The Land of the First Sun

To the south-east of the Middenrealm, east of the Rashtul Wall, south of the fortress city of Perricum and on the clear shores of the Sea of Pearls lie the Tulamid Lands, also interchangeably known as Tulamidistan or Tulamidiya. As the name implies, they are not one unified nation, but rather a multitude of larger and smaller states, sometimes little more than free cities that have kept their independent status through careful politics and treaties. It is a region with a rich, ancient history, the cradle of human civilization in Aventuria, the region where some of the continent’s greatest heroes have come from, but also where some of the darkest deeds in recorded human history have been comitted. The Tulamid Lands are a region of merchants and of mages, where the cunning god Phex is worshipped as the god of magic and where riches and success determine a man’s social standing instead of birthright.

The actual border of the Tulamid lands is a source of debate among Aventurian statesmen. The unquestionable heartland of the Tulamid culture in Aventuria is the area east of the Rashtul Wall, from the ancient city of Fasar near its foothills to the merchant city of Khunchom right where the arid landscape of the Tulamid Lands meets the Sea of Pearls, while the Sultanate of Thalusa marks its southern border. Many consider the northern Mhaharanyat of Arania a part of the Tulamid Lands, even if there are as many cultural differences than there are similarities between Aranians and Tulamids, while others even claim that the Novadi Caliphate in the Khom Desert should be considered a part of the Tulamid Lands. Since the Novadi have a culture that is drastically different from the common Tulamids, their lands and customs will be covered in a later regional guide, while this guide will instead detail the classic heartland of the Tulamid Lands, as well as the Mhaharanyat of Arania.


The centre of the Tulamid Lands is the region known as Tulamidistan, home to almost a third of Aventuria’s human population, their homes built upon the ruins of some of Aventuria’s oldest and most prestigious human nations. Indeed, while the Tulamids were not the first humans in Aventuria, this honour belongs to the Nivesians of the northern steppe, theirs was the first high culture, where humanity truly surpassed its non-human neighbours and rose to become the most numerous and powerful race in Aventuria, with their splendour soon no less than that of elves, dwarves of lizardfolk during their prime.

The ancient Tulamids are descendants of the Summureans, humans who came to Aventuria from the eastern continent of Rakshazar. They did so under the guidance of the benevolent giantess Chalwen, who freed them from servitude to the Nameless God and helped them settle in Aventuria, essentially boosting their civilization by teaching them higher knowledge, from healing, to maths and even magic. Chalwen herself lived in a region that has sunk beneath the sea in modern times, where the Sea of Pearls between the Tulamid Lands and the island of Maraskan is located.

As a firm enemy of the self-proclaimed god-dragon Pyrdacor, Chalwen and her chosen people lived under the constant threat of the nearby Empire of Zze Tha and so, the giantess ordered many of her people to hide in the insurmountable Rashtul Wall, the massive mountain range in central Aventuria. Her fear was well-founded, for Pyrdacor eventually murdered her and shattered her throne. It is said that none of her human followers who hadn’t been hiding in the Rashtul Wall survived the god-dragon’s wrath, who eventually called upon the elements he had bound to his will to devastate Chalwen’s land, causing it to sink beneath the waves and create the Sea of Pearls. This heinous abuse of his powers forced the gods themselves to intervene. Lead by Pyrdacor’s brother, the lion-headed dragon Famerlor, the god-dragons many enemies fought against him during the Second War of the Dragon. This war, which devastated large parts of Aventuria and caused the death of Pyrdacor will be detailed in a later regional guide, namely the one about the Khom Desert, since Aventuria’s largest desert is located right where his old empire of Zze Tha once used to be.

Regardless, with both Chalwen and Pyrdacor gone, the ancient Tulamids were free to leave the Rashtul Wall, now masters of their own fate. The old elven empire of Tie’Shanna was in no position to either help or hinder them, for it was locked in a deadly civil war and still suffering from the devastating Second War of the Dragon, while the lizardfolk had lost their empire and their god, leaving them in a long period of disarray and steady decline. The settlers from Myranor who would eventually found the Bosparanian Empire would not land on Aventuria’s western shores for another five hundred years.

As such, these ancient humans were free to settle and thrive in the fertile lands they called Tulamidistan and soon they began to call themselves Tulamids, all named after the mythical mountain of Djer Tulam, where Chalwen hid them from Pyrdacor’s wrath. Those among them who chose to remain in the Rashtul Wall became their own distinct culture the Ferkina, who are mostly known as savage raiders to modern Aventurians. The Tulamids, however, became the founders of Aventuria’s first human high culture.

In their chronicles, it is written that the first settlers who came down from the Rashtul Wall pushed through a dry region in the foothills of the Rashtul Wall until they soon found a fertile land in central Tulamidistan, around the river Mhanadi, in the region they called Mhanadistan. The Mhanadi, itself one of Aventuria’s longest rivers, is still the lifeline of the modern Tulamid lands and Mhanadistan is one of the most fertile regions in Aventuria, despite the notable heat that plagues these lands during the summer. Towards the south lies the land of Goria, an arid semi-desert that borders on the Khom desert. In its centre, on a steep plateau, lies the Gorian Desert, the most dangerous and hostile region in Aventuria, a desert that was formed by magic during the war between the Middenrealm emperor Rohal the Wise and the dark mage Borbarad about five hundred years ago.

Further to the west, where the Mhanadi splits up into several smaller rivers. This part of the Tulamid Lands is called the Balash, or the ‘Fertile Sickle’ and it is the most densely populated part of the entire region. The large city of Khunchom is located here, right where the Mhanadi reaches the Sea of Pearls. To the north meanwhile lies the Yalaiad, a peninsula dominated by lively mangrove swamps, while the region further to the north is fertile again and, in modern times, home to the largest and most powerful nation in the Tulamid Lands, the Mhaharanyat of Arania, which I will describe in greater detail below. South of the Balash and Goria lies the wild region of Thalusia, a swampy region plagued by heavy rainfall, which borders on the mountains of Unau that form a natural border to the far more hostile Khom desert.

The ancient Tulamids eventually settled in all of these regions and soon split of into five distinct tribes, each of whom settled in a part of the northern Tulamid Lands. Thalusia and the swampy region south of it, where the remnants of Pyrdacor’s lizardfolk dwelled, weren’t settled until later. These five tribes each founded a Sultanate. The largest of them was the Sultanate of Khunchom at the shores of the Sea of Pearls. To the north, the region that is known as Arania in modern times was split equally between the northern Sultanate of Nebachot and the southern Sultanate of Oron, while the western and southern parts of the Tulamid Lands were ruled over by the Sultanate of Gadang and the Sultanate of Al’Guriya respectively.

These fives tribes were all ruled over by the Sultanate of Khunchom and the Sheik’al’Sheik, the Sultan of Sultans. Under these early rulers, the Tulamids expanded into Thalusia, where they formed the Sultanate of Thalusa and even further south, into the lizard marches, where they built the great city of Elem, known as Selem in modern times. The first Sheik’al’Sheik was Rashtul al’Sheik, a man of such benevolence and wisdom that many Aventurians doubt he even existed at all. The surviving stories about him describe him as downright superhuman, with strength and endurance that far exceeded that of any ordinary human, as well as blessed with a strange longevity. His successor was the equally revered, but unquestionably human Bastrabun al’Sheik, who is nowadays considered one of the greatest human rulers to have ever lived.

There was an early conflict between these settlers and the remnants of Pyrdacor’s lizardfolk. Led by the lizard warlord N'shr Ssa'Khr Ssech, or Ensharzaggesi as humans would pronounce him, the lizards made one final attempt at reclaiming their lands and driving the humans away from them. Sultan Bastrabun suffered great losses in the early days of the war, as Ensharzaggesi’s hordes seemed unstoppable. In his darkest hour, the goddess Hesinde sent him an adviser, who appeared as a four-armed golden snake named Aliss’Szargo. Under Aliss’Szargo’s guidance, Bastrabun managed to defeat the lizardfolk and kill Ensharzaggesi. However, as a reward for helping him, Aliss’Szargo demanded that Bastrabun would spare the remaining lizardfolk in the southern marches and on Maraskan. To keep them away from the Tulamid Lands, Bastrabun and Aliss’Szargo installed a series of complex runes on the borders of the lizardfolk territory that prevented any lizard from passing through them, effectively confining the lizardfolk to their destined lands. These runes, known as Bastrabun’s Ban in modern days, eventually fell into disrepair, allowing the greatly weakened lizardfolk from leaving their prison again. Bits and pieces of the old runes are sold at a high price for collectors, though with the lizardfolk being almost extinct, no scholar has ever attempted to reconstruct or even fully understand the complex network of runes that formed the Ban. With his demands met, Aliss’Szargo left Bastrabun’s side, but his goddess Hesinde became one of the most revered gods of the Tulamids ever since.

Bastrabun implemented a political system in which his vassals retained high degrees of autonomy in return for personal oaths of fealty that were not hereditary, but instead based on personal friendship and respect towards the Sheik’Al’Sheik, whose position, by contrast, was hereditary. His hope was that this meant that future Sheik’Al’Sheiks always had to strive to win the hearts of their vassals instead of ruling over them with arrogance and taking their loyalty for granted. In retrospect, it can be seen as a surprise that the system Bastrabun set up lasted for over a century after his death, from the year 1760 before Bosparan’s Fall to the year 1638 before Bosparan’s Fall. Eventually though, problems arose after the Sultana Manoyla saba Namatil ascended to the throne, becoming the first woman to rule over the Tulamid Lands. Back then, the Tulamids were largely a patriarchy and the tribes refused to be ruled over by a woman, so each of them declared their independence. The Era of the Five Tribes was therefore replaced by the Era of the Warring States and dominated by violent wars between each of the five independent sultanates.

Khunchom was the clear loser of this conflict, losing its vassals and most of its land, though the city of Khunchom itself remained independent for this entire period. It was during these wars that a man appeared in the Sultanate of Gadang, a man who should become one of the most controversial figures in Tulamid history. This man was Assarbad of Zamorrah and he introduced himself as a mage without equal.

Assarbad overthrew the old rulers of Gadang with the help of his close subordinates, each of them a bafflingly strong mage in their own regards, though even their massive power paled before Assarbad’s. Together, they became known as the Mage Moguls of Gadang and under Assarbad’s leadership, his subordinates became kings in their own right. Some of them, such as Al’Gorton, Al’Chababi or Tubalkain of the Cold Heart became semi-mythical figures in their own right and a source of some of Tulamidiya’s greatest myths and fairytales.

In general, the rule of the Mage Moguls was a cruel one, with the Moguls themselves seeing the non-mages beneath their rule as little more than cattle to be used for their whims. Thousands were sacrificed to fuel blasphemous rituals and it is said that Assarbad himself even threw open the gates to the Nether Hells, bringing forth demons that have never been seen in Aventuria before and since. Under his ruthless leadership, the moguls first captured the city of Fasar, where they put half of its inhabitants to the sword, before gradually expanding to the north, subduing the Sultanates of Oron and Nebachot. This brought them into inevitable conflict with the remnant of the Sultanate of Khunchom and soon, the two most powerful nations in Tulamidiya came to trade blows in what would later be known as the Scorpion Wars after the scorpion that was seen on the banner of the Mage Moguls.

Led by Assarbad, the Mage Moguls seemed unstoppable, crushing the armies of Khunchom and gradually conquering the lands of Al’Guriya, which had submitted itself to the rule of Khunchom once more in its despair. In their darkest hour, the people of Khunchom were saved by a mysterious stranger who appeared in their city on one fateful day. This man introduced himself as Sulman al’Nassori and with his charisma and his incredible feats of magic he convinced the last Sultan of Khunchom to step down and give him full control over the besieged Sultanate. Indeed, Sulman al’Nassori was Assarbad’s equal, personally killing several of the seemingly invincible Mage Moguls in battle and single-handedly turning the tide against the cruel tyrants of Gadang.

In one last, desperate attempt at defeating his nemesis, Assarbad sacrificed the life of his most trusted subordinate, an act of treachery that was so great and terrible that it allowed him to summon the Great Swarm into this world. The Great Swarm, a hive-mind of demonic locusts, swarmed across Al’Guriya, killing every living soul within and devastating the armies of Khunchom and Gadang, alongside every innocent man, woman or child within. However, the Mage Moguls suffered greater losses than Sulman al’Nassori, who managed to defeat the Great Swarm. He completely destroyed Zamorrah, Assarbad’s capital and killed the dark mage in single combat, before assuming control over his enemies former territories, once again uniting all of Tulamidistan under one banner. Most of the mage moguls have been confirmed to have died during this war, with only Tubalkain of the Cold Heart, a comparably weak member of Assarbad’s inner circle, being unaccounted for. To this day, scholars debate when Tubalkain met his end, but the other Mage Moguls have all been buried near the ruins of Zamorrah.

Instead of restoring the historic Sultanate of Khunchom, Sulman al’Nassori instead founded the Diamond Sultanate, the second great realm of the Tulamids, which should go on to be the longest continually existing human realm in recorded Aventurian history. Khunchom remained the capital city, however, and the Diamond Sultanate considered itself a successor state to the Sultanate of Khunchom, with extensive reforms installed to allow for a more stable government.

Throughout its history, the Diamond Sultanate had been ruled over by five dynasties. The first, founded by Sulman al’Nassori himself, ruled for over three hundred years, was very much the golden age of the entire sultanate, during which the Tulamids expanded into regions that had never before been settled in by humans, such as the jungles south of the Lizard Marshes, where they founded the cities of Elem, Mirham and Al’Anfa. They also founded the Sultanate of Thalusa during these years, which would go on to become a core part of the Tulamid Lands in later years.

Later dynasties saw a gradual, if slow decline of the power the Diamond Sultans had over their territory. The sultans themselves ruled from golden palaces, while priest viziers served as their advisers, with the people below them worshipping their rulers as living gods. During times of peace and prosperity, such as during the first dynasty, this worked well in their favour, for the people saw their abundant lives as a gift from their divine rulers.

Unfortunately, the same principle worked against the sultans and times of strive easily bred contempt among the general population. The second dynasty was shaken by violent civil wars, with the most infamous of them being Mahwad’s War, which lasted for eight years from 1010 to 1002 before Bosparan’s Fall and which only barely ended in the Sultanate’s favour after the rebel leader Mahwad al’Rasul was killed in battle. While the second dynasty managed to keep its power without having to make any concessions in the end, it marked a notable step down from the splendour of the first.

The second dynasty lasted for over four hundred years and by its end, another human nation had risen to the east, beyond the inhospitable Khom desert and the Rashtul Wall, which the Tulamids had long since considered a natural border for their realm. This nation was Bosparan, the legendary predecessor of both, the Middenrealm and Horasia. The relations between these two nations, the ancient, declining Diamond Sultanate and the young, rapidly rising Empire of Bosparan should overshadow the entire rule of the third dynasty, which lasted for two hundred years until the year 415 before Bosparan’s Fall.

The golden age of the Diamond Sultanate was well and truly over by the time of the third dynasty and though the Sultans still ruled like living gods, their authority crumbled around them, while enemies from within and without encroached on the great riches that had been the foundation of the Sultanate’s power, the gold and gemstones that can be found in abundance in the many mines of Tulamidiya.

Of these enemies, Bosparan proved to be the greatest concern in the long run, though at first the two superpowers had peaceful, if somewhat tense relations. Like the Diamond Sultanate, Bosparan saw value in the southern jungles and settled them from the west, founding the cities of Mengbilla and Brabak that soon openly rivalled the tulamid colonies of Mirham and Al’Anfa.

