Ashara

The capital city of the Kingdom of Hazar is either affectionately or derogatorily known as the City of Skulls, depending on who's saying it. A coastal city, it is located on the northern edge of the Gulf of Mayash and has been the seat of power in Hazar since the kingdom's founding in AE 498.
Originally based on fishing, the economy of the city has shifted over to necromancy. Home to the preeminent research center dedicated to the study of necromancy, the Murid Institute of Thanogenesis, the city is an essential pilgrimage for anyone wishing to dabble in the undead.

Demographics

58% human, 21% minotaur, 10% sun elves, 6% yuan-ti, 2% birdfolk, 3% other.

Districts

The city is composed of five main districts.
The Prom is named for Promenade Lane, the road that extends along nearest to the beaches and ports. While the road itself technically runs for almost the entire coastal side of Ashara, the district only includes the northern half of that length, encompassing shopping areas, boutique hotels, and parts of the beach on the north end that aren't occupied by the city's ports. It is also home to a number of newer, upscale apartment and condo buildings. The Murid Institute of Thanogenesis is located on the border between the Prom and Midtown.
The Cannery District is located immediately inland from the ports. Numerous canneries were built when Ashara was still predominantly a fishing town, back before the Temple of Continuance and the necromancy that came with it became the city's main industry. Two canneries are still in operation, but the four other have been sold off or left to decay. Two have been converted into cheap apartments, with live-work spaces on the bottom floors.
The Distal, also known as the historic district, is predominantly single-family homes, but also has a few apartment buildings along the border it shares with the cannery district. Most of the buildings were constructed to house cannery workers, and as the canneries have declined and the buildings have aged slightly, it has become a moderately affordable neighborhood that is popular with families. 
Midtown is located inland from the Prom, and similar to the Distal is mostly residential but features a greater number of multi-family homes. Midtown is often subdivided into smaller neighborhoods, including ethnic neighborhoods such as Little Lyfal, home to a number of sun elves, and the Horn, with a dense concentration of minotaurs. 
The Proxima is the regal district. It is home to the Hazar Palace Complex which contains a number of structures, including Basir Castle, which is home to Hazar's royal family, as well as Hadiqa Castle, which is actually composed of a number of buildings which house the king's sixteen qadi and their families.

Assets

Thousands of necromancers call Ashara home, as do the tens of thousands of undead they control. While they and other nations haven't done an official survey, most people make the quite safe assumption that Ashara has by far the largest concentration of both necromancers and undead in the world. Many are government employees, controlling their undead to do all sorts of tasks, such as maintaining green spaces, delivering missives, and cleaning government buildings. Others are academics at the Murid Institute of Thanogenesis, conducting research and streamlining the necromantic process.

Asharan cat

White brown and black cat by Jeremy Bezanger

Most stray cats of Ashara find that the head of the fibula on working skeletons is prime head-rubbing real estate.

Points of interest

Skull on Rock by Portuguese Gravity

It's unknown precisely when Ashara was first settled; many older buildings that fell into disrepair have been demolished and built over, and they themselves were likely built over others. There are a small handful of buildings left which existed even before the Kingdom did and have so far avoided city modernization efforts, the most famous of which is the Medial Ossuary, a complex encompassing an entire block tucked between the Distal and Proxima districts. Owned by the Temple of Continuance, many of the structures were built in the past century, but towards the back of the lot is the Ossein. The Ossein, when compared to the other buildings on the lot, is a small, outwardly unimpressive looking structure; it's constructed out of stone bricks and measures fifteen feet wide

and thirty feet long. The building has a single window made of stained glass above the double door entryway; the window is round, just two feet in diameter, and features golden yellow threads woven into a cat's cradle stretched across a black background, and over top it is a clean white human mandible. 
The inside of the Ossein, it is difficult to discern the texture of the walls because they are almost entirely covered in bone. Scapulas, ulnas, manubriums trace arabesque patterns which flow around the entirety of the interior in off-whites and browns, faintly lit by oil lamps. Benches which appear almost osseous in sheen form rows on either side of an aisle towards the front leading to a reliquary as elaborately decorated as the walls. The grand display case of solid gold has the origins of the Temple of Continuance carved into it, and behind a panel of clear rock crystal is a single mandible, yellowed with age and human in origin, said to have belonged to Dima of Jafah.

Architecture

Asharan architecture is similar to that of the rest of coastal Hazar. Buildings are predominantly made of stone, such as limestone, due to the cost of importing timber. Massive trellises, sometimes carved into the very stone the building is constructed from, often cover the dawnward walls of buildings when possible; utilizing plants accustomed to the hot weather, they provide additional insulation to the building on the side which receives the most direct sunlight. Some newer buildings are experimenting with vertical farming. High ceilings as well as balconies with large windows are common to assist with cooling.
Some of the other iconic architectural elements include cusped arches, pendentive domes, and elaborate geometric tiling.

Hazar - Ashara

Map of Hazar - Ashara by Illumiinae, made with Azgaar's Fantasy Map Generator

Ashara is located on the inner edge of the Gulf of Meyash, enjoying a cool coastal climate while also protecting it from the worst of the rough weather that comes with coastal living.

Type

Large city

Population

Approx. 72,000 living, 24,000 undead

Inhabitant Demonym

Asharan

Owner/Ruler

Fadil, King of Hazar

Owning Organization

Kingdom of Hazar

Related Historical Events

• 498 AE
  Founding of the Kingdom of Hazar