Before the final spirits— the Shayatan— could rise, the Royal Stars set beyond the horizon, leaving only the cold light of the moon. Resentful and stained in spite, the Shayatan became solid things, towering monsters that terrorized the mortals beings of the world.

Iraja

The Amurate of Iraja encompasses the lands along the Azraqir river that empties into to the Basharaan Gulf. Called Ferehdin's Golden Spider, the fertile valleys and flood plains have long provided wealth and pastoral comfort to small village that pepper the region.

The ancient citadels of Damakech and Meyheer have long protected the amurate from a brotherhood of bandits, scoundrels, and thugs calling themselves the Thieves of the Cinnamon Wood. In recent months, attacks likely perpetrated by the Kingdom of Tur have left communities shattered and fields left crumbling into dust under the Royal Stars.

Campaigns set in Iraja are likely to involve a mix of traditional adventuring, political intrigue, and defending against, or at least preparing for, the inevitable invasion of the Kingdom of Tur. This impending conflict allows for various factions and seyakh to maneuver for political power.

Kingdom of Tur

A land of arid mountains surrounding broad, sparse basins, the Kingdom of Tur is referred to in stories as the Iron Gate. A zealous hierarchy of viziers have managed the spiritual and bureaucratic needs of the amurate around a figurehead Seykh for centuries. In recent years, a change has come over the amurate. The current seykh has ambitions, and any vizier unwilling to obey her edicts has been beheaded. In the decade since the seykh's rise to 'Amura', Tur has conquered much of the tribal lands between the Hara Bara mountains and the golden web of the Al'Azraqir river. War is coming, and Tur seeks to unite the people of Ferehdin under the banner of their childlike ruler, Kahlbeyita the Divine, Amura of all the World.

Campaigns set in the Kingdom of Tur will doubtlessly involve the young amura's war, but it could also include exploration and dungeon crawling in the unplumbed depths of the Hara Bara mountains, or sink into the clandestine scheming of Kahlbeyita the Divine's court of backstabbing viziers.

The Akhesu Road

Uniting the three amurates of Ferehdin— beyond peoples, stories, and war— is the Ankesu Road. Long passed into legend, the Akhemonite Kings founded a trade route from the Akhemon Delta, where the Royal Stars rest, all the way to the eastern edge of the world.

It is by way of the Akhesu Road that spices, Fabrics, Gold, Jewels, and magical items flow from one end of the world to the other through the center of the mortal culture and society, Ferehdin.

Life in Ferehdin

Certain aspects of daily life in Ferehdin remain the same whether one lives in Tur, or sails the Vorouk Sea. Any character native to Ferehdin would be familiar with the beliefs, commerce, and dangers of the peninsula.

The Uncommon Tongue

Eransül is not the most interconnected of worlds, so while many languages exist in some form, few of them are widely used, and none fulfill the role of a “common” language that all peoples speak. Generally, people in Ferehdin only “know” (speak, read, and write fluently) their native tongue:

• Barsharaa,
• Celestial,
• Draconic,
• Kilabic,
• Primordial, or
• Takamchic

Any other languages gained through racial traits, backgrounds, or class features begin as “Proficient” languages unless otherwise stated in this book. People of Ferehdin are usually considered to be Familiar with all standard languages in Ferehdin or that appear in the campaign from the Player’s Handbook, at the DM's discretion.

When attempting to utilize a language in which you are not fluent (for example: read a text, forge a document, haggle with a merchant, etc.) you will incur a penalty to ability checks, determined by your current level of mastery, as shown on the chart below:

Time must be spent in study and conversation to improve mastery in a language. Given time, a character can increase their level of mastery in any one one language by 1 during each even numbered character level up.

This feature of the world does not necessarily apply to communication within the adventuring party. No penalty is applied between members of the party, unless the players wish to include this complication into their roleplay.

Otherwise, it is assumed that player characters have learned to effectively communicate with each other, even if they don’t all speak a common language.

Currency and Trade

Across Ferehdin, Drahm coins are considered the universal coinage. Struck in silver these coins originated in the Dead Empire a hundred hundred years ago, their weight and value has remained nearly unchanged in all that time.

One Silver Darhm is worth 1/100th its weight in gold, and a Bronze Obel is worth 1/100th its weight in silver.

The Amurates each mint their own coinage, but merchants usually accept coinage from all amurates. More often, though, they trade in salt and rare spices or bolts of rare fabric. This is particularly true in smaller villages where coins are less useful than the commodity. Barter and haggling are an expected part of any transaction.

Caravans often act as bankers in the more remote parts of Ferehdin, exchanging travelers' or soldiers' coin for goods that locals will be willing to trade with.

In Iraja, salt and ground melange are worth an Obel by weight, while in Tur, whole cinnamon could be worth several times its weight in silver. Different towns, different amurates, value different spices of different qualities but a quantity of rare spices could make a man into a seykh, or lead him to an early grave.

White Sands and The Restless

Nearly the entire peninsula of Ferehdin is occupied by the White Sands, a desolate, blistering dune sea of chalk white sand, spires of wind-whipped rock and the ruins of an unnamed celestial kingdom. While both Sris and Isaok blaze in the sky, the heat of the desert can kill in a matter of hours. Even then, it may be deemed safer to travel the Anksu Road, than brave the pirate infested waters around the peninsula. The greater threat in Ferehdin is a necromantic phenomenon called the Restless.

The wars between the Shayatan and the Anihat have cursed the desert so that any being who dies without proper rites performed, will after three days rise again, filled with insatiable hunger and an irresistible drive to attack the living.

Desiccated creatures animated by the Restless fill the desert wasteland that surrounds Iraja and stretches out towards Salmshar, constantly threatening caravans and small communities. The people of Ferehdin, however, do not fear the threat of ghoul attacks so much as they dread the knowledge that all who live will one day die. Should they fall without pious rites performed, they know they will rise again to torment their loved ones who remain.

Kahlbeyitur’s War

The peninsula has erupted into war. The young amura of Tur, Kahlbeyita the Divine, has claimed dominion over all Ferehdin. Her campaign has cut a bloody path through her own amurate, leaving the classic power structures desperate to cling to their authority. Everyone, including the adventurers, must contend with the conflict between the Iron Gate and the rest of the world.

The war is only as important as you choose to make it. You can even dial the importance of the war up and down over the course of the campaign, depending on how you and your players feel over time. If you and your players find war to be dramatic and compelling, urge your players to create characters with strong ties to the conflict.

For example, patriotic (or even pius) characters will always fight for their patron or god. Likewise, greedy characters will fight for profit and glory.

The adventurers don't have to be active combatants for the war to affect their lives, but if you want the war to be completely absent, simply dial the timeline back by a year, or even just a few months. All the political tensions between the Kingdom of Tur and the other amurates still exist, but as a simmering instead of at a full boil.

"When I arrived and entered the city gate, I was immediately set upon, beaten, and bound. When I inquired, asking, “What is the cause?” I was told, “The vizier has plotted against your father and betrayed him. Being in league with the entire army, he has killed your father and usurped his power and ordered us to lie in wait for you.”

Then they carried me off in a swoon and brought me before him. O great lady, it so happened that the vizier and I were bitter enemies, for I was the cause of tearing out one of his eyes. Being fond of shooting with the crossbow, I stood one day on my palace roof, when a bird alighted at the palace of the vizier, who by coincidence also stood on his palace roof. When I shot at the bird, the missile missed him and instead hit the vizier and pierced the corner of his eye, and that was the cause of his grudge against me; therefore, when they brought me before him, he thrust his finger into my eye, gouged it out, and made it ooze over my cheek..."

     ~Abdul al'Maudi, 1st Darvesh to Seykhat Soraya

DAEVA BORN

You have a mixed ancestry tied to the demons and shayatan of Eransül. This may not make you evil by nature, but it has marked you for all to see. Choose or roll on the Demon Mark table to determine how you have been twisted by your ancestry. Additionally, you gain the following traits.

Infernal Resistance. You have resistance to one damage type (acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder) based on your Demon Mark.

Cloak of Lies. As an action, you surround yourself in odorless black smoke. You have advantage on stealth checks, and attack rolls against you have disadvantage, for 1 minute unless are successfully hit, die, or end it as a free action.

Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

FAVORED OF THE OX

Blessed by the Primordial Bull, progenitor of all animals, you are a friend to the beasts of the land, air, and, sea. Choose or roll from the Favorite Environments table below, to determine what animals you commune with best. Additionally, you gain the following traits.

Beast Tongue. You have the ability to communicate in a limited manner with the beasts of Eransul. They can understand the meaning of your words, though you have no special ability to understand them in return. You have advantage on all Charisma checks you make to influence them.

Kinship. Your connection with the Primordial Bull allows you to magically bond with certain creatures. You can cast Animal Friendship an unlimited number of times with this trait, but you can target only animals from your Favorite Environment.

GREAT KHVARENAH

Your future is blessed, and it will take extraordinary effort to kill you before you reach your destiny. Choose or roll a random destiny using the Khvarenah Possibilities table. Additionally, you gain the following traits.

Defy Death. You have advantage on death saving throws.

Hard to Kill. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

INSCRUTABLE

Like a sphinx, you have a mind like a maze, impenetrable to mortal scrutiny. This might be a gift or training from an actual sphinx, the blessing (or curse) of a god, or an inexplicable talent. The Inscrutable Characteristics table suggests options for what makes you inscrutable. Additionally, you gain the following trait.

Riddled Tongue. Your words are laced with subtle meaning lost to the conscious minds of all who hear you. whenever you roll a 1 on a Charisma (Persuasion) check, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll.

Sphinx's Shroud. You are immune to any effect that allows other creatures to sense your emotions or read your thoughts. Wisdom (Insight) checks made to ascertain your intentions or sincerity have disadvantage.

Psychic Shield. You have resistance to psychic damage.

INSCRUTABLE CHARACTERISTICS

LIFELONG COMPANION

Behind many heroes is another hero whose greatness comes from the support and love they offer. Hathr had his beloved Fatma, Renata was accompanied by her servant Karados, and Laughing Siona sailed with her devoted crew. Like these partners, you are great and make others great. Consider the Companion Relationships table when determining your legendary connection.

Any relationship with another player's character requires that player's consent. Additionally, you gain the following traits.

Boon Aura. When you and your Companion are within 10 feet of each other, you both have advantage on saving throws against being frightened or charmed, provided you aren't incapacitated.

Companion's Protection. When a creature you can see within 5 feet of you is hit by an attack roll, you can use your reaction to cause the attack to hit you instead. You use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and recover spent uses after finishing a long rest.

ORACLE

You possess a precious gift coveted not just by mortals but by the gods themselves: the gift of clear communication between the mortal realm and divine fate. As an oracle, you can perceive the whims of fate and gain glimpses of the path that winds before you.

This gift also comes with a curse, though, which typically takes the form of dire insights. Consult the Oracle Curse table to determine what unwanted revelations you receive. The gods seek mortal oracles to act as their agents. As a result, most oracles devote themselves to the service of a single god and learn to ignore the voices of all others.

Occasionally, two gods agree to share the services of an oracle. Oracles who try to remain independent often find themselves pursued by the agents of evil spirits who would bind them into their own service. You gain the following traits.

Ears of the Oracle. You can speak, read, and write Celestial, the language of the gods. In addition, a god might deliver a message through you, and you can decide whether to use your own voice or to allow the god's voice to come through your mouth to deliver the message, translated into any language you speak.

Oracle's Insight. The gods give you flashes of insight that help you bring your efforts to fruition. When you make an ability check, you can roll a dlO and add the number rolled to the check. You can wait until after you roll the d20 before deciding to add the dlO, but you must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails.

Seer. You can cast divination as a ritual with this trait, requiring no material components. Once you do so, you can't cast it in this way again until you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability when casting using this trait.

PIOUS

Born with a particular connection to a deity, you have been winning favor with your god since birth. Consult the Pious Quirks table to determine how your faith might influence your personality. Additionally, you gain the following traits.

Pious Protection. If you fail a saving throw, you can reroll it, and you must use the new roll. Once you use this trait, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.

Religious Study. You have advantage on any Intelligence ( Religion) check pertaining to your chosen god.

Gift of Devotion. Choose one 1st level spell granted by your chosen god’s divine domain. You are able to cast this spell once, requiring no material components. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this spell. Once you use this trait, you cannot use it again until you complete a long rest.

PIOUS QUIRKS

RESTLESS HOLLOW

In addition to the terrifying creations of the White Sands, there are the Hollow Ones— beings whose souls have left for the afterlife, yet whose bodies still retain a fragment of their former selves. Choose or Roll on the Revenant Purpose table to determine what you must accomplish to find peace. The void left behind by your departed soul is filled with the strange magic of the Restless, bestowing upon you the following traits.

Ageless. You don't age, and effects that would cause you to age don't work on you.

Revenance. You retain your creature type, yet you register as undead to spells and other effects that detect the presence of the undead creature type.

Cling to Life. Unless your body is destroyed, or you are killed outright, you will rise from the dead after 4d6 hours, after failing three death saves.

Unsettling Presence. When rolling a Charisma (Intimidation) check, treat a roll of 7 or lower as a 8.

UNSCARRED

Like the great hero Shaddad, you are resistant to physical harm. Use the Unscarred Origin table to determine how you gained your legendary invulnerability. Additionally, you gain the following traits.

Nearly Invulnerable. While you aren't wearing armor, you can calculate your AC as 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.

Unscarred Resilience. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll a d12 . Add your Constitution modifier to the number rolled, and reduce the damage by that total. After you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Peoples

This chapter provides cultural information about the common peoples of Ferehdin, plus several variations not found in the Player's Handbook. The peoples of Ferehdin are loosely identified as either hadir (sedentary) or asair (shifting), depending on whether they live in Ferehdin's villages and cities, or as nomadic caravans across the peninsula. Many people take pride in their lifestyle, but such distinctions can be seen as antiquated, pedantic or prejudiced depending on how they are used, or by whom.

The amurates of Ferehdin are populated by people of many different peoples, most commonly the following:

al’Aamkar - Elsewhere known as 'aasimar', al'Aamkar are beings who gain supernatural power from the divine spark in their souls.

al’Azhmuqid - People born from the union of al Bashari and shapeshifted dragons, who are often seen as wise and cunning advisors.

Banu Sila - Also known as simply 'al'Banu', or 'genasi', they are humanoids imbued with the power of the jinn as a result of their birth. Banu are the most populous people in the region and can be found in every walk of life.

al’Bashar - The humans who populate the peninsula. Al'Bashar are more common in the eastern lands of Ferehdin.

al’Kilab - Tall, lean, hound-headed humanoids born as bonded twins. Al'Kilab are most common in the north.

al’Takamch - Horned and hooved humanoids who follow their passions in the pursuit of wild revels and new adventures.

az’Zwadif - Small, shrewd, and inscrutable reptilian humanoids.

Al’Bashar Traits

Your al'bashar character has these traits.

Ability Score Increase. Increase one Ability score by 2, and a different Ability score by 1.

Age. Al’Bashar reach adulthood in their late teens and live less than a century.

Size. Al’Bashar vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Feat. You gain one feat of your choice available to Humans or Elves in other source books.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Basharaa and are proficient in one other language of your choice.

All non-bashar characters can choose to replace the ability score increases stated in this text with a 2 point increase in one ability score of their choice, and 1 point increase in a different ability score.

Al’Aamkar (Aasimar)

The light of the gods shines upon the lives of all mortals, but on none so much as al'aamkar. Al’Aamkar are the purest expression of that divine light as it burns within every mortal soul, for the souls of those blessed with an angelic ancestor blaze brighter than any other. Al’Aamkar are mortal and yet, as semi-spiritual beings, are tied more closely to fate. An aamkari is born for a grander cosmic purpose than others around them. In every amurate across Feredhin, the birth of an aamkari is seen as a blessing and a portent. Al’Aamkar who can bear the burden of their path become champions of noble causes, and encourage others to walk always in the light.

More often than not, however, the clash of mortal khvarenah and spiritual fate leads them to step from their path and fall to shadow.

