Zhyalay
Demographics
The city is home to a vast collection of racial groups, religions and cultures, that has a tendency to lead to violent racialised conflicts and xenophobic violence from time to time. Kusharites (with Bronze - Light brown skin) make up the majority.
The gender break down is about equal between men and women, although the cities underground Queer community is known for a number of transgender and non-gender conforming individuals.
In terms of wealth demographics, the city's wealthiest 1% control 50% of the city's wealth, the next 19% wealthiest controlling about 30%. The next 30% control 15% of the city's wealth, while the poorest half of the city only contol 5% of the cities wealth. Of this, the poorest 10% only control 0.1% of the city's wealth, often only owning the clothes on their back, if even that.
The wealthiest 5% of the city are mostly found in Old Zhyalay, whch has become home to the oldest and grandest mansions in the city. The next wealthiest 5% are mostly found in the somewhat newer mansions of Temar Tal, home to many of the most powerful Merchant families.
The next wealthiest 10% are mostly found in the spacious manor houses of Darbah Madoro, home to many well-off Merchant families. The middle class of fairly successful merchants and professionals can be found in the respectable, but sometimes cramped, houses of Tahir Madoro. Thus, about 40% of the city's population (some 400 thousand people) dwell behind the city walls.
The remaining 60% of the city's population (some 600 thousand people or more) dwell in the slums outside the city walls. Some middle class merchants and professionals can afford better accommodation close to the city walls, but most are forced to live in cramped and squalid conditions.
Government
The city is technically ruled directly by the current Orazim of Kushar, Orazim Salbalaar the 7th. In reality however, the Orazim prefers to spend his days at Sapphire Palace.
In reality the city is ruled by the Triumvirate, three powerful and ambitious men that have been assigned joined governance of the city. The three men despise one another, but work together out of necessity, all while plotting against one another. These men are:
Zugah Zahab - "The Fat Thief" - 55 years old
A fabulously wealthy and obese merchant from an old and powerful gold-merchant family. Has used his family's wealth to increase his own power and standing. Branched out and now has investments in just about every trade there is. Particularly involved in the gold, wine and slave trades. Particularly involved in the "comfort slave" trade. Known for his arrogance, greed, envy, obesity and perversions.
General Astrati Nar - "The Fanatical Thug" - 48 years old
A battle-hardened and ruthless General. General Nar is a fanatically religious man, and views magic as demonic evil, vowing to destroy every Magi that remains and stamp Magic out from the world once and for all. A brutal yet sharply intelligent man, Nar is the Commander of the City Watch, "the Brown Shields", and wields them like a personal army against any and all criminals and opponents who get in his way. Closely tied with the Priests of the City. Known to work alongside thugs and criminals when they can help him stamp out and capture or kill Magi.
Muurhat Aham - "The Lucky Cheat" - 33 years old
A brilliantly intelligent and utterly ruthless merchant. Comes from a poor family of carpenters, but was able to build up a fortune through shady betting on horse-racing, dog-fighting and the illegal slave fighting rings. A highly corrupt official who has ties with the criminal underworld and whose opponents have a habit of disappearing or turning up dead in the sewers or down on the docks.
by Mike DeBreau
by Dash931
by CellPod
Defences
The old and ancient city walls protect the inner city, as do the great fortresses of Jalah Salesh and Jalah Barat. The city walls were built on the commands of Surosi the Eternal around 610 Age of Magic (AoM), some 5 years into his rule as the effective leader of all Kushar. The walls are 10 strides (meters) thick, and 15 strides (meters) high, and took some 50 years to fully complete. They are defended by numerous watchtowers, that are 20 strides (meters) high. They have never been breached in their over 3 000 year long history, with political changes occurring within the city rather than outside of it. Mighty Gates are closed off to all but residents of the inner city, Merchants willing to pay a toll and others willing to pay a toll and be checked for weapons at the gates.
The outer city is scarcely defended, with those entering the slums often needing protection from gangs and thieves less they lose their wealth or lives in its twisting and cramped squalid streets.
Industry & Trade
The trade industry is the heart of Zhalay. Many residents try their hand at fishing or farming in the surrounding areas however. Construction work, prostitution, cooking, cleaning, craftsmanship and security are other key legal trades. Many civilians turn to theft, murder or begging however to make survive or thrive in the harsh city.
