Damon probably from Malinka "da amansu or lord, creator and daen from dahani or abandoned by''

This wealthy, powerful kingdom in the center of southern Toar has been a pest and a curse to its neighbors for centuries because of its warlike culture that was impelled by an inbred longing for access to the sea. Beneath the polish of myth its origins are clear: it was settled early on, but by sheepherders who once a year brought excellent yeath hair and wool down from the mountain plateaus. It was overrun and formed into a polity by a fleet of freebooters who'd gotten older and wanted to get away from the sea, as far as possible. At first they were going to settle at Fardelor, though it was more populated, but on following a pass through the Ban Tamblu (origin probably Mandinka, for "barricade") mountains they discovered a beautiful highland country. There were no horses there, and the would-be kings thought horses a necessity. So they sent the younger members back to find both horses and the way to train them, and set about consolidating control of the residents and setting up as kings and dukes etc.

The young pirates sent figured it had to be quicker to go east than back west, so they pushed on, crossing Edal Haven and taking over a ship. They sailed straight across the sea, and discovered the Halian subcontinent, traveled until they found the early Marlovans, who were entrancingly racing across the plains. One of those sent was a woman who either fell in love with, or pretended to fall in love with, a seemly local: the result was an entire clan splitting off and taking ship to a new land.

Thus the Marlovan horses, and culture, were brought back to Damondaen, and adapted to the plateau. Perhaps because of this mixture (which is not uncommon elsewhere) or some other cause, but the Damondaen have a reputation for being remarkably handsome people, with a "characteristic" of pale eyes, usually blue, in brown faces of varying degrees of brown, with dark curling hair. In fact it is sometimes hinted (especially in bawdy song) that Damondaen conquerors of either gender had a lot less difficulty than they might simply because they were so dashing and attractive.

Anyway, its subsequent history was one of cycles of drought followed by plenty, and always that longing for access to the sea. Damondaen was at first encouraged by the eastern lands to defeat the encroaching raiders from Halveraen, but once that empire was driven back, they conquered the countries east for themselves, and for generations the craving for adventure was satisfied (more than) in maintaining these colonies, especially after the king's son decided to prove his prowess on sea as well as land, and sailed north to conquer Teldenor. Eventually the Damondaen empire was broken, and the colonies regained their independent status once again. Damondaen was regarded with a hard eye by all its neighbors, with reason. The first to throw off Norsunder at the end of the war, they used Norsunder's retreat to expand south again, and the oldest songs say that the longing to repatriate with forebears at Halia has never died down. Or, in blunter terms, why not conquer southern Toar, then go after Halia?

The capital is at Jevondyan (named after the first royal family--the current one may or may not be descendants, but they use that name) and serves as an astonishing monument to Marlovan paranoia, being impregnable without, and a garden paradise within. The danger, as usual, is from each other.

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