Within the Sultanate, its vassals grew increasingly unruly. The Emirates of Elem to the south and Oron to the north were the most unruly of them. Oron in particular sought to conquer the entirety of the territory that would become Arania in the present day, waging several wars of subjugation against the Emirate of Nebachot to the north, which alsofound itself in a tense border conflict with the northern Bosparanian colonies. In this time of weakness, the Sultanate failed to protect its vassal state and Nebachot was conquered, with the city and the surrounding lands falling to Bosparan while the southern parts of the emirate falling to Oron. Nebachot was destroyed and the Bosparanians built a new, greater city upon its ruins, the fortress city of Perricum, which stands to this day as the most important Middenrealm port on the eastern Aventurian coast.

During these troubling years, the Diamond Sultan eventually saw himself forced to sign a peace treaty with Bosparan, knowing that they cannot fight against the western empire while also reigning in the emirs of Elem and Oron. They had to pay dearly for this peace, for they had to give up their colonies in Meridiana, abandoning Al’Anfa and Mirham to the Bosparanian settlers.

This peace, however, allowed the two great powers to coexist for several hundred years, throughout the entirety of the third and fourth dynasties. The third dynasty was remembered as an otherwise weak era of the Diamond Sultanate and towards its end, both Elem and Oron declared their independence, the former conquering the region of Thalusia, while the latter controlled the entire northern border of the Tulamid Lands essentially cutting the Sultanate’s territory in half.

To make matters worse, the last Diamond Sultan of the third dynasty died without a clear successor, which sparked a long, violent civil war for the throne. This interregnum lasted for over a century, with several warlords fighting against each other in a period that weakened and decentralized the Tulamid Lands to the point where the Sultanate as a whole almost ceased to exist. This period is seen as the foundation of the modern Tulamid Lands by many historians, with no centralized government to speak of, divided between dozens of small nations and city states.

The fourth dynasty briefly managed to unite the Diamond Sultanate once again, but the dynasty itself lasted only for two generations, bringing about fifty years of peace back to the Tulamids, before the second ruler of the fourth dynasty, the only woman to ever rule over the Sultanate, died without issue. Unlike her predecessor of the third dynasty, Sultana Nahema saba Mustafa named a clear successor from the strongest of her vassals, avoiding another violent interregnum and peacefully transitioning power over to the fifth and final dynasty of the Diamond Sultanate.

By then, the first and once greatest human nation in Aventuria was but a shadow of its former self, shrunken to roughly half its size. Bosparan was firmly the dominant great power in Aventuria by then, even though it struggled with external and internal strife just like the Sultanate had done centuries earlier. After a brief period of stability, similar to what the Diamond Sultanate had been through a generation earlier, Bosparan launched its conquest of the Tulamid Lands, starting with Elem and Oron, with the latter surrendering peacefully and being vassalized instead of outright annexed.

Eventually however, Emperor Murak-Horas, the second-to-last emperor of Bosparan, launched his conquest of the Khom Desert and the Tulamid Lands. He was driven by both, a desire for conquest and religious zeal, for the Tulamids back worshipped a diverse pantheon of gods back then, some of them, such as the cunning Feqz or the wise He’Szint alternative versions of the Twelve Gods worshipped by Bosparan, some, such as the River Mother or the wicked Ghulshev being entirely foreign to the Bosparanians. As such, Murak wanted to forcibly convert the Tulamid Lands to the Faith of the Twelve Gods.

Unfortunately for both, Bosparan and the Diamond Sultanate, Murak died in battle while conquering the Khom Desert, meeting his end at the hands of the skilled Novadi warriors. His successor was his daughter Hela, nowadays infamously known as the Demon Empress. Hela-Horas was a cruel, ruthless ruler, who pursued the conquest her father started with a vengeance. In her cruelty, she massacred captured cities, committing the worst genocide a human had ever committed in Aventuria.

Her reputation preceded her so terribly that the last Diamond Sultan committed suicide as her soldiers stormed Khunchom. With his death, the Diamond Sultanate was no more and Tulamidistan fell under Bosparanian rule. Ironically, Bosparan should not outlive the Sultanate for long and it would be a Tulamid who would eventually cause its downfall. The sellsword Raul ibn Rafid, who had lost most of his family to Hela’s genocidal campaign, would eventually lead the Garetian rebels against the Demon Empress. During this war, the Tulamids provided significant aid and after he won, Raul gave them back their independence. Instead of reinstating the Diamond Sultanate as a puppet state of his new Middenrealm, however, he was content with allowing the smaller city states of Tulamidiya to govern themselves, ushering in a new age for the region that has lasted to this day.

Nominally, parts of the Tulamid Lands had been claimed by the Middenrealm in the past. Arania was a vassal state for most of its existence, while Khunchom and Thalusa, the coastal nations of Tulamidiya, were at least nominally a part of the realm, but just like Raul before them, no emperor, not even the dreaded Priest Emperors, have actually enforced this and they remained self-governed until formally declaring their independence in recent years.

Even then, the bonds between the Tulamid Lands and the Middenrealm remained strong. The Tulamids are the largest human minority in Middenrealm territory and vice versa, with traders, adventurers, craftsmen and wandering artists freely travelling between the two regions. While relations to the Novadi Caliphate or the Al’Anfanian Empire to the south are tense at times, the relations to the Middenrealm have always been cordial and many Middenrealm emperors have received honours from the lords of Tulamidistan, though none of them have ever received as much praise as Raul, whom the Tulamids consider one of their own to this day.

Surprisingly, despite the multitude of small states the region is divided into, actual war between the Tulamids has grown rare after Bosparan’s Fall. Instead, the city states coexisted peacefully for several hundred years, engaging in lucrative trade, while settling border quarrels in honourable duels, preferably among mages. Though the Tulamid Lands have no political influence to speak of when compared to the mighty nations that border them, many consider this era of wealth and peace to be a second golden age for the Tulamids as a whole.

During these centuries, the threats for the Tulamid Lands came from the outside rather than the inside. After a period of consolidation during the eight century after Bosparan’s Fall, the tribes of the Khom Desert, previously believed to be little more than a nuisance, united under their first caliph and launched a conquest of the surrounding regions, claiming the entire Tulamid Lands and even the ruined city of Selem in the Lizard Marshes. They managed to conquer the latter and launched an invasion of the former, during which they conquered the fertile regions of the Balash, which borders the Khom Desert to the north-east. With the Balash, they conquered the ancient city of Mherwed, which they declared to be their capital.

Afterwards, the city states of Tulamidiya formed a loose alliance, the Pact of Rashtul, to prevent any further Novadi incursions. Their united military might exceeded that of the Caliphate by far and as such, the Novadi stopped their invasion. Instead, the caliph launched a diplomatic offensive. Semi-independent tribes settled in Fasar and Goria, while missionaries and diplomats were soon found in most courts of the Tulamid Land, sometimes with success, as the entire region of Goria eventually swore fealty to the caliphate, despite nominally remaining a part of the Pact of Rashtul.

A greater threat for the entire Tulamid Lands arose recently in form of the Al’Anfanian Empire. Fuelled by divine visions, the Patriarch of Al’Anfa, Tar Honak, declared a righteous war against the heathens of the Khom Desert. Though the Tulamid Lands follow a variant of the Cult of the Twelve Gods, the Al’Anfanians nonetheless attacked them as well, conquering Selem and Thalusa and marching against Goria and Khunchom. During this war, Tulamids and Novadi fought side by side and this improved relations between the two regions considerably.

The Al’Anfanians were eventually driven back and the Khom War ended with a costly defeat that claimed the life of their patriarch and many soldiers, essentially crippling the proud southern empire. While the Novadi still yearn for revenge, however, and usually kill Al’Anfanians on sight, the Tulamids have forgiven their former enemies. Though only a few years have passed since the Khom War, traders from Al’Anfa are welcome guests in the ports of Khunchom and Thalusa again, as long as they bring coin and wares.

In general, the Tulamids are not known for holding grudges, unlike their Novadi kin. Their society places a great deal on polite interactions and respect. Guests are generally treated well as long as they show the same respect in return. In terms of social standing, the people of the Tulamid Lands are more equal, in a way, for there is little nobility to speak of. There are remnants of ancient noble houses from the Diamond Sultanate and some of them remain wealthy and influential, but their status doesn’t stem from their noble roots. Instead, coin is the deciding factor in the Tulamid Lands. The wealthy and successful receive political titles and grow their influence, which also means that losing ones wealth often means a dramatic loss of status. Entire fates are decided on the bazaars, the vast markets that can be found in every larger city.

As a result, Phex, or Feqz as he is known among Tulamids, is seen as the most important god, for his aspects of trade, luck and cunning make him a prime example of Tulamid virtues. Exclusively in the Tulamid Lands, he is also seen as a god of magic alongside Hesinde, who herself is more seen as a goddess of scholars than practical magic.

Speaking of magic, the Tulamids harbour a great respect for the arcane arts and mages are treated well. Unlike the Middenrealm, they can also gain titles and hold worldly power in the Tulamid Lands. Magic is also a lot more common in this region as opposed to the rest of Aventuria, perhaps as a result of its history. While the number of full mages in Tulamidistan is only slightly higher than in the rest of Aventuria, there are much more half or quarter mages, who hold only a fraction of the power a full-blown mage holds. These half-mages and quarter-mages are often unable to channel their arcane powers in the same way as full mages can, instead they channel them through one particular ritual. For example, a craftsman who is a quarter mage could channel their power through their work, creating works of inexplicable beauty and skill, whereas a swordsman who is a quarter mage could fight even with their eyes closed.

One particular profession of quarter-magic that can be exclusively found in the Tulamid Lands is that of the sharizad, the spell-dancers. The sharizad are dancers and entertainers who enhance their dancing with magic, creating works of breathtaking intensity and beauty that entrances all who view their performance. Typically, a sharizad dances for a refined audience, using magic to calm the viewers and help them relax. This profession is exclusive to the Tulamid Lands and seen as one of the most noble and prestigious professions for a quarter-mage.

In general, ones skill and wealth are the only factors that grant a person any sort of power in the Tulamid Lands. Where blood and an important name are of utmost importance in most parts of Aventuria, the differences in Tulamidistan are not between highborn and lowborn, but between rich and poor. The only two social ranks that exist are free men and slaves and even then there is a certain fluctuation between these two, since free men can become slaves if they commit certain crimes or fall into debt, while favoured slaves can be freed for good service or if their master dies. Slavery is a very common occurrence in the Tulamid Lands, however, and while many slaves are treated better than they are in Al’Anfa, there are still examples of masters who horribly abuse their slaves.

While strength is respected among Tulamids, intelligence is seen as the greater virtue. Unlike the Middenrealm, where bravery and honour are seen as important, especially in the more feudal regions such as Meadows or Garetia, the Tulamids place greater emphasis on overcoming a challenge not through brute force, but through underhanded, cunning methods. Their greatest heroes are not less accomplished than the great warriors who are idolized in the Middenrealm, but rarely known for great feats of strength. Instead, thieves, merchants and mages are common heroes in Tulamid folklore.

Speaking of folklore, the Tulamids have an extensive oral tradition, where stories are passed down across generations of storytellers. Wandering storytellers are not uncommon in the Tulamid Lands and they are treated with the same respect a citizen of the Middenrealm would have for a scholar or historian. While there are written records of the ancient days of the Diamond Sultanate and even before, these storytellers are invaluable as a secondary source to fill in the gaps.

That being said, many stories contradict official history, sometimes quite severely so. For example, the cruel Mage Mogul Assarbad of Zamorrah is often featured as a cunning hero who aids the Tulamids against wicked foes, usually lizardfolk, even though the lizards had already been defeated long before the Mage Moguls rose to power. This has given modern historians quite a few problems when studying the history of Tulamidiya, because on one hand the fairytales are often a major source for historical events throughout the history of the Tulamids, such as the Scorpion Wars, on the other hand there are dozens, if not hundreds of variations of the same fairytales, which makes it extremely difficult to use them as reliable sources in scholarly endeavours.

In terms of religion, most parts of the Tulamid Lands worship the Twelve Gods, or at least parts and variations of them. As mentioned above, Feqz, the Tulamid equivalent of Phex, is seen as a god of magic, which is an aspect he is not known for in the rest of Aventuria. The Church of the Twelve Gods has arranged itself with the local variations of its faith and even though some conservative priests might grumble from time to time, these variations are not considered to be heresy by the church as a whole. This has allowed the Tulamid Lands to maintain their local beliefs and traditions even after the Edict of Silem-Horas canonized the Faith of the Twelve Gods in most of Aventuria.

As a result, many faiths in the Tulamid Lands predate Silem-Horas, who ruled during the last century of the Bosparanian Empire. This means that worship of the Twelve Gods often takes a more archaic turn, with each village having its own rituals and customs, sometimes even its own pantheon that may or may not consist of members of the Twelve Gods. For example, the somewhat eccentric people of Thalusia openly worship the ancient goddesses Mokoscha, Fatas and Ymra, who have not been worshipped anywhere else since the days of Bosparan, but also a variation of Brazoragh, who is usually considered to be the patron gods of the orcs. Some local cults are known to worship different entities entirely, with some of those gods being older deities that have been all but forgotten in the rest of Aventuria, while others being no gods at all. The Tulamid Lands, with their remote, often stark landscape, lack of central authority and high religious tolerance, have a fairly high concentration of demonic cults and sometimes the archdemons are even openly worshipped by particularly oblivious villagers, who see them as their ancestral deities. Other entities are even stranger and more ancient, such as the goddess Gadanga, who is worshipped as the personification of the mighty river Gadang in certain parts of the Tulamid Lands, or the sinister Jackal-That-Follows, who is feared and placated rather than worshipped by a handful of superstitious Tulamids. It is also not unheard of for locals to worship entities that are neither god nor demon, indeed not even immortal in the first place, such as elementals, who are surprisingly common in the heavily magical Tulamid Lands. Mortals of renown are also sometimes revered as deities, with Rashtul al'Sheik, Bastrabun ibn Rashtul and Sulman al'Nassori being fairly benevolent examples. However, Assarbad of Zamorrah is also worshipped by some fringe parts of the Tulamids and even Hela-Horas, who committed genocide on the Tulamids, is worshipped by under the name of Beli Horas, a vengeful destroyer goddess who needs to be placated with gifts and sacrifices.

In general, religion in the Tulamid Lands veers towards mysticism, no matter the god that is worshipped. Tulamid priests of their respective faiths are usually idealists and philosophers, who seek to get closer to their deity by setting examples of faith to their followers, rather than organizing in churches and insisting on strict rituals and traditions. One example would be Tulamid priests of Rondra, the so-called Sword Saints, who often live as reclusive ascetics with barely any contact to the outside world, so that they can fully dedicate themselves to mastering the sword. As a result, they are among the most dangerous combatants in Aventuria, but rarely venture beyond their humble homes and if they do, they rarely fit in with the larger Church of Rondra, which places a heavy emphasis on worldly hierarchy and obedience.


Arania is a nation in central Aventuria whose borders span across the northern third of the greater Tulamid Lands. It borders the Middenrealm to the north and the smaller states of the Tulamid Lands to the south, while its borders to the west and east are formed naturally by the Rashtul Wall and the Sea of Pearls respectively. Most of its coastline forms the Gulf of Perricum, the largest gulf in Aventuria. It is also known as the Mhaharanyat, or the Mhaharanyat of Arania after the full title of its ruler, who is known as the Mhaharan Shah.

Culturally, Arania is distinct from the Tulamid Lands, with as many differences as there are similarities. The most striking difference between Arania and almost any human nation in Aventuria is that Arania is traditionally a matriarchy. In ages past, during the first Mhaharanyat, all leadership was in the hands of women, with men, while still having their own, respected roles in Aranian society, were mostly banned from inheriting titles or ascending to positions of higher leadership. This strict matriarchy mellowed down somewhat during the past centuries, where Arania was a vassal state of the Middenrealm, which practices gender equality, but even in the new Mhaharanyat, women are considered to be more suited for politics. As a result, it is not uncommon for men who stand higher in the line of succession to refuse any titles they may inherit if there is a younger sister who could take them instead. By contrast, men are considered better warriors and artists and a woman who wishes to excel in these fields has to face as much prejudice as a man who wishes to become a politician.

