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Icon disambig This article is about the article about the kingdom. For the book in The Witcher 3, see Kovir and Poviss (book).
Kingdom of Kovir and Poviss
Flag of the Kingdom coat of arms in use since Baldwin Thyssen's reign
Flag Coat of Arms
Official language
Common Speech
Capital
Pont Vanis (summer capital)
Lan Exeter (winter capital)
Demonym
Koviri • Povissite
Form of government
Monarchy
Status
real union of Kovir, Poviss and minor countries
Head of State
King Rhyd of Poviss and King Idi of Kovir (until Eternal Flame short story)
King Esterad Thyssen (since the events of Eternal Flame)
King Tankred Thyssen (in The Witcher 3)
Currency
Bezant
(in Aedd Gynvael: mark)
Geographical position
Places Kovir
Detail of the The Witcher map

The realm of Kovir and Poviss is a Northern Kingdom located on the Gulf of Praxeda. It is the largest exporter of mineral resources in the known world, reaping huge profits from commercial trade. It is ruled by King Esterad Thyssen of the House of Thyssen and maintained political neutrality during the Nilfgaard Wars.

For many years, the kingdom was the butt of jokes among its southern neighbours. But those neighbouring nations eventually found to their dismay that Kovir was not the backwater they took it to be and had built itself into a nation to be reckoned with by welcoming the many disaffected scholars, soldiers and business men who sought a new, and better life to the north. People of Kovir derives from outlaws, risk-averse merchants, geologists, miners and underestimated scientists and technicians who believed in the possibility of building a machine of their own invention. They gravitated to Kovir for some assurance of autonomy from the larger kingdoms to the south who coveted their resources.

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.

National emblems[ | ]

Heraldry[ | ]

House of Trojden coat of arms Coat of arms during the reign of House of Trojden Coat of arms during the reign of House of Thyssen

The above coats of arms were inspired by the work of our resident heraldry and Witcher expert, Mboro, based on the description in the official site of Andrzej Sapkowski. There is also an unofficial Czech concept of the Kovir coat of arms.

Flag[ | ]

Flag of the Union Flag of the ruling dynasty

The first one is a flag of the Kingdom, based on an image from Wiedźmin: Gra Wyobraźni while the second one is a flag of the currently ruling dynasty.

Rulers[ | ]

Regions[ | ]

Cities and keeps[ | ]

In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt[ | ]

Kovir and Poviss entry[ | ]

Kovir and Poviss are without a doubt the richest realms in the North. Few today remember that this was not always the case, yet their poverty was once literally on everyone's lips, in the form of now-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 bay along the shores of which these kingdoms lie.
Similarly, few remember that a mere handful of generations ago Kovir and Poviss were still part of Redania. King Radovid I, known as Radovid the Great, handed dominion 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 would quickly bring this ever more audacious vassal in line. History took a different turn, however, and Kovir won a resounding , crushing victory. Radovid III was forced to sign the 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 recently 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. 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 inhabitants of Kovir and Poviss have turned from paupers into princes, from beggars into bankers.

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.