The Grand Bazaar

Zep Tepi's Grand Bazaar is renowned throughout the Two Kingdoms for its diversity and the sheer span of its shops.  Over two square miles of street are covered in bright tenting, and a wide plaza in the center of the square serves as a stage for the sale of animals, slaves, and unusual artifacts.  More than three thousand merchants hold shops in the area, and travelers often rent locations in the center of the plaza from the city, putting up temporary sales-tents and hawking their wares to anyone who comes near.  Of course, this chaotic environment is rife with thieves, so travelers are suggested to beware any "guides" who offer a tour of the city.  Real guides will be city-sanctioned and carry badges issued by the local qaidū.  Those who do not have such badges are almost certainly thieves trying to con the unwary into dark alleys.

Zep Tepi also has a tremendous pillar placed in the center of the bazaar, where offers for mercenaries are pinned to the wooden post.  This serves as a central area for such characters to get work and is a popular area for them to practice their fighting in a dished area of the ground nearby that serves as an impromptu arena.  In this way, the mercenaries show their skill to those who would wish to hire them.  The practice also draws many gamblers willing to bet on the outcome of these relatively friendly duels.

Ribat kel-Fatah

The bridge known as the "Victory Fortress" spans the Rabhaszem River in a wide band of gold, encircling both sides like a lover's band.  It is wide enough to march four large wagons side-by-side across, and even then there is room for others to walk between each of them.  The bridge is arched high above the river's waters, and the high columns that raise the stone above the river are shaped into key-stone arches much like the doorways of the masjid.

The bridge is almost a century old, and when it reaches the 100-year mark next year, a great festival has been planned to celebrate the union of the two halves of Zep Tepi.  Already, flowers are being grown on either side of the bridge, to offer spectacular color to the ceremony when it comes to pass.

Enhatyaka Masjid

The Enhatyaka Masjid is the largest religious mnument in the cities of the Two Kingdoms.  There are those seasoned travelers who claim that it outdoes the ancient Crypts of Duru, older even than the cursefolk-guarded Tomb-Riddled Cliffs and now buried in desert sand, lost to time.  Ten thousand craftsmen worked on it for more than sven years to raise it from empty earth into the magnificent structure it is today.

The masjid can hold up to 25,000 worshipers, and over 80,000 more can be accomodated on the plazas and balconies of the building overlooking the ritual area.  The highest minaret rises to a point over 200 yards into the air and is lit each night by over a thousand anterns within the spire.  The interior of the masjid is made of cedar carved by hand and fitted in ornate patterns all over the building.  It is one of the most sacred places in Zep Tepi, and the pharaoh himself worships within its magnificent architecture.

Khasbah tiz Ouregis

The Khasbah tiz Ouregis is one of the largest fortifications in the Two Kingdoms.  It stands more than eight miles in circumference and has over 200 gates looking down onto the city below.  Its walls are made from red clay -- stained red, some say, by the blood of those who defy the pharaoh.  Inside the walls are a number of buildings, streets, an trde centers for citizens to bring in portions of grain as taxes and for selling it again in hard seasons.  The eastern wall of the Khasbah overlooks the bay where the Rabhaszem River enters the Lachrymose Sea, and along the southern wall stretches one of the largest and most beautiful gardens in the world.

The garden at the edge of the Khasbah is known as the kel-Ilief.  It was created by a pharaoh long ago to commemorate those who had died defending the city.  After the monument at the center had been constructed, women of the city and all over the Two Kingdoms began to bring plants and place them around the towering statue.  As these plants took root and grew, the garden began.  Today it encircles a square area of almost a half-mile, fed by the river below and its plazas and flowering plants are considered one of the great wonders of the city.

The Khasbah is a peaceful place well-guarded and lit at night by traveling lantern-bearers who are paid by the city to keep the streets safe from crime.  It is a fairly cosmopolitan area filled with street vendors, rich merchant areas, and the nobility of the Two Kingdoms.

Zep Tepi

The city of Zep Tepi is a magnificent place filled with strong architecture that rises above the city streets and striking processions of nobles as they march on eunuch-borne litters with silken veils to keep out the stinging insects.  It has been rebuilt several times, each time more splendid than the last, as each pharaoh creates some personal monument or landmark to commemorate his existence.  These edifices take the form of fountains, new buildings, statues, or gold-plated masjid.  Several strange landmarks such as a circle of arches placed in the center of an open garden, give tribute to rulers now all but forgotten.

Zep Tepi is a blaze of color.  Embroidered curtains sway between pillars decorated with gold and ivory marking he edges of masjid, wealthy houses, and even moderately well-established shops.  Even in lower class areas, where such curtains are too expensive to hang, the shops have archways, delicately ornamented in gold and ivory or colored tiles.  Even where a building has been ruined, their remains bare and delicate framework crafted by hand over many hours of work and as beautiful as many of the overworked pieces of the noble quarter.  It is a city where each step is carefully planned, and the stones of the street are often festooned with small carvings done by artists practicing their craft.  Artwork and beauty truly are everywhere.

Innumerable figures carved in low relief are painted in gorgeous colors against the sides of the buildings forming mosaic or frescoed scenes.  Some are bright and vibrant while others have faded over the years, and, while coloring still clings to them, the ark grey marble beneath shines through like bones through briht flesh.  Gleaming in the sunlight, the great processions move from one side of the city to the other, tracing their way through the noble and merchant's quarters towards the throne of the King of Kings.


