# What do the PCs find in a City of the Jann?



## Quickleaf (Dec 12, 2016)

I'm converting/creating an adventure for my players and it involves an extended/repeat visit to Qaybar, City of the Jann. The city is my own creation – a planeshifting, hidden, labyrinthine place of wonders.

My question is: *What cool sites / sights / encounters do you imagine the PCs discovering in this City of the Jann?*

The jann are the weakest of true genie-kind, composed of all four elements, and are often depicted as a proud otherworldly people, consummate desert nomads, or lackeys for mightier genies. They have powers including flight, water breathing, speaking with animals, invisibility, creating food/water, shrinking/reducing creatures and objects, and turning ethereal.

FR Wiki on "Janni": http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Janni
d20 SRD on Genies, Janni: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/genie.htm

EDIT: While the question is edition-agnostic, for the record we're playing 5th edition with high-level (11th+) characters.

[SBLOCK=Description of Qaybar]
Qaybar, City of the Jann

Qaybar is a magical city built by a tribe of jann ages ago when the Seal of Jafar al-Samal (used to bind genies, making sha'irs possible) was entrusted into their guardianship. Smoke and frankincense streams among its copper towers and silk banners. Alongside mortal servants, traders, and minor elementals, the statuesque robed and veiled jann trade in commodities rare and mystical. While guest hospitality is taken seriously by the jann who observe the bond of salt, newcomers will be greeted with furtive eyes, whispers in strange tongues, and concealed hand signs.

*Jann of Qaybar. *The jann of Qaybar differ from their nomadic brethren in the deserts of Zakhara. While they share common traditions (e.g. the bond of salt) and often ancestries, the jann of Qaybar could never be mistaken for human. Their eyes sparkle with otherworldly light, they stand head and shoulders above most men, their skin may take an unusual hue, and their voices may rumble with thunder or hiss with whispering wind. Additionally, they don't suffer from being away from the Material Plane for prolonged periods as do most jann. Their culture is based on trade. Magic items, spells, art objects, dreams, wishes, shadows… Everything has a price. The more attached a creature is to a particular thing, the more the jann of Qaybar covet it. Haggling is elevated to art-form, and a misstep can easily offend the jann (or perhaps they merely pretend in order to drive up their asking price). Despite this, a sealed transaction is considered sacrosanct; no jann of Qaybar would renege on a deal.

*A Planeshifting City.* The great spell (some would say curse) cast upon Qaybar causes it to planeshift every 20-25 years between the Planes of Air, Water, Earth, Fire, and Zakhara on the Material Plane. Where it will appear on a given plane can be predicted via astrology or geomancy. With each planeshift, the city undergoes a regime change as djinn, marids, dao, and efreet attempt to exert their will upon Qaybar through proxies, manipulation, or outright domination. Qaybar left the Plane of Fire and domination of the efreet a couple years ago, appearing in the desert between Zakhara's Pearl Cities.

*A Hidden City.* No teleportation or planeshifting magic may be used to reach Qaybar (akin to a _forbiddance_ spell). However, finding the city via overland routes is made difficult as maps and merchant’s memories prove inaccurate, landmarks seems to change, and the desert seems to confound caravans bound for the city. Without _find the path_ or attunement to a copper navigation disc unique to the jann, travel to Qaybar takes 2-3 times as long and tends to be fraught with sandstorms and other hazards.

*A Labyrinth City.* Designed as a labyrinth of towers, twisting streets and bridges, stairs stopping in mid-air, and secret passages, Qaybar is daunting to navigate without a guide or magic allowing flight. Many of its worked stone walls are mortared with gorgon blood, preventing even a dao’s passwall from working. And the silk banners above the streets prevent flying creatures from attaining an altitude higher than the banners. Thus, potential genie invaders must enter Qaybar on foot and capture it street by street.

*A Wondrous City.* Qaybar could never be mistaken for a common caravanserai or mortal city. Pomegranate, persimmon, and fig trees can be found growing by hanging gardens; their fruit is said to transport the eater’s mind to distant lands and oases. All beasts, upon entering Qaybar, gain the ability to speak and understand Common; many a merchant has been astonished to find their pack camel stubbornly refusing to take one step further until properly groomed and fed. And the bazaar boasts magical items and antiquities the likes of which are traded nowhere else (see DMG pg.130).

*An Ethereal City.* Qaybar exists as much on its current plane as it does in the Border Ethereal, where the ground level streets are shrouded in thick bluish mists and the minarets glow faintly against a sea of the cosmos. Special guardians and magical pathways known as the Masarat al-Jann are found in the mists. This is the spiritual heart of Qaybar, sought after by malevolent forces which assail the city with ether cyclones (seemingly common storms on the Material or Inner Plane). Jann alchemists and philosophers believe it is in the Border Ethereal where the Seal of Jafar al-Samal was hidden and where lies hope for the transcendence of the jann race into a form equal to other genies.

*Dark Side of Hospitality.* When outriders from the city find stragglers lost in the desert, they are brought back to Qaybar under the auspices of caring for the poor travelers. However, what may not be readily apparent is the “water price” the rescued individuals now owe to the Emir of the jann; such “fortunate souls” are expected to serve for no less than a year and a day. The jann look dimly on those who refuse their traditions.
[/SBLOCK]


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## Quickleaf (Dec 13, 2016)

Attempted a rough work-in-progress map of the geography & city wards...

[SBLOCK=Map]
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




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In addition to the character of the jann, I need to consider a few practical points:

1. A single jann, once per day, can cast _create food and water_ (which in 5e can feed 15 humanoids or 5 steeds). Even if jann only make up half of the city's population, Qaybar's agricultural needs are going to be very very low indeed. With that much food security, there's going to be a lot of room for academic/artistic/mercantile/military/leisure pursuits.

2. Since jann can fly, breath underwater, and cast _enlarge/reduce_ their architecture may not be bounded by normal human conventions. Stairs with 30' gaps may be common, turrets may only be accessible via flight, pools or aqueducts may connect via underwater tunnels, and arches sized for small creatures may be used to impede the movement of intruders (and the act of bowing one's head meant to humble guests). 

3. Additionally, their ability to turn ethereal suggests that gorgon's blood (for example) is used in mortar to prevent neighbors from dropping in announced quite literally. It's also possible that clues could be left in the Border Ethereal, intended for only other jann to find. Areas that need to heavily guarded may rely on creatures that can shift to the Ethereal Plane (e.g. ghosts, night hags, nightmares, succubi, phase spiders, or from older editions the shedu) or castings of _Mordenkainen's faithful hound._

4. The ability to speak with animals (and the jann's leanings toward animal husbandry) suggests animals would abound in the city, potentially as innocuous eyes and ears for the jann, potentially operating more sophisticated machinery that requires a greater degree of training.


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## Dualazi (Dec 13, 2016)

Well...without getting into specifics, you'd have to wonder if it would even resemble anything near a conventional human city. Roads and bridges exist so that we can have a path of clear, safe travel for both ourselves and the goods that need to be transported from distributor to market to individual. The frankly ill-thought out suite of powers the janni (not blaming this on you, I'm saying the early rules didn't have as much thought about it) have call these necessities into question. The combination of water breathing, flight, and etherealness is one thing, the ability to change the size of themselves (presumably with weight allowances increased) then they might not have roads at all, with buildings simply built as closely together as architecture would allow.

Also, if flight is the main mode of locomotion, especially without aid of items or vehicles, then I would presume a great deal of the artistic element of building creation would be lavished on the rooftops, since most "pedestrian" traffic will be looking down on it. Popular meeting places, such as bars and brothels, would also likely endeavor to be quite tall, so as to have multiple landing points and be more eye-catching. This is turn could prompt a societal arms race of ever-increasing building height in the name of commerce.

As you said, assuming there is a majority jann population, food and water are likely not huge concerns, so what restaurants are present are probably catering to the elite with rare foods that can't be produced with basic magic. I would expect most of their culture to revolve around artisan-ship, with a great deal of importance placed on ornate details, and with a robust musical and playwright community, as well as art.

As to your original question though, I would personally make the city a vertically oriented column, slowly curving down toward the ground. Depending on your PC's methods of locomotion even getting around could be a real challenge, and it would help (in my opinion) to solidify the alien nature of the jann more than any single sight or structure might.


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## Dioltach (Dec 13, 2016)

Traffic Janns. A Jannitor. A bar called Jann & Tonic. Maybe a Janneral Store.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 13, 2016)

Insightful comments, thanks! 



Dualazi said:


> Well...without getting into specifics, you'd have to wonder if it would even resemble anything near a conventional human city. Roads and bridges exist so that we can have a path of clear, safe travel for both ourselves and the goods that need to be transported from distributor to market to individual. The frankly ill-thought out suite of powers the janni (not blaming this on you, I'm saying the early rules didn't have as much thought about it) have call these necessities into question. The combination of water breathing, flight, and etherealness is one thing, the ability to change the size of themselves (presumably with weight allowances increased) then they might not have roads at all, with buildings simply built as closely together as architecture would allow.



I think of the jann approach routes/paths/roads a bit like a child approaches a journey. They don't worry about preparation or timing, they just are in the moment enjoying the process. The destination may or may not be important (depending on the child's mood). Maybe urbanized jann treat roads/bridges as nomadic jann treat a caravan? It's an opportunity to learn about the world or oneself, and make merry and trade stories with companions. So technically they don't _need_ such things as roads/bridges, but find value in them all the same.



> Also, if flight is the main mode of locomotion, especially without aid of items or vehicles, then I would presume a great deal of the artistic element of building creation would be lavished on the rooftops, since most "pedestrian" traffic will be looking down on it. Popular meeting places, such as bars and brothels, would also likely endeavor to be quite tall, so as to have multiple landing points and be more eye-catching. This is turn could prompt a societal arms race of ever-increasing building height in the name of commerce.



I was thinking that at first, then considered the premise of Qaybar – it planeshifts among the Inner Planes. And that means dao & efreet – flying creatures – get their turns trying to rule or lay siege to Qaybar. So vastly more powerful flying creatures regularly threaten the city. That makes me think the jann might want to try to limit flying (and sight lines!) so the more powerful genies don't run roughshod over the jann. Also, thinking from a defensive perspective, maybe the use their _etherealness_ to lead mostly ground-bound genie invaders into apparent dead ends, with the fleeing jann suddenly turning to vapor and the ambush being sprung.



> As you said, assuming there is a majority jann population, food and water are likely not huge concerns, so what restaurants are present are probably catering to the elite with rare foods that can't be produced with basic magic.



Given that _create food and water_ creates food for 15 humanoids or 5 steeds (or, for example, 3 humanoids and 4 steeds), I think it's fair to imagine that jann account for 1/3 to 1/2 of the city's population and there would be a huge number of mounts/animal companions. I mean like every jann household would have a couple horses/camels, goats, and trained hawks (not to mention possible "water price" servants).

It's also possible that the jann's emphasis on guest hospitality considers using _create food and water_ for guests shameful in all but the most dire of circumstances; instead rarer fare is sought out for honored guests. Thus their "agriculture" would be focused on luxury foodstuffs.



> I would expect most of their culture to revolve around artisan-ship, with a great deal of importance placed on ornate details, and with a robust musical and playwright community, as well as art.



Agreed. I see them attracting lots of poets, philosophers, and bards.



> As to your original question though, I would personally make the city a vertically oriented column, slowly curving down toward the ground. Depending on your PC's methods of locomotion even getting around could be a real challenge, and it would help (in my opinion) to solidify the alien nature of the jann more than any single sight or structure might.



Huh. You mean like the Infinity Tower in Dubai?


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## Ath-kethin (Dec 13, 2016)

Another thing to consider: given their ability to literally walk through walls, maybe they have no sense of privacy as we know it, aside from what they've adopted from ins.  

Or it may be simple politeness that keeps them out of each other's homes; after all, it's not like the walls of a yurt make an impenetrable fortress either, but steppes nomads weren't known for just barging in on each other.

Also, you might consider changing the city's name unless you want to hear a bunch of "gay bar" jokes.  Or maybe I just run with the wrong sorts of people.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 13, 2016)

Hah, different crowds! Never even occurred to me until you pointed it out!



Ath-kethin said:


> Another thing to consider: given their ability to literally walk through walls, maybe they have no sense of privacy as we know it, aside from what they've adopted from ins.
> 
> Or it may be simple politeness that keeps them out of each other's homes; after all, it's not like the walls of a yurt make an impenetrable fortress either, but steppes nomads weren't known for just barging in on each other.




I liked how in your conversion of Zakhara's jann you removed the _etherealness_ and flying – it just made more sense with how they're depicted as being bound to the world and traveling in wondrous caravans. With the these jann of Qaybar I'm looking to do a direct translation of the AD&D and d20 jann keeping those powers since they're more "in tune" with their elemental roots.

Simple politeness makes sense. I do imagine that more sensitive areas like the armory, prison, emir's palace, and so forth would have defenses like gorgon's blood; if not to protect against rebellious jann, then to protect from dao with the ability to _passwall_.

The more I think about a city built with inhabitants with the ability to enter the border Ethereal, the more I think Qaybar would have a presence on the border Ethereal. Sort of a city within/parallel to the city, with some architecture extending into the Border Ethereal (or new architecture entirely!). Ethereal access is the one exception to the restriction on teleportation/planeshifting magic; so spells with an ethereal presence like _blink_, _forcecage_, _Leomund's secret chest_, _Mordenkainen's faithful hound_, and _wall of force_ still would function and might be highly valued. The jann (and perhaps anyone powerful jann bestow with a charm) would routinely use the border Ethereal, both on guard duty and for convenient conveyance

It's reminding me a bit of this concept art from the 2008 Prince of Persia game...

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There was a sort of spirit world to the city in that game which defied normal physics - running up walls, flying, teleporter pads - and could be used to access hard-to-reach areas & uncover secrets.

Hmm. Maybe when sandstorms hit Qaybar, warning balls toll not just on the Material Plane but on the Border Ethereal as well as it is struck by an ether cyclone concurrently with the sandstorm.


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## Celebrim (Dec 13, 2016)

I love your project and thank you are doing really great work.  I wish I'd had time to do more brainstorming for you, but you seem to have things very well in hand indeed.

I just wanted to make a quick comment that I'd always had a sweet spot in my heart for the Jann, owing to typos in the original 1e MM2.  As a 1e DM, I was acutely aware of how few creatures represented truly epic foes for 1e players, so I was always looking for any edge or any monster that was a credible opponent for high level characters.

Thus my delight (and awe, before I figured out it was a typo), the lords and rulers of the (6+1 HD) Jann had 72HD and 83HD.


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## chaochou (Dec 13, 2016)

I would start by wondering what the purpose of the city is? Why have they bothered to construct a city... I mean, these are desert nomads who travel in tribes of 30, and rest up in oases, tents and ruined temples...

I could see it as a sprawling set of small individual sites and temples, carvings along narrow canyons, ornately decorated cave entrances, stretching over many miles, taking inspiration from the site at Petra.

Something that many tribes have each contributed their little bit to, some newly built by recent visitors, other areas almost worn smooth again by the wind and sand where a tribe has been lost and not returned. It is built around something sacred, an oasis of particular significance perhaps, or an older temple the origins of which have passed into myth and legend.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 13, 2016)

Thanks [MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION]  I forgot about those! D&D is always more "interesting" with typos. Hah.



chaochou said:


> I would start by wondering what the purpose of the city is? Why have they bothered to construct a city... I mean, these are desert nomads who travel in tribes of 30, and rest up in oases, tents and ruined temples...




Well, in AD&D it was mentioned that (emphasis mine): _"*Many* jann tribes are nomadic, traveling with flocks of camels, goats, or sheep from oasis to oasis. *These itinerant jann* appear human in every respect, and are often mistaken for them, unless they are attacked."_ So it's not ALL jann who are nomads. Moreover, Secrets of the Lamp mentions the ruined city of Ubar as once being inhabited by desert giants and jann. So it's not totally out of character with existing lore.

Besides being a fun adventure site, the city has a couple reasons for being:

*Protect an Artifact:* It was supposedly where an artifact was given from the first sha'ir to the jann for safekeeping. More in the spoiler in my first post. Wizards and genies often visit seeking out this artifact, so the need for continued protection of it (even if it has been so long it's more a legend and no one knows exactly where it is).
*Shelter for Inner Planes Jann:* It serves as a gathering place & sanctuary for jann, who are often servitors of power powerful genies on the Inner Planes. Escaped slavery to the dao? Or fled impressed servited in the efreet's armies? The city welcomes these jann (and genasi too).
*Gathering for Material Plane Jann:* Family is of utmost importance to the jann, and nomads need occasions to gather disparate tribes together to resolve disputes, discuss matters that impact all tribes, gain news from family on the planes, and so forth. The plane-roving city provides that. 
*Sacred Site:* It is where jann learned how to (or gained the innate ability to) enter the Ethereal Plane. Sort of like your sacred site idea. Some jann philosophers/alchemists believe that as beings composed of all elements they have the capacity to awaken parts of themselves and transcend to more powerful states, perhaps gaining their place as equals among genies one day; these philosophers/alchemists believe that the Ethereal echo of the city hides spiritually transformative secrets.



> I could see it as a sprawling set of small individual sites and temples, carvings along narrow canyons, ornately decorated cave entrances, stretching over many miles, taking inspiration from the site at Petra.
> 
> Something that many tribes have each contributed their little bit to, some newly built by recent visitors, other areas almost worn smooth again by the wind and sand where a tribe has been lost and not returned. It is built around something sacred, an oasis of particular significance perhaps, or an older temple the origins of which have passed into myth and legend.




I can really see that! A whole section of the city carved into canyon walls. I like the idea of layers of history there, built over millennia by jann tribes coming and going from the city.


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## Ath-kethin (Dec 13, 2016)

Quickleaf said:


> Hah, different crowds! Never even occurred to me until you pointed it out!




About ten years ago I ran a game in a completely homebrew campaign world, and the capital city of one country was called Ma'kok.  It seemed great until I said it out loud in front of my group. 



Quickleaf said:


> I liked how in your conversion of Zakhara's jann you removed the _etherealness_ and flying – it just made more sense with how they're depicted as being bound to the world and traveling in wondrous caravans. With the these jann of Qaybar I'm looking to do a direct translation of the AD&D and d20 jann keeping those powers since they're more "in tune" with their elemental roots.




It's a little funny, given all the discussions we've had in which I pressed for literal translations and you argued for more 'spiritual' or thematic ones.

But it's your project, so do with it what you will.  For what it's worth, I've used my jann in my Primeval Thule campaign to great effect - they are a terror to mere mortals.   



Quickleaf said:


> Simple politeness makes sense. I do imagine that more sensitive areas like the armory, prison, emir's palace, and so forth would have defenses like gorgon's blood; if not to protect against rebellious jann, then to protect from dao with the ability to _passwall_.
> 
> The more I think about a city built with inhabitants with the ability to enter the border Ethereal, the more I think Qaybar would have a presence on the border Ethereal. Sort of a city within/parallel to the city, with some architecture extending into the Border Ethereal (or new architecture entirely!). Ethereal access is the one exception to the restriction on teleportation/planeshifting magic; so spells with an ethereal presence like _blink_, _forcecage_, _Leomund's secret chest_, _Mordenkainen's faithful hound_, and _wall of force_ still would function and might be highly valued. The jann (and perhaps anyone powerful jann bestow with a charm) would routinely use the border Ethereal, both on guard duty and for convenient conveyance
> 
> ...




Some kind of transplanar hyper-elemental storm, which contains bits of all elements, para-elements, and quasi-elements, sounds terrifying and the stuff of legendary scenes.  It makes me think actually of the Black Cloud of Vengeance - perhaps most people think they are just freak normal storms, but they are actually malevolent entities trying to breach the defenses of the city.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 13, 2016)

I like the idea of transplanar hyper-elemental storms being sent by, or disguising, malevolent beings trying to breach the city's defenses. Genius! Thanks    [MENTION=6798775]Ath-kethin[/MENTION]!

Now that I'm getting a better feel of the City of the Jann (more elemental ultra-mercantile jann, planeshifting, hidden, labyrinthine, wondrous, material & ethereal, dark side of guest hospitality), I think it's time to envision some potential encounters for my players...

So I'm thinking of two 2d10 encounter tables, one for Material Plane and one for Border Ethereal, with some overlapping entries... What would be interesting and apropos here?

I'll take a first stab at it... using these probabilities as my guide...

*Very rare* (2-3 and 19-20) 6% chance
*Rare* (4-5 and 17-18) 14% chance
*Uncommon* (6-7 and 15-16) 22% chance
*Common* (8-14) 58% chance

[SECTION]*Qaybar, City of the Jann (Material Plane) Encounters (2d10)*
2	Brotherhood of the True Flame (see sub-table) – this entry is an ongoing threat in the campaign
3	Invisible stalker sent by an NPC
4	Jann infighting
5	Jann duplicity (see sub-table)
6	Sandstorm (Arabian Adventures p.82) blankets the city, horns sound as gates are sealed, corresponds with ether cyclone on Border Ethereal
7	Wondrous fruit tree (see sub-table)
8	Minor Elementals (see sub-table)
9	Talking animals (see sub-table)
10	Janni* (2d6)
11	Wondrous merchants (see sub-table)
12	Al-Badia (see sub-table under High Desert)
13	Pearl City emissaries (see sub-table)
14	Thieves (see sub-table)
15	Ogrima* bazaar guards (3d4)
16	Labyrinthine streets
17	?
18	?
19	Genie
20	DM’s choice / Roll twice[/SECTION]

Here's a sample sub-table entry for "Wondrous Merchants"... I used the Sane Magic Item Prices PDF as a price guide... And    [MENTION=6798775]Ath-kethin[/MENTION] I added you former PC Barack in memoriam, hope you don't mind!

[SBLOCK=Wondrous Merchants (d6)]
*1. Sassan Mukri*, jaded male *janni**, has marvelous animals for sale, including: 7 songbirds claim to be polymorphed royalty but one claims to be harem guard (10 gp), *mule* who lies he’s a polymorphed mage (25 gp), *saluqi** (50 gp), “giant” and “dwarf” *camels* (permanently enlarged/reduced) (100 gp), *elephant* (200 gp) with palanquin optional (5,000 gp), *war camel** (400 gp), *bloodhawk* (600 gp), *griffon* egg (2,000 gp), young *hippogriff* learning to fly (2,500 gp), petrified terracotta *giant spider *(5,000 gp), and a *pseudodragon* named “Timaar” (15,000 gp).

*2. Pardis Jang-Ju*, absent-minded female *janni**, distills fruit into potions (see DMG p.187 & Sane Magic Prices), specializing in _potions of dreaming*_ (which she charges only 100 gp for). Also sells hookahs (25 gp), her own book “Jang-Ju’s Herbarium of Zakhara” (75 gp) and _dreambliss*_ (# gp).

*3. Honest Yazdan*, fast-talking male *janni**, deals in contraband and smuggled goods: jellaba with hidden inner pockets (25 gp), book entitled “Meditations on Imix: Writings of the Tenth Circle” (50 gp), smoke grenade (100 gp, DMG p.268), _spell scroll of Nystul’s magical aura_ (125 gp), forged safe passage papers from the Emir (250 gp), spring-loaded concealed dagger wrist sheath (250 gp), forged signet ring Arcanium of Jafar al-Samal (500 gp), map allegedly depicting the labyrinthine streets of Qaybar accurately (750 gp), golden furnery urn of the usurper Malik Hakiziman allegedly holding the efreeti’s ashes (2,500 gp), recipe for _oil of liquid star*_ (5,000 gp), and poisons (DMG p.257).

*4. Barack al-Jazil*, polite Zakharan *ogre* mechanician with *6 helmed horror* bodyguards, has mechanical marvels for sale: clockwork toy like a brass monkey with cymbals (50 gp), magnifying glass (100 gp), clockwork messenger pigeon (150 gp), music box (200 gp), masterwork lock DC 20 (250 gp), spyglass (500 gp), map to an alleged _manual of golems_ (750 gp), _spell scroll of animate objects_ (750 gp), wind-up rogue *monodrone* and *duodrone* (1,000 gp), _dimensional shackles_ (3,000 gp), and a _folding boat_ (10,000 gp).

*5. Ozymandias*, a *mercane** with 4 *xorn* bodyguards, was known to do brisk business with the efreet; he specializes in unique magical items of war: book entitled “Account of the Wind Dukes of Aaqa” (100 gp), recipe for making silvered weapons (1,000 gp), sentient _sword of vengeance_ with special properties (1,000 gp), adamantine shamsir (2,500 gp), “dancing sword” proficient in Perfomance that is actually a *flying sword* (2,500 gp), _wand of the war mage +2_ (4,800 gp), map to an alleged weapon cache in the Great Dismal Delve (5,000 gp), _necklace of fireballs_ w/ 6 beads (7,680 gp), and a _staff of striking_ (21,000 gp).

*6. Marinj the Poet*, a planewalking human *bard* (VOLO) guarded by 2 *maelephants**, deals in stories and songs: book entitled “Fourfold Furnaces and Fires Terrible” about the Lower Planes (50 gp), dwarven songsmith’s seal imbues magic item with “song craft” minor property bottled (100 gp), _spell scroll of enthrall_ (125 gp), _spell scroll of compulsion_ (325 gp), _spell scroll of awaken_ (650 gp), a poem so moving it will makes statues weep (750 gp), bottled siren’s song as per a harpy with disadvantaged saves for males (1,000 gp), True Names of the seven magmin musicians (1,500 gp), _hookah of veiled meanings*_ (2,500 gp), and a poem to gain passage on Captain Soot’s _Ebony Queen _on the Plane of Fire (2,500 gp).[/SBLOCK]

[SBLOCK=Ogrima (reinterpreted from AQ1 Golden Voyages)]





[/SBLOCK]

[SECTION]*Qaybar, City of the Jann (Border Ethereal) Encounters (2d10)*
2	Brotherhood of the True Flame (see sub-table) ?? – though an ongoing threat in the campaign, not sure if it fits here
3	Invisible stalker sent by an NPC
4	Jann infighting ??
5	Ethereal Hazards (see sub-table)
6	Ether cyclone (DMG p.49), corresponds to sandstorm on Material Plane
7	Ethereal treasure (Leomund’s secret chest)
8	Minor elementals (see sub-table)
9	Ethereal animals (see sub-table) Memedi from KARA-TUR??
10	Janni* (2d6) patroling Border Ethereal
11	Illusionborn/Dreamborn (see sub-table)
12	Ether circle (see sub-table)
13	Apparitions & Ghosts
14	Thieves (see sub-table) with etherealness
15	Foo dogs* (2)
16	Labyrinthine streets
17	Nightmarish monsters (see sub-table; night hags, nightmares, succubi, phase spiders) ??
18	Court of Shattered Statues (medusa, 2 basilisks, 4 cockatrices, charmed veteran with stoneskin)
19	Genie
20	DM’s choice / Roll twice[/SECTION]

I cracked open the AD&D Guide to the Ethereal Plane and tried to pick out creatures that were native (N) or dwelled in the Border Ethereal (B) & fit the themes of the City of the Jann. I noticed some patterns...

[SBLOCK=AD&D Ethereal Guide encounter table]





[/SBLOCK]

*Animalistic Predators:* These include the ebon tiger (MYSTARA) and memedi (KARA-TUR).
*Celestial Guardians:* These include the shedu and the foo dog (KARA-TUR / PLANESCAPE).
*Intangible Undead/Skeletons:* These include the thought eater (technically not undead), the plasm (also technically not undead, from MYSTARA), and ghosts.
*Nightmarish Monsters:* While the AD&D version only lists phase spiders, the 5e MM includes night hags, nightmares, and succubi as nightmarish monsters that can be encountered in the Border Ethereal.
*Petrifying Monsters:* Basilisks, cockatrices, and medusa are all listed. While in 5e their Ethereal connection is removed, I liked the image of a court of shattered statues floating in the mists, governed by a medusa with her pets.
*Really Weird Obscure Monsters:* These are things like the cerebral parasite, dharculus, dhour, gingwatzim, magran, nathri, nethling, rabbiun, tween, and xill. Many are from PLANESCAPE, and they tend to look tentacular, insectile, ameobic, or sci-fi bizzare and seem like they'd fit better in a Dark Sun or Cthulu type setting.


