Sahra' (sɑ:↗hræˈ)
The Qawm are a people who reside in a hot and diverse homeland known as Sahra', which is covered with both jungle and desert. They have a merchant culture and are driven by money, valuing material wealth and success above all else. The Qawm have darker skin and are inspired by Arabic culture from the early Middle Ages. They follow a pantheon of five deities, but are not very religious in nature. Instead, they focus on their trade and commerce, utilizing their skills to thrive in their society. Despite their focus on material gain, the Qawm still hold onto their cultural roots and traditions, deeply rooted in their Arabic-inspired heritage. This unique blend of influences gives the Qawm a distinct identity with their focus on material wealth and success in the bustling markets of their homeland.
Structure
The organizational structure of the Merchant Republic of Sahraʾ is a rigidly tiered hierarchy that governs both its commercial and political life. At its base are the Muharib , mercenary warriors who protect caravans and tent‑cities; above them stand the Mazarie, who cultivate or extract the raw materials that fuel Sahraʾ’s economy. The artisans or Harfiun transform these resources into marketable goods, while the al‑Taajir and their sponsors, the Kabīra al‑Taajir, conduct long‑distance trade and underwrite new merchant ventures.
Ascending further, the al‑Tajari’amīr (Merchant Princes) oversee networks of sponsors and hold substantial regional influence. Their authority culminates in the hereditary Kabīra al‑Tujaara’amīr (Grand Merchant Princes), who rule the four principalities—Alshamal, Algharb, Aljanub, and Alsharq—exercising near‑sovereign control over trade routes, tariffs, and artisan guilds. At the apex of this system sits the Wali‑Malik, the republic’s elected supreme ruler, whose office is reserved for the most accomplished scions of the Kabīra al‑Tujaara’amīr families.
Each rank carries specific duties—from safeguarding merchants and managing olive groves to arbitrating commercial disputes and negotiating foreign treaties—and feeds into a complex web of sponsorship, apprenticeship, and inheritance that ensures both stability and competition within Sahraʾ’s vibrant marketplace.
Ascending further, the al‑Tajari’amīr (Merchant Princes) oversee networks of sponsors and hold substantial regional influence. Their authority culminates in the hereditary Kabīra al‑Tujaara’amīr (Grand Merchant Princes), who rule the four principalities—Alshamal, Algharb, Aljanub, and Alsharq—exercising near‑sovereign control over trade routes, tariffs, and artisan guilds. At the apex of this system sits the Wali‑Malik, the republic’s elected supreme ruler, whose office is reserved for the most accomplished scions of the Kabīra al‑Tujaara’amīr families.
Each rank carries specific duties—from safeguarding merchants and managing olive groves to arbitrating commercial disputes and negotiating foreign treaties—and feeds into a complex web of sponsorship, apprenticeship, and inheritance that ensures both stability and competition within Sahraʾ’s vibrant marketplace.
Culture
Sahraʾ culture encompasses the shared beliefs, values, customs and social practices of the Qawm people, a merchant society whose desert‐and‐jungle homeland shapes every aspect of daily life. Rooted in a pantheon of five deities—Uro’nus, Sol’nus, Lun’nus, Gaii’nus and Exa’nus—yet governed more by commerce than by piety, Sahraʾ culture prizes integrity in trade, long‑term reputation and the pursuit of material success. Its mobile settlements of stone palaces encircled by tent cities reflect a constant interplay between tradition and economic necessity.
Social status in Sahraʾ is determined primarily by one’s role in the mercantile hierarchy, from Muharib warriors and Mazarie producers to Harfiūn artisans, al‑Taajir merchants and their Grand Merchant Princes (Kabīra al‑Tujaara’amīr), culminating in the Wali‑Malik who unifies the republic. Ceremonies such as the public birth proclamation and the age‑four naming ritual underscore communal bonds and the undercurrent of divine sanction, even as everyday life revolves around marketplaces, caravan routes and negotiated alliances.
Distinctive dress codes, beauty ideals emphasizing cleanliness and grooming, and courtship practices that blend arranged marriages with gift exchanges further illustrate how Sahraʾ culture shapes its citizens’ perceptions and responses to family, status and the wider world. In Sahraʾ, the imperatives of trade and tradition fuse to form a worldview in which wealth, fairness and enduring personal honor guide the Qawm’s interactions at every level of society.
Social status in Sahraʾ is determined primarily by one’s role in the mercantile hierarchy, from Muharib warriors and Mazarie producers to Harfiūn artisans, al‑Taajir merchants and their Grand Merchant Princes (Kabīra al‑Tujaara’amīr), culminating in the Wali‑Malik who unifies the republic. Ceremonies such as the public birth proclamation and the age‑four naming ritual underscore communal bonds and the undercurrent of divine sanction, even as everyday life revolves around marketplaces, caravan routes and negotiated alliances.
Distinctive dress codes, beauty ideals emphasizing cleanliness and grooming, and courtship practices that blend arranged marriages with gift exchanges further illustrate how Sahraʾ culture shapes its citizens’ perceptions and responses to family, status and the wider world. In Sahraʾ, the imperatives of trade and tradition fuse to form a worldview in which wealth, fairness and enduring personal honor guide the Qawm’s interactions at every level of society.
