A banner image with a large blue portal through which you can see mountains and the sky of a strange planet as well as other planets above. The banner reads : Craft words - Tell stories.
View Categories

Majira

DM’s Lore #

  • Formal Name: Majira

  • Type & Rank: Nation, Theocratic Meritocracy, Regional Trade Power

  • Population: 130,411

  • Language/Name influences: Arabic, Egyptian, Swahili

  • Synopsis (The True Nature): Majira is a highly centralized, neutral state ruled by a council of master Wayfinders, whose true power lies in their unmatched, proprietary knowledge of the desert’s hidden hazards, which they use to maintain absolute control over all regional trade.

  • True History & Key Dates:

    • 1,529 AR: Jandar Tornalis begins the creation of the Tabaxi army in the Silhol Valley (The Enslavement).

    • c. 1,535 AR: Jandar’s psychic link fails; the Tabaxi achieve self-preservation and slay their creator (The Liberation).

    • c. 1,590 AR: Tabaxi clans, led by NAME3, discover the subterranean cisterns, beginning the construction of Jandar’s Fall.

    • c. 1,600 AR: Sunwhisker guides the initial city-building and establishes the foundational laws of communal sharing and responsibility. The Wayfinders are created as an official body to manage external relations and trade.

    • 3,914 AR: Quickclaw, a highly skilled Wayfinder, institutes the meritocratic system, creating the Speaker of the Sand and the governing council. The surrounding desert is officially claimed and named Majira.

  • Internal Conflicts & Secrets:

    • The Ancient Guilt: While publicly celebrated as a triumph, the memory of killing their creator is a deeply suppressed source of internal anxiety and a fierce drive to ensure no Tabaxi is ever enslaved again. The stories told to outsiders are sanitized.

    • The Cistern Safety Net: The blueprints of the cisterns are tightly guarded as a failsafe against invasion or sabotage. Protections were built into the system to prevent contamination from spreading throughout the entire water supply.

    • The Old Clans vs. The Meritocracy: While Quickclaw’s system reigns, the surviving leaders of the old nomadic clans still hold significant sway among traditionalists, often quietly resisting highly radical changes proposed by the younger, council-led Wayfinders.

  • Key NPCs & Power Structure:

    • Coming Soon

  • Economy & Military Might:

    • Economy: Wealth is entirely generated through passage services and the Central Market Tax on all goods passing through Jandar’s Fall. They trade access and safety, not resources. Gold is common, but knowledge and water are the true currencies.

    • Military: No formal standing army. The Wayfinders are the de facto military. They are masters of guerrilla warfare, traps, and desert ambush. They are highly defensive and would never launch an offensive war. Their strength lies in their ability to destroy all water sources and lose any invading army in the Silhol Valley’s hidden traps.

  • Adventure Hooks:

    1. Intelligence: Another nation has bribed a low-ranking Wayfinder to steal a map to the main cistern network. If this information were to make it into the wrong hands the whole population of Jandar’s Fall could be at risk. The party must intercept the rogue agent before the information leaves the Silhol Valley.

    2. Social: On of the Tabaxi elders believes the current Speaker is becoming corrupt and hires the party to investigate the Speaker’s secretive dealings with a known bandit organization near the border.

    3. Survival: A critical trade caravan the party is guiding across the continent decides to try to save time by travelling through the Silhol Valley. They become lost and disoriented, leading to the party to run out of drinking water and forcing them to rely on their wits against the cruel desert.

Player’s Knowledge #

  • Description & Ambiance: Majira is the vibrant, bustling hub of the vast Silhol Valley desert. The capital, Jandar’s Fall, is a breathtaking sight: a towering city of smooth, cream-colored architecture, built directly over the cisterns in the bedrock. Windcatchers, tall structures that funnel warm air down into the cisterns to be cooled by the stored water, keep the air inside the city buildings surprisingly cool.

  • Government & Public Law: Ruled by the Speaker of the Sand, who is the elected head of a council of highly skilled Tabaxi known as the Wayfinders. The laws are simple: Share everything, protect the community, and treat all guests according to their trade agreement. Merit and skill, not lineage, define leadership.

  • Exports & Reputation: Majira’s only export is Safe Passage and Trade Access. They are world-renowned for their unmatched neutrality and their guaranteed ability to move people and goods safely across the otherwise deadly Silhol Valley desert. They are often seen as shrewd, fair, and utterly indispensable to regional trade.

  • Rumors & Folklore (Unverified):

    • “They say the city is bottomless, built on the foundations of some ancient Elven disaster.”

    • “Never stray from the path marked by a Wayfinder—they leave hidden traps in the sand only they know how to step around.”

    • “The Great Cisterns are guarded by an enormous sand beast that only wakes when the city is threatened.”

Nation