Daravi (History)
Since the time of Dav's son and successor, Iain I, the Kingdom of Lithmore has been at war with a nation far to the south, the Daravi Sultanate and it's protectorates, which stand between it and the Duchy of Farin. The Daravi nations openly accept and even embrace the practice of magic, and this is the basic reason for the constant warfare between the two. It is unknown at this point, why Dav chose to end his consolidation before conquering these nations, but the rest of his line has certainly had no easy time of doing it. Following some initial success by Iain I, there has been a lot of give and take in the various wars that seem to erupt at least once every generation.
However, in the year of 269, a small group of Daravi managed to sneak deeply into the borders of the Duchy of Farin, into the capital itself, and into the very palace of the Duke. In the dead of night they kidnapped the Duke, but left enough evidence to ensure that his nobles knew that he still lived. Farin was thrown into disarray, and with a mixture of panic, vassals overly eager to rescue their Duke, and a void in the leadership, some grave mistakes were made. The Daravi Sultan himself made excellent use of this, and within three years, he marched victoriously into the city of Farin itself. By this time, the King was forced to rescind the title of the absent Duke, whose entire family had been slain, and appoint in his place, the Marquis of Montford. The following years were full of bloody battle, as the new Duke of Farin, with the assistance of the King, slowly managed to fight their way back, and managed to reclaim Farin. What they found there chilled the hearts of everyone- not a single building was left standing, not a tree still grew, not even a blade of grass. What was once the pride of the Duchy was nothing more than a wasteland, blighted by some great magic- to this day it is unknown what occurred there, but now the ruin is avoided by all but renegades and heretics. Faithful Davites fear to tread there.
What followed was a period of peace; Farin had lost her will to fight, and the Daravi were distracted at home by a dynastic squabble in their own heartland at the sudden death of their Sultan. The home demesne of the new Dukes, Montford, was declared the new capital of the Duchy, although it still retained the traditional name of Farin. All was quiet on the front, until one scorching day in the year 293 when a surprisingly small group of only one-hundred Daravi horsemen burst past the border guards. For a time they fought valiantly, but their number was steadily reduced, until their leader was brought down by the blade of Ambros de Montford, uncle of the young Duke of Farin, and recently appointed Earl Marshall. For some reason, Ambros decided to spare the life of the enemy commander, whether it was out of respect for his valiant charge and talent as a warrior, or in the hope of obtaining information from the man, his reasoning is unknown to all but himself. It wasn't long after that he discovered just whom he had captured, this man was the eldest son of the Daravi Sultan, Prince Umwar Fehmid Cateran.
The young prince was taken to King Bran, and has since remained there as his guest, and while he has remained there enjoying the lifestyle of a Lithmorran noble, there is no doubt that he is a political prisoner, and the reason for the prolonged peace with the Daravi. This current situation has been agitating many of the old guard of the Order, who call for the death of the Prince and the renewal of the war. To date, the King had refused these calls, for one very good reason; his beloved niece, Firella ab Yarvine, has been held by the Daravi Sultan for the past five years. It is unknown how she came to be captured, but there is no doubting that she is there.
As for the Prince, the King's confessor, Bishop Narim ab Dekarti, has personally examined him and found him completely free of magery. It awaits to be seen how the newly crowned King, Iain II, will deal with this issue, but it is not a matter that he can ignore for long.
The Daravi are generally said to be dark of skin, similar to the people of Farin, but different in dress, as they tend to clad themselves in flowing robe-like clothing and turbans suitable to their desert kingdom. It is said amongst scholars and veteran soldiers that the Daravi speak none of the civilised tongues prevalent in the kingdom, and instead speak a language closer to that of the Charali.