Infrastructure
The Zhyalay Harbour hosts merchant ships from all corners of the known world, its Great Lighthouse acting as a beacon to them, drawing them in like moths to a flame.
The Great Zhyalay Market sells everything from spices and gold to slaves and arcane trinkets, acting as a jostling and chaotic hub of commerce and trade.
Traders' Bridge, which crosses the great Salesh Ezim, joins the two parts of the city together, and houses the spring up stores of lesser traders who can't afford to sell their wares in the chaotic and more exclusive market.
Jalah Salesh (River Guard) is the Ancient Fortress of Zhyalay, guarding the Harbour and serving as the base of operations for the City Watch and as a jail for criminals. The smaller yet still imposing Jalah Barat guards the west side of the harbour.
The Great Temple of Ume is the epicenter of the Syedian faith, a monotheistic religion which views Syed Azuk as a servant of the One God, Ume, who drove out the demonic evil of Magic. Once the mighty Tower of Heavens, the headquarters of the Magi School of Heavens, and base of operations of Arch-Mage Anorus the Proud, the tower became the site of the first of the great Magi purges millennia ago. It was subsequently transformed into the Great Temple of Ume.
The Great and Ancient city walls protect the wealthy markets, harbour, and the houses of the upper and middle class.
Beyond the high walls and mighty gates lies the squalid slums were most of the city's population lives, broken up into Sah Madoro (Sand Town) and Azukginul Madoro (Fishermen's Town) on the east side, Kabal Madoro (Graveyard Town) atop the old commoner's graveyard on the west side and Skwee Madoro (Mud Town) along the muddy banks of the Salesh Ezim.
The new graveyard sits some way from Kabal Madoro, in the hot sands of the surrounding Seeras Desert, although Kabal Madoro creeps steadily towards it over time.
The sewers and crypts of the city are a haven for a flourishing black market and a hiding place for illegal slave fighting rings, criminals gangs and, allegedly, some Magi in hiding.
Assets
Assets range from gold and precious stones to slaves and ships. The cities trade routes are its main asset, but wheat also comes in from the river valley, and fish comes in from the sea and river. Fruit and wine also comes in from wealthier plantations along the river valley.
Guilds and Factions
Guilds:
The Merchants' Guild - Mostly loyal to Zugah Zahab
The Thieves' Guild - Mostly loyal to Muurhat Aham
The Theologians' Guild - Loyal to General Astrati Nar
The Assassins' Guild - Loyal to whoever pays them the most
The Mercenaries' Guild - Loyal to whoever pays them the most
Prominent Gangs:
The Red Smile - Mostly operate in Sah Madoro
The Gravediggers - Mostly operate in Kabal Madoro
The Sharks - Mostly operate in Azukginul Madoro
The Crocodile Teeth - Mostly operate in Skwee Madoro
The Skullmasks - Mostly operate in the sewers and crypts.
History
The city of Zhyalay is located at the mouth of the Salesh Ezim (The Great River), where it meets the sea at the Straits of Eseena, the narrow straits that link the enclosed Tyrian Sea with the Anterean Ocean. The city developed around an old collection of coastal fishing settlements and farming settlements along the fertile valley of the Salesh Ezim. The location right by the narrow Straits of Eseena made the city into a key trading and resupply post for Merchant ships both entering and leaving the straits, quickly making it into a haven for merchants to shelter from storms, pirates and hostile powers and sell or store their wares. Such activity created local employment, with Inns, Taverns, Pleasure Houses, Slave Markets and Mercenary Company Houses springing up through the settlement to offer services and pleasure to the travelling merchants.
Soon the growing settlement became known as "Zhyalay", a name derived from numerous different expressions of joy and celebration at finally seeing land / a safe harbour after months of dangerous and difficult sea travel. The name and celebrations were extended further when all the luxuries that could be enjoyed in the city were discovered.