Military
Unlike centralized national armies, Sahraʼ’s military is a decentralized system of levies, mercenary contingents, and palace guards raised and maintained by individual houses. Its core combat element is the Muharib, professional warriors contracted by caravan masters, merchant princes (al‑Tujaara’amīr), and the Wali‑Malik to protect trade routes, tent cities, and palatial estates. Secondary forces include riverine patrols in the eastern jungles, coastal squadrons guarding Pa‑Tos, and mountain troops in the highlands of Alshamal.
Historically rooted in tribal warrior bands and caravan escorts, Sahraʼ’s military evolved as merchant families competed to secure caravans against raiders, jungle brigands, and rival principalities. Command authority remains largely vested in the sponsoring patron—each Kabīra al‑Tujaara’amīr fields a private regiment of Muharib and allied levies, while the Wali‑Malik may marshal a federal force drawn from the princely contingents in times of external threat or civil unrest. Armaments are predominantly light and cavalry‑oriented—scimitars, round shields, brigandine cuirasses, and composite bows—favoring speed and maneuver in desert sands, jungle trails, and mountain passes. Though never a large standing army, Sahraʼ’s military achieves strategic depth through rapid mobilization, seasoned mercenary leadership, and the logistical networks of its merchant houses.
Historically rooted in tribal warrior bands and caravan escorts, Sahraʼ’s military evolved as merchant families competed to secure caravans against raiders, jungle brigands, and rival principalities. Command authority remains largely vested in the sponsoring patron—each Kabīra al‑Tujaara’amīr fields a private regiment of Muharib and allied levies, while the Wali‑Malik may marshal a federal force drawn from the princely contingents in times of external threat or civil unrest. Armaments are predominantly light and cavalry‑oriented—scimitars, round shields, brigandine cuirasses, and composite bows—favoring speed and maneuver in desert sands, jungle trails, and mountain passes. Though never a large standing army, Sahraʼ’s military achieves strategic depth through rapid mobilization, seasoned mercenary leadership, and the logistical networks of its merchant houses.
Laws
The Laws of Sahraʾ are the body of formal and customary rules that regulate public order, commerce, property, taxation, litigation, and punishment within the Merchant Republic of Sahraʾ. Rooted in both written edicts issued by the Wali‑Malik and the Grand Council of Kabīra al‑Tujaara’amīr, and in time‑honored merchant customs recorded in palace archives and caravan charters, Sahran law reflects the republic’s dual emphasis on mercantile integrity and social stability. Statutes governing contract enforcement, debt, and taxation are inscribed on stone stelae at each principality’s seat—Gru‑Hallas, Me‑Tste, Pa‑Tos, and Va‑Hasst—and summarized in parchment codices held by tent‑city notaries. Unwritten precedents—particularly those concerning dispute resolution in the bazaars—are preserved through a network of merchant guilds and the temple‑priests of the Pantheon of the Five, whose ritual oaths lend moral weight to solemn covenants.
Enforcement of Sahraʾ’s laws is entrusted primarily to salaried Muharib (warriors) under the direct command of local Grand Merchant Princes, aided by appointed bazaar inspectors and scribes. Civil disputes and severe criminal cases are heard by tribunals of senior al‑Taajir and priestly magistrates, whose judgments range from fines (often paid in silver or in kind), restitution of confiscated goods, and enforced apprenticeship, to exile in the desert wilderness or capital corporal punishments such as branding or amputation. Capital sentences, though rare, may be imposed for treason, large‑scale fraud, or attacks on caravans. The system remains notably flexible: wealthy defendants frequently secure reduced penalties through negotiated settlements or ritualized “market‑oaths,” while appeals to a higher merchant prince or even to the Wali‑Malik himself can overturn local verdicts—provided the appellant can muster sufficient influence, patronage, or coin.
Enforcement of Sahraʾ’s laws is entrusted primarily to salaried Muharib (warriors) under the direct command of local Grand Merchant Princes, aided by appointed bazaar inspectors and scribes. Civil disputes and severe criminal cases are heard by tribunals of senior al‑Taajir and priestly magistrates, whose judgments range from fines (often paid in silver or in kind), restitution of confiscated goods, and enforced apprenticeship, to exile in the desert wilderness or capital corporal punishments such as branding or amputation. Capital sentences, though rare, may be imposed for treason, large‑scale fraud, or attacks on caravans. The system remains notably flexible: wealthy defendants frequently secure reduced penalties through negotiated settlements or ritualized “market‑oaths,” while appeals to a higher merchant prince or even to the Wali‑Malik himself can overturn local verdicts—provided the appellant can muster sufficient influence, patronage, or coin.