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## Ath-kethin (Dec 13, 2016)

Something else you could work in, though maybe not in an encounter table, is Majnun, the rogue jann vizier suspected of poisoning the amir of Ubar.


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## Ath-kethin (Dec 13, 2016)

And I don't see any reason to leave out the weird monsters.  After all, as Wolfgang But pointed out so long ago, Zakhara can work really well as a Lovecraftian weird fiction/horror setting for those who desire it.  Maybe list them with alternatives?


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## ArchfiendBobbie (Dec 14, 2016)

How about a gladiator arena where the announcer is a beholder and, between contests, the crowd is entertained by giants juggling and making balloon animals out of magically-enslaved beholders?


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## Brandegoris (Dec 14, 2016)

Travel through the city at different points should include "Elevators" of pure air that lift residents up and down. 
Maybe a river that defies Gravity and is used with Boats to travel the city. 

An Aquarium that doesn't need to stay behind glass? its like a city Park in a normal material plane city and people can enter and walk around within it. Perhaps if they cant breath  under water they can pay for apparatus or a Spell to be able to go in? From like a vendor?

Races through a desert landscape quarter where they race sand ships for sport in an Enormous "arena" area? 

Gladiatorial Style games where people fight Elemental style battles ( Magical or otherwise)
The Arena Magically keeps the most destructive magic from spilling into the city or to the Spectators?


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## Celebrim (Dec 15, 2016)

What's the overall culture of the Jann like in your setting?

Do they cherish their relationships to their elemental Genie ancestors, or do they harbor resentment toward the Genie for so often enslaving, abusing, and generally looking down on them?

Is this city primarily a cosmopolitan crossroads of the elemental planes, or is it primarily a bulwark against and refuge from the more powerful genie?

What is the relationship between the Jann and the Genasi?  Do the Jann owing to their own oppression sympathize with their mortal kindred, or do they treat their mortal kindred much as the greater genie treat Jann?

What is the spirit life of the Jann like?  Do they disdain the gods, and worship themselves, with their Pashas and Mufti's and so forth considered veritable gods among them?  Do they worship the lords of the genie-kind, or abhor them?   Or are the centered entirely on their selves, enjoying perhaps the mystical experience of drug reverie and arcane investigation, but offering homage to no other being?

Are the Jann unified in their beliefs, or do they have a great many factions, with complicated Byzantine politics and perhaps not some small amount of violent feuds between political parties, families, and sects?  If the later, who is currently in charge and who is scheming against them and why?


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## Quickleaf (Dec 15, 2016)

Fantastic questions! I've considered some of them, but those are some great questions to inspire world-building. Thanks 



Celebrim said:


> What's the overall culture of the Jann like in your setting?



There are 3 cultures within the Jann in the setting (my version of Al-Qadim):

House of Sihr: The jann of the High Desert are mystical nomads sworn to the human Grand Caliph, prone to a bit of mischief but usually keeping to themselves unless it is to help a lost traveler in the desert or answer the summons of an allied sha'ir. They travel in caravans between oases, which the serve as stewards of, setting up temporary tent towns.
Jann of the Haunted Lands: More wild and less predictable, these wandering jann are less hospitable to mortal kind, more apt to haunt and raid than to help. They live amidst the many ruins of fallen cities that litter the Haunted Lands.
Qaybar, City of the Jann: Settled jann, they live in a city that wanders the Inner Planes and Material Plane. They are utterly mercantile. Anything can be traded, even "a last memory of unrequited love” or “my shadow.” And everything has a price. For example, if a jann of Qaybar were to help someone in the desert, they'd later ask a "water price" debt be paid...or perhaps they'd negotiate with a stranded victim of a sandstorm as he seeks shelter water-less in a cave. Unlike their Material Plane kin, they are used to living with more magic as a part of daily life.



> Do they cherish their relationships to their elemental Genie ancestors, or do they harbor resentment toward the Genie for so often enslaving, abusing, and generally looking down on them?



There are different views depending on which segment of Qaybar's jann population you'd ask. Maybe 50% cherish the relationship, 30% are just looking to deal with powerful genies to further their own aims, and 20% that actively resent the mightier genies.

The Alchemist's Guild at Qaybar also hopes to unlock the spiritual secrets of how the jann might transcend / become as mighty as the other genies by following mystical pathways on the Border Ethereal they believe were left as a secret map to jann transcendence.



> Is this city primarily a cosmopolitan crossroads of the elemental planes, or is it primarily a bulwark against and refuge from the more powerful genie?



Mostly a cosmopolitan crossroads (like a Sigil of the Inner Planes), though being a bulwark is also a very important consideration. Before it shifted to the Material Plane, Qaybar was conquered by an efreeti warlord and was living under occupation. But as the city moved closer to shifting to the Material Plane, the efreeti was overthrown and his followers scattered.



> What is the relationship between the Jann and the Genasi?  Do the Jann owing to their own oppression sympathize with their mortal kindred, or do they treat their mortal kindred much as the greater genie treat Jann?



Mostly, it is racially harmonious, though genasi are regarded as having "built in allegiances", which means the jann sympathize with one ear, but watch out for genasi treachery with the other. But there are certainly some janni nobles/viziers who look down on the genasi.



> What is the spirit life of the Jann like?  Do they disdain the gods, and worship themselves, with their Pashas and Mufti's and so forth considered veritable gods among them?  Do they worship the lords of the genie-kind, or abhor them?   Or are the centered entirely on their selves, enjoying perhaps the mystical experience of drug reverie and arcane investigation, but offering homage to no other being?



I've been wondering this myself. Great question! Again, my instinct was that there's a mix...

Some worship the Great Gods of Zakhara.
Some worship the Elemental Gods (e.g. Kossuth, Imix, Zaaman Rul).
Some worship Jarmik the Thirsty Jann (and perhaps other legendary jann revered as transcended demi-gods).

It's that last point (Jarmik is from an Al-Qadim book) that led me to coming up with the idea that some jann believe they can transcend, having greater innate potential than other genies because they are comprised of _four_ elements, instead of just _one._



> Are the Jann unified in their beliefs, or do they have a great many factions, with complicated Byzantine politics and perhaps not some small amount of violent feuds between political parties, families, and sects?  If the later, who is currently in charge and who is scheming against them and why?



Definitely Byzantine politics. Regime change is frequent, and internal strife and lethal politicking abound as various factions vie for control (not the least of which are the Zahranis whose allegiance is still with the efreet, the Caravaneer's Guild, the Alchemist's Guild, and the military/guard against genies seeking to take the city).

The iron-willed but respected Malik Jilani governs en abstentia, as the young would-be Emir Jazzar Shahid ibn-Mahmud is missing. This ties into a Dungeon #63 adventure called _Blood & Fire_.

[SECTION]*Qaybar, at-a-glance*
*Population:* 16,000, about half of which are jann, and the other half a mix of humans, demi-humans, genasi, humanoids, and minor elementals living together mostly harmoniously (with a few misgivings).
*Government:* The iron-willed but respected Malik Jilani governs en abstentia, as the young would-be Emir Jazzar Shahid ibn-Mahmud is missing. Regime change is frequent, and internal strife and lethal politicking abound as various factions vie for control.
*Defense:* The Emir’s military includes 150 janni* _jundaran_ (foot soldiers) equipped with shields (AC 18), pikes, and javelins; 100 janni* _aswaran_ (knights) mounted on enlarged war camels*; and 100 human scouts paying their “water price” mounted on camels. Sometimes groups of jundaran or aswaran hire out as mercenaries. Internal security is maintained by 50 ogrima* bazaar guards.
*Commerce:* Everything is traded in Qaybar, from carvan supplies to talking camels and saluqis, from magic items and spells to ephemeral things like “a last memory of unrequited love” or “my shadow.”
*Power Centers:* Alchemist’s Guild, Caravaneer’s Guild, Military, Zahranis
*Magical Traits:* Planeshifts every 20-25 years. Restriction on teleportation/planeshifting, and hard to find. Animals can talk within its walls. Magic items are traded. Presence on Border Ethereal. Jann of Qaybar do not suffer damage for prolonged time away from the Material Plane.[/SECTION]


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## pemerton (Dec 16, 2016)

My conception of Jann is shaped by this, from the original MM2:

Jannee tend to be suspicious of humans. They do not like demihumans, and detest humanoids. Jannee will accept djinn, but shun daos, efreet, and marids. They favor dwelling in forlorn desert areas at hidden oases, where they have privacy and safety. They will sometimes befriend humans or work with them for some desired reward such as potent magic items.

The society of jannee is very open, and males and females are regarded as equals.​
This makes me see them as rather xenophobic, and also (given their acceptance of djinn) as rather mercurial (though I'm not sure how that fits with their dislike of marids). That mercurial nature seems to be reinforced by their high fly speed (faster than djinni - 30" vs 24"), and their ability to change size and turn invisible and ethereal. The equality of men and women reinforces a sense of a fluid rather than static society. (Although perhaps that is in tension with their hierarchical tribal structure?)

Given that they have all those abilities, and 6+2 HD by default, I'm not sure why _safety_ should be such a high priority for them - maybe they are worried about efreet and/or blue dragons?

In any event, I would expect their city to be hidden and planeshifting, as it is described in the OP. I would also expect it to reflect the seemingly mercurial nature of the Jannee - as well as their broadly Arab/Central Asian them. It should have spires, and buildings/structures that float in the air, and itself be ever-changing in its layout. (Which fits with the idea of it being _labyrinthine_.)

Conversely, it should not be _static_, or _solid_, or predictable. So I wouldn't see a map as being appropriate.

When necessary, the most powerful Jannee - the viziers - would use their powers of Augury and Divination to predict both the plane-hopping path of the city, and the changing details of its internal layout.


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## was (Dec 16, 2016)

..huge libraries
..elaborate bathhouses 
..magnificent city gardens: rare plants and elemental/magic sculptures.  
..open-air amphitheater: strange wind instruments
..maybe some type of aerial races


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## Quickleaf (Dec 16, 2016)

Brandegoris said:


> Travel through the city at different points should include "Elevators" of pure air that lift residents up and down.
> Maybe a river that defies Gravity and is used with Boats to travel the city.
> 
> An Aquarium that doesn't need to stay behind glass? its like a city Park in a normal material plane city and people can enter and walk around within it. Perhaps if they cant breath  under water they can pay for apparatus or a Spell to be able to go in? From like a vendor?
> ...






was said:


> ..huge libraries
> ..elaborate bathhouses
> ..magnificent city gardens: rare plants and elemental/magic sculptures.
> ..open-air amphitheater: strange wind instruments
> ..maybe some type of aerial races




Some kind of *race* seems really apropos, I totally agree. I'd been thinking of saluqi (desert hound) races, wherein participants can either bet on their own hounds or polymorph into hounds to race... but I like the idea of a wondrous aerial steeplechase through the city... IIRC the City of Brass has something similar (and the PCs in this game are likely to visit the City of Brass), so I'll have to come up with a way to differentiate it.

I also was thinking of bathhouses, libraries, hanging (maybe floating) gardens, amphitheaters, and animal menageries / aquariums.

I also really like the idea of "air elevators"! Maybe that's how non-jann who can't fly on their own get around the city?


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## Quickleaf (Dec 16, 2016)

pemerton said:


> My conception of Jann is shaped by this, from the original MM2:
> 
> Jannee tend to be suspicious of humans. They do not like demihumans, and detest humanoids. Jannee will accept djinn, but shun daos, efreet, and marids. They favor dwelling in forlorn desert areas at hidden oases, where they have privacy and safety. They will sometimes befriend humans or work with them for some desired reward such as potent magic items.
> 
> ...




Yes, I was thinking along similar lines, especially about the viziers using _augury_ and _divination_ to predict the city's planeshifts.

I like the idea of the city's layout changing; that seems apropos of both the city's planeshifting nature and the mercurial nature of the jann. *Some* kind of map will be helpful, but maybe just of wards/districts...

I actually devised the city as a crescent-shape to accommodate Inner Planer shifting... On the Planes of Fire or Water, the hollow area of the crescent might be a bay (of fire or water, respectively). On the Plane of Earth, it might be a vast chasm or a mountain spire. On the Plane of Air it might be a skyship port. And on the Material Plane it might accommodate a tent village outside the walls of human(oid) nomads come to petition the Emir.


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## Celebrim (Dec 16, 2016)

I think that overall, the Jann are going to most relate to things that they see as being fusions of multiple elements, and will specifically call out and celebrate those things.  

Para-elementals - Smoke, Ice, Lava, Mud
Elements in Composite or Transient States - Mists, Steams, Hot Water, Dusts, Glasses, Salts, Bricks/Pottery/Glazes
Living Creatures Generally, but especially ones that undergo metamorphosis or live on the boundary of two worlds - Mangroves, Cypresses, Frogs, Bats, Butterflies, Mudskippers, Diving Birds, Shore Birds, Crabs

I imagine a hot spring or thermal area that has been channeled into a garden of steams and tropical plants, with fountains of boiling water.   I imagine palace interiors made out of pink hued polished rock salt and cypress wood.  I imagine fire glazed porcelain - the product of water, fire, and earth and so cannot exist on the elemental planes - decorated fancifully and highly prized.  I imagine buildings made of multicolored bricks, and covered with mosaics of multicolored tiles.  I imagine towers of obsidian glass, and carefully tilled rock gardens where pillows and waves of stone formed where lava cooled meeting the sea are treated as priceless works of natural art.  I imagine halls decorated with towering windows of stained glass.  Potted plants and aquariums and terrariums are very common.  Exotic water lilies and brightly colored frogs are purchased with jewels from the best breeders.  Amidst this consensus style, partisans display their loyalty to their preferred elemental ancestors with ever burning fires, solidly built houses of granite, chert or flint, ice sculptures kept magically cool in the desert heat, ponds of lava where tame fire creatures can frolic, and such like.  Gulls are held sacred in the city by long tradition, and flying in flocks above its plazas.  Stylized Herons, Cranes, Salamanders, Land Crabs, and Bats are painted or carved onto seemingly ever surface, and one temple - now half abandoned - releases great clouds of bats to fly over the city at nightfall.  In one corner of the city is an eternal rainstorm, the work of a house allied with the Marids, headed by a grizzled, one eyed, jann knight whose lack of tact is as legendary as his role in overthrowing their former Effretti taskmasters.  When the old man is feeling especially grumpy, flashes of lightning and peals of thunder ring out over the city.  The water from this rainstorm, forms a legendary hanging garden which runs down through one portion of the city till it meets its counter part, a stream of hot water arising from a more literally fiery quarter.  Round about where these two streams meet is the great marketplace of the city, and round about that is the tangled souk with its tall polymorphic buildings that change shape on every midnight and wander about, it narrow near lightless alleys, and infinite odors and perfumes.  Legend has it that if one is not careful in the souk, the buildings will wander behind you so that you'll be left on streets that have no exit, and wander eternally through streets where demons ply their wares, and ghouls barter for rotten meat.


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## ArchfiendBobbie (Dec 16, 2016)

Have you considered the fashion of the city? I could imagine that an elemental race like the Jann might use pure elements for things such as clothing and construction. Imagine a dress made entirely out of woven fire or a house built entirely out of elemental earth.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 17, 2016)

[MENTION=6867728]ArchfiendBobbie[/MENTION] I imagine the jann as having a certain hauteur, preferring rare minerals either woven into their silks directly or using rare mineral dyes. These would be minerals found in ecological border zones (e.g. peat bogs, lava fields), with a tendency toward rust-tones and shimmering multi-hued tones. Jewelry would be especially popular, inlaid with rainbow obsidian, aquamarine, fire opals, and other stones.

Added a few bits also...

*An Ethereal City.* Qaybar exists as much on its current plane as it does in the Border Ethereal, where the ground level streets are shrouded in thick bluish mists and the minarets glow faintly against a sea of the cosmos. Special guardians and magical pathways known as the Masarat al-Jann are found in the mists. This is the spiritual heart of Qaybar, sought after by malevolent forces which assail the city with ether cyclones (seemingly common storms on the Material or Inner Plane). Jann alchemists and philosophers believe it is in the Border Ethereal where the Seal of Jafar al-Samal was hidden and where lies hope for the transcendence of the jann race into a form equal to other genies.

*Charm of Qaybar (supernatural gift).* This charm, given to trusted friends of the Emir of Qaybar, allows you to enter the Border Ethereal by touching one of the smoky quartz “ether plates” in Qaybar, and return to the Material Plane in the same manner. However, you cannot move through physical matter until activating a moonstone plate as described below. This charm allows you to use the “Paths of the Jann” (Masarat al-Jann) via special plates hidden throughout Qaybar’s reflection on the Border Ethereal:
*Moonstone Plates.* You can see moonstone plates gleaming in the distance like torches (beyond the normal 60 foot visbility). By touching one as an action, you move through physical matter on the Material Plane as per etherealness. However, your movement is still obstructed by gorgon’s blood mortar, _wall of force_, and _forcecage_ as normal. Touching another moonstone plate returns you to being constrained by physical matter.
*Jade Plates.* You can see jade plates gleaming in the distance like torches. By touching one as an action you experience normal gravity drawing you to the structure the plate is built into. Touching another jade plate ends this effect, and non-gravity of the Ethereal resumes for you.
*Topaz Plates.* You can see topaz plates gleaming in the distance like torches. By touching one as an action you can teleport between linked topaz plates.
*Black Opal Plates.* You can see black opal plates gleaming in the distance like torches. By touching one as an action you are cloaked from _see invisibility_, truesight, and other traits and magic used on the Material Plane that detect Ethereal creatures. However, during this time your attacks and spells are utterly harmless, passing through creatures. Touching another black opal plate ends the effect.
*Diamond Plates.* By touching one as an action you enter the dreamscape of the nearest sleeping creature (or a sleeping creature who you carry a token of). Somewhere within the dreamscape will be another diamond plate allowing you to leave, though it may be hidden.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 17, 2016)

Celebrim said:


> I think that overall, the Jann are going to most relate to things that they see as being fusions of multiple elements, and will specifically call out and celebrate those things.




Pure genius! The rest really read like an entry from _Invisible Cities_  

A "Garden of Steams" is a location just begging to be written up! In my push to make playable material, it's easy for me to overlook the pure creative process of cataloguing what a visitor to an imaginary place would see. The wonder. I'll see what I can craft spring-boarding from your delightful writing.


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## Celebrim (Dec 18, 2016)

Inhabitants of Qaybar

Maktab Al Rasam: The most celebrated artist of Qaybar and also the most mysterious.  No one knows his real name, and as far as anyone knows, no one has ever interacted with him on an extended basis.  He performs only one sort of art.  In the early morning before first light he finds a quiet street somewhere in the city and carefully creates a painting made of colored sand and chalk, laid carefully down on the street in a thin and wholly transient layer.  The subject matter is extremely varied, but he has a fondness for complicated geometric shapes, stylized animals and plants, and abstract forms.  The size of the painting can vary from between a foot across to on rare occasions vast pieces of artwork 30' or more across.  He's widely regarded as having the most subtle and best executed art in the city.  Centuries ago when his work first came to attention, each noble house tried to commission him to design murals and create paintings for them, but he proved quite impossible to communicate with.  A slender being of not extraordinary height, he is always cowled, with his lower face wrapped in a scarf.  He flees if interrupted in his work, leaving it unfinished, and seldom has been known to speak.  When he does, it is as one who is very nervous, but he is apparently fluent in many languages.  He has proven to have extraordinary powers of evasion and stealth, and the few times he's been successfully cornered he has managed at some point to distract his would be employers or captors and disappear without a trace.  After many such attempts, it has become a matter of tact and politeness to ignore the artist in his work, and the main families have all agreed to a truce with respect to 'the Rasam'.  Although his creations seldom last more than a few days before wind obliterates them, it is considered very poor manners and very bad luck to step on them - to the extent that denizens of the city will leave through windows or depart over roofs rather than their doors to avoid being seen destroying a painting.  Several attempts have been made to preserve his work, but the sand drawings have always proven far to delicate to move, and all have agreed that even the most successful attempts fail to capture the subtlety of the original's lines.

Khalil Alddafdae Bazzi Al Marbi ('Khahil Al Marbi'): A tall Jann with swallow skin.  His long black hair is braided and carefully gathered into a great black turban like the dome of a tower, and his carefully coifed, oiled, and perfumed beard terminates in a jaunty spiral.  The nails of his long slender fingers are painted, and each has a fine ring bearing a tasteful stone.  Khahil Al Marbi always dresses in blacks and other somber tones.  He seldom in fact appears in public save at the most stylish and desirable banquets, and then he is noted for being excessively taciturn and paranoid.  Although he has several less distinguished rivals, Khalil Al Marbi is the acknowledged master in the art of breeding amphibians of every sort, but most especially brightly colored frogs in vivid nearly florescent hues.  Few great families considering themselves stylish unless they have a terrarium displaying his works, and each family desires to gain exclusive access to a particular breed with unusual patterns or colors which no other family possesses.  Great fortunes are exchanged for frogs or newts of the most vivid and exotic sort.  Less discussed, but an open secret known to all in the city, is that Khalil Al Marbi is also one of the cities greatest artisans in the manufacture of poisons, capable of producing as they say in the city, "a poison for every occasion and circumstance".  For his part "Al Marbi" is extremely secretive and paranoid, never taking apprentices despite endless offers and promises of wealth, and never allowing anyone into his home beyond the front parlor.  He is known only to trust his three servants: a notoriously foul-mouthed and odiferous creature called Barakaka (ooze mephit/rogue 6) that delivers messages, a hulking Ogrima that serves as Khalil Al Marbi's doorman and bodyguard, and a hunchbacked goblin known only as "the Toad" that serves as his manservant.  All have proven unswervingly loyal to their lord, even when anyone is desperate enough to stoop to the embarrassing task of attempting to bribe ones of such uncouth station and breeding.  Khalil Al Marbi only purchases breeding stock from a handful of trusted merchants, only one of which lives within the city, and anyone wishing to deal with Al Marbi must generally deal through intermediaries.

Gamali Sabbagh Tartib al Zuhur ("Gamali Al Zuhur"): A broad shouldered tan skinned Jann with dark red hair and a short trim beard, Al Zuhur is the leading botanist of Qaybar, famous for his greenhouses, his extravagant lilies and orchids, his careful manners, and his sunny optimistic disposition.  He wears multicolored silks, often embroidered, and much garish jewelry.  Although he has never married, he lives in a great household with a half-dozen concubines, and a dozen apprentices - each of which tries to ape the mannerisms and fashion of his master.  Despite his manners, he is something of a recluse, seldom found outside the labyrinth of his beloved greenhouses - many of which contain plants of a most exotic and dangerous sort.  He conducts business through his ever changing cast of apprentices.  Ever changing, because each apprentice strives to win the trust and approval of the master at the expense if necessary of his rivals - up to and including acts of subtle murder and sabotage.  Al Zuhur is widely regarded despite his manners and appearance as one of the most dangerous persons in the whole city, and a Jann not lightly to be crossed.  He is a master and purveyor of all manner of potions, poisons and narcotics, and it is said he has a secret greenhouse where he maintains a crop of rare black lotuses.   Gamali al Zahur and Khahil al Marbi are said to have an old grudge between them, and it is said that each is engaged in attempting to outdo the other and produce a poison for which the other cannot produce or concoct an antidote, and that this is the reason both are so seldom seen outside their respective fortress like homes.  Whether this is true or what is the exact cause of the grudge, none can or is willing to say, but it is certainly true that either refuses to discuss anything touching upon his rival.


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## ArchfiendBobbie (Dec 18, 2016)

Quickleaf said:


> @_*ArchfiendBobbie*_ I imagine the jann as having a certain hauteur, preferring rare minerals either woven into their silks directly or using rare mineral dyes. These would be minerals found in ecological border zones (e.g. peat bogs, lava fields), with a tendency toward rust-tones and shimmering multi-hued tones. Jewelry would be especially popular, inlaid with rainbow obsidian, aquamarine, fire opals, and other stones.




What about including stones or materials made out of pure elements to reflect their elemental nature? Maybe gems made out of pure fire, water, and air for the ruling elite to show off both their wealth and their magical talent.

I suggest this because the wealthy and ruling elite of a nation always find some way to set themselves apart, some method to make it clear they are better than the common rabble. If normal jann are going for a certain hauteur, there has to be some way the nobility is set apart so they can be identified for what they are at a glance. And a race inherently magical is likely to use magic for that in some way.


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## Celebrim (Dec 18, 2016)

ArchfiendBobbie said:


> What about including stones or materials made out of pure elements to reflect their elemental nature? Maybe gems made out of pure fire, water, and air for the ruling elite to show off both their wealth and their magical talent.




I would imagine that one major aspect of Jann culture is that they have a bit of inferiority complex concerning their mixed heritage and non-elemental nature.  As such, I think that the last thing that they would do is celebrate elements and purity.   Moreover, wouldn't something like a gem of pure fire, seem more like a statement of support for their former Efreeti overlords than any sort of defiant pro-Material Plane statement?



> I suggest this because the wealthy and ruling elite of a nation always find some way to set themselves apart, some method to make it clear they are better than the common rabble.




In this case though, it's less about the need to say that they are better than say humans - because that's just obvious and wouldn't even really be in question - and instead more about the need to say that they are at least equal to and perhaps superior to the other Genie races.


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## ArchfiendBobbie (Dec 18, 2016)

Celebrim said:


> I would imagine that one major aspect of Jann culture is that they have a bit of inferiority complex concerning their mixed heritage and non-elemental nature.  As such, I think that the last thing that they would do is celebrate elements and purity.   Moreover, wouldn't something like a gem of pure fire, seem more like a statement of support for their former Efreeti overlords than any sort of defiant pro-Material Plane statement?




I think it would if they were just using each pure element stone on its own. Mixing all four into the same design would both show off the mixed elemental nature of the Material Plane. You could also include a stealth insult by having statues and royal outfits that have the mixture of all four elemental stones placed above a line of just pure fire elemental stones.



> In this case though, it's less about the need to say that they are better than say humans - because that's just obvious and wouldn't even really be in question - and instead more about the need to say that they are at least equal to and perhaps superior to the other Genie races.




I could see using the four elemental stones together as showing that, depending on how it's spun. The idea that they mastered all four and use all four together could imply that the mixture of all four is stronger than the individuals. Especially if used in a stealth insult fashion, as outlined above, towards lines of just one element.


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## Celebrim (Dec 18, 2016)

ArchfiendBobbie said:


> I could see using the four elemental stones together as showing that, depending on how it's spun. The idea that they mastered all four and use all four together could imply that the mixture of all four is stronger than the individuals. Especially if used in a stealth insult fashion, as outlined above, towards lines of just one element.




That Quickleaf called out opals as being especially prized means, I think, that he's way ahead of you on this, since the medieval magicians especially prized opals because they thought they were on account of their multiple colors, the joining or fusion of gems of every other color and so shared in the power of every other sort of gemstone.  

Sort of like how the Jann would see themselves.

Likewise I think he called out rust colors because rusts are formed by mixing earth and air (to opposing elements).  Also rust as a color is a sort of brown, and browns are formed by mixing all the pure colors together.

I missed rust trying to think of composite elements, but I can definitely imagine 'antiqued' metal with rust or patina on it as being prized by the Jann.  

Quickleaf's worldbuilding in this thread is so good, that the biggest challenge for me is trying to think of anything that he hasn't already thought of for himself in greater detail.


