Goplakh
The capital of Yat-Kirman, Goplakh sits not far from the Dhobe River gorge. It is a well-organized city with streets laid out in spokes with the royal palace at the center. Some residents live in houses made for only one family, though most live in multistory buildings with six residences or more. A market is distant enough from the palace that the rao is not disturbed by the noise. A few inns are allowed to operate, primarily for the convenience of locals acquiring prepared food and beverages. However, visitors do arrive from time to time, and the existence of inns quickly solves any question about where they may stay. Any work animals such as forest elephants or the rare horse are kept near the edge of the city in the direction that is usually downwind from the palace.
The people are reasonably happy, though the emphasis placed on keeping their rao satisfied at all times can cause them stress. One important responsibility of his people is keeping a supply of food for the rao to hunt when he gets hungry. He sometimes takes the form of a tiger to make his kills himself and then dines immediately. At other times, he orders a meal of 20 courses or more and eats with the sophistication of the greatest maharajah. Both of those options emphasize the power of the rao, though the first reminds local people of the likely negative consequences of ever angering their ruler.
Supplying servants for the rao’s palace takes the efforts of many residents of Goplakh. In addition to food preparation, cleaning, guard duty, care of the royal menagerie, and other mundane tasks, he requires specialized servants such as archivists, translators, librarians, historians, musicians, artists, and others. Any who cannot be found already within his kingdom must be persuaded or, as a last resort, hired to do his bidding. Zhawnvawn also has a full complement of body servants for those times when he wants to be bathed or massaged, but several have scars, evidence of the rao’s occasionally terrible temper.
The women of the rao’s harem are technically not servants, though he often treats them as such. Most were brought from outside the country and may even have been slaves purchased for the rakshasa or kidnapped by his kinsmen. Zhawnvawn seldom chooses members of the harem from his own people, though some women persuade him to do so. It is known that one sure way to wealth and influence inside the kingdom is to bear one of his offspring and though his preferred mates seem to be other rakshasa, at least one or two women in every generation bear him children and survive to enjoy the prestige it brings.
Comments