Witcher Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Witcher Wiki

The Kingdom of Kovir and Poviss (also known shortly as Kovir and Poviss or simply Kovir) is one of the Northern Kingdoms located on the Gulf of Praxeda. It is also the largest exporter of mineral resources in the known world, with huge profits from trade. It is ruled by king Tankred Thyssen of the House of Thyssen and maintained neutrality during the Second Nilfgaard War, refraining from lending coin nor men to either side.

Because it is so mountainous, the region is rich in mines. Kovir and Poviss export glass, salt, iron ore, silver, nickel, lead, tin, zinc, copper, chromium, titanium, tungsten, and platinum. Not to mention three-quarters of the world's ferroaurum, kryobelitium, and dimeritium and 80% of the world's gold.[2]

National Emblems

Coats of arms

File:COA Troyden2.svg CoA Kovir-Poviss old2 COA Kovir Poviss old

The above coats of arms were inspired by the work of our resident heraldry and Witcher experts, SMiki55 and Mboro, based on the description in the official site of Andrzej Sapkowski.

Flags

Flag of the ruling dynasty

The current flag of the Kingdom is based on an image from Wiedźmin: Gra Wyobraźni while the second one is a flag of the currently ruling dynasty. Both were created by contributor SMiki55.

Notable people

Monarchs

Locations

Territories, vassal states, and provinces

Notable locations

History

Kovir and Poviss are without a doubt the richest realms in the North. Even though that was not like this always, poverty of locals was once literally on everyone's lips, in the form of antiquated common sayings. As recently as the days of Heribert the Quarrelsome, one spoke of a particularly impoverished person as being "poorer than a mouse from Poviss," called bone broth "Koviri delight" and referred to beggars as "praxedes," after the gulf along the shores of which these kingdoms lie.

Only a handful of generations ago Kovir and Poviss were officially still part of Redania. King Radovid I, known as Radovid the Great, handed dominion and title of Koviri earl over them to his hated brother, Troyden, with one stipulation – that he never leave his newly acquired demesne and not interfere in matters of state.

Handing over this rocky scrap of far-northern ground (where, the saying went, the year had two seasons – August and winter) was naturally meant as a cruel joke, a slap in the face for the over-ambition Troyden.

Yet time soon proved that Radovid the Great had made a grave error. Before long it was discovered that Kovir's bare rocks hid priceless treasure in the form of enormous deposits of precious metals and rock salt. This discovery, in turn, led to tremendous growth in productive industry. Mills, forges, and workshops sprouted up like mushrooms after a hearty rain.

Radovid III decided to correct his famous forebear's mistake and take back the northern frontiers of his kingdom. He was convinced the combined armies of Redania and its then-ally Kaedwen ruled by Benda would quickly bring this ever more audacious vassal led by Gedovius in line. History took a different turn, however, and Kovir won a resounding, crushing victory. Radovid III was forced to sign the pact named First Treaty of Lan Exeter, granting Kovir independence while binding it to eternal neutrality – a promise Troyden's successors have kept with great diligence.

Until late years of 13th century Kovir was ruled by Esterad Thyssen, a king as wise as he was greedy. Yet his untimely demise did not stop his lands from continuing to develop and blossom due to his extreme free market policy. Koviri metallurgists proudly compete with the best Mahakam can offer, and many believe the University of Lan Exeter long ago surpassed the famous Oxenfurt Academy as the leading seat of higher learning in the North. And so it has come to pass that, over the course of a few generations, the Koviries and Povissites have turned from paupers into princes, from beggars into bankers.[2][7][8]

Notes

  • Kovir and Poviss are portrayed rather inaccurately in regards to borders in the map made for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Strangely, the two are portrayed as separate entities, with Talgar and Velhad portrayed as kingdoms in their own right as well.

References

Advertisement