GUARDIAN ANGEL

While true to their fated purpose, al'aamkar are born bonded to an ancestral deva. This guardian spirit is far from omniscient, but it provides guidance to the young aamkari based on its understanding of the tenets of law and good, and it might have insight into combating especially powerful evils that it knows about. This connection functions only in dreams and premonitions, however. As such, al'aamkar are widely known to receive visions, prophecies, and feelings.

As part of fleshing out an aamkar character, consider the nature of that character's deva.

d6	Deva's Nature
1	Bookish and lecturing
2	Compassionate and hopeful
3	Practical and lighthearted
4	Fierce and vengeful
5	Stern and judgemental
6	Kind and parental

Al’Aamkar Names

While most Aamkar names stem from al'bashar or banu si'la conventions, an Aamkari may choose to adopt one of the ancient names ascribed to the lost Aamkar civilization. More commonly, a bashari or banu name is altered to reflect those ancient names by adding "'il" or "'ik" as a suffix to their chosen name.

Ancient Names: Artiya'il, Azaz'il,Azra'il, Darda'il, Harut, Jabr'il, Israf'il, Khidr, Maal'ik, Marut, Mikha'il, Nakir, Nashet'il, Naz'ik, Radi'ik, Ridwan

Modified Names: Ase'ik, Azar'il, Bardad'ik, Emal'il, Ceid'il, Eastir'ik, Jasm'il, Meil'il, Sher'ik, Yashe'il, Zehli'k.

Al’Aamkar Traits

Your aamkar character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.

Age. Aamkar mature at the same rate as humans, but they can live up to 160 years.

Size. aamkar have the same range of height and weight as humans.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. Blessed with a radiant soul, your vision can easily cut through darkness. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Celestial Resistance. You have resistance to necrotic damage and radiant damage.

Healing Hands. As an action, you can touch a creature and cause it to regain a number of hit points equal to your level. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Celestial and are proficient in Primordial.

Subrace. Three subraces of alaamkar exist: of the Black, of the Green, and of the Red. Choose one of them for your character.

Black Aamkar

An aamkar who was touched by dark powers as a youth or who turns to evil in early adulthood can become one of the Black — a group of aamkar whose inner light has been replaced by shadow.

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2.

Necrotic Shroud. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing your eyes to turn into pools of darkness and two skeletal, ghostly, flightless wings to sprout from your back. The instant you transform, other creatures within 10 feet of you that can see you must each succeed on a Charisma saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier) or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn. Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During it, once on each of your turns, you can deal extra necrotic damage to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or a spell. The extra necrotic damage equals your level. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Green Aamkar

Al'Aamkar of the Green are charged by the powers of good to guard the weak, to strike at evil wherever it arises, and to stand vigilant against the darkness. From a young age, a green aamkar receives advice and directives that urge them to stand against evil.

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2.

Radiant Soul. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing your eyes to glimmer and two luminous, incorporeal wings to sprout from your back. Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During it, you have a flying speed of 30 feet, and once on each of your turns, you can deal extra radiant damage to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or a spell. The extra radiant damage equals your level. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Red Aamkar

Al'Aamkar of the Red are imbued with a divine energy that blazes intensely within them. It feeds a powerful desire to destroy evil — a desire that is, at its best, unflinching and, at its worst, all-consuming. Many red aamkar wear masks or veils to block out the world and focus on containing their power.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2.

Radiant Consumption. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing a searing light to radiate from you, pour out of your eyes and mouth, and threaten to char you. Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During it, you shed bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet, and at the end of each of your turns, you and each creature within 10 feet of you take radiant damage equal to half your level (rounded up). In addition, once on each of your turns, you can deal extra radiant damage to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or a spell. The extra radiant damage equals your level. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Al’Azhmuqid (Dragonbound)

Al’Azhmuqid, the dragon-bound, walk proudly through the world as if all they see belongs to them. Proof to all that the dragons live, and live among mortals, al'azhmuqid are met with a deference boarding on fear from other humanoid peoples. Seeming to combine the best attributes of dragons and humans, Some azhmuqid are faithful servants to true dragons, others seek mortal wealth and status befitting their heritage, and still others find themselves adrift, with no clear calling in life.

Al’Azhmuqid, as a people, hold mastery of a particular skill as a lifetime goal and members of other peoples who share the same commitment find it easy to earn their respect.

Al’Azhmuqid Traits

Your draconic heritage manifests in a variety of traits you share with other azhmuqid.

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 2. and your Strength and Constitution score each increase by 1.

Age. Young alazhmuqid grow quickly. They walk hours after birth, attain the size and development of a 10-year-old human by the age of 3, and reach mature adulthood by 15. They live to be around 200.

Size. Al’Azhmuqid are taller and heavier than humans. standing well over 6 feet tall and averaging almost 250 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Draconic Ancestry. Choose one type of dragon from the Draconic Ancestry table. Your breath weapon and damage resistance are determined by the dragon type, as shown in the table.

Dragon Ancestor	Damage Type	Breath Weapon
Black	Acid	5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Blue	Lightning	5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Brass	Fire	5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Bronze	Lightning	5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Copper	Acid	5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Gold	Fire	15 ft. cone (Dex. save)
Green	Poison	15 ft. cone (Dex. save)
Red	Fire	15 ft. cone (Dex. save)
Silver	Cold	15 ft. cone (Dex. save)
White	Cold	15 ft. cone (Dex. save)

Breath Weapon. You can use your action to exhale destructive energy. Your draconic ancestry determines the size, shape, and damage type of the exhalation. When you use your breath weapon, each creature in the area of the exhalation must make a saving throw. the type of which is determined by your draconic ancestry. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 3d6 damage on a failed save. and half as much damage on a successful one. The damage increases to 4d6 at 6th level, 5d6 at 11th level, and 6d6 at 16th leveI. After you use your breath weapon, you can't use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

Damage Resistance. You have resistance to the damage type associated with your draconic ancestry.

Languages. You can speak. read, and write Draconic and are proficient in one other language of your choice.

Banu Si’la (Genasi)

The Elemental Planes are often inhospitable to natives of the Material Plane: crushing earth, searing flames, boundless skies, and endless seas make visiting these places dangerous for even a short time. The jinn, however, don’t face such troubles when venturing into the mortal world. They adapt well to the mingled elements of the Material Plane, and they sometimes visit— whether of their own volition or compelled by magic. Some jinn take pleasure in shapeshifting into humanoids, disappearing into the throngs of civilization. Such jinn are called si’la, capricious tricksters and seducers of mortals.

Many a storyteller's romance revolves around such seductions and the children born from their union. These children are the Banu Si’la: individuals with ties to the world of mortals and the world of spirits. Most banu si'la are the children of banu parents, but some banu si’la are born of bashar–jinni unions. A rare few have a distant jinni ancestor, manifesting an elemental heritage that’s lain dormant for generations, or are the result of exposure to a surge of elemental power.

WILD CONFIDENCE

Banu Si’la rarely lack confidence, seeing themselves as equal to almost any challenge in their path. This certainty might manifest as graceful self-assurance in one banu and as arrogance in another. Such self-confidence can sometimes blind banu si’la to risk, and their great plans often get them and others into trouble.

Too much failure can chip away at this towering sense of self, so they constantly push themselves to improve, honing their talents and perfecting their craft.

Banu Si’la Names

banu use the naming conventions of the people among whom they were raised. They might later assume distinctive names to capture their heritage, such as Flame, Ember, Wave, or Onyx.

Banu Si’la Traits

Your banu character has certain characteristics in common with all other banu si’la.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2.

Age. banu mature at about the same rate as humans and reach adulthood in their late teens. They live somewhat longer than humans do, up to 120 years.

Size. banu are as varied as their mortal parents but are generally built like humans, standing anywhere from 5 feet to over 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Primordial and are proficient in one other language.

Subraces. Four major subraces of banu si’la are found within Eransül: Binn Banu (Water), Hinn Banu (Air), Jann Banu (Earth), and Narr Banu (Fire). Choose one of these subraces.

Binn Banu

The lapping of waves, the spray of sea foam on the wind, the ocean depths—all of these things call to your heart. You wander freely and take pride in your independence, though others might consider you selfish.

