Tajar
City of Trade
The northernmost Pearl City, Tajar lies about 450 miles west of Pantheist Hilm, with the Golden Gulf's glittering expanse between them. The title "City of Trade" is well deserved, for Tajar is awash in riches from throughout Zakhara and beyond. Rare spices, strange condiments, richly woven carpets, gleaming swords from Hiyal, wonders of the Crowded Sea-all- are gathered in one location to assault and delight the senses. In its sheer variety of goods, Tajar is the wealthiest city on the Gulf.
Tajar is a major trading site in the Land of Fate. Here the caravan route from far-off Akota (an exotic place beyond Zakhara) meets the merchant armadas of the Golden Gulf. And here the tribes of the High Desert come down to trade their wares with agents of the Grand Caliph Caliph. Only the suqs of Huzuz, which bear the finest produce in all of Zakhara, can rival Tajar's marketplace.
The people of Tajar reflect this meeting of cultures. Abas and keffiyehs are as common as caftans and turbans, all the more so since the ascendency of Sheikh Ali. The impoverished residents dress in whatever rags and tatters they can manage, but even the poor of Tajar are better off than most. The riches are so abundant, and the need for labor so great, that anyone capable of work can find it if he or she looks.
Tajar is further blessed by having several natural artesian wells. The largest of these wells lies at the base of the sheikh's palace. The wells supply most of the city's drinking water with little strain on their capacity. Only the poor use water from the Al-Adib River, and the city quarter bordering that area is a slum of shoddy housing, dangerous beggars, and characters hoping to disappear behind the veil of dust and poverty.
The Tajari are proud, boisterous people, quick to take offense. Street music is common here, and volume outweighs proficiency for most minstrels. Merchant haggling often leads to drawn swords, and daggers are driven into the walls to underline a point. People of Tajar regard the colder, more cultured natives of other realms as repressed and unfeeling.
Government
The Ruler:
Tajar's ruler is Sheikh Ali al-Hadd, House of Bakr. He is the son of the former sheikh, Kori al-Zafiri, House of Bakr. Before the rule of Al-Zafiri, Tajar was governed by a dark-hearted sultan. That sultan despised the desert tribes and sought to enslave them through unfair trade. The leader of the Bakr tribe, Al-Zafiri, led a rebellion against the city, receiving the merchants and the poor whom the sultan had oppressed. With the rebellion underway, Al-Zafiri sent Ali, his most talented son, to gain an audience with the Grand Caliph. When the great fleet of Huzuz arrived in Tajar's harbor, it did not carry reinforcements for the embattled sultan. Instead, it carried investigators, who quickly revealed the sultan's true nature. The sultan was taken to Huzuz in chains, and Al-Zafiri became Tajar's leader. Both he and his son, Ali al-Hadd, prefer the simple title "sheikh."
When Al-Zafiri passed away, Ali al-Hadd succeeded his father. The son has proved himself to be equally valiant and wise, capable of dealing with Tajar's many factions of merchants,. traders, nobles, and supplicants.
The Court:
The bane of Sheikh Ali's existence is his only son, Afzal. Afzal's mother died in childbirth. The sheikh did not remarry, and he has not recognized any other heir. Afzal was born and raised in Tajar, in the lap of luxury, and he has turned his back on his desert heritage. He is foolish and pompous, and surrounds himself with men and women who speak of little other than his greatness. He has just reached his majority, and is honorary commander of the cavalry. Al-Hadd has assigned a dao and a djinni as his son's personal servants and bodyguards. The sheikh hopes that direct contact with the people may teach his son wisdom. So far this has failed.
Sheera bint Tanar serves Sheikh al-Hadd as a magical advisor. She is his unrecognized daughter, born to him by an elven courtesan in his court. Sheera is responsible for overseeing genie activities in the city, and for maintaining a good relationship with the jann.
Also prominent in the court is a rawun who is known only as Dulcet Riqqiyah. An adventurer who arrived in town four years ago, Riqqiyah charmed the sheikh with her knowledge and wit. In time, she became both a trusted advisor and a second daughter to him. Sheera is not jealous of the rawun, for the pair are close friends, and Riqqiyah acts as the young half-elf's mentor. Afzal is taken with Riqqiyah, but she wants nothing to do with the young popinjay. Of the bard's origin and background, nothing is known. She wears magical devices that fend off divination magics.
Defences
- 4,000-man city guard
- 3,000-man cavalry patrol, which is built around a core of Bakr desert riders, an elite force of 800 men.
- 300 jann of the High Desert on retainer.
Comments