DaraI need to work on mapping, but I am also a crap artist, so yeah, we might not be going there.Geography of Dara:- City Walls – There are multiple sets of walls, the outermost long since having been left to its own devices, as it was too large to easily maintain. Smaller walls inside the city are maintained in varying degrees. The Guardians began work after the fall of Pykas, and yet it goes slowly. The breaches in the wall mean that people can get in and out of the city easily, but merchants and their wagons tend to simply use the roads, which are accessed by the gates.
- Nyati District – The city center, it is a place of well-maintained boulevards, trees, predominantly date palms, and palatial homes. Besides the homes of Dara's wealthy, predominantly the Purebloods, is the Hall of Guardians and the Khavi Barracks, which house Dara's urban watch. The Nyati district sits between the Unah and Zalot districts, on the central northern part of the city. It is entered through the Sword Gate, which feeds into the Gold Roads.
- The Gold Roads – The road leading north is known as the Barbarian Road, the road East known as the Trail of Dust and the road leading east as the Green Path. Each tends to be known as the Gold Road in its given direction, but the Darans know the roads by different names to keep them straight.
- Zalot District – The mercantile district, the markets where things are sold and bought, including men at arms. It includes a number of inns for those that find the Unah district to be unpleasant. It abuts the Shava district and becomes more shabby the closer one comes to Shava. Zalot is east of Shava and Nyati and Udrau, and is the largest district of the city. It contains a large number of docks on the River Dara itself, though one can access the Gold Roads.
- The River Dara – Snakes northeast into the dawn, its source said to be quite far away. It is known as the lifegiver in Dara. Dara itself is dry land, long ago drained, though the lands on the bank of the River Dara are marshes that contain a number of different animals including snakes and lizard-lions, though the snakes were not native, but a curse inflicted upon them by some angry god. The river empties into the Sunil Sea, though the city sits somewhat inland from the sea itself.
- Unah District – Known also as the Candlelight District, Winesinks, brothels, gambling of varying quality. The quality of all these varies. The ones closer to the Nyati District, to the east, are of high quality, whereas the ones that are closer to the Shava district, to the south, tend to be more ragged and of lower quality. One of the pecularities of the district is that one cannot go about it armed, but must give up their weapons to stations manned by private guards hired by the district's governing guilds, who prefer that the alcohol (or more potent and strange things), sex and gambling not be mixed with deadly violence.
- Shava District – A district that encompasses residences for the tradesmen and the laborers. In some reaches, it is most certainly a slum, though certain parts are abandoned and in ruins, reflecting, perhaps, Dara's decline in fortunes over the centuries. Parts of the Shava are orderly, but other parts run wild with gangs, particularly in the parts that have been abandoned by more reputable inhabitants. The Shava is one of the oldest districts, besides Udrau and Nyati, and has many tunnels beneath it in the catacombs.
- Udrau District – The Temple of Udrau, known as the Great House of Silence, is a gold domed complex, half in ruins itself, that sits atop the flat top of the large hill that marks the Udrau district, which is given largely to ruins of temples past. For centuries, only the faith of Udrau has remained, since the time when the Gods withdrew their presence during what was called the Extinction of Faith. Support for Udrau's temple as a matter of quaint local custom has sustained the Great Temple, though it is in a large degree of disrepute. Then again, ceremonies are still held here, and local festivals as well, so the district is kept up to some degree, though much of it is overgrown; what once were well-tended gardens has turned into a meadow green for children to play in and others to picnic.
- Yamiss District – The Yamiss district is the city's graveyards, built up more than a thousand years of existence in Dara, and is of interest to scholars in that it represents a number of different customs by different cultures from which its people have sprung from. A variety of monuments, from simple rune carved stone to shaped obelisks, pyramids, statues, Dwarven mausoleums and Elven rememberance gardens can all be found in the Yamiss. It is also a popular place for wise women to peddle herbs where they would be hassled in the Zalot district, and for other quiet business deals to be undertaken, of the less than respectable variety. Curses can be bought and sold and other mystic trinkets are for sale for those that indulge in such superstitions. The Yamiss district lies near where the River Dara empties into the Sea of Sunil, to the south of the city proper.
