Beldhune

Demographics

55% Human (10% Half-Elf)
15% Dwarf
15% Dark Elf
5% Gnome
5% Halfling
4% Other Non-Elf
1% Other Elf

Government

Beldhune is ruled by a Sultan, whose main concern is protecting and enriching himself and whose second concern is protecting and enriching the city. The Sultan adjudicates high level trials (including disputes between nobles) and maintains the City Walls and the Regional Guard (which protects caravans and patrols the desert in the surrounding countryside).The Sultan also has a Palace Guard comprised of his most loyal and skilled soldiers. He chooses a representative to send to the Great Desert Council. The Sultan collects a tax on all trade in the city. The nobles of Beldhune each own one of fifteen sections in the city. They are allowed to tax any activity (legal or illegal) in their territory to any degree they see fit except non-imported food and water. Nobles frequently buy and sell territory and the sections they rule change continually. Technically each is responsible for security in their territories but they collectively fund the City Guard to oversee this on their behalf. Below the fifteen Noble houses are the Guilds. The many guilds represent their members’ interests and lobby the Sultan and the nobles for certain changes or favors.

Defences

City Guard - 2500
Regional Guard - 3500
Mercenaries - 1000
Imperial Garrison - 750 inside, additional 1000 at the nearby fortress.
City Walls surround the “Old City” and end just outside the Oasis. The walls were in disrepair for a long time but an Imperial decree along with a substantial investment got them fixed. The walls stand 70 feet high and are 15 feet thick. The upper 20 feet are hollow with arrowslits. Turrets are spaced every 280 feet and form origins for streets in the cities below which are named for the corresponding tower.

Industry & Trade

Like the other Free Cities, Beldhune started out as an Oasis caravan stop. Trade is still a huge part of the economy here. However it also has the benefit of a good water source, the Beldhune River diverted from the mountains to the North, so it was able to grow larger than a desert city normally would and even exports some food to the other Free Cities. The hills to the north have quarries and some mines that allow Beldhune to have a homegrown industry in forged goods. Beldhune has always been a stopover for those trading with Kaliathissa from the south, and magical goods and elven influences floated through the city until recently. There is still a huge black market in magical goods here.

Infrastructure

As is common for cities at the edge of the Great Desert, a river flowing out of the mountains to the north was diverted via a series of dams as the population grew too large for the Oasis to support it. An aqueduct pipes this fresh water into the city. The Oasis is still used to water caravan pack animals but its use is limited by the Farmers’ guild.

Guilds and Factions

Guilds

There are many guilds in Beldhune, including the Traders’ guild, the Merchants’ guild, the Farmers’ guild (representing the farmers of the Oasis outside the city), the Artisans’ Guild, and more. The guilds represent the interests of their members and lobby the Nobles and Sultan in those interests.
The City Guard is also technically a guild. Historically there was a Magicians’ Guild, a Thieves’ Guild, and an Assassins’ Guild as well. The Assassin’s guild was banned by the decree of the Sultan about 300 years ago and the other two were banned following Imperial decree.
Magoc has taken a large role in the city. On paper, Magoc has imperial authority and can use that to issue orders to the Sultan. In practice, Magoc fulfills the role of the Magicians’ Guild but with much heavier enforcement and stricter rules. Vesides defering to the Sultan, Magoc functions much like it does everywhere else although like in the other Free Cities it often has trouble policing its rules on the populace, especially the nobles. Magoc and the City Guard however both command great respect from the current Sultan, Suleiman XXIII. Suleiman is fairly positive towards the Empire and has lately been trying to get the two to work together with decent results.
The Yeomanry maintain a small but obvious presence in the city, often finding themselves at odds with the locals who see their enforcement of the Emperor’s law as an erosion of their own right to enforce and profit from city activity. There is little trust for the Yeomanry but a combination of tenacious leadership and writs of Imperial Authority mean that as long as the Sultan is cooperative, the Yeomanry can carry out its duties.

Other Factions

The Nobles are organized by family and there are 15 of these. However they all roughly align into two factions: the Camels and the Foxes.
The Camels are empire indifferent. They want to maximize business and think the Empire is helpful in this regard. Currently this is the dominant noble faction.
The Foxes view the Empire with suspicion or even hostility. They think the last two hundred years have only brought oppression to Beldhune and resent the strictures the Empire has placed on the city. Houses with more Dark Elven blood are more likely to fall into this faction as well as ones that historically had focused on magic.
Finally, an Imperial Garrison has been set up a day’s travel northeast of Beldhune. This is a small but important presence in Beldhunian politics.

History

Beldhune was the only Oasis that never fell to the Dark Elves and was the site of the founding of the Great Desert Council and the origin of the subsequent military campaign. Relatively small at the time, the leaders saw opportunity and quickly built infrastructure to support growth and logistics for the campaign to retake the Desert.
The Sultans of Beldhune used the growing city’s prestige and reputation for safety to attract traders and adventurers. Diverting the Beldhune River and the aqueduct attracted even more people.
The Advent of the Empire has made things both better and worse for Beldhune. On the one hand the increased volume of cross-desert trade means Beldhune is more prosperous than ever. On the other this means the independent minded people of the city need to walk a fine line to prevent from being crushed under the Empire’s heel. Recently things have taken a turn for the worse with black-market Kolthian goods flowing into and through the city. The construction of the ne nearby Imperial Garrison just outside the city’s territory also worries citizens greatly.

Geography

The city is decided into an inner city within the walls, and an outer city further decided into North, East, and West.
The streets of the inner city, and streets of the outer city that terminate at the wall, are spaced such that they terminate at a turret. The turrets are each named for a God, Sultan, or Animal, and the streets are named after the turret at their terminus. These “Turret streets” in the old city are named “Inner” within the walls and “Outer” outside them.

Type

City

Population

80,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Beldhunian

Location under

The Great Desert

Owning Organization

The Free Cities

Characters in Location

• Yeoman Francis

Related Reports (Primary)

• The Black Market Report