The Great City of Zaad

There is no city on the face of Auracane that is more bizarre to behold than the Great City of Zaad.
Surrounded by the Fexx Desert for miles in every direction, Zaad is completely encased in a two hundred and fifty foot wall of solid stone and harbours the largest oasis in the desert. The city is crammed full of large buildings supported by obsidian columns alongside golden pagoda towers with coloured tile parasol roofs. It is said that the majority of the city was built by the Djinn with magic, for no race possesses the architectural skill to create such magnificent structures, nor are there such resources in the desert anywhere near the city. In amongst these have been constructed dwellings of sandstone and clay that lay tumbling through every sector of the city, moslty made by humans, dwarves and orgres. The styles of these buildings vary greatly, not only in size, but also in extra materials, such as the dark hardwoods of the southern forests, granite from Trove and ivory from the East. Temples and shrines to both strange and familliar gods are scattered throughout the city in abundance and can be found on nearly ever street, narrow or wide, meandering or straight.
The city is vast and self supporting, for the most part, although trade is the main indusrty due to the incredible number of exotic spices, animals, wares, trinkets and textile materials. The city is constantly alive with music, scents, the hagglers in the markets and the chanting of priests. Even at night the city does not rest, as lavish dinners and entertainment are held by those made rich by shrewd dealings, theives hide in the shadows, looking the relieve them of some of their gain and lanterns of coloured paper dot the windows and hanging posts of nearly every abode.
The populace is mainly human and dwarvish and more than a few ogres, however, Zaad is also home to the wealthy of every race, but perhaps, even more surprisingly, it is aslo home to Djinn, their servants and their masters, Oni and their Foo lion and Foo dog pets, Dragon horses that fly through the air and all manner of strange creatures that may or may not be from this world. It is one of these Djinn that rule Zaad and although only a few know his name, he is referred to as "the Magnificent One". The city guard that keep order serve this Djinn and are garbed in desert robes of black, with turbans that also cover the face. Each is highly skilled in the use of the halberd and the scimitar and the archers support them with recurves and crossbows.