Saphar
Saphar is on the south coast of Imya at the mouth of the Seydi River, with an excellent harbor that was expanded and improved only about 20 years ago. It is an old city and, before the conquest, was the capital of Imya. Now it is the headquarters of Axuum’s authority, and the old king’s palace has become the luxurious residence of the nem-mulya, with Axuumite administrators and magistrates using the rooms that were once frequented by Imya’s nobility. Since Nem-Mulya Mehadis believes anything worth doing is worth doing to excess, he also has a substantial country estate nearby and a villa at a beautiful location on the coast about a day’s journey east.
Nem-Mulya Mehadis is a connoisseur of excellent food and takes advantage of his position in Imya to get fresh spices, and seafood directly from the ocean. He is always interested in hiring another cook who is the master of some new cuisine. (Currently, Mehadis desires the services of someone who can cook him genuine Kaldilooran food, which he has heard is distinctive.)
Despite the distractions of the table, however, Mehadis does not forget his duty to Axuum. He employs several regional experts who advise him on ways that Imya might produce even more income for the benefit of Axuum, and has his deputies (all of whom are from Axuum) look into any likely possibilities. Recently he has been mixing business with pleasure by having people experiment with ways to keep fish alive on board a ship for extended periods of time so that unusual types such as swordfish could be taken locally and sold to gourmands in other parts of the continent.
An important industry in the Saphar region is the harvesting and processing of myrrh and frankincense. Although those are also produced in certain other countries, the total yield in Saphar is greater than in other areas and is primarily of good quality.
In the city of Saphar, the Axuumite conquerors actually pulled down the temples to the country’s previous gods, and in their place built majestic new edifices dedicated to such deities of Khemit as Ra, Osiris, Isis, Thoth, and Set. Those who objected were put to hauling great stone blocks for the building of the new temples; within short order, at least in public, the worship of the old gods vanished, and the veneration of these foreign gods became universal.
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