The Zardoban Crown, also known as Zardobia, the Zardoban Governorate-Empire, the Golden Grown, or either Zaga or Zage by foreigners, was a realm that sporadically coexisted with and competed with the First Kobold Dynasty, known for its armed expeditions anywhere it could get its hands on gold. These ventures went north, west, and especially, south across the Rubyfirth, reaching as far as deep into Talvas and even into a land now forgotten down the southern coast. The Zardoban Crown was initially based in an inland town, but would soon go on to construct the “Golden City of Zardoba” to serve as its capital and main port.
Zardoba is subject to the Mogxan sphere of culture and politics but developed a unique blend in response to trade and migration across the sea, and fermented its own proud culture during its Crown years. Zardoba is a rather hot region and has a relaxed work culture, with a sizeable portion of the population being active at night instead of the day. The Zardoban elites tend to live in manors in the hills of the countryside, usually surrounded by vineyards or farms, and often serve as nominally open places of meeting and culture so long as the lord permits it. A number of Liches have lived in such manors. The Governor-King’s Palace itself is a manor on a white and black-stoned cliffside on the coast, visibly speckled with unmined ores of gold.
These expeditions usually arrived in the form of an escorted set of adventurers and merchants seeking trade deals, which then took advantage of the elite mercenaries and big ships backing them to acquire ownership of gold fields and mines. The expeditions were greatly aided by Zardoban shipbuilding, which managed to construct bigger and more heavily armed and supplied ships than previously thought practical. These ships allowed them to sail down the otherwise sparsely settled and dangerous southeastern coast of Eydwin, before reaching civilization previously unheard of north of Talvas. These people and the expeditions to them were largely kept a state secret, and have since been lost and forgotten.
One Zardoban Governor-King famously was addicted to Cacao Juice, and had set up an extensive trade network with the few places in Ferweth that grow the niche cocoa bean, such as Cocatun.
Galae has been particularly affected by the Zardobans, having had little going in terms of military or governance at the time. It was the only area that had sizeable landmasses directly occupied by Zardoban troops. The city of Cragmoore was founded by Zardobia.
The Zardoban Crown was eventually (re-) integrated into the Kobold Throne, though it retained a degree of autonomy over (especially with regards to its seas and commerce) under its unique Governorate status. The Zardobans were essentially self-governing under the late Western Kobold Dynasty, and would stand its own grounds against the Sanitorium before the corrupt governor sold out his own populace, essentially putting an end to popular resistance by turning his own armies on them. Much of the city’s gold structures have since been stripped by the Sanitorium and hauled off for other purposes.