Ushad (oo-shad)
At the center of the inhospitable glass desert lies the resplendent city of Ushad. founded years after the demonic incursion in order to reconnect the broken trade routes of (unnamed continent) by land. Its founders were merchants, who traded with the ancient nomad tribes goods for knowledge on how to survive and navigate the expedient but treacherous desert landscape. As a hub of exotic goods and it's convenient placement as the crossroads between a myriad of other landlocked nations, it quickly became a major economic power, and even gave rise to a new Wizarding University.
Demographics
Most low class inhabitants were formerly from surrounding tribes, assimilated into the society to fulfill low-esteem jobs over the course of several generations. Higher class members are typically wealthy merchants who settled and established their companies in the city, and benefit greatly from generational wealth.
Government
Ushad is a complete oligarchy, as all political power is shared among the richest merchant lords who own vast amounts of land inside and outside the city of splendour. legal systems are bare and contracts are king, but a tense peace is kept between rival lords for the sake of stable profits.
Trading companies that operate within Ushad pay their dues to the city since all goods flow through them. The Merchant Council stands in place of a formal governmental system. On the council, wealthy merchants barter and bargain rules of engagement within the city. The Merchant Lord, the most powerful on the council-- the one with the final say in all matters of discussion, largest coffers, private military, and favors owed to him, was Merchant Lord Fimir Nahafkha.
After inheriting the Nahafkha trading conglomerate from his own father, he initiated a years long bloody expansionist crusade that nearly destroyed the trade city, but in the end, he would see himself on a singular throne in control of near 100% of all companies and land in and around Ushad. While his singular rule brought about record profits never seen before, the peerless tyrant also ushered in a new era of lower class oppression, and the nomad populations who lived outside of the city borders would find themselves ensnared in his ambitions to control every trade route and tax levy in his sweeping territory and influence.
The untouchable Lord Fimir Nahafkha finally died after his long reign, on the toilet after engorging himself on exotic fruits. The long-awaited death of the most powerful man in the Glass Desert marked the beginning of a new era of endless strife, nearly as bloody as his rise to power. Once-loyal families and advisors quickly turned to fight over his fortune, claiming contracts, inheritance, all through sheer force and deadly cunning.
Trading companies that operate within Ushad pay their dues to the city since all goods flow through them. The Merchant Council stands in place of a formal governmental system. On the council, wealthy merchants barter and bargain rules of engagement within the city. The Merchant Lord, the most powerful on the council-- the one with the final say in all matters of discussion, largest coffers, private military, and favors owed to him, was Merchant Lord Fimir Nahafkha.
Lord of Lords
Until his passing, Fimir Nahafkha held this title and managed to consume the typically fractured city-state under a single hegemonic rule. It was only in the past few decades of Ushadan contemporary history that saw the rise and precipitous fall of the most powerful lord to grace the Glass Desert with his prodigous size.After inheriting the Nahafkha trading conglomerate from his own father, he initiated a years long bloody expansionist crusade that nearly destroyed the trade city, but in the end, he would see himself on a singular throne in control of near 100% of all companies and land in and around Ushad. While his singular rule brought about record profits never seen before, the peerless tyrant also ushered in a new era of lower class oppression, and the nomad populations who lived outside of the city borders would find themselves ensnared in his ambitions to control every trade route and tax levy in his sweeping territory and influence.
The untouchable Lord Fimir Nahafkha finally died after his long reign, on the toilet after engorging himself on exotic fruits. The long-awaited death of the most powerful man in the Glass Desert marked the beginning of a new era of endless strife, nearly as bloody as his rise to power. Once-loyal families and advisors quickly turned to fight over his fortune, claiming contracts, inheritance, all through sheer force and deadly cunning.
Defences
Private militaries make up the majority of the security forces. The directive of these mercenaries on retainer is to protect the assets of the merchant that pays them. Occasionally this extends to dealing with native tribes in the Glass Desert.
Industry & Trade
As a trading hub for rare goods, Ushad was a key factor in reinvigorating the global economy after the disaster of The Great Demonic Incursion at year 0. The trade routes through the desert are perilous, but a duided journey through it is far safer than travelling through mountain ranges, jungles, or the Blade Sea to the north. As such, nations all over the continent see their goods pass through Ushad. The presence of rare goods from across the globe made it a prime location for practitioners of magic, and so the Wizarding University was founded, making the city a place of high learning as well.
