Tayarat
The town of Tayarat is a bit of an architectural marvel. Although there does exist an island here, it is barely more than a sandbar. The town itself is built both upon this tiny spit of land and extends out into the ocean itself. A series of floating rafts and barges make up the rest of the city, securely anchored into the seabed or attached to the rest of the town. Although this makes it vulnerable to the elements, the town remains protected by its djinn, who has sponsored the town's growth and serves as a patron for the growing community. Most of the local commerce relies heavily upon pearls and other items dug out from the depths below the water's surface.
Demographics
The population of Tayarat is made up predominantly of Bahami humans. These humans are supplemented by a fairly large work force of catfolk slaves, who provide the brute labor for the community. The humans are the dominant race, economically and numerically.
Government
The ruler of the town is known best as the Mukarrib of Tayarat. The mukarrib has absolute executive power over all elements of life within the community. His orders are law, and he enacts those laws through the service of magistrates and delegates. These individuals are assigned a single particular role or task and are under the express orders of the mukarrib to fulfill that task to the best of their ability. They are typically granted funds from the ruling house in order to accomplish these goals, and the means of their efforts can often differ greatly depending on the assignment at hand.
Defences
Due to the unique nature of its construction, Tayarat has always been vulnerable to attacks from the sea. Although the land settlement portion of the community does have a stone wall around it, the majority of the town lacks any sort of fixed fortifications. Similarly, there is no single town guard, as the settlement is protected simply by the house guard and mercenaries of House Chafik. Most of the effort to defend the town has been made through solid diplomatic relationships with Aljana and nearby Kabir Jazira. Failing that, a corsair guard of usually around a half dozen volunteer raider warships protect the sealanes around the town.
Industry & Trade
The island of Tayarat lacks any sort of natural resources or growing land for crops. Although a handful of floating gardens exist to help maintain a handful of growth, along with a handful of fishing boats, most food is imported from Kabir Jazira. The food and fresh water brought from larger islands helps to sustain the community, and is regularly purchased using the bounty that exists underneath the town. Gems formed from the waves and seas, in addition to a plethora of clams and pearls help to purchase these goods, and catfolk slaves are typically forced to dive for these goods to be found, one of the most dangerous jobs in the Federation. Nearly all trade relies upon the retrieval of these goods for trade to other mukarribs and their lands.
Infrastructure
The town of Tayarat is an impressive feat of engineering, all the more because it was not originally designed to be. Initially constructed of a handful of buildings on a tiny island with a small flotilla of ships lashed to a makeshift dock, the community has evolved into a floating town, bobbing up and down upon the waves. The town remains anchored upon the island itself, but the rest of it has been created out of barges that rest upon the seas and have been carefully balanced to prevent tipping or capsizing from rogue waves. Other anchors exist in the form of pillars that have been driven into the sands below, creating more and more stable platforms as the town has expanded into the ocean.
The Shrine of Shibef is another architectural marvel, built from blocks of coral harvested from beneath the town. The shrine is the home to the named djinn that rules over the island and offered sanctuary to the first settlers that built homes here. The djinn, unlike others of his types, focuses mostly on remaining isolated from donations, only occasionally demanding the most beautiful of pearls retrieved from the depths.
Assets
Tayarat has a thriving marketplace that caters to any vessels that choose to dock in the small port. The market is accessible to traders of all nations, though those outside of the Bahami Federation rarely make the effort to arrive here. For the most part they cater to buying and selling goods required for life, as very few items are produced locally such as nails or other basic construction materials. The pearls and gems from the underwater mines below offer the main selling point for the community, and there are multiple jewelers and other distributers that offer these fine items for sale to enterprising merchants. The Deepwater Inn is one of the main attractions for those visiting, as most of it is constructed in watertight compartments under water, with strong glass allowing its patrons to actually look out upon the reefs and sands below the town's surface.
Guilds and Factions
House Chafik is the ruling noble house of Tayarat, and they represent the oldest interests of the wealthiest classes of Tayarati society. There are a handful of smaller noble houses, but historically, they bow to the desires of the ruling mukarrib. There are two other factions within the community that most mukarribs have to consider before making decisions that affect the town. The first of these is the corsairs. As with any Bahami island, the corsairs are a powerful and heavily armed force that bring in ample wealth from raids along the coast of the mainland. They frequently call for more and more money to be spent to arm and equip their warships, often at the expense of the other faction, called the "floaters," making up of those who seek simply a peaceful life in the town, either through mining or fishing.
The slaves of Tayarat are in an unique position when compared to slaves elsewhere in the Federation. The extreme skill and experience required for underwater mining and the retrieval of pearls has made the slaves into a position where they have considerable bargaining power. A stoppage of work by the divers or shortfall can easily spell financial or economic doom for the rest of the town. While a handful of Bahamis have tried to dive with varying degrees of success, the catfolk have proven themselves adept at the task. Therefore, the slaves in Tayarat have been granted far superior living standards and even offered a percentage or finders' fee for their work. Tayarat therefore has the largest percentage of free catfolk in the Federation.
Founding Date
567 AF
Type
Town
Population
5,400
Related Ethnicities
Inhabitant Demonym
Tayarati
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
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