Saibayya

Overview

The City of Soldiers, the Gray City, and the Northern Gateway are all titles long held by Saibayya since it's founding by human settlers. Despite the focus on the military in the city, Saibayya is also an important fishing and trade port, and is one of the last major ports before going north, and the first port for trade goods going south. The last major task that always falls on the military of Saibayya is their watch over the ruins of Memnonnar, several days walk to the east of the city. The city was settled early on in human development, but was quickly abandoned due to the cursed location. Many evils are buried there, and no one in Calimshan wants to see those evils spread and escape. Saibayya has always been friendly to wizards. Many mages are inducted into the navy or at least brought onboard for use as added navigational aids (through their magical scrying abilities) or powerful and unconventional defenses against pirates. Still, as Saibayya is a far less urban city than some of Calimshan's others, wizardry is less ostentatious here, and thus the city seems less obsessive and fawning about magic than other cities.

Major Exports

Fish, pottery, caravan services (including wagon-building or repairs, equipment, etc.), shipwrights, and mercenaries.

Saibayya Underworld

With the rise of the current Syl-Pasha, Nasim yn Feroz el Rhimod grew in notoriety and power as a loyal subject of his father. Now, while he still holds all the former dirt on his enemies, the self-proclaimed "Dark Caleph" Nasim has many more folk struggling to garner favor with him than fighting to expand their fortunes within the Rhimod regime. In a few short years, the leadership of the rogue powers of Saibayya consolidated under two people—Nasim and el Kahmir's chosen lieutenant for Saibayya, the young but loyal Basad yn Malik el Ostak. El Kahmir has sworn an oath of loyalty to the syl-pasha, and his subordinate families and lieutenants cannot not break his word without all losing face and honor. Listed below are the largest families that run the many underworld business of Saibayya;
Assassins - El Kahmir. The bald, skinny man called Rahim el Omadas does not seem like a major threat face to face, which is a thought with which they die with often, as Rahim is one of the most cold blooded killers in Calimshan. He leads the assassins with one simple rule: "The why of killing is irrelevant. The how of killing must always be clean and artful to be true assassins' work rather than a butcher's mark." As much as he wants to kill Nasim due to old grudges and Nasim's arrogant attitude, the pasha of assassins has been Basad's lifelong friend and will not betray his oaths and those of his betters to satisfy his own personal vendetta.
Black Marketeers - El Rhimod. Nasim directly oversees black-market operations and has actually increased profits and the flow of goods by more than 50% in his few short years here including acquiring and selling more goods from the Underdark than ever before.
Burglars and Thieves - El Khamir Basad's younger brother Ottad yn Malik el Ostak rules over the thieves by his connections first and his skills second, a similar condition to that which led to the death of the previous thieves' guildmaster in a duel of honor. Ottad's control is weak but stable, given the current situation and the horrible losses during the Underworld Wars a decade ago. Many of thieves independently work for Nasim or others, and Ottad is too drunk with the power of his position to begin to notice (though Nasim's wife Nureh is slowly using the boy's distraction to her advantage)
Enforcers and Thugs - El Rhimod. Nasim chooses to directly lead and attend to the activities of this faction, as it allows him a therapeutic way of releasing his anger without shattering the careful political webs in place around him.
Pirates, Smugglers, and Slavers - El Kahmir. Rahlbar Halus yn Melek el Duramij is an aging admiral of the secondary fleet here whose ships have been running contraband goods secretly for years. His high position assures that no local naval officers can object to his illegal dealings, since many of them are either in key positions of these operations or have been moved to other posts outside of Saibayya's naval yard.
Spies - El Rhimod. Nasim's young wife, Nureh yr Catahra el Rhimod, has proven the most adept spymaster either he or his father has ever seen (or so the syl-pasha says). The raven-haired beauty has winnowed out an extraordinary number secrets by using a small cadre of thieves, jhasinni and jhasinnar, and three various identities of her own (a jhasina, a bard, and a barmaid in various parts of town), all of whom have their own friends and informants and ways to gain information.

Points of interest

Important Areas in the City - Saibayya most recognizable feature is easily spotted as you travel the Trade Way along the White River or as you approach from the sea. The rich amount of deep gray clay and mud of the area lends an interesting and striking visual as you approach. The city uses this clay often, and the cursed city of Memnonnar is covered in them as well, though often these gray bricks are painted or decorated. The use of imported tile or stone from elsewhere in the world from other areas of Calimshan and Chondath is seen as a status symbol, as such folk can afford to not live in the "common gray".
Saibayya's Naval Sabban encloses the naval yards, docks, shipwrights, and some barracks for the sailors. The sabban walk does not exist around this area, as the wall rises 10 feet in height with only the east and west gates as entrances. While much of Saibayya's money is tied to either fishing or the navy, sailors rarely range farther than the areas surrounding the docks, where their needs and wants are catered to.
The city is ancient, and the external walls, built over a thousand years ago still stand. They, unlike the standard gray brick of the city, are made of a dark smooth rock that is totally immune to heat and wear. They shine and are cool to the touch no matter the conditions of the region. They are said to have been created by Jizar the Dragon in legend, but no one actually knows who did. The large block tower over the main southern gate and the gate itself are made of the same material, and these have withstood dragons' breath and fireballs without any damage whatsoever. Despite the best efforts of armorers, weaponsmiths, and mages alike to preserve this heat resistance, the dark shale like rock loses its special properties once separated from the walls or gate and becomes common coal.

