Zaman al-Razaz (zaˈman al raˈzaːz)
"Everyone knows I am the greatest inventor in the world; I have made certain of that" - Zaman al-Razaz
Zaman al-Razaz is an inventor and alchemist who orginates from the expatriate Naga community on the island of Bakunawa. In their lifetime, al-Razaz has created countless devices, most famously the Prophecy Clock and the mechanical soldiers that protect it, the Muhandasa. They are currently living within the Bakunawa Lighthouse which houses the clock, and is a member of the Order of the Lightkeepers.
Early Life
Hatched into the Razaz Bamsam on the shores of Bakunawa, Zaman was raised with stories about the glories of the lost Nagarajya and the belief in the Nagavirosha who would restore it. Early on, their genius for devices and engineering was recognized, and they were apprenticed under two master engineers until Zaman reached maturity. Zaman chafed under the rules and strictures of their apprenticeship, and was very nearly cast out before they were declared a master themselves. Their masterwork was a collection of dancing automatons that seemed almost magical, and made all previous attempts at such look crude and inelegant.
Zaman the Performer
Almost immediately upon graduating from their apprenticeship, Zaman prepared to leave Bakunawa. They were convinced that the community was a backwater, and mired in the dreams of the past. Zaman longed to see the world for themself, and to learn all of its secrets.
They managed to join a troupe of Maskers, using the mechanical dancers they had built as part of a carnival that traveled from island to island. Zaman discovered a flair for performance, and would choreograph elaborate shows with their devices, and building their legend as the great inventor who could create impossible machines. They traveled from Bakunawa and throughout the Tagápulo Empire, then around the Great Ring, visiting the Kingdom of Lahat and the Empire of Wamato before crossing the Northern Region and travelling across the kingdoms of Ynys and the Kaphtor Islands before finally arriving in the Malikate of Saba, the lands where the Nagarajya had once ruled.
It was in Tarshish, capital of the Malikate, that Zaman first encountered practitioners of the metaphysical art of Alchemy. This art was a closely guarded secret of the Naga communities in the city, but Zaman was determined to learn its secrets. When The Maskers left Tarshish, Zaman stayed behind, and eventually managed to charm their way into a second apprenticeship.
Zaman the Alchemist
As with so many things, Zaman al-Razaz was a prodigy at Alchemy. They quickly surpassed the other students and learned all the formulae their master could teach and began inventing new ones. Zaman would travel from one alchemist to another, seeking to experiment with their precious Orichalcum tools to see what each attunement could achieve, and how to combine their powers to produce new and fascinating effects. They also experimented with the combination of alchemical principles and their automatons, creating devices with strange and unsettling powers. These accomplishments bolstered Zaman's reputation as a genius, and they never passed up an opportunity to make sure that everyone knew how brilliantly they shone.
Before three years had passed, Zaman had drawn the attention of two powerful groups within the Malikate. The first was the Burj Alhikma, the circle of true magicians that directly served the Malika of Saba. They were interested in the devices Zaman had created, and sought to bring the inventor into their society, although they were not a true mage and could never become a full member. Zaman rebuffed their advances, but they persisted in observing and attempting to appropriate Zaman's work.
While this was troubling, the other organzation that took an interest in Zaman was much more dangerous. The Glass Shadows, who were the spies and assassins of the Malikate, were also watching Zaman closely, and did not like what they saw. Their genius and incredible accomplishments had sparked rumors among the Naga of Tarshish that Zaman al-Razaz might be the Nagavirosha, or maybe their herald. Some Naga Bamsams began to prepare for war, believing that the battle to overthrow the Malikate and restore the Nagarajya might at last be imminent.
It was these preparations that finally led agents of the Glass Shadows to attempt to arrest Zaman. They sent guards to the Naga quarter of Tarshish to seek out Zaman and bring them into custody, that the inventor could be removed as a threat to the Malikate's stability. They did not succeed; a few of Zaman's friends were able to smuggle the inventor out of the city and onto a ship bound for Ghrāyam, on the island of Ajagar.
Zaman the Mystic
Ajagar is a sacred island to the Naga, and where their culture was reborn after the genocides that brought down the Nakaal empire of Muria. Once there, the local Naga community was able to hide Zaman from the agents of the Glass Shadows by keeping them within the grounds of the temple. This confinement was difficult for Zaman to endure, but was a necessary evil, at least until they could smuggle them out of the Malikate entirely.
To pass the time, Zaman immersed themself in the study of Naga religion, learning of the Deva and Vashirak. They studied the prophecies of the Nagavirosha in great depth, and began to delve into the more esoteric and obscure corners of Naga theology. Like with Alchemy, Zaman quickly mastered the existing material and began to extrapolate from it, building and testing their own theories and premises. They quickly discarded the notion that they were the Nagavirosha themself, but became deeply invested in determining how the coming of the Nagavirosha might be predicted or even made to occur.
Eventually, the priests of Ajagar were able to smuggle Zaman onto a ship from Ghrāyam to Kikai, outside the control of the Malikate. Zaman had learned of the mysterious Book of Koa'ki in their studies, and believed that study of this tome might lead to answers about the Nagavirosha. They dove to the book's underwater pyramid, and spent days reading and making notes. When Zaman returned to the surface, they had learned secrets that would eventually lead to the creation of the Prophecy Clock.
Building the clock was not an overnight affair. For years after studying the Book, Zaman was engrossed in the construction of the Fak Altashfir, which sought to replicate aspects of the book itself. This device ultimately failed to be usable, and Zaman had to cast it to the bottom of the sea before it killed everyone nearby. But they took the lessons from this failure away from the disaster, and they proved integral to the creation of the Prophecy Clock inside Bakunawa Lighthouse.
Zaman the Lightkeeper
Finally, Zaman returned home to Bakunawa. They had been away for more than twenty years, and had built a reputation that rivaled any in the Great Ring. When they approached the keepers of Bakunawa Lighthouse with a scheme to predict the coming of the Nagavirosha, Zaman was listened to. The lighthouse was new, and no Numina had yet developed to inhabit it, and the keepers hoped that they might shape the god to be towards the restoration of the Naga.
Once begun, the creation of the Prophecy Clock was remarkably swift. Zaman built automatons which followed their instructions in the construction, and after a few months it was clear that the interior workings of the clock were modifying themselves as well. In less than a year, the initial construction was complete, and the clock began to provide predictions about the future.
One thing it did not do was give a clear indicator of the Nagavirosha's arrival. Instead, it indicated that the conditions for the prophecies resolution were in flux, and the odds of the Nagavirosha being hatched varied wildly from one day to the next. Zaman has now undertaken to modify the clock to provide goals that will make the emergence more likely, but has yet to complete that project.
In the meantime, the clock has gained a sinister reputation among those who live nearby. When it was first created, Zaman allowed the villagers to come and receive their own predictions of the future, which invariably came true. However, many of these predictions were about unpleasant or unfortunate events, and when they came true the villagers blamed the clock for its accuracy. The situation became so bad that Zaman had to create the Muhandasa, mechanical soldiers to protect the Prophecy Clock from attack. So far, they have been successful, but the situation remains tense.
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