YLARUAM (Emirates of)
Location: North of Thyatis, west of Rockhome and Darokin, south of Soderfjord. OW
Area: 54,180 sq. mi. (140,325 sq. km.).
Population: 208,000 (recent losses due to civil wars within the emirates).
Languages: Ylari (also known as Alasiyan).
Coinage: Dinar (gp), dirham (sp), fal (cp).
Taxes: 10% sales tax. Also a monthly head tax according to social rank (peasants: 1 cp, townsfolk and nomads: 1 sp, merchants: 1 gp, nobles: 10 gp). Heretics (those who refuse to follow the edicts of the Eternal Truth) pay double the monthly head tax. Foreigners used to pay the same rate as heretics, but they have recently been outlawed from residing within the emirates.
Government Type: Bureaucracy with administrative departments called voucheries (such as the Vouchery of Water Resources), under the supervision of the sultan and his grand vizier.
Industries: Textiles, horse-breeding, mining, marble-quarrying, glassmaking, and the cultivation of dates.
Important Figures: Hassam "the True" al-Kalim (Sultan, human, male, F9), Khalid-al-Sharif "the Tale Teller" (Grand Vizier, human, male F4/Pr14 of Protius).
Flora and Fauna: Horses, camels and cattle are by far the most common animals found, followed by sheep and goats. In the wilderness of the desert, djinn, chimerae, dragons, undead, giant lizards, sphinxes, and manscorpions are all rumoured to be present. Demons recently released into the Prime Plane near the Emirate of Nithia are also a rare sight.
Further Reading: GAZ2 The Emirates of Ylaruam, previous almanacs.
Description by Omar-ibn-Chukri.
The Emirates of Ylaruam might more properly be called the Emirates of Abbashan, as that is where the new Sultan Hassam al-Kalim and his supporters in the Kin faction have moved the capital. It is from this remote oasis town that the sultan coordinates his efforts to bring the desert peoples under his control.
The Land
The oasis at Abbashan is a haven from the harsh deserts that fill the majority of this emirate. As one moves further to the east, the desert basin drops gradually into the coastal plains that make up the eastern portion of the Emirate of Abbashan. Fewer roads and trails exist in this region than in the Emirate of Alasiya to the west, a badge of honour amongst the Abbashani people, who cling proudly to their nomadic heritage. There is very mixed sentiment towards the sultan's recent attempts to complete caravan routes from the coastal towns that had been started many years ago.
At the westernmost edge of the Emirate of Abbashan is its newest addition, the town of Hedjazi. Formerly a part of the Emirate of Alasiya, the oasis town was recently annexed to the Sultan's own holdings, further diminishing the former centre of power in Ylaruam.
The People
As I noted above, the Abbashani still cling largely to the traditions and customs of a time when the Ylari people roamed the deserts as nomads. They are a very isolationist people, being far less tolerant of foreigners and unbelievers than any other people in the emirates. It should not be surprising, then, that this is the region the Kin faction has chosen as their centre of power.
The population of Abbashan has been on the rise since the sultan's ascension to power, though its levels still come nowhere near those of Ylaruam itself (even in its current, diminished state). There is not enough housing available for all of the newcomers, despite an increase in construction in and around the city. Thus far, it isn't a serious problem-the Abbashani are adaptable, and simply set up their own tents and shanties in the outskirts of the town. As more outsiders flock to Abbashan from elsewhere in the nation-people who do not share the Abbashani nomadic tendencies-I suspect there will be major issues with overcrowding.
Recent History
The
sultan seems to gradually be coming around to the notion that the Ylari people
cannot live in a vacuum (rumour has it his new grand vizier is responsible for
his changes in attitude). Now that the
emirates seem to be firmly under his control, he has begun to ease the
emirates' isolationist policies, while trying to keep a firm hand under foreign
influence. It is a fine line he walks,
as he tries to keep the emirates a viable force in Old World politics, and yet
appease his people's fears at the taint of outsiders.