Most binn banu look as if they just finished bathing, with beads of moisture collecting on their skin and hair. They smell of fresh rain and clean water. Blue or green skin is common, and most seem to have overly large eyes in a striking shade of blue. A binn banu’s hair might float freely, swaying and waving as if underwater. Some have voices with undertones reminiscent of whale song or trickling streams.

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Acid Resistance. You have resistance to acid damage.

Amphibious. You can breathe air and water.

Swim. You have a swimming speed of 30 feet.

Call to the Wave. You know the shape water cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the create or destroy water spell as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to cast it this way when you finish a long rest. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Hinn Banu

As a banu si’la linked to air, you are descended from the Hinn. As changeable as the weather, your moods shift from calm to wild and violent with little warning, but these storms rarely last long.

Hinn banu typically have light blue skin, hair, and eyes. A faint but constant breeze accompanies them, tousling the hair and stirring the clothing. Some hinn banu speak with breathy voices, marked by a faint echo. A few display odd patterns in their flesh or grow crystals from their scalps.

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Cold Resistance. You have resistance to cold damage.

Unending Breath. You can hold your breath indefinitely while you’re not incapacitated.

Mingle with the Wind. You can cast the levitate spell once with this trait, requiring no material components, and you regain the ability to cast it this way when you finish a long rest. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for this spell.

Jann Banu

As an earth banu, you are descended from the righteous Jann, inheriting some measure of control over sand and stone, and reveling in your superior strength and solid power. You tend to avoid rash decisions, pausing long enough to consider your options before taking action.

Elemental earth manifests differently from one individual to the next. Some jann banu always have bits of dust falling from their bodies and mud clinging to their clothes, never getting clean no matter how often they bathe. Others are as shiny and polished as gemstones, with skin tones of dappled granite and eyes sparkling like agates. Jann banu can also have smooth metallic flesh, dull iron skin spotted with rust, a pebbled and rough hide, or even a coating of tiny embedded crystals. The most arresting have fissures in their flesh, from which faint light shines.

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength or Constitution score increases by 1.

 Stone Hide. At 1st level, your hit point maximum increases by 1 and increases by 1 again whenever you gain a level.

Merge with Stone. You can cast the pass without trace spell once with this trait, requiring no material components, and you regain the ability to cast it this way when you finish a long rest. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for this spell.

Narr Banu

As a fire banu, you are descendant from the wicked and cunning Afarit, though you aren’t necessarily evil. You tend toward impatience and are unlikely to suffer fools. Rather than hide your distinctive appearance, you exult in it.

Nearly all Narr banu are feverishly hot, as if burning inside, an impression reinforced by skin tones like volcanic glass and smoldering embers. The more human-looking banu have fiery, white-hot hair that writhes under extreme emotion, while more unusual members sport actual flames dancing on their heads. Narr banu voices might sound like crackling flames, and their eyes flare when angered. Some are accompanied by the faint scent of brimstone.

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. Your ties to the Elemental Plane of Fire make your darkvision unusual: everything you see in darkness is in a shade of red.

Fire Resistance. You have resistance to fire damage.

Reach to the Blaze. You know the produce flame cantrip. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the burning hands spell once with this trait as a 1st-level spell, and you regain the ability to cast it this way when you finish a long rest. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Al’Kilab (Four-eyed Hound)

In legend and folklore from as far back as al Banat, al'kilab have been called the “four-eyed hounds.” Generally, they are tall and lean, with graceful bodies and heads that strongly resemble canines and hyenas, with long muzzles and sharp teeth. Their bodies are covered in dark, sleek hair that ranges from the pale yellows and ruddy browns of desert sand to the darkest shades of night. Though their coloration may vary, all kilab faces host a pair of nearly white patches above each eye, leading to their “four-eyed” epithet.

Al’Kilab Traits

Your alkilab character has the following traits.

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Age. Al’Kilab mature and age at a similar rate as humans, reaching maturity around 14 years, and living just past their first century.

Al’Takamch (Satyr)

Al’Takamch have a well-earned reputation for their good spirits, gregarious personalities, and love of revels. Most al'takamch are driven by simple desires, to see the world and to sample its every pleasure. While their spontaneity and whimsy sometimes put them at odds with more stoic peoples, al'takamch rarely let the moods of others hinder their own happiness.

Life is a blessing from the gods, after all, and the proper response to such a gift, as far as most al'takamch are concerned, is to accept it with relish.

Al’Takamch Traits

Your takamch character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2 and your Strength score increases by 1.

Age. Al’Takamch mature at about the same rate as humans, but often live into their 5th century.

Size. Al’Takamch range from just over 4 feet to about 5 feet in height, with generally stocky builds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Mirthful Leaps. Your powerful legs allow you to leap into the fray when the need arises. You gain a bonus to initiative rolls equal to your proficiency bonus.

Buck and Ram. You can use your horns and hooves to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier.

Reveler. You have proficiency in the Performance and Persuasion skills, and you have proficiency with one musical instrument of your choice.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Takamchic and are proficient in Basharaa and Primordial.

Classes and Subclasses

This section offers explanations of how the various Dungeons and Dragons classes are viewed in Ferehdin, and includes information for these subclass options: College of Awalem for bards, the Sellsword for fighters, Way of the Darvesh for monks, Blood Alchemy origin for sorcerers, the Ascendant Dragon and Jinn Patrons for warlocks, and the Bladesinger for wizards.

Alchemist (Artificer)

In the lands of Ferehdin, regardless of specialization, all artificers are known as Alchemists. Alchemists are philosophers of chemestry, physics, astrology, mysticism, and many other esoteric branches of science. In major cities, and especially in the Kingdom of Tur, they are revered as brilliant innovators, posessing the greatest of minds.

Alchemists working with the stuff of magic are attributed in stories to the creation of the magic carpet, a common feature of storyteller adventures.

In smaller villages, and among the nomadic asair, they are often seen as iconoclasts of folk knowledge and in defiance of the gods.

Hyn Eirh (Barbarian)

The vast majority of barbarians, and the few tribes that remain in Ferehdin can be traced back to an invasion of easterners a hundred hundred years ago. These Hyn Erih are not the fur-clad barbarians of other DnD settings, favoring loose clothes, fast horses, Short bows, and a heavy curved saber.

Legends of their ferocity in battle has allowed the remnant tribes some level of autonomy in the amurates, and descendants of the old Hyn Erih often trade on their people's legend to make their way in the world.

Storyteller (Bard)

The ḥakawātī, or storyteller, is a venerated profession in Ferehdin. While any gender might become a storyteller, it generally believed that the best storytellers are women. For many, a storyteller serves as their primary educator, in history, theology, geography, literature, and music. Storytellers keep the past alive and present, while also reminding the people that even tyrants cannot escape the will of Fate.

While most bardic colleges have a home in Eransül, Ferehdin is known for its college of Awalem, where acrobatics and dance become the focus of the audience, as much as words being spoken or songs being sung.

Bardic College of Awalem

Storytellers of the College of Awalem utilize a purposefully selected sequences of rhythmic movements to entertain and subtly manipulate the thoughts and actions of their audience. Often calling themselves simply Dancers, such storytellers ply their skills with a simple shift of weight on the hip accompanied by a wink, or a series of complicated maneuvers rich with aesthetic and symbolic value.

Storytellers excel at keeping their audience in rapt attention, but the movements of these bardic Dancers can sway the course of nations.

Bonus Proficiencies

When you join the College of Awalem at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the performance and acrobatics skills, if you are not already, and your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make with them.

Body Language

At 3rd level, you learn how to suffuse your movements and gestures with cunning purpose. As a bonus action, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to gain one of the following effects:

• Somatic Expert. Until the end of this turn, you may cast a spell using your body as a spellcasting focus.
• Trip the Light Fantastic. You gain the benefits of the dodge and disengage actions.
• Distracting Undulations. Choose a target you can see who can see you. Roll your Bardic Inspiration die and subtract the number rolled from the creature’s next Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma saving throw.
• Flitting Flirtations. Choose a target creature that can see or hear you and roll your Bardic Inspiration die. Gain a bonus to any Charisma based skill checks against that target equal to the number rolled until you use this feature again or complete a short or long rest.

