Norbu Naumenko

The Naumenko family, like many of the pre-war noble houses of the Salt Lands, did not survive the Famine. The old Naumenko estate was perched on a prominent hilltop location in the city of Kasbah's famed market district and sat directly on a potent mana well. In a different time, the Naumenko company would use the mana to fashion potions, trinkets and wands for the general public-- a much more enterprising affair than the old arcane schools of Valentine. Underpinning the family's success was a devoutness to the god Mahakala, or Fate, who was a common patron in the difficult lives of Kasbahnites. Their association with the traditional spirituality of the Salt Lands gave the magical items favor in Kasbah and became renowned for their healing properties throughout the Salt Lands.

It was a devoutness to Fate that Norbu Naumenko believed carried him through the worst years of the Famine. The industrialization of Kasbah proved disastrous for the traditional houses of Kasbah economically and socially as technologists became the prominent power in the Four Worlds. Norbu witnessed the old mana wells and leylines of Kasbah converted into Citynets and saw the death of what he saw as the soul of the city. It amazed Norbu how quickly traditional arcane knowledge lost its credibility in his city.

Norbu, the heir to the now depleted Naumenko family fortune, would leave Kasbah, following what remained of the old leylines. Norbu believes that the old arcane knowledge once held as company secrets could still be used to help the citizens of Salt Lands, especially those that did not stand to benefit from the rise of technologists.