The city itself has a chaste outline and a delicacy of structure between the curve of its streets and the high spires of the tallest buildings -- a practiced dance of stone and te movement of its citizens that is like nothing else.  Here is the first true worship of sculpture, the first brilliant awakening of the sculptor's art and it is strewn like candy through every corridor of the city itself.  Even in the poorest neighborhoods, the doorways are carved and the stones of the street speakof legends and myths.  Faces are carved into te walls of the alleyways by beggars pleading for some food to reward their simple talent.  Even children shape clay by the fountains where their mothers wash the family linen.  The monolithic sculptures of the nobe quarter, the tributes to pharaoh and consort were designed to express the majesty of nobility and the towering eye of the gods.  The sculpture of Mallaham, influenced by the genies and the strange studies of the alchemists and wizards there, sufers from indistinct perspectives and a curious distortion of the human frame -- muscles are strained as if the form itself is oppressed by its own existence and driven down y mortality.  However, in Zep Tepi people go quietly about their affairs conscious of their human pride.  Here the human dignity of ordinary people is expressed as well as giving honor and tribute to the divine.  Zep Tepi is not simply a city of nobility: it is a city of all humanity.

Zep Tepi has overcome numerous obstacles to emerge as the bustling center of commerce that it is today, but its roots still remain in the culture and attitudes of the highest nobility and the lowest peasant.  The great walls of the city enclose a fairly modern world, shut off from the dangers and mysteries of the desert.  Sometimes it is even possible to forget entirely the desert that reigns outside the high marble walls.

A thin river trails through the eastern half of Zep Tepi supplying both commerce and water to the city.  The eastern quarters of the city are considered to be the "wealthy" and "merchant" area, while the northern (toward the ocean) and western portions are dirtier, watered by wells rather than fresh flowing water, and generally considered less prestigious and more dangerous for travelers.  The easternmost portion of Zep Tepi borders the Lachrymose Sea and is constructed on a great rise above the city.  On top of that rise is the largest building in the city; the Khasbah tiz Ouregis.  Other significant places within the city include the Enhatyaka Masjid, the Ribat-kel-Fatah or "Victory Fortress" bridge across the Rabhaszem river, the Grand Bazaar, and the Palace of the Pharaoh.

A picture of Rashima!

Types of Magic (I)

Arcane Magic
Arcane magic is magic performed outside of the context of devotion and ritual that marks divine magic.  There are at least two native traditions of arcane magic that have developed.  The Two Kingdoms is home to the practice of alchemy, the practice of the perfection of the soul through the simultaneously metaphorical and not-metaphorical process of chemical transformation.  On the other hand, Celbion (which, interestingly enough, was once part of the realm of Phaetia, which became the Two Kingdoms later), plays host to an ancient bardic tradition which teaches of the words of creation and that language underlies and forms a girder structure beneath what we think of as physical reality.  Where alchemy uses chemicals, bardry uses linguistics, and the unified history of each tradition's homeland speaks to a possible unity between these two things.

An odd quirk of arcane magic that no one quite has an understanding of is that, as one gains the ability to create more and more powerful effects, they feel a stronger and stronger pull to travel to the west of Aporuë, dreaming of a great rock buried many miles out.  Eventually, the desire to leave and travel to the rock of which they dream becomes nigh-irresistible, driving the most powerful arcane magicians to greater, more desperate, and stranger methods of tying themselves to the world around them socially, environmentally, or through whatever other means they can.  As mentioned, no one knows the reason for this phenomenon, but one of the primary theories presented by a wide variety of sages is that divine magic places the ultimate locus of power outside of the individual and that the target of one's worship or devotion operates as a sort of screen between the magician and whatever it is that pulls them toward the giant rock.

The classes that make use of arcane magic include the following:
Alchemist:

Bard:

Sorcerer:

Wizard:

Divine Magic

Empty Spells

Free City Adeptry

Psionics

Two Kingdoms Glossary (II)

