Aban Rha
Located in the heart of the fertile Plains of Xha, Aban Rha is the breadbasket of the Xha’en Hegemony, surrounded by vast fields of grain and seemingly-endless orchards of fruit trees. Its walls, parks, and public buildings are all decorated with colorful agricultural symbols, lucky signs, and motifs suggesting fertility and rich harvests.
Agricultural goods from Aban Rha are shipped throughout the Hegemony — north to Rojhah, east along the wide Taode River and the River Road, and down to Thanalos and the southern provinces beyond. During harvest season, caravans enter and leave the city around the clock.
As a result, Aban Rha is a prosperous city with little severe poverty. While the peasants are still poor, they are generally better off in terms of food and shelter than Xha’en elsewhere in the Hegemony.
Rich Aban Rha citizens, on the other hand, are the wealthiest in the land, with the exception of the emperor himself. Vast sprawling estates surround the city, and countless luxurious mansions fill the city proper. Gilded barges ply the river alongside lumbering merchant vessels, lavishly decorated with decadent accommodations and small armies of servants. Elaborate processions leave the city in good weather to travel the countryside, setting up extensive encampments where the wealthy can “enjoy the wonders of nature.” Lavish parades, festivals, and mock-battles are held on holidays and at the whim of the rich.
The inhabitants of other cities, especially the grim militarists of Tsadar and the old wealth of Djir, frown upon the excesses of Aban Rha, though it’s known that outsiders often travel here to partake of its pleasures and wonders. Aban Rha nobles are generally considered to be somewhat boorish, vulgar types who flaunt their wealth in pointlessly ostentatious ways. For their part, the Aban Rha don’t seem terribly concerned, for no matter how judgmental the rest of the world may be, Aban Rha gold is always accepted everywhere.
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