Arania has a long history, traditionally as a gateway between the Tulamid Lands and its northern neighbour. In ages past, this neighbour was the mighty Bosparanian Empire and after its decline it was the Middenrealm, which eventually vassalized Arania. Though a wealthy, strong nation in its own right, Arania has never been a match for Bosparan, the Diamond Sultanate and the Middenrealm. As such, while it experienced some periods of independence, it has been a vassal state for most of its history, with its current independence being a recent development and far from secure.

Its history begins during the early days of the Tulamids, when their ancient predecessors descended from the Rashtul Wall and into the arid lands beneath. Back then, the Tulamid tribes formed five great sultanates, all led by the Sultanate of Khunchom. The territory that should become Arania in modern days was split between two of these sultanates, the Sultanate of Nebachot to the north and the Sultanate of Oron to the south. In modern times, roughly half of the old territory of Nebachot belongs to the Middenrealm and their great harbour city of Perricum has been built upon the ruins of the city of Nebachot itself. The rest of Nebachot and Oron makes up the entire land mass of Arania and the two former Sultanates have long ceased to exist as their own political entity, with Nebachot in particular having grown entirely irrelevant. Oron meanwhile was not only the more long-lived of the two sultanates, but also the one more important to Arania’s history. In modern days, there is even a sizeable number of Aranian nationalists who yearn for the old days of Oron, where the ancient customs were still respected, before centuries of being a Middenrealm vassal forced Arania to modernize to some degree. In their eyes, Oron symbolizes the golden age of the Aranian people, though many would argue that the current Mhaharanyat has entirely outgrown the splendour of the past.

The history of Arania is strongly tied to Dassareth, the wife of the last sultan of Nebachot. Though Nebachot and Oron were enemies at the time, she and her remaining troops fled south after the fall of Nebachot. During the battles against Nebachot and Bosparan, Oron had also lost a majority of their troops, including their last emir, an old man and the last of his line, leaving the nominally victorious emirate in the midst of a succession crisis and pitted against the much stronger legions of Bosparan. As such, the surviving nobility of Oron gladly rallied behind Dassareth, who led the united forces of Oron and Nebachot to victory against Bosparan, one of the few military defeats the great empire had to suffer during its prime. Nebachot remained lost, but for centuries, Bosparan would not launch another military invasion of the Tulamid Lands.

Afterwards, Dassareth was named regent of the Emirate of Oron, which now consisted of parts of the old Emirate of Nebachot. Nominal ruler of the emirate was her son, a sickly child who would not live to adulthood. After his death, the wildly popular Dassareth succeeded him as the first female ruler of Oron. Her daughter became her heiress, therefore laying the foundation of the matrilinear system that remained in place throughout the entirety of Oron and even to this day in its successor state of Arania. In this system, uniquely in Aventuria, women stand above men in the line of succession. Following Dassareth’s example, most of Oron’s rulers were female. Ever since, Oron was also known as Haranija, which means “Land of the Ladies” in the ancient Tulamid language. This system was partially inspired by the matriarchic system of the Al'Hani, a tribe who had lived in Nebachot, but who had been forced to flee into the northern wilderness to avoid persecution, where they eventually built a nation of their own in the region that nowadays consists of the Middenrealm duchy of Tobria. While few surviving sources exist of these days, historians generally agree that Dassareth was of Al'Hani blood and that she was inspired by her kin when building the foundation for the Haranija.

During the centuries that followed, Oron was a largely peaceful nation, always in a dangerous position between Bosparan and the Diamond Sultanate. During these days, the queens of Oron pursued a careful expansion by claiming uncharted land beyond the sea. They founded early colonies on Maraskan and in Meridiana, one of which, the infamous pirate city of Sylla on Aventuria’s southernmost peninsula, remains inhabited to this day. According to myths and legends, pirates and explorers from Oron even managed to cross the Sea of Pearls and settle in the dark continent of Rakshazar, though all contact to that colony has been lost for many centuries.

Though the Diamond Sultanate had no actual control over Oron since the days of Dassareth, the Haranija did not become independent for another few centuries, when the Bosparanian Empire intervened. They wanted to install Oron as a buffer state between the two mightiest human nations in Aventuria and through their pressure, the Diamond Sultanate relented, formally approving the independence which the people of Oron technically already had. Ever since, the newly independent nation was known as the Kingdom of Arania, even if a majority of its rulers were still queens rather than kings.

Unfortunately for Arania, it was indeed very much a buffer state and subject to the whims of its larger neighbours. As such, a while after its formal independence, the mother of the Diamond Sultan negotiated a cunning deal that allowed the Sultan to nominate the new ruler of Arania. This new tradition was called the tradition of the Queen Mothers of Khunchom and it made Arania highly dependent on the benevolence of its southern neighbour. Nonetheless, this age was surprisingly known as a golden age for Aranian culture and economy and the once impoverished buffer state quickly became a wealthy regional power, with most of its traditional art, architecture and customs having their roots during the days of the Queen Mothers of Khunchom.

Their ambivalent relationship to the Diamond Sultanate would eventually save Arania during the reign of the infamous Demon Empress Hela-Horas, who had launched a genocidal war against the Tulamids. The Queen of Arania of that time, Mygdonia, managed to convince the famously cruel Hela that her people were not, in fact, Tulamids and just as much enemies of the Diamond Sultanate as she was. As a result, Hela’s troops spared the Aranians and even after the fall of the sultanate, the empress kept her word and did not march against the far weaker Arania.

At the same time, Arania’s strict neutrality during the war spared them the wrath of the Tulamids and after Hela’s death during the Second Battle of the Demon, Queen Mygdonia even managed to negotiate a loose alliance with Raul of Gareth, the Tulamid-born emperor of the newly founded Middenrealm. The Middenrealm was not Bosparan and relations between the two nations were a lot more cordial and equal than relations with the old empire had ever been, with Raul and Mygdonia becoming personal friends.

With the Diamond Sultanate gone beyond recovery, Arania was suddenly the strongest Tulamid state in Aventuria and Mygdonia’s successors knew how to use this fact to improve Arania’s wealth and political importance to previously unknown heights. The kingdom expanded its borders southwards, to the previously independent city of Anchopal, after which it proclaimed itself the Mhaharanyat of Arania, with Mhaharan being an old Tulamid word meaning “Grand King”, with the rulers of Arania calling themselves Mhaharan Shah or Mhaharani Shahi ever since.

Unfortunately, the centuries to come were not quite the second golden age the Mhaharani Shahis had envisioned for their realm. Without exterior threats to focus on, the Aranian people grew decadent and hedonistic. Rahja, the goddess of love and beauty, had always been a highly revered deity in Arania, but over the time, the nobility turned to more extreme desires, which eventually led quite a number of them to worship Belkelel, the Mistress of Dark Desires and Rahja’s demonic counterpart.

Worship of Belkelel grew rampant among certain parts of the nobility, so much that the Church of Rahja had to get involved. While not known for their military might in other parts of Aventuria, the church saw itself forced to recruit knights and warriors to its cause, to fight the demon cultists and their forces, among them numerous demons. This struggle eventually led to the foundation of the Sword Dancers, a number of loosely affiliated orders of mystics and swordsmen who worship Rondra and Rahja.

Eventually, Church of Rahja and its Aranian allies were victorious against the corrupted cultists, though the final battle came at a great cost for the entire Mhaharanyat. The cultists summoned the dreaded Shaz-Man-Yat, an unbound demon loosely allied to Belkelel, who proceeded to tear through the Knights of Rahja. Only the Mhaharan Shah, Amaryd of Arania, managed to stand against the demon. He drove it back into the Nether Hells, but suffered grievous injuries in the process from which he never recovered. He died days later despite the best efforts of his mages and though married, he had not yet fathered a child, which left Arania in a succession crisis.

Amaryd’s widow, Ithome, was wise enough to realize that the weakened Mhaharanyat could not stand alone in the future. She therefore agreed to marry Menzel of Gareth, Emperor of the Middenrealm, with their son eventually inheriting both thrones, uniting Middenrealm and Arania under a personal union. Her plan greatly contributed to Arania’s recovery and to this day, Ithome is well-worshipped for her wisdom and administrative skills, just like how Amaryd is remembered as a great warrior and selfless hero.

Unfortunately for Arania, Menzel’s line died out only two generations later, when the last male member of Raul of Gareth’s bloodline died before reaching adulthood. Without a clear heir for the realm, the Church of Praios took control of it, installing their Priest-Emperors on the throne. No longer a personal union, Arania was forced into the realm as a mere province, though unlike some of the other unruly parts of the realm, the Priest Emperors never truly bothered with bringing the province under their rule. As a result, a lot of Arania’s cultural identity survived the cleansing of the Priest Emperors, even if their priests of Rondra had to go into hiding for several centuries.

Arania remained a regular province, albeit with a high degree of autonomy, even after the Priest Emperors were deposed. Rohal the Wise, the famed Mage Emperor, mustered his troops in Arania during his confrontation with the black mage Tharsonius of Bethana, a fight that saw both armies clashing in the Gorian Desert just south of Arania’s borders, with only a handful of half-mad survivors returning from the cataclysmic battle.

Over the next centuries, Arania slowly drifted away from the Middenrealm. The reign of the Eslamid Emperors was seen as generally weak and none of them particularly cared for Arania and as such, the rulers of Arania began to use the title of Mhaharan Shah once again, which nominally placed them as equals to the Middenrealm Emperor. It slowly became obvious that Arania, with its unique culture, values and history, was just not a proper part of the Middenrealm and placating the Aranians slowly became more costly than it was worth it.

Not even the Iron Emperor, Reto of Gareth, had the strength to force Arania under his rule proper, for his great war was waged against the similarly unruly, but far more violent province of Maraskan, which left him with no way to keep the growing Aranian independence movement in check. However, his advisers would later admit that the Iron Emperor always intended to occupy Arania with his troops once Maraskan was properly conquered, he just severely underestimated the latter’s resilience, so these plans were never realized.

It was his son, the softer, gentler, perhaps weaker Emperor Hal who would grant Arania its independence, though not by choice. Back then, the Mhaharani Shahi of Arania was Sybia of Zorgan, the daughter of a merchant, who had married the later Mhaharan Shah and given him two children, Arkos and Dimiona. A cunning negotiator, Sybia realized Hal’s weakness and aversion to violence and as such, she decided to formally proclaim Arania’s independence shortly after he ascended to the throne.

Despite the protests of the Middenrealm nobility, Hal gave up on Arania without a fight. This move secured positive relations with the newly independent Mhaharanyat and the two nations are now closer than they used to be back when they were formally one. What was seen as weakness in the Middenrealm is considered an act of mercy and wisdom in Arania and Hal is generally viewed favourable by its people. In any way, Arania was now independent, a proper Mhaharanyat once again. For this deal, Sybia is considered a local saint of Phex, god of merchants, thieves and contracts.

Her later rule saw one big conflict that continues to shake Arania even today, years later. As stated above, she had two children, Arkos and Dimiona. Arkos was the older one, a strong, courageous warrior, but Dimiona was seen as the more intelligent and, most importantly to traditionalists within the nation, she was a woman and therefore should be ahead of Arkos in the line of succession.

In an unprecedented break with tradition, Sybia named Arkos as her successor, initially without giving a clear reason. This caused a great uproar among the nobility, who had seen Dimiona as the heiress apparent and had courted her favour throughout her entire childhood and teenage years. Meanwhile, Arkos had usually been left for himself. Free of the attention and pampering from wealthy members of the nobility, Arkos’ best friends were commoners and he grew up with a strong connection to Arania’s poorer citizens.

This alone, however, was not the reason why Sybia chose him over Dimiona, as the latter herself soon proved. As it turned out, Dimiona was a psychopath, cruel, cunning and utterly insane. Her mother knew her better than the nobility, whom she had charmed with her beauty and her lies and as such, she removed her from the line of succession. Dimiona’s response was to plot the assassination of her mother and brother and launch a coup for the throne. To succeed in her bid, she formed a pact with the archdemon Belkelel, or perhaps she had been a cultist for quite some time even before that. One way or the other, Dimiona proved herself to be a morally rotten, manipulative monster and her insurrection, while brief, left a lasting scar on the Mhaharanyat.

While her mother was injured badly and later forced to abdicate the throne to focus on her recovery, Arkos survived unscathed and rallied the Aranian troops against his sister and her supporters. The conspirators suffered another blow when Iphemia of Narhuabad, Dimiona’s closest friend and ally, turned against her, allowing for a group of agents to infiltrate Dimiona’s hideout and overpower her. Iphemia was rewarded by being the only one of Dimiona’s former allies to avoid any punishment for her insurrection, but the rest of the conspirators was brought to justice, with many of them being executed or banished and only a handful avoiding capital punishment by paying critical sums of money to the throne.

Due to her continuing support among parts of the Aranian traditionalists, Arkos spared his sister’s life. His decision was further aided by the fact that Dimiona suffered a mental breakdown when her plan was foiled, losing what little remained of her mind. She was brought to the city of Perricum, the former Nebachot, where she was incarcerated at the School of Exorcism, Aventuria’s largest asylum for mentally ill mages. She remains there to this day, while her hated brother ascended to the throne. Arkos no longer considers her a threat, but his advisers remain wary of her.

This happened two years ago and ever since, Mhaharan Shah Arkos has ruled over a deeply divided land. Many of the traditionalistic members of Arania’s nobility don’t think highly of him, despite his knightly virtues, bravery and charming personality, for they still consider a woman, not necessarily Dimiona, to be better suited for the throne. The smallfolk loves and supports him, but the Mhaharan Shah can never be certain about the loyalties of the nobility. Some openly support him but might still plot for Dimiona’s return behind his back. Others might claim neutrality, while secretly singing praises to Belkelel. As such, Arkos has built his reign on the trust and love of the smallfolk and of the military, both of which support him unconditionally.

To please his critics, Arkos recently announced his betrothal to Eleonora of Revennis, the young Satrapa of Goria, Arania’s southernmost satrapy. Perhaps due to her age, being a few years younger than Arkos and Dimiona, she remained neutral during Dimiona’s coup, but has openly condemned any worship of Belkelel, which indirectly pitted her against Dimiona. Therefore, Arkos has hoped to placate some of his more unruly vassals by marrying a strong, politically active noblewoman from a good lineage. Though their marriage hasn’t been finalized yet, the couple seems happy and fond of each other, with the adventurous Arkos glad that he is able to dedicate more time to his martial prowess, whereas the bookish and intelligent Eleonora has proven herself an excellent future ruler of Arania. As such, this match has made most people happy, though Arania still has a long way to go before the deep wounds carved by Dimiona’s insurrection have fully healed.

Arkos and his future wife rule over the largest, strongest and most prosperous of the Tulamid states, but this status is by no means unchallenged, as relations to the rest of the Tulamid Lands are difficult at best. Arania has border conflicts with Khunchom and the Sultanate of Goria, with the latter even openly desiring the southern third of the Mhaharanyat. Meanwhile, though relations to the Middenrealm are cordial, no formal alliance has ever been formed between the two nations, which leaves Arania without a strong ally. The Novadi Caliphate meanwhile has a markedly low opinion on Arania, mostly due to their differing views on women, with the Caliphate being a patriarchy. Hasrabal ben Yakuban, the Sorcerer Lord of Goria and arch-enemy of Arania, is also a vassal of the caliphate and while the caliph himself is hesitant to support him with troops against Arania, it is a very realistic fear amongs the citizens of the Mhaharanyat that this could change one day.