abatu:  v., to destroy
ael:  n., arch
ahu:  n., brother
akhet:  n, flood; also the first of the three seasons
alani:  n., axe
als:  n, servant, slave
alu:  n., city
alwe:  n, a person's eternal soul formed by merging the ba and the pū
amduat:  n, a genre of holy books describing the journey to the underworld
anarithpokhe: adj, numberless, zero; n., zero, origin
anzillu:  n., abomination
apsu:  v., to begin
ba:  n, a person's soul
bedet:  n, emmer (a cereal grain)
damu:  n., child
duggae:  n., clay
eli:  prep., against
emir:  n., ruler of one of the prefectures (a subdivision of the wilayat, which is a subdivision of the Upper or Lower Kingdom)
enthikhap: v., to burn
enu:  v., to change
erimha:  n., army
essuru:  n., bird
etutu:  n., darkness
fatah: n., victory
gudanna:  n., attacker
hammam:  n., bathhouse
hebsed:  n, a royal jubilee
idimmu:  n., demon
isfeshin:  adj, enacting isfet; n, one who enacts isfet
isfet:  n, the opposite of ma'at; that which is not divinely ordained and thus threatens the continuance of the world
isnarkabtu:  n., chariot
it:  n, barley
ka:  n., vital energy
kalbu:  n., dog
karah:  adj., high
kenbet:  n, committee of officials that acts as a court of law
khalqu:  n., sorcerer, wizard, witch
khasbah:  n., a large fortress designed both for defense of the city and for grain storage
khepresh:  n, the blue crown worn by the pharaoh
khet:  n, a person's body
ma'ashin:  adj., enacting ma'at; n., one who enacts ma'at
ma'at:  n., the divine order of things
mahjoun:  n., a drug made from cactus
majnun:  n., a madcap, bohemian, mercantile, syncretistic religion incorporating elements of the Genie Cult and the Teachings of the Prophet Bleghet
masjid:  n., a place of worship
menat:  n, a necklace of beads used as a musical instrument
mitu:  adj., dead
moqadam:  n., lesser governmental official responsible for bookkeeping, walking the street and keeping order, and other duties, the most commonly seen arm of the government whose tasks resemble those of a city guard and city officer rolled into one
mulla:  n., devil
mursu:  n., disease
natjal:  n, god
nitha: n., daughter
opet:  n, harem
pagru:  n., corpse
peret:  n, seed; also the second of the three seasons
pron: n., horizon
pū:  n, a person's life force; personality
qaid:  n., ruler of a subdivision of a prefecture, the lowest level of ruling noble
ren:  n, a person's name
ribat:  n., fortress (as a general term), castle
salmu:  adj., black
shabti:  n, a type of servant who helps one more out of love for one than an als
shemu:  n, harvest; also the third of the three seasons
shut:  n, a person's shadow
sikaru:  n., beer
sutinnu:  n., bat
tahazu:  n., battle
tammabukku:  n., dragon
tharkhepr:  n., scarab beetle
tiamatu:  n., ocean
weqūf:  n., any person that tells lies or is deceptive; its meaning has shifted such that it is occasionally used to refer to any being that has harmful intentions toward mortalkind; more specifically a particular undead being with a corporeal body animated by an energy known as ka kel-weqūf which is characterized by its propensity to disturb and/or destroy ma'at
wet:  n, bandage
wilayat:  n., government, authority, governmental structure, oppressive regime, ruling authority, province
zemiru:  n., bracelet
zu:  n., desert

Pharaoh-to-be Nitarep qed Alskelbiann Namulas bi Miharbi

Half-Celestial Noble 3

Lawful neutral follower of the Teachings of the Prophet Bleghet

Medium-size 27-year-old male outsider (native), 5'10” and 180 pounds, lives in Zep Tepi

Strength 10

Dexterity 16

Constitution 14

Intelligence 20

Wisdom 12

Charisma 20

AC 23 = 10 + 3 (armor) + 0 (shield) + 3 (Dex) + 0 (size) + 3 (natural armor; half-celestial and Vow of Peace) + 2 (deflection) + 2 (heavy pommel) +

Touch 17 Flat-footed 18

hp 28 (3d8+6)

Damage Reduction 5/magic

Initiative +3 = 3 (Dex) +

• Acid and cold resistance 10
• Electricity resistance 12

Fortitude +3 = 1 (base) + 2 (Con) +

Reflex +4 = 1 (base) + 3 (Dex) +

Will +4 = 3 (base) + 1 (Wis) +

• Immune to disease
• +4 racial bonus v. poison

Base Attack Bonus +2 Spell Resistance 13

CMB +2 = 2 (base) + 0 (Str) + 0 (size) + CMD 15 = 10 + 2 (base) + 0 (Str) + 3 (Dex) + 0 (size) +

Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)

Languages

kel-'Renīyah

Gsepdeot

Haeno

Old Phaetic

Celestial

Middle High Galatian

Special Abilities

• Darkvision 60 feet
• 3/day – commanding presence (move-equivalent action 1/encounter, allies within 30 ft. gain +1 competence bonus to attacks, damage, and Will saves for 5 rounds), protection from evil (CL 3)
• 1/day – aid (CL 3), bless (CL 3), detect evil (CL 3), smite evil as Pal4 (swift action, until target dies or half-celestial rests)
• +4 save DC for spells/special abilities used against humanoids or monstrous humanoids if it deals neither lethal nor ability damage, bestow negative levels, or cause death or is dependent upon causing damage
• Constantly surrounded by a calming aura (20-ft. Radius) – creature must make Will save (DC 20) or be affected by calm emotions (mind-affecting, supernatural)
• If struck by a manufactured weapon, weapon must make Fortitude save (DC 13) or shatter
• Must not cause harm to any living creature (constructs and undead are not included in this prohibition). You may not deal real damage or ability damage to such creatures through spells or weapons, though you may deal nonlethal damage. You may not target them with death effects, disintegrate, or other spells that have the immediate potential to cause death or great harm. You also may not use nondamaging spells to incapacitate or weaken living foes so that your allies can kill them—if you incapacitate a foe, you must take him prisoner.
• Any ally of yours who slays a helpless or defenseless foe within 120 feet of you feels great remorse. Your ally takes a –1 morale penalty on his attack rolls for 1 hour per your character level. For each helpless foe slain, the attack penalty increases by 1, to a maximum equal to your character level. The duration of the increased penalty starts from the latest slaying. You may ask your allies to give you an oath that a helpless foe will not be slain. If the oath is sworn, an ally who later breaks the oath takes the penalty for doing so as if you were present. If you leave a helpless foe to be killed by your allies, you have broken your vow. You may ask a defeated creature to give you an oath of surrender or noninterference in exchange for its life. If the creature breaks this oath to you, you can allow your allies to deal with the creature as they see fit without breaking their oaths or your vow of nonviolence.
• If you intentionally break your vow, you immediately and irrevocably lose the benefit of this feat. You may not take another feat to replace it. If you break your vow as a result of magical compulsion or otherwise unwittingly, you lose the benefit of this feat until you perform a suitable penance and receive an atonement spell. (Characters who have taken a Vow of Peace are known to drink water through a strainer in order to avoid accidentally swallowing, and thereby causing harm to, a small insect.)

