Mashhain (City)

Mashhain, capital of the tiny Sultanate of the same name, is a unique port city on the Kaspari Empire's western coast. It is known as both a center of learning and of mysticism, as it it home to some of the Kaspari Empire's most prestigious universities and a disproportionately large population of thaumaturgists and psychics.
==Features of Mashhain==
Mashhain is known for its universities, for which are dedicated to the study of history, alchemy, astrology, philosophy, divination, optics, algebra, mechanics, engineering, and all the arts of civilized people. This city is also known for its dyemakers, who produce and export a fiery yellow-orange pigment called Auz, which residents use to dye fabric, especially felt. In the city streets, natives can be identified by their yellow fezzes and golden robes.
In general, the natives of Mashhain are intelligent, conversational, and well-informed, as one would expect in a center of learning. They may be too much so, however, for a Mashhaini rarely uses one word when seven are possible. Quite often, even simple questions spur great debates in the streets. The people of Mashhain are also noted for presenting their own opinions as stated facts. There is a saying on the western coast: "If you want answers, seek them in Mashhain. If you want truth, seek it elsewhere."
==Rumors and Lore==
Legends of forgotten magics and mysterious artifacts are common trade in the City of Mashhain. Reportedly, catacombs and caverns snake through the ground beneath the city, and it was in these passages that the first philosophers met to teach their students before the Enlightenment. The catacombs are said to run for miles, to connect with every major building (including the Sultan's palace), to be filled with hidden treasure and artifacts, and to be inhabited by savage monsters.
Mashhain's main attraction for the adventurer is two-fold: as a source of information, and as a source of enrichment (of the material sort). For the former, the universities overflow with experts: too much so, since answers may be conflicting. However, these individuals always are interested in tales from afar, or strange and new wonders.
For the latter, the under-city is riddled with passages and small enclaves used by various thaumaturges over the years. There is no ultimate "super-dungeon" here, but rather a collection of small areas. Most of the known ones have been explored by previous heroes, but there are a large number still undiscovered, and rumors continually surface of a "mother lode" beneath the foundations of the city.
Category:Small Cities
Category:Settlements
Category:Settlements in the Kaspari Empire
Category:Locations
Category:Locations in the Kaspari Empire