fighting off multiple waves of invaders from across the sea, as well as a bandit revolt from within Bowen.

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Politics

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The bloodline of Bowenian kings has changed, but in 1440 TA, the crown fell into the hands of Graham Fairbairn. Royal scholars traced his maternal lineage to Edgar, Royce, and the Ladinian Monarchy.

 

As of 1561, the King of Alloria is Joseph Fairbairn, who rules with a council of advisors. 

 

His most noteworthy advisors include:

 

Chief Advisor- Oliver Burnet

Civic Advisor- E. Frederick Tyler

Grand General- Randolph Keegan

Guard Captain- Patrick Cormack

Minister of Law- Ernest Griffin

Justice Advisor/Prosecutor- Jarvis Murphy

Agricultural Advisor- Darren Tomlin

Financial Advisor- Loren Locke

Treasurer- Xavier Sagan

 

 

-ECONOMY-

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Bowen’s economy ranks just below that of Estilan, although Nedo itself has become the largest financial hub in the kingdom. While Bowen’s largest cities are known for extensive and dangerous slums, they also feature grand manors and opulent shrines, home to some of the wealthiest citizens in Tora Danya.  No one thing defines Bowen’s economy; they’ve grown rich off the bounty of the Sablespires, the Cinder Delta, and the eastern sea.

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Careers in any field are viable in Bowen. In fact, it is said that Therenette is home to an organized guild of assassins, and that the underworld operates at great effectiveness even in the royal city.

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-DEMOGRAPHY AND CULTURE-

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Bowen is Tora Danya’s most populous province, home to no less than 6,000,000 citizens. 300,000 of the citizens live in and around the great Nedo region.

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Outside of a strong work ethic and a powerful royal army, Bowen has an eclectic culture, comprised of people from all over the landmass.

 

Religion

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The province makes a wide observance of the Konalira, but other than Enen, Goddess of Home and Hearth, most of the Erythira are forgotten. However, some of the Fundamental deities are observed, such as Lanadain, Goddess of Balance, whose statue stands in the royal courthouse in Nedo. The city’s patron is Loria, Goddess of Light.