Bluff +6 = 1 (ranks) + 5 (Cha) +

Craft (painting) +11 = 3 (ranks) + 5 (Int) + 3 (class skill) +

Diplomacy +15 = 1 (ranks) + 5 (Cha) + 3 (class skill) + 2 (perfection; Sacred Vow) + 4 (exalted) +

Intimidate +9 = 1 (ranks) + 5 (Cha) + 3 (class skill) +

Knowledge (geography) +11 = 3 (ranks) + 5 (Int) + 3 (class skill) +

Knowledge (history) +11 = 3 (ranks) + 5 (Int) + 3 (class skill) +

Knowledge (local – Two Kingdoms) +11 = 3 (ranks) + 5 (Int) + 3 (class skill) +

Knowledge (nobility) +11 = 3 (ranks) + 5 (Int) + 3 (class skill) +

Knowledge (religion) +11 = 3 (ranks) + 5 (Int) + 3 (class skill) +

Perception

Perform

Profession

Ride +9 = 3 (ranks) + 3 (Dex) + 3 (class skill) +

Sense Motive +7 = 3 (ranks) + 1 (Wis) + 3 (class skill) +

Swim +6 = 3 (ranks) + 0 (Str) + 3 (class skill) +

• +2 competence bonus to all Diplomacy checks made in Two Kingdoms high society settings or when dealing with Two Kingdoms political figures or administrators
• +2 competence bonus to all Charisma checks and Charisma-related skill checks when target is attracted to noble

Feats

Martial Weapon Proficiency (composite shortbow, flail, scimitar)

Sacred Vow (from Book of Exalted Deeds)

Simple Weapon Proficiency

Vow of Nonviolence (from Book of Exalted Deeds)

Vow of Peace (from Book of Exalted Deeds)

Masterwork eel hide studded leather armor

• 1825 gp, +3 armor bonus, +6 maximum Dex bonus, armor check penalty -0, gives electricity resistance 2

Masterwork gold scimitar with a basket hilt and a heavy pommel

• 3150 gp, 1d4-2 damage, 18-20/x2 crit, 6 lb., slashing, +1 enhancement bonus to attack roll, +1d4 damage with pommel strike, +2 AC while held ready and not making full attacks or charges, fragile, attempts to attack sword hand automatically fail

Masterwork darkwood composite longbow with 20 darkwood flight arrows

• 368 gp, 1d6 damage, x3 crit, 130 ft. range, 3 lb., piercing, +1 enhancement bonus to attack roll

Masterwork flail

• 308 gp, 1d8 damage, x2 critical, 5 lb., bludgeoning, disarm, trip, +1 enhancement bonus to attack roll

Royal outfit

• 200+ gp, 15 lb.

Other equipment as makes sense (considering that there is little to no limit on expense)

Passions

Rage: Ugliness. He is so used to being surrounded by the sublimest beauty that for someone or something to not be beautiful angers him; he takes it as a deliberate and offensive choice.

Fear: He knows, though he tries not to let himself know, that he is not going to be a good pharaoh.

Noble: His duty to ma'at and the Kingdoms, and the fate that goes along with it. He will do nearly anything to ensure that he becomes the pharaoh.

Role-Playing Notes

Nitarep qed Alskelbiann Namulas bi Miharbi has no idea who his mother was, but plenty of idea who his father was: the god Tum. Upon the wilayat's discovery that Tum had manifested upon ????'s mother, they swooped in. After a tense and excited nine months filled with politicking such as is rarely seen even once in a dwarf's lifetime, the waiting administrators, courtiers, and governors seized the infant, umbilical cord still dripping, and secreted him away to far Zep Tepi, the city winged by the Tomb-Riddled Cliffs, the city between the Two Kingdoms.

Since then, every breath of Nitarep qed Alskelbiann Namulas bi Miharbi's life – waking or not – has been shaped by forces far beyond his understanding and knowledge. He has never encountered want or lack, and this is the single defining characteristic of his personality. He, of course, has other characteristics: a flighty vanity, a deep and abiding cowardice, the utter lack of a desire to lift a finger in any useful way, a demand that he be entertained at all times by those around him, and a religious vow to never commit violence against another being. He's not really certain why he took those vows, but the priests and officials who have surrounded him for the last 27 years seemed to think it was a good idea. It's not really tradition, near as he can tell, for the pharaoh-to-be to take them, but those priests and officials no doubt knew what was best.

Of course, all that paints him in a fairly negative light; he has positive qualities as well. Well, at least one: a carefully-nurtured and nigh-impregnable dedication to duty and respect for religious tradition and ritual. He has been blessed by immense faith in the Teachings of the Prophet Bleghet (may they be written upon every grain of sand) and is remarkably accepting of his fated sudden death in pain and agony and fear. It's simply what must be done, for the good of the Two Kingdoms and the world. Ma'at demands it. Similarly, the vows of peace he took are not mere words to him; they are one of the few things he takes seriously and he will not break them.

For reasons of your own, you seem to have maneuvered Almah into letting you bring him along with you into the gnoll-infested village of kel-Maraneh

A Two Kingdoms Timeline (II) and a Note re: The Generations of the World

It is important to note that there is a wide variety of longevities existing throughout the world amongst the various races.  It is further important to note that this powerfully affects how they view the history of the world.

For example, to humans the founding of Phaetia (and therefore the Two Kingdoms which are its modern version) is about as distant in the past as the development of writing and written history is from us in our world (about six millennia).  That is, it is insanely difficult, if possible, for the average human to imagine a world in which Phaetia/the Two Kingdoms did not exist.  Hell, the War of the Genies is more distant from them than the life of Yeshua bar Yosef ho Christos ha Mashiach (Jesus) is from us!

