Terub (City)
The capital of the Terubian Empire and the ruling city of Akuba and the surrounding province of Terubia, the city is nearly one million in population. An extensive support system made up of sewage, water, and titancraft power for public lighting enable this mecca of the empire to exist on the desert coast of Akuba. Terub became the most populous city in the world over the past ten centuries as her empire expanded and her fortunes rose.
As the capital of the empire which dominates over half the globe of Joturnia, Terub is a hub of political intrigue, with courtiers, imperial bureaucrats, students and protegees of the zhakeem, greedy merchant princes, military commanders and attaches, diplomats, industrial leaders, swarms of common laborers, indigent poor, and the innumerable petitioners of the imperial court of the Empress Sheba. The city is unkind to the foreigner and deadly to the naive. Within its walls, the courts administer the laws of the empire with cool ruthlessness in accordance with imperial law and the principles of Zakiya.
Terub is a naval port for the numerous titancraft vessels of the empire and even more numerous merchant seacraft. At the core of Terub rise the towers of its aristocrats, courtiers, merchant barons, and guildmasters higher and still higher until one sees the highest towers of the imperial palace complex.
Terub is divided into twenty one prefects and numerous city wards. Great towers rise above the city horizon and cluster more densely as one approaches the imperial palace of the sorcerers. The city offers public sanitation, civic libraries, public lavatories, immense bathhouses, street lighting, aerial public transit, a thousand markets stuffed with exotic goods from around the globe and from the twelve moons, and very cheap labor that rarely complains. If you are a person or family of means, have a few friends in high places, and avoid the enmity of its rulers, Terub offers the finest of worldly delights. If you are one of Terub’s destitute or manual laborers, you maintain a rough existence with at least the assurance of a daily water allowance. Who is to say which lot in life is worse? A crafter whose meagerest physical needs are met or a courtier in lavish costume, dining from fine dishware, who must navigate a storm of potential betrayals and voyage through a sea of protocol?
ZAKEEM
Schools of the Zakeem are everywhere in Terub, administered by the bureaucracy to instruct their pupils in the labyrinthine laws and ordinances of imperial justice called ‘Zakiya.’ Those who satisfy its bewildering requirements become members of the Zakeem, the elite lawyer class of the empire who serve in its law courts as judges and barristers and in its bureaucracies as magistrates. The Zakiya was developed by the sorcerer emperors and the aristocrats over the past six centuries and has become the basis of imperial law throughout the empire where Terub has direct administration. In client states and in foreign lands, Zakiya has no force.
SHABDAH
These are the powerful magistrates of the Terubian regime. They have power to decide and execute judgments. The aristocrats of the empire employ them so that at any time they can mete out justice on commoners who cross them and protect themselves from others who also employ these Terubian magistrates. They have the power to overrule local laws, except in client states, such as Falmigir. They are experts in Zakiya and are members of the Zakeem.
BLUEDRAKES
The sorcerer emperors have maintained a corps of special half-dragon elite forces. Operating under the strictest regimen and with masterfully complete non-detection, these special troops enforce the sorcerer emperor's unofficial dictates throughout the empire. Their use of forget spells is not uncommon. They are nicknamed the bluedrakes as their true name, if any, remains secret.
THIEVES GUILDS
In principle, theft is illegal. In practice, the thieves guilds are clandestinely under the surveillance and control of very highly placed aristocrats and imperials of Terub. Thieves who are caught are often forced to choose between ruthless punishment under Zakiya law or plea bargains to become life-long servants of an aristocratic patron. Of course, the thieves guilds have their own sway and can influence the shabdah to rule favorably, especially if the victim of the theft is a mere commoner or poor. Graft ensures that the guilds will survive under the control of their patrons, though it is not always clear in which direction the control operates. Officially, all such relationships are illegal, but it is virtually impossible for victims to prove these relationships.
Some of the thieves guilds operate a network of connections and safe houses, routed through the extensive sewage system which, thanks to the dry climate, is usually safe, if not wholesome.
Guild thieves have a code of conduct among their own. They do not rob their own, nor their families, and they target foreigners and non-residents in preference to locals. They avoid robbing the same person more than once within a month, more out of reasons of practicality, than mercy. There is a saying that it is better for a poor man to fall into the hands of thieves than into the hands of a rich man and his zakeem.
Temples of Terub
The patron goddess of the city of Terub enjoys a great temple near the imperial palace complex. The largest temple is to the greater god, Aslu, with the houses of many associated divinities nearby. Temples to various gods, both domestic and foreign, can be found throughout the city.
The Poor
The poor eke out a hard life in the city of Terub. The advantages to poverty are the many public bathhouses, the public games, and gifts of food, and the chance to become the client of a rich patron. Begging is officially illegal, but busking is tolerated and regular buskers are usually pressed into some sort of racket by the local mob officials. Among the poor are a number of Zersha Dwarves who are nominally free.
KEY SITES and AREAS of TERUB
Terub is divided into twenty one administrative districts. Important buildings are called ‘palaces’ even they are not royal residences.
IMPERIAL PALACE COMPLEX
Siege Imperious: Palace of the Sorcerer Rulers Ancient Core: Sorcerer’s Apartments, Harem Apartments, Eunuchs’ Tower (“The tower without any balls”), Court of the Elementals, Shrine of Midziddiach Warriors’ Wing: Shrine of House Lamta Petitioners’ Wing
House of the Red Prince Citadel of Shimshaz Fortress of Mages: where the ruler summons the aristocracy to convene
Court of the Way of Pain: used for ritual combat, statue of Chavat, deity of ritual combat Court of the Petitioners: statue of goddess Dzokara, court is adjacent to the Petitioners’ wing of the Palace Spellbinders Court: supposedly used for summoning Zuve’s Garden: filled with trickery, sometimes used to kill undesirables.
Administrative
Supreme School of the Zhakeem: Imperial School of Zhakariya of Terub (most important and prestigious school)
Temples and Temple District
Temple of Aslu Temple of Terubit Temple of Matrudishaya: Sea god, on the coast
Other
Guildhouse of Royal Crafters Imperial Naval Docks
See Also
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