Fahhas
City of Searching
Located roughly 90 miles north of I'tiraf (as the rot flies), at the mouth of the river Al-Naqus, Fahhas is the most somber city of the Pantheist League. Its people are searching for enlightenment and truth, and perhaps for the happiness both would bring.
Fahhas reflects the mood of its caliph; its people are sullen, brooding, and joyless in their tasks. The city is prosperous, however, due to its natural gifts. The grasslands to the east are grazed by sheep and goats, and dotted with orchards of oranges, dates, apricots, and pears. The rich clays of the river Al-Naqus make some of the finest pottery and china on the Golden Gulf, and the location of the city makes it a convenient port for boats from Huzuz and the north.
Government
The Ruler:
Caliph Amel al-Yuhami, Humble Servant of the Enlightened Gods, is a moody, reclusive figure. Tall and broad-shouldered with wellchiseled features and a thick black beard, he looks more like a warrior than a priest. Al-Yuhami is said to be among the strongest men in the Pantheist League. The caliph's strength is mainly physical, however, since he is given to fits of melancholy and deep depression, caused by both the sin in the world and by the death (five years ago) of his aged advisor and mentor, Jamila al-Muhib.
Caliph Amel is a man who sees matters of faith in ultimates: you are either saved or you are damned. Devotion to the Pantheon is supreme in his court. Would-be wrongdoers should beware, for those who defy the Law of the Loregiver must suffer the maximum penalty. In Fahhas, disfigurement and even torture are more common punishments than enslavement and banishment.
The Court:
The court of Fahhas has no highranking or highly influential characters beyond the caliph himself. Caliph Amel spends most of the day in solitude and meditation, particularly since the death of his chief vizier, Jamila al-Muhib. The lesser courtiers, scribes, and bureaucrats walk softly and speak in deferential tones when summoned before their caliph. And when they speak, they watch their words carefully, for no one knows when an ill-phrased remark will result in a tirade of abuse and possibly arrest.
Of these lesser bureaucrats, the city's chief judge is most prominent. He is a harried dwarf named Mungu al-Ristat. Al-Ristat is overworked; he serves his caliph by carrying out each and every order to the letter. He would rather let half the city die at the executioner's hand than be forced to fill out the paperwork for a pardon, or to approach his lord with a direct question.
Defences
- Pantheist troops include 2,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry.
- 2,000 city guards
- a unit of 150 clerical reserves (priests of levels 1 to 6) from the Pantheon mosque and university
- 3 units of mamluks of the Devoted society, totaling 900 men.
- Seafaring forces include a navy of 5 large vessels, plus a shore patrol of 10 smaller ships.
Industry & Trade
Points of interest
Major Mosques:
- Pantheon
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