Agriculture & Industry
Agriculture in Sahraʾ underpins one of the five pillars of its merchant‐republic economy, complementing a well‐developed artisanal and metallurgical sector. Although best known for its sprawling tent bazaars and caravan‐based trade, Sahraʾ is simultaneously an agricultural power: irrigated olive groves, date‐palm oases, cereal fields along seasonal wadis, and jungle‐edge plantations supply both domestic needs and export markets. In the southern principality of Aljanub (Pa‑Tos), centuries‑old olive trees yield oil that flows northward by caravan to desert cities, while grain, vegetables, and pulses are cultivated in riverine fields around Me‑Tste. In Alsharq (Va‑Hasst), the Mazarie collect hardwoods, spices, medicinal herbs, and exotic fruits from the Hasst Jungle.
At the same time, Sahraʾ wields considerable industrial might. In Algharb (Me‑Tste), rich veins of iron, copper, and alluvial gold feed foundries and mint houses that produce coinage for the entire republic. The artisanal workshops of Gru‑Hallas (Alshamal) transform local tin into intricate metalwork, and the coastal mills of Pa‑Tos spin and dye textiles for both desert caravans and maritime trade. These industrial activities are organized through a tiered hierarchy—Mazarie provide raw materials, Harfiūn (artisans) process and manufacture goods, and al‑Taajir (merchants) distribute finished products across Sahraʾ’s principalities and beyond. Together, these complementary agricultural and industrial sectors sustain Sahraʾ’s reputation as both a farming heartland and a center of craftsmanship in the desert world.
At the same time, Sahraʾ wields considerable industrial might. In Algharb (Me‑Tste), rich veins of iron, copper, and alluvial gold feed foundries and mint houses that produce coinage for the entire republic. The artisanal workshops of Gru‑Hallas (Alshamal) transform local tin into intricate metalwork, and the coastal mills of Pa‑Tos spin and dye textiles for both desert caravans and maritime trade. These industrial activities are organized through a tiered hierarchy—Mazarie provide raw materials, Harfiūn (artisans) process and manufacture goods, and al‑Taajir (merchants) distribute finished products across Sahraʾ’s principalities and beyond. Together, these complementary agricultural and industrial sectors sustain Sahraʾ’s reputation as both a farming heartland and a center of craftsmanship in the desert world.
Infrastructure
The merchant republic of Sahraʾ boasts a unique, hybrid infrastructure built around stone palaces and their surrounding tent cities rather than fixed urban centers. Each leading merchant house erects a fortified palace at a strategic node—oasis, mountain pass, river landing or coastal port—and sprawls an ever‑shifting network of bazaars, workshops and caravan camps in canvas and wood around it. These tent cities rise and fall with the seasons and trade routes, linked by a web of beaten‑earth roads, fortified caravanserais, water‑catchment works and river‑quay facilities that together knit the desert and jungle into a single commercial ecosystem.
Is Sahraʾ an agricultural or industrial power? In strict terms, it is neither exclusively agricultural nor purely industrial but rather a commercial nexus whose prosperity depends on both sectors in equal measure.
Agricultural activities are anchored in the Mazarie estates of Aljanub and the river valleys of Algharb, where olives, dates, grains and vegetables flourish under qanāt and well irrigation. Jungle‑edge orchards and medicinal‑herb groves in Alsharq, plus freshwater fisheries around Gru‑Hallas, further broaden the republic’s agro‑export base.
Industrial production centers on the mines of Alshamal (tin) and Algharb (iron, copper, gold), whose outputs fuel a thriving metallurgy and minting industry. Pa‑Tos’s coastal workshops turn local wool and linen into dyed textiles, while artisan quarters across Sahraʾ craft leather goods, glassware, ceramics and inlaid metalwork.
Together, these agricultural and industrial activities are woven into Sahraʾ’s infrastructure—its roads, caravanserais, waterworks, ports and palaces—creating a resilient network that serves the Qawm people’s defining pursuit: fair, profitable, and mobile commerce.
Is Sahraʾ an agricultural or industrial power? In strict terms, it is neither exclusively agricultural nor purely industrial but rather a commercial nexus whose prosperity depends on both sectors in equal measure.
Agricultural activities are anchored in the Mazarie estates of Aljanub and the river valleys of Algharb, where olives, dates, grains and vegetables flourish under qanāt and well irrigation. Jungle‑edge orchards and medicinal‑herb groves in Alsharq, plus freshwater fisheries around Gru‑Hallas, further broaden the republic’s agro‑export base.
Industrial production centers on the mines of Alshamal (tin) and Algharb (iron, copper, gold), whose outputs fuel a thriving metallurgy and minting industry. Pa‑Tos’s coastal workshops turn local wool and linen into dyed textiles, while artisan quarters across Sahraʾ craft leather goods, glassware, ceramics and inlaid metalwork.
Together, these agricultural and industrial activities are woven into Sahraʾ’s infrastructure—its roads, caravanserais, waterworks, ports and palaces—creating a resilient network that serves the Qawm people’s defining pursuit: fair, profitable, and mobile commerce.
Type
Geopolitical, Republic
Capital
Alternative Names
The merchant Republic of sahra'
Leader Title
Official State Religion
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Related Ranks & Titles
Neighboring Nations
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