As such, Arania is plagued by internal conflicts and still has several external foes it cannot ignore. The nobility of Arania is similarly torn between those who preferred Dimiona or even fought for her, with most of them only able to remain in power thanks to clever scheming or by paying large sums or giving up hostages. While this has brought some superficial peace to Arania, the fact remains that the same noblewomen who supported Dimiona’s coup remain in power, with only a few key players losing land and titles.

Due to its closer proximity to the Middenrealm, Arania is the most temperate of the Tulamid Lands. Where deserts, semi-deserts and steppe dominate the landscape in other parts of Aventuria, most of Arania is actually quite green and fertile, often even more than the temperate regions of the Middenrealm. Most commoners work in agriculture, as a result the goddess Peraine has a centre of faith in the region and her most important sanctuary, the Holy Grove, can be found in Anchopal in southern Arania. Most villages have at least a shrine dedicated to Peraine and wandering priests and acolytes can be found throughout the entire Mhaharanyat. Wide fields are a common sight on the plains of Arania, where the commoners grow wheat, as well as small groves were various fruit are harvested. The southern parts of Arania are famous for their figs and dates, whereas grapes are grown in the north and east, with various wines from those regions considered to be among the finest in Aventuria.

Politically, Arania is separated into six satrapies, which are comparable to counties in the Middenrealm. The northernmost satrapy, Baburin, is the border region to the Middenrealm and consists of the parts of the ancient Sultanate of Nebachot that remained under Aranian control after the Bosparanians destroyed the city of Nebachot. Due to its status as a border region, Baburin has strong ties to the Church of Rondra and in ancient days it was one of its most important centres of faith. From here, numerous innovative weapons and armour have been designed and the blacksmiths of Baburin are famous throughout the continent. At the same time, Baburin is the most temparate and fertile region of Arania and ever since its northern border has no longer been threatened by war, the rulers of the Mhaharanyat have invested great sums into expanding the fields of Baburin, making it the granary of the entire nation.

To the south, Baburin is bordered by the satrapies of Palmyramis and Zorrigan. The former is often seen as the true gateway to the Tulamid lands in the same way Baburin is seen as the gateway to the Middenrealm. Palmyramis is notably more arid, with most of its southern parts consisting of a dry steppe. It also borders on the more dangerous parts of the Tulamid Lands, on the Rashtul Wall and the lands that nominally belong to the great city of Fasar. As such, the people of Palmyramis are used to having to defend themselves against Ferkina raiders from the mountains or Novadi warbands who operate from Fasar.

Zorrigan meanwhile is the heartland of Arania. Well known for its gentle hills, extensive vineyards and the pristine waters of the Gulf of Perricum, Zorrigan is considered one of the most beautiful parts of Aventuria and a centre of faith for the Church of Rahja. The most powerful noblewomen of Arania have their seat here, few people have to live in poverty and there are very few, if any threats for travellers on the well-maintained and heavily patrolled roads that cover the entire province. The capital of Zorrigan is Zorgan, Arania’s capital, as well as its largest city and second-most important port. It is from here that Arkos Shah rules over his people, aided by the churches of Rondra, Rahja and Peraine.

To the east of Zorrigan, covering the entire peninsula that makes up Arania’s east, lies the Satrapy of Elburum, the richest and most conservative region of Arania. Following the ancient Oroni traditions, virtually every political leader in Elburum is a woman and the matriarchic structures of Aranian society that have been somewhat replaced by a more equal approach after many centuries of Middenrealm rule remain as strong as ever here. The capital city of Elburm is eponymously named Elburum, the White City, and it is second only to Zorgan in terms of wealth and importance, first in beauty according to the locals. It used to be the capital of the ancient Sultanate of Oron until Dassareth united Oron and Nebachot. She made Zorgan the capital of the united Arania and the people of Elburum have never truly forgotten this insult. As such, there is a certain rivalry between the people of Zorgan and Elburum. With such a strong, conservative nobility ruling over the rich peninsula, it should come as no surprise that Elburum was a centre of support for the planned coup of Dimiona of Zorgan. Surprisingly so, however, the ruler of Elburum, the old and perpetually ill-humored Merisa of Elburum, was not among Dimiona’s supporters, instead she remained neutral for most of the crisis and only joined Arkos Shah’s side close to the end. However, her daughter and only child Khorena was one of the many noblewomen charmed by Dimiona, a key member of her inner circle and fellow demon cultist. When the conspiracy was shattered, Merisa was left with no choice but to exile her own child. Her current heiress-apparent and only surviving kin is Khorena’s bastard daughter Reshemin, a quiet girl whose physical beauty is overshadowed by a cruel and truly morbid sense of humour. Despite her mother’s crimes, Merisa has taken Reshemin in and raised her like a daughter, though this is likely not done out of affection for the girl, but rather because the old, proud Satrapa of Elburum has no other living relatives and therefore depends on her granddaughter if she ever wants to be succeeded by an heiress of her own blood. Reshemin is quickly growing into one of Arania’s most eligible bachelorettes since many see her as a way of taking control of Arania’s richest and proudest satrapy but even as she nears adulthood her grandmother has yet to announce a match for her. To this day, many noblewomen in Elburum remain supportive of Dimiona, some of them even openly sided with her during her coup and all of them resent Merisa for having chosen Arkos over the, as they see it, rightful Mhaharani Shahi. The role Elburum has played in Dimiona’s attempted coup is often glossed over, a concession Arkos had to make to win the satrapies reluctant support and reappraising it might take a full generation or longer.

Finally, let us take a look at the two southernmost satrapies of Khunchom and Goria. Both of these are mere remnants of old territories Arania had once possessed and though they are heavily contested, the rulers of Arania still formally claim the entire regions that gave the satrapies their name. Khunchom, also known as the Yalaiad after the region that remains under Aranian control is the more peaceful of the two. It is the most sparsely populated part of Arania, since the Yalaiad is a very swampy region, unsuited for agriculture and without any major cities. It is a somewhat important trade route, however, with several smaller rivers allowing for river trade with the nearby city of Khunchom, the largest and richest city in the Tulamid Lands. Though Arania never truly owned Khunchom, it has strong claims on it, which it never renounced. Still, relations between the two nations are cordially neutral, Khunchom profits greatly from trade with Elburum and Zorgan and Mhaharan Shah Arkos is a personal friend of Selo Kulibim, the Grand Prince of Khunchom.

The Satrapy of Goria meanwhile is the southernmost and most dangerous of the Aranian provinces. Much like Palmyramis, it borders on the lands of Fasar, but more importantly it also borders the Sultanate of Goria. Both, the Satrapy and the Sultanate, aim to restore the entire region of Goria, but where the Satrapy of Goria mostly just nurtures its claim on the region, the Sultan of Goria, Hasrabal ben Yakuban, has actively moved his troops against them in the past. He is ruthless, powerful and dangerous, making him the strongest external threat the Mhaharanyat has to face. To make matters worse, he rules over the richer and more fertile part of Goria, as the northern half, the one owned by Arania, consists mostly of a dry semi-desert. Large parts of the Satrapy lie in the shadow of the Gorian Desert, a magically created desert located atop a huge mesa. The Gorian Desert is not just the most inhospitable place in all Aventuria, it is also covered in arcane red dust, which regularly blows down from the mesa into the semi-desert below. Though the red dust is valuable and highly sought after by mages for its arcane properties, it is also dangerous to handle, toxic under prolonged exposure and comes with the unfortunate side effect of making the land it touches barren. The area around Anchopal, Goria’s capital city, remain protected by a sacred grove dedicated to the goddess Peraine, but few towns and villages can survive on their own in this dry, dangerous region. Many Aranians believe that Sultan Hasrabal, who is a monstrously skilled mage and Aventuria’s foremost expert on the red sand of the Gorian Desert, has something to do with the increase in dust storms that have plagued the satrapy in recent years, but the sultan denies any involvement and no evidence has ever been brought forth against him. The Satrapa of Goria is Eleonora of Revennis, who only recently inherited the title from her mother, who died after a brief, heavy illness. Eleonora is young and has yet to prove her worth, but she has already shown herself an excellent administrator and politician. She personally negotiated her betrothal to the Mhaharan Shah, a political match that quickly turned out to be a happy one, as the couple is reportedly fond of each other. As the future Mhaharani Shahi of Arania, she is currently looking for a suitable candidate among the nobility of Goria to replace her as the Satrapa of Goria. With Hasrabal on the borders, whomever she choose will have their work cut out for them.


In eastern Tulamidiya, right at the shores of the Sea of Pearls lies one of the largest, oldest and richest cities in Aventuria, the great merchant metropolis of Khunchom. In ages past, Khunchom was the capital of the Sultanate of Khunchom and later the Diamond Sultanate, the first and second great realms of the Tulamids respectively. Today, even though it is little more than a city state, Khunchom has lost little of its wealth, its splendour and its fascination.

While Khunchom is not the oldest of the Tulamid cities, it is by far the most important one, for it had been the centre of Tulamid politics, culture and commerce for many centuries and still continues to play a key role in each of these fields to this day. Indeed, if judged solely by its importance relative to its small size, it is among the most important places in all Aventuria.

The origins of Khunchom are even older than the city itself. Over five thousand years ago, back when the Tulamid Lands were still part of Pyrdacor’s Garden, the lizardfolk built a magnificent city called Yash’Hualay on the shores of the Sea of Pearls. It was not a city of warriors or scholars, but artists, a place dedicated to beauty. It was especially famous for its swimming gardens which had been constructed in the harbour basin. Eventually, mighty storms destroyed the bridges that connected the gardens with the city and they were driven away from Yash’Hualay. Though they are most certainly lying on the ground of the Sea of Pearls, sailors all across the Aventurian seas swear to this day that they have seen them still afloat on the horizon, a distant, unreachable memory of the lost glory of the lizardfolk.

Yash’Hualay was the capital of the remnants of the lizardfolk race after the destruction of Zze Tha and the death of Pyrdacor. Once a city of artists and philosophers it became a heavily fortified city of warriors in these days, as the lizardfolk had no more use for beauty and art. Their fight for survival was led by the golden serpent Ensharzaggesi, last and greatest warlord of the united lizardfolk. Though he initially seemed unstoppable, the Tulamids under Bastrabun al’Sheik, aided by the lizardfolk mage Aliss’Szargo and the goddess Hesinde, managed to defeat Ensharzaggesi. His city was destroyed and his people driven from the Tulamid Lands, now confined to the southern jungles and the island of Maraskan.

Bastrabun was impressed by the beauty of Yash’Hualay, however, even long after Ensharzaggesi has repurposed the city to his militaristic needs. He decided to rebuild and rename it, choosing the name ‘Khunchom’ for the new city, which he declared the capital of his united Tulamid realm, the first human superpower in Aventuria, the Sultanate of Khunchom.

Khunchom remained the seat of power throughout the entire duration of the eponymous Sultanate. Bastrabun and his successors ruled from here, expanding the city and making it grander than Yash’Hualay had ever been. It became one of the largest cities Aventuria had seen to this day, rivalling even the splendour of Tie’Shanna and Bosparan and it was here that the foundation for a unified Tulamid culture were laid out.

During the Scorpion Wars, where Assarbad of Zamorrah and his Mage Moguls waged war against the Tulamid Lands, Khunchom became the seat of his enemies, of the weak sultan and his dwindling supporters. It was here that the mysterious Sulman al’Nassori revealed himself to the struggling sultanate, convincing its last ruler to step down and hand power over to him. With his magic he single-handedly turned the tides of war, defeating Assarbad and reclaiming most of the Tulamid Lands and forming the Diamond Sultanate. Khunchom remained his capital city and seat of power.

Most of Khunchom’s history in these years is interchangeable with the history of the Diamond Sultanate that has already been written down above. The city continued to thrive, becoming the largest and most prosperous settlement Aventuria had ever seen and the most important centre of trade on the eastern coast of the continent. Even after the rise of Bosparan, Khunchom’s splendour was still the stuff of legends and unlike Bosparan or Tie’Shanna or all the great cities that came before it, Khunchom outlasted them. Even two and a half thousand years after its foundation and over five thousand years since the first sentient species settled in the natural harbour that makes up most of Khunchom’s coastline, the city still stands.

For many years after the fall of the Diamond Sultanate, however, Khunchom was not independent. Sensing the weakness of the Tulamid Lands after the Fall of Bosparan, Arania swallowed its weaker neighbour, incorporating the great city into the newly formed Satrapy of Khunchom. As part of Arania, albeit one whose desire for liberty was never truly quenched, Khunchom fell under personal union with the Middenrealm when the line of the Mhaharan Shah’s was broken in the early third century after Bosparan’s Fall.

Khunchom remained a nominal part of the Middenrealm for the next seven centuries and became its most important sea port. Khunchom was the main port from which the realm traded with Al’Anfa and Maraskan, which only increased the already unbelievable wealth of the city. Since Khunchom was also the southern border of the Middenrealm, its governors heavily invested in fortified walls and in mercenary companies, many of whom used Khunchom as a base of operations due to being located near the centre of Aventuria’s eastern coast and having a big port. To this day, Khunchom is defended by an army of sellswords, many of whom own property or have family within its walls, making sure that few sellsword companies are willing to take up arms against the city. As a direct result, the Church of Kor, the demigod son of Rondra who is worshipped as a god of battle and mercenaries, is particularly revered in Khunchom and one of his most important temples is located there.

In the past, Khunchom has often been used as a base of operations for Middenrealm wars. Rohal the Wise gathered an army on the fields of Khunchom when he moved against the dark mage Tharsonius of Bethana and centuries later, Emperor Reto of Gareth used Khunchom to launch his war of invasion against the island nation of Maraskan, its relatively close proximity giving the Middenrealm an important advantage during the initial stages of the war. It was later said that if not for Khunchom, the Iron Emperor couldn’t have pulled his conquest of Maraskan off so easily, if at all.

At the same time, Khunchom never lost its desire for independence and the governors even took on the title of ‘Grand Prince’ to further differentiate themselves from the other provincial rulers of the realm. Most of those saw Khunchom as a distant, barely controlled colony instead of an integral part of the realm and as such, they overlooked that the ruling dynasty, the House of Kulibin, was ruled by mostly very skilled diplomats with a shrewd eye to the finer workings of the realm.

It was Istav Kulibin, a skilled warrior and expert diplomat, who managed to win Khunchom’s independence during the early reign of Emperor Hal. It is rumoured that he was the one who convinced Arania to declare its independence. Behind their backs, however, he negotiated another deal with Emperor Hal, one that would ensure Khunchom’s complete independence, not just from the realm but from Arania as well. As such, when Hal accepted Arania’s independence, he also guaranteed the same for Khunchom, ensuring that it would be separated from Arania, while also securing beneficial trading rights with the grand prince.

This agreement was most favourable for most parties. The Middenrealm lost an unruly province and gained a strong ally and trading partner, Khunchom gained its complete independence and even Arania peacefully accepted Khunchom’new status (though notably without renouncing their claims on the wealthy city) and relations between the Grand Prince and the Mhaharan Shah are reportedly amiable.

To this day, Istav is worshipped as one of the best rulers Khunchom ever had, which is high praise considering that Bastrabun al’Sheik and Sulman al’Nassori both ruled over the ancient Tulamids from there. Through clever negotiations and by fully using the countless mercenaries that work for him, he was able to restore Khunchom’s old political glory. Despite its small size, the Grand Princedom is the most important among the fractured states of the Tulamid Lands and their inofficial leader.

Though they would never say it out aloud, there are some, especially among the nationalists within the city, those who have never given up on their dream of a united Tulamidiya, who deeply mourn the Grand Prince’s early death, especially since his son, Selo Kulibin, is the exact opposite of his father. After his father’s death, Selo followed him as grand prince, but he immediately rejected his father’s thinly veiled expansionist ambitions. Instead, the soft-hearted, charming and genuinely likeable Selo dedicated his reign to strengthening the diplomatic ties of Khunchom, negotiating alliances and expanding Khunchom’s influence through diplomacy and trade.