Dancer's Grace

Starting at 6th level, Your quick spins and tumbles propel you across ballrooms and battlefields alike. Your walking speed increases by 10 feet and moving through nonmagical difficult terrain costs you no extra movement. You may also pass through an enemy creature's space as if it were difficult terrain, regardless of its size compared to you.

The Body Electric

By 14th level, you are completely in tune with the workings of your physical self. You gain proficiency in Constitution saving throws, your walking speed increases by an additional 10 feet, and are now immune to the Restrained condition.

Additionally, whenever you or a friendly creature utilizes one of your bardic inspiration dice, you gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Proficiency bonus until the start of your next turn.

Mystic (Cleric)

Mystics are the clerical class in Ferehdin. They are bizarre priests whose powers are rumored to move both men and mountains. Mystics often gained spiritual awareness or revelations through dance, meditation, or other eccentric means. Eransül has a wide variety of gods, demigods, and powerful spirits to draw divine power from. The High Gods, the Alihat, are detailed in chapter 3, along with important jinn and shayatan who may have cults of mystics in their service.

In Ferehdin, Mystics are viewed as essential to any enterprise, as they are a conduit to the gods and have the ability to perform burial rights and prevent the Restless from taking hold of the remains of the dead.

Shapeshifter (Druid)

Among the peoples of Ferehdin, druidic magic is generally indistinguishable from the work of wicked jinn and shaytan. While not universally taboo, shapeshifters are generally viewed with extreme suspicion as they are all thought to be animals shapeshifting into mortals. Outside of small communities where they have proven their good intentions and value, utilizing their wildshape feature will likely mark a shapeshifter as a jinni, shaytni, or dragon in disguise. Someone not to be trusted.

In the world of Eransül, there is no community of druids, as each shapeshifter finds their own way to access the inherent magic found in nature.

Fighter

It is a time of war in Ferehdin, and every seykh and village elder wants a strong arm they can trust near by. The Kingdom of Tur seeks out soldiers from the rabble, and veteran fighters to train and to lead them.

Martial combat has been a part of life for as long as the storytellers can say. Caravans have, and will always need protection from giant scorpions, rocs, and the Restless. This need has produced a unique profession among the martial set, known as the Sellsword. More than mere mercenaries, Sellswords devote themselves to the mastery of a single weapon, and gain renown for their deadly skill with it.

• Impact. While in this stance, when you hit with a weapon attack, you deal an additional 1d6 damage and push a larger or smaller target up to 10 feet away from you. If the target cannot move, it takes an additional 1d6 damage.

Touch of Grace

At 6th level, you gain the ability to channel divine grace through your body to heal others. As an action, you can touch a willing creature and heal them for hit points equal to three times your monk level. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest, or you expend 4 ki points to use it again.

Deepening Supplication

At 11th level, you gain the benefits of one additional monastic supplication.

Theosis

At 17th level, you can assume the form of avatar of your deity, radiating a nimbus of divine energy and potentially taking on visual markers as a prophet of your faith. For example, you might sprout ethereal wings, erupt into purple flame, grow visibly larger, or be dighted in richly appointed robes with a deep hood. These changes are cosmetic in nature and do not confer any additional benefit.

As a bonus action, you undergo this transformation, and for 1 minute, you gain the following benefits:

• At the start of each of your turns, you regain in 10 hit points.
• For each Ki point you spend on your turn, you increase your AC by +1 until the start of your next turn.
• Enemy creatures within 10 feet of you have disadvantage on opportunity attacks against you.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

Divine Supplications

If a divine supplication has prerequisites, you must meet them to learn it. You can learn supplications at the same time that you meet its prerequisites.

Prayer of Healing

You can spend 2 ki points to cast Prayer of Healing as a 2nd level spell. You do not need to provide material components to offer a Prayer of Healing.

Well-versed

You can spend 1 ki point to add your martial arts die to any ability check you make with a skill in which you are not proficient.

Farisan (Paladin)

Farisan are the mortal champions of their gods. This level of devotion goes beyond that of even the mystics and cults of their gods. The will of a farisi's god (and cult) takes priority above all other matters. A farisi also plays an important role in recruiting followers to their god's path. While mystics commune with their deity, it is the Farisan who press others into the service of their cult.

Farisan are obedient followers of their god's cult. As such they are expected to carry out orders from their superiors even in the face of certain death. These holy warriors go out of their way to aid others fighting for their gods. Goods, services, supplies, and shelter are just a few benefits that could be expected.

Farmers, caravaners, merchants and other common peoples of the peninsula are instinctively on edge around a farisi, until they know to whom they worship. The upper echelons of wealth and power gladly summon farisan to their palaces and courts to entreat the gods for their service.

Merchant-Thieves (Rogue)

Trust is a precious commodity in the bazaar streets of Salmshar, but if one wishes to buy and sell, one must deal with the Merchant-thieves. In Ferehdin, proper rogues are traders first and thieves second. Business is their lifeblood, but that business is often illegal and even deadly. Merchant-thieves stay close to the major cities, where their activities are lost in the din of more reputable commerce.

Outside of cities, Merchant-thieves can be found in small parties or caravans, fencing illicit goods to the nomadic peoples or towns on the fringe of society.

There is another type of rogue in the peninsula, found exclusively among members of the Thieves of the Cinnamon Wood. These rogues ply their trade as mercenaries and assassins. Rarely hired by Seyakh, these rogues have a mythic reputation as prince-slayers, leaving the wealthy merchant or tyrant seykh dead upon their silk cushions.

Awliyah (Sorcerer)

Awliyah hold a peculiar place among the people of Ferehdin, and attitudes towards them are dependent on how the sorcerer acts. Awliyah are generally considered to be allies of the divinities but it is known that some sorcerers gain their powers through black magic and other profanities.

Unlike shapeshifters, the Awliyah is usually given the benefit of the doubt, and presumed to be on the side of righteousness, unless they prove themselves untrustworthy.

Blood Alchemy

Through a mixture of profane ritual and alchemical experimentation, mundane mortals have succeeded in infusing innate magical energies into the bodies and blood of their subjects. Perhaps your ancestor was one of these test subjects. Or perhaps your own mad experiments have imbued you with this occult power.

By manipulating this vital fluid, the Blood Alchemist is able to wrest arcane power from their own life force. As such, the Blood Alchemists, with their blending of power and pain, are seen as dangerous oddities by other arcane casters.

Having a body infused with alchemical experiments can distort your physical presence. At your option, you can pick from or roll on the Blood Alchemist Quirks table to create a quirk for your character.

Blood Alchemist Quirks

Bonus Proficiency

When you choose this Sorcerous Origin at 1st level, your surgical hands and constant experimentation grant proficiency in the Sleight-of-Hand skill and alchemist supplies.

Blood Potency

Your blood is a potent conduit of magical power. At 1st level, You may open a wound on yourself as a bonus action, sacrificing hit points equal to your sorcerer level to activate your blood potency. While your Blood Potency is active you gain the following benefits:

• The sacrificed blood acts as an arcane focus for your spellcasting.
• You may use Constitution instead of Charisma for your Spellcasting ability.
• You gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of +1).
• When you cast a cantrip, you may add your spellcasting modifier to any damage dealt.

Blood Potency lasts for 1 minute, until you fall unconscious, or you until you choose to end it as a free action. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.

Vengeful Heme

Starting at 6th level, Whenever you are the target of an attack, your life force automatically reacts, surrounding you in razor-thin arcs of blood. This sweep of blood alchemy causes creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you to take magical slashing or acid damage (choose each time this ability activates) equal to half the damage you received, rounded down + your Constitution modifier.

Alchemical Restoration

Starting at 14th level, you can manipulate the font of raw magic in your blood to heal your injuries. As a bonus action, you may spend 2 sorcery points to regain hit points equal to 2d6 + your Constitution modifier.

You can use this feature multiple times as part of the same bonus action, as long as you have the required sorcery points.

If you would gain hit points in excess of your maximum health, you gain temporary hit points equal to the remainder.

Blood Primacy

At 18th level, your blood has coalesced into a powerful magical reagent. You no longer need to sacrifice hit points to utilize your Blood Potency feature.

Additionally, you can choose to activate your blood potency when you roll initiative (no action required by you). On the first turn your blood potency is active, you can take one additional action on top of your regular action.