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## Celebrim (Dec 18, 2016)

Hanifah Milaff Aibnat Tanin: Hanifah Tanin “the Coiled Madam” (Jann Half-Dragon Sor14) is the result of a dalliance between of a Jann Lord and a shape-shifting Dragon.  She is known for her shape-shifting ability and her fondness for smoking opium, cannabis, tobacco and more exotic narcotics from an ornate hookah – the smoke of which she is always wreathed with. She dwells deep in the more run down portion of the Souk, in sumptuously decorated apartments in the basement beneath an opium den of ill repute.  From there she runs her empire of petty thieves, from which she derives her other title “the Sheikha of the Alleyways”.  Few are the cutpurses, pickpockets, hookers, sharpers, touts, beggars, con artists or footpads that dare ply their trade in the Souk without paying a tithe to the Coiled Madam, lest living smokes come to choke the breath from their lungs in their sleep.  Few orphans or urchins that escape the slave takers or the press gangs that impose the water debt on trespassers, escape her clutches, for they must rely on her for protection.  Besides being the foremost kidsman in Qaybar, she is fence of stolen information, who will pay handsomely for a valuable secret, and has a hand in many of the more unsavory institutions of the city.  It is dangerous to negotiate with the Coiled Madam however, for she is not above using her wiles upon the unwary, and she enjoys befuddling the minds of visitors with narcotic smokes.  Those who lose their powers of concentration, soon are subject to Hanifah’s enchantments and charms, and find themselves saying, signing documents, and doing things not at all in their interests. 

Nabil Abdul-Rahman Bey Suleijan (“Nabil Bey Suleijan”): One of the wealthiest and best liked merchants of Qaybar, the Bey Suleijan is known for being scruplously honest and fair in all of his dealings, but still being cunning and perceptive enough to get the better of anyone especially if they try to cheat him.  He is considered the finest haggler in Qaybar, and is also generally agreed to lay the finest table, and it is not unusual to see him in the markets haggling for various delicasies.  The Bey Suleijan is a jovial emmensely fat Jann with a long fine white beard, who prefers to dress in white silks and cloth of gold.  In his youth, the Bey Suleijan was a very well travelled Jann, who had dined in each of the great courts of Genie-kind, and in many of the grandest mortal courts.   Now he is in a state of semi-retirement however, and seldom leaves the city, leaving the acquisition of goods to sundry grand-children and servants that work under his direction.  He has a fondness for stories, and he will both listen to and tell stories with equal eagerness, and he is one of the best informed brokers of information in the city.  Little transpires within Qaybar that some inkling does not reach his ears.  But the greatest vice of the Bey Suleijan is food and his banquets are legendary throughout the city for more reasons than one.  Not only is his provender of the finest quality and the most exotic nature, but over the years the Bey Suleijan has by careful consumption of small doses of poison built up an immunity to nearly every sort of plant and animal toxin, and at times when he is distracted he forgets to remind his guests of the potential hazards of his table.  Thus, no small number of visitors have been poisoned by apparent accident, sharing a dish of raw blowfish or sautéed amanitas or a sauce made from the skin of poisonous tree frogs with their host.  By all appearances such occasions greatly distress the Bey Suleijan, though some do wonder whether he is in some way avenging himself on some who have offended him.  Be as it may, no invitation to a banquet by Bey Suleijan is ever refused, though those that attend always take the precaution of bringing the strongest antidotes and antitoxins that they can provide themselves with - just in case.  It is said that Nabil Bey Suleijan is one of the few friends of Khahil Al Marbi, and certainly he is the only merchant of the city with which he openly does business.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 19, 2016)

Celebrim said:


> That Quickleaf called out opals as being especially prized means, I think, that he's way ahead of you on this, since the medieval magicians especially prized opals because they thought they were on account of their multiple colors, the joining or fusion of gems of every other color and so shared in the power of every other sort of gemstone.
> 
> Sort of like how the Jann would see themselves.
> 
> ...




The fashion question was interesting, because I realized it wasn't something I'd written yet, but the ideas were so vividly in my mind...

Absolutely, you picked up on my inspirations spot on. I was looking at gemstones like opal & rainbow obsidian that carry multiple colors, and also those that have associations with travel/protection for travelers.

And the rust/patina were inspired by that underlying theme of "elemental union" (e.g. where water meets earth/metal). I could also see saffron robes, like those worn by Tibetan monks, worn by jann as a symbol of fire and air.



> Quickleaf's worldbuilding in this thread is so good, that the biggest challenge for me is trying to think of anything that he hasn't already thought of for himself in greater detail.




I'm very flattered. To be honest, I was really impressed by your "mystical travelogue" view of the city, and your NPCs have a lot of richness to them. 

I'll be developing this more over the holidays, but I think I have a brainstorm of Qaybar's locations by district...

*Al-Badia’s Gate*
*Bazaar*
Bathhouse
Caravanserai
Teahouse
*Beast Towers*
*Budayeen*
*Temples of the Cold Elemental Gods*
*Colleges*
Alchemist’s Guild
Arcanium of Jafar al-Samal
College of Cartography
Temple of the Great Gods
*Court of Shedus*
Saluqi Racetrack
*Crafters*
*Eternal Deluge*
*Floating Gardens*
Garden of Steams
Tree of Life
*Garrison*
Temple of Vataqatal
*Jarmik’s Gate*
Hall of Chests
Mosque of the Thirsty Jann
*Odiferous Trades*
Smokehouse
*Palace*
*Residential*
*Scribes*
Aviary ?


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## Celebrim (Dec 19, 2016)

Places in Qaybar

Plaza of the Vanquished Flame: This small plaza is dominated by a tall pillar, upon which rests a cage of metal and glass.  Inside is a large crystal urn, which holds an ever burning flame.  According to popular history, an efreet lord of a particular evil and foul disposition, who has been imprisoned within the urn as symbol of the Jann's liberation from bondage  More partisan Jann when passing the pillar spit maledictions at it, with hopes for the urn's occupants eternal suffering.  It is said that if anyone could open the urn, that the occupant would be required to fulfill three wishes for the one who released him.  However, any attempts to claim such wishes have failed disastrously, owing to large number of lethal magical traps which protect the urn, and the general unwillingness of most of the inhabitants of Qaybar to see such attempts succeed.  Some more cynical Jann doubt the urn contains anything at all, and believe the whole thing is just as sham designed to promote nationalist feeling and weed out inhabitants with some pro-Efreet sentiments.  As one of the best lit areas of the Souk on dark nights, it is a place of congregation for those seeking refuge from the shadows or loneliness, and many taverns and public houses line the sides of the plaza.  

The Well of the Washed Wound: In the days when Qaybar was ruled by Efreet overlords, a gate to allow embassies and traffic between allies the Nine Hells and the Efreet Lords of Qaybar was created, in the form of a vertical shaft which descended into the nether planes which was in those days called 'Well To The Hells'.  After the revolution, this gate was dispelled, and the bottom of the well blocked with many layers of stone, and the whole cleansed with great effort and filled with holy water, lest the Efreet's allies use the portal to undermine the new regime.  To secure these arrangements, three Hound Archons agreed to watch over the well with an eternal vigilance, so that it might not provide access to the Prime Material plane for invading fiends.  The well is now capped with a dome of stained glass, and its guardian's take care that no foul or unclean thing ever is allowed to touch the sacred water within lest its pollution weaken the cities defenses.  The archons have been known at times to bring a silver dipper of the well's water to beggars or other supplicants who show no trace evil in their disposition and grant such aid as they are able, but they generally are suspicious and gruff toward all who interrupt their duties.  From time to time, the well becomes polluted from below - an event instantly detected by its guardians - showing that there are still forces at work that wish to reopen the old gate.  After which, the water must be cleansed and blessed anew.  Once per year, those of good will within the city, assemble to renew protections upon the glass dome and the water within.

The Tourmaline Tower: This three sided tower of great height rises above the guildhalls and workshops of the glassblowers and glasscutters of Qaybar as an example of the pinnacle of their craftsmanship.  The glassworkers of Qaybar are known for their ability to create glass which mimics the properties of more valuable gemstones, with the best examples being able to fool even well-trained eyes.  The costume jewelry of the artisans of Qaybar, it's resin jewels and its cut glass, is held as without peer anywhere - as is its merchant's ability to pass fakes off for more valuable pieces.  Even so, the very best pieces are esteemed highly enough to be considered works of art in their own right.  Formed of great rough slabs subtly colored glass, carefully joined and supported by means that are closely guarded secrets of the guilds, the great tower rises above the surrounding city like a vast uncut crystal with bands of pink, yellow-green, smoky black, and pale lavender.  When the sun light passes through the tower it casts strangely colored shadows on the city walls.  Mystic rites of the glass guilds such as the elevation of members, the teaching of the guilds sacred and secret lore, and the yearly requests for blessing by patrons of fire, earth, and the arts, are held publically upon the stairless towers summit and more often within its shrouded base.  Chipping pieces of the tower, something sometimes undertaken by visitors believing the tower to be a single massive gemstone, is considered in very bad form, and earns the fool an appropriately lengthy and painful lesson.

The Smoke Medina: The most dangerous portion of the city is the tangled medina that surrounds the open souk in the bazaar district and has fingers which seem to reach impossibly into many other quarters of the city, not all of which would seem to be adjacent. It's narrow dark streets that sometimes turn into tunnels as they pass underneath buildings twist unpredictably and are lined with small shops with wares which during the day spill out into the streets. During the day the streets are always filled with reeking odors and the smokes of small cook fires, lamps, and hookahs, which bewilder the senses and assault the nose with everything from the reek of offal, to sulfur, to cloves, cinnamon and saffron. But the most famous aspect of the smoke medina and the true reason that it gets its name is that every night at midnight, the buildings of the medina and the alleyways subtlety shift and twist, forming new paths and connections. Thus paths which the morning before or even the moment before led to familiar environs may lead to completely new portions of the city. The exact twisting's of the medina have so far as anyone knows never been mapped, but they do not appear to be completely random, for those born to the Medina seemingly have the knowledge to cope with the difficulty of awakening in a new city every morning, and are able to recognize the city as their own and find paths appropriately. Those not born to the medina however, frequently become lost, even those native to the city, and as such many avoid it and not only because of flies and unpleasant smells. Travel at night in the pitch dark alleys and tunnels after the shops are boarded up is to be especially avoided, and far more horrible fates than being robbed have been said to befall strangers that dare the medina near midnight. At night the alleyways become the lair of rats, and there are said to be run down sections of the medina which even the locals avoid, where charnel smell emanate from empty dilapidated homes, where the sky is seldom and then never seen, and where few or perhaps no paths return to inhabited stretches. Tales abound of mad-eyed travelers who disappear for weeks, only to return famished with hunger and thirst and feverish with horrors they claim to have escaped. Some few indeed disappear without a trace. The Smoke Medina is home to the lowest and poorest classes and castes of the city, including many of its non-Jann inhabitants as well as its most unsavory sorts. However in its back allies can be found amongst the many cons and scams some of the most exotic items for trade in the city, and many of its best deals, thus many a merchant will dare the medina particularly if they are engaged in some more illicit trade, following after the scent of profit.

The Musalla of the Great Caliph: Not everywhere in the Smoke Medina is without honor.   When the city was under the rule of the Efreet, the Jann partisans plotting against their masters relied on the mazes of the Smoke Medina for secrecy and evasion.  The headquartered themselves in the humblest abode they could find and gathered allies and weapons.  In these efforts they were assisted the most by emissaries of the Great Caliph of the Djinn, who say in the Jann an opportunity to stake at the power of his hated rival.  After they achieved victory, the leaders of the rebellion decreed that the house that had been their sanctum and meeting hall should be converted into a shrine honoring the Great Caliph and the Djinn.  The exterior of this building is unremarkable and the markings of its curtained entrance easily missed in the gloom, but the interior has been decorated with the highest craftsmanship available to the Jann.  The main shrine is not large, but rises 60’ up to a domed and windowed cupula surrounding a skylight, and the entire chamber is lit with exquisite lamps and censers which burn with a most pleasing aroma.  All the walls have been carved and adorned with delicate tilework of light blue and white, depicting winds blowing endlessly around the room.   These winds are carefully designed so that their eddies form a script in the Auran language which circles around the walls of the building, praising the many virtues of the Great Caliph of the Djinn.   The floor of the shrine is glass of the most translucent sort, placed several feet above an exquisite painting so that, unless the viewer makes careful note of the occasional stray parakeet dropping, the room appears to have no floor at all, but to float in the night sky.  In the center of the shrine is a great censer of frosted glass about 4’ in diameter which floats magically about 7’ above the floor, and which forever releases a fragrant smoke.  Small offerings of incense and spice or blessings and prayers written upon papyrus are placed in this censure.   A caretaker is appointed to the shrine, and lives in small apartments off of the main chamber, and four smoke sylphs – or Enenra - serve as the caretakers staff.   A small flock of multicolored parakeets are suffered to roost in the cupula and on the roof of the shrine, and their chirps, whistles, and songs, can be heard at most hours.  A second small wing of the shrine, opposite the quarters of the caretaker, contains a small museum explaining the places history and honoring the Jann and Djinn fighters that once gathered here.


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## Celebrim (Dec 19, 2016)

More inhabitants of Qaybar

Mudriz Aladjabad Ibn Natn (“Ibn Natn”): The Ibn Natn is an inhabitant of Qaybar that most do not know exists, and those that do know would generally rather that they do not.   While most inhabitants of Qaybar would tell you that the Smoke Medina is the worst quarter of the city, they are very far wrong.  There is a worse place by far, spoken of rarely and in hushed tones lest speaking of it bring misfortune or unwanted attention.  It goes by several names – the Charnel Quarter, the Empty Quarter, the Lost Quarter, and the Dark Side.   It consists of lightless tunnels running beneath the ordinary city, and lost streets that no longer normally link up with the lighted part of the city except on strange days and times.  Nonetheless, even on the best days, those with the right knowledge know how to find its concealed and foreboding entrances and how to pass through its usually locked gates.  Mudriz Ibn Natn appears to be a Jann of exceptional height, with pale damp seeming skin the color of a maggot and fierce red eyes.  He is always in a choking cloud of perfume to try to cover up his reek, which is evident when he speaks even at a considerable distance.  He dresses in fine rust colored silks, and abundant jewelry – much of which is probably fake.  A great turban of bronze colored cloth is always about his head, and robes which trail upon the ground – and consequently show the stains of offal and dung.   He never uses his real name in introductions, and instead prefers various fanciful titles.  He will use various glamours and magic to disguise his true appearance whenever he believes those he deals with are too unwise to penetrate such disguises.  In fact, the Ibn Natn is a Great Ghul of exceptional cunning, age, and prowess among his kind (12HD, Wiz9).  He rules the Charnel Quarter from a lavish court its darkest recesses, and commands a small army of unruly servitors – a dozen Ghul-Kin, two dozen ghasts, and a variety of even less pleasant creatures including wererats, nabussu and dretches that call Charnel Quarter home.  Beneath his turban and robes are the ears and hooves of a wild ass, and his smile conceals a row of knife like teeth that decorate a jaw which can expand to terrible width.  At night, his minions issue forth from their dank tunnels to fetch the uneaten food and uncollected dung of the city, and carry it back to their lairs where they allow its rot and putrescence to ripen before gorging and feasting upon the maggot filled horrors.   For this reason, the charnel quarter is overrun with vapor rats, flies, biting flies, and robber flies – some of which are said to reach unusual and monstrous size.  It is said by the most unsavory merchants that Ibn Natn is greedy for all manner of arcane lore, and though he is a most dangerous being to bargain with, he will trade secrets and all manner of stolen goods and unsavory favors for volumes of arcane lore.  With these secrets, Ibn Natn hopes to unlock a weapon which will allow him to come out of the shadows and claim the throne of the city for himself.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 19, 2016)

[MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] I adore your NPCs! Nabil Bey Suleijan leaps off the page and is just begging to be used in a dinner negotiations encounter over simmering blowfish stew.  And I especially like how you made a connection between him and al-Marbi! Awesome! Thanks! I'll absolutely be using this in my game.


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## Celebrim (Dec 19, 2016)

Quickleaf said:


> [MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] I adore your NPCs!




Ok, good.  I'll concentrate on NPCs then.  I normally churn out vast quantities of these sort of things for my own game, most of which invariably go unused.  I've got another half-dozen in mind I haven't written up.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 20, 2016)

Celebrim said:


> Ok, good.  I'll concentrate on NPCs then.  I normally churn out vast quantities of these sort of things for my own game, most of which invariably go unused.  I've got another half-dozen in mind I haven't written up.




Your ideas and execution are top notch. If I was near Colombus, I'd love to play in one of your games.  I am going to focus on the sites/locations and mapping; even though I'm running with  [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION]'s idea of it being polymorphic, I am going to try to assign some districts and organize the adventure sites by district. Also working on the encounter tables...hopefully I can incorporate some of your wonderful NPCs into the mix.


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## Celebrim (Dec 20, 2016)

Hadiya Rafidah Kassis - Hadiya is a tall Jinn with pale clay colored skin who gathers her very long brown hair tastefully beneath an earth colored scarf, but leaves her arms shockingly bare.  Both of these decisions are based more on practical concerns than fashion or ideology, for Hadiya is the head of the Royally Chartered and Sacred Alliance of Brick Makers, and is an acknowledged Master of her trade, and so well acquainted with clay and mud of all sorts.  Since the majority of structures in the city are made of fired brick or are supported within by fired brick, there is a great call for the trade of the Beyg Kassis and her colleagues, and great honor in the work.  Hadiya's arms are as muscular and powerful as all but a very few male Jann, and she has a polite but forward demeanor in public quite far from the simpering languid women of the fashionable salons.  She is considered quite comely and well-formed by even the most critical of observers, but her bulging biceps, far from demure personality, and high station intimidate even the most confident of suitable suitors, and she suffers fools, fops, and rakes poorly.  Rumor has it that she has a paramour among the Dao, but whether the rumor is true or slander composed by some rival or embarrassed suitor is not commonly known.  When about her trade, she wears an apron of dragon leather, and arms herself with a pliant cord of some unknown metal that once was the scourge of an Efreet taskmaster.  With this, she dispenses discipline to her sometimes unruly mixed crew of water genasi, earth genasi, and especially her quarrelsome fire salamanders and enslaved fire elementals.  Hadiya is proud of her fire and earth heritage, and will accept no slights against them, but she's equally a fierce Qaybar partisan and Jann nationalist.  Although they are frequently at odds over policy and often wroth with each other, there is a great measure of mutual respect between the Lalla Kassis and Sheik Salib.  

Ayah Lujain Samaha - Ayah Samaha is considered the finest glassblower in Qaybar, famed equally for her her well formed panes and her delicate ewers and containers.  Any alchemist of the city with the necessary funds prefers "a real Samaha" for his alembics, distilling tubes, and measuring cylinders, and the glazers and formers of stained glass windows equally prefer her work.  So high is the demand for her art, that she may turn away whatever commissions do not suit her, and still live quite comfortably and practice her art continually.  Ayah is a wand slender, graceful but surprisingly powerful Jann with much admired radiant chocolate brown skin and large shadowy eyes.  She dresses in saffron and brown, and goes about unveiled.  When not at work she prefers to decorate her face with powder and thin gold foil in the forms of delicate insects.  She has many suitors and enjoys flirtation, but never has publically taken a lover or accepted any serious overtures of courtship, preferring to devote herself at present to her craft.     

Maysoon Lubadah Kanaan ("Lalla Kanaan", "Mulazima Kanna", or "Maysoon the Ice Lalla") - Maysoon Kanaan is an officer among the aswaran (Jann, Rgr6), noted as being one of if not the best archer in Qaybar.  She is a pale skinned Jann with unusual frost grey hair and opalescent eyes, who has earned the nickname the "the Ice Lalla".  She prefers to dress in pale blues and sand colors, and in public goes about veiled and cowled.  Fierce and taciturn, Kanaan is not well liked, but she is respected and feared.  She harbors an unquenchable hatred toward the Efreet, and does not hide her pleasure at slaying enemies of the city.  Fitting her personality, she is armed with a large _icy burst composite bow +2_.  No one in the city would dare admit that her nickname is a result of her personality rather than this weapon.  Most that know the Ice Lalla would not imagine she has a softer side, but she has a great affection toward her pet hunting eagle which she dotes on almost like it were a child.  She also is firmly in the political camp of the Bey Salib, whom she treats like a beloved father.  He in turn allows her to address him as 'Uncle', and shows a tenderness of speech toward her quite unlike his famously acidic tongue.

Sheik Abdul Rayib Bey Salib ("Abdul Bey Salib", "Skeik Salib", "the Bey Salib", "Old Thunderer") - Abdul Bey Salib (Jann Sheik, Ari15) is a veteran of the revolt against the Efreet, and one of Qaybar's most seasoned and feared fighters.  A former commander of the garrison, Sheik Salib is nominally retired from the post, but is still highly respected by all of Qaybar's fighting forces and his military advice is held in the highest regard.  Sheik Salib lives in his own fortified Palace which is continually drenched by an eternal rainstorm, surrounded by many servants and the few family members that tolerate his presence continually.  As a staunch supporter of the Marid and Djinn, he despises anything to do with fire and only tolerates earth as a necessity - going so far as to abstain from cooked food or distilled beverages to show his scorn for the Efreet and anything to do with them.  In a culture that prizes itself on always observing at least the forms of politeness, Sheik Salib is known for his forthright and acidic tongue, which is never far from finding a curse or an obscenity to punctuate his observations.  Nonetheless, owing to his reputation and prevailing manners, virtually everyone in the city responds to this blistering assault by ignoring it, and continues to observe every small nicety whether out of fear or a feeling that answering in kind is beneath him.  Although he never tires of complaining of his failing health and strength, no one in the city doubts that he is not still a swordsman of great prowess and skill.  He goes even in the marketplace clunking about in highly weathered sea green full plate armor and carrying a large two handed curved _keen falchion +3_ with a pearl pommel, both of which - he claims - were forged without the aid of fire.  He has a train or cape of living water which responds to his commands.  Except when going to battle, he goes about unhelmed - revealing his heavily scarred bald pate.  One side of his face is badly burned, and he is blind on that side - he covers his destroyed eye with a black patch.  If ever he was handsome, there is no remaining trace of it and he seems to take delight in his hideousness.  To evade the rays of the sun, he is accompanied on such excursions by two water genasi slave girls, who hold canopies above his head.

Azma Nazaa Beyg Kattan - The Beyg Kattan is a the wealthy widow of a famed memory merchant of noble linage, who died as a result of an unfortunate alchemical experiment.  Their union produced no heir, and the Beyg Kattan has never remarried.  The Beyg Kattan is still a very beautiful woman, ageless and graceful, with flawless almond skin, a great mass of black hair tied up in ribbons and covered with a diaphanous shawl that extends to her ankles.  She wears many layered dresses, embroderied and decorated with small gem stones and pearls.  She prefers subtle colors such as white, pale yellow, and pale pink.  In her youth, she was said to be a singer and a dancer of some reknown (Jann, Brd6), but in her present station she does not perform - at least not publically.  Rather, the Beyg Kattan is known now for the quality of her salon and the company she keeps.  She is famed for inviting the finest scholars, researchers, artisans, poets, composers, and philosophers - both mortal and immortal - to have tea or dine with her, and hosting them in the most elegant and refined fashion.  She possesses great erudition, a keen and penetrating mind, and a gift at making the most socially awkward feel at ease.  Whomever she speaks to feels as if she were keenly interested in their work, a knack only enhanced by the fact it is often true.  Invitations to her salons are thus highly prized, often with surprising results, for the Beyg Kattan's reputation extends beyond the walls of Qaybar into unexpected places and one never knows quite whom they are going to meet - though the Beyg Kattan is a fair enough judge of character to generally avoid inviting two rivals to the same party.  Likewise, her introductions are considered to be worth more than gold, for to be found by the Beyg Kattan, and deemed suitable to introduce in high society is almost a sure ticket to success.  Many romances have also begun in her salon, and she has a reputation as a matchmaker.  Although it is not worth her reputation to invite someone unsuitable to a party, she is not above extracting favors from those of lower station whom she could aid, and above all she expects to be repaid with contacts.

Khawaja Misbah Al Tami Deeb ("Kawaja Deeb") - Misbah Al Tami Deeb is a rare Makhluqtin, that is a genie of a tribe native to the para-elemental plane of ooze, who styles himself a Khawaja - or an Honored Master amongst the people of Qaybar.  Little is known of these rare people even to the Jann, so whether he has this title among his own kind is not known.  The Makhluqtin are believed by most scholars to be the result of some union between Marids and Doa.  Such suggestions cause Misbah Deeb to quiver with suppressed rage, and he is quick to assert that his people are the the native spirits of their home and not mixed blood interlopers at all - whatever logic and evidence may assert.  Khawaja Deeb is somewhat short for a genie, standing at about 7' height, but of reasonable height among the Jann.  He is also about as broad as he is tall, with stumpy thick arms and legs ending in fat digits.  His chin and belly have many rolls and folds, and shake gelatinously whenever he moves.  His skin is a dark grey color, like the thick mud at the bottom of a pond, and continually glistens with moisture.  He dresses in short breeches, simple sandals, a sleeveless vest, and a tasseled fez, preferring green colors but his clothes are always stained.  This appearance, were he a Jann would mark him of such low birth as to be beneath regard in even moderately respectable circles, but Khawaja is by demonstrable power no Jann but be being of the elemental planes.  Between this and his claim of rank, the Jann of Qaybar reluctantly accept him as a social peer - regrettable though this may be.  Aside from his stature, Kawaja Deeb is a very wealthy merchant, and however lightly he regards his displaying his wealth, his resources are considerable and his importance to the economy great enough that few would dare offend him.  Kawaja Deeb is a clay miner and merchant, employing scores of workers, owning many slaves, and bringing to the city laden wagon loads of clay of every sort - from the heavy brown clays from which come fired bricks, to the pale fine grained clay that forms the cities famous porcelain.  When deprived of access to nearby clay by the city's constant motion, no one is more reliable than Kawaja Deeb at keeping the supply of clay steadily flowing.  And when one requires or desires clay with special properties, no one is better at finding it.  Although he's tolerated among the upper class of Qaybar, he is well liked by the more common classes.  Although he insists on being addressed at all times as a superior, he otherwise has few airs, he is free with his money, and his tastes run to the common.  He is a great lover of beer - by the barrel - and of simple food, especially stewed vegetables, of which he can consume whole cauldrons of a time.  If the food is slightly spoiled it is no barrier to his appetite, and mold and mushrooms he delights in as a connoisseur.  He laughs often and loudly, often at himself.  He is no great conversationalist, is frequently rude without meaning to be, and cares to talk at length about little except the virtues and glories of muck and ooze, clays and slime, and wonders of acids.  But he is greatly entertained by crude jokes and risqué stories, and content to listen to such fare.


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## Celebrim (Dec 20, 2016)

I've got questions about how you envision the whole planeshifting city thing working.

According to the text, the city just got back from the elemental plane of fire.  This seems like a hugely important fact.  How can a city of hanging gardens and magical fig trees, with silk banners shading the streets, manage on the plane of fire with its essential features unchanged?  Wouldn't everything but the stone burn slam up?  Every tree and blade of grass would whither to ash.  Every stream, spring, pool and fountain would dry up.  Glass would run like water, and paint would leap into flame.   All those talking animals and tamed beasts would have long ago been BBQ.  Was Qaybar an entirely different city in form when on the Elemental Plane of Fire?  Or does Qaybar bring with it some sort of bubble that mitigates the whole "We're not in Al Kansas anymore." thing.

On a related note, I kinda had in my view of history...

Long, Long Ago: The Jann are subjugated by the Efreet
Some time After: The Jann revolt, many Jann become wanderers
Some time After: Qaybar is formed, as refuge for the Jann and center of their power.
Since Then: Qaybar has been planeshifting around, occasionally returning to the plane of fire and sometimes resisting sieges 

But your time line seems to imply...

