Azurabiya

Azurabiya is a great kingdom lying on the Southern Continent, south of the Sand Warrior Tribes' steadings. Little is known of it, and there is no available map for the territory. Most contact with Azurabiya is through hostile Sand Warrior tribal lands, and only a few caravans and adventurers dare cross the Shining Desert to reach this fabled realm.

Etymology

Azurabiya either comes from the colour azure, which is the color of the sky above the As-Gunta Desert, or the famous Sand Warrior king, al-Azrab.

Races

Azurabiya is almost exclusively inhabited by humans, although Camel Salesmen might also sometimes be found. Interestingly, Azurabiyan law makes no difference between these and ordinary humans. Some say that Azurabiya is in regular contact with an unknown southern elven kingdom, and the humans learned the better part of their knowledge from them.

State and Society

The following is an excerpt from Guntus ab Velgereg's 'Journeys Across the Known World'. Ab Velgereg is one of the few Kronzregi sages who travelled to Azurabiya and came back.

"Azurabiya's capitol, Azurabag, is a large city surrounded by walls. It has a small sea inlet, where its port is situated. Fortress Abhag overlooks the entrance of the inlet, while the Water Gate opens on the small marketplace by the sea.

Downtown Azurabag is dirty and crowded. Houses are made from sandstone and painted white with lime. There is usually a tier of living quarters half subterranean, with small windows at the level of passersby, another tier right above, and two or three more. Some houses are connected with flying bridges or simple walkways. The Mosque of the God of Gold and Al-Qutut University are in the main square, along with the Imperial Palace Service's offices. All of these larger buildings are surrounded by the ramshackle houses of the poor.

Azurabag and the kingdom are ruled from above. There is a large rectangular platform, no doubt shaped by learned magicians, standing on four pillars such as an eating table. It is about  five hundred feet high, and at its floor, the Emperor of Azurabiya is hostage in his great palace.

The Emperor is born within the palace's premises. Most preceding emperors had only kept a single wife, but in recent times, it became fashionable to keep more (possibly as a sign of the current imperial bloodline becoming diluted); the following emperor is the first-born son. Male descendants born later are kept as war leaders or members of high clergy. Sometimes the firstborn proves to be weak or does not survive to adulthood; in these occasions, the next senior male descendant takes the throne.

The palace has five large gold-plated domes, on which the rising sun is reflected; but under the platform, the city is forever in the shade. On the bottom of the platform run the various aqueducts, one system to pump fresh water up the platfrom from an underwater reservoir, and another that simply allows sewage to rain down on the inhabitants. The Emperor is revered in the commons as a living god, and so is his waste.

If somebody wishes to see the Emperor, they have to get past multiple screenings, five hundred devoted palace guards, and they have to traverse the six hundred steps leading up inside one of the pillars. For most of the time, only learned men and sages are allowed to enter, and the occasional high-ranking criminal; they are kept in cells at the sewer level, looking right over the city, at the mercy of wind and sunblaze; and sometimes the grates open and an unfortunate soul is thrown out, condemned by the Emperor himself.

But the real power, unlike in the case of True Kronzreg, lies with the cronies of the living god; his eunuchs, high priests and war leaders, even his many wives look after the everyday affairs of the realm. The army, some fifty thousand strong, serves the generals; and in this state of imprisonment, most Emperors' muscles and wits go stale, caring only about earthly delights instead of the plight of their subjects.

The rest of the country is mostly sand, with the occasional oasis or encampment; Azurabag's hard sandstone walls serve to keep the aboriginal nomads outside just as much as a possible invader."