Denval
From Mizahar Lore
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==Denval Today== | ==Denval Today== | ||
| - | Denval's contact with the outside world is still extremely limited, due to its inaccessible location. However, small Denvali boats have begun making semi-regular trips to the nearest settlements in [[Kalea | + | Denval's contact with the outside world is still extremely limited, due to its inaccessible location. However, small Denvali boats have begun making semi-regular trips to the nearest settlements in [[Kalea]]. |
Because they lived in pure isolation for four and a half centuries, the language of the Denvali is unique. It is derived from the Common of the Suvan royal period, but has undergone enough sound and vocabulary changes as to be unintelligible to a speaker of modern Common. | Because they lived in pure isolation for four and a half centuries, the language of the Denvali is unique. It is derived from the Common of the Suvan royal period, but has undergone enough sound and vocabulary changes as to be unintelligible to a speaker of modern Common. | ||
Revision as of 18:34, 24 April 2009
| Region | Kalea | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 700 | ||
| Races |
| ||
| Languages | Denvali |
Denval is a settlement in northern Kalea that existed in pure isolation for centuries following the Valterrian.
Contents |
Geography and Climate
Denval is a coastal settlement in the north of Kalea. Winters are harsh, with snow, freezing rain, and high winds common. Summers are short, and temperatures rarely exceed 75 degrees F.
The settlement is bordered by the ocean on the north. On the other sides, it is entirely surrounded by a huge mass of rubble and debris, which was thrown up during the Valterrian.
History
Before the Valterrian, Denval was a military outpost of Suvan, as well as a center for fur trapping.
The outpost was destroyed during the Valterrian, but almost half of the inhabitants managed to survive. They found, however, that the violent changes that came with the cataclysm had rendered the roads out of the settlement impassable, and that they were essentially enclosed within a wall of broken rocks and heaped-up sand.
The residents thus had no way to get out and were forced to make do with what they had, eking a living from fishing and growing cold-weather crops such as tubers. In time, succeeding generations came to assume that all of Mizahar's inhabitants save themselves had been killed in the Valterrian.
There was no contact with anyone outside until 450 AV, when the expedition of Zeltivan navigator Kenabelle Wright stopped ashore for supplies near the settlement. Although the exchange was a brief one, the Denvali were ecstatic to learn that there were others still alive in the world.
Demographics and Politics
Denval is a small settlement of about 700 people. All of the permanent residents are human.
Denval's highest authority is called the Captain. The position is hereditary, passed down to the oldest child of the current Captain. The first holder of this position was in fact the Captain of the Suvan army garrison in Denval, and all since that time can trace their genealogy back to him
Denval Today
Denval's contact with the outside world is still extremely limited, due to its inaccessible location. However, small Denvali boats have begun making semi-regular trips to the nearest settlements in Kalea.
Because they lived in pure isolation for four and a half centuries, the language of the Denvali is unique. It is derived from the Common of the Suvan royal period, but has undergone enough sound and vocabulary changes as to be unintelligible to a speaker of modern Common.
Visitors to Denval are rare indeed, but the few who make it there receive a warm welcome, and are generally plied with question after question about the outside world for as long as they are willing to answer.