During the Khom War, Khunchom was the first to offer humanitarian aid to the Novadi, after the Al’Anfanian army had invaded the Khom Desert. Grand Prince Selo offered refuge to several key leaders of the scattered Novadi people, including their future caliph Malkillah. This deed has granted them the gratitude and friendship of the fiercely loyal Novadi and Malkillah became a personal ally to Selo.

However, Khunchom’s generosity also earned them the hatred of the Al’Anfanian Empire and it was seen as a key factor for their decision to invade not only the Khom, but also the lands of Tulamidiya, especially Khunchom. A full Al’Anfanian army besieged the city for several months, but after the death of their patriarch and the end of the war, they were forced to leave without having caused much damage to Khunchom. Nonetheless, Selo publicly forgave the Black Army, being the first and only Tulamid leader to do so and he even sent a heartfelt letter of condolence to Al’Anfa after the death of their patriarch.

Nowadays, Khunchom aims to be on good terms with its immediate neighbours and cordially neutral with foreign powers. It is one of the few places in Aventuria where a man from the Middenrealm can freely trade with Al’Anfanians, Horasians or Maraskanians instead of worrying over their political differences. As a result, almost every political power in Aventuria has an embassy in Khunchom and the city has a whole legion of diplomats in its employ in return.

While originally consisting of little more than the city itself, Khunchom has also steadily, but peacefully expanded its influence in the last few years. Using his excellent reputation and Khunchom’s incredible wealth, Grand Prince Selo has convinced previously unaffiliated cities and villages to swear allegiance to Khunchom, expanding its influence all the way up to the Aranian border, to the Yalaiad peninsula. Still, Khunchom is a tiny state compared to the great powers of Aventuria, with only its wealth, clever diplomacy and great strategic location as the most important city in the Tulamid Lands allowing it to see eye to eye with nations as powerful as Horasia or the Middenrealm.

That being said, even though Selo Kulibin remains the ruler of the city, Khunchom is very heavily influenced by its merchants. Already an important centre of trade during the days of the Diamond Sultanate, Khunchom’s importance actually only increased as humans expanded over the continent, settling in the Bornland, on Maraskan and in the jungles of Meridiana. Nowadays, it is said that no trading vessel ventures from Aventuria’s upper eastern coast to its lower end without stopping at Khunchom. Naturally, this has given the wealthy merchants of the city a significant influence on the Grand Prince’s politics. The nine most influential merchants serve as Selo’s viziers, forming a council of advisers that holds significant sway over the day-to-day matters of the Grand Princedom. This effectively makes Khunchom a hybrid state between a hereditary monarchy and a republic.

Khunchom is the seat of the Dragon’s Egg Academy, one of Aventuria’s most prestigious schools of magic. Like the city itself, the Dragon’s Egg Academy is famously wealthy, quite likely the wealthiest academy of magic in all Aventuria. Unlike the other contenders, who are often sponsored by a political power, such as the Academy of Al’Anfa, or a wealthy investor, such as the Stoerrebrandt College in Riva, the Dragon’s Egg Academy has gained its wealth on its own, through ample trade, as is the standard in Khunchom. It is located in one of the oldest buildings in Khunchom, supposedly atop vast lizardfolk catacombs, and employs an elite group of mercenaries, the Knights of the Everlasting Battle, to guard its premises. The exact nature of the contract between the academy and the Knights of the Everlasting Battle remains a mystery and has given birth to the rumour that the knights have been hired not to protect the academy itself, but something else within it, in the catacombs below.

The Dragon’s Egg Academy is part of the Grey Guild and quite likely the most neutral amongst its ranks. It is an academy specialized on one thing only, the creation and distribution of arcane artefacts. While not the only academy that specializes in creating artefacts, it is virtually the only one that sells it to clients outside of the academy. This has given the academy vast resources which it dedicates to creating increasingly more wondrous and intricate artefacts. At the same time, critics accuse the academy of not caring much for the morality of its customers, even trading with black mages of ill repute. The academy itself, of course, remains quiet about its customers.

As mentioned above, Khunchom’s standing army consists mostly of mercenaries. By nature, sellswords value coin and few other employers could ever hope to match whatever the Grand Prince of Khunchom is willing to pay. As such, the city is protected by elite sellsword companies accompanied by a small standing force of trained guardsmen and even a dozen war elephants from the southern jungles. Still, a majority of Khunchom’s army consists of sellswords and as such, the city has become a centre of faith for Kor, the god of battle and patron deity of sellswords.

The Church of Kor, which is only a smaller cult in the Middenrealm, where Kor’s mother Rondra is worshipped as the goddess of honourable and knightly combat, is particularly strong in the Tulamid Lands and further to the south, in Al’Anfa and the city states of Meridiana. It can roughly be divided into two movements, the Way of the Good Fight and the Way of the Good Gold and though every Priest of Kor or faithful sellsword is expected to follow both of these movements, different parts of the church put stronger emphasis on one or the other. Khunchom’s Church of Kor in particular has dedicated itself to the Way of the Good Gold, which means that they are experts in negotiating sellsword contracts. Devotees of the Good Gold believe that nothing is more sacred than receiving adequate pay for their service and that, in return, there is no greater sacrilege than to withhold payment from a mercenary.

It should be no surprise that the Priests of Kor in Khunchom are not only fearsome warriors, but also among Aventuria’s foremost scholars of law. Contracts negotiated by them are foolproof, which has only further increased Khunchom’s reputation as a haven for traders and sellswords, attracting ample of both. The local Temple of Kor is one of the most important in Aventuria, as it is where the original version of the Codex of Khunchom is located, the most sacred text of the Church of Kor, a series of contracts that explicitly regulate the pay a faithful sellsword has to receive for his service.

All in all, Khunchom is a city of promises, where even the poorest beggar can dream of achieving wealth beyond their wildest dreams. Gold is the lifeline of the city, from the coin that is exchanged at the many crowded bazaars to the coin that rests in the pockets of sellswords and adventurers for hire, to the vast riches hidden away in fortified vaults. Traders from all over the continent can be found in the city and in return, the trading vessels of Khunchom regularly reach any known harbour on Aventuria.


Fasar is located in the western Tulamid Lands, where the land grows more arid and stark, right where the foothills of the Rashtul Wall begin. While many cities in Tulamidiya are exceptionally old, none can claim to be as old as Fasar, the first city that has been founded by the ancient Tulamids after they descended from the Rashtul Wall. Though besieged, sacked and sometimes even destroyed numerous times over its tumultuous history, Fasar has always been rebuilt and it remains the oldest continuously inhabited human city in Aventuria.

As the first Tulamid settlement after the fall of Zze Tha, Fasar is a storied city, its history ripe with grand triumphs and bitter defeats. It has been the seat of some of the most renowned leaders the Tulamids ever had, but also a place where some of the most horrific deeds their people have ever done have been committed. Over the years, it has become an infamous hive, with overcrowded streets, violence and ruthless slave owners and indeed, Fasar is one of the centres of Aventuria’s slave trade, as well as home to the second-largest arena on the continent, the Murak al’Kira arena, which has been named after the brutal warmonger Murak-Horas, who very nearly conquered the entire Diamond Sultanate back in his day. The city is also home to one of the oldest, most prestigious and most dreaded academies of magic in Aventuria, the Academy of Mental Power, often called the Al’Achami after its semi-legendary founder. The Al’Achami is part of the black guild of magic and specialized in domination magic, often seen as the most dangerous and heinous type of magic, for domination mages are essentially masters at enslaving another person’s mind.

It is said that the lizardfolk was the first to settle in the area of Fasar, but by the time the Tulamids arrived in the area, years after the destruction of Zze Tha and the death of the god-dragon Pyrdacor, the city had been long abandoned. It was Rashtul al’Sheik, the first leader of the Tulamids, who supposedly ordered his people to construct a settlement on the seemingly barren land. It was named Yol-Fassar and to the surprise of its people, they soon found water in the area, natural reservoirs that were hidden underground, supplied by underground rivers from the Rashtul Wall. This allowed Fasar to thrive and it became known as a first haven for the Tulamids, their capital from which they ventured further into the dry semi-desert of the Tulamid Lands. Expeditions that started from Fasar eventually discovered the fertile lands of Arania to the north and the mighty rivers of Gadang and Mhanadi, with new settlements forming along these rivers.

Yol-Fassar was the unofficial capital of the Tulamid people during these days, although Rashtul al’Sheik rarely spent time in the city. Instead, he oversaw the construction of new settlements, such as the city of Rashdul, where he founded the first academy of magic. He also waged war against the lizardfolk of Yash’Hualay, under their mighty warlord N'shr Ssa'Khr Ssech or Ensharzaggesi in the Tulamid language. Though he himself would not live to see the end of the war, which spanned several centuries, his heir Bastrabun al’Sheik eventually drove the lizardfolk back. Legend has it that Rashtul died in Fasar and was entombed there, but no evidence of his grave has ever been found in the ancient ruins upon which the current city has been built.

Unlike Rashtul, who is practically worshipped as a god by the people of Fasar to this very day, Bastrabun’s reign was not very popular among them. Even though Fasar was the largest, oldest and wealthiest Tulamid city of its day, Bastrabun chose to rule from the humble town of Mherwed, which was located far more centrally in the Tulamid Lands. Later on, after conquering Yash’Hualay and driving the lizardfolk back into their marshes, he chose the newly built city of Khunchom as his capital, proclaiming the Sultanate of Khunchom, of which Fasar was but one of several emirates.

This was seen as a great insult to the nobility of Fasar and they remained resentful of Bastrabun for his entire reign. It was this resentment that made them open to suggestions from Bastrabun’s internal enemies. A group of thirteen dark mages, led by the charismatic Assarbad, managed to take control of the city and the surrounding lands. They named themselves the Mage Moguls and they became the fiercest rivals of the Sultanate of Khunchom and the eventual cause of its destruction.

At first, the people of Fasar willingly fought for Assarbad, but as the dark mage’s reign grew into one of terror and tyranny, they became afraid of him. Eventually, he spurned the nobility of Fasar as well by naming the newly built city of Zamorrah as his capital, which drove them into open rebellion. Assarbad’s response was swift and brutal. He sent two of the mage moguls, his right-hand man Al’Chababi and the ice elementalist Tubalkain to deal with the heavily fortified city. The two mages dealt with the rebels in just a single day, taking the city and putting half of its people to the sword.

Still, it was Fasar’s rebellion that gave the Sultanate of Khunchom a chance to strike back. Led by Assarbad’s greatest rival, the benevolent mage Sulman al’Nassori, the Tulamids struck back at the mage moguls and the following war became known as the Scorpion War, the bloodiest internal conflict mankind ever had, one that saw the entire destruction of Zamorrah and the desolation of Goria. Fasar was conquered, destroyed and rebuilt several times during this war, with new buildings constructed upon the ruins of the old.

Fasar’s defiance against the Mage Moguls was their saving grace, since Sulman al’Nassori spared the city after defeating and killing Assarbad. However, for its treachery and for enabling the tyrants, the city was sacked and its people had to pay a critical sum to the victors. For the entire remainder of the Diamond Sultanate, Fasar would never fully recover from this, not to the point where it could reasonably challenge Khunchom’s splendour.

That being said, Fasar carved itself a niche in these centuries, becoming the greatest centre of the slave trade in Aventuria. Slavery had always been legal in the Tulamid Lands, but the great merchants of Khunchom considered it a distasteful practice nonetheless, which meant they were glad someone else was willing to take care of it. As such, the slave monopoly of Fasar was never challenged within the Tulamid Lands. Through great inland trade routes, legions of slaves were brought from the eastern coast and from the northern wilds, men, women, children of all races. From Fasar, they were sold all over the continents, to rich merchants from the south, to Bosparan or even to the northern realms, with even the ork clans eager to trade with the slavers from Fasar.

Over the centuries, slavery became integral to Fasar’s identity. Nowhere else do slavers have more power, not even in the Empire of Al’Anfa, which is largely built on the backs of countless slaves. Influential slavers can even become members of the Exalted, the oligarchic city council that rules over Fasar, giving them a degree of political control that would be unthinkable in most parts of Aventuria. It should come as no surprise that this gives the city a dreadful reputation in those parts of Aventuria where slavery is outlawed, such as the Middenrealm. Where Khunchom is seen as a valuable, noble trading partner, Fasar is, at best, considered a necessary evil by northern merchants, a way to legalize and regulate a lucrative trade that would otherwise flourish in secret.

Fasar was rebuilt thanks to its slavers and in the years after Bosparan’s Fall and after the end of the Diamond Sultanate, the city would eventually rival Khunchom once more. This was made especially clear because unlike Khunchom, which became a part of Arania and eventually the Middenrealm, Fasar kept its independence, a mighty city state in the semi-desert of the Rashtul Wall foothills.

With Khunchom a mere vassal of larger powers, Fasar was seen as a leader among the Tulamid cities in the centuries to come. Together with Rashtul, Mherwed and Thalusa, Fasar formed the Pact of Rashtul against the Novadi of the Khom desert shortly after the first caliph united the scattered tribes. The Novadi posed a significant threat to the Tulamid city states ever since, their armies even conquering Mherwed and surrounding Rashtul in the years after the Pact of Rashtul. One Novadi tribe, the Beni Gadang, even settled in the area of Fasar, but relations with the city are surprisingly cordial, with their leader eventually becoming part of Fasar’s city council, despite his claim over the entire region. Nowadays, the city itself is firmly independent, but the surrounding landscape, with several loosely affiliated villages and smaller towns, has sworn fealty to both, the Exalted Council of Fasar and the Novadi caliph, often forcing these villagers to pay taxes to both.

Its independence has been a major concern for the rulers of Fasar in the years after Bosparan’s Fall. At first, these rulers were absolute monarchs, but over the centuries, the various groups of interest in Fasar gained influence, to the point where the monarch lost more and more of his power. There is still a King of Fasar in the current day, a figurehead no more powerful than any other member of the ruling council. The kings of Fasar lost their absolute power a few hundred years ago during a plutocratic coup led by the first members of the Exalted Council. By their ideology, however, the incredibly wealthy king was not outright deposed and stripped of his riches, but accepted as one among many, with his wealth, rather than his blood, allowing him to remain a part of the cities leadership.

Nowadays, the Exalted Council is one of the largest governing bodies in Aventuria, consisting of several dozens of men and women wealthy enough to buy their way into the council. Any citizen of Fasar can become a member of the Exalted as long as they keep their wealth and social status, but losing said wealth and status means immediate eviction from the Exalted Council. Former members of the council often risk certain death if they linger in the city, for one cannot become a member of the council without making certain enemies.

As stated above, a notable part of the council consists of slavers. There is, however, no slaver guild in Fasar that they could represent, but due to how lucrative the trade is in the city, it is seen as an easy way for a politically ambitious merchant to join the council. Other craftsmen organize themselves in guilds, with the stonemasons, butchers and caravan leaders being the most important among them. These guilds elect a representative to join the council and they pay the membership fees together. The most important churches of Fasar also have a permanent representative among the Exalted. These churches are the Church of Rahja, who is worshipped under the name of Radsha Ushtammar in Fasar, the Church of Kor, whose worldly leader, the Judge of the Nine Strikes, resides in Fasar, as well as the Church of Phex and the Church of Praios, the latter of which also serves as an ambassador of the Middenrealm in Fasar. The leader of the local Novadi tribe, Malik Bey of the Beni Gadang, also sits in the council, as does the current nominal king of Fasar, Fequir ben Khajid. Both men claim absolute rule over the city, with Fequir ben Khajid openly desiring to reinstall the absolute monarchy in Fasar and rule over it as an independent king, while Malik Bey, a deeply pious Novadi and vassal of the caliph, would love nothing more than to offer the city to his liege, Caliph Malkillah III. Another important member of the Exalted Council is the head of the Al’Achami, the Academy of Mental Power, itself the most renowned academy of black magic in Aventuria. Currently, this would be Thomeg Atherion, one of the most mysterious and feared black mages in all Aventuria.