A Short Time Ago: Qaybar was dominated by the Efreet
A Short Time After That: It planeshifts away, and now the Jann are temporarily free, but...
A Century Hence: They'll probably be dominated by the Efreet again

This latter conception, if it and not my earlier conception is correct, changes almost everything.  Please clarify how this works.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 20, 2016)

Celebrim said:


> I've got questions about how you envision the whole planeshifting city thing working.
> 
> According to the text, the city just got back from the elemental plane of fire.  This seems like a hugely important fact.  How can a city of hanging gardens and magical fig trees, with silk banners shading the streets, manage on the plane of fire with its essential features unchanged?  Wouldn't everything but the stone burn slam up?  Every tree and blade of grass would whither to ash.  Every stream, spring, pool and fountain would dry up.  Glass would run like water, and paint would leap into flame.   All those talking animals and tamed beasts would have long ago been BBQ.  Was Qaybar an entirely different city in form when on the Elemental Plane of Fire?  Or does Qaybar bring with it some sort of bubble that mitigates the whole "We're not in Al Kansas anymore." thing.




Ah, great question! I'm using the 5e version of the Plane of Fire, which isn't universally a conflagration... The 5e DMG describes it as mostly being comparable to a hot desert (though the deeper one goes the hotter it gets), albeit wracked by cinder storms (fierce wind and thick ash) which can complicate breathing. Most travelers to the plane cover their mouths with a scarf or keffiyeh. Also, the deeper one goes, the rarer water becomes.

I also envision Qaybar as a bit of a roaming oasis. One of the things that stood out about jann in the Al-Qadim setting is that they were stewards of oases, knowing all the secret watering holes of the desert. If someone was using an older version of the Plane of Fire then, yes, I'd recommend having Qaybar have its own bubble to some extent.

Certainly the city was different on the Plane of Fire, but maybe not as extreme as you describe... For example, there likely was less water for gardens/agriculture/bathing (since _create food and water_ is enough for drinking but not really for heavier uses), so the gardens may have been xeriscaped, with only the oldest/sacred trees being watered preferentially. There may have been sections of the city that ran hotter, with glass rivers and flaming paintings, and swarms of fire bats (a few which still linger to this day).

One of the things I liked about your NPCs and locations is how you're building in that "formerly subjugated by efreet on the Plane of Fire" theme.



> On a related note, I kinda had in my view of history...
> 
> Long, Long Ago: The Jann are subjugated by the Efreet
> Some time After: The Jann revolt, many Jann become wanderers
> ...




I like your timeline much better, so let's go with that! 

My original timeline emerged out of adapting an adventure (_Blood & Fire_ by John Baichtal in DUNGEON #63); in that adventure there's an un-detailed city called "Qaybar" that the author uses as a starting point for the adventure. Originally it was a human city with ambiguous placement "somewhere" in Zakhara (there were suggestions given for a few places); in the original, the timeline of the "warlord" being overthrown was much faster. 

[SBLOCK=original intro to Blood & Fire]
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





[/SBLOCK]

That was the original mention of Qaybar, nothing else.

In adapting the adventure to my Al-Qadim PbP game, I came up with the idea of having Qaybar be a City of the Jann the PCs would travel to, rather than a generic pseudo-Arabian starting point. I had previously corresponded with Rob McCaleb, the cartographer who did the wonderful fan map of Al-Qadim, and he placed Qaybar in the southern High Desert inland from the Pearl Cities ("where trade is the second law of the Loregiver").

So that gave me a starting point. _These_ jann would have a mercantile culture, and a city that reflected their nomadic nature as described in the Monster Manual, and I've just been building on it from there...


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## Celebrim (Dec 20, 2016)

Quickleaf said:


> Ah, great question! I'm using the 5e version of the Plane of Fire, which isn't universally a conflagration... The 5e DMG describes it as mostly being comparable to a hot desert (though the deeper one goes the hotter it gets), albeit wracked by cinder storms (fierce wind and thick ash) which can complicate breathing. Most travelers to the plane cover their mouths with a scarf or keffiyeh. Also, the deeper one goes, the rarer water becomes.




Ahh... ok.  I'm not familiar with 5e cosmology.  In 1e through 3e, extreme levels of adaptation were needed to survive on the elemental plane of fire.  

But regardless, I suggest you work out in advance how this is all going to work.  For example, when they hit the elemental plain of water, are they going to be in a bubble of air, or is everything going to be underwater?   When they get to the elemental plain of earth, are all the spaces suddenly going to be filled with solid rock, or is city going to snap neatly into a cave that fits it?  If you don't have a bubble, then the city is absolutely going to be dominated by the need to be continually preparing for the next transition as the overwhelming factor in civic life.  I have done basically zero world building along the lines of a city that is prepared for radical transitions in its environment.  I'm also unsure that the Jann are well enough adapted to the other planes to live there without a bubble of some sort.



> One of the things I liked about your NPCs and locations is how you're building in that "formerly subjugated by efreet on the Plane of Fire" theme.




Yes, but I realized that I was getting all my world building completely wrong.  I was building for a society that had been largely stable for centuries and had reached a decadent pinnacle.  I wasn't building for a society that had a violent revolution 10 or 20 years prior, was in the process of rebuilding from that while facing the absolute certainty of having to defend itself to the last in a century.  That society would look completely different, and almost all of my characters are wrong for it.  The society that got out from under the throne of the Efreet a few years ago and was about to face another plunge would be 100% devoted to military affairs and could afford to be 100% devoted to military affairs.  Unless you know that you can weather the coming storm, no one is going to relax and do anything else.  Forget art and decoration, we need walls, siege engines, gates, weapons, armies, fortresses, and mighty spells and we need them now.



> I like your timeline much better, so let's go with that!




I don't know that my timeline is better, but I think Qaybar is a very different place if this is the first cycle that they've been free or if they know that in most cycles they become enslaved.  Qaybar only looks like what you've been describing if Qaybar has gone through the trials of several cycles and been able to handle them.  Some of my PC really can only be understood as being someone who remembers what it was like before Qaybar had relative peace, security, prosperity, and stability.  The Qaybar early post revolution is dominated 100% by characters like  Maysoon Lubadah Kanaan and Sheik Abdul Rayib Bey Salib.  There are no other factions around really at that point.  Everyone is basically either Fanatics or Extreme Fanatics, and everyone is going to be pretty much going, "They are going to want revenge, and we've only got 100 years to get ready."   Your description of Qaybar places the armed forces as being only about 3% of the populace.  In a situation of existential survival, I'd expect the armed forces to be closer to 8-10% of the populace.   My assumption was that the first 3-5 cycles, the Efreet wanted revenge, but gradually as it became clear that retaking Qaybar was a costly enterprise with small reward, the Efreet finally rationalized to themselves that they didn't really want that _wet, dirty, breezy_ city with its mongrel inhabitants scarcely fit to be slaves anyway.  



> In adapting the adventure to my Al-Qadim PbP game, I came up with the idea of having Qaybar be a City of the Jann, rather than a generic pseudo-Arabian starting point. I had previously corresponded with Rob McCaleb, the cartographer who did the wonderful fan map of Al-Qadim, and he placed Qaybar in the southern High Desert inland from the Pearl Cities ("where trade is the second law of the Loregiver").




Ok.  Well, if you are high level, a city of Jann makes a better locus for adventures than an ordinary city.

So, might I suggest you outline what you are thinking of in very broad terms as the history of the city?

Rough Draft to Get you Started

~5000 Years Ago - A Jann Hero is charged with protecting the Seal of Jafar al-Samal.  He founds Qaybar in the caldera of an extinct volcano, and hides the seal.  He charges his descendants with protecting the seal from harm.  During this time, Qaybar is mostly a small quasi-religious outpost, visited by desert nomads sporadically to settle disputes, exchange brides, barter, and perform sacrifices and festivals.  
~4000 Years Ago - A Pasha of the Efreet is charged with creating an outpost or settlement on the Prime Material Plane.  He chooses Qaybar as a likely target, secretly hoping to discover the seal of Jafar al-Samal and with it over throw the Sultan.  Armed with the Sultans armies, he quickly destroys the descendants of the ancient hero, and with it knowledge of the location of the seal.  With the with aid of laborers on the Plane of Fire stokes its flames to make the environment suitably hot, and after investigating but not finding the seal, appoints one of his sons as Malik of the city to rule over it.  
~4000-1000 Years Ago - The outpost of Qaybar grows into a small city from which the Efreet now rule the surrounding region with an flaming iron hand.  They take many slaves, but favor the Jann for their hardiness.  Jann population grows to nearly an order of magnitude larger than the their Efreet masters.
~1010 Years Ago: The Jann begin to rise up, aided by Djinn, Jann nomads (some of whom were escaped slaves), and (to a largely unacknowledged extent, human slaves and neighboring human cities with grudges against the Efreet).
~1000 Years Ago: After brutal fighting, the Malik is killed.  A small band of heroes of the fighting rediscover the location of the seal of Seal of Jafar al-Samal.  After discovering that some of their Djinn allies now wish to steal the seal for their own, claiming that they alone have the power to protect it, the heroes vow to prevent it falling into hands of any genie, and cast a great spell using a mix of mortal, immortal and divine magic that causes Qaybar and its immediate environs to begin to planeshift semi-randomly about the inner planes, thereby ensuring that no power of the inner planes except the Jann will find Qaybar a favorable center of power for long.  They appoint their leader to be the new Emir, and swear absolute secrecy regarding the location and even existence of the seal.
~900 Years Ago: The Efreet seek to retake Qaybar and exact vengeance when it arrives on the Plane of Fire.  Many of the heroes of the revolution are slain in the siege, but despite 20 years of fighting Qaybar remains standing.
~700 Years Ago: Qaybar is briefly overrun by an angry Sultan who dispatches his whole army against the city, killing many of the Jann but at great cost in lives.  They try to remove the curse on Qaybar but fail, owing to the use of mortal magic in its creation.
~670 Years Ago: Efreet are forced to abandon their occupation after Qaybar planeshifts to the Elemental plane of Water, resulting in great loss of life and the death of one of the Sultans sons.
~500 Years Ago: The last major attempt to subjugate Qaybar occurs, but during the siege, one of the Pashas uses the opportunity to stage a palace coup and slay the then Sultan.  The armies are withdrawn.
Present Day:  Whatever plots you want to lay in motion.

Modify this to fit whatever your secrets are and whatever you know or have already established about the time line.

Assumption: The City of Brass is no more than about 1/10th as populace as it is sometimes portrayed in 3e.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 20, 2016)

Celebrim said:


> Ahh... ok.  I'm not familiar with 5e cosmology.  In 1e through 3e, extreme levels of adaptation were needed to survive on the elemental plane of fire.




Yep, I know AD&D the best. It looks like with 5e they've described the elemental planes as having a slightly different layout - much of the plane is a border zone that's more survivable for non-natives, and then the heart of the plane is the pure element that requires extreme adaptation to survive. I've been going with the 5e assumption (since that's what we're playing), but I think it can work for any edition.

For example, if you are using the AD&D/d20 Plane of Water, then Qaybar's planeshift into Water would look a little different... the Eternal Deluge around Sheikh Salib's place would expand to cover the whole city and just not stop until crossing into the Plane of Water. A sphere of air would surround Qaybar allowing its non-water breathing inhabitants to survive. This bubble, legends say, is a byproduct of a great spell cast by Jafar al-Samal, the first sha'ir, upon Qaybar when he hid his Seal there from other genie-kind.



> But regardless, I suggest you work out in advance ahead of time how this is all going to work.  For example, when they hit the elemental plain of water, are they going to be in a bubble of air, or is everything going to be underwater?   When they get to the elemental plain of earth, are all the spaces suddenly going to be filled with solid rock, or is city going to snap neatly into a cave that fits it?  If you don't have a bubble, then the city is absolutely going to be dominated by the need to be continually preparing for the next transition as the overwhelming factor in civic life.  I have done basically zero world building along the lines of a city that is prepared for radical transitions in its environment.




Here's my conception of how the build-up to, and eventually crossing over into, each elemental plane would look...

*Into Air:* In the months prior to the planeshift, birds flock to the city in even greater numbers and fierce winds whip through the surrounding land, kicking up sandstorms (or tsunamis, or thunderstorms, or windstorms). Because the djinn are the most beneficent of genie-kind, many pilgrims journey to Qaybar in caravans the hunker down, pressing through biting storms. Sail-makers and skyship-wrights travel to the city to ply their trades. Sales of kites, winged mounts, and other magic trinkets allowing flying would skyrocket. Strange portents, voices, songs, and scents are carried on the morning breeze. Like our own world's Chinook winds, the city's inhabitants go through uncomfortable transitions, erratic behavior, and strange dreams. Eventually, after a particularly fierce storm, the city finds itself floating on an earthberg suspended on a roiling cloud.

*Into Water:* In the months prior to the planeshift, The Eternal Deluge surrounding Sheikh Salib's palace grows even stronger, causing roots to become inundated with water. Lotus blossoms bloom, but many land-based gardens begin to suffer rot, and the agriculture transitions to something more like fantastical hydroponics. The surrounding region of Qaybar's current plan gets hit by hard rains, causing rivers to flood, which is good for some crops like rice but bad for others as well as making travel exceedingly difficult. Boat-makers would begin to flock to Qaybar, working with great intensity, as would emissaries to the marids. Sales in magical trinkets allowing underwater breathing and aquatic mounts would increase. Rivers might shift their flow to fill in the "open mouth" of Qaybar's crescent. Eventually, after a hard rain on a cloudy/misty night, the city's inhabitants awaken to find themselves on a small island amidst an Endless Sea. Lower sections of the city - such as the "Charnel Quarter" - might become partially submerged, so, for example, the ghasts/ghouls serving Ibn Natn might become lacedons.

*Into Earth:* In the months prior to the planeshift, nightly tremors would cause rocks to upthrust around the city like fingers extending from the sands/seas/flames (or floating "earth-bergs" to be attracted to Qaybar as if by magnetism on the Plane of Air). These tremors might cause canyons to form, such that travelers to Qaybar must enter via canyon trails. Miners and cavers would be employed by the various nobles and merchants in great number, and mages able to cast _dig_/_move earth_/_passwall_ would be in great demand. Sales of lodestones, giant lizards, and magical light sources would increase. Strange creatures and secret passages may be unearthed in the "Charnel Quarter." Sandstorms / Dust storms would whip against the city's walls, and in the mind's eye might seem to momentarily outline a massive cavern. Nights would get darker and darker, with fewer and fewer stars visible. Eventually, after a particularly fierce earthquake / storm, the sun would not rise and the city would find itself either on the slope of a dark endless mountain or within a massive cavern.

*Into Fire:* In the months prior to the planeshift, temperatures would soar, the wadis (seasonal river beds) would run dry, and rainfall would become increasingly infrequent. Desperate travelers would seek succor from the jann, who can _create food & water_ as the surrounding region is plunged into drought and plagued by giant vultures. Remembering their suffering at the hands of the efreet, the jann of Qaybar would become increasingly militant and distrustful of those entering their city gates (are they spies for the efreet?). Mercenaries, armor & weapon smiths, and engineers would be commissioned for handsome fees. Mounts adapted to fire like nightmares would be especially prized, and sales of_ potions of fire resistance_ (and similar magics) would increase. Hot springs would form throughout the city, with purportedly healing properties even as they wreck havoc on the agriculture. In the hot dry environment, different plants and animals would thrive. Dazzling light and blazing heat would increase to the point that outside of the city walls dry trees and bushes might spontaneously combust. Eventually, under the midday sun, the light would become blinding and the denizens would find that by night time they smoldering embers of the Plane of Fire surrounded their city...and soon the efreet would follow.



> I'm also unsure that the Jann are well enough adapted to the other planes to live there without a bubble of some sort.



That's a difficult question to answer by-the-book, because originally jann in AD&D / d20 could survive on any of the Inner Planes for up to 48 hours, implying they could breath underwater...for a limited time. I'm inclined to think that if they can fly (like jann in AD&D / d20), then it follows they should be able to breath underwater just fine, being beings made up of multiple elements.



> Yes, but I realized that I was getting all my world building completely wrong.  I was building for a society that had been largely stable for centuries and had reached a decadent pinnacle.  I wasn't building for a society that had a violent revolution 10 or 20 years prior, was in the process of rebuilding from that while facing the absolute certainty of having to defend itself to the last in a century.  That society would look completely different, and almost all of my characters are wrong for it.  The society that got out from under the throne of the Efreet a few years ago and was about to face another plunge would be 100% devoted to military affairs and could afford to be 100% devoted to military affairs.  Unless you know that you can weather the coming storm, no one is going to relax and do anything else.  Forget art and decoration, we need walls, siege engines, gates, weapons, armies, fortresses, and mighty spells and we need them now.
> 
> I don't know that my timeline is better, but I think Qaybar is a very different place if this is the first cycle that they've been free or if they know that in most cycles they become enslaved.  Qaybar only looks like what you've been describing if Qaybar has gone through the trials of several cycles and been able to handle them.  Some of my PC really can only be understood as being someone who remembers what it was like before Qaybar had relative peace, security, prosperity, and stability.  The Qaybar early post revolution is dominated 100% by characters like  Maysoon Lubadah Kanaan and Sheik Abdul Rayib Bey Salib.  There are no other factions around really at that point.  Everyone is basically either Fanatics or Extreme Fanatics, and everyone is going to be pretty much going, "They are going to want revenge, and we've only got 100 years to get ready."   Your description of Qaybar places the armed forces as being only about 3% of the populace.  In a situation of existential survival, I'd expect the armed forces to be closer to 8-10% of the populace.   My assumption was that the first 3-5 cycles, the Efreet wanted revenge, but gradually as it became clear that retaking Qaybar was a costly enterprise with small reward, the Efreet finally rationalized to themselves that they didn't really want that _wet, dirty, breezy_ city with its mongrel inhabitants scarcely fit to be slaves anyway.




You're right, I'd been working from an original inspiration with a short timeline... But really I was designing for an old stable society far-removed from the initial efreet subjugation. My conception of Qaybar, like you can see from my 3%  of the populace being armed forces, was of something more complex and layered. More "cold war" with the efreet (pardon the pun), than outright warfare.

I like the idea that only the most diehard militants among the efreet still advocating taking the "mongrel city" of Qaybar by force, and without the collected will of their great nobles, such efforts do little more than inflict minor damage to the jann.

I do, however, envision a few efreet magic-users trying to crack the code of where the Seal of Jafar al-Samal lies, and so they act in Qaybar under disguise, through intermediaries, or through political subterfuge.


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## Celebrim (Dec 21, 2016)

*Celebrim just discovered how massive the power inflation is on Genie in 5e*

Ok then.  

I have no idea how to even hint at NPC stats given that Djinn are now 14HD and Efreeti are now 15HD.  If Jann follow the same scale, then a base Jann has 12HD instead of 6HD and I have no idea what Sheik Salib (who was in 3e terms 24HD and BAB +20) should be.  Likewise, I had suggested a total of 21HD for Ibn Natn, but that's was on the assumption a standard Great Ghul genie was 4HD.

I really hate when the relative assumptions of power get changed that radically.  I was scaling the environment to a 11th level party, and now I find that a single Efreet is 11 Challenge Rating and even the ordinary Jann of the city are about as powerful as 11th level characters.

For what it is worth, here is brief notes on Mukhluqtin Genies, since hitherto I'm the only one in the world familiar with them.

Makhluqtin, Genie; N Large Outsider (earth, water); Init +3 (Dex); HD 9+36 (hp 76); AC 20 (+3 Dex, +8 natural, –1 size); SQ: Darkvision, DR 5/slashing, Immune to Acid, Ooze Mastery, Cold Resistance 5
Atk: 2 melee Slam +12 (1d6+5)
Speed: 30 ft., swim 40 ft.; Space/Reach: 5’/10’; 
Str 20, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 10
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Combat Expertise, Great Fortitude, Power Attack
Skills: Appraise +14, Bluff +12, Craft (any two) +15, Escape Artist +24, Knowledge (Planes) +14, Listen +15, Sense Motive +15, Spellcraft +14, Spot +15, Swim +26

Constant—detect chaos, detect law, detect magic, water walk
At will— soften earth and stone, plane shift (willing targets to elemental planes, Astral Plane, or Material Plane only), putrefy food and drink
3/day—shape water, shatter, stone shape, water breathing, veil (self only)
1/day— transmute mud to rock, transmute rock to mud

Of Two Worlds (Ex): As long as Makhluqtin are using their ground speed for movement, they may count as either touching ground or waterbourne, whichever is more favorable, for the purposes any attack or ability which depends on either condition.

Ooze Mastery (Ex): Mahkluqtin are generally at ease around all sorts of slimes, oozes, and noxious substances.  They are immune to any extraordinary or supernatural ability of an ooze creature which provokes a fortitude save, and take no ability score damage from any ooze ability that causes ability score damage.  They are immune to any extraordinary ability of a plant creature that provokes a fortitude save.  This effect extends to hazards of a slimy or fungal nature, such as green slime, brown mold, etc.

This is why I only change systems every 15+ years.


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## Celebrim (Dec 21, 2016)

Yet more inhabitants...

The Honorable Mufti, His Excellency, Wazir Shabbar Shubayr Ibn Malouf Al-Saqui, Ambassador Plenipotentiary of Her Most Resplendent Majesty Shabanu Naheeda Nathifa Aibna Shabbalock Al-Thalji, Ruler over all Frozen Lands  (“Wazir Al-Saqui”, “Mufti Al-Saqui”, “Abassador Al-Saqui”, “The Ice Wazir”): Shabbar Shubayr Ibn Malouf Al-Saqui believes he is by far the highest ranking being of the most noble race in Qaybar – of much greater rank than the city’s Emir - and if it were not for the great value his posting had to his Empress the Shabnu, and the confidence that she showed in his ability he would not suffer to be among such a hideous and barbarous city.  In particular, hot sand strikes him as perhaps the most abominable thing ever to exist.  However, Wazir Al-Saqui is a skilled enough ambassador to not let those opinions be known, at least overtly.  Wazir Al-Saqui is a Noble Quarashi (10HD, Rog8) that stands over 12’ high.  He is of slender build.  His skin is light blue, and he goes about shirtless – his chest and arms decorated only with delicate traceries of frost.  He wears white pants embodied with gold thread, and his feet are shod with high boots of white leather (actually, yeti skin).  He does not like the boots, and would prefer to be unshod – but, sand.  Wazir Al-Saqui has a comely but stern face, capable of the most severe expressions, with a smile that offers all the warmth and comfort of the slumber that creeps upon someone just before they freeze to death.  He is hairless, but his chin is decorated with an elegant goatee made of sea rime, and his bald pate is covered by an elaborate upswept spiky coif of the same material that makes his full height over 14’.  His manners are always elegant and proper, and he makes every appearance of being gracious – at least toward those Jann of sufficiently high rank he is willing to speak to them.  Those he considers inferior by more than one or two degrees, he considers beneath his notice and has only indifferent cruelty toward them if they force themselves on his awareness.  Wazir Shabbar Shubayr Inb Malouf Al-Saqui has dined in the courts of the Great Padisha of the Marid and the Great Caliph of the Djinn, and served as ambassador for his lady to those most exalted royal beings.  So it is only by her direct command that he has humbled himself to this seemingly dishonorable posting.  Wazir Al-Saqui is on a mission of the utmost delicacy and importance, upon which he believes depends the fate of the entire multi-verse.  The Quarash have long held that the division of the elements into four regions is a great oversight, and that quite properly ice ought to hold a place among the elements as important as the other four.  It is their strongest desire to enlarge the para-elemental plane of ice to a full elemental plane, equal to all others and in so doing obtain the respect that they so rightly deserve.  Shabanu Naheeda believes that the secret to obtaining this dream is here in Qaybar with the Jann.  Her Wazir is charged with the following: gain the trust of the Jann and their Emir by supporting them against their mutual enemies the cursed Efreet.  Convince the Emir to alter their great spell so that rather than being transported to the land of fire that they should sojourn in the land of ice.  If he is not willing or is unable to do this, suss out the secrets of the spell so that they may subvert it for their purpose.  Finally, he is to discover the secrets of the Seal of Jafar Al-Samal and if possible obtain it, so that they may bind the other Genie to their will and finally accomplish their grand design.  So far these plans have not advanced very far, but he has learned much of the city and who controls the real levers of power within it.  He has also learned - to both his frustration and pleasure - that, if the Jann of Qaybar do not necessarily match him in nobility or power, some of them are quite his equal in treachery.

Munir Abdul-Hamid Haik (“Munir Haik”): Munir Haik is a celebrated and wealthy member of the alchemist’s guild, most famous for inventing the process of replicating stored memories – which vastly increased the profit of the trade.  In his craft he is ably assisted by his intelligent and famously beautiful wife, the lovely Shifa.  Munir Haik is himself a dark hair Jann of medium height with walnut skin and large black eyes.  His hands are delicate and graceful, like those of a musician.  He prefers to dress in dark browns and blacks, and goes about veiled and covered in public – uncovering his face only when he is at his ease.  Out of the jealousy of his rivals, he has been forced to hire several bodyguards – fierce desert Jann of the nomad tribes famous for their loyalty and their bloodlust.  These are always about his person unless he is in his sanctum.  Munir Haik is an introverted Jann, though he can speak eloquently and even wittily in small groups, he quickly becomes embarrassed in crowds and is prone to stuttering.  The process for replicating memories has several limitations – it cannot be used to create a copy of a copy, the copy is never entirely perfect, and the process inevitably degrades the quality of the original memory, resulting in less and less immediacy as time passes until the original memory is unusable.  True connoisseurs therefore always try to purchase unspoiled originals, but the first 2 to 6 copies are generally deemed acceptable depending on the skill of the alchemist.  The greatest advantage however of the process is that it makes people much more willing to share their memory, something only the truly desperate did before.  Now however, the only slightly desperate can sell memories and then for a portion of the purchase price experience one of the copies of their original memory so that the experience is not wholly lost to them.  When he is not supervising his apprentices and the journeymen to whom he has imparted his secrets, Haik – like many alchemists of the city - spends most of his time seeking ways to improve the process.   There is some matter between Munir Haik and the widow of his former master, Hamid Bey Kattan, that is source of much and diverse speculation.  Some say that the Beyg Kattan maintained a secret affair with Munir, and that she had to kill her husband to cover it up.  Others say that the affair began after her husband’s death, when the younger Jann comforted her in her grief.  Others say that Munir stole her husband’s discovery and killed him to have it for her own, and that the Beyg even now is plotting a grand revenge upon the younger alchemist.  Others say that this is all a bunch of hog’s water.  Whatever the case, relations have become frostier of late, and her former friend is no longer found in her salons.  

Shifa Fawziya Haik (“Shifa Haik”): Shifa Haik is the wife of Munir Haik, and his most able assistant.  Indeed, some say that the shy, demure Jann is more gifted than the Master, and that it is she that now does most of the advanced – and darker - research, leaving her husband to conduct the daily affairs of business.  Shifa is by fashionable Jann standards one of the more desirable women of the city, petite but curvaceous, large almond shaped eyes the color of night just before dawn, small nosed and eternally youthful, lips like darkened bronze, with skin the color of fresh cream and hair as black as a raven’s wing.  She wears diaphanous veils in public, and usually in private also, and favors simple white dresses and pearls – which she can afford in quantity with her families wealth.  It is presumed, as with most alchemists of the city, that her perfect skin has been marked by many tattoos, but as she is fastidious about her modesty no one but her husband can speak to the truth of that.  She is however a fiercely intelligent and bookish female, skilled in all matters arcane, and conversant in all particulars of philosophy and the practical arts.  She avoids fashionable crowds, and prefers in fact to spend her time studying alchemy.  Everyone remarks how well suited Munir and Shifa are as a couple, though getting them both in public and away from their work can be a chore.  Likewise, among the alchemists Shifa is renowned for being able to maintain her appearance of vigor, and there is no small amount of envy in this because the art of alchemy is often wearing on the health, particularly if one has to draw much of their own blood to obtain the otherwise hard to obtain necessary fresh humors.  Those who know her best though, say that a shadow has past over her beauty, staining her laugh and her countenance in some subtle way.  Shifa and Munir have one very young child, a girl named Saniyah.

