Hai
From Mizahar Lore
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This article is about a location with its own forum to roleplay in. You can find it here. |
 The Entrance to the Tomb City | |
| Region | Eyktol |
|---|---|
| Notability | The Tomb City |
| Population | Unknown |
Once the glorious Hazadhar, a wondrous city hewn from and into the subterranean stone, Hai was broken in the Valterrian. It is now a beautiful tomb where wretched things are banished to die. Housing Mizahar's most reviled criminals and diseased, Hai is a byword for misery. Foolishly bold hearts are still drawn there by rumors of buried gold and lost relics.
Contents |
History
Built by the Benshiran leader, Menuseh, Hazadhar was the rival to Yahal's holy city of Wadrass. Menuseh had a vision of a city that surpassed all others in ingenuity and wealth. His people would cast aside the holy land of their fathers and enter into a new dawn unhampered by history. In the midst of building his vision, Menuseh let much of Wadrass fall into disrepair. The temple began to crumble and the walls were left un-mended. Benshiran workers were miserable under Menuseh's exacting and tireless hand, and many graves were fit amongst the city's foundations. Menuseh would not live to see his city formed, though. His son, Maloch, completed it, only to die soon after himself.
Menuseh's vision was fulfilled, though. Hazadhar was both above and beneath the earth, lit by glowing stones and painstakingly engineered tunnels that used mirrors to reflect surface light into the ground. River water and springs were diverted into canals and aqueducts leading below ground and fruit trees were said to grow on the canal shores. Hazahdar's buildings were carved from the red stone of Eyktol and rivaled the wonders of Ahnatep. Many Benshiras were drawn to it away from the holy city.
For a time the Benshiras grew in numbers and their cities grew wealthy. The powerful Eypharians saw the rise of the Benshira as a threat, but instead of conquering them in battle, the Eypharian noble chose a subtler tactic. The Eypharian nobles sent some of the most beautiful Eypharian youths into the Benshiras' lands. These exotic Eypharian drew the young Benshira men and women into the luxurious Eypharian cities and taught them how to worship their goddesses instead of Yahal. Once the Benshiras were under the spell of their captors and far from their families, the Eypharian promptly enslaved them, forcing them to marry and breed with one another. Great monuments of Eypharians were built on the backs of Benshiras. After years of slavery the Benshiras turned back to Yahal. The answer was not what they expected. This was when the Valterrian struck, destroying the Eypharian cities and giving the Benshiras a chance to flee. At that time a priest of Rapa, named Emiah, told the Benshiras that Yahal wanted them to hide in his temple in the city Wadrass. Some of the freed Benshiras refused, choosing the wealthier and seemingly safer city of Hazahdar. In the midst of the Valterrian, the earth shook and much of Hazahdar collapsed, killing most who sought shelter there and all of the noble line. Those who survived sealed the city behind them, denouncing it as cursed.
A century after the Valterrian, travelers began to tell stories of the lost city swallowing the reckless. Enough tales were told to prompt a thorough search by the Eypharians. What they found was a pit of a city. Entrance and exit was only feasible through a rope down a long tunnel into murk. Some of Hazadhar still stood, but grim creatures had overtaken it.
Wary of the instability and stigma of the city, the people of Eyktol refused to inhabit the city. Hazadhar was no more, it became "Hai". Forever opportunists, the Eypharians began to banish their lepers to Hai. It was a convenient place to maroon something without necessarily killing it. Political prisoners were sent there next, and then general criminals of the worst kind. Other cultures began to utilize Hai as a repository for all creatures that were best forgotten.
Now Hai is a self sufficient city of murderers, monsters and lepers. No one cares what they do to one another in the pit. Guards are content to patrol the only known entrance, a long drop through a hole in the cavern roof additionally guarded by magic wards, but nothing else is done to maintain order.
Factions
The population of Hai is divided into several gangs. Numbers frequently change in this violent world, so neither group has emerged as the reigning force.
Devourers
The worst of the worst who still have the ability to band together. The ultimate bullies, brutality and recalcitrance defines them. Under their Benshiran leader, Ahaz, a former Yahalman, they have learned to mix cruel capriciousness with order. Ahaz is known to kill fellow Devourers for no reason, asserting, if he didn't, his followers would forget who they were dealing with. His mores have been inherited and embellished by those beneath him.
Limbus
These are the damned who have recognized their own wickedness and what it has brought them. They do not savor the violence of Hai, but they are not so ignorant as to nurture hope. Limbus exist in a strange stalemate with Lhex and time. What ill they have worked cannot be undone, but they have little inclination to continue in cruelty. They are led by a calm yet ruthless human, Cullorn.
The Lepers
An indiscriminate term for all the incurable and diseased within Hai. Some are true lepers or infected while others are being slowly eaten away by negative gnosis marks. Those who cannot endure their misery with a modicum of restraint are expelled into the dark to join the fodder. A mysterious leper king creates some order and ensures food and water are obtained.
The Grist
A cluster of wild, animalistic races, the Grist pose as much danger to themselves as other gangs. They engage in hunts and bicker over scant resources. Only a certain amount of discipline in their upper ranks keeps them from reverting to complete scavengers. Unbeknownst to most, the higher level Grist are intelligent opportunists who use their mad counterparts as a brute force. Their true leader is indistinguishable to outsiders, but guesses have been made that it is either a Symenestran male called, Brother Nepenthes, or a Zith couple simply referred to as the Dominus.
The Nikallum
Mostly female slaves to the Devourers, they have relinquished their free will for safety. They are informally guided by Athalia, an Eypharian who inhabits the precarious position of Ahaz's paramour.
Loners
Those who shun the factions, choosing to struggle alone are called Rogues or Fodder, the former are those who are capable, the latter are those who are merely delaying the inevitable.
Fauna
Eypharian Jackals
Places of Note
- The Inner Gate
- All who enter must pass through here before walking down...
- The Lesser of Evils
- Decide your place in Hai by picking one.
- The Weeping Well
- the primary source of water
- The Palace of Lepers
- Menuseh's palatial estate, now overcome by tattered lepers
- Drowning House
- Home of the Limbus, once the public baths.
- The Apiary
- Den of the half wild Grist.
- The Edge
- Headquarters of the Devourers, once the city barracks.
- Potter's Field
- A combined cemetery and orchard. The only moderately safe place in the city.
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Out of character note: Hai is an unusual location that is intended to be very difficult if not impossible to escape. Also, through a combination of magic wards and a concoction placed in the sources of drinking water, the population is rendered sterile, so PCs may not be born here or begin their lives here. |