This vast, colourful council, consisting of slavers, moneylenders, old nobility, priests and black mages amongst many others, is deeply fractured by infighting and political intrigue is common and particularly deadly in the city. A complex web of fleeting alliances has kept a relative peace, but it is not uncommon for people affiliated with rival factions among the Exalted Council to come to blows in the streets. Bloodshed and violence is common in Fasar, to the point where it has also become part of the cities identity in the form of violent gladiator games.

Gladiators are not uncommon in southern Aventuria or even in parts of Horasia, where they fight chivalrous duels to the first blood for their noble benefactors. Even in the otherwise ill-reputed Empire of Al’Anfa, a gladiator can become a free man and celebrated entertainer of the masses. The same cannot be said for the gladiators of Fasar. They are recruited from the dregs among the slaves, those who are particularly unruly and violent. There is no freedom for them, instead they are thoroughly broken and then forced to fight each other to the death for as long as people are willing to watch. In the many arenas and blood grounds of Fasar, there is always an eager audience and the more violent the fights, the more lucrative they are for the owners of the arenas, many of whom are part of the Exalted Council or have ambitions to join them eventually.

As such, the life of a Fasarian gladiator is violent, short and bleak. Few survive these ordeals long enough to catch the eye of foreign slave traders, who sometimes buy them and at least allow them to leave Fasar. These gladiators are often sold to other arenas in southern Aventuria, where the conditions are at least marginally better, but to this day, only a handful of men have ever managed to outright break free from the violent pit fights altogether.

Beyond a particularly violent branch of slavery and gladiator games, Fasar is a haven for scholars and free thinkers, with the former often drawn to the ancient ruins upon which the city has been built and rebuilt. Perhaps it is the cities history as the former seat of the Mage Moguls, perhaps it is the legacy of the radical mage philosopher Tharsonius of Bethana, who, at one point, was headmaster of the Al’Achami, but black mages have always been drawn to the city. Some of Aventuria’s most dangerous spells have been created behind the walls of the Al’Achami and some of its most notorious villains have taken their first steps in the streets of Fasar, from Assarbad of Zamorrah to Tharsonius of Bethana to the latter’s disciples, the Borbaradians, who used to be very active in Fasar in the centuries following Tharsonius’ defeat.

Part of what makes Fasar so attractive to such radicals is its high religious tolerance. As stated way above, the Tulamid Lands never had a truly codified religion, with various gods, demigods, demons, giants, dragons and even local rulers being worshipped in certain parts of the Tulamid Lands. This ancient Tulamid pantheon is slowly replaced by the Twelve Gods that are worshipped in most other parts of Aventuria, but Fasar has never been quick to change. Over the millennia, the city has managed to keep a large variety of local gods that are considered part of the ancient Tulamid pantheon, many of whom are not worshipped anywhere else in the Tulamid Lands. Some of these gods are archaic forms of the Twelve Gods, such as the Cult of Radsha Ushtammar, whom many theologists believe to be the oldest form of worship for Rahja, the goddess of love and beauty. Others, such as the river goddess Gadanga or Menadh, are personifications of the mighty rivers that allow life to flourish in the Tulamid Lands. Other gods worshipped in Fasar are decidedly darker entities, such as the Mutilated God, whose followers are cripples, beggars and madmen, or the Jackal-That-Follows, who is worshipped by assassins.

The city is located atop a hill that overlooks the surrounding steppe, with the city itself being built skywards, with towering buildings domineering the skyline. The largest buildings are reserved for the richest members of the Exalted and they are connected by bridges above the city itself, so that their owners can visit each other without ever having to step down into the city. The surrounding land is a dry steppe, where wild horses graze. The Novadi of the Beni Gadang have settled in this area after the caliphate conquered Mherwed and following the customs of their people, they prefer to live on the plains as opposed to the overcrowded and violent city. For this sake, their leader has ordered the construction of a great tent city, called Yol-Rastullah, just outside the city proper. This tent city is reserved for Novadi only and supposedly one of the safest and most disciplined places in the Tulamid lands, especially when compared to the violent streets of Fasar.

Fasar has long since outgrown the land around it, with the dry steppe and the underground water reservoirs no longer enough to support the tens of thousands of people who live there. As such, the city depends on trade and is the largest buyer of grain in the entire Tulamid Lands. This promotes trade in the city and has made some people very, very wealthy, but the downside to this is that in times of war, the poor people of Fasar are often the first to suffer, with hunger and disease being an ever-present threat. As a result of the Exalted Council and their ruthless, profit-oriented reign, there is a significant gap between the rich and the poor, with a few hundred wealthy people owning pretty much the entire city, while the tens of thousands who live below the poverty line are always at risk of becoming property themselves, for debt slavery is quite common.


The south-western part of the Tulamid Lands belongs to the region of Goria, or Al’Guriya as it was known in ancient times. Bordering on the Khom Desert, it is a notoriously arid and dangerous region for most of the year. However, due to the Khoram Mountains that separate it from the desert, it regularly receives heavy rainfalls that make it impossible to maintain a proper network of roads as it can be found in other parts of Tulamidistan. Instead, the roads are no more than roughly dug trenches that can be traversed on foot or on horseback most of the year. During the rain season, however, these trenches flood and can be traversed by boat. As such, despite the arid climate of Goria, every homestead owns a small rowing boat for the rain season.

Through magic and hard labour, the southern parts of Goria, also known as the Balash allow for agriculture and as a result, they have given rise to the immeasurably old city of Rashdul, one of the oldest cities in the Tulamid Lands, beaten only by Fasar. These centres of civilization are built close to the Mhanadi. The farther away one gets from the river, especially to the north of the Balash, the region becomes more arid and dry and the people who live there are mostly nomadic tribes known for their resilience. Only the smaller river Chaluk allows for some limited agriculture here and the eponymous region of Chalukistan is somewhat fertile as a result. Farther to the north, one enters the dry lands of the Gorian steppe and the semi-desert of Upper Goria, a harsh, rocky place where only a few permanent settlements can survive.

The centre of Goria is the most infamous part of the entire region, the dreaded Gorian Desert. On its own, the Gorian Desert lies on the largest mesa in Aventuria, surrounded by insurmountable cliffs on all sides. On its top, there lies a red desert and a sky constantly covered in black clouds. A sharp, shockingly cold wind constantly howls from all sides, ever blowing towards the centre of the desert, though the air constantly feels stuffy and rotten at the same time. The entire ground is covered in dark red sand, covering treacherous holes and spiky, jagged rocks. The Gorian Desert is easily the most inhospitable, lifeless and dangerous place in all Aventuria, even above the eternal ice of the far north. No animal lives there and few humans who had dared to enter the mesa ever returned, giving birth to rumours that the entire desert is haunted by trapped souls.

At the same time, the Gorian Desert holds one valuable good within it, namely the sand itself. The dark red sand has been created artificially during an unparalleled magical explosion and remains drenched in arcane powers. During particularly windy days, it is sometimes blown from the mesa into the semi-desert below and fearless locals often gather it to sell it to the mages in Khunchom and Rashdul, who use the sand as a source of power for their many experiments. Hasrabal ben Yakuban, the ruler of Goria, has shown particular interest in the red sand and he is among the few who regularly enter the desert and live to tell the tale.

The Gorian Desert has been warped into its current state shortly before the Mage Wars, the infamous period of civil war within the guild of magic that resulted in it splitting into the three distinct guilds that exist to this day. Back then, the powerful dark mage Tharsonius of Bethana had amassed a large amount of followers among Aventuria’s mages, constructing a black fortress in the heart of the Gorian Desert and seeking to restore the Realm of the Mage Moguls of the Gadang. He ruled over the surrounding lands with an iron fist for over twenty years from roughly around the year 565 BF to 590 BF. To this day, many sources call him Bor Barrad, which means ‘Bringer of Death’ in the language of the ancient Tulamids.

Tharsonius of Bethana was eventually brought down by direct intervention of Rohal the Wise, the long-lived Mage Emperor of the Middenrealm, who had brought down the Priest Emperors over a century before. Sensing the threat that came from Tharsonius, Rohal and his army ventured into the heart of the Gorian Desert where they eventually met the dark mage’s forces.

Almost no written account of this terrible battle remains, as both armies were nearly wiped out, with only a handful of survivors on both sides, most of whom had been driven mad by what they experienced. The only thing that is known for certain is that Rohal and Tharsonius duelled each other and the sheer force of their magic warped the Gorian Desert forever. When the dust settled, the entire desert had been turned into its current state, a scarlet nightmare where nothing could survive for long. It is said that Tharsonius’ dark fortress survived the cataclysm and still stands in the heart of the desert, in the eye of the constant storm that plagues the mesa, a haunted ruin where demons and worse things dwell. As for Tharsonius, neither he nor Rohal have been seen since then.

Politically, Goria is divided into several factions, most of whom have sworn allegiance to the Novadi Caliphate. The northernmost faction that has a claim on Goria is the Mhaharanyat of Arania, which has a province of the same name. The current Mhaharani Shahi, Eleonora of Revennis, was the Satrapa of Goria, one of the most influential noblewomen in Arania, before she married Arkos Shah and came to rule the entire nation by his side. However, Arania’s claim is heavily contested by Hasrabal ben Yakuban, Sheikh of the Beni Avad, one of the most powerful mages in Aventuria and the strongest and most unruly vassal of the Novadi Caliph.

Hasrabal is indeed the most important person in Goria and it would be impossible to discuss the modern political climate of the region without mentioning his contribution. The Sorcerer Lord, as he is known among the commoners, is a deeply religious follower of Rastullah, the monotheistic god of the Novadi, yet also a mage despite the usual reservations his people have towards all things arcane. This has given him the respect of the Tulamids who live in his land, while his unwavering faith and opposition to all things demonic have given him the begrudging respect of even the most traditionalistic Novadi. He rules over the mighty tribe of the Beni Avad, their ranks bolstered by his elemental constructs, the Quicksand Elementals, whom he personally created.

Much to his chagrin, Rashdul remains independent from his realm, as a city state ruled over by Eshila of Rashdul, a famed sharizad and likely the only woman who holds any political power within the Novadi Caliphate, for she, much like Hasrabal, is nominally a vassal to the caliph. Eshila used to be the favoured wife of the old Emir of Rashdul and after he died childless, she remained in power, ruling through her weak-willed uncle, who is entirely loyal to her. Though his advisers consider her reign illegitimate by Novadi law and openly urge Hasrabal to take Rashdul, the sultan himself, while clearly having designs for the ancient and rich city, has admitted to a grudging respect for the capable and cunning Eshila. It is likely that a more traditionalistic Novadi ruler would have already moved his forces against the city, but as a mage among notoriously mage-hating people, Hasrabal is used to a more pragmatic solution. Whatever the great Sorcerer-Lord plans in the end, there is no doubt that Hasrabal will eventually claim Rashdul for himself, as he always intended to.

Hasrabal’s relations to another regional power within Goria, the Emirate of Balash, are cordial and he peacefully coexists with it as opposed to him openly coveting the territory of the Satrapy of Goria and the Emirate of Rashdul. This is largely due to his personal friendship with Mherech ben Tuleyman ben Hashabnah, a fellow mage and a Mawdli, one of the highly revered scholars of law who have studied the Ninety-Nine Laws of Rastullah which the Novadi use as the basis of their society. Mherech, who is a close supporter of the Emir of Balash, has supposedly convinced Hasrabal to cede any ambitions for the Balash and the truce between the two regional powers has lasted to this day.


The southernmost part of the core Tulamid Lands is dominated by swamps, which get perpetually larger and more hostile the further south one is to travel, before reaching the Lizard Marshes, the historic border between the realm of the Tulamids and the remnant of Pyrdacor’s lizardfolk. Even then, however, the Tulamids have settled beyond that border throughout their history, after the lizardfolk had been thoroughly broken by their centuries of imprisonment and Bastrabun’s Ban was no longer needed. The Lizard Marshes and the southernmost Tulamid settlement, the Sultanate of Selem, won’t be covered in this guide, however. Instead, Thalusia, as the last part of the Tulamid Lands to be settled during the golden age of the Diamond Sultanate, shall be the last region that is covered in this guide.

It is a long, fairly narrow region located between the Mountains of Unau and the Sea of Pearls. The region is known for being rainy and largely swampy, with hot, humid air, though generations of Tulamids have worked to drain the swamps around the main cities and pockets of civilization. Around these cities and villages, large fields have been constructed, where farmers work on behalf of obscenely rich noblemen who dominate the entire region. Most of these fields are rice fields, since rice is the most common source food in Thalusia, with the humid climate and the frequent rain being particularly beneficial for it.

Thalusia, as the region is formally called is dominated by the Sultanate of Thalusa, once a vassal state of the caliphate, though it has recently gained its independence after a coup led by the former chief executioner of Thalusa, the elf Dolguruk. More about that down below, since first I will tell you a bit about the history of Thalusia as a whole.

Unlike the other regions covered in this guide, Thalusia was not one of the five Sultanates that the ancient Tulamids first settled in, nor was it ever on the same rank as the five core provinces during the golden age of the Diamond Sultanate. Instead, the swamps of Thalusia were seen as an untamed frontier, where lizards and worse dwelled. As such, the early Tulamid settlers had little desire to venture into this region, which they deemed inhospitable even by their standards.

However, after the war against the lizardfolk was won, the lizard sorcerer Aliss’Szargo, who had aided the ancient Tulamids on behalf of the goddess Hesinde, declared Thalusia to be a part of the Tulamid Lands and it was here that most of Bastrabun’s Ban, the mighty spell Bastrabun had woven under Aliss’Szargo’s tutelage, was constructed, to imprison the lizardfolk in the Lizard Marshes. After that, Thalusia finally gained some importance to the Diamond Sultanate.

Previously the home of a few daredevils, who were seen as half-mad by the denizens of the more civilised Tulamid Lands, Thalusia was now an important border region, since Bastrabun’s Ban had to be maintained regularly by talented mages, with legions of soldiers standing guard to protect the Tulamid Lands should Bastrabun’s magic ever fail. The city of Thalusa was founded during these days, located right at the Bay of Tears. It was designed as a military outpost around a larger port, originally intended for military vessels, though as human colonization of the southern jungles proceeded, Thalusa also became an important hub of trade.

The remote nature of Thalusia allowed for corruption to flourish and nowhere in the entire Tulamid Lands is the gap between the rich and the poor so vast as it is in this region. Practically the entire region is owned by powerful noblemen, who abuse their wealth and control over their serfs, who often have to work under horrible conditions for a meagre amount of coin or rice. Though control over Thalusia has shifted repeatedly after the golden age of the Diamond Sultanate was over, this unpleasant aspect remained under each ruler.

For most of its existence, Thalusia was a part of the Diamond Sultanate, a border province at first, later an important hub of trade with the southern Sultanate of Elem and the growing port city of Al’Anfa. After Elem, nowadays known as the ruined city of Selem, gained its independence from the Sultanate, it launched a conquest against Thalusia, taking the province by force and reinforcing the city of Thalusa so that a reconquest by the Diamond Sultanate was impossible. They were aided in their conquest by lizardfolk, historically enemies of the Diamond Sultanate, who took a bloody vengeance on the people of Thalusa after the city had fallen.