On the other hand, elves mature at about seven and a third times slower than humans (that number was achieved by dividing elfin starting age -- 110 -- by human starting age -- 15).  This means that the founding of Phaetia was the generational equivalent of almost 900 years ago (883, to be exact, putting it as distant to them as the Middle Ages are to us) and the War of the Genies is as long ago to them, generationwise, as 1713 is to us!  This, in and of itself, is one of the reasons why despite the high levels of integration in my campaign world, elves still find themselves set apart.  After all, this elf:   is 59 years old or so!



8975 years ago:  The rise of the Zenata culture of humans in the lands which will become first Phaetia and then the Two Kingdoms.  Taller than later peoples, they had extremely dark hair (ranging from mahogany to true black), and eyes of a dark brown or occasionally a dark hazel.

8475 years ago: Rise of the Badhari culture of humans in the lands which will become first Phaetia and then the Two Kingdoms.  Their skin is pale, their eyes are often green or hazel, and their hair may turn unusual colors of red or even a dark blonde.

7475 years ago: Rise of the Anlad culture of humans in the lands which will become Phaetia.  The Anlad people spawned two major cities: Tabaheq near the coast and Duru deep in the sands.  According to legend, Duru was "covered in gold as a woman shrouded in silks, and equally as beautiful."  Although the two cities had peaceful trade, they sought a union, and the Calif of Duru promised to marry the daughter of the Sultan of Tabaheq.  The marriage was destined for failure, though.  When the daughter of the Sultan of Tabaheq could not bear the Calif sons, he cursed her name and her line, and swore he would marry another despite the laws of their people.  Although she had given him three daughters, he cast her out into the deep desert, taking back his name and his gifts and declaring their marriage over.  He expected her to die in the endless sands, but she carried her children across miles of wasteland back to her home in Tabaheq.  She made deals there amongst the dunes with the genies who lived there.  They cursed the Calif and his cities for his arrogance, protected the woman, and brought her to society.  A great war erupted between Duru and Tabaheq, a war that lasted nearly a hundred years and watered the sands between them with blood.  The armies rode chariots to battle, and slaves from both sides labored incessantly to rebuild as the war destroyed towns, cities, and even the temples.  The Calif of Duru swore that he would destroy Tabaheq and throw his daughters into the teeth of the genies who had denied him sons.  His words were hasty and cruel, and the two genies heard his hubris.  In the end, a great sandstorm rose in the desert, swallowing Duru's armies whole.  The soldiers of Tabaheq fled, leaving behind their implements of war as the genies themselves wreaked vengeance on Duru for their Calif's pride, burying the once-proud city in the sand.  Since those days, daughters of the royal line have been treated with equal respect to their male counterparts; all those born of noble blood are equal in the sight of the Two Kingdoms.  Tabaheq is now known as Zep Tepi, and this is the beginning of the Cult of the Genies, though that religion doesn't become the de facto religion of the area until the institution of the pharaoh centuries later.

6974 years ago: Rise of the Djerz culture of humans in the lands which will become first Phaetia and then the Two Kingdoms.

6663 years ago: An elfish tribe formerly part of Nuhedhalmattia's federation, the Bhugarri, raids the Archmagi province of Phaetia.

6625 years ago: Rise of the Maghat culture of humans in Phaetia.

6507 years ago: The Bhugari and the Srabhu, another tribe of Nuhedhalmattia's former subjects, raid Phaetia once more and Galatia moreover.

6475 years ago: The first pharaoh of Phaetia, the ghost of a Djerz human killed 188 years before in the first Bhugarri raid of Phaetia and called back to the mortal world by the cacophony of death-curses from those killed in the second Bhugarri raid 32 years before, takes the throne. He will rule for the next 539 years. While it is still technically and largely under the control of the Archmagi, who maintain a military commandership in the region in order to assert their control, that military commander must share a lot of his domestic and internal power with the pharaoh. Events that extend beyond Phaetia’s borders, however, are entirely the military commander’s purview.

6403 years ago: Jrrbat-i, the Archmagus commander of Phaetia, an actual Archmagus and not a member of a subject race, is killed in battle against the Bhugarri and Srabhu. This is, needless to say, a major coup for the two elfin tribes.

5988 years ago: The Srabhu elves settle into the northern parts of Phaetia.

5936 years ago: The second pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne. He is recorded as a member of the First Kingdom, along with his predecessor.

5909 years ago: The third pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, beginning the Second Kingdom, and a new dynasty with it.

5890 years ago: The fourth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5881 years ago: The fifth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5875 years ago: The sixth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5869 years ago: The seventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5845 years ago: The eighth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

5795 years ago: The ninth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5772 years ago: The tenth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5764 years ago: The eleventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5741 years ago: The twelfth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5723 years ago: The thirteenth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5719 years ago: The fourteenth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

5712 years ago: The fifteenth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5700 years ago: The sixteenth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5690 years ago: The seventeenth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5689 years ago: The eighteenth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5686 years ago: The nineteenth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5675 years ago: The twentieth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5667 years ago: The twenty-first pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5639 years ago: The twenty-second pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5609 years ago: The twenty-third pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

5597 years ago: The twenty-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5551 years ago: The twenty-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5544 years ago: The twenty-sixth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5450 years ago: The twenty-seventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5449 years ago: The twenty-eighth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding the Third Kingdom and a new dynasty.

