Sophene
Updated: May 9
Sophene
The mountainous kingdom of Sophene is on the northeastern edge of Thava. It is one of the oldest kingdoms on Innatraea and has a proud ancient history of artisans, stone masonry, and an ancient religion involving both dragons and the Sacred Folk. The kingdom also borders its long time rival Kievan. What Sophene is most famous for however is being the only kingdom to survive bordering the Great Rift during, and after the Devori Cataclysm.
The Sophenen are an interesting people. On the one hand they live very harsh lives, the mountains are not a kind place, and their kingdom borders the Great Rift. The winters are especially cruel, buildings made of wood don't even survive most mountain storms that time of year, so nearly all Sophenen buildings are made of the same stone as their mountains. Whereas bordering the Great Rift means every Sophenen must be ready for battle at any moment, for the denizens of the rift are fearsome and many.
On the other hand, perhaps because of their harsh reality, the Sophenen religion values beauty, grace, and passion. They worship dragons because of their fiery nature, even making statues to honor the Dragonkind ancestors, called Vishapakar. Stone carving is another form of this desire for beauty in their harsh lives, skilled stone masons are a national treasure. They also value passion, in the form of words, dancing, singing, love, and prayer or chanting.
Unfortunately this very love for the extreme in every form of beauty has led many down the road of madness throughout Sophene's long history. The Sovereigns, Sophene's rulers, are no exception to this. Which can be seen in their current Sovereign, Taline Bagdhasaryan, whose dream is to finish her family's massive bridge, across the Great Rift and onto the Sea of Grass. She also dreams of bringing back their old gods, the Dragonkind, to Sophene to secure her peoples' future.
How will Sophene be involved in the future of Innatraea? Will their current Sovereign succeed in strengthening their kingdom for the ages, or will she succumb to their madness? Where do their did dragons go and will they return?
