Maadi (MAh dee)
City of Orc and Man
Maadi is a town sitting on the border of the Human queendom of Hydossia and the Orc nation of Kal Kissuti. It is an ancient site, dating back to the days of Ancient Siduum. The Siduumites used the mountain valleys around what is now Maadi as a holy site, and graveyard. Tombs cut into the mountains, as well as within natural caves are scattered through the region. Two pyramids are located in and near the town itself, with several others scattered throughout the region. Some hidden under centuries of dirt and sand. These all draw in many adventurers seeking treasures of old. A fool's errand as most of these sites are trapped, cursed, and a dwelling for nasty creatures.
The two pyramids sitting close to Maadi were looted in anquity, and largely empty. The largest, built on the Kal Kissuti side of the town, has seen its inner chambers used as a military outpost for the orc, to guard their borders. The smaller, step pyramid is within the town itself, with some of Maadi build up its side. Its entrance leads into a vast network below the mountains. Through this network citizens of the Night Below trade with the town as well. They use the ancient burial chambers at their hub in Maadi, largely agreeing with the non-aggression stance of the town's people.
The citizens of Maadi itself ignore the ruins around their homes. Though they profit from these 'adventuring tourist', they are annoyed by these visitors, who alwaysseem to stir up trouble for the natives. Usually with the Maadi people having to clean up the mess these now dead adventurers made.
The border town is stuck in the middle of a 'cold war' between its two nations, and acts as a neutral zone of trade for both. The humans of Hydossia and the orc of Kal Kissuti regularly send small raids deep into each other's territory for plunder and conquest, while at the same time claiming peaceful trade with each other through Maadi. Orc resources travel freely along the road to the town, as do those of Hydossia. In Maadi exchanges are made and the goods are sent on their way. These convoys are heavily guarded in both directions. The two nations may have an agreement, but neither trust the other to keep it. One of these days the stalemate will break and the roads to Maadi will be raided by one side or the other. All that is keeping this from happening so far is that the Hydossa do not want to be viewed as the breaker of the agreement, while the orcs do not want to seem desperate and weak. They believe attacking the trade route would show the world that they could not sustain themselves without resorting to their people's brutal ways.
Maadi itself is a town of both human and orc citizens, about an equal number of both peoples. Many of these, on both sides, are generational citizens. There is always tension in the town among the people, but they largely live together as neighbors. Some even friends. The tension largely derives for the fact that their respective nations could break the treaty someday and the town would go to war with itself, each race joining its homeland to kill the other side.
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