Har'akir

Alwari Brotherhoods
The Genies
Har'akir History
Population Centers
Important Sites

The very name Har’akir conjures images of mighty sorcery, devious genies and smoky, bejewelled temples to strange gods. It is known for its exotic markets, fine crafts and superb shipwrights. But most of all it is known for its fabled wealth and mysterious isolation. The name itself means The Sheltered Land.

Situated on the southeastern shore of the Valesian Sea, Har’akir has traditionally been isolated by geography and culture. The Adramagdus mountains ring the entire land except for the south, where the rugged Marrakhan hills form the border with Luxur. The interior of Har’akir is a network of small fertile valleys and wooded hills.

The people of Ha’akir, known as the Akir, are tall, with mahogany skin and dark hair. They have a reputation for honest but vigorous negotiation and for the meticulous detail of their crafts, particularly their pottery and glassworks, but also in the quality of the sleek, small ships and their superior weaponry.

Honor is the chief virtue for the Akir. All actions contain either honor or dishonor, and must be judged accordingly. Wisdom and strength are considered to be nothing without honor. Akir tales tell of warriors who brave death rather than break their word, or of maidens who seek the advice of dragons on a particularly difficult point of honor. Most Akir will go to great lengths to avoid the stain of dishonor.

Among the most mysterious aspects of Har’akir are its martial orders, known as the Alwari Brotherhoods. These holy men dedicate themselves to years of arduous instruction, ritual and meditation to develop strange abilities and superb control of their bodies. Alwari masters are able to break stone with their bare hands or run up walls as if they were level ground. There are many Alwari Brotherhoods, each school a rival to all the others.

Honor and dedication are taken extremely seriously by the members of the Alwari Brotherhoods. The Alwari (there are both male and female Alwari of all races) live highly structured lives for the first five to fifteen years of their training, traveling abroad only after they have proven themselves worthy of representing their Brotherhood.

Developing the amazing abilities shown by the best of the Alwari masters takes a lifetime of dedication and focus. As a result, the Brotherhoods only rarely become involved in the politics of Har’akir or the outside world. However, every five years, they do meet, always at a different location. These gatherings are a chance for each Brotherhood to display its prowess in competitions, and for old scores to be settled in an organized manner.

Legends say that long ago in Har’akir there lived the daughter of a god. The tales differ on which god it was, but the daughter’s name was Maaliya, and she was the wisest of all mortals. Kings and emperors consulted with Maaliya on difficult questions and her fame spread until it reached even the sultan of all the genies. The tale of her labors on behalf of the sultan are told in The Thousand and One Faces of Truth.

As a result of Maaliya’s advice, the kingdom of the genies was saved from ruin, and the sultan swore eternal friendship between realms. So it has been ever since. Genies are rarely seen, even in Har’akir, but their presence is felt everywhere. Wizards keep minor genies as familiars. The powers of genies are harnessed in magic items, and in the fertility of the very soil. The sails of the sultan’s flagship are always filled with a genie’s wind. And of course, not a few genies travel the world as mortals and live amongst the akir.

HISTORY

The history of Har’akir extends back to the Great Cataclym that destroyed Iridian and Numanthaur. The tribes of the Sheltered Land lived in peaceful isolation until the coming of the Luxurites some three thousand years ago. The Luxurites quickly came to dominate the natives through warfare, trade and religion. By the rise of Conorria, the natives and conquerors had blended into one people, the Akir, who paid tribute to the god-king in Luxur.

The first written accounts are found in the White Scrolls of Forlingon, the elven sage who wrote in the second century B.C.. He wrote of "a high hidden realm of man on the farthest shore of the sea, guarded by high mountains and fierce sorcery." The line of the sultans was already well-established at this time, and claimed descent from the legendary seeress Maaliya. The Akir first contacted the Conorrians in the third century A.C., through trade and piracy. The Akir pirates would remain some of the most successful on the Valesian sea for more than millennium.

