Notable Non-Player Characters

List of notable Referee characters from the campaign.

1. Umiyid: High City

The High City is exclusively home to wealthy, aristocratic families and their allies. It's total population, including servants, is roughly 15% that of the Lower City (~300,000 people). Access is highly controlled, and is effectively limited to members of the aristocracy, plus high-status artisans affiliated with the families and household slaves.

Politics in the City are dominated by a few major families and their allies, though relationships are always pragmatic and allegiances constantly shifting. The major families control large sectors of the economy, political bureaucracy, and military. The leaders of the major houses act as patrons to clients from lower-ranking families, as well as to lower-status individuals from other major families. Veiled intrigue and behind-the-scenes maneuvering are ubiquitous.

Major Families and Their Allies

House Khurasani

The Khurasani and their allies are among the most powerful and wealthy families, not least because they dominate the influential Diwans of Exploration and Records. Many smaller families also support their interests. One notable family is House Katib, which overwhelmingly dominates the Diwan of Artifacts, Relics, and Cultural Preservation (a source of substantial looted wealth). Other substantial backers include the al-Dimashqi, al-Attar, al-Hindi, and al-Sufi.

House Saghir

The Saghir are an old trading and shipping family. They have many commercial interests in the Holy Association of Shipbuilders and Carpenters, the Navigator's Guild, and the Fellowship of Longshoremen. They have also cultivated substantial influence on the Diwan of Shipping. Allied families include al-Hallaj and al-Habib.

House Zaida

The Zaida control the head positions in the Diwan of Commercial Licenses and Permits. They also maintain a number of commercial interests, which often put them at odds with the al-Sagir. Allied families include al-Majid and al-Ifriqi.

House Basri

The Basri are an old, decorated military family. They are especially well-represented in the high ranks of the Imperial Navy. Allied families include al-Ghaffar, al-Talaqani, and al-Shirazi.

Independent Minor Families

These families are still fabulously wealthy by general standards, but do not have the economic or political clout of the larger, more influential families. They often ally with a more influential family through a complicated series of patron-client relationships.

House Faizal

The Faizal have generated many prominent artists and scholars. They are, unsurprisingly, influential in cultural circles and the University.

House Zidane

Former clients of House Saghir, but no longer allied after a substantial social and political falling out (orchestrated by PCs after several sessions of intrigue).

House Abarta'i

House Kasrawi

House Burjani

House Nasrani

House Maghribi

House Rahib

2. Umiyid: Low City

The Lower (or Outer) City is home to a massive, sprawling metropolis of millions of people. Some areas are relatively affluent, while others are barely slums. The city stretches across the delta to the deep-water ports.

3. Burkan al-Khafion

4. Muta Bahidun

5. Al Awaj Oasis