5372 years ago: The twenty-ninth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5335 years ago: The thirtieth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5286 years ago: The thirty-first pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5278 years ago: The thirty-second pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding the Fourth Kingdom and a new dynasty.

5226 years ago: The thirty-third pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

5217 years ago: Archmagi Emperor Theaatozh-i VI makes a peace treaty with the Bhugarri elfs, granting them annual gifts of gold and silk as well as land in Phaetia. The treaty is kept for almost 260 years.

5213 years ago: The thirty-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne. He is strongly anti-elf, a factor which did much to speed his removal from the throne.

5206 years ago: The thirty-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia, a strong pro-elf advocate who had married an elf in a radical move to support their presence, takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

5176 years ago: The thirty-sixth phaaoh of Phaetia, the half-elf son of his predecessor, takes the throne.

5116 years ago: The thirty-seventh pharaoh of Phaetia, another half-elf takes the throne.

5068 years ago: The thirty-eighth pharaoh of Phaetia, a half-elf who tries to avoid Phaetia becoming involved with the internal struggles of the Bhugarri elfs while still maintaining the beneficial relations his dynasty had previously enjoyed, takes the throne.

5041 years ago: The thirty-ninth pharaoh of Phaetia, a half-elf, takes the throne.

4986 years ago: The fortieth pharaoh of Phaetia, a half-elf, takes the throne.

4964 years ago: With the support of the Archmagi revoked from the Bhugarri, the pharaoh of Phaetia makes overtures to the Srabhu tribe of elfs.

4922 years ago: The forty-first pharaoh of Phaetia, a half-elf, takes the throne.

4905 years ago: The forty-second pharaoh of Phaetia, a half-elf, takes the throne.

4900 years ago: The forty-third pharaoh of Phaetia, a half-elf who pursued the path of lichdom to extend his life, takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

4725 years ago: The forty-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia, a half-elf who defeated his predecessor, takes the throne, founding the Fifth Kingdom and a new dynasty.

4712 years ago: The Archmagus army begins a campaign to reconquer Phaetia from the Srabhu elves, who have assumed control of it from the Bhugarri (also elfs).

4641 years ago: The Battle of Paatriss is fought. Emperor Nikkforr II breaks Srabhuc power in Phaetia.

4640 years ago: The forty-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia, the last half-elf pharaoh, takes the throne. Though he cannot escape his heritage, he does all he can to separate Phaetia from its elfin former benefactors, seeking the approval of the Archmagi.

4573 years ago: The forty-sixth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

4513 years ago: The forty-seventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

4486 years ago: The forty-eighth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4481 years ago: The forty-ninth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4477 years ago: The fiftieth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding the Sixth Kingdom and a new dynasty.

4452 years ago: The fifty-first pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4451 years ago: The fifty-second pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4439 years ago: The fifty-third pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne,

4427 years ago: The fifty-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4373 years ago: The fifty-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4347 years ago: The fifty-sixth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4337 years ago: The fifty-seventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4297 years ago: The fifty-eighth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4280 years ago: The fifty-ninth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4279 years ago: The sixtieth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4276 years ago: The sixty-first pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4266 years ago: The sixty-second pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4261 years ago: The sixty-third pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4231 years ago: The sixty-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

4229 years ago: The sixty-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4219 years ago: The fall of the last Archmagi bastion at Castle Spirus.

4212 years ago: The sixty-sixth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4151 years ago: The Bhugarri elves invade Phaetia, easily defeating the remaining, routed Archmagus forces (mostly members of subject races), there. The Maghyarri, another elfin tribe, attack them in turn, seeking to defend their tributaries.

4145 years ago: The sixty-seventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4138 years ago: The Bhugarri elves resume their invasion, marching on the Phaetian capitol. The Fechengi, a tribe of elfin horsemen, join different factions at different times during the invasion, but ultimately leave the remnants of the Archmagi forces to fend for themselves.

4134 years ago: The sixty-eighth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4128 years ago: The sixty-ninth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4124 years ago: The seventieth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4118 years ago: The seventy-first pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4116 years ago: The seventy-second pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

4114 years ago: The seventy-third pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4082 years ago: The seventy-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4075 years ago: The seventy-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4070 years ago: The seventy-sixth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4062 years ago: The seventy-seventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4054 years ago: The seventy-eighth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4052 years ago: These seventy-ninth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4035 years ago: A Dalmatian flotilla of elfin ships raids Phaetia after passage out of the mouth of the river is granted by the Cassari, who subsequently ambush the flotilla upon its return. The Dalmatian leader, reportedly Lega, is killed in the ambush.

4033 years ago: The eightieth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4023 years ago: The eighty-first pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

4022 years ago: Tsar Symos of the Bhugarri elves besieges the Phaetian capitol to pressure the young pharaoh into marrying his daughter. The attempt fails but Symos manages to gain control of most of Phaetia.

3993 years ago: The eighty-second pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3987 years ago: The eighty-third pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding the Seventh Kingdom and a new dynasty.

3961 years ago: The eighty-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3957 years ago: The eighty-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3934 years ago: The eighty-sixth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3881 years ago: The eighty-seventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3871 years ago: The eighty-eighth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3865 years ago: The eighty-ninth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3847 years ago: The Dalmatian Prince Rogus leads a raiding campaign against Phaetia to gain favorable trading status. The Dalmatian flotilla is largely destroyed.