Magician (Warlock)

Like Awliyah or Shapeshifters, Magicians are treated with a measure of suspicion among the people of Ferehdin. Making pacts with powerful spirits, dragons, and divine beings of good, however, are a well known means of defying one's fate, and can be a route to a greater khvarenah. As such, magicians are treated more like the poor man's Magus-- worthy of respect for their cunning and daring, but lacking the prestige of a truly powerful magi.

Two of the most prized pacts among the peoples of Ferehdin are with one of the Ascendant Dragons or with a Jinni.

Ascendant Dragon Patron

You have made a pact with one of the legendary ascendant dragons who have been blessed by the gods. The motives of such beings are inscrutable, but their power is undeniable.

Your patron has offered up a sliver of their power for your service in their endlessly complex scheming. Their commands may be severe or kind, but their expectations of you are undeniably obedience.

Dragon's Breath

Each ascendant dragon is associated with a particular damage type that is used with many of your pact features.

At 1st level, choose from acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison damage when you choose this patron.

When you damage a target with a weapon or spell attack, you can change the damage type to your patron's type.

When casting a cantrip of your patron's damage type, you gain a bonus to the damage dealt equal to your Charisma modifier.

Ascendancy

At 6th level, You can wreathe yourself in the essence of your patron. Immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can make one attack as a bonus action and become immune to your patron's damage type until the start of your next turn.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain all expended uses of it when you finish a short or long rest.

Frightful Defiance

Starting at 10th level, you are immune to the frightened condition and cannot be magically put to sleep.

In addition, when you roll a Charisma (Intimidation) check, treat a roll of 10 or less as an 11.

Dragon Rising

Starting at 14th level, your connection to your patron is complete. You gain the following abilities.

• When you use your Ascendancy feature, you can now use your bonus action to make two additional attacks when you take the Attack action.
• Any attack roll you make is a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.
• If you damage a creature with your patron's damage type, a portion of the energy clings to the target. At the start of its next turn the creature takes additional damage equal to your Charisma modifier for each successful hit.

Magi (Wizard)

Held in the highest regard of all the traditional classes, the Magi are seen as the pinnacle of mortal endeavor. A fighter or farisan may be respected for their prowess, but a true magus would be welcome in the palace of any seykh. The scholarly pursuit of magic is the ultimate goal of tutelage and academic study as learned philosophers seek to understand worlds mundane, spiritual, and beyond the stars.

This affinity and deference towards those with an aptitude for the arcane takes different forms in different amurates, though. Magi of the Free Cities focus on illusion and enchantment while the courts of Irajan seyakh keep abjuration and evocation magi close at hand.

The Kingdom of Tur maintains a secretive discipline of magi all their own, known as the Bladesinger.

Bladesinger

Bladesingers are magi who master a school of martial combat grounded in a tradition of arcane magic. In combat, a bladesinger uses a series of intricate, elegant maneuvers that fend off harm and allow them to channel magic into devastating attacks and a cunning defense.

Styles of Bladesinging are broadly categorized based on the type of weapon employed, and designated by color. Black for blades, green for hefted weapons such as axes or warpicks, yellow for whips and flails, red for light polearms such as quarterstaves and spears, and white for dual wielding styles. Based on the types of spells employed, the techniques of the master, and the particular weapon used, unique styles have also developed.

When a magus becomes a bladesinger they typically don clothing matching their style's color as a warning. Some bladesingers learn multiple styles and their varied robes and headwraps act as a subtle warning of their deadly skills.

Training in War and Song When you adopt this tradition at 2nd level, you gain proficiency with light armor, and you gain proficiency with one type of one-handed melee weapon of your choice.

You also gain proficiency in the Performance skill if you don't already have it.

Bladesong

Starting at 2nd level, you can invoke a secret magical technique called the Bladesong, provided that you aren't wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield. It graces you with supernatural speed, agility, and focus.

You can use a bonus action to start the Bladesong, which lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are incapacitated, if you don medium or heavy armor or a shield, or if you use make an attack with a weapon with the heavy property. You can also dismiss the Bladesong at any time you choose (no action required).

While your Bladesong is active, you gain the following benefits:

• You gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1).
• Your walking speed increases by 10 feet.
• You have advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks.
• You gain a bonus to any Constitution saving throw you make to maintain your concentration on a spell. The bonus equals your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1).

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.

Extra Attack

Starting at 6th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn. Moreover, you can cast one of your cantrips in place of one of those attacks.

Song of Defense

Beginning at 10th level, you can direct your magic to absorb damage while your Bladesong is active. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to expend one spell slot and reduce that damage to you by an amount equal to five times the spell slot's level.

Song of Victory

Starting at 14th level, you add your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1) to the damage of your melee weapon attacks while your Bladesong is active.

Backgrounds

The peoples of Ferehdin come from many diverse, though familiar, backgrounds. Some of the backgrounds recorded here are unique to the lands of Eransül, while others have a different context in and around the peninsula.

Feature: Street Rat

Before adopting your persona, you learned how to avoid thieves, assassins, and guard patrols in Ferehdin's cities by befriending the people living on the fringe of society. Your true identity is known and respected within a major city’s poor and refugee communities. Should you ever need to learn about a foreign land, people, tradition, or history, you know where to find someone with firsthand experience — and what they might seek in trade

Suggested Characteristics

These are the suggested characteristics for the Cinnamon Wood Fugitive.

Corsair

You sailed on a seagoing vessel for years. In that time, you faced down mighty storms, monsters of the deep, and those who wanted to sink your craft to the bottomless depths. Your first love is the distant line of the horizon, but the time has come to try your hand at something new.

Discuss the nature of the ship you previously sailed with your Dungeon Master. Was it a converted merchant ship, a naval vessel, or a ship of discovery? How famous (or infamous) is it? Is it widely traveled? Is it still sailing, or is it missing and presumed lost with all hands?

What were your duties on board — boatswain, captain, navigator, cook, or some other position? Who were the captain and first mate? Did you leave your ship on good terms with your fellows, or on the run?

Feature: Companions in Every Port

In your years at sea, you've docked in many ports, and made many friends. While in a town, city, or other similarly sized waterside community (DM’s discretion), you can find an old companion who will allow you and your party can gain general information of the region and stay for free.

Some of these companions have fond memories of you, others may simply owe you a favor.

Suggested Characteristics

The Corsair background uses the Suggested characteristics of the Sailor.

Failed Merchant

Maybe you come from a long line of merchants. Perhaps you were an entrepreneur. Regardless, your ventures ended poorly. Whether it was because of outside influences, bad luck, or simply because your business acumen was weak, you lost everything.

With failure, however, comes experience. You’re free of that old life, having made some connections and learned your lessons. Prepared to pursue the life of an adventurer, your insight into the world of commerce may prove vital to your party's survival.

• Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Investigation

• Tool Proficiencies: One type of artisan’s tools

• Languages: Any one of your choice

• Equipment: One set of artisan’s tools, merchant’s scale, a set of fine clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

Suggested Characteristics

Being a merchant involved having a head for numbers, a strong personality, the ability to make deals with hostile adversaries, a strong sword arm to fight off bandits, and the intuition for knowing what people want and need. The art of business is the art of finding the best path to profit, and that path might be different with each transaction. It takes a strong mind and a stronger stomach to succeed. So why did you fail?

Far Traveler

You are from a distant place, one so remote that few of the common folk in Ferehdin realize that it exists, and chances are good that even if some people you meet have heard of your homeland, they know merely the name and perhaps a few outrageous stories. You have come to this part of Ferehdin for your own reasons, which you might or might not choose to share. To determine why you are so far from home, roll on the table below or choose from the options provided:

Inheritor

You are the heir to something of great value — not mere coin or wealth, but an object that has been entrusted to you and you alone. Your inheritance might have come directly to you from a member of your family, by right of birth, or it could have been left to you by a friend, a mentor, a teacher, or someone else important in your life.

