Tebeschi (teh-BEH-schee)

Near the delta of the Hebinada River, Tebeschi is often the last port of call for larger boats. It is also a frequent destination for younger members of the Mahada. For it is one of the wonders of the southern Quniya Desert, a floating leisure city.
At the start, Tebeschi was an ordinary town, dependent on fishing, farming, and trade. It was also the best place to hire a local guide to the maze of waterways that is the Hebinada delta region. This was useful to the Mahada hunting parties that would come downriver on their pleasure barges, then hire smaller craft to take them into the delta to hunt one of the more deadly magical mutations, the Ghamam Crocodile. This was considered great sport among the youth of the Mahada, and helped keep the Ghamam population in check.

A Novel Solution

The young princelings that would visit would constantly make remarks about the rustic and backwards town, and the lack of luxurious accomodations. The locals were eager to encourage the Mahadans to come more frequently and deal with the Ghamam problem, but they weren't sure how. With arable land being at a premium in the desert town, the taxes on new construction were so high that they were prohibitive. Several businessfolk attempted to finance luxury taverns at different times, only to fail.

The problem was solved by a retired trader named Malika Khatibi. She wanted to open a coffee shop to cater to their visitors, as well as locals, but also found the taxes to be beyond what she could afford. Instead, she looked at what she did have, her old trading barge. With a little help, she transformed it into a small floating coffee house, with a fabric awning to shade her guests and a small kitchen in the rear cabin to serve coffee and snacks out of. She moored it just off the main channel for travel, near where the Mahadans often moored their own barge.
Local officials were not amused, and attempted to tax her for the new building, but she fought the matter, and the magistrate ruled in her favor. A barge was a barge, and not a building. The coffee house could stay. When the next party of young hunters came downriver looking for sport, they were delighted to find the little coffee shop waiting for them. It had also been doing brisk business with the townsfolk, as well, for Khatibi was well respected.

The City Afloat

Soon, other business people followed Khatibi's innovative plan. Old trading barges were refurbished into all manner of things - public houses, shops, eateries - and new, flatter ones were constructed to hold small taverns, casinos, and other luxury accomodations. Another thriving business sprung up, as smaller vessels began to be poled from one barge to another, as well as to the docks, for a fee. The local lawmakers were hard pressed to keep up with the building boom, as they were forced to regulate where a barge could be moored, where lanes of traffic were to be, and who had claim on which location on the water.

by Nightflyer0ne via Midjourney

It wasn't long before it was a common site to see two or even three pleasure barges of Mahadans, young and old, as well as other rich folk with pretentions of standing, sailing down the river to Tebeschi. The floating city was a success, now catering to every kind of leisure activity or louche behavior, and the nearby Ghamam crocodile population has dropped so low that hunting parties must go further and further into the delta for their sport.

by Nightflyer0ne via Midjourney

Founding Date

75 AS

Alternative Name(s)

The Floating City

Type

Large town

Population

346

Inhabitant Demonym

Tebeschan

Location under

Khaldai