Mari Chara
Mari Chara is a large village (or small town), located on the western bank of the Udena River. It is roughly two days walk upstream from the city of Udyn (though it is located on the opposite bank).
Given its strategic location, Mari Chara receives significant riverine traffic and trade. Several large riverine vessels can enter the docks in the lower village. The upper town contains religious structures that reflect the mixed population of the settlement. There is a mosque, a True Confession Church, and even a heathen enclosure with numerous standing stones. Ethnically, the population of the village is mostly Kuz', many of whom have converted to the Bahite Faith. Some of the traders and fishermen are also Noriki. Near the temples is a hostel run by the town's most prominent family, headed by a man named Ramil. His family, and likely most of the village elite, is conversant in Kochmak, Rakhman, and Norik.
Aside from the temples and the hostel, the village also features a yam station with portage facilities, a smithy, a tavern, and a horse stable.
Ramil's family seems to be determined to make the village an important destination for travelers and tourists. For a while, they owned a volot, whom they also used for heavy labor. They subsequently traded him for a purportedly talking mule, which was also a muezzin. However, after the trade was made, the mule went silent, and Ramil demanded restitution after the mule's owners returned to Mari Chara. But one of them - Barak ibn Yeshkim, was able to convince the mule to sing again, though he was forced to stay with the creature in the village. His companions were sent to neighboring villages to advertise the wonder, but they have not yet returned.
Demographics
Kuz, Kochmaki, Noriki
Government
Unclear (Ramil is headman; villagers recognize Khan's suzerainty, and also the Amir of Udyn as overlord).
Defences
Wooden palisade fence, river
Industry & Trade
Fishing, river commerce, horse-breeding, hospitality services
Architecture
Wooden log structures
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