Bentan, Trade Port of the Javani

The Isles of Madura

On a remote chain of islands called the Isles of Madura, lives a frog people called the Javani.
They are a fiercely territorial people with a thin tolerance for outsiders.
The only thing they want from outsiders is trade.
They are so territorial that it would be bloody war fighting for control of the one good landing outsiders can use when they come to trade.

The witch-doctors of the Javani armies came together and declared the landing place of outsiders to be sacred grounds open to every army.
They then allowed every army that brought its Purple Peppers of Madura for trade to build their own wayrest on the shores.
No army would cross another armies land so they used outrigger canoes to deliver their purple peppers to the landing.

Purple Peppers by sandeephanda

From Wayrests to Town

Bentan Dock by Antranias

The elves, who were the only traders though they traveled on human ships, established a proper town in the midst of all those wayrests.

They left the naming of it to the Javani witch-doctors who declared it Bentan, or "the rest for wealth".

Once this was done, the elves brought a portal to Bentan, providing instantaneous travel for them to and from the town.

Through politics, the elves forced the humans to no longer sail their ships to the Isles of Madura but soothed bitter feelings by allowing all humans to have a discount when purchasing purple peppers from them.

Growing Without the Ships

With ships no longer coming and going from Bentan, there was now more room on the shores for the Javani canoes, which allowed for more armies to arrive and claim a wayrest.
As Bentan grew, the army wayrests each became a district. Streets that connected the districts to the elven part of town were built and maintained by the elves so as to remain neutral ground. This prevented rival armies from raiding each other.

Over the centuries, Javani who grew up in Bentan began to see themselves as the Army of Peppers. They came to believe it was their duty to preserve the peaceful trade of purple peppers to outsiders and enforced peaceful behavior throughout the districts.
The town witch-doctors built a temple where all witch-doctors could come for advice untarnished by personal army loyalties. This later came to permit the Turi, the chief of an army, to come for the same reason.

Javani Temple by Michelleraponi

After The Calamity

When The End Of Instant happened, several people of various races had been spewed out of the portal before it vanished. Without the regular arrival of ships, the new arrivals as well as the elves living in Bentan, were stranded.
A year later, the first ships arrived. It was a fleet of five gnome ships coming to trade for purple peppers. After a long negotiations, the gnome fleet was convinced to take only half cargoes of peppers to make room many passengers. The trade in purple peppers was once again restored, though no longer under the control of the elves.