Erek

Demographics

65% Human
15% Dark Elf
9% Dwarven
6% Halfling
5% Other

52,000 total population

Government

The tribal system that once ruled Erek has given way to a Monarchy. The Sultan of Erek speaks for the original Four Tribes, and the rest of the population is represented by a council called “the Grand Tent”. The Sultan and the council generally have a good working relationship, with the Sultan generally in a role as a financier for the council’s requests.
The Sultan and the tribal noble positions are hereditarily passed down in a patrilineal manner. The Great Tent holds elections every five years, with the Franchise being awarded to those who pay an extra five percent tax To the Sultan on their earnings (on top of the original five percent). Running for a seat in the Great Tent requires a one time donation to the Sultan, with uncontested incumbents paying half price.
Naturally, Erek is somewhat of an aristocracy, but the sliding scale allows poor individuals to participate so long as they keep financial records. The Financiers’ guild provides this service free of charge to anyone who makes below a certain threshold.
Beyond the official mechanisms of state, the Financiers’ Guild is hugely influential. Originally a way for the Four Tribes to coordinate, safeguard, and advise one another on their treasuries, as Erek grew in power and other wealthy individuals of the desert arrived, the regular meeting was owned up to wealthy depositors and investors and became a guild. The other standard guilds exist in Erek, with of course the exception of criminal guilds (which never existed) and the Wizards’ Guild which was officially disbanded at the demand of the Magocracy. Nevertheless, the magical water fountains somehow keep flowing.

Infrastructure

In the middle of the Great Desert with only a single small oasis to give water, the great wealth of the Four Tribes was able to procure a massive and extremely expensive magical system that pumps massive quantities of water straight from its Elemental Plane. How the water keeps flowing without any wizards to and minimal support from Magoc to sustain it is a mystery to many and a source of great paranoia to the Empire.

History

Erek was taken back from the Dark Elves around 600 PE, and at the time only four families with a verifiable claim on the oasis came forward. Erek showed its first promise as a supply base for the Great Desert Federation and its allies. As the war drew to a close, its central location made it a key refueling point for any caravan crossing the desert. The Four Tribes sought help in gathering and growing the fortunes they were making and poured whatever they did not invest into loans, political gifts, and expensive dowries for the other oasis settlements. Most of the great river diversion projects that slaked the thirst of the growing cities on the desert's edge were funded by Erekese loans.
Despite the power it began to accrue, Erek itself eked out a lowly existence as a small trading town. It wasn't until 289 PE, when a wayward scion of one of the tribes returned from a long journey around the world with a Kolthian hydromancer. The two had hatched a plan to turn Erek into a jewel of civilization in the middle of the desert and a nexus for finance where anyone on Granmor could come get a loan or invest money. The tribes were thrilled with this idea, as they had always been jealous of the growing cities around the desert's edge and eager to grow their wealth even more. The system was built in ten years and bankers and financiers from across the continent were invited to to come to Erek to view it and be pitched on what Erek wanted to establish in the desert. Many stayed, and Erek's reputation grew and grew.
Erek was especially key in financing many Dwarven projects including some of their newer Mountainhomes and certain expeditions to abandoned and caved in ones. This and the long-standing regional trade ties are reasons that the Dwarves demanded autonomy for the Desert Federation during the formation of the Union.
Overall, the ascent of the Empire has not been good business for Erek. The city has not been openly moving to undermine the Desert Federation's semi-autonomous membership in the Union of Granmor, but its dim view of its new "allies" is an open secret. This has only worstened when Erek was used as a refuling point for the Imperial, Sergal, and Verdonese armies on the way to the Xethess campaign starting two years ago. After ceaseless protests from Erek, the Empire agreed to not use Erek but began building a series of forts in the desert instead. All this has Erek worried that the Empire is showing force and could plan an invasion at any time.

Type

City

Inhabitant Demonym

Erekese

Location under

The Great Desert

Owning Organization

The Free Cities