Hazad’s great port city, seat of House al-Rabi — and where Gnaeus kept a house during his partying years.
Overview
Dominated by the Rock, a great stone protrusion into the sea. The city climbs the Rock — the higher you live, the more important you are. Population ~40K, but its port is deeper and better protected than the capital’s; many merchants land here and take the ~2-day overland route south to Isbi’liyyah.
Notable Features
- Basilica of Blessed Ignatios and the Emir’s city estate, at the top of the Rock
- Monastery of Blessed Ensah — on a sea spire beside the Rock, reachable only by rope suspension bridge (note: presumably the namesake of Princess Ensah, not the princess herself). Its mother Abbess, Zafara ibn-Zahir, is a historian of the pre-Empire Church. (S7)
- Streets are a maze of terraces, underpasses, bridges, and stairs — professional guides make a living escorting visitors
- Old Imperial sewage system restored ~20 years ago; strictly enforced dumping laws make the streets notably fresher than elsewhere
People & Factions Here
- House al-Rabi, Emirs of Uryula — Farraj’s family
- Al-Hakim University lies within al-Rabi lands
Events
- Session 7 — the party rests here after Karven. Gnaeus and Ari put considerable effort into quelling the house staff’s concerns about her (they don’t like elves) — it at least partly worked. At the Monastery of Blessed Ensah, a disapproving nun (Gnaeus’s partying reputation precedes him from his years here) and Abbess Zafara ibn-Zahir.
- Session 8 — rest before and after Al-Hakim University: metal rods for Farraj’s geomancy, a new sword for Ari — and Estelle visits Farraj’s dreams again. The party chartered a ship here for Castromar.