3845 years ago: The ninetieth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3840 years ago: The ninety-first pharaoh of Phaetia, a powerful spellcaster, takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

3834 years ago: A Dalmatian army besieging the Phaetia town of Draba on the coast abandons its campaign after widespread sickness takes a toll on the expedition.

3828 years ago: Despite the losses suffered by the Dalmatian elves, Phaetia offers them a new trade treaty.

3819 years ago: The ninety-second pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3784 years ago: The ninety-third pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3769 years ago: The ninety-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3730 years ago: The ninety-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3690 years ago: The ninety-sixth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3681 years ago: Sviatus begins a campaign against the river Bhugarri at the request of the Phaetians.

3680 years ago: Sviatus is driven from the desert land of Phaetia by the pharaoh's forces and dies on the retreat.

3678 years ago: The ninety-seventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3672 years ago: The ninety-eighth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3668 years ago: The Dalmatians crush the Bhugarri at Phaetia's request. The Dalmatians fail to depart Phaetia, leading eventually to war.

3653 years ago: The failure of the Dalmatians to depart Phaetia finally leads to war.

3648 years ago: The Dalmatian army is successfully besieged at Silistria (“New Istria”) by the Phaetians. Prince Sviatus agrees to a peace treaty and leaves the lands of the Bhugarri.

3635 years ago: The ninety-ninth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3625 years ago: The hundredth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3607 years ago: The hundred-first pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

3597 years ago: The hundred-second pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3569 years ago: The hundred-third pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3544 years ago: The hundred-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia, a strong devotee of peace, takes the throne.

3543 years ago: The elf Bladus Mirus, ruler of Dalmatia, marries Ama, sister of the Phaetian pharaoh.

3514 years ago: The hundred-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3499 years ago: The hundred-sixth pharaoh of Phaeia takes the throne.

3479 years ago: The hundred-seventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3474 years ago: The hundred-eighth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3464 years ago: The hundred-ninth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3456 years ago: The hundred-tenth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3450 years ago: The hundred-eleventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3420 years ago: The hundred-twelfth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3406 years ago: The hundred-thirteenth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3390 years ago: The hundred-fourteenth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3375 years ago: The Phaetian pharaoh defeats the elfin Bhugarri army at Itsa Belas. The Phaetians blind 15,000 elves before releasing them.

3364 years ago: The hundred-fifteenth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3363 years ago: The Dalmatian and Phaetian armies attack the dwindling kingdom of the Cassarri.

3356 years ago: The hundred-sixteenth pharaoh of Phaetia, a strong believer in the good old days, takes the throne, founding the Eighth Kingdom and a new dynasty.

3350 years ago: The Dalmatians of Khieff and the Boli battle the Dalmatians of Dorogyon at the river. The Phaetian pharaoh reconquers most of his lands.

3302 years ago: The hundred-seventeenth pharaoh of Phaetia.

3287 years ago: The hundred-eighteenth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3281 years ago: The hundred-nineteenth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3262 years ago: The hundred-twentieth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3218 years ago: The hundred-twenty-first pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3217 years ago: A comet made of moonsilver falls from the heavens, striking the tower of Castle Spirus, collapsing it and fundamentally altering the magic patterns of the entire world. Accounts of the tine speak of the Great Sealing, a sense that the flood of raw magic suddenly slowed to nothing but a trickle. Amidst these events, the hundred-twenty-second pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding the Ninth Kingdom and a new dynasty.

3214 years ago: The hundred-twenty-third pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3181 years ago: The hundred-twenty-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3160 years ago: The hundred-twenty-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3119 years ago: The hundred-twenty-sixth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3118 years ago: The hundred-twenty-seventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3100 years ago: The hundred-twenty-eighth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

3095 years ago: The hundred-twenty-ninth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

3089 years ago: The hundred-thirtieth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3088 years ago: The hundred-thirty-first pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3075 years ago: The hundred-thirty-second pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3074 years ago: The hundred-thirty-third pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

3056 years ago: The hundred-thirty-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3054 years ago: The Ghussus (a tribe of elven horsemen) suffer defeat in a brief civil unrest in Dalmatia and escape to Phaetia to face the Bhugarri, hunger, and disease. The tribe all but disappears. The hundred-thirty-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3036 years ago: The hundred-thirty-sixth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne after his predecessor is killed by racists incensed at his choice of an elven (Ghussus) wife. He founds a new dynasty.

3031 years ago: The hundred-thirty-seventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3029 years ago: The hundred thirty-eighth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3026 years ago: The hundred-thirty-ninth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding the Tenth Kingdom and a new dynasty.

3017 years ago: The hundred-fortieth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3012 years ago: The hundred-forty-first pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

3005 years ago: The hundred-forty-second pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne, founding a new dynasty.

2977 years ago: The hundred-forty-third pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2941 years ago: The hundred-forty-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2917 years ago: The hundred-forty-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2900 years ago: The hundred-forty-sixth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2875 years ago: The hundred-forty-seventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2859 years ago: The hundred-forty-eighth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2852 years ago: The hundred-forty-ninth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2834 years ago: The hundred-fiftieth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2805 years ago: The hundred-fifty-first pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2799 years ago: The hundred-fifty-second pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2798 years ago: The hundred-fifty-third pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2796 years ago: The hundred-fifty-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2777 years ago: The hundred-fifty-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2768 years ago: The hundred-fifty-sixth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne. He also takes the title Neus Disonis, claiming to be an incarnation of that deity.

2747 years ago: The hundred-fifty-seventh pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2743 years ago: The hundred-fifty-eighth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne.