Sometime in the third century, the first of the Alwari brotherhoods was founded. Known as the Mahaali Ruwat, or the Scarlet Dragon, this secretive society was at first hounded by the sultans, who feared its power. But soon, masters of the Scarlet Dragon were founding their own schools or wandering academies, and the Alwari brotherhoods had become a permanent fixture of Akir society by the following century.

The Beltene Empire invaded Luxur in the first century, putting its cities to the torch and killing the immortal god-king. Although these mysterious conquerors waged raids upon Har’akir for slaves and tribute, it would be many centuries more before they invaded. Cut off from their gods and their god-king, the Akir turned inward, naming the lord of Agazier to be their sultan. It was at this time that the wise Maaliya created the pact between the sultan of the genies and the sultan of Har’akir.

Of all the lands that would eventually comprise the Conorrian Empire, perhaps none were as difficult to conquer as Har’akir. The luxurite priesthoods urged the Akir to resist the alien Conorrians with all their might, as did the Alwari brotherhoods. The first attempt to conquer Har’akir was in CY 419, when a navy under the consul Procalimax defeated the Akir fleet at Orod. Procalimax’ legions landed and established a camp at what is now Muzir.

The bitter fighting between genie and war wizard had just begun. In 428, Procalimax and the IX legion were captured and slain at Gamela. Sixteen years later, Agazier was put to the torch by the Emperor Leander. But by the year 501, the Conorrians had conquered Har’akir. Although resistance would continue among the mountain tribes for more than two centuries, the Sheltered Land had become one of the most cultured and wealthy provinces of the Empire.

This strength of this relationship was proven in the wake of the Beltene Wars. The powerful Beltene conquered Har’Akir in 820 and went on to invade and nearly conquer the Connorians, waging war for the next half-century. But when, in 872, the entire Beltene Empire disappeared overnight, the Akir were quick to declare their allegiance to the weakened Conorrian Empire. A millennium of peace and prosperity followed for the Akir.

In 1791, the Emperor Hadrasius XXI was assassinated while on a tour of Luxur. Although his infant son, Valerius, was acclaimed emperor by the Senate within weeks, there were many pretenders to the throne. Before the year was out, no less than thirteen claimants had been recognized by one legion or another. Many were murdered within months, but six, all of them wizards or sorcerers, named themselves emperor and made war upon the others. So began the Conorrian Civil War, known as the Mage Wars. These vast and bloody wars lasted for twenty-six years, and left the empire forever changed.

Har’akir and Luxur were the seat of the mage Nazeer the Emerald Mage, who vied strongly for the throne. His genie allies and the backing of the blue dragon Sargonnaedh made Nazeer a serious contender, and many believed that he was involved with the actual assassination of the emperor. It is undisputed that several of Nazeer’s enemies died of assassination before the war was over. Markimillien himself defeated Nazeer, capturing the Akir mage in a magical crystal which he later kept on a chain around his neck. He also banished the genies from Vatheria for 501 years, which is longer than his empire would last.

In the East, Valerius retained his throne and was recognized as the legitimate holder of the Phoenix Throne. But west of the Conorr peninsula, the empire was under the thumb of the Mage-Emperor Markimillien I, who founded the Miletian Empire. Har’akir was part of the Miletian Empire. The surviving mages of Har’akir were loyal to the Miletian Empire and were instrumental in developing its famous Blood Magic. The Alwari Brotherhoods were suppressed during this period, and were believed to have been destroyed.

The Miletian Empire crumbled under the weight of the Darothic hordes in 2282-90. When it fell, Har’akir was on its own for the first time in nearly two thousand years. The Imperial structure remained active in the Sheltered Land for only a further generation, before the return of the genies in the year 2304. Bolstered by their power, Har’akir underwent a revival of traditional forms. All things Akir became fashionable again, from the worship of the Luxurite gods to the Alwari Brotherhoods, to the sorcery of the genies.