Mash'al Nsfifrit (“Mash’al the Publican”): Mash’al is an unusual fire genasi of apparent elvish heritage.  He has soot black skin, and flame red hair.  Two of his lower teeth protrude upward and slightly outward, and his arms and chest are marked with glowing flame colored tattoos.   His ears are large and leaf shaped and his chin, eyes, and nose of an elvish look.  He is not tall, but well muscled and dresses in black and reds with embroidered fire motifs.  Mash’al is a very hard worker with an intense focus, manic energy, and a one track mind.  He ran a public house of low regard in a little esteemed portion of the city, catering mostly to common laborers in trades involving fire – and he became well regarded as a brewer and distiller of such beverages as appealed to such persons.  By a stroke of good fortune however, The House of Mash’al found itself quite unexpectedly the beneficiary of gentrification that made his property among the most fashionable and desirable in the city.  He was soon able to expand operations to include an inn, and has over the last two hundred years become the preferred resort for strangers to the city who lack introductions.  Even Dao merchants and such fire creatures such as Azer that the Emir suffers to enter the city do not now decline his elegant accommodations.  Any clueless and seemingly lost visitor that asks for the best inn in the city is likely to be directed to the House of Mash’al, either as an honest answer or to make a fool of the fool.  Mash’al has made a habit of freeing his favorite slave and marrying her, but owing to his longevity he has outlived each one.  He is now on his eighth wife, a plump slightly ugly human woman named Lubna who bakes fragrant herbed breads and spicy grilled meats, and has a staff largely composed of various offspring that have lacked the initiative to run away.   Mash’al has a reputation to maintain, and prefers not to serve mortal customers or anyone that might offend his more noble guests.  Mere humans or other rabble are directed to the nearby hostel and tavern of one of his favored sons Milond, a house of much less repute and elegance that still serves the common laborers who were Mash’al former trade.  Those that don’t take the hint are charged at least triple his already exorbitant rates, and more if they appear they might be sympathetic to the water parties.   Countriwise, to seek accommodations in the House of Mash’al is to tacitly admit to being of the fire or earth parties, and so will likely give a bad first impression members of the air, water, or neutral parties.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 21, 2016)

Celebrim said:


> *Celebrim just discovered how massive the power inflation is on Genie in 5e*
> 
> Ok then.
> 
> ...




Ah, no sweat.  I'll figure out the rules side of things as needed for my game; I'm conversant enough in the various editions to roughly translate between them. Your 3e notations are perfectly understandable to me.

For the record, your accounting is right in terms of HD (a jann would have roughly 12d8+60 hit points, and that's how we converted it initially). However, that doesn't equate to being as powerful as an 11th or 12th level character in 5e. The 12 HD stat blocks I'm using work out to a CR of 4 – meaning one should be a medium challenge for a 'standard' 4th level party (i.e. four PCs). For whatever that's worth.

To me the ideas and story are where the gold is!


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## Celebrim (Dec 21, 2016)

Quickleaf said:


> To me the ideas and story are where the gold is!




Well, it would help if you let me know where I should be going with the social status of the NPCs.  I've been trying to leave the very upper crust of society to you and focusing mostly on the 2%ers (except obviously the Sheik), but if you want more of a slice of street life or more thuggish villains I can go that way as well.

On that note, and example of branching out in a new direction:

Rafi Adel Ibn-Baz (“Rafi Baz”, “Tip Top”): Rafi “Tip Top” Ibn-Baz is in theory a sometime student from a reputable family who gets occasional work as a scribe, clerk, or computer to pay the fees of his tutors.  In practice, “Tip Top” is the leader (Jann Rog3/Rng3) of an irregular militia called The Chimney Sweeps that favors the Emir, the Emir’s allies, the Great Caliph of the Djinn and in general the traditional politics of the city.  Slightly older than his fellows, the young Jann cuts a dashing figure with bronze skin, straw colored hair, and a matching Van Dyke beard.  He wears sand colored clothing and a veil of the style favored by nomads, a small neat turban, and on cool nights a buff coat of deer skin he purchased from a human merchant.  He is charismatic and charming, and adopts the mannerisms of a rake in public, while able to be intellectual and refined in private.  His followers include a dozen other young Jann of both genders, and two dozen mixed air genasi, smoke genasi, ice genasi, and humans (Rog3-Rog6).  In order to gain membership in the Chimney Sweeps, it is necessary to demonstrate either the ability to fly or complete fearlessness at heights and mastery of climbing.  Indeed, several of the Chimney Sweeps have vowed never again to touch the streets or the ground, and travel only by flying or running across the roof tops.  All the Chimney sweeps consequently have the following advantages – they can move at full speed while climbing, balancing, or on sloping surfaces without penalty, they gain a +1 bonus to AC when on a different elevation than their attacker, and they have resistance to falling damage.  They are always proficient in Athletics and Acrobatics.  Rafi is a romantic and a daydreamer, and slightly delusional.  In his own mind, his actions are not illegal, petty or immoral, but rather the direct continuation of the great resistance fighters that helped liberate Qaybar of old, and that the violence his band undertakes and the surveillance that they engage in are helping to keep the city free from its enemies.  So great is his charisma and oratory skill, that all his gang believes it, and would – if it came to it - give their lives for the imagined cause or in service to the Emir, which they believe they are performing.  Mostly this service consists of skulking about and trespassing on rooftops and observing rival gangs, or known leaders of opposing political parties.  Occasionally they harass opponents by throwing bits of roofing tile or broken pottery, or swarming down to deliver a buffeting – sometimes with clubs.  In serious confrontations, they can equip themselves with bows and daggers, but such overt bloodshed draws too much attention and is seldom undertaken save when tempers are high on all sides.  The symbol of the gang is dandylion thistle or other downy seed, which is pinned to ones clothing, or drawn in chalk to mark the gang’s territory. 
Aside from their vigilante actions, most of the gang are able to find occasional work, including not ironically as chimney sweeps (at least, for the non-Jann, as the Jann themselves would never engage in such a plebian trade), and they hire out as messengers or couriers from time to time.  Unbeknownst to Rafi, several members of the gang have ties to The Coiled Madam, and though they would not consciously betray the gang, they do pass information to her concerning what they have observed.  The Chimney Sweeps are experts in shape the Smoke Medina, and though they do not go into its lower reaches, they are from its roofs able to observe its mythic tangling and the places which fade off the map and reappear.  It’s possible that a party lost in the Smoke Medina would attract the attention of Rafi or other members of the Chimney Sweeps, who might rescue them by lowering down a rope.  They also mark but never enter the passages that lead to the Charnel Quarter, but could - if they were inclined - direct someone how to enter (a service few others in the city could perform, and most others that could are of a far shadier demeanor).


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## Quickleaf (Dec 21, 2016)

EDIT: Btw, you mention that Wazir Al-Saqui is a "Noble Quarashi"...what's a quarashi? Is it a race you've created? It seems to be an "ice genie"?



Celebrim said:


> Well, it would help if you let me know where I should be going with the social status of the NPCs.  I've been trying to leave the very upper crust of society to you and focusing mostly on the 2%ers (except obviously the Sheik), but if you want more of a slice of street life or more thuggish villains I can go that way as well.




It would be interesting to take a look at a janni vizier (in AD&D they had very high Intelligence and could cast _augury_, _detect magic_, and _divination_ 3/day each), and see what their role in the society looks like as far as predicting planeshifts and the logistics around polymorphic buildings. This vizier may also have played a role in locating Sa'id al-Masar (see below).

A barber/merchant/information broker might be an interesting sort of NPC as well, on the more street life side. 

Either of these might or might not overlap with an NPC information broker running a bathhouse.

And a talking animal NPC would be very apropos, whether a creature _awakened_ by a janni druid, given ongoing sentience by the strange magic of Qaybar itself, or a victim of a polymorph spell/curse.

---------

My notes on the very upper crust are sketchy, but include these 4 inspired by NPCs mentioned in _Blood & Fire_. Feel free to detail any of them that speak to you. I'm focusing myself on the city districts/locations, but am thoroughly enjoying your process of creating NPCs.

*Malik Jilani* – (Janni, ?) An iron-willed but respected military ruler en abstentia who seeks the missing Emir and would willingly abdicate power if he could.

*Emir Jazzar Shahid ibn-Mahmud* – (Janni "Sheikh") A young jann descended from the line of Emirs who originally won Qaybar's independence, Jazzar was forced to flee to the Prime Material Plane during Qaybar's latest time on the Plane of Fire when Al Zahran, a puppet ruler of the efreet, maneuvered his way to power. Jazzar is the last jann of royal blood known to be alive, the rest assassinated by Al Zahran's secret police.

*Sa'id al-Masar* – (Janni Vizier, Wiz6 or Sorc6) Vizier to the Emir, he fled into exile with the young Jazzar. However, they were separated and Sa'id is a guest/prisoner of splinter group of jann in the oasis of Khaldun (PCs will likely be seeking him out to find out where Emir Jazzar is).

*Leader of the Zahranis* – (Janni?, ?) A group of efreet-sympathizers who yearn for the "halycon days" of rule by flame and steel, the Zahranis fled Qaybar with the death of Al Zahran during the uprising that coincided with the city's planeshift to the Prime Material Plane. Only a small group remain hidden in Qaybar's budayeen (red light district), the rest returning to their efreet masters on the Plane of Fire or scattering across the desert as raiders. Those that remain behind operate like a terrorist cell led by a mysterious individual...who takes great pains to keep his or her identity secret. Very likely he/she/it was part of Al Zahran's secret police before the uprising. I may give this individual some loose ties to the Brotherhood of True Flame as well.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 21, 2016)

*Locations by District (so far...)*

*Al-Badia’s Gate*
Caravanserai (Caravaneer’s Guild)

*Bazaar*
Bey Suleijan’s Estate
Musalla of the Great Caliph
Smoke Medina
The Souk
# Teahouse

*Beast Towers*
The Rookery

*Budayeen*
The Coiled Madam’s
Temple of Kossuth
Zahranis’ Hideout

*College Quarter*
Alchemist’s Guild
Arcanium of Jafar al-Samal
College of Cartography
Mosque of the Great Gods
Plaza of the Vanquished Flame

*Charnel Quarter*
Ibn Natn’s “Court”

*Court of Shedus*
Bathhouse of #
Beyg Kattan’s Estate
The Haik’s Estate
Plaza of the Vanquished Flame
Racetrack

*Crafters Quarter*
Ayah Samaha’s Glassworks
Kawaja Deeb’s Clayworks
Royally Chartered & Sacred Alliance of Brick Makers
Temple of Grumbar
The Tourmaline Tower

*The Eternal Deluge*
Garden of Steams
Sheikh Salib’s Palace
Temple of Ishtishia

*Floating Gardens*
Gamali Al-Zuhur’s Greenhouse Labyrinth
Temple of Akadi
Tree of Life

*Garrison*
Aswaran Stables
Jundaran Barracks
Malik Jilani’s Estate
Temple of Vataqatal
Well of the Washed Wound

*Jarmik’s Gate*
Hall of Chests
House of Mash’al
Mosque of the Thirsty Jann

*Odiferous Trades*
Khalil al-Marbi’s Estate
Smokehouse

*Palace*
Emir’s Palace
Royal Stables

*Residential*

*Scribes' Quarter*
The Baz Estate


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## Celebrim (Dec 21, 2016)

Quickleaf said:


> EDIT: Btw, you mention that Wazir Al-Saqui is a "Noble Quarashi"...what's a quarashi? Is it a race you've created? It seems to be an "ice genie"?




It is indeed an ice genie, but unlike the mud genie, I cannot take credit for it.  To my knowledge they first appeared as part of an article on the WotC website, and were later incorporated into several published works including at least one adventure and I believe the monster section of Frostburn.  It appears, now they I look around the web, that I may be misspelling them and that the proper spelling is "Qorrashi" or "Qorrash".  In any event, the 3rd edition stats should not be too hard to come by.  If they prove to be, I have them somewhere.

On the question of the Jann Vizier, I am not entirely sure which sort of division or graduation into ranks you intend to use.  In 1e AD&D as you may know, the Jann had three classes of exalted leaders, the Sheiks and Emirs with greater HD, and the Viziers with additional spellcasting ability.  In later editions, those three divisions tend to get lumped together in various ways, with Sheiks sometimes playing the part of both greater HD and additional spellcasting ability.  In any event, Sheik Salib is meant to be a Sheik, whereas Bey Suliejan is meant to have the powers of a Vizier.  Beyg Kattan on the other hand, having her position through marriage, was not intended to be a Vizier, but certainly could be.  While I'm on the subject of rank, I've been using quasi-Arabic naming conventions and diverse middle-eastern ranks as if they were part of the same feudal culture in true D&D fashion.  I'm pretty sure though that in actual middle-eastern practice, the honorific follows after the last name rather than before it.  So Nabil Bey Suilijen should properly be Nabil Suliejan Bey.  My thinking is that most English hearers are going to find the proper mode of address confusing, and so I'm actually placing it according to my homebrew's fashion modifying the last name just before the last name, so that the short form of address becomes "Bey Suilijen" (Sir Suleijin or perhaps Squire Suleijin).  Alter that to be more appropriate "cultural appropriation" "Suilijen Bey" if you prefer.

On a related subject, I'm not entirely sure how 5e deals with NPC classed individuals.  Virtually every character I've not given a combat hint to is intended to function as a low level Expert on top their usual crafting ability as a Jann, since these are leaders in their respective trades and functionally some of the most skilled crafters on the Prime Material Plane.  5e doesn't seem to have much granularity when it comes to skills, and certainly seems to consider the skills of NPCs to be something not worth commenting on.  I presume that you just call out particular Jann as having proficiency in certain skills/tool use, and certain proficiency bonuses without necessarily increasing HD?  Intrigue and overcoming it doesn't seem to be much of a 5e thing as of yet.



> And a talking animal NPC would be very apropos, whether a creature _awakened_ by a janni druid, given ongoing sentience by the strange magic of Qaybar itself, or a victim of a polymorph spell/curse.




You are a man after my own heart.  I'm personally a huge fan of fairy tale NPCs, but some people find them off-putting.  I'll come up with something, and I'll probably have to drop my pet NPC Jasper into Qaybar as it is definitely his sort of town and could not paaaawwssibly stay away from anywhere sooo very fashionable and interesting.

I think I'll not touch your power brokers directly and leave the Malik and other concepts to you, but if that's as far as you've got I'll spend some time thinking about who other than Sheik Salib has real power and not merely wealth or influence.

I'm seriously going to need to put this down at some point and go back to planning my own campaign, but as I said, I've always had a weakness for the Jann and now I have to settle in my head what sort of city they might have.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 21, 2016)

Celebrim said:


> On the question of the Jann Vizier, I am not entirely sure which sort of division or graduation into ranks you intend to use.  In 1e AD&D as you may know, the Jann had three classes of exalted leaders, the Sheiks and Emirs with greater HD, and the Viziers with additional spellcasting ability.  In later editions, those three divisions tend to get lumped together in various ways, with Sheiks sometimes playing the part of both greater HD and additional spellcasting ability.  In any event, Sheik Salib is meant to be a Sheik, whereas Bey Suliejan is meant to have the powers of a Vizier.  Beyg Kattan on the other hand, having her position through marriage, was not intended to be a Vizier, but certainly could be.  While I'm on the subject of rank, I've been using quasi-Arabic naming conventions and diverse middle-eastern ranks as if they were part of the same feudal culture in true D&D fashion.  I'm pretty sure though that in actual middle-eastern practice, the honorific follows after the last name rather than before it.  So Nabil Bey Suilijen should properly be Nabil Suliejan Bey.  My thinking is that most English hearers are going to find the proper mode of address confusing, and so I'm actually placing it according to my homebrew's fashion modifying the last name just before the last name, so that the short form of address becomes "Bey Suilijen" (Sir Suleijin or perhaps Squire Suleijin).  Alter that to be more appropriate "cultural appropriation" "Suilijen Bey" if you prefer.




I've been using the AD&D division (Janni / Janni Sheikh or Emir / Janni Vizier) in my own writing.

I laughed at your comment about "more appropriate cultural appropriation." I've been blending Arabian and Persian nomenclature with my own works on the jann, so I think "Bey Suleijan" fits in just fine.



> On a related subject, I'm not entirely sure how 5e deals with NPC classed individuals.  Virtually every character I've not given a combat hint to is intended to function as a low level Expert on top their usual crafting ability as a Jann, since these are leaders in their respective trades and functionally some of the most skilled crafters on the Prime Material Plane.  5e doesn't seem to have much granularity when it comes to skills, and certainly seems to consider the skills of NPCs to be something not worth commenting on.  I presume that you just call out particular Jann as having proficiency in certain skills/tool use, and certain proficiency bonuses without necessarily increasing HD?  Intrigue and overcoming it doesn't seem to be much of a 5e thing as of yet.




Yeah, I've always sort of done my own thing with D&D's various editions when it comes to intrigue. I have 5e stats for Janni / Janni Sheikh or Emir / Janni Vizier / Great Ghul. Ad-libbing proficiency with various skills or tools is easily done and tweaked for individual jann. If I need more complex stats for a jann with class levels (e.g. the PCs go on a scouting mission with Lalla Kanaan), I'd need to do that on my own since 5e doesn't have a template system for classes, but it's easy enough.



> You are a man after my own heart.  I'm personally a huge fan of fairy tale NPCs, but some people find them off-putting.  I'll come up with something, and I'll probably have to drop my pet NPC Jasper into Qaybar as it is definitely his sort of town and could not paaaawwssibly stay away from anywhere sooo very fashionable and interesting.




Indeed! I'm absolutely adoring your NPC design. Inspired stuff  Include Jasper by all means!



> I think I'll not touch your power brokers directly and leave the Malik and other concepts to you, but if that's as far as you've got I'll spend some time thinking about who other than Sheik Salib has real power and not merely wealth or influence.




I will write up those four power brokers, no problem.



> I'm seriously going to need to put this down at some point and go back to planning my own campaign, but as I said, I've always had a weakness for the Jann and now I have to settle in my head what sort of city they might have.




I've enjoyed your ideas greatly and intend to use them. Feel free to stop whenever you want. When I finish my city design, encounter tables & map, I will post a rules-neutral PDF including all your NPCs that you can use in your game. And others too!

EDIT: What I've done for each of your NPCs is include a "tagline" like so (gender race / class levels + occupation / alignment / roleplaying trait)... If anything looks out of place to you (e.g. some of these are probably Neutral Good in alignment), let me know and I'll edit it...

1. Maktab Al Rasam
♂ janni / mandala artist / N / elusive

2. Khalil Al-Marbi
♂ janni / amphibian breeder / N / secretive

3. Gamali Al-Zuhur
♂ janni / botanist & poisoner / N / well-mannered

4. The Coiled Madam
♀ half-dragon janni / sorcerer 14, criminal mastermind & information broker / NE / duplicitous

5. Bey Suleijan
♂ janni vizier / semi-retired merchant / N / bon vivante

6. Ibn Natn
♂ great ghul / wizard 9 / NE / greedy for arcane lore

7. Hadiya Rafidah Kassis
♀ janni / master brick maker / N / taciturn

8. Ayah Lujain Samaha
♀ janni / glassblower / N / flirtatious but at arm’s distance

9. Lalla Kanaan
♀ janni / ranger 6, aswaran / N / taciturn

10. Sheikh Salib
♂ janni sheikh / aristocrat 15, veteran / N / grizzled

11. Beyg Kattan
♀ janni / bard 6, socialite / N / erudite matchmaker

12. Kawaja Deeb
♂ makhluqtin (ooze genie) / clay merchant / N / crude humor

13. Wazir Al-Saqui
♂ noble qorrashi (ice genie) / rogue 8, emissary / N / frigid

14. Munir Haik
♂ janni / alchemist / N / introverted stutterer

15. Shifa Haik
♀ janni / alchemist / N / be-shadowed beauty

16. Mash’al the Publican
♂ fire genasi / innkeeper / N / manic focus

17. Rafi Baz
♂ janni / clerk & militia leader / N / misguided


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## Celebrim (Dec 21, 2016)

Ha.  I'm amazed by how generous you've been regarding alignment to my crew of ruffians and murderers compared to how I see them.  

At the least though, for the sake of some diversity, Wazir Al-Saqui the faithful but cold-hearted operative is intended to be LN, Gamali Al-Zuhur the poisoner who is not who he first appears to be is CE, and "Tip Top" the street gang cult leader with his own internal twisted code not grounded in reality is CN.   No one on the list I imagined as NG, but you might could make an argument for Bey Suleijan whose is generous and scrupulously honest to the letter of his word as LG (depending on how you judge his manslaughter) and Sheikh Salib whose caustic language and battle scars might actually armor a well-intentioned, kind, and sensitive heart at CG (depending on whether you think he's as bitter on the inside as the out).  

However, I'm generally happy with both at a more ambiguous N as well.  I'll just say that everyone on the list is quite capable of killing someone, and most of them have killed someone - often treacherously.  As I see them in my head these are proud, arrogant, secretive and if they need to be very nasty characters, who are used to facing off against dark powers and making hard choices.

As far as the rest goes, I never said Maktab Al Rasam was a Jann...

If that suits what you want to make of his mysterious nature and background and you have some plan for him, but internally I had him as an immortal Dark Stalker Bard 13 assassin type who is deeply involved in protecting the city's secrets.  You didn't think he was just painting protective runes all over the city just for fun, did you?  Maktab is intended to go from being this obscure funny little harmless seeming artist who gets you in trouble with the residents because you made the faux pas of trying to talk to him or stepping on his artwork, who you can push around and who seems afraid of his own shadow, to the guy who is trying to balk or kill you if you mess with the cities ancient secrets very fast.  Maktab kills efreet spies dead, in the dark where you can't here them scream.  Maktab hunts Khayal.  Ibn Natn's 'people' give Maktab wide birth.  Ibn Natn is more afraid of Maktab than the Emir.  Secrets and all.


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## Celebrim (Dec 22, 2016)

More inhabitants...

Vizier Jalal Abdul-Shahid al Din Jalouf (“Vizer Jalouf”): Vizier Jalal is one of the senior advisors to court of the Amir, and the Royal Architect (Jann Vizier, Exp6; additionally the Vizier is functionally a self-made Tasked Genii Architect, with all the spell powers thereof in addition to those normal to a Jann Vizier).  He is principally responsible for seeing to the cities defenses, a job which he takes with the utmost seriousness.  Regarding military architecture, the construction of siege engines, the engineering of lethal traps, and the employment of magical weapons, there is very little Vizier Jalouf does not know.  Single minded to a fault, Vizier Jalouf cares only about improving the cities defenses against any possible assault, and although he will listen attentively and politely to other conversation, it tends to go in an ear and out the other if it doesn’t touch on the cities defenses.  Objections will be meet with an apologetic shrug that while it may be true that what the speaker says is important, whatever task that the Vizier is currently bending his mind toward is of equal importance.  Vizier Jalouf is always in a hurry, but is never overtly rude or snippy – merely vaguely annoyed and condescending when interrupted.  Only a direct and self-evident attack on the city as a whole or proof of a looming invasion will cause him to alter his timetables, but only because of changes in priority regarding the cities defenses.  Despite these faults, Vizier Jalouf has a habit of having foreseen and already prepared for whatever emergency arises, having already installed the lethal death trap in the very tunnel that the threat now uses, or having prepared lethal spells that have lain concealed for decades that are triggered by the very actions the enemy now undertakes, or having prepared an undetected secret passageway from this very room in the event of this exact emergency.  Vizier Al Jalouf is an aged, dignified, tall but thin and seemingly frail Jann with long silver-grey hair and a short well trimmed beard of the same color.  He is fastidious about his appearance, and dresses in robes of blue and bronze.  He wears a silver chain of office bearing the seal of the royal architect, and has with him at all times, a cane which serves as a measuring rod and prop, a plumb bob, a square, and a divider – which he produces from within his voluminous sleeves.  He is often accompanied by a secretary who carries a roll of papers with designs and architectural drawings, as well as whatever other tools the Vizier has laden him with.  Although he would never admit it in these terms, even to himself, Vizier Jalouf considers himself the most important person in the city, and that the office of the Emir exists only to supply the Royal Architect with the materials that he so obviously needs as well as to attend to minor affairs like the receiving of ambassadors that would otherwise take up too much of his time.  

Walif Razin Haddad (“Mad Haddad”): Walif Haddad, or “Mad Haddad” both to friends and enemies, is one of the six young Jann who jointly lead an irregular militia called The Fire Bugs.  In addition to the six Jann, the Fire Bugs number about two dozen disaffected burly young fire genasi, a rebellious ogre or two, and outcast human sorcerers with a penchant for fire magic.  They are a mixed bunch, diverse in purpose and background, but united by the common feeling that those with fire elemental backgrounds are unfairly oppressed and disrespected in the culture of Qaybar.  They vary from the loosely disgruntled that want great appreciation of their value, to outright fire partisans that point to the splendors of the City of Brass and believe the city would be greater were it under the rule of Sultan of the Efreet.  The later make the former very nervous, and discussions over principles and purpose often start as impassioned oratory and end up to escalating to brawls where it is very fortunate that every in the room is resistant to fire damage to one degree or the other.  For his part, Mad Haddad (Jann, Brb2) does not care much about politics – he just enjoys knocking heads.  Mad Haddad is a broad shouldered and burly Jann of greater than average strength, with flame red curly hair that refuses to cover and dark bronze skin.  He dresses in simple robes of red and brown that mark his relatively low station.  He rarely works but when he becomes short of cash he works as a fire stoker in one of the larger factories for a time.  He is a surprisingly hard worker when he cares to be, and has surprising craftsmanship of a sort in a diverse set of trades.  Although not particularly bright, he is a good drinking buddy, holds no grudges, and has a knack of simplifying things down to their essentials - he serves a very important function in the leadership of the fire bugs of reminding the other members that it’s more fun to bash other people’s heads instead of each other.  The Fire Bugs prefer to fight with their fists, but have an assortment of clubs, daggers, and chains about their person if it comes to more serious blows.  They are fond of swaggering down the street and intimidating whomever seems likely – particularly non-genie kind- into giving them the right of way, bowing to them, forcing them to call the members by ludicrously grand titles, and generally humiliating themselves for the gang’s pleasure.  The also enjoy brawling with rival youth gangs – at least when the numbers are in their favor – and occasionally carrying out defiant cts of petty arson from burning effigies in front of the homes of enemies, to collecting trash for bonfires in public spaces, to burning smoky signs on walls.  The Firebugs gather in the basement of an innocuous public house in one of the more run down parts of the city, whose proprietor tolerates their presence and uses them to remove any unwanted trouble makers.  Their symbol is a firefly, often drawn with a literal flame around it.  They keep a giant fire beetle as a pet and mascot.  Although they occasionally scuffle with the city watch, and there are at any time half again as many members of the Fire Bugs serving out criminal sentences of various sorts as are in the gang, no concerted effort is generally made by the Emir or his supporters to suppress the gang as a whole for fear such a confrontation would escalate to a conflict in the wider community.  Various members of The Fire Bugs do however have connections to much more threatening fire partisan groups, and in the event of any serious disturbance known members will certainly be rounded up for questioning.  Occasionally these more serious groups will call on The Fire Bugs to do petty dirty work, accounting them as disposable.