Infrastructure
Constructed over a large underground reservoir, water is available in excess, due to a complex pumping system constructed around 250 ADI. Flushing toilets are not available, instead, low class cleaners are tasked with collecting waste and delivering it to surrounding farms. Surrounding the outer city are a set of protective obelisks erected by wizards, not long after the city's founding. It shields the city from the otherwise deadly sandstorms of the Glass Desert, to the point where only a meagre amount of sand passes the barrier on the most tempestuous of storms. Thanks to these, Ushad contains the only viable farms in the whole desert.
Districts
Districts are separated by what trading company owns the area. They may have their own equivalent of trade, residences, and entertainment subdivisions within them, all owned by the same people. While this was not quite the case for 20 years, the death of the merchant lord has returned to this norm.
Assets
A vast quantity of gold is traded in and out of the city, and wealth in the form of rare goods and luxuries are innumerable. Talented tradesmen also guarantee a steady supply of high quality tools and equipment for every need. A steady source of water pumped up from a resevoir below eliminates the primary danger of desert settlements.
Guilds and Factions
With the death of Merchant Lord Fimir Nahafkha, former underlings of the late merchant have since scrambled for power, however nolord has successfully won their spot at the top of the ladder. The surviving vassals that share the familiar tense peace as merchant lords are the following:
Fimir Nahafkha's former bookkeeper, who retains no allies and operates solely by proxy. She has intimate knowledge of where hidden caches of where the vast Nahafkha fortune is kept, and has the funding necessary to keep plenty of people loyal in her employ.
The only known surviving son of the Nahafkha family. A bastard, having the benefi tof being disowned and forgotten at birth, he was spared the murders, kidnappings, and ransoms that came with the aftermath of his father's death. Through his force of will and years of living on the streets, he scrapes together what is left if his inheritance and the remaining loyalists, carving out a piece of the city for himself. By contract, Nasai holds the most legitimate claim to the lives of all his father's warfogred by contract, but efforts to wrangle them onto his side have not been made as of yet.Umas Saad-is
The former enforcer who served Fimir Nahafkha before his passing.
Aside from them, the Wizarding University has always remained self-governed.
Adra Al-Kirsakh
Adra Al-Kirasakh, Nahafkha's former spymaster, Owns the smallest share of terriotry in the city but is influential in more ways than one would realize. They keep many close ties to undergound organizations in other nations.Mosul Nehyl
Fimir Nahafkha's former bookkeeper, who retains no allies and operates solely by proxy. She has intimate knowledge of where hidden caches of where the vast Nahafkha fortune is kept, and has the funding necessary to keep plenty of people loyal in her employ.
Nasai Nahafkha
The only known surviving son of the Nahafkha family. A bastard, having the benefi tof being disowned and forgotten at birth, he was spared the murders, kidnappings, and ransoms that came with the aftermath of his father's death. Through his force of will and years of living on the streets, he scrapes together what is left if his inheritance and the remaining loyalists, carving out a piece of the city for himself. By contract, Nasai holds the most legitimate claim to the lives of all his father's warfogred by contract, but efforts to wrangle them onto his side have not been made as of yet.
Umas Saad-is
The former enforcer who served Fimir Nahafkha before his passing.
Aside from them, the Wizarding University has always remained self-governed.History
After the Great Demonic Incursion, trade was severely disrupted, resulting in famine and scarcity in many parts of the world. The need for establishing new trade routes between the remaining civilizations spurred entrepreneurs to scour the world for unforseen trade routes. The most successful of these ventures found themselves in the Glass Desert. With the kindness of the local tribesmen- who were glad to share their knowledge for luxury goods- taught these travellers to navigate the dangers of the desert, including how to avoid the deadly sandstorms that would make survival otherwise impossible. Using this knowledge, they used the desert as a shortcut- connecting the east, west, and south. This eventually led to the founding of Ushad as a trade outpost, and the erection of the obelisk barrier that shields it from storms. Led by coalitions of wealthy merchants for hundreds of years, it continues to be an important trade hub to this day.
Points of interest
The obelisks of Ushad, which have stood since the city's founding. Over time, they have been moved outward, and new ones added, a service provided by the Wizards of Ushad, at great cost.
The Wizarding University is the premier location for scholars and practitioners of magic alike.
Some of the oldest buildings that still stand bear thousands of cuts made by sandstorms that rolled through before the establishment of the obelisks.
The Wizarding University is the premier location for scholars and practitioners of magic alike.
Some of the oldest buildings that still stand bear thousands of cuts made by sandstorms that rolled through before the establishment of the obelisks.
Tourism
The town has many of exotic pleasures to be experienced, with access to goods from across the world. There's said to be no end to the joys of visiting so long as your coinpurse remains hefty.
Founding Date
238 ADI
Type
City
Population
4000
Inhabitant Demonym
Ushadans
Location under
Included Locations
Additional Rulers/Owners
Owning Organization
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