• Skill Proficiencies: Survival, plus one from among Arcana, History, and Religion
• Tool Proficiencies: Your choice of a gaming set or a musical instrument
• Equipment: Your inheritance, a set of traveler’s clothes, the tool you choose for this background’s tool proficiency, and a pouch containing 15 gp

Feature: Courtly Gossip

Via your social connections and time spent in the courts of Ferehdin, you can surmise a great deal about the upperclass' secrets — who’s practicing necromancy, who’s involved in spying or smuggling, who would purchase or craft dangerous magical wares without batting an eyelash. Whenever a noteworthy crime or mysterious happening occurs in the city, you can immediately draw up a list of 1d4 suspects who, if they aren’t involved, have a strong chance of knowing who is.

Suggested Characteristics

Use the tables for the guild artisan background in the Player’s Handbook as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity as a courtier.

The noble court or bureaucratic organization where you got your start is directly or indirectly associated with your bond (which could pertain to certain individuals in the group, such as your sponsor or mentor). Your ideal might be concerned with the prevailing philosophy of your court or organization.

Vizier

You are, or were, a vizier - politician, advisor, strategist, and schemer. You stood between your ruler and the people, performing tasks that were essential to your seykh and their court. You hoped to achieve wealth and status either by being the best possible servant, or by your own political machinations.

This did not go as planned.

Feature: Court Functionary.

Your knowledge of how bureaucracies function lets you gain access to the records and inner workings of any noble court or government you encounter. You know who the movers and shakers are, whom to go to for the favors you seek, and what the current intrigues of interest in the group are.

Suggested Characteristics.

A vizier’s characteristics have been influenced by the powerful they've served under and how high they climbed before taking up the life of an adventurer. Some viziers left cruel masters, others sought to steal power for themselves, and still others left amicably for reasons all their own. Consider what your seykh was like, and why you had to leave when developing your characteristics.

Despite the lack of water, life in this arid realm is as abundant as it is wondrous. Here the creatures of the desert make their home, from the gentle gazelle to the fearsome and deadly ghul. Giant beasts and Mortal races scratch out a life between the rock and sand. In many parts of Ferehdin, only seasonal streams, or wadis, exist. Merchant caravans travel established routes connecting lush oases while nomads move across open desert to follow the spring rains and find water where others believe none to exist.

In the central lands, however, the silken threads of the Azraqir are strong enough to flow year-round, crossing the desert until they converge and spill into the sea. Along their wide, muddy banks grew the great cities of Damakesh, Meyheer, and Bakarnah - the cradles of mortal civilization.

Yet even for seasoned natives, there are places in Ferehdin where none would go, where the heat, drought, and dangers are far too great. In such desolate corners, the first great civilizations once stood. These fell long ago, and most of their knowledge has been forgotten. Only their crumbling temples and underground warrens remain, like ghosts bearing witness to the past. Some are still guarded by magical wardens, while others are little more than weathered grave stones.

Bakarnah: the City of Fountains

located centrally along al'Azraqir, Bakarnah is the largest city in Iraja, and the second largest in all of Ferehdin. After the establishment of the Akhesu Road, two wealthy brothers wished to raise a city in honor to their family's patron jinn, based on an older prophesy that their good fortune would increase as long as the house of their patron grew.

The city grew rapidly, as it controlled trade along the river between the inlet city of Meyheer and ancient Damakech, and it had ample fresh water inlets to the north and south of the site. The latter allowed households in the expanding city plentiful water to use with a wanton abandon impossible in other cities.

In less than a handful of years, it grew larger than its sister cities and became the unspoken capital of the amurate.

Of all the cities in Iraja, Bakarnah seems to suffer the most from the Thieves of the Cinnamon Wood, and it is rumored that they have a base of operations in the mountains to the east of the city.

Natives of Bakarnah usually have a bustling, cosmopolitan air about them. Even by the laws of hospitality, they are open and free with their charity. Bakarnah's merchants have a bickering rivalry with those in Damakech, who control access to the Akhesu Road.

Damakech: The City of Winds

While the smallest of the major cities in Inraja, Damakech lies directly along the Akhetsu Road and has been a well defended trading hub for a hundred hundred years. Located high along the crescent edge of Mount Damakech the Ortuleh river bisects the upper levels of the city with a waterfall crashing 900 feet to the conical foot of the mountain and the grasslands below. The city itself has a difference in elevation of over 300 feet. Damakech is also named "the City of Winds," due to the elaborate wind towers that rise up from the city to catch the warm currents blown up the mountainside.

Damakech is comprised of interconnected buildings built into the rock face, where courtyards and roofs serve as pedestrian areas and short, narrow alleys and stairways function similarly to the streets in other cities. The unique architecture is described by locals as "The roof of my home is the garden of my neighbor's."

The families of Damakech go back generation upon generation. While outsiders are not explicitly unwelcome, the people of Damakech are insular and their daily lives are thick and rich with unspoken rules and morays. Since the rise of Bakarnah's importance in the amurate, the rulership and merchant class in Damakech have tightened their control over trade routes stemming from the Akhesu Road.

Leadership

Damakech is ruled over by the Grand Seykh and his or her court of Viziers. The Grand Seykh is a semihereditary title where an heir apparent must succeed in an ordeal to prove their merit. Failing this, the Grand Seykh, or the Viziers if necessary, chooses a new heir. This process has lead to Seyahk frequently having many children, in and out of wedlock, to have a greater pool of potential heirs.

This has also produced a courtly life of intrigue and suspicious deaths as Viziers and potential heirs posture for political power.

Some noteworthy members of the Seykh's court are:

• Grand Seykh Isifar bn'Neyyat: An imposing, night-skinned Aamkar man with a thick, greying beard and a hearty laugh. Once a powerful fighter, many in court believe he has grown decadent and soft in his age. He is well known to drink arak to excess. He has two legitimate children, and many bastards.

• Meilil bn'Isifar: A known Red al'Aamkar, she is the heir apparent to Grand Seykh al'Neyyat. She spends little time at court, preferring to train for her ordeal, and hunt thieves in the city. Having recently turned 30, unmarried and without bastards, some viziers whisper that she may be a barren and unfit to carry on the ruling line.

• Vizier Aytosj: A thin zwadif in his late 40s, Vizier Aytosj has become the unofficial head of the court viziers in the past few years. Known for his precise calculations and seeming ability to predict the course of fate, who he supports as heir will carry a great deal of weight.

• Fahad bn'Isifar: the second child of the Grand Seykh. Draped in white robes and headdress from head to foot, and wearing a burnished gold mask, it's believed that Fahad is sickly. More cruel rumors claim he is Daeva born. Whatever his nature, he spends his days in study or repose, never venturing from the palace.

• Supplescale Kavra: The Grand Seyk's current fixation, an green-scaled azhmuquid dancer who entertains and dotes on al'Neyyat. The viziers grumble heavily that she has far too much power over the whims of their seykh.

• Breeze: Seneschal to the court. The banu sila is a frequenter of the Bazaar, providing regular reports directly to the Grand Seykh about the goings on of the city. They have an androgynous affect about them and a knack for being wherever they are needed or wish to be.

Rumors

• A new new illness is spreading in the outer rings. People are blaming the most recent caravan of asair passing through the bazaar, but no one in the markets seems to be sick.

• The Grand Seykh is being poisoned by a rival family. His viziers are complicit and there is a plot to murder the legitimate children.

• There are Turic spies in city. The Grand Seykh is a fool, addled and bewitched by his dancer mistress. Trust no one, we've let the enemy in through the front door.

Meyheer: The City of Lights

Meyheer began as a military encampment of the Akhemonite Kings at the mouth of the Azraqir. It is said the warriors insulted the gods and jinn of the area, who in their vengeance moved the mouth of the river ten miles from the makeshift fortress.

The warriors of Akhemon were left with only a reedy salt marsh which never fully dried up and where pasture could not grow, bounded on the east by brackish water and on the west by waterless desert. In less than a season, the foreigners fled or starved.

Asair tribes and local fishers began to use the abandoned structures as temporary lodging and, being faithful and respectful, the river's mouth slowly expanded into the Meyheer delta.

The city now consists of the Meyheer Falak, a massive, castle with vantage to oversee the deep water routes between the gulf and the golden web, and a chaotic jumble of buildings.