2741 years ago: King Ubain, who started a war with Phaetia, takes the throne of Galatia.

2722 years ago: The hundred-fifty-ninth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne in the midst of war with Galatia.

2718 years ago: The hundred-sixtieth pharaoh of Phaetia takes the throne in the midst of war with Galatia.

2715 years ago: Aeytus, the hundred-sixty-first pharaoh of Phaetia, takes the throne in the midst of war with Galatia.

2704 years ago: Dyonna Vezia, Rose Queen of Galatia, takes the throne of that empire. In the ancient epic Ballad of the Rose Queen, it is written that she alone fought her way through the entire Phaetian ranks and confronted the Phaetian king, Aeytus. Awed by her beauty, and the fierceness in her eyes, he dropped his weapon on the spot and bowed before her as a goddess, swearing eternal allegiance. At that moment an inferno came from the heavens and seemed to consume the two, much to the despair of both warring armies. The pair emerged unscathed by the fire, however, and thereafter the two were married and their kingdoms united. During the celebration of the victory at the Kyrkus, an elephant broke through the railing separating the floor from the seats and went on a rampage, killing many in the audience. Queen Dyonna, in response, killed and sacrificed the elephant, feasting many on unusual meat, and also built a moat 15 feet wide and 15 feet deep between the arena and the seats. Aeytus announces the Eleventh Kingdom, breaking from the tradition of declaring a new kingdom upon the coronation of a new pharaoh; he also announces that his progeny shall be considered the first of a new dynasty.

2661 years ago: Aeydrin, “The Idyll King”, son of Dyonna Vezia and Pharaoh Aeytus, is crowned king of Galatia and the hundred-sixty-second pharaoh of Phaetia.

2601 years ago: Dryne is crowned king of Galatia and the hundred-sixty-third pharaoh of Phaetia.

2588 years ago: Drynetas I is crowned king of Galatia and the hundred-sixty-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia.

2560 years ago: Drynetas II is crowned king of Galatia and the hundred-sixty-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia.

2558 years ago: Gorius, “The Sickly King”, is crowned king of Galatia and the hundred-sixty-sixth pharaoh of Phaetia.

2554 years ago: Natan, “The Usurper King”, is crowned king of Galatia and the hundred-sixty-seventh pharaoh of Phaetia.

2544 years ago: The priests of the Galatian temple-city, Tavia, set Metontas on the throne as the king of Galatia and the hundred-sixty-eighth pharaoh of Phaetia. Phaetians declare this the beginning of the Twelfth Kingdom. They do not declare it the beginning of a new dynasty, establishing the current dynasty as the Galatian Dynasty, rather than one tied to any particular bloodline.

2494 years ago: Metonia is crowned queen of Galatia and hundred-sixty-ninth pharaoh of Phaetia.

2458 years ago: Emeritus is crowned king of Galatia and hundred-seventieth pharaoh of Phaetia.

2417 years ago: Eliesia the Half-Elven is crowned queen of Galatia and hundred-seventy-first pharaoh of Phaetia.

2392 years ago: Mathieu d'Holbach of Worth is crowned king of Galatia and hundred-seventy-second pharaoh of Phaetia.

2361 years ago: Gregoire Frederick is crowned king of Galatia and hundred-seventy-third pharaoh of Phaetia.

2315 years ago: Damius is crowned king of Galatia and hundred-seventy-fourth pharaoh of Phaetia.

2271 years ago: Lucius is crowned king of Galatia and hundred-seventy-fifth pharaoh of Phaetia.

2241 years ago: The Tyrant King is crowned king of Galatia and hundred-seventy-sixth pharaoh of Phaetia.

2213 years ago: The heir to the Galatian throne is kidnapped by agents of the great diviner Nod Lesirah, who has foreseen that the Galatian empire was soon to fall under the weight of its own decadence and stagnation. This kidnapping is part of the immense Plan concocted by Nod Lesirah to reduce the vast period of barbarism which he has divined the world will endure before a new great empire returns the land to peace and prosperity. The quest for the heir results in Galatia splintering into the various realms of modern Aporuë. It also, because the heir was kidnapped to Phaetia, sets the stage for the Genie War and the rise of the Prophet Bleghet (may his keffiyeh remain ever cool). This also begins a short interregnal period in Phaetia.

2187 years ago: The Genie War ends, resulting in the sinking of the Lower Kingdom. The Prophet Bleghet (may his wineskin always be full) spreads his Teachings (may they be written upon the inside of every eyelid). The first modern pharaoh (the hundred-seventy-seventh) takes the throne as a half-celestial ghost with DR 0. The Two Kingdoms are born and, with them, the Thirteenth Kingdom and a new dynasty. Every pharaoh from this point takes an additional throne name: Tum. The first pharaoh to take the name Tum is this one, Tum CLXXVII.

1200 years ago: Approximate end of the “Iron Age” and beginning of the “Middle Ages”.

200 years ago:  The Tariqa kel-Walikelbiann Vardishal is founded outside kel-Maraneh.

99 years ago:  The Ribat-kel-Fatah is finished.

20 years ago: Kel-Maraneh falls, and the Dealmakers abandon it to ruin. Rumors of plagues and evil curses abound, but in truth no one really seems to know why the village died.  The Tariqa kel-Walikelbiann Vardishal just outside the village has stood as an empty ruin ever since, a reminder of a brief era in which civilization tamed the Agawu Highlands.

2 years ago A pack of gnolls called the Kulldis tribe inhabit the battle market and claim kel-Maraneh as its own.

A month ago: Almah hires Dashki.