Perazim
The capital of Baalthaaz, the decadent city of Perazim sits on the coast of the Sea of Baal at the mouth of the Zanosh River. The largest city in the country, it also boasts the largest harbor of the Five Cities, so much of the country’s trade passes through its wharves. The harbor is also home to a series of busy shipyards; while most navies buy their raw material from Baalthaaz and build their ships themselves, commercial purchasers would rather just pay for a completed vessel and the shipbuilders here are happy to oblige. There are enough eager customers along the coast of the Sea of Baal to keep the yards full all the time.
Most of the produce from the agricultural region around Perazim goes to feed the people of the city and the sizable military forces stationed there. Ostensibly for national defense, the standing army first and foremost protects the capital and the high king against possible attacks by one or more of the other crowns. Baalthaaz has been unified for centuries, but the high throne does not always pass peacefully from parent to child. Perazim has wide gates to welcome trade and travelers, but its walls are high and strongly fortified. Unbeknownst to most, the city has extensive stores in case of a siege and quantities of simple weapons available to arm the citizens. The current high king actually listened to the history taught by his tutor and vowed not to make the mistakes made by the people his ancestors defeated for the high throne.
The navy of Baalthaaz protects Perazim against attacks from the sea, guards the country’s shipping (against acknowledged pirates as well as the Numedan privateers), and collects a fee from other vessels to let them pass unmolested. The navy patrols up to about 100 miles off the coast and keeps the Numedans out of that area; in return, they feel entitled to a gratuity from any ships they find sailing in their area of protection. The fee is steep, but since it is still considerably less than the amount that would be taken by the Numedan privateers (which would be everything), most ships grudgingly pay it.
Within the city of Perazim is the high temple of Baal. It is a great pillared building entered up a long flight of wide steps, and each day at dawn and at sunset the great pairs of kettledrums ring out from the broad porch at the top, praising the god of storms and battle. However, Baal is also Lord of the Earth, whose rains water the ground and bring fertility to the land. Men throughout the country worship that aspect of the god by taking their turns in his temple; masked in the guise of the deity, they act as his representatives and engage in ritual prostitution with women who come to worship Baal, their own faces masked to emphasize the religious rather than personal nature of the interaction.
Illion, King of the Gods, also has a temple in Perazim. He is generally honored in shrines within each crown’s palace, as rulers and judges are those who most owe him homage, but the city of Perazim has the one temple that anyone can attend to try to entreat a favor of the distant god. The tasteful building is made of gray stone in a reserved style. A few priests, generally known for their wisdom, live in the edifice and are in charge of the occasional sacrifices. They spend the rest of their time studying the books of the national archives, which are kept in the library of Illion’s high temple.
The goddess Athera, of course, has a large and busy temple in Perazim but her high temple is actually in Zephathel. Dagon, god of the sea, is worshipped at a temple at the harbor. The building is surrounded by a moat connected to the ocean, so the waterway is usually full of fish. Rumor claims that the streets of smithies and metalworkers have a hidden chapel to Agamid, the evil god of fire, but he has no official temple in the city. Scattered everywhere, it seems, are shrines and chapels to various of the Seventy Gracious Gods. Ift (Last of the Seventy and the patron of Ifthaaz) actually has a temple, but it is located in the foreign quarter and so is out of mind to most people of the city.
Capital
Perazim, City of (Capital)
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Capital
Owning Organization
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