For almost two hundred years, Thalusa belonged to the Sultanate of Elem and it was a city shared between humans and lizards, though tensions between the races never calmed down. Unfortunately for Elem, it was not the northern Diamond Sultanate it had to be worried about, but Bosparan, the mighty empire to the west, which took both, Elem and Thalusa, with its unstoppable legions. While Elem was deemed a rotten hive, where only madmen and worse would dwell, the Bosparanians under their great emperor Silem-Horas recognized the potential of Thalusa and rebuilt the city.

Like most of the Tulamid Lands after the fall of Bosparan, the Middenrealm nominally claimed the entire region of Thalusia, though due to its remote nature, it was never properly ruled over by a Middenrealm nobleman. To this day, however, the title of “Duke of Thalusia” exists as a nominal title without any actual power to it. After the fall of Bosparan, Thalusia split into several smaller states and it would take centuries until the entire region was conquered and reunited.

This conquest was led not by the Tulamids, who hadn’t been united under one ruler since the fall of the Diamond Sultanate, but by the rising Novadi Caliphate. Unlike the other conquests of the caliphate, it was done peacefully, by the religious conversion of Thalusa’s ruler, Ras Kasan in the year 973 after Bosparan’s Fall. Ras converted to the growing faith of Rastullah and offered his lands to the Novadi Caliph, who afterwards claimed all of Thalusia and gave it to Ras Kasan, who was now an Emir, a noble vassal of the caliph.

Though Ras Kasan ruled over Thalusa for many years, few have anything good to say about him. He was known as a cruel, paranoid ruler and those traits only grew worse as he grew older. Several unsuccessful attempts on his life left him a moody wreck of a man who saw traitors around all corners. His blatant corruption drained the region of any wealth and worsened the already desperate situation of the peasantry even further, while also weakening the hold of the powerful noblemen, many of whom tried to get rid of him by any means necessary.

Ras Kasan soon had to rely on mercenaries, especially the famous Lions of Thalusa, one of the most experienced mercenary companies in Aventuria, to secure his reign. Any vassal of his whom he suspected to plot against him was dragged off by the Lions and brought before Ras Kasan, who always ordered their immediate death. Those executions were committed by his favourite courtier, the chief executioner Dolguruk, probably the only person whom Ras Kasan ever truly trusted.

Dolguruk, also known as Dolguruk the Black for his unnatural black skin, was seen as trustworthy by Ras Kasan for he was not a scheming man, but an elf, a race without any ambitions for politics. This trust proved to be Ras Kasan’s greatest mistake, for Dolguruk was by no means as obedient as he seemed to be at first. Instead of executing several of the emir’s greatest enemies, he instead spared them and smuggled them out of the city, winning their loyalty in the process. With the coin they provided him with, he bought the Lions of Thalusa and even Ras Kasan’s personal guard, who had long since been fed up by their cruel ruler.

In one night, Dolguruk deposed of any loyalist within Ras Kasan’s palace, executing them all before dragging the helpless emir and throwing him into the cells, where he was supposed to be executed after a mock trial. Dolguruk replaced him, styling himself ‘Sultan of Thalusa’ and renouncing the oaths of fealty his predecessor had made to the caliphate.

Ironically, Ras Kasan was saved by the one good political decision he made during his reign. Years ago he had married his only child and heiress, Shenny, to Selo Kulibin, the High Prince of Khunchom, one of the richest and most benevolent rulers in the Tulamid Lands. Even though they were not on speaking terms, the kind-hearted Selo hired a group of heroes to free Ras Kasan from his imprisonment. Against all odds, the heroes managed to infiltrate Thalusa, where they freed Ras Kasan from his cell mere hours before his scheduled execution. The disgraced former emir was brought back to Khunchom, where he now lives in exile as a miserable, paranoid and hateful man.

In his absence, Dolguruk executed a man who remotely resembled Ras Kasan, therefore pronouncing him dead and cementing his rule over the city. Unlike his predecessor, Dolguruk is not the least bit corrupt, but soon, many began to see him as ten times as cruel. Instead of the often fickle justice of Ras Kasan, Dolguruk implemented a code of complex, strict laws, which he and his followers almost religiously follow. It is said that his code of laws is complex, sometimes revolutionary and often times thoroughly confusing, with only Dolguruk himself able to comprehend it in its entirety. Lawbreakers, however, are shown no mercy in the new Thalusa, for Dolguruk remains the chief executioner, always carrying an executioner’s sword with him, ready to personally punish any criminals. His prison is constantly overflowing and it is considered one of the worst in all Aventuria.

Unsurprisingly, Dolguruk’s rebellion has isolated the Sultanate politically. Though Thalusa remains an important centre of trade, almost every nation in Aventuria has withdrawn their ambassadors from Dolguruk’s court, with only the Empire of Al’Anfa, itself on shaky terms with most of the continent, maintaining a small embassy. Dolguruk is considered an illegitimate ruler, renounced by the Church of Praios, who openly suspects him of being in league with the archdemon Blakharaz, the cruel Lord of Vengeance. Whatever the truth, Dolguruk has proven himself a ruthlessly effective, but hateful ruler and under him, Thalusa has turned into a frightening surveillance state, where his extensive secret police remains ready to report any lawbreaker they come across.



As the leader of Arania, the most powerful among the states of the Tulamid lands, Arkos Shah is likely the most powerful Tulamid alive. He is a young, handsome and gallant man who seems to have stepped straight out of the famous fairytales of the Thousand and One Delights, a man of many talents and many friends. Even though he has only recently ascended to the Searose Throne of Arania, his brief reign has already seen a great amount of trouble.

In Arania, matters of state are traditionally considered to be a woman’s duty, with most of its higher nobility and a significant part of its past rulers being female. This makes Arkos an oddity, for he is the first male ruler of Arania in over a century. While centuries under Middenrealm rule has left the Mhaharanyat more open to the idea of a male ruler, it is custom, if no longer law, that an older male heir always makes room for a younger female sibling to take any titles either of them could inherit. Arkos ignored this custom, with some claiming that his mother, Mhaharani Shahi Sybia, encouraged him to take this bold and unprecedented step, much to the chagrin of his younger sister Dimiona, who has felt cheated out of her inheritance ever since. This culminated in her plotting to kill him, with the attempt on his life only barely being thwarted due to the treachery of one of her confidantes, who told the prince about Dimiona’s plans in advance. The princess herself suffered from a mental breakdown and has been locked away in the asylum of Perricum and ever since, there have been only few critics who vocally oppose his reign, for the alternative would have to be his mentally unstable sister.

While Arkos is breaking with tradition by virtue of being a politically active man in Arania, he still pursues more traditionally male activities such as honing his skill as a swordsman or as an artist. He is considered one of Arania’s finest warriors and despite his rank he has been known to travel across the Tulamid Lands under the guise of a simple adventurer during his younger years as a mere prince, before the duties of a Mhaharan Shah forced him to reside in Zorgan. There are many rumours about his time as an adventurer, about the foes he has slain and the friends he has met, with some even claiming that he actively fought against the Al’Anfanians during the Khom War under the guise of a Tulamid mercenary. Whatever the truth, Arkos barely speaks of these years and when he does it is always with a longing in his eyes. Even now, he wastes no time to personally engage with any foe that threatens his kingdom, be it the soldiers of Sultan Hasrabal of Goria or raiders from the Rashtul Wall. It can be presumed that the Mhaharan Shah, while dutiful and capable, would have much rather preferred the life of a wandering hero and sword for hire.

Though Arkos is a surprisingly skilled statesman, winning over many of his former critics, it is clear that his true love belongs to his martial arts and to riding his prized steed through the hills of Arania. As such, much to the nobilities delight, he has recently chosen a suitable bride who would rule Arania by his side as Mhaharani Shahi, with whom he wishes to equally split the burdens of administrating the largest of the Tulamid realms. This woman, Eleonora of Revennis, is the young Satrapa of Goria, the southernmost province of Arania, constantly locked in a cold war with Hasrabal ben Yakuban, the most powerful vassal of the Novadi caliph. As such, Eleonora is a skilled administrator despite her youth and seen as an excellent match for Arkos. Though they are not yet married, the pair already resides together and their upcoming marriage is considered to be equal parts practical and happy.


Undoubtedly the most dangerous woman in all of Arania is Dimiona of Zorgan, younger sister of Arkos Shah and, in her own opinion, the rightful ruler of Arania. Born as the younger of two children, but the only girl, many of the more traditionalist members of Arania’s nobility wanted her to follow into her mother’s footsteps as the next Mhaharani Shahi of Arania and a vocal group of them even pushed for it, which the young Dimiona soon noticed. As a child she was already as intelligent as she was talented and over the years, she grew into one of the most beautiful women in Arania on top of that. Indeed, she was so gifted that many considered Dimiona to have been blessed by the goddesses Rahja and Hesinde, two of the most important gods in Arania.

The truth was quite a bit darker than that, unfortunately. While Dimiona was indeed as beautiful, intelligent and talented as everyone claimed her to be, she also had a darkness within her. It was never enough for her to be the best, nobody else around her was allowed to succeed, nobody else was allowed to ever outshine her. She used her intelligence not only to pursue her own studies, but used her mind and her considerable talent as a mage for darker purposes, for manipulation, for schemes and even for murder, anything to achieve her goals. Over the years, she became a master at manipulation, able to drive people mad at her command, ruining entire families without even lifting a finger. Highborn rivals were discredited, framed and humiliated, lowborn who angered her were murdered or mutilated by her hired thugs. There were barely any moral boundaries Dimiona would not cross in her pursuit of pleasure and greatness.

Her highest goal, of course, was to become the next Mhaharani Shahi, a position she considered to be her birthright. Even though men are not excluded from inheriting titles in Arania, it is common for a man to refuse an inheritance in favour of a female relative and this is what Dimiona and her significant amount of supporters expected for most of her youth. However, her older brother Arkos had no desire to do so and her mother, the Mhaharani Shahi, even encouraged him in his own ambitions, perhaps sensing the darkness within Dimiona’s soul.

And indeed, Dimiona was not satisfied with being the second in line for the throne. Already a wicked, vile person, she secretly entered into a pact with the archdemon Belkelel, the Mistress of Dark Desires, the highest sacrilege one could commit in Arania. Ever since, she would stop at nothing to fulfil her increasingly perverse desires, with her and her cabal of like-minded noblewomen becoming increasingly influential in Arania through manipulation, seduction and blackmail. Her ultimate plan to murder her older brother failed, however, due to the treachery of her former best friend, Iphemia of Narhuabad, who went on to be the sole member of her inner circle to be spared after the full extent of her conspiracy became clear. Dimiona was captured alive, but suffered from a mental breakdown in the process, one she has not fully recovered from in the present day.

Nowadays, Dimiona is a permanent resident of the School of Excorcism at Perricum, Aventuria’s foremost asylum for mentally ill mages. She is kept in a tiny cell under constant surveillance, chained and gagged, not allowed to move or speak to her jailers aside from the times when she has to take her meals. This has barely made her any less dangerous and few of her jailers manage to stand her presence for long, with one having even committed suicide after having an unsupervised conversation with her for five minutes. Nobody expects Dimiona to ever be cured from her insanity or freed from her sorry imprisonment and with her family having disowned her, one can only hope that her former allies in Arania will eventually abandon and forget about her. To this day, however, there remains a small but vocal minority of noblewomen who reject Arkos Shah’s authority and would instead prefer Dimiona as their liege lady.


Arania has long since been a land ruled mostly by women and though these old traditions have been somewhat softened in other parts of the Mhaharanyat, the same cannot be said for the Satrapy of Elburum. Nobody stands for the old ways like Merisa saba Khasha, who has ruled over the Satrapy of Elburum with an iron fist for the last three decades. She is without any doubt the strongest and richest noblewoman in Arania and, by her own humble accord, the most cunning as well.

Merisa’s mother, the well-liked but frail Satrapa Khasha, died after a brief and sudden illness when Merisa was barely a woman grown. Back then, Khasha had just declared that Elburum would try to change its customs to be more in line with the rest of Arania, which many of her vassals saw as a betrayal of the old ways, of the strict matriarchy and the darker aspects of the Faith of Rahja that were still worshipped in the peninsula in those days. This has given rise to the rumours that perhaps one of those vassals poisoned her, or perhaps even Merisa herself, but no proof for such allegations have ever been brought forth and only fools would ever repeat it, for the Satrapa has a short temper and a pride to match that of a grown dragon.

In the decades of her rule, the strict and mirthless Merisa has only strengthened the old traditions, often granting her vassals special privileges to outright ignore decrees from the capital, a habit which has brought her into conflict with her overlord, though time and again she has proven her uncanny ability to stay or get out of any trouble that might arise.

This has been especially true in recent times, during Dimiona of Zorgan’s attempted coup, which nearly grew into an Aranian civil war. Back then, Dimiona has made no secret of the fact that she considered Merisa a trusted ally and if the Satrapa had openly declared herself for the pretender, open conflict would have been certain. This was seen as likely by both sides in the conflict, since Merisa’s only child and heiress, Khorena, was Dimiona’s right-hand woman in these days and since Merisa has often stated disdain for Prince Arkos, whom she saw as a bad choice for an heir on account of his gender and his thrill-seeking personality.

In a move nobody expected, Merisa remained neutral during the conflict, holding back her troops, reigning in as many of her vassals as she could and trying her best to keep Elburum from falling to Dimiona’s influence. In doing so, she indirectly gave aid to Arkos’ cause, since it gave him time to rally the rest of Arania behind his banner, while depriving Dimiona of a significant ally. Only after Arkos got the support of the other satraps and only after he openly demanded her loyalty did the old Satrapa kneel, but she did so under protest and with notable reluctance. Her hesitation has brought her many enemies on both sides of the conflict, but Arkos Shah knows that he is indebted to her and has reportedly rewarded her richly.

Merisa’s daughter Khorena was caught, but unlike most other members of Dimiona’s inner circle she was not executed, likely as a favour for her mother. As far as Merisa is concerned, however, it would have been better for her family and legacy had her daughter been killed during the uprising. She certainly wouldn’t have mourned her, for she had never been an affectionate mother and the relationship with her daughter was strained even before Khorena joined forces with Dimiona. As such, the Satrapa had no problem with exiling her daughter. She was forced to leave Arania under threat of imprisonment and Elburum in particular under threat of death and her whereabouts are currently unknown.

Without a proper heir, it seemed for a short while that Merisa, who was way too old to conceive another child by the time of Khorena’s exile, would be unable to leave a proper heiress of her bloodline. As such, it came as a surprise to many that she eventually presented her previously unseen granddaughter at court, Khorena’s bastard daughter Reshemin. Due to Reshemin’s resemblance to her mother and great-grandmother few have any doubts about this tale, but the fact remains that nobody has ever heard anything about Khorena’s pregnancy and to this day, the girl’s father has not been revealed. Reshemin is a girl in her mid-teens by now, growing up to be a Rahja-blessed beauty, but her solitary nature, morbid sense of humour and the ever-watchful gaze of her strict grandmother have prevented her from making a proper entrance into Arania’s high society.

It is openly known that Merisa is unhappy with the recent developments in Arania. Her heiress is a legitimized bastard, her sovereign is a man, his wife comes from a rivalling dynasty and the fairly recent independence of Khunchom has threatened Elburum’s status as the richest Tulamid city on the shores of the Sea of Pearls. The Satrapa is outwardly loyal to Arkos Shah and his new bride, but her hesitance to openly support him during Dimiona’s coup is proof enough how torn she is over her new sovereign. As such, she remains a thorn in his side and will likely remain as one for the rest of her life. Since she is already past her prime, having recently celebrated her sixtieth birthday, she rarely ventures beyond the walls of Elburum, but remains as politically active as ever.

In private, the Satrapa is a deeply, openly unpleasant person. She has little respect for anyone below her, which consists of most of Arania, she is a demanding mistress, a stingy host, a fickle friend and an unforgiving enemy. Her sheer power and political aptitude keep her in play as one of the most important chess pieces in Arania and even the entire Tulamid Lands, but she has no friends, no truly loyal allies and in return plenty of ardent enemies. The Satrapa knows this and many fear what terrible plan she could come up with to change her increasingly desperate situation.


