Zep Tepi

South of the lands of Aporuë, sprawling across a valley of blazing-hot sand, is one of the most incredible and wondrous cities in all the world: the great desert metropolis of Zep Tepi. Within its sandstone walls, anything one wishes can be bought, sold, or traded—for the right price. Zep Tepi is a city of organized chaos where cash is king and commerce is the highest god.  Perhaps only its long history of trade with both Aporuëna and Ndata-mbanyiti traders (and do not forget the occasional Aprasahami or Haeno, even!), balanced against the novelty of the goods one can acquire in the Free City makes the latter a larger trading city.  And novelty, of all things dreamed of by kel-Biann in his wandering sleep, fades.

Through all of the trials and tribulations Zep Tepi has weathered, from its beginnings as the “Golden City” to the bustling metropolis of today, it has retained its mercantile importance no matter who or what has occupied it. Some believe that it is Zep Tepi’s divine purpose to one day become the greatest center of commerce in all the world.

The city holds more than 200,000 souls, and each one wants to sell you something. At first glance it appears there are more businesses than residences in Zep Tepi, because so many merchants sleep in their shops, as they are there most hours of the day anyway, and it provides a deterrent to thieves.

Thievery isn’t as big a problem as one might expect in Zep Tepi. Crammed full of stores, stalls, tents, warehouses, hawkers, and purchasers as it is, the teeming city seems a thieves’ paradise. The edicts of the Dealmakers, however, make it clear that anyone interfering with trade in the city faces death—or worse. While the occasional petty theft is to be expected, organized or chronic crime threatens to disrupt a merchant’s everyday business. The Dealmakers come down hard on those who endanger the city’s economy (sometimes using constructs powered by the souls of slaves, called alumu, when necessary), and ignore everyone else.

While the Dealmakers maintain control over the city, day-to-day business and governance is left to Dealbroker Hashmot-ib-Diyyas. Hashmot-ib-Diyyas has a reputation for upholding the Dealmakers’ judgments and enacting their laws, whatever his personal feelings. Some suspect Hashmot-ib-Diyyas has a personal agenda that will someday come to light, but for now he enjoys a stable and respected position.

Hashmot-ib-Diyyas also presides over the merchant council, which makes decisions about Zep Tepi’s trade policies and ensures the market remains free. In practice, the merchant council rarely interferes in citizens’ daily lives; their attitude is laissez-faire, if not downright apathetic.

The Nightstalls garner the most attention in Zep Tepi.  The bazaars there sell items that are more than unusual—they’re immoral, addictive, or ephemeral. The Nightstalls is where one can buy a dragon’s tongue, feathers from a couatl’s wing, drugs and poisons of all kinds, or a devil’s regret.

After mahjoun, Zep Tepi’s biggest export is slaves. Though some slaves are available in the Nightstalls, most are sold through the Fleshfairs of Okeno.

KATAPESH
Size Metropolis nonstandard (plutocratic merchant council with alien overseers); AL N
GP Limit 100,000 gp; Assets 1,075,000 gp
Demographics
Population 215,000
Type mixed

• 63% human = 135,450 souls
• 6% ratfolk = 12,900 souls
• 6% halfling = 12,900 souls
• 5% asherati = 10,750 souls
• 5% bhuka = 10,750 souls
• 4% half-elf = 8600 souls
• 4% gnoll = 8600 souls
• 2.5% miscellaneous (including ifrit) = 5375 souls
• 2% elf = 4300 souls
• 1% dwarf = 2150 souls
• 1% orc = 2150 souls
• 0.5% half-orc = 1075 souls

Authority Figures
Hashmot-ib-Diyyas (Dealbroker of Zep Tepi); Angruul, Jivnar, Krimiltuk, Morvithis, and Tzandarkon (Dealmakers of Zep Tepi)