Culture of Dara:While Dara is essentially an open and free city, ruled by a form of a Republican government, it is nonetheless a place with social distinctions and cultural practices that distinguish the native from the outsider. Some within Daran society take great pride in their 'tolerance' of immigrants and their practices, but subtly prefer their own to outsiders and work means of discrimination. There has always been something of a nativist movement among what accounts for Dara's nobility, the Purebloods, families that descend from the House of Isran and other royal dynasties. Though they no longer rule on blood alone, the Purebloods exercise considerable influence in the city by way of their wealth and the ability and leisure to take positions in the city's government, which often are not well-compensated but absolutely influential and therefore more difficult for the non-wealthy to obtain. Most of the Purebloods retain lands outside of Dara or businesses that otherwise allow them the income to take such positions.
The Priesthood of Udrau is one such example – though it is open to anyone, it is the bequest of the Purebloods that allow the Udrau priesthood to maintain themselves, even if the House of Silence, so called because the Gods no longer answer as they were said to in the past, is half a ruin. While they collect income from pilgrims and services, the primary means of support are the bequests of the Pureblood in return for accepting the landless sons of their houses.
It should be noted that while Darans tend to take intermarriage and interbreeding calmly, it's considered scandalous in Pureblood circles. There is, to say the least, quite a bit of strife between common Darans and the Purebloods, with Guardians kept squarely in the middle between both clamoring factions.
The rest of Daran culture is considerably more egalitarian, though urban laborers are not always happy to see new groups of immigrants come in large numbers and try to undercut them, and as such have created guilds that try their best to monopolize the various trades within the city, though they offer fairly generous terms to entice new immigrants to join rather than compete. However, betimes, the competition can get bloody and dangerous, particularly if nonhumans decide as a group to compete and undercut the rates of the guilds, though few native Darans will pay the lesser rate for fear of the social stigma attached to such and the threat of disruption of their business if word gets out. As such, while immigrants, even nonhumans are welcome, they are strongly discouraged from undercutting the guild-established minimum rates, but otherwise generally free to ply their trades without interference. Some guilds have allowed nonhumans, others refuse, setting up unrest between workers and guilds at any given time. In the last couple decades, the Guilds have been slowly losing this debate as they do not necessarily control the teaching of the skills they claim to monopolize -- exemptions for cultural practices have been made to allow nonhumans to practice 'cultural arts' which means that, for example, dwarven gemcutters get to tell the Guild to 'piss off.' (which a dwarf will do.)
Slavery does not exist in Dara, something that Prince Isran outlawed when he overthrew his father, King Hrod, and dissolved the monarchy. However, indentured service, a contractual agreement of servitiude in return for pay or debt remission, is a common substitute for such, though Dara is sensitive to the complexities of the situation – the indentured must be given room and board, and the Guilds require sale of service to conform to their rates, lest they send members to disrupt the trade. Indenture is not merely for the unskilled or poor to get out of debt, but may represent service in return for training, such as in a mercenary company, or as the apprentice in a skilled trade. Indenture is found in almost all the trades, and there is a brisk business within Dara for the buying and selling of debt and the brokering of skilled indentured servants to the right buyers, in return for a finder's fee.
Daran religion, specifically the worship of Udrau, is a universalist faith that claims to encompass all other religions as facets of Udrau; other worship is tolerated as such, though there are some religious beliefs that take this as an offensive heresy. But then, the Daran sense of paternal superiority towards others kicks in; they are, after all, unsophisticated rubes by the lights of Darans, who consider themselves a proud, ancient and civilized culture.
The universalist religion of Dara and its tolerance of differing cultures and religious beliefs feeds into its policies towards immigrants; Dara calls itself the All-Home, with good reason. Within, a multitude of fashions and modes of dress can be found from barbaric fur and leather to loose silken robes obtained through trade (and highly prized by the womenfolk) though the standard Daran garb that gets adopted after a time tends to run towards simple tunics or frocks; notably both sexes favor the djellaba, introduced a couple centuries ago; a long, loose fitting hooded robe that fits over the head. Wealthier Darans go for embroidery and intricate patterns on theirs, along with lighter cloths, whereas the poor make do with the simple garment. In any case, even those that come from other places often adapt to the Daran mode of dress in preferring simplicity and lightness in their choice of fashion.