For the last ten years, Khunchom has been ruled over by Selo of House Kulibin, son of the highly revered warrior prince Istav Kulibin and second ruler of the newly independent grand princedom. Where Istav was a fierce and uncompromising man who was even willing to go to war to secure Khunchom’s independence, Selo is a remarkably evenly tempered and mild man. While a good diplomat and certainly one of the most likeable rulers in Aventuria, Selo is not a particularly decisive ruler and hesitates to make a new enemy. He abhors violence even when necessary, using it as a last resort if at all.

The Grand Prince prefers peace and through his charismatic nature and generosity, he has managed to gain excellent ties to most other parts of the Tulamid lands, a remarkable feat in its own way when considering the immense historic rivalries of the region. During the later days of Khom War he famously even sent a letter to the Al’Anfanian Empire to offer his condolences after their ruler, Patriarch Tar Honak, was murdered by a priestess of Hesinde, even though Al’Anfanian troops had previously besieged his city and were still officially at war with him and his people. This has also proven him to be a forgiving man, willing to make peace even with his enemies, which is a noble quality in itself.

Selo is married to Shenny Kasan of Thalusa, only daughter and heiress of Ras Kasan, the paranoid and corrupt former ruler of Thalusa. By the time of their marriage, their eventual son would have inherited both, Thalusa and Khunchom, which would have united most of the coastline of the Tulamid lands. The coup of Ras Kasan’s chief executioner, Dolguruk the Black, prevented this, but Selo remained married to Shenny out of love and even allowed his famously unlikeable father-in-law to live out his remaining days in his palace in Khunchom. While their union is no longer politically favourable and, in fact, seen as a hindrance to Selo’s diplomatic prospects by some of his more critical courtiers, it speaks volumes about his integrity and devotion to his family and has ultimately only further improved his standing amongst the other Tulamids.

While his critics see his lack of decisive actions against Khunchom’s rivals, especially the northern great power of Arania or the Sultanate of Thalusa to the south, as a weakness, Khunchom’s merchants sing high praises to their generous and mercantile ruler. Selo prefers stability and friendship, both are good for commerce and though Khunchom has always been a rich city, under his rule it has become one of the wealthiest in Aventuria. Even his fiercest critics have to admit that this is a sort of strength as well and that Selo’s genuine desire for peace and growth is nothing short of admirable.


Hasrabal, the Sultan of Goria and sheik of the Novadi tribe of the Beni Avad, is a vassal of the Novadi caliph and firmly a Novadi himself, one of the denizens of the Khom desert who will be described in greater detail in the next regional guide. However, due to his location and ambitions Hasrabal himself is more a part of the Tulamid lands than the Khom desert, even if he openly desires to become the next caliph. Due to his strength and wealth, he is a vassal in name only and by far the most unruly follower of Caliph Malkillah. Indeed, there are rumours that he himself was responsible for the death of the old caliph during the Khom war a few years ago, perhaps in a failed attempt to replace him.

What makes Hasrabal an oddity among the usually arcanophobic Novadi is that he is a mage, openly practising something most of his people hate and fear. He sees no issue with even though Rastullah, the god of the Novadi, was famously sceptical of magic and warned his followers never to abuse its powers, which most Novadi see as a direct order not to use magic at all. In general, Hasrabal combines several strictly opposing traits, making him one of the most ambiguous men in Aventuria.

On the one hand, the sultan is a man of deep and genuine faith, who never misses a sermon to Rastullah and who treats any Mawdli, the legal scholars who are essentially the clergy of Rastullah, who crosses his path with great respect. On the other hand he is a deeply pragmatic man who is willing to bend the ninety-nine laws of Rastullah to his own benefit, which he sees as ultimately benefiting the Caliphate and through it Rastullah himself. He openly consorts with the Tulamids, who are seen as heathens by most Novadi and has gotten rich by trading with them, while also allowing them religious freedoms in Goria to a degree that is unheard of elsewhere in the caliphate.

Furthermore, Hasrabal is a power-hungry tyrant, a political mastermind and a schemer without equal, who is constantly plotting to gain more and more power for himself, perhaps enough to eventually challenge the Novadi Caliph. He is one of Aventuria’s most powerful mages and though he possesses a variety of arcane skills, he mostly practises elemental magic, which is the only form of magic that is seen as pure by the Novadi faith. His mastery of the elements is so great that he was even able to create an entirely new species of elementals, the quicksand elementals which he himself created from the arcane red sand of the Gorian Desert which lies in the heartland of his realm. Despite his open ambition and lust for power he is also a man of principle and a firm enemy of all demons. He calls himself Sahib Al’Sitta, which is a semi-mythical title that describes a prophesied master over all six elements.

Hasrabal’s current ambition is to restore the ancient Sultanate of Al’Guriya, whose territories are split between his own Sultanate of Goria, the Aranian Satrapy of Goria and the High Princedom of Khunchom. While his relations to Khunchom are cordial, with him seeking a peaceful expansion of his territory, his relations with Arania are hostile at best and several times already he has launched war against the Satrapy of Goria, quickly conquering several key cities and suing for peace before the larger Aranian army can get involved. Should he manage to unite Al’Guriya under his banner, there are some who believe that he will aim to restore the entire Diamond Sultanate of old, uniting the Tulamid Lands under a single ruler once again. Though this is a daunting task, few doubt Hasrabal lacks the talent or ambition to achieve this.

As a Novadi, Hasrabal has a harem of wives who have given him several surviving children, the oldest of them being grown men with children of their own by now. However, Hasrabal has not yet chosen a favoured wife as it is custom among his people. In the past, he briefly abducted Nedime, daughter of the old caliph, in hopes of making her his bride and the mother of his heir, but a brave hero rescued her and thwarted his plans, which has soured Hasrabal’s opinion on self-proclaimed heroes and do-gooders, even if he remains partial towards mercenaries. It seems that he now favours a political marriage with Shanja Eshila of Rashdul, who rules over the technically independent Sultanate of Rashdul, a rich city state that is entirely surrounded by his own Sultanate of Goria. This move would immediately give him control over one of the oldest and most important cities in the Tulamid Lands and only multiply his power.


One of the most prestigious inhabitants of Rashdul, the immeasurably old city in central Goria, surrounded on all sides by Sultan Hasrabal’s domain is Belizeth Djelefsunni, daughter of Djelef ibn Jassafer, the famed prophet and elementalist. Like her father before her, Belizeth is the Spectability of the Pentagram-Academy at Rashdul, one of the oldest mage academies in Aventuria. However, whereas Djelef earned his title after a lifetime of peaceful, scholarly endeavours, Belizeth succeeded him in a way many of her critics within the Great Grey Guild of Magic consider dishonourable.

Always openly power-hungry, Belizeth did not wait for her turn, even though her father openly groomed her to succeed him one day. Instead of waiting for him to step down, the ambitious mage challenged her own father to an arcane duel, an old and highly respected way of settling grudges in Tulamidiya. She defeated him soundly, proving herself the superior mage and nearly killing him by summoning a demon that left him grievously injured. However, something stayed her hand and she banished the demon before it could finish the job. Afterwards, Belizeth exiled her father from the city of Rashdul and pronounced herself the new Spectability of the Pentagram-Academy.

Her supporters, mostly Tulamids themselves, respect this outcome and consider her a legitimate spectability. Her critics, mostly those outside the Tulamid Lands, see her as an illegitimate upstart who took control over the academy by force. Her liege, Shanja Eshila of Rashdul, has confirmed her in this position, however, which means that the guild reluctantly had to accept her as her father’s successor.

Belizeth is a grey mage indeed, but firmly on the darker end of the grey spectrum. She is a demonologist who has dedicated her life to the darker aspects of magic, though unlike a necromancer or demon cultist she firmly remains within local laws and only summons demons for her own gain instead of doing the bidding of an archdemon. This has made her one of the few expert demonologists who have never entered into a demon pact, even if her critics sometimes claim that she secretly sold her soul to a lord of the Nether Hells.

On a personal level, Belizeth is said to be a dangerous woman, fickle, spoiled and not above petty grudges. She can be charming if she chooses to and rumour has it that she has a long string of lovers in high positions within the guild and throughout Tulamidiya. However, the only person Belizeth truly looks out for is herself and she is infamous for using and then discarding promising heroes to do her bidding.


Even though most mages would deny this, it is an unfortunate fact that the guilds of magic have long since become political entities, where heritage, reputation and connections often trump raw skill and achievements. Even the Black Guild, priding itself in its independence and non-conformity, has fallen victim to this. It is therefore an almost refreshing circumstance that its Convocatus Secundus, the second-highest mage in the entire guild, is so drastically different from the cliché.

Thomeg Atherion hails from no renown, he had no reputation to speak of prior to his arrival in the ancient city of Fasar and has quickly made more enemies among the Exalted of Fasar than anyone before him. He has never been a student at the Al’Achami, Fasar’s academy of magic, but through extraordinary skill and determination he quickly joined the faculty board and became spectability in only a few short years, with some attributing his success to bribery and the liberal use of dangerous, mind-altering magic, for Thomeg Atherion is a true master of the unsavoury art of domination magic.

He shrouds himself in an aura of mystery. Records of his past, if they have ever existed at all, are unavailable even to the High Spymaster of the Middenrealm and by his own account he has been born outside of Dere, making him an extraterrestrial. Of course, even he would admit that he is, most likely, just kidding with these outrageous rumours. His recorded actions after his arrival in Fasar are outrageous enough, however.

Furthermore, Atherion is one of the few members of the Black Guild who managed to become an archmage, an honour he received after restoring the ancient spell ‘Word of Discomfort’, which Rohal the Mage Emperor himself had previously locked away. This incredible feat, though seen as borderline heretical by the white guild, was undeniably impressive, so much that not even his critics within the three guilds have been able to prevent him from being named archmage.

Atherion is a far cry from the cliché of the cold, creepy black mage. Instead, he is a socialite, disarmingly charming, handsome even though he has passed his prime and a connoisseur of all the finer pleasures life has to offer. This has drawn him to the Church of Rahja and he has developed a special type of magic that aims to stimulate the senses. He has a huge amount of lovers and sexual conquests, most prominently among them being Yasinthe of Tuzak, formerly the Beloved of the Goddess, the head of the Church of Rahja. In private, he is also an avid sportsman and loves to climb in the Rashtul Wall, which has led to him being much more physically adept than mages usually are.


Ruban ibn Dhachmani likes to claim that he is but a simple merchant and seafarer. This was true at the beginning of his career, for he started humble, as the captain of a merchant cog, with Khunchom as his home port. That was thirty years ago and nowadays, as much as Ruban still likes to claim otherwise, he is anything but the humble captain he started his career as.

Over the decades, Ruban became one of the most successful merchants in Khunchom, later in the entire Tulamid Lands and eventually one of the most successful merchants in Aventuria. Though the Bornish merchant Stover Regolan Stoerrebrandt is still the richest man on the continent, Ruban is a close second, as the obscenely wealthy master of the Dhachmani trading company. The secret behind his wealth is his incredible intuition, for Ruban knows exactly when to invest, when to take a risk and when to cut his losses.

While Ruban is a passionate merchant who worships Feqz above all other gods, he has indeed always considered himself a seafarer and adventurer first and foremost, driven not by a desire for profit, but because he wishes to discover unknown lands. In particular, Ruban is fascinated by Rakshazar, the Giantland, the mythical continent to the far east of Aventuria, of which practically nothing is known for certain.

Throughout his career as a merchant, as shrewd as he otherwise acted, Ruban has always put aside a considerable amount of his earnings to fund his expeditions. Some have led him to the south, where he indeed discovered uninhabited islands far beyond the Sea of Pearls. Others have led him to the north-east, where, according to him, a sea route to Rakshazar can be found. So far, none of his expeditions have ended with the success he desired and, indeed, some have nearly killed him. At the very least, he has lost a tremendous amount of coin to his dream, though should he actually be successful in establishing a trading route with Rakshazar, he would surely earn enough coin and glory for a thousand lifetimes.

On a personal level, Ruban is intelligent and friendly, with a genuine interest in his conversational partners, which makes him quite a popular guest within Khunchom’s high society. However, he still places emphasis on his humble roots as an adventurer and is always glad to meet fellow daredevils of all walks of life. Worthy adventurers can even hope to win him as their patron and he is known for having funded many heroic endeavours, not because he hopes for any profit from them, but simply because he enjoys the stories these heroes tell him when they return successfully.


In the Tulamid Lands, power and wealth decide a man’s lot in life and few have the potential to be as powerful and wealthy as mages. It is therefore not surprising that the Tulamid Lands are crawling with mages, both those who were born there and those who fled from the suspicion and occasional persecution in their homelands. While a mage of any level of skill would be extraordinary in the rural villages of Meadows, they become such a common sight in Tulamidiya that it takes a mage of tremendous power to stick out from the masses.

Khadil Okharim is such a mage, truly one out of tens of thousands who has mastered his craft. Unlike other mages, such as his neighbour and friendly rival Hasrabal ben Yakuban or his guild colleagues and lifelong friends Djelef ibn Jassafer and Rakorium Muntagonus, Khadil is not a typical mage, however, who focusses on flashy spells and raw, destructive power. Instead, Khadil considers himself an artisan of sorts, for his speciality are arcane artefacts.

Artefact magic is a difficult, strange sub-type of magic and even some of the most powerful mages of their time have struggled with it. The ability to store spells in objects, to bestow new and unique qualities to them is seen as the mark of a true archmage and artefacts created by the greatest mages of their time have lasted to this day. Khadil is one such master, one of the few to become a master of artefact magic. That by itself is already remarkable, but on top of that Khadil is one of the most cunning and shrewd mages alive, at least when it comes to commerce.

Indeed, Khadil considers himself a merchant first and foremost and his keen sense of business has made him one of the richest mages in Aventuria in a city that values wealth above all things. In old Tulamid tradition, he openly worships Phex as the god of magic and while he offers his prayers to Hesinde as well, he makes no secret of the fact that he values the god of merchants and thieves above the goddess of scholars and (most) mages. This has given him a few critics among the Grey Guild, but not enough to silence his considerable influence. It probably helps that Khadil is a gregarious man who has no problems with making new friends in the right places. This is not an act either, since Khadil is a people pleaser at heart who enjoys good company, be it that of a beggar or that of a king.


Few people within the illustrous Tulamid Lands are as infamous and feared as Dolguruk the Black, once the chief executioner of Thalusa, now himself the ruler of the southernmost realm within the Tulamid Lands. For decades, Dolguruk has served the Sultan of Thalusa, the infamously paranoid Ras Kasan, who relied on Dolguruk to hunt down and execute all of his enemies. In secret, the power-hungry Dolguruk spared several key enemies of Ras Kasan, faking their deaths and striking deals with them that eventually allowed him to launch a coup against his liege. Ras Kasan was thrown into jail and nearly executed, though a group of agents in service of Selo Kulibin, the High Prince of Khunchom and Ras’ son-in-law, managed to save the old man and escort him to Khunchom, where he now lives in exile. Since then, the former chief executioner rules over Thalusa with an iron fist.

Dolguruk is a terrifying sight to behold. Though physically an elf, he has no ties to any tribe and aside from a faint remnant of elven beauty, he even shares none of their looks. His body is entirely hairless and his skin is pitch black, which has given him his nickname and while darker skin is common among humans, this complexion is unheard of among elves and genuinely unnatural in its intensity. One popular theory about his unusual skin colour is that it is the result of a demon pact, more precisely with the archdemon Blakharaz, the Lord of Vengeance, which might explain a lot about Dolguruk’s personality and his warped obsession with justice.