Saturday, January 6, 2018

Locations: Province of Qadar, Empire of Ralifon

Province of Qadar

Empire of Ralifon


Overview


     Qadar was once a very prosperous and important location in the old Republic of Ralifon. The majority of the city was destroyed by the event known as the Flumen Magnum of P.U. 1000. The Flumen Magnum happened early in the morning just before dawn on the twenty-first of June. There was an unusual thunderous noise that caused many windows to break. The ground shook with such great force that many of the buildings collapsed. Shortly after that an enormous reddish cloud of ash blocked out the sky and rising sun. As panic set in and people began to rush the Gates the sea water receded with an unheard of rapidity. The Gates were backed up from all of the people rushing through them with whatever they could carry. The earth began to quake again, only this time the entire western part of Qadar dropped nearly thirty feet as the sea water rushed back to swallow the now low lying land. Of the nearly twenty thousand persons living in Qadar only roughly one thousand were able to escape before it was swallowed by the sea.
     The remaining few hundred people who survived at Qadar were suddenly cut off from the rest of the Republic. It took nearly a month before the Legions could arrive in sufficient numbers to help rebuild part of the province and make repairs to the remaining structures.

Gates


     The Gates of Qadar have been sealed since the Flumen Magnum of P.U. 1000. Originally they went to Sexeptum and Qidron-Forum Orientem. When the tide is low the top of the Gates can just be seen from the shore and a couple of buoys have been positioned near the Gates to help vessels avoid hitting them.
     The Gates closure was not something that the Societatem Magis had anticipated ever having to happen, so they were flummoxed as to how to proceed. Ultimately Ukrit, the Magi Magni, decided the best solution was to just block the Gates with a wall of iron, thus the gates were sealed.
     The later Magi Magni, Broos the Undying, found a way to alter the Gates so that they now go to different places. His experiments were done in secrecy under the Magnum Bay. The Gates of Magnum Bay lead to a private mansion in Pylos' City at the Aerie and to a cavern deep within the Upside Down Island of the Candy Witch. The mansion is one of many strongholds owned by the salient lich Zadok the Enchanter. He had used Broos to get him access to the Societatem Magis and still has Broos stored away in imprisonment as an undead minion.

Temples and Shrines


     There is only a single proper temple in Qadar, since the disaster nearly a century ago, dedicated to Oukranos. The temple holds services every day and adherents of Oukranos make sacrifices daily in order to appease his wrath and allow the province to flourish once again.
     Outside the walls that remain there are shrines dedicated to Ralifon, Berrish, and Beowa. There is also a small temple to Barbēlō that the sailors coming to port like to frequent after paying their respects to Oukranos.

Notable Cheesemongers


     There are no families of cheesemongers left in the province proper. The Tesremos family used the Flumen Magnum disaster to their advantage. By taking over the outer farms of the former Qadar goblin families and stealing their recipies they were able to increase their profits and power among the Consilio ex Familia.

Notable Locations


     Within what is left of the walls is a new dock and temple. There are some administration buildings for collecting duties and taxes from vessels using the docks. Outside of these remnants a small town has sprung up, mainly to support the needs of ships using the docks and get trade from the sea moving through the province.

Outside the Walls


     To the north is Transienasiams on the Via Spice and further north across the plains of Pinnaqii is Saloppidum. Transienasiams is a two weeks march from Qadar along the Via Qadar. The Via Qadar is a wide well built road that runs directly south from the Via Spice through the extremely dangerous Shezzak'l'zz Waste. It is a full seven days march along the Via Qadar through this area to get to Fort Borbala.
     Fort Borbala has become a small township of 600 persons. Fort Borbala was originally placed at the edge of the Shezzak'l'zz Waste as a buffer to prevent the Eye Tyrants of the region from causing problems further south into the province. With the closing of the Gates the sea trade has been moving through the province along the Via Qadar and into Transienasiams. The Tesremos family has made a very profitable business out of providing protection to caravans moving through the Shezzak'l'zz Waste. They are able to provide this protection because they have struck a deal with the Hive Mother of the Great Waste, to provide her with needed goods for the safe passage of the family's caravans.
     Three days further south from Fort Borbala is the Praedium Essenxa, a former holding of the now conquered family Essenxa. The Tesremos family controls this sprawling estate and most of the surrounding village. The village has a large stable and two different inns for travelers to stay at. The village has no Legionnaires quartered here as the Tesremos family has a private force of minotaur slaves to keep the peace.
     East the road leads to the province of Koravie through the foothills of the Koravie Mountains. At the edge of the province along the Via Qadar, a ten days march is the Welqan Shire. The Welqan hobbits are known as fine makers of leather goods. They trade regularly with the Dwarves of Koravie and the rest of the Qadar province along the Via Qadar.
     Three days west of Welqan one of the rare known gnomish communities, Hocestaverediuoppidumnomineformaresedsitibiabcorreptadixiteiquomodoergotuappellantdomumsuam, or as most everyone else calls is Domumsuam. This community of gnomes is an unusual bunch for gnomes. Most gnomes are a secretive bunch of peoples that are primarily worshippers of Amn. This community is an open community of Erronites. They do have a shrine to Amn but their main temple is dedicated to Erron of Solitude. These are adventuresome gnomes and very friendly, their gladiatorial arena is a bit small for normal sized creatures but they will gladly teach others their weapon techniques, for a price.
     Four days march west is Sheep's Head, a community of shepherds that graze their herds all across the Plains of Pinnaqii. Most of the herds return to the town for the annual shearing festival. The remaining peoples mainly cultivate feed for the winter months, when the herds cannot safely graze the plains to the north, or work at turning the wool into trade worthy products.
     The old western road is still on the other side of Magnum Bay. From the shore of Magnum Bay the Via Wim goes all the way to the Arma Xronos. Beyond the Arma Xronos is the Mare Draconis, an endless ocean full of monsters that eat ships whole. Along the Via Wim there are many small fishing villages. Most of this area is considered as lawless frontier and there are very few patrols by the Legions, generally only when taxes are being collected. The northern areas of the Via Wim are home to orc tribes, giant steadings, dragons and other assorted monsters. The empire has a standing bounty for any adventuring types that want to clear out these monsters and make it safe for expanding the borders of civilization. Along the eastern side of this area is the Amethyst Mountains, the north is bordered by the Schwarzwald forest, and to the east is the Mare Draconis.

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