Medina al-Afyal
Afyal, the island kingdom dominated by this city, is one of the Enlightened Throne's most distant outposts. It is also among the most prosperous. Located north of Sahu Island, the Isle of the Elephant is a convenient stop for traders from the distant East. This island is also blessed with great natural resources - including precious metals and exotic hardwoods. As a result, its capital, the City of the Elephant, enjoys a richness that rivals that of Huzuz itself.
The island of Afyal is verdant and wild, with rolling hills and thick jungles, which are untamed outside the capital city. Wild creatures lurk in the wilderness, virtually at the City of the Elephant's door.
The capital is the only settlement of significant size on the island. Because the jungles yield the rich woods that are the island's main export, a few small villages dot the wilderness, all of them stockaded. A few craftsmen dwell in these villages, but most of their inhabitants are harvesters who bring the wood to the City of the Elephant. There, the finest woodcrafters of Afyal do their work, creating furniture and objects of art in which the wood appears to be almost liquid, flowing in elegant, graceful curves.
No other city in Zakhara is quite like Afyal's capital. For the most part, it lacks the blue tilework of many cities to the west. Yet it is no less impressive, for the city's architects and craftsmen made liberal use of polished marble and gleaming hardwoods. Its greatest structures - the Great Mosque of Selan and the Palace of Alon - flank the city.
The mosque, which boasts an attached university, is the largest temple devoted to Selan in the Land of Fate. The priests operating this mosque are strict moralists, but pragmatists and ethoists may study here, and it is the center of worship for Selan's followers. The padishah's palace is a sprawling collection of small buildings, many of them linked by causeways, dotted with a half-dozen spires and domes. It is one of the greatest architectural wonders of the Land of Fate, combining magical and conventional methods of construction. It is said that five dao work continually to maintain the walls and bridges of the palace.
Demographics
The people of Afyal range from the richest merchants to the poorest beggars. The concept of station - that each person has one chosen place in the universe, which is decreed by Fate - is extremely strong on this island. A caste system reigns. A person may never rise above his or her original station, regardless of action. In Afyal, even the most successful adventurer from a beggarly background is expected to defer to a less talented or less worthy individual of a higher station. Marriage outside one's station is strongly (and often violently) discouraged.
Government
The Ruler:
The island of Afyal has been blessed by Fate with its riches, so perhaps it is only fair that it suffer a dearth where its rulers are concerned. The House of Alon founded the kingdom and its capital city soon after the Law of the Loregiver spread throughout the continent of Zakhara. That house took great pride in the fact that the blood of the First Caliph also flowed in Afyal's first padishah, just as the blood of the current Grand Caliph flows through the veins of today's padishah of Afyal. The mix is thin, however, and so is the genetic link. Afyal's padishahs have always been erratic, perhaps because it takes the will of a madman to create a new city in the wilderness. The present ruler exceeds his predecessors in madness, however.
Alad bin Alaq bin Alonka of Alon - His Most Enlightened and Resplendent Majesty, Servant of the Grand Caliph, Blood of the Conquerors, Padishah of Afyal, Father of the Multitudes, Wise and Sage Master of His Own Destiny - is a certifiable loon.
Some say it is the blood of the ruling class running thin after 500 years. Others say that Bin Alonka was born with a sound mind, but he encountered some great horror in the Ruined Kingdoms as a youth. His father (perhaps lacking in faculties himself), failed to recognize the extent of the damage, and named Bin Alonka his heir.
Whatever the cause, the padishah of Afyal is known for his eccentricities and whims. He has appointed peasants and wandering adventurers to be his ambassadors to far-off lands, simply because he liked his beneficiaries' looks. He has thrown long standing and loyal courtiers into exile (or worse, to a posting in Kadarasto) as punishment for a remark that he overheard by chance (and perhaps even misunderstood). The padishah has ordered buildings destroyed only to order them rebuilt within a week. He has approved expeditions to the Ruined Kingdoms and for the settlement of Sahu, then forgotten to approve any moneys for these actions. And when the holders of such grants asked for the gold, the padishah had them thrown into prison for their troubles.
