Mairada is one of the most important states in all of Khinasi - while it lacks the military strength of Min Dhousai or Khourane as the site of the Temple of Rilni it is the place to which all Khinasi magi must travel in order to swear their oaths.
Thus magi across Khinasi regard it as the centre of their profession and despite it’s small size as many Mages live within Mairada as within any of the other Khinasi states. At the same time it’s physical isolation makes it one of the Island states and it’s political attention is directed firmly towards the Ajari deeps and the Islands which surround it. Mairada persues a policy of strict neutrality in political matters, allowing ships from the Isle of the Serpent to trade here, while they would not be permitted to land (at least officially) in Suiriene or Ghamoura. This policy of neutrality has meant that it has few allies - of the neighbouring lands only Khourane could be counted upon to come to it’s assistance.
Provinces :
Dalceir: Dalceir is a tiny collection of Islands set in the Azure waters of the Serpent’s reach. The Islands that make up the province are universally inhospitable, but support a thriving population that subsists on fish from the surrounding seas and trade generated by the Pearl Fisheries that surround the Island. Islanders travel out on boats to the Oyster grounds and send boys and young men down to bring up the Oysters - the Pearl Divers are highly skilled and can stay down for much longer than normal men. Those Oysters which do not contain Pearls are either eaten (giving the people of Dalceir a reputation for licentiousness unmatched in all of Khinasi). The others are pickled and sold in Mairada where they are exported across the rest of the region.
The Terror of Isirebi: Isirebi, the most norhterly of the four Islands which compose Dalceir has the richest Oyster grounds in this region. In recent times boats have begun disappearing while fishing these grounds. Whispers have begun mentioning some sort of Sea Serpent and rumour has it as either the progeny of the Serpent himself or the Sea Drake (as the more widely travelled suggest).
Cecidein: This Island is dotted with Masetian ruins which are regarded with suspicion by the region’s inhabitants. They are rumoured to contain Hasir Irkouzi (Bringers of Death) horrors which wiped out the surviving Masetians after Deismaar. Like Dalceir it survives on the bounty of the seas, but since the waters which surround it are much deeper than the shallow oyster beds that surround the western Islands it survives more off fishing the Deeps. the fishermen of Cecidein are unmatched in the whole of the region, knowing of secret techniques for catching fish much larger than anyone else in the area knows how to find (except for the Suirienese of Cape Arvuold who tend to fish far out to sea). These fish, known as ibn-Fisiri or Gourands are typically up to 20’ long and cut into steaks and smoked over kelp fires which imparts a rather unusual taste to the meat.
Troglodytica: Cecideine’s southern peninsula is home to a tribe of fierce lizardlike humanoids who slay & eat those who approach to closely. They do not venture far from their homes and so the previous Sultans and Sultanas have yet to see fit to exterminate them - far too much effort would be required to root them out from their sea caves. Stories in Mairada’s taverns tell of fires seen burning upon the tip of the point, and the crews of those ships which dared approach closer speak in hushed whispers of chanting and wierd dances around the fires.
Mairada: This mountainous province is the centre of Khinasi magical life. Relatively sparsely populated except for the city itself few people live off the coast except for goatherds, the miners in Al-Fasir and those in the town of Rillinsya which lies at the bottom of the path that ascends Mt Ormassi towards the temple of Rilni. [The city of Mairada will be considered later.] The fishermen of Mairada live in small towns in the few useable habours of the mainland. Unlike the fishermen of the island provinces they don’t make enough from Pearls or Giant Fish to be able to supplement their lifestyle with trade, so they have to raise crops in cramped terrace farms in order to provide vegetables and the like. Also Goatherds raise herds of goats in the mountains and bring various dairy products down into the villages to trade. The Goatherds can make quite a bit of money as local guides, since they know the mountain tracks better than almost anyone else.
Mt Ormassi: The tallest mountain in Mairada, Ormassi lies in the far north of Mairada. The road that leads towards it from Mairada dates back to the height of the Masetian empire and is kept in good repair by the rulers of Mairada. Ormassi’s slopes hold one of the largest glaciers in Cerillia, a vast moving river of Ice which flows towards a 6000 foot cliff which it plunges off in a constant but slow rain of small & large chunks of ice. The ice melts and irrigates the rich forest at the bottom. This forest is inaccesible save for a single path that leads down from the temple of Rilni. This forest is the Source for the province.
When the moon is full, the glacier catches it’s lights and sparkles, ice facets scattering the light over the scenary in one of the most beautiful sites in all of Cerillia.
The Temple of Rilni: Lying upon the top of an arete the Temple is a huge stone building with a host of outhouses that cluster around it, hanging on to the side of the mountain. Built more for practicality than for show, the building’s thick stone walls keep the heat in at night. It holds some 100 monks and priests, together with some 200 guards, 300 servants (many of whom attend to visitors) and their families. It represents one of the major storehouses of lore in the region, containing many books with rather dubious contents that are sealed away never to be read.
Copyright Neil Barnes
(nb4769@bris.ac.uk) 1997/98
Work in Progress
No unauthorised duplication/ editing/ etc.
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