Welcome back to Points on a Map!
Last time we started to describe Ashid, a settlement built around the Oasis of Del Foor. Beneath the trees and near the oasis’ waters, travelers can find a brief respite from the heat along with some food, water, and entertainment to keep them busy until it’s time to move on.
More than 100 people call Ashid home, operating businesses and services to the many travelers who visit Del Foor. Some services are easy to find and others try to hide in the few shadows afforded by tents and palm trees. At the highest point overlooking the entire oasis lies the Citadel, a fortress held by the El Vaz family for four generations.
As with any small settlement, the residents of Ashid all know one another. But as is the way of the people of the Waste, they are reluctant to pry into the affairs of another without prompting. If you want to talk about your problems, you will inevitably find someone willing to listen and ask questions until you have exhausted your need to share. Foreigners will find it difficult to get the locals to open up unless they are willing to open up over a cup of tea or a shared meal.
Here are a few of the major players in and around Ashid that PCs may encounter…
Personalities
Roovi El Vaz is looked to as the spiritual leader of Ashid and someone who used to take an active role in helping his people take advantage of what the oasis has to offer. Though El Vaz was once seen regularly among the people, he has become more and more reclusive over the last three years. Many have begun to wonder if he passed away or if his unnatural youth had finally faded.
Firmly ensconced at the Citadel, Roovi leaves the day-to-day activities of Ashid to his wives and children. His first wife Bashi and first son Bayim have been doing the rounds and keeping things moving among the merchants and business owners. All major decisions are passed along to Roovi, but Bashi and Bayim have a fair amount of power at their disposal. In addition to Bashi, Roovi has a harem of eight other wives ranging in age from late teens to quite elderly along with their children.
Roovi has not been sitting idle however. He has been acquiring ancient texts (with the help of Jibra Al Ghul) and researching the ruins of his mysterious “Benefactor.” Until the number of disappearances rose sharply in recent years, he was content to know no more than necessary to secure the future of Ashid. Now the balance of power has shifted and he is learning all he can.
Jibra Al Ghul is the proprietor of Shariba Al Ghul, also known as the Drink of the Ghoul. His tavern has two faces – the one he shows the locals and the one he saves for special customers seeking something more. Traditionally the people of the Waste shun alcoholic beverages as impure, instead consuming a variety of teas, coffees, and juices. But not every visitor is content with such fare. Foreigners with coin who seek a taste of fermented grape, hard liquor, or ale are directed through word of mouth and bribery to the Ghoul. Though it is largely illegal to sell such beverages in the Waste, Al Ghul has an agreement with El Vaz to ensure his customers stay happy.
Jibra himself is a jovial man by nature, but paranoid through a lifetime of experience hiding the truth. He is Roovi’s son from a marriage a generation ago and privy to the secrets of Ashid’s success. In a back room of the Ghoul lies a hidden entrance to the tunnels beneath the sands connecting the few permanent buildings in Ashid. These tunnels allow El Vaz to travel unseen to and from the chamber of the Benefactor when necessary for the yearly sacrifices. Jibra knows what would happen if any of El Vaz secrets were made public as well as the current crisis his father has been investigating…
Faraj Al Bahiri is one of the busiest people in Ashid, managing the Dawn and Dusk Market that appears like magic in the first hour of pre-dawn on the horizon and the last hour after the sun goes down each day. The market offers local growers and artisans a chance to show off their newest and freshest products for locals and visitors alike. The speed with which the stalls are assembled and collapsed is something to behold as the ten to twenty-five vendors arrive and depart each day. And the locals and visitors are ready when the market opens, swooping in like a flock of hungry birds.
Al Bahiri is also one of the most powerful men in Ashid, second only to El Vaz and his family. Vendors seeking the opportunity to sell their wares must first present themselves and their products to him for approval. Each vendor granted entry to the market must give Al Bahiri the first 20% of any profits made on a particular day. The smallest issues can result in a vendor being dismissed without right to an appeal for a year. As such, Al Bahiri’s tents are always filled with priceless art, the freshest produce, and the best of everything the market has to offer.
He is assisted by his brother Thakim and his three wives Jala, Mayr, and Radee, as well their children as they come of age. Many of the people who live in Ashid year-round work on the market setup crew to earn a little extra income.
Madam Torha is the benevolent dictator in charge of Zahar Nuzl (i.e. the Inn of Flowers) and the queen of the tea room therein. It is impossible to find a better cup of tea than one brewed personally by the Madam. Even Jibra Al Ghul is jealous of the Madam’s tea skills and is a regular visitor to the tea room. Torha is one of the eldest merchants in Ashid and is in fact one of El Vaz’ wives who left Ashid in a time of turmoil to learn more of the outside world only to return 25 years later to take over the inn.
The Madam is attended to by a small staff who manage the small number of rooms and tents available to visitors.