Vizier Kadar Abdul-Saad al Din Attia (“Vizier Attia”): Vizier Attia (Jann Vizier, Wiz7) is the royal soothsayer, astronomer, and magician, tasked with providing the Emir with the proper interpretation of dreams, omen, portents, and signs and reading the stars to determine the proper times to begin or refrain from beginning endeavors, and to foresee whether the coming year brings prosperity or ruin.  Vizier Attia is a tall elderly Jann with walnut colored skin whose shiny silver turban covers his balding head.  What hair his has remaining is long and white, and a long white beard extends to below his knees.  His brow is wrinkled, and his eyes are deep set, blue, and very keen and penetrating.  He dresses in light blue robes decorated with stars worked in silver thread, and wears a gold chain as a symbol of his office.  He wields a _staff of abjuration_ that also strikes as a _+1 frost weapon_.  In private, he smokes a long thin pipe when he wants to sit and think. Although wise in lore, Vizier Attia is not a charming man, and dislikes being interrupted in his work especially by those he believes beneath him.  He believes his duty is to the Emir alone, and prefers to keep his council otherwise and to avoid the politics and intrigue of the court.  Such politics as he does have are of the solidly conservative sort.  He hates Efreet and trusts Djinn.  Vizier Attia’s most important duty is predicting the time and nature of transitions between the planes, so that the transition can be accomplished with the minimum disruption.  About all other matters not touching his work, Vizier Attia is known to be quite forgetful and scatterbrained, so that it is of no use to invite him to banquets or celebrations, since even if he can be persuaded to agree to come, he will forget at the last minute.  He is generally unable to take care of his personal affairs, and is even known on occasion to forget that something has not yet happened, and refer to things he has foreseen in the future as if they have already transpired.  He is not hard of hearing, but he is very inattentive, and if a speaker waxes long his mind will wander.  He sleeps at irregular hours and may fall asleep in a chair if he finds the talkl especially boring – which he generally will if it is about anything other than the most obscure and arcane matters.  Vizier Attia has private and magically secured apartments within the palace, adjacent to the tallest and narrowest of the palace’s many towers, the Tower of Stars, from the top of which he conducts his nightly observations.  Although Vizier Attia has been a life long bachelor in public, rumor among the servants is that he entertains a secret lover from the elemental plane of air whom he conjures as a companion.

Muhafiz Naim Raghid Abdul-Shahid Bey Tuma (“Muhafiz Tuma”, “Naim Bey Tuma”, or simply “Muhafiz”): Muhafiz Naim Bey Tuma is the hereditary Mayor or Governor of the Palace, and office that makes him one of the most senior servants of the Emir, and in charge over all of the servants and slaves that staff the Emir’s palace.  Only the Commander of the Emir’s army and the Grand Vizier is of equal rank, and only they may approach the throne of the Emir without invitation – lesser Jann address the Bey Tuma as simply “Muhafiz”.  The Muhafiz and his family have a small separate palace adjacent to that of the Emir.  The current Muhafiz is a slightly plump Jann of average height, with almond colored skin, who covers his head in a turban of purple and blue, and wears ornate robes of many colors and cloth of gold.  The Tuma are entirely devoted to the service of the Shahid family and to the Emir, and though they feigned and pledged loyalty to the usurper they set about to subtly undermine his regime.  The Naim Bey Tuma is meticulous about all his duties and demanding – frequently interrupting the labor of an inferior to show him how to better perform it and scolding over the small flaw.  Although he dresses and behaves ostentatiously, it is not out of pride in himself, but respect for the office and desire that the Emir of Qaybar be ranked and accorded with the other rulers of Genie kind of the first rank for the good of his people.  Naim dotes on his wife Minah (described below), and is served by a Tasked Genii Messenger named Sadad Al Rih, which is continually flitting back and forth on errands with a ‘pop’ and a gust of wind.  There is a strong grudge between the Malik and the Mahufiz, as the Muhafiz believes military service is for the stupid and the Malik is unimaginative simpleton unfit for his office – much less to be ruling in the place of the Emir.  The Malik for his part believes the Muhafiz acted dishonorably during the reign of the usurper and believes him a Jann without fixed loyalty.  The Muhafiz is desperate to discover the whereabouts of the Emir, but is in a fit of pique doing nothing to cooperate with the Malik, and the feud between the two threatens to bring the government to a stand still.  Ironically, although the Muhafiz is exceptionally competent in his work, it is the Muhafiz who is a generally unimaginative man whose intellectual horizons seldom extend beyond the daily needs of the palace, and the extent of his action so far to recover the Emir is to have the palace thoroughly explored (in all the most obvious places) and to begin interrogate all the servants.  The Bey Tuma is no great fighter (Jann Vizier; additionally, his devotion to duty has effectively made him a Tasked Genii Administrator, and he has all the spell powers of such in addition to those of a Jann Vizier), but he is acquainted with the many secret passages of the palace and is capable of disappearing almost instantly – and returning quickly with reinforcements.  In the event that the young Emir is found dead, the Muhafiz will believe he has failed utterly in his duties, and in a fit of grief and rage transform into a Tasked Genii Slayer, killing everyone at hand and then single mindedly seek out all he believes to be responsible for the death.

Minah Al-Sahil Abdula-Shahid Beyg Tuma (“Beyg Tuma”): Minah Al-Sahil is a tasked Genie administrator of the Al-Sahil house, who was rescued from service to the Efreet (by way of the death of her master) and accepted service with the royal house of Qaybar, where she was appointed the chief royal tax assessor and collector.  She overseas a staff of 20 clerks and tax collectors, including 5 Jann, and has 8 especially large and fearsome looking ogrima enforcers permanently assigned to her office to ensure her minions are given no trouble in her duties.  She is meticulous in keeping records of all the cities finances, and takes care to see that every gate toll, property tax, sword tax, business license, slave tax, and import tariff is properly assessed and paid.  She is normally accompanied by at least two of these enforcers as bodyguards in case someone holds a grudge.  She may also draw upon the city guard in the event of serious trouble.  Perhaps fortunately for Minah, taxes in Qaybar are comparatively light, owing to the great influence of the trading guilds and mercantile houses, and so deter much smuggling and tax evasion that would otherwise occur – though some engage in it seemingly out of principle and for the sport of it above even the desire for profit.  Minah is comely fair skinned genii of above average height, whose faintly blue skin and towering mass of white hair that seems to move on breezes of its own betrays are ancestry as a djinn.  While efficient and professional, polite, and as far as her duties allow, considerate and kind toward the needs of her inferiors, on all matters not touching the bureaucracy, she is – to use the modern term – functionally autistic and quite clueless regarding social matters and everything that might be termed “common sense”.  Minah prefers to wear thin gowns and veils of diaphanous white and light blue silk more appropriate for a seraglio than the public portions of palace, and has no regard to modesty.  Fortunately, her duties keep her largely out of sight, and her devoted husband, the Muhafiz, takes care that she dresses more appropriately for public functions.  Naim and Mina Tuma make for a strangely appropriate pair.  He is clearly devoted to her, even though her understanding of affection seems largely theoretical at times.  She only married the Muhafiz because the young Emir told her it would allow the Muhafiz to perform his duties more efficiently, and she generally carries out the duties of being a wife and mother with the same care and attention – but detached emotion – that she carries out the performing of sums and the keeping of records.  To make up for this, the pair employs a respectable older Jann woman as a wet nurse.  Together, the two have six children of varying ages and variously displaying different traits of their mixed heritage to different degrees.


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## Celebrim (Dec 22, 2016)

Locations in Qaybar

Piazza of the Bubbling Mud - Located in the heart of what is otherwise a more industrial sector of the city, the piazza of the bubbling mud is one of the more popular plaza's in the city with the lower and middle classes.  The centerpiece of the courtyard are the famous Mud Fountains of Qaybar, a thermal feature left over from ancient times which in reality is a sort of natural mud pot or mud volcano.  This feature has been contained within a great stone pool, with steps leading down into it, filled with hot mud.   In the center of the pool is clay fountain built up by erupting mud, and sculpted at times by members of the potter's guild to give it fanciful forms.  The mud in this portion of the pool is boiling hot and large bubbles form and explode in it, but near the edges of the pool it is but near scalding hot and can (just barely) be tolerated by human much as a very hot bath.  Bathing in the mud is a popular pastime with certain members of the city, and visitors also come to bath in the mud, for it is attributed various healthful and beneficial properties - from killing parasites such as lice, to clarifying and beautifying the skin, to curing skin ailments or even leprosy.  It is not uncommon to see many children of various backgrounds, races, and from families and clans which would not normally associate playing on the edges of the pool, and laborers in certain trades strip to essentials and bath in the pool in the cool of the early evening.  Only the very wealthy - and especially those that make much of their ties to the Djinn - eschew the pool and the courtyard entirely.  The plaza has been surrounded on four sides by arched and vaulted colonnades of fine stone, and the plaza has been tiled with multicolored tiles in various patterns.  Vendors and hawkers of fruit and beverages set up small portable stands within the plaza in the afternoons, and some of the buildings round about have been converted to serve travelers and pilgrims: a small hospital that tends to the poor, a bathhouse that among other services covers clients in mud taken from the pool to those who feel public bathing beneath their dignity, and a public house and tavern.  The guild hall of the Potter's Guild is also adjoining the plaza, and membership fees are used to ensure the courtyard remains fair to look upon and the fountains are not abused.  This includes paying for two guards to keep order in the plaza, and the city watch also regularly patrols the courtyard to see no disturbances arise.  In the middle of one side, between two buildings a small aqueduct carries water from other parts of the city and forms a cascade, beneath which bathers may clean themselves of mud.  The muddy water then flows through a channel to guardians in another part of the city, which benefits from the silt so carried.  When on the plane of fire, the pool becomes so hot that only a stout hearted Jann can endure it, and it becomes eventually baked hard and issues only hot air.  On the plane of water it both cools and becomes much less viscous, and on the plane of earth it becomes so much thicker and heavy that it is difficult to pull oneself from the pool without aid.  On the plain of air, the pool's fountains run only water, and the remaining mud settles beneath a layer of hot water and grows less and less until the pool is nearly clear.  Most agree the fountains are of the best quality when on the Prime Material plane and so the use of the fountains is presently near its peak.  

The Courtyard of the Oasis of Fire: The newest of the cities several wondrous plazas, the Courtyard of the Oasis of Fire was created about 2 centuries prior by a secret alliance of guilds of trades that practice arts related to fire - smiths and forgers, potters and brickmakers, and distillers and alchemists.  The Courtyard was then a center of great controversy sparking several major riots and veritable war within the streets when the plans for it first came to public knowledge, forcing the Emir to intervene.  After prolonged negotiation in secret council, the Emir reluctantly let his valuable but disgruntled subjects proceed with their plans, for hitherto it was highly illegal to practice certain sorts of fire magic within the walls of the city.   The Courtyard of the Oasis of Fire is oblong in design, and was created when the aforementioned alliance secretly purchased buildings in one of the poorer and more neglected portions of the city and demolished those that did not accommodate their design.  In the center of the courtyard is a wide and deep well, likewise oblong, filling much of the courtyard save for a wide boulevard that encircles it, with the edge of the well being boarded with a richly carved stone rail to keep passerby's from falling in.  Within this well, about 10' below the surface of the street, is a pool of fiery lava kept hot by some arcane means.  This pool is kept stocked with creatures from the elemental plane of fire, mostly a great chorus of small fire frogs, numerous fire lilies that produce colored flames, lava grass, a host of small fiery insects whose larva infest the pool, but also a few fire carp, and even a small flame serpent.  So hot is the pool that the entire courtyard is heated like a great oven, so that beasts and humans and those not resistant to fire find it torturous to enter the plaza and deadly to remain long.  A great column of hot air rises far above the plaza, and it is not unusual in the day to see great birds soaring on its currents high above.  Though the plaza is quite hot by mortal standards, it is uncomfortably chill by the standards of the creatures that live in the pool, which quite confines them to the lava and the air immediately above it.  Occasionally a few fire flies will rise like sparks or candle flames 5' above the level of the plaza, but most quickly dip down again to avoid being snuffed out.  Owing to the poor neighborhood that the plaza was built in, at first it remained a refuge only for those in the city that enjoy fire and heat, but after the initial controversy died down, a strange thing happened.  Because the plaza was uncomfortable to all but Jann, it soon became fashionable, in that the oasis of fire 'kept the riff raff out'.  Young fashionable Jann began coming in parties at night, and it became a romantic thing to bring ones paramour to the decadent part of the city where the plaza was.  To accommodate this sudden influx of wealth, the buildings around about the plaza began to cater more and more to the wealthy, and in consequence used this wealth to improve their appearance and make their businesses more attractive to the very well do to of society.  Within a few decades, the plaza became a gentrified island within one of the cities poorer quarters.   One of the cities finest accommodations for visitors without contacts, The House of Mash'al now adjoins the plaza, and their are a variety of purveyors of fine goods and wine and tea houses also along the plaza.  Entrance to the plaza is through a number of covered arcades, with a series of baffles that serve to cause the air to wind about and cool to a mere desert blast on a very hot day.  There is also a bathhouse offering hot baths for those that enjoy both heat and steam.  On the outside of these arcades in several languages are words announcing the courtyard and the great heat within.  The area though fashionable, still remains potentially dangerous, and cutpurses, ruffians and pick pockets able to tolerate the heat are known to hang out in the arcades or even in the plaza itself.  Likewise, the controversy of the plaza has not wholly died, and occasional brawls still breakout here, and at times certain members of water factions vandalize the oasis by creating water within it, to the detriment of the wildlife that call it home.  For these reasons, and perhaps others, a small guard is at all times kept in the plaza.

The Madrasas of The Honorable Waifs of the Palace: Located on the palace grounds itself, the Madrasas of the Honorable Waifs of the Palace is a venerable and traditional institution whereby the Emir adopts into his household very young orphans or abandoned children of purely human blood and educates and cares for them.  The Honorable Waifs are entitled to a suit of good clothing, a portion of the leavings of the Emir's table, and an education by the finest tutors including at times those that serve the Emir's family.  The Waifs come from both genders and are segregated only in their private quarters adjacent to the Madrasas itself.  They are attended to by nursemaids from the most reputable of families, often those with familial connections to the family of the Emir himself.  The Honorable Waifs are given light duties within the palace and schooled in etiquette.  Above all duty, citizenship and loyalty to the Emir are stressed.  At about the age of 13, the Waifs are normally discharged with a blessing, a small purse of coin, and a letter of introduction attesting to their good character.  Only those who have demonstrated the worst character and indiscretion despite strict discipline are discharged without these honors.  Once discharged, many Waifs immediately apply for and often receive apprenticeships in one of the civil offices of Qaybar.  Leaders of the scouts of the Emir's army often are promoted up from the ranks of the Honorable Waifs, and many posts in government are filled by them.  Others decide to make their own fortune or gain apprenticeships in one of the cities many artisan guilds.  There is much quiet speculation regarding the waifs in some quarters as to why the Emir would associate with such base born persons as human orphans, though most agree that whatever else it shows the good character of the Emir and his suitably magnificent munificence and mercy.  Those in the highest councils of The Coiled Madam know that The Coiled Madam designs to place one of her own who would be loyal to her into the ranks of the Honorable Waifs, but the exact purpose of these schemes is known only to The Coiled Madam.

The Billet Yards: The passage of the city of Qaybar provides many unique economic opportunities.  One of the most important of these is access to the Elemental Plane of Stone, with its seemingly infinite mineral riches.  To fully take advantage of this resource, The Ancient and Arcane Society of Quarriers, Stone Cutters, and Stone Masons – more frequently called just the Stone Masons Guild - maintains a great storehouse of stone within the city.  This storehouse is as large as a whole city block, and yet the great building is but the upper floor of several layers of equally vast spaces connected by shallow ramps and supported by natural pillars left in the stone.  During the years in which the city rests on the Elemental Planes of Earth, explorers, dowsers, prospectors, and those able to communicate with the native inhabitants hurriedly seek out the most valuable seams of ore and stone in the small caves and stone layers surrounding the city.  When suitable sources are found, a great many laborers are hired to assist the Guild in carving out and carting away such stone or ore as would be profitable.  Sufficient ore and stone are carved out and laid away to supply a fully cycle of the cities journey and also to sell to merchants on other planes that find such stone rare and valuable.  These excesses of stone are cut to standard sizes and stored in the billet yards.  Because the Masons and many of their buyers believe stone cut directly from the Elemental Plane of Earth is dangerous to use, stone and bars of metal are laid up for a full cycle so that they are ‘seasoned’ and in this way any dangerous taint or traits in the stone removed by exposure to the other planes.  The stone masons employ two tribes of stone giants, who have long been suffered to dwell in Qaybar, to rotate the stones to ensure they are perfectly and equally seasoned, much as lumber is seasoned on the Prime Material plane.  These giants make their home in halls hewed out on the sides of the lower portions of the Billet Yards, and are seldom seen in the city save on feast days of the stone masons when they participate in their parades and sacred rites.  The giants are largely well satisfied with their accommodations, as they are well fed from the tables of the masons and allowed to keep a certain portion of the ores and stone cut when on the elemental plane of earth for their own uses and profit.  A few giants do however leave to join kindred thus keeping the population relatively stable.  Seasoned stone is bought in lots by buyers in a counting house adjacent to the billet yards, and auctions of lots of rare stone and metal are frequently held there.  The Ancient and Arcane Society of Quarriers, Stone Cutters, and Stone Masons also have their Guildhall – a building of great magnificence displaying stones of every color – adjacent to the billet yards, but only paying members and visiting recognized masters of the craft are allowed to see the splendors within, and observe their arcane and mysterious rites.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 22, 2016)

[MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] I meant to put a wink  after saying that I felt some of your NPCs were Neutral Good. They are clearly a group of very dangerous contenders in Byzantine contenders. I love it.

How do you feel about Maktab Al Rasam being a khayal (shadow genie from 3e _Tome of Magic_) instead of a dark stalker? I think it might fit the whole theme a bit better, and maybe explains his fleeting appearances – because as a khayal he'd have Shadow Dependence, meaning he couldn't survive outside the Plane of Shadow / Shadowfell for more than a week at a time. Also, what would you place his alignment as? CN?

And wrote up the leader of the Zahranis...

*The Vurzug Framadar (“Grand Vizier”)*
*♂ half-fiend janni vizier / rogue 9, terrorist leader (Zahranis) / LE / devious & uses euphemisms*

Vurzug Framadar Aturpat ibn-Adurnesh served the former warlord Al-Zahran as head of the Framadar, ruthless secret police that rooted out dissidents to Al-Zahran’s efreet-sponsored rule and assassinated the old royal family. It is whispered that Aturpat exceeded even the old warlord in cunning and was the true power behind the throne. Standing a willowy seven-and-a-half feet tall, Aturpat rises head and shoulders above other jann and his ageless skin appears a light shade of violet-red. He wears kohl around his brooding mismatched copper and orange eyes, and his gaze alone has been known to hypnotize even giant cobras. Despite being a formidable foe himself, Aturpat’s true genius lies in his ability to mobilize the burning sentiments of those whose prosperity went up in flames with Al-Zahran’s death. A true demagogue, Aturpat’s skill with spoken word is unnerving, lending credence to the rumors that he was sired by a devil. His mastery of language is so great that Aturpat can deliver flawless innuendo commanding his followers to commit the most heinous and yet remain blameless himself in the eyes of truth-telling magic.
   The Zahranis are efreet-sympathizers who yearn for the "halycon days" of rule by flame and steel. Their numbers are comprised of jann who served in the Framadar, arms traders who prospered under the efreet, disenfranchised fire genasi, and human mercenaries who went unpaid during the uprising. After the death of Al-Zahran during the popular uprising that led to the city’s planeshift to the Material Plane, many Zahranis fled Qaybar, either returnign to their efreet masters or scattering across the desert as raiders. Only a small group remain hidden in Qaybar’s budayeen (red light district), where they operate like a terrorist cell, undermining the disorganized government with acts of sabotage, raiding, and subterfuge. Their safehouse is a ruined armory buried during an earthquake long ago; it lies under a sympathetic hookah and lamp vendor’s shop, and it is here the Zahranis treat with the Brotherhood of True Flame and stockpile weapons awaiting the day that Qaybar again shifts to the Plane of Fire.


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## Celebrim (Dec 22, 2016)

Quickleaf said:


> [MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] I meant to put a wink  after saying that I felt some of your NPCs were Neutral Good. They are clearly a group of very dangerous contenders in Byzantine contenders. I love it.
> 
> How do you feel about Maktab Al Rasam being a khayal (shadow genie from 3e _Tome of Magic_) instead of a dark stalker? I think it might fit the whole theme a bit better, and maybe explains his fleeting appearances – because as a khayal he'd have Shadow Dependence, meaning he couldn't survive outside the Plane of Shadow / Shadowfell for more than a week at a time. Also, what would you place his alignment as? CN?




I meant him as CN, yes.  It's your campaign, so you should figure out which secrets are hidden and which rumors you want to be true.  If you move him to being a Khayal, I think he moves from being sympathetic to being unsympathetic, as the Khayal have more obviously nefarious designs, which is fine but I've a penchant for foes that are sympathetic or which switch sides.  But, you may have plots within plots and plans within plans.  Do what seems best for your needs.   Leaving the mysteries up to you is part of the reason I don't resolve them in my write ups.  The other reason, is it reduces the spoilers should any future player peruse the thread.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 22, 2016)

Celebrim said:


> I meant him as CN, yes.  It's your campaign, so you should figure out which secrets are hidden and which rumors you want to be true.  If you move him to being a Khayal, I think he moves from being sympathetic to being unsympathetic, as the Khayal have more obviously nefarious designs, which is fine but I've a penchant for foes that are sympathetic or which switch sides.  But, you may have plots within plots and plans within plans.  Do what seems best for your needs.   Leaving the mysteries up to you is part of the reason I don't resolve them in my write ups.  The other reason, is it reduces the spoilers should any future player peruse the thread.




Hmm, I see where you're coming from. I'll leave him as a "dark stalker (?)" and include that bit you wrote up about his sand mandalas being protective runes.


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## Quickleaf (Dec 22, 2016)

[MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] Here's the collected work-to-date on Qaybar! I'll eventually get everything into this PDF.

View attachment AQplaytest-Qaybar-v0.1.pdf

Debating where to place the Piazza of the Bubbling Mud & the Courtyard of the Oasis of Fire...


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## Celebrim (Dec 23, 2016)

Quickleaf said:


> [MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] Here's the collected work-to-date on Qaybar! I'll eventually get everything into this PDF.




Cool. How professional.  I'd recommend doing a lot of editing, especially when it comes to quoting me.   In particular, I note that canonically, Jann only live 300 years.  I thought they lived at least 10 times that long, so you may need to change some of my NPC descriptions to allow for more mortal lifespans.  Also, I've added a bit of information to the The Muhafiz entry.

You have Courtyard of the Vanquished Flame in two locations.  Is that because it is straddling a border, or is that an oversight?



> Debating where to place the Piazza of the Bubbling Mud & the Courtyard of the Oasis of Fire...




Piazza is probably in Odiferous Trades and the Courtyard is probably in the back of the Caravanserai district, both of which are looking a bit empty anyway.   But the Piazza could also go over near the Brickmakers, or if they share a common border lie on edge between them.


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## Celebrim (Dec 23, 2016)

The Forum of the Philosophers: The forum of Philosopher’s is a courtyard located near the palace and the college district, which is entered through archways in the middle of all four sides.  Around the courtyard there are tiers of stone benches, as with a stadium or ball court.  The floor of the courtyard is sand, which is groomed every morning.  Large pavilions of blue and white cloth are erected over the stone benches to provide shade.  By ancient tradition, no one can be held accountable for any words that they speak in the forum of philosophers.  No subject is forbidden, provided that the speaker cast no aspersions on the character of the Emir, or on the Grand Caliph of the Djinn, or on the god Oghma to which the forum is sacred and whose priesthood tends to the forum every morning and blesses it.  The forum is a meeting place for the lorewise of Qaybar, and a place to present novel ideas, scholarly thesis, philosophical treatises, and new poems.  Those who wish to give political speeches or debate ideas gather in the forum, as do tutors and lecturers who are in need of pupils.  Sometimes, if there is unrest in the city, the Emir will send out one of his Viziers to explain the reasoning of the Emir publicly in the forum, and debate with his critics.  The very poor also come to the forum, both to receive a free education if they have the aptitude, but also because Jann lecturers often produce food and drink both for the benefit of their audience and to attract a larger one.  There are often two or more debates or orations going on at all times of the day in the forum, and sometimes arguments go on far into the night.  Bargains and verbal agreements are never made or solemnized in the forum, for such bargains even when made with oaths cannot be enforced according to the laws and traditions of the city, and anyone asking the scholars gathered their to bear witness will only be laughed at and directed to the court of the elders.  Nonetheless, although it has been known to happen from time to time, few of the city try to cheat even strangers in this manner, for it is said that though the city may not find oaths binding, the gods hear and may not respect the traditions of a mere city – even one as great as Qaybar.  During the reign of the usurper, the tradition that no words could be held against the speaker in the forum was honored more in the breach than the observance, as the secret police frequented the forum and hauled off those who argued against the present policies.  Even the priesthood of Oghma was persecuted, and so eventually the forum stood empty save for the secret police.  These actions greatly enflamed the opinions of the muftis, uluma, imans, priests, scholars, wizards and sages of the city against the regime, and it no doubt contributed to its speedy downfall that almost all of the brightest minds and the greatest workers of wonders of the city became united in common cause against Al Zahran.  For left to their own devices, these persons prove endlessly quarrelsome over even the smallest matters, and cannot be united on anything at all.  

The Court of the Elders: A small plaza on the main thoroughfare, just inside Jarmik’s Gate before the main marketplace is entered; the court of the Elders is oldest and most traditional place to conduct business in Qaybar.  It is lined on two sides with stone steps much like a stadium, which are covered from the sun and elements by ochre pavilions of cloth.  There in the morning, the elders of those that are acknowledged Muftis and Ulama and leaders within the city take seats.  Those that have disputes with their neighbors will bring them before these honored persons and voice their complaints, and then the elders will judge between them and give them council on resolving their differences.  In this manner, the case does not have to be brought before a judge, and the dispute settled without recourse to violence.  Elders may also be called upon to arbitrate disputes between family members or spouses.  Sometimes, the two parties will swear to the elders that they will find the elder’s arbitration binding.  Elders do not formally demand coin for their services, but to give a small amount “for the use of your family” or “for the cost of your burial” is considered customary and polite (and what is polite in Qaybar is effectively mandatory), and the most respected arbiters are so sought after that the effectively well-paid professionals and may turn away individuals whose demeanor does not suit them or who have not paid well in the past.  The elders at the gate also act as public witnesses and hear and witness the swearing of oaths, promises of betrothal between families, and verbal contracts between parties.  The will also notarize documents, and often younger scribes or students of the Mufti’s are on hand to record and document contracts.  Those wishing auguries or divinations performed will also come to the Court of the Elders.  For these services however it is customary to negotiate a price before the elder whose augury is desired will perform the necessary ritual.  These prices are often not in coin, but small services or deeds that the beneficiary swears to perform or particular needs the elder has that he wishes to see taken care of.  It is also possible to hire one of the elders to serve as a lawyer, but owing to the dignity of their position an elder of the city will not agree to take on a case unless they believe the cause is just or at least serves their personal interest.  As with performing auguries, the price of an elder legal council is often not payable in coin.  A great deal of shouting occurs in the Court of the Elders, for often several plaintiffs will be voicing their case at once and must also be heard over the bustle of the street.  After noon as the courtyard heats up, the most of the elders – especially those that have already heard many cases - typically retire for the day, and the Court of the Elders begins to take on more the character of any public space in Qaybar.  But at least some elders, those who have not yet heard much business or have no other affairs, will remain till nightfall to hear out serious disputes which cannot wait for the morning.  At night the plaza is largely abandoned, and is not considered a safe or decent area to lurk in.  To take a seat in the Court of Elders without having first been recognized and acknowledged by the existing elders as one deserving of such an honor is a great faux pas, and if the person who does so is not worthy then it will offend all the elders of the city and rumor of it will quickly turn much of the city against the offensive upstart.