In 2587-91 Har’akir fought an inconclusive naval war with the Valesian City-States which broke the power of the Valesian navy but resulted in the loss of the Akir port at Tangor. This left Har’akir with only one major port, Agazier. As a result, the sultan established new ports, one in the Ahuran strait at Galim and one at the ancient city of Muzir, in the north. Over the ensuing century, the naval and merchant power of Har’akir has grown to dominate the western Valesian Sea.

MAJOR POPULATION CENTERS

Agazier - (Large City; population 51,840) The ancient capital is one of the oldest cities on the Valesian Sea. Seated as it is at the northern end of the Larimean Bay, it is sheltered from storms, but also vulnerable to naval blockade. Agazier has four harbors, each sheltered by small outlying islands where much of the shipbuilding is performed.

This city is all that most foreigners ever see of Har’akir, for only here are they viewed with anything but suspicion. Agazier is divided by a steep hill. The poorer classes and merchants congregate on the crowded shore or on the barrier islands, while the wealthy live in splendor amidst the wooded slopes of the upper city. Most of the whitewashed, blue-tiled buildings in the lower city are crowded, multistory affairs with bridges and buttresses seeming to connect each one to another. The buildings of the upper city are stately mansions with enclosed gardens or courtyards and high walls.

Muzir - (Small City; population 42,220) Founded by Procalimax in the year 419, Muzir has maintained the orderly streets and wide, straight avenues so beloved of the Conorrians. But in most other ways, it is purely a city of the Akir. Large, colorful markets fill the wide forums, and intricate mosaics adorn nearly every building, while the competing calls of the clerics call the faithful to worship. Situated below a gap in the northeastern Adramagdus mountains, Muzir is most notable for its new port and its large military barracks. The aggressive building program of the sultans has built a powerful naval force with the intention of protecting Akir shipping from rivals.

Galim- (Town; population 26,430) Located at the western end of the Marrakhan hills on the Ahuran straits, Galim is less than thirty years old. Founded by Sultan Marhet in order to give Har’akir a naval base outside the Valesian sea, the town is dedicated almost entirely to shipping and trade. Although the town has a sizeable fishing fleet, food must still be brought by caravan from the more fertile interior. The sultan’s son Nalir rules in Galim. This is a backwater post, given to a son who is out of favor. But Nalir’s mother is said to be the daughter of a genie, and many believe that her counsel continues to guide the actions of her son.

Mar Awas - (Town; population 18,750) Near the center of Har’akir, Mar Awas is considered a holy city by those of the Luxurite faith. It was here that the god Mathuk defeated the demon Umbrolog. The faithful believe that Umbrolog remains chained below the earth and that their pilgrimages and sacrifice serve to keep him chained . The town is essentially a massive temple complex surrounded by the homes of the thousands who serve on the temple farms or in its guard.

IMPORTANT LOCAL SITES

The Valley of the Kings - In the central Adramagdus mountains lies a valley dominated by two immense statues, each more than five hundred feet tall and carved into the side of mountains that face each other across the valley. The figures are of two men, seated. One wears an intricate suit of armor and bears a scepter and a sword, while the other wears only a toga and bears an orb and a rod. Both bear stern faces and crowns. Within the mountain behind the armored figure is a warren of rooms smoothly cut into the rock as if by magic. The ancient doors to this place stand open between his feet. A similar set of doors between the feet of the unarmored figure have never been breached.

The Eleven Veils of Alzar - In valley in the far southwest there are eleven streams that plunge out of the mountain walls and form silvery waterfall ribbons known as the Veils of Alzar. The mist-shrouded valley is considered sacred and is the home of a sect of religious warders. It is left alone by all but a few wanderers and priests. Legend has it that those who spend a night in the valley of Alzar are sometimes visited by the lords of the spirit world, who travel through one of the eleven veils.

The Marrakhan Hills - The border between Har’akir and Luxur is a region of rugged wooded hills, precipitous narrow valleys and small, swift-running streams. These hills are the haunts of beasts, both natural and magical. There are also several clans of ogres who make the hills their home. The lone road running through the hills is often the target of bandits or the more clever and aggressive of beasts. Caravans wending their way through the hills are always well-guarded.