In honor and deference to their origins, the people of Meyheer celebrate each new moon with a festival of lights, Fawanoos, where the city is filled with small lanterns representing the light in the darkness, and small candles are floated on the calm night tide giving thanks to the spirits of the water.

Despite its size, Meyheer feels small. Most of its population rely on the gulf and the river for their livelyhood, and, like one big family, they all seem to know each other's business. Transporting goods along the golden web, interacting with local fishers and traders, has turned the docks of Meyheer into a hotbed of rumors and gossip across Iraja. The sailors and laborers are eager for news from along the Azraqir or the ships from Salmshar and are inclined to share what they have heard in trade.

Natives of Meyheer generally have a simple and direct outlook on life. Honor the gods, don't offend the jinn, accept fate, and live a good life. Many find camaraderie in Bakarahu hospitality, but find them a little too progressive and idle, otherwise. They share a mutual respect with native Damakech, sharing their sense of tradition, but find their governance antiquated and problematic.

Rumors

• A couple of fishing boats have gone missing. The marid are angry and we must appease them.

• Sometimes on a moonless night, you can meet the ghost of a drowned sailor trying to get home. Lead one to their home, and you'll get a wish. Fail, and they'll strangle you.

• Tur is looking to make an alliance with Salmshar pirates to take over the city and the golden web.

• If you see someone at the docks wearing a red cloak after dark, slip them a silver piece and they'll connect you with smugglers from beyond this world who can sell you anything you've dreamed of.

• The amura's agents have infiltrated the Salon. It's only a matter of time before they completely corrupt the Hands and replace the salon with some mutamaliq.

Al'Baysahr: The White Sands

At the heart of the peninsula is a chaotic dune sea called Al'Baysahr, the White Sands. The desert wears away at the edges of the fertile lands of the Golden Web, and forces the Free Cities to cling to the sea. A constant threat and reminder of the Restless, and the breeding ground of dangerous beasts.

Bashmu are the largest predators of the White Sands, swimming through the sandy dunes like eels through water. They have powerful forearms and serpentine bodies capable of amazing speed and leathery wings on their backs allowing them to jump far into the air to grasp flying creatures. The poison from a Bashmu's tail stinger can kill in seconds.

Even relatively mundane animals can be a danger in the desert, growing to terrifying sizes. Giant scorpions, giant centipedes, giant lizards, giant wasps, and swarms of insects can pose a serious threat to living creatures and the Restless alike.

Erroneously called "the Emptiness" by some, there are the remains of a great civilization throughout the White Sands, caravans regularly make the dangerous trek across the shifting sands and even some asair tribes call the White Sands home.

Salmshar:

Salmshar: Pearl of the East

In the language of the Akhemonite kings, "Salmshar" refers to a distant, exotic, and mysterious place where long forgotten gods and goddesses dwelt. While a few mystics still claim the lands along the Stairs to Heaven are holy, most peoples of Eransül know Salmshar only as a place of wonders, where anything can be bought or sold.

Built on a tidal island a kilometer into al’Vorouk, the city rises towards heaven. With uncountable dhow and baghlah filling the waters that surround the citadel, Salmshar appears to float on the foam of some perpetual wave, its great spire piercing the sky.

Members of every people and culture throng the footpaths of the Salmshar docks, moving goods into the souk or back out to sea. The native Shari filter through the crowds, dressed in the finest materials but with clothing cut to a slovenly looseness that could never be mistaken for shabby. Ascending from the docks into the citadel itself, the air grows thick with the collision of spices, perfumes, animals and fruit.

The Great Souk is the largest market in Ferehdin, and merchants from every corner of the world make their pilgrimage here at some point. Whirled through crooked, spiraling, streets of crushed and crushing market stalls, every wall covered in lacquered tilework, visitors to the city slowly spiral around the axis of the city, rising into the sky towards its peak. Here and there a great oblong many-windowed apartment stretches upward, desperate for sunlight or breeze or any relief from the indomitable press of humanity in the streets below.

Qasr al’Rassalm sits at the very top of the city, a fortress-palace that overlooks the island and far out into the sea. Encompassing several square kilometers, al’Rassalm contains a marble palace, mosaic tiled grounds, fountains and garden spaces. Peacocks roam freely, a gift to the Seykh’s family, many generations past.

Hudid and Halwa: Cities of Pleasure

Rarely spoken of separately, generations of locals have amalgamated the twin cities into the singular "Hudidahlwa". Second only to Salmshar in size and population, Hudidahlwa is considered a place of recuperation. Seyahk travel from other cities and across Ferehdin to visit the curative hot springs and recline on the fine, black sand of their calm, but shallow harbor. Hudid's markets are well known for perfume, pearls, and medicines, while Halwa markets trade in various perishable goods and providing services and accommodations to wealthy travelers visiting the emerald waters of the harbor.

Ilmhat: City of Gardens

Best known as a pilgrimage site, Ilmhat is believed to be where the Alihat first arrived on the peninsula. Called the city of gardens, its many temples are built around lush courtyards of flowing water and manicured flora. Ilmhat's small markets are rarely visited by outsiders, excepting to find ritual goods, incense, and other religious materials.

Ajayib: City of Eyes

A small fortified citadel, Ajayib is like a Salmshar in miniature. It is known as the City of Eyes for the multitude of watchtowers overlooking both the sea and the White Sands. Situated on one of the lowest and narrowest portions of the Steps to Heaven, Ajayib markets trade in dried provisions, camels, and martial protection for caravans crossing the eastern edge of that great desert.

Ghajar: City of Twilight

A desert town surrounded by an extensive reef, Ghajar began as a waystation for caravans along the old Akhesu road due to ample access to fresh water wells in the area. In recent generations, they have flourished by producing cotton and other textiles, while the reef is home to the Giant Murex — a monstrous nocturnal sea snail used in the production of Imperial Purple dye. Ghajar markets are frequented by those in need of fine paper, textiles, and dyes. Citizens are frequently seen in clothing dyed in lavish shades of purple.

Wasa'tehru: City of Bridges

Originally settled by the Akhemonite Kings, it is the only free city located on the Dead Continent- the north most edge of Ferehdin. While it has wealth and trade, it is generally seen by outsiders as little more than a pirate's roost. It is built across a series of small outcroppings of basalt, too small to be considered islands in their own right. Instead the pillars of stone form the foundation for various structures built on top of them, with a webwork of bridges connecting each structure to its neighbors. Narrow waterways weave between the city’s pedestals, with gangways serving as docks to the buildings above. Markets trade in cut gems, spices, magical items, and black powder.

Salim Jbal: City of Terraces

Salim Jbal is the agricultural center of trade in the Nine Cities. The sides of Mount Akuwat have been carved, over a hundred hundred years, into uncountable terraces where herders and farmers use the balmy seasonal weather and consistent fresh water to produce much of the rice and other grain consumed by the Nine Cities. The barter and sale of goods in the Salim Jbal market relies on the casting of stones and other non-verbal gestures.

Qadra: City of Fire

The edge of the sea, Qadra has spread across the hospitable regions of a volcanic island chain. They are the last stop for Baghlah heading out into the deep waters towards Iraja and beyond. Light in the way of provisions, the market of Qadra sprawls out from the docks, providing services to ships and their crews, from repairs and refreshment to cartography and companionship.

Kingdom of Tur:

Tur-Zambad-Mazar: a City in Chains

North east of the Cinnamon Wood lies the ash'Sharyyeh mountains, a temperate, heavily wooded corridor leading travelers hoping to avoid the Hyn Eirh lands from the top of the golden web into the high deserts of the Kingdom of Tur. This lush and idyllic valley is the site of Tur-Zambad-Mazar. For a time, Zambad-Mazar stood as an independent amurate, a neutral territory for dignitaries from Inraja and Tur to safely meet. It is the first major city to have fallen in Kahlbeytur's War, crushed beneath the velvet slipper of Kahlbeyita the Divine.

A staging ground for the invasion of Inraja, and under constant threat of revolt, Tur-Zambad-Mazar is considered a city in chains. Outsiders are quickly detained and questioned by the Turic authorities, though most are reasonable and fair in their adjudication.

Distant Lands

List of Setting Rules:

• Language limitation
• Linage Options: Custom ASI / Language choice at character creation
• Players Cannot replace ASI with Feats