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## Celebrim (Dec 23, 2016)

The Three Wise Beasts of Qaybar
Each of the three wise beasts of Qaybar is a talking animal of great sagacity (18 Int, 18 Wis), that is accorded much honor in the city.  (Each of the wise beasts is truly a legendary creature and so should be able to take legendary actions.)  Each is allowed a seat at the Court of Elders, and allowed entrance to the palace of the Emir.  It is not considered proper even for the Emir to deny them admittance to the court of the Emir, but they may not enter without first seeking audience and being announced.  They are particularly sought out as fair arbiters to resolve disputes between masters and their beasts or pets, and customarily spoken too as peers even by those of high rank.  Any attack or insult made toward the three wise beasts would be treated very much as if the person insulted or attacked a venerable and highly respected citizen.  The exact nature though of the three wise beasts is up for debate.  Some believe that they are genie that have voluntarily taken animal form.  Others believe that they are the victims of some bizarre curse.  Still others believe that they are natural animal spirits, others celestials sent by gods for the protection of the beasts of Qaybar, and others that they are simply extreme examples of the strange magic that pervades Qaybar and causes all beasts that enter into it gain the power of speech.  

Mufti Littlecloud: Mufti Littlecloud is a large tawny colored desert fox.  She is the youngest of the three wise beasts, having already lived at least 10 times the natural lifespan of a fox, and having been recognized as an elder of the city for six decades.  She is considered the kindest of the three wise beasts, and the one most likely to produce an agreeable result for both parties.  She is a 5HD animal, having all the powers of a 5th level rogue and all the spellcasting ability (but not class abilities) of a 5th level druid.  She wears about her neck a gold collar with lapis luzi and garnet stones, which acts as a ring of protection.  She favors the clever, the witty, and the poor and oppressed and disfavors those who are cruel to their servants or other inferiors or who got into trouble out of their own stupidity and greed.  She will not rule against someone who abided by the letter of their word in order to play a trick.  She is acknowledged a teacher in all masters relating to the desert, earth, and fire and is favored by fire and earth genasi as a judge.  She loves mice, and bits of sweetbreads.  It is well known she greatly dislikes cats of all sorts, and rules against them harshly even to the point of being unfair.  She does not mind being invited to salons or banquets, and may sometimes be found amongst high society.

Mufti Yabon Al Rish: Yabon Al Rish is a large and venerable raven, whose sable feathers are now streaked with gray.  He has been the longest acknowledged of the three wise beasts, having already lived at least 20 times the natural lifespan of a raven and been acknowledged as an elder of the city for more than three centuries.  He is considered the most scrupulously fair of the three wise beasts, and the one most likely to consider the particulars of the law and the precedence of the collected elders.  He is an 8HD animal, having all the powers of an 8th level rogue, and all the spellcasting ability (but not class abilities) of an 8th level druid.  He wears a slender gold chain around his neck, with a medal for service to the city given to him by the Emir himself.  He favors the truthful, the forthright, and those that give honest appraisal.  He is not subject to flattery, and he cares not for the art with which a person speaks.  He favors those that labor diligently, and he disfavors any who try to gain through deceit.  He will not rule against those who preformed an honest service with the expectation of reward.  He is acknowledged a master in all masters relating to avians, the wind, and the weather and he also has great knowledge of spirits and the undead.  He likes Littlecloud as a companion, but doesn’t respect her as a judge, and they have a mild animosity as a consequence.  He prefers meat that has been slightly dried by the desert wind, and the heads of cattle to eat, but prefers to sup in private. He as a great abhorrence for vultures and a great fear of cats.  His brood is numerous in the city, and he can sometimes be seen lecturing a great flock of them.  He suffers no vulture to enter into the city, and sometimes wars have been observed between his brood and flocks of vultures.  For this reason, the soldiers of the Emir may sometimes shoot vultures as unwanted beasts, but never harm ravens.  He accepts no invitations to public events, but has been known to attend funerals and is said to be friend of Vizier Attia.  

Mufti Mordantcord: Mufti Mordantcord is the strangest of the three wise beasts, and the most mysterious.  He may be the oldest of the three wise beasts, but is second in seniority.  Mufti Mordantcord is a great pit viper of enormous length – at least three times the length of even a tall Jann – but exactly how long he may reach is unknown for he has been known to change sizes and no one has dared ask him to lay out for a measurement.  Mordantcord first came to attention two hundred years ago, when the elders arriving at sunrise found him seated upon the benches of the Court of Elders.  The sight of the fearsome viper caused great consternation and disrupted much business and the traffic of the city, and the elders demanded the patrol of the city guard remove the great beast.  None of the Ogrima had the courage to come near the monster at first, and some counseled that bows be fetched to attempt to slay the creature from afar.  At last seeing how the caravans piled up outside the gate, and the possibility of a riot, one Ogrima drew his great scimitar and strode forward bravely to deliver a decapitating strike.  But as he did so, Mordantcord drew up as to strike but instead hissed that if the Ogrima put away his sword, then upon finishing his duties, he would receive a reward that would make him both happy and unhappy.  The Ogrima hesitated and then put away his sword, and Mordantcord then disappeared down a small hole beneath the benches which had hither been little noted.  When the Ogrima had finished his duties, he learned that a long time friend had died of wounds suffered when a great wain had run lose in the streets, and that he was to be promoted to his position.  Thereafter, none questioned the right of Mufti Mordantcord to be seated among the elders, but few are they that dare ask for his judgment nor do any of the elders sit within 10 paces of their colleague.  Fortunately, Mordantcord comes only rarely to the court, and when he does, it is always before morning.
Mordantcord is considered the most capricious of the three wise beasts, and his judgments are the most harsh.  Once, after two feuding caravan masters swore to accept his judgment as binding, halfway through the testimony of one of the parties, he simply struck one - injecting so much poison the man died on the spot - and said, “You’ll find that judgment completely binding.”  Sometimes in the morning a person will be found dead in the Courtyard of the Elders, having been bitten by a giant snake.  They are said to have “accepted the Judgment of Mordantcord”, and the saying has become a byword in the city for those that act rashly or suicidally.  Mordantcord’s tastes are not as well known as the other wise beasts, and there is much speculation on his motives.  Some say Mordantcord favors jilted lovers and hopeless cases.  It is said he judges more harshly wielders of magical power, those with much learning, those with cruel tongues, and those that abuse their spouses or lovers.  He seems to fear nothing, and cares nothing for food as the other wise beasts.  Those who wish a judgment from him must be forward and ask what he needs, for he ignores any coin or valuable as worthless.  If asked for an augury or divination, his requests for payment are always the most strange, but he has an especial and unusual interest in collecting memories.  Mordantcord is a 20HD huge viper, with all the abilities of an 8th level rogue, and all the spellcasting ability of a Jann Vizier.


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## Celebrim (Dec 23, 2016)

Jasper the Talking Cat: Some account Jasper the fourth wise beast of Qaybar, but he has never tried to take a seat in the court of elders – even though he is often seen stretched out lazily on flat, stone surfaces, that offer him a vantage point.  There is little doubt however that if he did take a seat in the court of elders, that it would be accepted as his right by the city's elders, for his fame in the city – though perhaps not out of the city – is great.  Jasper appears as a great silver grey tom cat, with very lush fur, and bright blue eyes.  If it is the same cat reoccurring in story, then he has lived at least 300 times the normal life of a cat and may be much older.  Every cat of the city gives way for him, and he is often seen with a great crowd of admiring females stroking their muzzles against his sides.  He is as fond of milk as a little kitten, and also of fresh fish.  However much he likes to beg, that he is a hunter of great renown is not doubted, for he has been seen carrying rats as big as himself and calming stripping the skin off of deadly desert vipers.  He is fond of conversation, but is said to be very droll, with the mannerisms of a noble of the most jaded tastes and equally quick to take offense.  He is very subject to flattery, and greatly mollified by it – the prettier the better.  He evidently believes no flattery goes too far.  Those persons that he likes, he insists pet him, or as he puts it, “worship me” – and they receive his gratified rumbling purr.  Those that he dislikes, he gives very sharp and painful scratches that invariably fester and are slow in healing.  To offend Jasper is also to offend every cat of the city, for word of the insult to the cat that is evidently their chief spreads as fast as lightning.  Jasper differs from every other cat in the city in that every other cat in the city is as vain as a Marid regarding bestowing titles on themselves, and the lowest alley cat insists that they are a lord of some sort and suzerain over some part of the city.  Jasper however lays claim to no title, and simply introduces himself as Jasper.  Many centuries ago, in the time of the first emir, before his fame was very great, it was discovered that a great gray stray cat had entered into the court of the Emir without either permission or being announced, and was observing the proceedings of the court.  The penalty for any creature to come into the court when the Emir is seated without being announced is death, so one of the guards drew his sword to slay the cat.  The cat took no particular interest in this, but instead calmly said in a voice that carried through the court, “It is the right of every cat to come and go as he pleases.”  At just that moment, a tiny white kitten hurtled through a door to the Emir’s private apartments, pursued closely by the youngest daughter of the Emir, and a horrified nursemaid who could only stand at the threshold.  All the court were stunned into inaction, and the guard stood frozen with sword upraised.  Upon pouncing on the kitten, the young daughter held it up the squirming kitten to her father quite innocently and said, “Kitty!”  At that moment, the Emir declared true what the cat had spoken, that it was the right of cats to come and go as they please, and so to this day any cat may enter the court of the Emir unannounced and unhindered.  Though it is said that the cats of the court hold their own council in this matter, and determine for themselves which cat ought to exercise this right – for any stray that comes to the court is certain to receive a thrashing to the base of his ears and beyond.   From that time, Jasper was known in Qaybar as, “He who comes and goes as he pleases.”, and he is still most commonly referred to as “Yadhhab kama Yasha” in the city.  Since the time of the first Emir, owing to his declaration, the esteem of cats in the city has increased, so that rare is the household that does not keep at least one cat.  Once a pair in a quarrel asked Yahdhab kama Yasha for a judgment, but the cat replied, “Only a fool does not listen to the advice of a cat, but only a fool accepts the judgment of one.”  This has also become a saying in the city, meaning, “Ask for wise council, but keep your own.”  It became in time a tradition to not harm cats in the city, following after the example of the Emir.  Once a Jann baker of elaborate confection was contracted to provide for a great banquet, forcing him to work many later hours.  It happened at the time that there was a tom cat near his home serenading female cats with his horrid yowls, so that it drove the sleep-less baker to the point of rage.  In a fury at the second night of such treatment, the Jann flew into the alley and laid ahold of the cat.  He then tied a cord around the neck of the cat and hung the cat from his eves, before retiring to bed.  The following morning, the neighbors of the baker discovered the baker, or rather what was left of him, having been devoured in his bed by a great swarm of rats.  Not long after this, it was made the law of the city that no one in the city may harm a cat.  Those that find they are over run with cats, pay for them to be trapped and taken out of the city.  The motives of Jasper are not well known, and few have ever been in his council.  But Jasper would appear to believe that cities exist, indeed the very idea of cities and the very motivation for their being, is to provide a proper place of residence for cats.  He is concerned only with the affairs of cats, but has been known at times to consider the safety of the city the right and proper concern of cats.  It is said that Jasper at times comes and gives secret council to the Emir, and it is said by Jasper that Al Zahran died because he did not respect the council of cats.  It is believed in the city that cats are spirit wise, and able to detect the presence of evil spirits and curses, and of unclean things and the undead.  They are often used as watchers for these things.  The people of Qaybar also say that the Sultan of a Efreet has no use for cats, and is the poorer for it.  
(Notes: Jasper is a legendary 19HD house cat, with a 22 in all ability scores, except dexterity which is a 30.  He has all the abilities of a 19th level monk, a 19th level druid, and a 10th level rogue (assassin).  He can planeshift as a genie at will, but with pinpoint accuracy, arriving always where he wishes to be.  As such, by no means is Jasper's territory limited to Qaybar.  He may be found in any large cosmopolitan city, although in ones where cats don't normally talk, he is likely to be more circumspect.  Jasper is immortal.  If Jasper is killed, you may assume that he has simply lost one of his 9 lives - 8 more to go.  In truth, Jasper is the DM's pet and a plot device.  He has any ability not otherwise listed that is useful for him to have at the time.  It’s possible that Jasper is a god.  If he is not, then it is certain that he at least thinks he is.  Jasper pretends to know everything.  Whether or not he actually does is an open question.  Jasper is properly roleplayed as if Oscar Wilde was an ur-cat embodying perfectly everything people expect of a cat.)


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## Celebrim (Dec 31, 2016)

How fares the project?  Made any progress?  

The Miracle District - While not a true district of the city, the so called Miracle District is one of the more famous features of the city.  Inhabitants of the city generally do not refer to the Miracle District itself, referring instead to an area of the specific ward that the district lies within, or to one of the streets that run through or flank it. The name itself is a misnomer given to it by travelers, and marks one as a foreigner to use it.  When inhabitants themselves refer to it as a whole, they slyly refer to it as 'Uptown'.  The Miracle District is actually an arc of high value desirable property that extends across several city wards, beginning in the College Ward near where the Hanging Gardens intersect the Palace, and running in arc through the Beast Tower Ward and into the Southern residential section almost to the cities tip.  The Miracle District is distinguished from the rest of the city primarily for the greater height of its towers, and so is famous largely because it stands out above the rest of the city in a fashion that is awe inspiring to the lesser races of the Prime Material Plane.  While the average building of Qaybar stands about 35 to 45 feet high, and encompasses two or three floors, the towers in the Miracle District commonly reach as high as 150' above the ground and have as many as nine (above ground) levels.  From a distance, they seem even taller, owing to their construction on a ridge of higher ground than the surrounding, and the domes and minarets that crown the towers gleam during the day of gold and glazed tile, and at night with ethereal streamers of eldritch light. The Miracle District is relatively narrow, consisting essentially of two blocks of buildings on either side of a central avenue, and to a lesser extent to the blocks of buildings to either side of this main area where those buildings reach to - or nearly to - the heights of the towers of the great households of the city.  This avenue merits special note, for it is in fact the most unique feature of the district, being not one avenue but three very different streets, stacked one atop the other at differing heights.  

The Street of Lanterns - The lowest of the three streets that run through the center of the Miracle districts, the Street of Lanterns is roofed by the great stone and concrete vaults that support the high boulevard above it.  The street is about 40' broad, but narrows regularly to but 30' broad where it must pass between pairs of stone pillars. Because of the roof and the great height of the surrounding buildings to either side, the Street of Lanterns is always cloaked in shadow and has the appearance very much of a tunnel.  To alleviate this oppressive darkness, various citizens owning property in the district have hung from the vaults, or on ropes strung between the buildings, a number of colored glass lanterns holding everburning flames, and these cast multicolored lights onto the street even on dark nights.  On feast days sacred to the various guilds of the city, the Street of Lanterns and the High Boulevard above are quite common parade routes, and at all times the Street of Lanterns makes a convenient access into the city for great wains and carts that might otherwise suffer from the congestion of other streets with the many stalls and vendors that line those ways.  There are relatively few shops along the Street of Lanterns, and mostly they serve darker trades, crafts, and customers although these shops quite unlike those in the smoke medina are not grubby and mean, but caterer to wealthy purveyors and connoisseurs.   For example, one of the cities finest purveyors of tobacco and pipes has an entrance on the Street of Lanterns, as does the city’s most respected purveyor of shadows and shades of things.   Far darker things are on sell in the basement, though at least – not openly – anything overtly illegal.  Often these shops occupy only the first floor and basements, and are not connected to the manors, guildhalls, colleges, and the like operating on the higher floors. There are likewise relatively few entrances to buildings, and those that there are seldom used and heavily fortified, being mostly entrances used to receive bulk goods and large items, stables or dens for beasts, or postern gates through which the householder might be forced to retreat in extremity.  Owing to the poorer pickings and the gruff behavior of the teamsters and drovers that pass through on this street, there are relatively few beggars, pickpockets, and street performers that utilize The Street of Lanterns, but such that do are generally the dregs that have been cast out of more attractive areas: lepers begging for healing, madmen, demi-humans, tieflings, chaond, and various eccentrics.  Roughly every hundred yards along the street is a steep spiral staircase that winds up the interior of a small tower and allows access to the high boulevard above.  These are cramped and seldom used by locals and never by Jann.  Not content with such accommodations, several building owners have constructed their own staircases of various sorts to provide more convenient access.  Some of these are narrower even than the public ones, but a few are broad and designed to convey traffic to some establishment’s doorstep.  

The High Boulevard – The High Boulevard is located immediately above the Street of lanterns, resting atop stone and concrete vaults, roughly 45 feet above the ground below.  The Boulevard is about 30’ broad, and is flanked in many places by trees which are planted in containers of soil either on the street itself, or in gardens built into the buildings on either side.  The center 20’ or so of the Boulevard is paved with flagstone, but the outer portions are often small well tended grass lawns.  Where the street passes over intersecting streets, there is a high guardrail of carved stone to prevent accidents.   Running off perpendicular to the High Boulevard are many nameless ‘alleyways’, which are really but glorified balconies, connecting the High Boulevard to lesser homes and establishments to either side.   Some of these side streets are provisioned with their own stairs to provide access to the main surface streets below.  In a few places, balconies were planned which were never built, or were built but removed, or collapsed from the stress of shifting over the centuries.  The result is that off to either side of the High Boulevard there are often stairs that lead up to nowhere, or balconies that end where stairs should be, but were only a perilous drop to the city below remains.   Natives of the city now these places and avoid them, local Jann ignore the missing architecture and simply fly between them, but they can be quite confusing to visitors and much superstition – mostly false - has grown up around these stairways.   Nonetheless, at least one of these stairs, one that does not appear on every night, does in fact connect to the Smoke Medina in violation of the normal laws governing space and adjacency.  Even among locals the ways of this stair are not well known though, owing to the few that would use it.  
	The lowest towers and buildings in the Miracle District connect to The High Boulevard by way of broad patios or even courtyards on their roofs, and the main entrances to smaller towers are found here.  But it is far more common that the great homes along the boulevard have their smaller servants entrance at this level, to allow for deliveries or the entrance and egress of the homes lesser inhabitants.
	Various shops catering to the most high end clientele line The High Boulevard – confectionaries, tea shops, public houses, boutiques, haberdashers, florists, perfumers, alchemists, tailors, portrait painters, jewelers, purveyors of small exotic pets, and so forth.  Many magical baubles of an ordinary sort can be purchased here and the quality is generally consistent – you are unlikely to buy something that will kill you without being properly forewarned - but most locals prefer to do most of their shopping in the bazaar where prices are more negotiable and true bargains are to be found.  
	The High Boulevard sees almost entirely foot traffic, and bringing a cart or steed upon it without very good cause is considered quite rude.  The diversity of creatures that can be seen upon the High Boulevard is quite great, rivaling that of some planar cities and is second in the city only the Grand Bazaar.  Elves, aasimaar, Jann, genasi, human lords, traveling wizards, and the occasional genie from foreign lands can be found here enjoying the pleasures of the city.  The highest ranking members of the guilds of beggars, buskers, and thieves stake out territories along the Boulevard, to avail themselves of the wealth on display.  Jugglers, ventriloquists, clowns, workers of illusion, minstrels, contortionists, acrobats, tamers of beasts and the like entertain passers by in hopes of a consideration or the chance at a contract.  So intense can be the rivalry for patrons among the buskers and beggars, that it is not unknown for knives to be employed and bodies to be tossed over the rail when backs are turned and the two guilds are quietly great and hated rivals.

The Swaying Way – The Swaying Way winds this way and that above – but not necessarily directly above - the High Boulevard.  It connects the tallest towers of the Miracle District at the height of about 90 feet above the ground.  The swaying way is less a street than it is a series of slender arches and suspension bridges of various unrelated constructions - some of which are supported by magic.  They are generally no more than 10’ wide and often quite a bit less, and have no rails.  No stair way reaches up to The Swaying Way – those that would use it must fly to reach it or risk a dangerous climb up one of the towers that would certainly be trespassing and probably looked on as being dubious and suspicious.  The Swaying Way primarily serves the function of allowing a Jann to land and approach on foot in a dignified, visible and non-threatening fashion before attempting to enter into someone else’s property.  Many of the great homes of the city have patios, verandas, and grand entrances at this level, and expect visitors above the rank of what they would consider baseborn servants to enter here.   As with the High Boulevard, there are branches off of the swaying way to connect towers which are not directly along its path.  Virtually no one but Jann use the Swaying Way, and there is no traffic to speak of on it.  In the early evenings, some families of Jann stroll along the Swaying way to get a bit of air and take in the sunset.  It is also considered a proper venue for young Jann early in their courtship to get a bit of privacy, as it is easy to get beyond earshot, avoid undesirable company, but always in public view.  Young lovers and those with newly arranged marriages who wish to become acquainted with their spouses to be dally on the bridges in the early evening.

The Square of the Whirling Wind: The Square of the Whirling wind lies on the High Boulevard where the High Boulevard crosses above Lampwright Street, near the edge of the Beast Towers district.  It consists of an enlarged platform along the High Boulevard, 100’ on a side, and ringed with small bitter orange trees.   In the center of this platform is a ring of stone and a pillar, carved with the shapes of insects, such as might be a fountain in a more ordinary square.  Out of this fountain however rises not a plume of water, but a whirlwind some 10’ in diameter and rising 60’ into the air – above the level of the Swaying way which skirts it to one side.  As a consequence, there is always a breeze within the courtyard, and any light object not attended to is likely to be swept along the ground until it is sucked up in to the whirlwind with great force.  Young and daring Jann make a game at times of hurling themselves into the whirlwind, upon which they are carried up to a great height by it – and with luck and a bit of skill – ejected forcefully from the top.  This game is almost invariably fatal when played by any being that cannot fly, and it is dangerous even for the Jann, for if it two jump in too closely together they are dashed violently against each other.  In other respects, the Square of the Whirling Wind is quite like the rest of the High Boulevard.  The square beneath the Square of Whirling Wind is called the Lantern Court.


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## RichGreen (Dec 31, 2016)

Just discovered this thread today - great stuff! 


Sent from my iPhone using EN World mobile app


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## Quickleaf (Jan 2, 2017)

Celebrim said:


> How fares the project?  Made any progress?




Great stuff again Celebrim!  I just returned from a vacation with family so I'll probably get some work in on the City of the Jann tomorrow and later in the week.


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## Celebrim (Jan 3, 2017)

Ghazi Abdul Bitar (“Beater Batter”) – Ghazi Abdul Bitar is the current President of The Chimeras, a club or organization that is part informal militia, part secret society, and part street gang.  The Chimeras are the largest such organization in the city, loosely numbering nearly a hundred members and having several hundred former members.  Anyone who is of the lower classes who works in a trade, and who knows a member of the Chimeras, is eligible to join.  Entry in to the Chimera’s is supposed to occur shortly after the person is recognized as an adult in the city (13 for humans, 24 for Jann) and entered into an apprenticeship.  Induction is by invitation and made by way of a secret ceremony, fashioned loosely after the initiation ceremonies of the guild, but conducted by older members of the gang but with less ceremony and more of what might be rightly described as hazing.  Members are to remain in the guild until they have completed their apprenticeship and entered into full standing with their respective guild, at which point they are expected to put down their more childish loyalties.  However, former members still often retain fondness for their time in the Chimeras, and often work to see that membership is passed down along familial lines, and former colleagues in the Chimeras are often as not colleagues in the guilds, political parties, secret societies and adult militias that make up Qaybar’s social life.  Members of the Chimera’s are most drawn the teamsters, porters, stokers, fullers, beast tamers, wheel and cart wrights, drovers, knackers, brewers, ashers, rope makers, and to a lesser extent from the masons and smiths.  Membership and loyalty to the organization is most often found amongst those of the lowest classes having less esteemed professions in their various guilds, so that if for an example an apprentice alchemist is in the Chimeras, likely he is apprenticed to low end maker of lacquer, paste, glue, varnish and paint, rather than a more esteemed trade like distiller of dreams, perfumer, or potion brewer.  Some talking beasts are also granted membership in the Chimeras by special dispensation of the members, if the beast comes to their attention and is well liked by all.
Leadership of the Chimeras is by election, and Ghazi Abdul Bitar has held the office now for five years – a considerable period by the measure of the office.  He is a well liked wrangler of dire camels and teamster of dire oxen, with broad shoulders and exceptional strength, as well as dashing smile, square jar and cleft chin that make him handsome and even charming if one is able to ignore the musky reek of beast that comes from his frequently unwashed body.  Despite his fairly young age, Ghazi Abdul Bitar is an accomplished brawler (Jann, Ftr2) both with his fists and the heavy truncheon he carries with him.  He is known on the streets by an endless variety of sing-song plays upon his family name, such as “Bitter Biter”, “Bitar the Biter”, “Bitar the Batter”, “Beater Bitter”, and most often “Beater Batter”.  These nicknames however he tolerates only from his friends and acquaintances, and such familiarity offered to him by someone he knows not is likely to earn a beating if possible and at least enmity if that seems unwise at the moment.  Although he is well liked, there is growing discontent in some portions of the Chimeras that Ghazi does not voluntarily step down from his position and leave the Chimeras, seeing has he has been a member 11 years now and has by all rights completed his apprenticeship.   Ghazi Abdul Bitar for his part, is not anxious to ‘grow up’ nor to change his circumstances.  He sees no clear future ahead of him, has no special love of his trade, and no girl has yet won his heart.  He has not yet a desire for any family other than his brothers and sisters in arms.  Indeed, as the son of an abusive father and mother of often dissolute habits, his time in the chimeras has been one of singular happiness in his otherwise unpleasant and unhappy life.  As such he is dithering and waiting, hoping for some sign that will point him toward a happier future.   In the mean time, rivals in the gang plot to hold a special election to ought him, or wonder if not someone should challenge him to his position by way of a duel of some sort.  So far fear and respect of their leader is keeping such options off the table.
The Chimeras size and esteem in the community is balanced by the fact that they are mostly easy going and unfanatical in their character.  While the Chimeras band together for mutual protection from the dangers of the streets, most members think of the Chimeras as being a last sort of great game before entering into adulthood, and so do not take it completely seriously and do not seek out trouble.  Only the hardened core of their membership regularly brawls.  Compared to similar organizations, the Chimeras are largely apolitical though owing to the classes and castes they draw from and their diverse racial make up, their members are most commonly associated with the Neutrality party, and to a lesser extent with the Transcendence and Equality parties.  This divergence of opinion within the ranks is also a reason why the Chimeras lack the fanatical character of some of their rivals.  Still, the Chimeras have such sheer numbers, and such strong ties to outside organizations by way of numerous former members, that they are when their tempers come up, a force to be reckoned with.  If united in purpose they can cause such a riot that even the city guard would give way and the streets would be unsafe until the Emir intervened to bring about order.
The symbol of the Chimeras is (obviously) the Chimera, whose multiple heads symbolize to the club unity despite diversity of background.  Many members have tattoos secreted on their person and some even have chimeras embroidered into their clothing.  Former members often commission chimeras to be incorporated into the artwork of their establishments, or painted on the outside of their buildings, as a way of signaling to current members that the establishment is a welcoming and safe space for them.  The gang traditionally meets in the loft of a stable in the beast towers, but they have numerous bolt holes and gathering places.