Bakhi El Taḥad is the owner of Al Asfar Ibil (i.e. “The Yellow Camel”) and is easily spotted in the yellow tent at the center of a herd of camels of varying sizes and conditions near the Dawn or Dusk Market. Though blind, he can quickly discern the quality of any camel you choose to sell him and is sure to find even the smallest flaw as a way to reduce his cost. El Tahad is Ashid’s gossip monger even after having his eyes burned out after witnessing something he shouldn’t have seen as a child. Camel sales are brisk and it is rumored that El Tahad can tell if you are lying merely by the tone of your voice. But if your heart is pure, he will tell you all he knows for a bargain.
Saleema is El Tahad’s only wife and his confidant. She lets her husband do the talking and quietly manages the money and logistics behind the scenes.
Emzi Al Vul manages the Baths, one of Ashid’s most popular attractions. The water remains at a constant temperature day and night, offering a refreshing cool during the heat of the day and warmth during the cold desert nights. Al Yul is one of the few female business owners in Ashid and a good friend of Madam Torha.
The Baths are staffed by three ladies and two men who attend to any of their customers’ needs from fresh towels and scented oils to clothes cleaning, hair cutting, steam and massage therapies. Men and women bathe in different pools to maintain propriety.
Maaz Al Yad was a visitor to Del Foor who was down on his luck when he arrived. One night while staying in the common tent at Zahar Nuzi, he was knocked out and when he awoke he was in a room with stone walls, a strange statue and no visible doors or windows. A vapor began seeping from small holes in the statue and he began hearing voices… screaming. When the screaming stopped and the vapors disappeared, he heard a single voice ask what he was willing to do to survive. Thus began Al Yad’s relationship with the demon Beyesh.
Before the demon, Al Yad was a liar and a thief seeking power. After making the deal with Beyesh, he discovered he had a knack for finding the weak and powerless and offering them to his new master. In exchange, he gained newfound strength and powers of deception and perception. As he found more souls for his master, he also learned more of Beyesh and how he’d grown bored with his other servant. Beyesh wishes to regain his strength so he can escape his prison. Al Yad was his way to freedom.
In Ashid, the people have grown more paranoid as more people have disappeared. No longer is just the occasional visitor vanishing without a trace, now it is sometimes entire caravans and even a few residents fading into thin air – fifty in all since Al Yad began his campaign of terror.
The demon of the sands, Beyesh (aka “The Benefactor”), is as old as the Waste and just as willing to wear down anyone and anything that gets in its way. Long ago the demon was free to destroy whomever and whatever he wished. The Waste was his home and he wandered seeking souls to torture. More than a thousand years ago, a huge battle was fought and Beyesh was imprisoned in a stone tomb by a powerful hero. The tomb was left in the care of a group of priests. Sometime after the tomb complex was built, the desert swallowed the oasis in a massive sandstorm and the priests tasked with keeping the demon at bay all perished.
More than anything, the demon seeks freedom to assume his old ways. To do so, he must regain his strength by consuming one soul at a time. So far he has consumed nearly 200 souls and needs only a few more to have enough power to break his bonds. He can communicate with Al Yad wherever he wishes and with El Vaz when he is close enough, as well as consuming the souls of each sacrifice brought to his chambers. But beyond that he is limited to what his agents can do on his behalf outside the tomb.
GMs can do many things with Beyesh. If the party should be foolish enough to set him free, Beyesh could be an excellent enemy and the party could have to put the “genie back in the bottle” or destroy him completely. But not before the demon has caused some havoc in the outside world. The number of souls Beyesh requires to escape could be a handful or could be several hundred more, depending on how you wish the plots to resolve.
Rumors, Observations, and Hearsay
- It is believed that the Baths have remarkable healing properties and most of the residents in the area take advantage of their waters regularly.
- Some believe that Al Ghul is the son of Madam Torha, though neither has ever spoken of such a relationship.
- In a small grove of palms a short walk from the oasis is a pile of stones believed to be an ancient temple. Many locals leave offerings at the temple to gain the gods’ favor.
- Some have begun to believe that Roovi El Vaz has passed away and that is why he hasn’t been seen outside The Citadel in several years.
- It is believed that if you need something… anything… you have two avenues to explore: Faraj Al Bahiri and Jibra Al Ghul. Your results may vary.
- Nobody is talking about the disappearances, but everyone gets very nervous when foreigners start asking questions.
- Madam Torha has several teas that prolong life, enhance virility, reduce pain, cure disease, and offer other magical benefits.
- The main pool of Del Foor has grown deeper and wider over the last few years for some mysterious reason.
- Occasionally strange figures approach the oasis from the Deep Waste but refuse to come closer than a few hundred yards. They disappear when approached.
- The last sand storm was observed to change direction and avoid Ashid as if guided by an invisible hand.
In the next installment, we’ll focus on some of the plot hooks and story elements that can be used to work Ashid into your campaign. How can anyone stop more people from disappearing?
