Sihir

Sihir is known as the capital of technological advancement in Obsidian. Every city is constantly puffing up steam as a result of the massive machinery built.
As a whole, Sihir is mostly inhabited by elves and some humans, who co-exist in peace. Their solitary goal is the advancement of the world and the sciences, which they do not shy from.
Sihir is also famous for it's gun-slingers, rogue adventurers with machines, sometimes built right into their very bodies. People rarely venture outside the borders though, as the majority of resources and spare parts is still in the country, and getting them transported would quickly become costly.
Along with every-day machinery, Sihir is also very advanced in medicine. Any Sihiri doctor can fix you up with high quality prosthetics for pretty much anything you can imagine. There are rumors of even someone's entire torso being replaced by gear-glass, but very few people believe this to be true.
Sihir's trade is dominated by gear-glass. It's a snowflake-like substance, strong as steel and light as a feather. It's a transparent material used in pretty much anything and everything ranging from the most high-quality weapons to the most mundane of kitchen tools. Sihir is also a reliable customer in Dievant, as they pay hefty sums for jewellery to decorate their creations.
Sihir is ruled by a council of scholars, one from each of the major scientific guilds of the country. These scholars are replaced every three years, although it is rather rare for one to be in the council for the maximum of three years, if only because tinkering comes with it's dangers and councillors often have to take lengthy vacations or retire early entirely as a result of an experiment gone wrong.
Sihir's nature is dominated by deserts and cliffs. No roads have been built, as the majority prefers to travel by sand-ship, instead of a horse. Volunteering as a row worker or sleeping in the kitchen corner is much cheaper than renting a camel, and it gets you where you want faster than any four legged beast could.
The ships are plagued by pirates especially during tourist season. Among the regular rabble is the famed ghost-ship, Tartarus, which is said to fly over the sand on a sea of bones under the full moon. While the story itself might not be true, all the valuables retrieved by ghostly hands definitely are.

Related Historical Events

• 1051
  Travellers from the East, or The founding of Sihir