Ipret-Isus
Ipret-Isus is a major port, the first reached by ships coming to Khemit via the mouth of the Ruby Sea. It is a transshipment location for materials going to and from Upper Khemit and much of the Middle Kingdom, as well as the major shipbuilding center on the Ruby Sea. The city is the home port of a significant force of the Khemitian navy, although few naval ships are in port at any given time. The force patrols inside the Ruby Sea to keep merchant vessels safe from Numedan pirates on the east coast. However, it also looks out for the safety of Khemitian ships and the pharaoh’s interests along a lengthy part of the coast north and south of the mouth of the Ruby Sea.
Ipret-Isus sits on the shore of a sheltered bay, with the Isle of Scorpions offshore. The bay is home to a large group of dolphins that usually stay out of the way of moving vessels; they are thought to bring luck to ships, so few threaten them in any way. Individual dolphins do occasionally splash or otherwise annoy smaller boats, however.
Unseen by the foreigners who crowd the port and unknown even by most of the Khemitites traveling through, an ancient temple is hidden among the hills a short distance from Ipret-Isus. It is dedicated to the group of deities collectively known as the Okdo-ad, the personified essential forces of nature. Four male-female couples represent the primordial waters, the invisible powers of the air, darkness itself, and infinity. These forces, worshipped in what is now Khemit before the kingdom was founded 5,000 years ago, are acknowledged by few today except in times of natural crises. They do still have active priests, some of whom leave the temple here to wander the countryside of Khemit. These priests are not part of the official pharaonic religious hierarchy, and any powers they have seem to come directly from nature.
Settlement
Ipret-Isus, City of
Type
City
Owning Organization
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