Ak'Turan

Turanian fortress east of Irill

The fortress city of Ak'Turan sits astride the Iron Road; although it does not harass or tax caravans passing through aside from a nominal fee to maintain the patrols. Irillian merchants are immune from the fees; however the city can collect a hawking fee, so the Emir built a bazaar to rival any found in the Empire. Merchants from the west can trade their goods for a minimal fee to eastern merchants and forgo the dangerous road east - Eastern merchants do not have to suffer the higher hawking fees they pay in western towns and cities.

The Grand Bazaar has steadily grown over the years until it has become one of the largest places to trade on the continent that lacks a port. This wealth has given the Emir a great deal of power both with the Republic of Irill and Turan. In 451 AH construction of an outer wall encompassed the bazaar and most of the town that grew up near the fortress. It has a good aquifer and access to plenty of stored food inside making a siege nearly impossible.

• Name: The Great Bazaar
• Location: Turanian Empire
• Founded: Turanians 443 AH
• Ruler: Emir Faysal Najem
• Demonym: Bornheimer
• Land Area: 1,300 km² (320,000 acres)

  • Woods: xxx acres (xx km²)
  • Cleared: xxx acres (xx km²), xxx acres cultivated
  • Tenant:
  • Demesne:
• Population: 8,000
• Ethnicity: Human (7,600), Orc (200), Dwarf (100), Kithkin (75), Other (25)
• Military:

In the year 442 AH, Emir Faysal gathered a mighty host on his lands near the Anor Mountains. He marched them along the Iron Road. His goal was to conquer Andali, the capitol of the Republic of Irill. His northern flanks was harried by the horsemen of Carthia, while the Kithkin of Kith raided his supply train from the south.

Before winter set in, Emir Faysal order the construction of a vast fortress. He had reached nearly three-quarters (3/4) along the trade road and by next summer should be able to besiege the city. Unfortunately for him three Irillian Legion marched east along the road during the winter and besieged his forces instead. If he had not ordered a fortress built his army would have perished; instead he was forced to sue for peace.

Under the conditions of the peace settlement his soldiers were not allowed to advance any further west than their current location. In addition any Irillian merchants that used the Iron Road would not be harassed nor charged fees, in fact the soldiers must provide an armed escort within a two days ride east. These conditions might have seemed strange as they left an armed and possibly hostile force within a weeks march of Irill, but the effect was that Irillian merchants just had the costs of using the trade road reduced by more than half.

From 445 to 452, Emir Faysal spent heavily from the treasury and his own personal funds to increase the size of the courtyard as well as building another wall farther out. The result of the Emir's actions was the growth of the bazaar. The bazaar had grown from simply a place where merchants exchanged goods to a courtyard protected and influenced by the Emir. Emir Faysal was a soldier, not a merchant or aristocrat, however he was a quick study and realized the potential gained from keeping the trade road safe for merchants.

The terms of the treaty did not allow him to move west, instead he began construction of smaller outposts to the east along the trade road. These provided safe havens for the merchants for a simple fee (instead of the price of the goods carried). By 460 AH the number of caravans traveling along the road doubled, but the wealth they carried more than tripled.

Emir Faysal was a competent military commander and picked a defensible location upon which to construct his fortress. The fortress would not have fallen to the Irillians if he had been able to fully lay in his stores and complete the outer curtain wall before the legions arrived.

The land around is temperate grassland providing very good soil for crops and grass for herding. There is sufficient rainfall to keep the rivers flowing in all but the driest season. An aquifer large enough to support a city twice its size if located below the fortress.

While the fortress does not sit on the largest hill in sight, it was built on the largest hill in the surrounding lands that is near the trade route. The city itself was not built on the trade route, but the trade route began to pass through Ak'Turan once the bazaar reached completion.

The Emir rules as absolute ruler - answering to no man. When he passes he will turn over the crown to his eldest son. Nominally there is a council of elders, one from each district, but the Emir simply plays them lip-service. Should the council stand together it may actually benefit the people, but many members of the council prefer the strong hand of the Emir to the potential despots among them.

Each family that owns land in the city or the surrounding villages must provide a fit and hale male of their family for military service. Exceptional men may stay on following their three (3) years of service. These men become the sergeants and officers of the army. One-third (1/3) of the soldiers are released each year and replaced with new men. This retains as much experience as possible within the ranks.

The military of the city provide patrols along the trade route as well as walking the outer and inner walls. Although a few men each year stay on and become officers - in truth most of the officers are mercenaries hired for Emir's silver.

The city is a tale of two halves. The soldiers and nearly all of those who work in the fortress are native turanians. Not only drawn from Emir Fasyal's personal lands, but hired from other lands in the Turanian Empire. The Emir has long lambasted his fellow Emirs their practice of bringing conquered people into their household as it weakens the strength of the Turanian people. Emir Faysal maintains his practice of only hiring free men and women of proven Turanian heritage.

The bazaar and its surrounding buildings is completely the opposite. A polyglot of different cultures and races; although the majority are humans from either Irill or Turan. A long as they are willing to keep their peace they shall not be harassed by the guards nor falsely imprisoned. The “Law of Gold” rules in the bazaar where anything and everything can be sold.

The economy of the city runs on trade. The trading in the Great Bazaar fills the Emir's coffers with silver and gold as his tax men collect hawking fees on everything sold. There is a saying within the bazaar that even insulting the Emir of Ak'Turan only brings a fine, but cheating the tax men results in a slow and very public death.

While the land around the fortress is fertile, the sheer number of people that live (temporarily at least) requires a large amount of imported food. Currently most of these imports come from Irill or Theodova. Should there be a long term disruption to their food supply it is likely the city will riot. This dependence on the steady import of food keeps the Emir from looking too far west.

There are two very distinct cultures in the city. The first is what is found in the fortress. Comprised nearly entirely of Turanians, Emir Faysal maintains all of the trappings of his homeland inside of the fortress. The city surrounding the fortress is a confusing mish-mash of different cultures, buildings, sights, and smells. As long as the city maintains its own peace the Emir is content to simply collect his fees.

The Emir appoints a City Mayor whose job is to run the city and keep the peace. The mayor has absolute control over the city as long as he keeps the peace and silver flowing. Most mayors work through several representatives from each district. This is not a true city council nor aldermen, instead simply a person that can speak for a slice of the city.