Despite these flaws, the padishah of Afyal is a sweet, endearing, and friendly man, particularly with his own people. When he rides through the city in a procession, they cheer. Their ardour may not be for him personally, however. He rides on a floating palanquin complete with great magical pots, which shoot forth streams of silver and copper pieces. One of the padishah's many titles is "Father of the Multitudes." He lives up to the reputation. The padishah has no wife (much to the chagrin of the Grand Caliph ), having divorced or failed to marry every woman to whom he was attracted. But he maintains a large harim and has a huge brood of children from age 22 on down. He has recognized all of these children as his own-a practice which will inevitably lead to bloody conflicts in the event of his death.
The padishah's first-born son, Alakbar bin Alad bin Alaq, disappeared on a voyage south into the Crowded Sea four years ago. No word has come from (or about) him since. Given the tendencies of his father, this may be for the best.
The Court:
The Mad Padishah has a relatively stable, contented court and bureaucracy. (Otherwise, the petty nobles and merchants would have turned him out long ago, "heir to 500 years" or no.) Many of these personages pass through phases like the waning moon, sometimes being in the padishah's favor, and sometimes not. Members of the court have a saying: "If you do not like the padishah's ruling, wait five minutes and ask again. By that time he may have forgotten."
The most important person in the court is the padishah's trusted chief vizier, Anwar al-Makruh. Al-Makruh served as the padishah's tutor as a youth. The chief vizier is an acid-tongued half-elf who marvels aloud at the fact that men, meaning humans, have managed to accomplish so much-especially given his liege as an example. Such bouts of honesty result in the chief vizier being banished from the city on a regular basis. The chief vizier retreats to his own palatial estate in the wilderness for a month or two of uninterrupted research, after which the padishah inevitably cools down and reinstates him. As a Sha'ir, Anwar al-Makruh has an air gen as a familiar. Al-Makruh is partial to djinn when he works. Many islanders assume that djinn act as the sha'ir's spies while he is in exile. Also important in the padishah's everyday life is his aunt (his father's sister), the Empress Alia Jamal, or Umm Jamal. Though he would prefer she played no role in his life whatsoever, the padishah cannot banish her. Once, it is said, a witty courtier noted aloud that the lean, vulturelike woman tried to join the Pantheon, but she was too conservative even for them. Now the empress allegedly has that courtier's tongue as a keepsake.
Empress Alia's current mission in life is to present her son Jamal bin Alia as the next candidate to ascend the Elephant Throne. The padishah has been resistant to this idea, if only because his own first son is missing. But Empress Alia is a hard woman to thwart. She presses her son into adventuring so that he can establish a name and reputation for himself. Jamal, a slight and impressionable young man, is unsure about his mother's chosen role for himself, but he realizes it is easier to agree with her than to fight her.
Should the padishah's son Alakbar never return, and Jamal fail to be recognized, the throne would fall to the padishah's eldest daughter, Alina bint Alad . Alina is an intense young woman. She is also a serious student of magic, and often uses the chief vizier's manor (provided he is not out of favor at the time). Alma does not want the life of a ruler, so she hopes to see her elder brother return.
Finally, persons of note include the representative of the Merchant Houses, Najiba al-Aqil. Al-Aqil is one of the few sane and reasonable people in the court, a calm voice in an otherwise chaotic place. She is the spokeswoman for Afyal's many and varied merchant houses, which provide the lifeblood of the kingdom by bringing in supplies and civilization from western Zakhara. As is typical for the ruler of a merchant house, Najiba has four husbands-the maximum according to local tradition. All are busy with trade or exploration. One is currently assigned to finding the Crown Prince.
Defences
- 2,000 city guard
- 500 cavalry
- 500 elephant Calvary
- 4 mamluk units; totaling 1,200 men, all of whom represent The Wonderous and serve as the palace guard.
Industry & Trade
Points of interest
Major Mosques:
(While other faiths are tolerated, in keeping with the Enlightened Way, the only major mosque on the island is to the goddess of the Beautiful Moon.)
Comments