Zhyalay quickly became the wealthiest and most populated settlement in the region, although one of deep economic inequality, a state of inequality that has persisted over most of its around 5 000 years of existence as a unified settlement. Wealthy merchants, royalty and nobility, both local and those travelling through, enjoy some of the most extravagant and luxurious institutions in all Nitak Neti, protected by mighty and ancient walls and seasoned bodyguards for hire. By comparison, masses of poor and unemployed people struggle in the squalid slums outside the city walls, trying to scrape by a living selling trinkets to passers by, fishing the over-fished and polluted ocean and river, or else resorting to theft or begging on the city streets. Many thousands of orphaned or runaway children join them on the streets, mastering the art of the con, forming their own gangs or becoming the pawns to more established and dangerous ones.
Like flies to rotting flesh, assassins, professional thieves, crime-lords, pirates-for-hire and forgers have gravitated to the city, mingling and rubbing shoulders with adventurers, inventors, artists, engineers, merchants and princes.
Over time, the city became ruled by a High Council, made up of wealthy merchants, mercenary generals, guild-masters, priests and master con-men, who came to dominate the city in an ever changing web of self-interest, backstabbing, corruption and lies.
In ages past, Magi were also drawn in. They sought employ as Battle Magi for great powers or adventuring bands, or else as protection of merchant caravans. And many others joined the emerging cults of the 13 Schools of Magic, gathering and honing their magic, gathering into powerful Orders that sought to exert their own power on the world. As a result, some of the greatest Magi Netak Neti has ever known honed their skills in the Magic Universities in the region, often located some way outside of the city to maintain secrecy, but with chapters in the city to employ and hire aspiring Magi.
One of these Magi, Unam the Powerful, a Magi of Heaven, even paired with Oram (King) Mezer to conquer all of what would become Kushar, with Mezer declaring Zhyalay his new capital after conquering the city and its High Council, and declaring himself Orazim ("Great King" - Emperor) of all Kushar. Unam had himself declared the first Arch-Mage, and began gathering great Magi to his service and formalising the cults into Universities for the 13 Schools of Magic.
The Arch-Mages Unam the Powerful, Surosi the Eternal, Tesh the Diabolical, Suhor the Great and Anorus the Proud all studied and operated in the region, and frequently delved in the ancient libraries and crypts of Zhyalay seeking ancient magical wisdoms. Even Lucius Ferrum, considered the greatest, most powerful and most dangerous Magi of all time spent many years in the region, more so than many other regions of the Nitak Neti he visted on his journey to master control of all 13 Schools of Magic.
Folllowing the Great War between the "Bringers of Glory" under Lucius Ferrum and the Alliance of King Aeris and Arch-Mage Suhor the Great, which left Lucius imprisoned and Aeris and Suhor slain, Anorus the Proud tried to seize control of the city and the region by murdering the royal family of Kushar. Other Magi fought against Anorus however, viewing him as a threat to their own power. Tired of years of Magi domination, the non-Magi rallied behind a common Zhyalayan fisherman named Syed and overthrew the Magi, killing Anorus and many others, and banishing the others to the outskirts of society. This was the start of the great Magi purges, which spread across much of the land.
Syed was named Orazim Syed the 1st, and his heirs have become the royal house of Azuk. While the earliest of this lineage built a great empire, using mighty navies and armies to conquer huge expanses of the world, the house steadily fell into indulgence, laziness and inaction. Now, millennia after Syed's rise to power, the members of the royal family of Azuk are little more than wealthy benefactors for ambitious merchants, explorers and military officers, the true innovators and leaders of the Empire.
While the royalty waste away their days in the extravagant luxury of the Sapphire Palace some way from the stench and hustle of Zhyalay, it is the lower ranking men and women, gathered from all over the world to seek wealth, glory and power in the city, who exert change and action upon the world. It is in these shit-stained streets that murmurs of rebellion can be heard. It is in these shadowy taverns that rumours of a Magi resurgence are muttered.
Alternative Name(s)
Zhy; The Buy and Sell City; the City of a Thousand Spices; the City of a Thousand Smells, the City of Sewage.
Type
Capital
Population
Around 1 Million, likely more. Census takers have a habit of vanishing when entering the slums.
Inhabitant Demonym
Zhyalayan (formal), Zhylan (shortened), Zan (informal), Crims (degrogatory)
Location under
Owning Organization
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