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## Celebrim (Jan 3, 2017)

Naflah Basimah Sabr Hanania (“Naflah Sabr Hanania”, “Rip Tide”): Naflah Basimah Sabr Hanania is the true name of the infamous criminal known as “Rip Tide”.  “Rip Tide” is the head of a small informal militia called The Liberators, which she rules over by force of her considerable personality.  Naflah is the younger daughter of a great and noble house of the city, famed for their skill as potion makers and vintners – whose wines are said to be more magical than their alchemical droughts.  As a younger daughter in a house with many children, whose tastes were decidedly bookish, and whose tongue was decidedly sharp, she was not deemed particularly marriageable material and has been indulged to be left to her own devices – which her parents believe to be largely academic in nature.  In fact, Naflah has shaped around herself what amounts to a cult, with her as the cult leader.  Although a few of her closest friends within the The Liberators know her true identity, by the use of masks and her own natural magical talents as a shape-shifter (Jann Vizier, Sor4), she has concealed the true identity of “Rip Tide” from the larger public sufficiently that even divination has yet to reveal the true name of this “public menace”.   Indeed, the vast majority of the city believes Rip Tide to be male, owing to Naflah’s tendency to use magic to alter her appearance when she must be seen.  Naflah is a lithe willowy Jann woman with dark blue eyes and slick black hair, who is fond of accentuating her faintly blue tinged skin with blue body paint and makeup, and favors various dark blues for garments.  She is normally cowled and masked, except in private and not in character.  In character, she is more often than not male, although this charade is not maintained when only amongst her allies.  In public, when not appearing as “Rip Tide”, she affects the demeanor of an innocent and slightly bumbling overgrown child, whose childish tastes are matched only by her devotion to frivolous books and esoteric debates.  She pretends to have no interest in politics whatsoever, and would rather discuss particulars of astronomy or poetry.  In character, she is a dangerous and magnetic individual, with the surety of a fanatic, who is not to be lightly trifled with. 
The Liberators number about a score of fighters and are composed of disaffected elves, water genasi, and a few Jann - mostly students who were schoolmates of Naflah.  They believe that Efreet influence on Jann culture is sinister, widespread, and unfortunately not well recognized - and must be rooted out – by violence if necessary.  They would certainly seek action against The Brotherhood of the True Flame if they could penetrate its secrets, and are at all but open war with The Fire Bugs.  The Liberators began about 15 years ago as a semi-independent group that resisted the puppet government of the Efreet, and staged various acts of defiance – and some would say terror – against any fire aligned being that fell into their grasp.  Although initially seen as simply Qaybar partisans, their activities have continued even after the death of Al-Zahran and the return of Qaybar to the relative safety of the Prime Material plane.  In particular, they believe that slavery is Efreet work, and that it is time that slavery is outlawed in Qaybar - a view that is considered quite radical and makes many uncomfortable, including at least some slaves.  They have a waged a two pronged campaign first against anyone that they feel harbors secret pro-Efreet sentiment, whom they view as traitors deserving only of death, and to free slaves from their chains.  The first sentiment, however lawless, is one that has widespread sympathy in the city.  The second however prompts much debate as to the actual mechanics of said liberation even were it to be reasonably considered or acknowledged as an ultimately good end.  What good is it to a slave to cast them out of their house and shelter?  Without property of their own, wouldn’t their new lives be little different than their old ones, differing only now in the lack of security that comes from being a houseless hireling?  It is not at all clear to many that the hireling would not be as exploited as the slave, differing only in that they might take the false choice to leave with nothing so as to be exploited elsewhere.  And what of the very young or very aged?  If deprived of their status as slaves, then they would be valued only according to their utility, and would have no employment.  Many point to the fact that the slaves of wealthy and noble households live better lives than the poor and indigent of the city, and if clever and hardworking often arise to high station.  These would argue that there is no shame in being a slave to the Emir or similarly great household, and are not slaves of great houses sometimes masters and overseers over free persons?  Is slavery then so bad?  And should not the masters, who have paid fair sums in good faith for their property, not be provided with recompense for their losses?  Who would pay these sums?  And what of the animals of Qaybar, most of whom are the property of houses?  If they lose the dignity of slaves and the safety of having owners in the city, aren’t they likely to be simply carted off to become dumb brutes outside the cities confines?  Since most of these are considered open questions, which reasonable persons regardless of viewpoint might quarrel over, The Liberators hard fanatical and sometimes violent line draws little sympathy, often derision, and sometimes outright horror.  It must be said that some of this derision might be warranted, for not every attempt to liberate someone from the state of slavery has gone smoothly or produced the desired outcome. The Liberators are still in the process of figuring out the logistics of freedom themselves. Unlike some of the other informal militias that draw disaffected youths to them, the liberators are all about business, and do not brawl for pleasure.  They are extremely secretive, with codes and hand signs for communicating with each other subtly, and will die rather than betray their comrades – especially their leader.
Naflah does have some friends in the city, both when presenting as her real self and when in the character of “Rip Tide”.  Her family is friends with the Salib, and are often guests in the house of the Sheik.  She is also on speaking terms with Beyg Tuma, whose mannerism Naflah subtly mimics to aid in creating her public disguise as the airy intellectual bookworm.  As “Rip Tide”, she has some quiet support from within the Equality Party, and at least some members there of would turn a blind eye to any activities of the Liberators and a few would aid them if they could.  Likewise, “Tip Top” does not completely agree with her, but admires her as a fellow idealist and ally in the same cause.  He is also one of the few persons outside her circle of friends that knows “Rip Tide” is female, although he will not divulge this information.  An informal truce exists between The Chimney Sweeps and The Liberators, and The Chimney Sweeps will not work against The Liberators and vice versa.  And, although he secretly abhors their cause, Wazir Al-Saqui has made contact with “Rip Tide” and pretends admiration and a desire to support and further their efforts.  Thus, “Rip Tide” believes she has an ally in the Wazir, but does not yet trust him sufficiently to reveal her true identity.


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## Quickleaf (Jan 9, 2017)

[MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] I've been working on the city map and also making everything a bit more cohesive and more organized. I have 45 pages of information on Qaybar now!

You mention the Equality, Neutrality, and Transcendence parties... How are you picturing each of these? For example, I understand that the Transcendence party is embodied most strongly by the Alchemist's Guild who believe jann have potential equal to or greater than other genies due to their composite elemental natures. But what are Equality and Neutrality about?


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## Celebrim (Jan 9, 2017)

Quickleaf said:


> [MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION]You mention the Equality, Neutrality, and Transcendence parties...




Informal factions or coalitions of the city's citizens generally and power brokers specifically.  More or less, a tool for me to think about what different people in the cities believe in.



> How are you picturing each of these? For example, I understand that the Transcendence party is embodied most strongly by the Alchemist's Guild who believe jann have potential equal to or greater than other genies due to their composite elemental natures.




Yes.  Additionally, the Transcendence Party tends to hold that they ought to at least work toward holding Sovereign status on the Prime Material Plane as their 'natural right', in the same way that the lords of the Djinn, Efreet, Marid, and Dao claim to be the rightful rulers of their planes.  Or in other words, the Transcendence Party envisions uniting the nomad tribes, and forcing human neighbors into vassalage and becoming a real political power.  The transcendence party doesn't have a lot of support, but does enjoy considerable support among the cream of Qaybar society.



> But what are Equality...




The equality party wants greater rather than less equality between the Jann of the city and its other inhabitants.  Some go so far as to suggest real political power ought to be in the hands of a council, or even an elected body.  They are a relatively marginal party with little in the way of support at the level of the Sheiks, but are quietly popular for obvious reasons among the cities human inhabitants.  The Liberators are the radical extreme wing of the Equality party.



> ...and Neutrality about?




The neutrality party says that the best way for Qaybar to ensure it's independence is to not throw its support behind any of the elemental powers, but to maintain strict neutrality toward all four of them.  They believe the city's generally warm relations with the Caliph has the result of further antagonizing the Grand Sultan, and that peace with the Grand Sultan is unlikely so long as they represent a potential bastion of Djinn influence.  They likewise hold that as long as citizens are loyal, it shouldn't matter what their elemental background is.  The neutrality party is quite popular among the city's lower and middle class, and has some backing among the Sheiks.  

Note that the three above groups have quite a bit of tension among them.  In particular, the Transcendence party and the Equality party would tend to be at odds over the question of the worth of non-Jann citizens, whom the Transcendence would naturally see as logically second class (at best).  The Neutrality party is basically OK with the Jann ruling Qaybar to greater and greater heights of power, but would much rather trade with neighbors than conquer them.  And so forth.  

I was thinking at some point of providing representative sheiks for all the cities various political factions (I think there are like 10 I've thought of).  Probably no time soon though, as I'm way behind on my own campaign writing.


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## TBeholder (Jan 15, 2017)

Makes sense. But why not consider variants of the planar philosophical factions?
Adapted for the Jann ways of life in general and Inner Planes in general, of course. After all, the Inner planes obviously differ from the Outer, and both removed enough for the local branches to retain differences and invite specialisation.
But also, while the Lady forced many factions to be lumped together _in Sigil_, faraway branches that have their own bases are not obligated to follow - which includes the Jann and most likely their long-term contacts.


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## Celebrim (Jan 15, 2017)

TBeholder said:


> Makes sense. But why not consider variants of the planar philosophical factions?




Because it's not at all clear that 'Planescape' exists in Quickleaf's setting or that even if it did that the Sigil factions would be greatly influential in the culture of the Jann.  There is certainly no evidence that they are highly influential in the City of Brass or other civilization that Qaybar would be in close contact with.



> Adapted for the Jann ways of life in general and Inner Planes in general, of course. After all, the Inner planes obviously differ from the Outer, and both removed enough for the local branches to retain differences and invite specialization.




The Sigil factions are loosely related to the great wheel and outer planes.  You say yourself, the Inner Planes - which dominate the outlook of Qaybar by necessity - are obviously different.  For one thing, many of the Sigil factions are dominated by their concerns about the divine, which is natural given the 'powers' dominance of the Outer Planes.  It's not at all obvious that the Jann give a darn about the gods, or - being genie - would need to.  

Finally, I'm not that impressed by the Sigil factions as concepts.  Many of them I find terribly redundant, and when they aren't redundant they are also not mutually exclusive.  It's not clear why the claims of one faction would necessarily be rejected by the claims of another faction.  So it's often not all clear why something like the 'Bleak Cabal' and the 'Athar' should be in conflict, or why you couldn't belong to both - and also the 'Revolutionary League', the 'Sign of One', the 'Doomgaurd', the 'Society of Sensation', and the 'Xaositects' all at the same time.  It's not like seven actually advocate anything particularly mutually exclusive.  It's not impossible or even improbable to be both an existentialist, a nihilist, and a hedonist at the same time.  Unlike the 'political' parties, it's not really clear what sort of policy the Sigil factions would necessarily advocate for.   Even the Harmonium's overtly political assimilationist policy doesn't seem to have an ideological core to it.  Do they believe in themselves or do they believe in some higher truth?  If the former, then how are they all that different from the Fated, and if the later how do they justify their actions?

I don't know, I just never found the Planescape factions all that very interesting, and indeed less interesting than the 9 alignments of standard D&D.

UPDATE: In reading after my reply, I notice that TSR/WotC must have thought much the same thing, because apparently in the 1998 'Faction War' supplement (which I hitherto had not been exposed to) and in Dragon magazine article from 2004 they officially killed off most of the factions and removed the rest from places of influence in Sigil society.


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## TBeholder (Jan 16, 2017)

Celebrim said:


> Because it's not at all clear that 'Planescape' exists in Quickleaf's setting



 It's reasonable to assume Al-Qadim as written until noted otherwise.


Celebrim said:


> or that even if it did that the Sigil factions would be greatly influential in the culture of the Jann.



 Oh, they won't be. But they are widespread among the planewalkers in general. Also, those philosophies are generic enough.


Celebrim said:


> There is certainly no evidence that they are highly influential in the City of Brass or other civilization that Qaybar would be in close contact with.



 City of Brass is busy with internal politics and conquests on its own plane.


Celebrim said:


> The Sigil factions are loosely related to the great wheel and outer planes.



 A few specific ones. Xaositects, Harmonium, Athar, Signers (due to "power of belief") - yes, of course. But others are already more interested in the Inner planes - like Doomguard (Negative Quasielemental planes), Dustmen (Negative Energy), Godsmen (Ethereal). The rest may have specific interest here or there. Not much to do for the Anarchists on the Inner Planes, but then there's the City of Brass, for one. 


Celebrim said:


> You say yourself, the Inner Planes - which dominate the outlook of Qaybar by necessity - are obviously different.



 Yup. But how and why different?
E.g. there certainly will be Sensates. But the Sensates who hang out on the Inner planes to begin with would probably be not big on the feasts, but come there for the great wild elemental landscapes and related experiences - and even the more "boring" ones would be focused on things like sight-seeing at the Radiance or experimental cuisine via protomatter shaping.
Signers - perhaps not much, but those who would be interested in extreme (as in, up to making fancy demiplanes) creative expression. Jann? Maybe. Especially since as planewalkers they can more easily find eager fans encouraging them. If a genie sorcerer ever subscribes to "mad artist" thing... that's going to end in about as much of unhinged !!fun!! as a Reigar. 



Celebrim said:


> Finally, I'm not that impressed by the Sigil factions as concepts.  Many of them I find terribly redundant, and when they aren't redundant they are also not mutually exclusive.  It's not clear why the claims of one faction would necessarily be rejected by the claims of another faction.



 They aren't. All factions are assigned some natural allies.


Celebrim said:


> So it's often not all clear why something like the 'Bleak Cabal' and the 'Athar' should be in conflict,



 They aren't. Generally speaking. 


Celebrim said:


> or why you couldn't belong to both



 Because if you are Athar, you are fired up about the deities and finding alternatives to them - which implies claiming to know as everything "should be" rather than admitting it should not be in any particular way. If you're a Bleaker, the whole storm in a teacup the Athar raise is even more meaningless and delusional than almost everything else.


Celebrim said:


> - and also the 'Revolutionary League', the 'Sign of One', the 'Doomgaurd', the 'Society of Sensation', and the 'Xaositects' all at the same time.



 Because they are philosophies and beliefs, not clubs. Something is more important.
They are generic enough to overlap a lot, but there are defining differences. So, people may agree on almost everything in general, but see different sides of questions as more important. And prefer some or other methodology - e.g. Godsmen vs. Cyphers ("big picture" vs. "here and now") or Cyphers vs. Sensates ("be a part of the action" vs. "observe/experience it all, don't get distracted").


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## Quickleaf (Jan 16, 2017)

While I'm a huge Planescape fan  [MENTION=41606]TBeholder[/MENTION] (just google "enworld 5e planescape conversion" and you'll see my thread pop up – I used to have everything handily linked in my sig, but database crash deleted that)....I happen to agree with  [MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] that differentiating Qaybar, City of the Jann, from Sigil, City of Doors is the better move.

Planescape factions are great for a setting in which you want to deconstruct fantasy philosophy. That _feels_ Planescape-y. However, even using 5th edition planar arrangement in an Al-Qadim game like I am (which is reminiscent of the Planescape Great Wheel), the planar factions wouldn't _feel_ Al-Qadim-y. They wouldn't feel apropos of an Arabian Adventure or Sword-and-Sandals or whatever you want to call the motif.

Where the (perhaps simply named) Transcendence, Neutrality, Equality, and Elemental Partisan parties succeed is that they feel more at home in the Al-Qadim setting because they make sense for the Jann of Qaybar.

That's not to say that you can't adapt Qaybar for your own campaign and add some planar faction flavor, however, just that isn't the direction I'm working in.


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## Celebrim (Jan 16, 2017)

I think the simpler answer is that there are no references to Sigil or Planeswalkers in 'City of Delights'.  Qaybar, as an Al-Qadim themed city, ought to seem more like a variation of Huzuz, with perhaps even more Jann and Genies, than it ought to be a variation of Sigil.  People in Sigil like to think that they are the center of everything, but they ought to know that in an infinite multiverse, wherever you are standing is just as much the center as anywhere else.


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## Quickleaf (Jan 16, 2017)

[MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] I was just finishing up the encounter tables for Qaybar – interesting designing tables for the city proper and its presence on the Border Ethereal! – and I had a quick question:

Does this entry seem reasonable to you? Especially for the various militias?

Obviously the specifics (number encountered, type of monster/NPC) will depend on edition, but I'm asking in broad strokes.

*Thieves & Troublemakers (d6)*

The elusive “Chimney Sweeps” (led by Rafi Baz) out to oppose perceived enemies of the Emir, including 1d6 janni* and 2d6 air genasi/human scouts.
The intimidating “Firebugs” (led by Mad Haddad) out to protect rights of fire creatures, including 1d6 janni* and 2d6 fire genasi/human thugs.
The cultish “Liberators” (led by Riptide), determined to root out efreet influence by violence if necessary, including 1d6 janni* and 2d6 elven/water genasi thugs.
1d6 perfumed cloaked ghasts and 2d6 wererats serving Ibn Natn hunting for arcane lore.
Zahranis consisting of 2d6 janni* seeking to destabilize the ruling class with violent raids.
A party of 1d4+2 NPCs of 9th-12th level after a specific treasure in Qaybar.


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## Celebrim (Jan 16, 2017)

Quickleaf said:


> [MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] I was just finishing up the encounter tables for Qaybar – interesting designing tables for the city proper and its presence on the Border Ethereal! – and I had a quick question:
> 
> Does this entry seem reasonable to you? Especially for the various militias?




I guess it depends on what you intend the table to accomplish.  Why are we rolling on this table?   What question is it intended to answer?

Is this for example one answer to the question, "What 4 groups of interest are hanging around in the marketplace?"
Is this answering the question, "When the party walks from A to B in Qaybar, what interesting encounter is offered to them along the way?"
Is this answering the question, "Someone has just waylaid the party.  While they are rolling for initiative figure out who and what?"
Is this answering the question, "I need an opposing front for tonight's session, who should it be?"


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## Quickleaf (Jan 17, 2017)

Celebrim said:


> I guess it depends on what you intend the table to accomplish.  Why are we rolling on this table?   What question is it intended to answer?
> 
> Is this for example one answer to the question, "What 4 groups of interest are hanging around in the marketplace?"
> Is this answering the question, "When the party walks from A to B in Qaybar, what interesting encounter is offered to them along the way?"
> ...




All of the above! 

I remember Kamikaze Midget (  [MENTION=2067]I'm A Banana[/MENTION] now? ) - at least I believe it was him - positing that random encounters have 3 reasons to be in a game, and the DM should be really clear about which reason he or he was drawing on when designing a random encounter:

Resource attrition to make travel meaningful/interesting.
An actual challenge for the PCs.
Evoking the feel of a particular setting.

My thinking about random encounters is a lot more synergistic and "unpure." Of course I want to do #2 and #3. And maybe resource attrition isn't my goal in this case, but I do want the second part of #1 - for exploration of Qaybar to be meaningful and interesting.

So, when would a DM use these random encounter tables? Possibly in any of these situations...

When the DM wants to add spice to the PCs’ exploration of Qaybar.
When the DM needs a quick idea, these encounters can support his or her imagination/memory.
When the PCs move between different districts (or Material / Border Ethereal) and/or enter Qaybar for the first time in a while.
When the PCs spend significant time on the streets, to evoke the feel of a dynamic city.


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## Celebrim (Jan 17, 2017)

When I do urban encounters, I mostly do #3 during the day (and hope it makes travel interesting) and then create a feeling of danger at night with a second table that is more - but not completely - geared to "things that might want to just attack you on sight".  I mean it is a city, life and death combat are not a daily thing or no one would live in it.  

During the day, I create conflict by rolling twice on the table and then trying to imagine a conflict between the two entries that the players come across in normal city life.  If one party doesn't particularly inspire me at the moment, I'll have that party flee and deposit the "problem" that I am inspired by in the PC's lap.   I also like to have the encounters draw the party into the setting.

I think the ideas are about right, as long as it is clear that none of them are necessarily, "You see this; roll for initiative" type encounters.  Even Ibn Natn's people - maybe especially Ibn Natn's people - would be very circumspect, probably the point of officious politeness and cowardice, if challenged abroad in daylight as opposed to in the Charnel Quarter.  

Some other very rough bare bones ideas, not really fleshed out:

1.	A servant of the House of Mash’al is frantically seeking a rare delicacy that an important guest insists on having.
2.	A group of salamanders in the employ of Hadiya Rafidah Kassis are drunkenly imbibing high proof alcohol and explosively spouting blue flames in the street.
3.	A mixed group of servants of Ibn-Natn have reason to conduct business with a shop keeper that can only be done in the daylight.
4.	A group of street urchins in the employ of the Coiled Madam look for easy pickings in the purses of strangers of the city.
5.	A tout offers for a small fee to show the PC the wonders of the city?  He hints that he knows where various pleasures both licit and illicit can be found.
6.	A party of human lepers goes down one side of the street begging.  Everyone presses against the far wall to give them right away.  Some toss coins.  Others toss rotten vegetables.  Both are taken.
7.	A beggar attempts to gain the PC’s sympathy with a story of woes and misfortunes.  Ninety percent of the time, these are professional beggars.  The other 10% of the time, it’s someone in real desperate need of aid.
8.	A busker juggles flaming torches, while an intelligent monkey performs tricks and attempts to convince passers by to put money in a hat.
9.	A busker snake charmer’s small traveling circus performs various stunts with supposedly vicious snakes - who actually of course can talk, and are in on the act.
10.	A group of magicians plays literally enchanting music on a street corner, hypnotizing the weak willed that come near.  They entertain the rest of the crowd by making ridiculous suggestions to the enraptured bystanders.
11.	A professional eavesdropper snoops around for interesting conversations to memorize.  He tries to sell his merchandise to the PCs.
12.	Barakaka the ooze mephit is running a message or an errand for his master Al Marbi.  He takes every opportunity to harass comely females with profane and vulgar observations, and delights in provoking return barbs, retorts and even blows and missiles as a sort of bizarre game.
13.	An apprentice of Gamali Al Zuhur is seeking some rare item for his master’s greenhouses.
14.	A group of the Chimney Sweeps trails the PC’s on the roof tops attempting to learn what errand they are on.
15.	A great wagon pulled by mastadons, dire oxen or the like, tries to pull a tottering load of building supplies (logs, bricks, stone blocks, ect.) down a street seemingly far too narrow for the transport, causing much consternation.
16.	A group of Fire bug toughs try to intimidate everyone in the street in to giving way to them and treating them as some sort of nobility.
17.	Several ogres and some of Beyg Tuma’s tax collectors are on the trail of a tax cheat, when they PC’s come to their attention.  They seek proof that the PC’s paid a ‘sword tax’ upon entering the city, and if not what a fine paid for every bladed weapon the PC’s possess.
18.	A group of the Tuma children are out on an educational excursion in the city, such as to witness the parade of a particular Guild, or to see the once a century blooming of a rare plant in the hanging gardens - accompanied by a nurse, several servants and a dozen burly body guards.
19.	Two aged philosophers go down the street at a surprisingly quick pace, paying little attention to their surroundings, so caught up are they in a heated argument over the merits of two political parties.
20.	A group of young scholars are playing at being dangerous rakes and rascals as they escape from their studies.
21.	A starving poet tries to convince the PC’s to commission him to write poems about their good deeds and wander about the city reciting them.
22.	Two elders of the city are on their way to a tea house for afternoon refreshment, and are discussing with each other the details of a particularly vexing case heard in the court of elders this morning.
23.	A group of the Chimeras are people gazing on the street corner, looking for opportunity to stir up some trouble.  They entertain themselves by having a buddy, an intelligent lion, pretend to be a wild animal that has escaped their control, snarling and chuffing and panicking the naive.
24.	The Liberators are trying to spirit a slave out of the city, closely pursued by the city watch.  There is a 20% chance in the excitement the slave has now decided that they don’t really want to be rescued, and is trying to convince his would be rescuers to let him go before he gets into trouble.
25.	A group of stone giants is dragging a sledge of stone to a construction site.  They are all convinced they are having a living dream, and nothing that happens here under the sky is real.
26.	The glassblowers of the city are engaged in festivities, and are having a parade.  They throw beads and small coins at onlookers, and parade examples of their art, the sacred relics of their guild (in stained glass reliquaries), various glass idols of their deities, ancestors, and greater spirits, about the city.  They are all dressed in elaborate finery, including coats sewn with hundreds of tiny mirrors and pieces of glass.  Their apprentices sing sacred hymns of the Guild, while the Journeyman make merry with bottles of wine and caper in the streets, or show off their skill by juggling various glass objects (such as balls and empty bottles of wine).  Various citizens come out to give or receive blessings, and street urchins, bored talking animals, and buskers follow behind in their wake.
27.	A young man with a restless character has just been discharged from the honorable waifs of the palace.  He goes forth to seek adventures and his fortune.  The PC’s seem like a likely place to begin, and he tries to convince one to take him on as a squire or apprentice.

Looking over the list of major NPCs, it impresses upon me how thin it is.  There's only about 1/4 the NPC's I feel you'd need to truly understand a city of this size, and I have given no examples of ordinary street persons - no shopkeepers, buskers, beggars, touts, urchins, unruly apprentices, waifs, drunks, madmen, drovers, teamsters, porters, caravan mercenaries, tourists, scholars and the like that would be teeming on the streets.	Hopefully, I'm right in my impression you are pretty good at making that sort of thing up yourself.

Unfortunately, I need to do about 100 dungeon rooms over the next week or so for my own game - at least in outline - or I'm going to be in trouble.


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## Quickleaf (Jan 17, 2017)

Great stuff as always   And good point about the importance of day/night encounter differences, especially for a city.



Celebrim said:


> Unfortunately, I need to do about 100 dungeon rooms over the next week or so for my own game - at least in outline - or I'm going to be in trouble.




Want a hand? I'm happy to return the favor with some dungeon room designs.


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## TBeholder (Jan 19, 2017)

Quickleaf said:


> While I'm a huge Planescape fan  [MENTION=41606]TBeholder[/MENTION] (just google "enworld 5e planescape conversion" and you'll see my thread pop up – I used to have everything handily linked in my sig, but database crash deleted that)....I happen to agree with  [MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] that differentiating Qaybar, City of the Jann, from Sigil, City of Doors is the better move.



 I'm not sure it's "differentiating" when the starting points are so far away. It's closer to "two sea ports in vastly different lands, but both have to deal with salt water, ships and seafaring community (which have its customs and habits), and as such must have _some_ ways of dealing with these things".


Quickleaf said:


> the planar factions wouldn't _feel_ Al-Qadim-y. They wouldn't feel apropos of an Arabian Adventure or Sword-and-Sandals or whatever you want to call the motif.



 Isn't "Sword-and-Sandals" Mediterranean?
Anyway, that's the whole point of my "adaptation" idea. Locals and semi-residents, if exposed to something via wider planewalking community, can use the parts they like and drop parts for which they have no use, much like the Cagers and everyone else - according to their own needs and tastes, mostly different from what one can see in "hub of the Outer Planes". Also, it filters through several layers of separation: the Cagers - planewalkers of the Outer Planes - planewalkers of the Inner Planes - the wandering Jann and visitors - locals of the Jann city.


Quickleaf said:


> Where the (perhaps simply named) Transcendence, Neutrality, Equality, and Elemental Partisan parties succeed is that they feel more at home in the Al-Qadim setting because they make sense for the Jann of Qaybar.



 Those are political ("What should we do about X?") rather than philosophical ("How do we see things in general?") divisions. Different basic type, if necessarily interacting - much like e.g. religions and planar philosophies are not quite independent, but with exception of _very_ clear-cut cases, not directly linked, since different followers of the same deities may emphasize different parts of the same teachings or individually fit in better or worse with a given crowd, so there can be those who stick with one faction, another, don't really care about this or are too busy with the divine business.


Celebrim said:


> I think the simpler answer is that there are no references to Sigil or Planeswalkers in 'City of Delights'.  Qaybar, as an Al-Qadim themed city, ought to seem more like a variation of Huzuz, with perhaps even more Jann and Genies, than it ought to be a variation of Sigil.



 I doubt it should be a variation of Huzuz more than City of Brass is a variation of Huzuz.
And there's too little known about Dayya/Ubar beyond the basics.
But even if so, there's difference in philosophies to consider. Huzuz has lots and lots of temples defining this side, and also countering the external influences.
Generally the genies are much less enthusiastic about the whole divine business, if not to the point of complete neglect. What priests they have would be less active in general and much less proactive. In Ubar they have what, 3 mosques catering to the most obvious ways the Jann are inclined to run? That's _in_ the Land of Fate.
But the Jann mostly left to themselves, in constant, but limited contact with particular Prime lands and dealing with the Elemental Planes all the time? They can be expected to adopt different approach, and pick different influences. So it's mostly up to the travellers and what they drag back home.


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## Quickleaf (Aug 4, 2017)

Been working more on the City of the Jann, compiling my notes & [MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION]'s into a single document. Here's my current city map...


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## Celebrim (Aug 4, 2017)

[MENTION=20323]Quickleaf[/MENTION]: Wow.  I feel the need for some stronger interjections than I'm normally prone to in order express this, but great googly mooly does that look professional.


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