Government of Dara:The governing council of Dara are the Guardians – they are a council that is able to make laws and issue edicts and judge cases. In theory, their rule is absolute, but checked by the degree of light security that surrounds their person. They are, in a sense, able to protect themselves, but the Hall of the Guardians is lightly held and only there can they conduct the votes and make their business official. The Hall of Guardians, as a large chamber with little provisions for more than a small guard of Lictors, primarily Pureblood youth clad in green tunics that serve as heralds for the Guardians, carrying messages and announcing their formal presence to establishments and homes, is vulnerable, and since tradition requires the personal presence of Guardians for any business to be done, it is entirely possible for unpopular guardians to be assassinated in the Hall or laid siege to in their homes. This popular check on their absolute authority, as a Guardian rules until resignation or death, has kept the Guardians from becoming overly tyrannical, though it allows them a wide degree of theoretical power, if they can but figure out a means to keep the masses from becoming disaffected in the process.
Guardians are chosen generally by popular acclaim and augury by the priests of Udrau, though the process has evolved and devolved over the century. Unpopular but capable figures have been chosen for Guardianship, but checked by others who had the popularity of the people. In times past, would be conquerors or their subordinates, satraps and governors sent to assume control over Dara have been subverted by the allure of the mantle of Guardian, and from this practice has come the tradition of allowing foreigners of no great heritage or prominent tradesmen of humble birth to become Guardians alongside pureblood Darans whose families reach back thousands of years. Votes to enact or repeal edicts are simple majority, but require the presence of all living guardians, but for those that are on official duties that take them outside the city, such as assuming leadership of Dara's forces or on a diplomatic mission. But even those Guardians, upon returning, can call a vote to overturn a decree made in their absence.
History of Dara:Dara always had Guardians, but at times they were advisors to a still greater ruler, and at other times they were the governing body of the city. Dara itself has a long history of expansion and contraction, from the times of legend when the gods spoke to men and there was magic in the world, down until recently.
The last king of Dara, besides the Usurper Pykas, was Hrod II, who went mad in a quest to make the gods listen to him. He sacrificed and sacrificed, though as the sacrifices became human and bloody, so that the Great House of Silence ran red with blood down its steps. Hrod was intent on finding the key that would fit the lock, or so he thought, and cared little for who went under his knife, as an ever-dizzying array of would be sorcerers and priests advised him to try different types of sacrifices – often they themselves were punished for failure by their sacrifice. Dara was bled dry to buy ever more slaves for the sacrificial altar, and when the slaves were used up, he moved onto relatives.
His son, Isran, led a revolt against his father, when his mother and his sister went under the knife. When his father's head finally rolled down the steps of the temple, he declared that there would never be slaves in Dara again, that the king's castle was profaned by the blood of so many and must be destroyed, and that there would be no more Kings of Dara. Then, rather then bear the burden of his guilt, he plunged his knife into his own breast.
Dara's Guardians became the leaders of the city-state, chosen by a variety of means that generally came down to the basic system of the people submitting names to the Priests of Udrau and the priests choosing by augury, though the augury was often a matter of sufficient bribery if the priesthood was particularly corruptible.
At various times, Dara was under the threat of conquest and occupation by foreign powers, for it was a faded glory of a power, sometimes militarily weak, but always with the trade flowing through her hands. At times, Daran policy was to act aggressively against competitors for trade with tariffs or even raiding against their routes. Neighbors of Dara, seeing the strategic value of its position on the Sunil Sea and the Gold Roads as being a vital trade, often looked upon Dara as a prize to be taken with sufficient forces.
Twenty-two years ago, King Pykas of Selander, a powerful city state situated north of Dara, invaded Dara successfully, scattering an army of hastily raised local levies with ease, and then set himself up in Dara as a ruler over a large portion of the local region, using Dara as his seat. Despite the thorough defeat of Dara in the field, the people of Dara were not happy with the brutal rule of Pykas. Pureblood families were forced to send some of their women to marry Pykas' officers and other outrages resulted in a continual resistance of his rule and murder of his troops in the streets. As the reprisals grew more brutal, more people joined the fight against Pykas until he was driven from the city and into the citadel of Melazus, to the North of the city, where he made common accord with one Cyrabassis, a supposed sorcerer with a fearful reputation. A group of young heroes went in to fight Pykas and Cyrabassis – they came out changed.
After the defeat of Pykas, the hegemony of Selander was broken up as Pykas' generals decided to go into business for themselves and fought wars over who would inherit all-- which was a useful state of affairs that Dara benefitted from. Cyrabassis was taken into custody by the Guardians but mysteriously escaped. Meanwhile, the Guardians ruled Dara once more, and Dara seemed poised to flourish, which it did in the twenty years since the defeat of Pykas.
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