Places to Stay

While Saibayya is fair and accommodating in many other ways, the city's taverns, inns, and feasthall tends to rely on supply and demand to set prices. In other words, prices are higher than the norm here even for the worst accommodations. Visiting Saibayya on a tight budget with show a traveler using haylofts for beds and handmeals once a day at best. Still among the hundreds of locations, there are some that stick out the most;
The Black Flagon - This is a crowded, smoky, low list classic tavern of the battered but massive wood furniture, low beamed ceiling sort. Drinks are overpriced but swiftly served and delicious as they are served by an energetic and ample staff of sprites. Few folks know that the bold sprites actually own the tavern, but may have learned that teasing, harming, or mocking the sprites is to be banned from the bar forever, by magical means if necessary. Privacy and quiet is unknown in the Flagon, but it is a favored meeting place of many. Quality/Price - Good/Expensive
The Fine Gold Chain - This club is easy to find, since it is a fairy tale style castle building of brown sandstone with slender turrets, little round balconies, and little grinning gargoyles everywhere. It is owned by Open to adventurers mostly, it serves as the site of ongoing revelry both day and night. It also hosts feasts of strange monster meats and recruitment sessions for adventuring companies or caravan owners desiring to hire all kinds of heroes and mercenaries. The tales told here are of legendary color, with out of work adventurers putting on weapon feat demonstrations or model for painters or lovers of live tableaux. Quality/Price - Excellent/Expensive
The Brazen Behir - Named for the lifelike statue that curls up into the air to form its front gate, this large, well-lit but rather impersonal inn is the stopping place for many caravans and groups of large travelers. thanks to its prodigious size and excellent stables and walled good storage compound. It boasts all-hours communal baths, a wide menu with exotic dishes and a few six or seven room suites. Quality/Price - Good/Expensive
Tulbusker's Safe Haven - This inn is a cozily shabby, once-grand but friendly place where almost everything is mended or in need of repair. The staff is cheerful, thoughtful, and always available, and the fees reasonable (a rarity in Saibayya). The Safe Haven is the favored accommodation of many visitors, even now that its jovial founder, the legendarily loud and fat ex-adventurer Tulbusker, has died and his former servants have taken over. Telda, lady of the kitchens, is famous for her thick, smoky-flavored mushroom stews, and the inn maintains a separate dining room for citizens who just want to eat at the Haven and not stay overnight. Quality/Price - Good/Moderate.

Notable Temples and Clergy

As one of the secondary naval port cities of Calimshan, one would expect a multitude of water temples, but there are no more than an inland city. The clergy of the city is well distributed across all faiths, and there are temples in the city to nearly all powers, although few are major complexes like in Calimport.
The Theater of All Faiths is an ancient stadium and theater from the oldest days of Calimshan. While once merely a theater, it is now used as a temple for any faith. The city sweepers and amlakkar are responsible for its upkeep and defense, and they do a remarkable job. Most often, it is used for important ceremonies whose crowds would exceed a temple's capacity. The unique nature of the theater, though, involves its seats. If people begin to sing, the stone slab benches beneath them reverberate with the notes, slightly echoing them. After five minutes of singing, the seats pulse and sparkle with unknown magic and then the seated singers are levitated about three feet above their seats and maintain that elevation until the singing stops. Raising the volume of the song does not change the elevation, and singers feather fall back to their seats upon the conclusion of the song. Only singing produces this effect, and few can find the true source of the enchantments (as the whole theater glows from ancient magic when divinations are performed).
The Protectors' Home is a small but splendid two story temple carved of distinctive Damaran marble. It's four caryatid columns along its front wall depict some gods of protection and community, specifically Mehena, Melora, Harrus, Shelyn. While the original shell of the building is more than 1,000 years old, the caryatid columns of the Four Protectors replaced those of Babylon, Shar, Vecna, Teseyr (as this place was once a gathering for evil forces) more than 130 years ago. Now, this is among the more popular of religious sites to visit in Saibayya; its gods promise protection for caravans using all modes of travel to nearly every region

Founding Date

88 AC

Type

Metropolis

Population

350,000 citizens and 15,000 rural citizens

Location under

Whitefin Bay

Owner/Ruler

Arin yn Kahar el Sujil

Additional Rulers/Owners

• Anders el Gnurlbrach

Owning Organization

Calimshan

Characters in Location

• Anders el Gnurlbrach
• Ariana yr Tora el Bakran
• Arin yn Kahar el Sujil
• Basad yn Malik el Ostak
• Dakhim el Yndhar
• Darkas the Poem-maker
• Hajii yn Atsu el Bakran
• Halus yn Melek el Duramij
• Hastor el Khafar
• Jalavaerra Ishtra "Fine Gold Chain"
• Nasim yn Feroz el Rhimod
• Nureh yr Catahra el Rhimod
• Ottad yn Malik el Ostak
• Rahim el Omadas
• Talimar the Honest
• Vyaalis