Letter of Introduction

Peace Be Upon You, O Adventurer of the Golden Caliphate of His Most Holy Divinity

Fortune smiles upon you to be born in the greatest age of mankind and to live amongst the civilized, great sheikdoms of the Caliphate of al-Haram. You may be a high-born of the people, a crafty bazaari out to make your riches or perhaps nothing more than a lowly enslaved fereng, allotted a life of hard labours.

It matters not whether you are prince or pauper, for the Holy Divine smiles upon you still and offers you a chance of Eternal Salvation The Holy Scriptures spoken through the Archangels and written down by the Prophets of the people guide you to the Promised-land of milk and honey. Heed their words, adventurer! And beware the trickery and deceit of the shaitun and djinn who would see you smashed upon the rocks of damnation!

The Caliphate is a bastion of knowledge and law in an otherwise chaotic, barbaric world. Its holy pursuit of understanding and mastery of the Four Elements and the Spirit of all living things is the bedrock of its peace and stability. Only through the guiding hands of the One Divine will mankind fend off the dark powers that plot the ruin of all who live upon the land. The Sacred Scriptures teach us that only those who have undergone purification of body and spirit may be entrusted with that perilous knowledge the common man calls magic. It is thus that the high-born serve the people through their arcane rituals and applied philosophy under the ever watchful eyes of the Muftis who enforce the laws of the Prophets throughout the ages.

The jewels of the Caliphate are its fortress cities protected by the benevolent magic of their Sheiks and the wise management of their Vaziers. Each city has its own identity and unique cultural traits but share in the great order brought by the Prophets to the people. Their bustling marketplaces are the home of the merchant class known as the Bazaari, whose forked-tongues and shrewd practices bring wealth and prosperity. Their ports, whether on the Azure Sea or Golden Gulf or the great rivers that stretch into the fertile deltas, bring trade and people throughout the seasons. In good times and in bad, the work of the people is prey to scoundrels, pirates and heretics with only the able Pasdari standing in the way of utter chaos upon the streets.

The Sheiks prize peace and order, as is the will of the Holy Divine, and have long put aside the terrible wars that rocked the lands with devastating magic and blood stained battlefields. Yet their rivalry and their constant jostling for power is a fact of life. It is to the subtle Hassari the Shieks and the high-born often turn to advance their position. A silent blade entwined with dark magic often achieves the work of a thousand soldiers. So it is the high-born seek the ultimate prize of rising to be the Caliph of all, a position left vacant since the last of the Prophets passed from the mortal plane to serve the Holy Divine in the Seven Heavens themselves.

Whilst civil war is a distant memory, the Caliphate is far from peaceful especially on its borders. To the north, the great Hamadar Mountains are both a blessing and a curse. As they shield the people from the cold northern wilderness they also harbour the wild, heathen, ancestor worshipping Darvaki who guard their strongholds and rich ore veins jealously. There can be no peace with such barbarians and the struggle across the northern border is both a hazard and an opportunity. The Darvaki whilst lacking any sense of civilized culture are skilled craftsman whose working of iron and steel are unassailable, making them highly valued fereng (slaves).

To the west, beyond the Golden Gulf lies Westermor, a continent of savages and the plane-touched Umbrians with their long necks and pointy ears. These faerie-folk are fearsome sea raiders who enslave good men and women to perform dark, disgusting rituals of depravity and sin before eating their souls. And to the east beyond the Thousand Grains, a vast area of marshland, lies the the mighty alien empire of the T'chin. The greatest adventurers and merchants of the Caliphate are known to trade with these dragonkin.

Wherever your path may take you, O Bold Adventurer, remember the words of the great Prophet Kharish al-Caliph:

O Great Divine Blessed Be Thy Will

Of Sand and Stone None Shall Stand

On the Judgement of Your Eye

O Fool Are Those Who Listen Intent

To the falsehoods and wishes of Djinn

Have mercy on those whose lips

Work the plots of every scheming Shaitun

May death come soon to me and all

If ever your people stray from the path

If one step towards damnation is shortened

A blessing be upon your Holy Name.

Vazier Freydun al-Mosar

Darvish Kupar (City of Pearl)

624 S.C.