Shazza

Located at the base of the Pogardi Mountains more than 600 miles south across the Dulqa from the Alwabi Sea, Shazza is one of the Kaspari Empire's southernmost cities. Every citizen feels Shazza's distance from civilization, for the city has a decidedly independent spirit.
More than any other city in the south, and perhaps even throughout the Kaspari Empire, Shazza is a place on the edge of civilization. The combination of barbarian and enlightened views have produced a very independent attitude toward the world outside. The city's people are basically honest and blunt, often to the point of seeming rude. They are pragmatic in that they recognize the need for some sort of government, so they feel they might as well make the most of it. All of the clergy in the major mosques are pragmatists, a rarity in the Kaspari Empire.
The people of Shazza (and the Sultanate of Kurgad, of which it is the capital) are also stridently opposed to slavery, in all its forms. In particular, they oppose the mamluks, whom Shazzans describe as "the tattooed attack dogs of oppression." Slaves brought into the city will be rescued (whether they want to be or not). Mamluks are rarely found in the streets except as an occupying force. Visiting merchants who own slaves grant them temporary freedom while in Shazza, paying them as employees until both leave the city, when they resume their relationship as master and slaves.
Shazzans see themselves as good and decent folk confronted with decadent authority and tyrannical rule. The city's official color is white, symbolizing their purity (to their detractors, it also symbolizes the color of surrender). Smuggling and similar acts are illegal only by declaration of a far-off power. "A man should be ruled by his own internal law" is the unofficial motto of Shazza.
==Rumors and Lore==
Intrigue abounds in Shazza, on a level which even rivals that of Durqand. A regular crisis involves rumors claiming that an inspector from Qadat is traveling incognito, looking for corruption and excess. From the viewpoint of mamluk-ruled Qadat, all of Shazza is corrupt and excessive. But perhaps that's the only way the city can function. Top-heavy with outlanders and barbarians, a normal system of government would crumble here, as it has done in the past. The inspector on his or her way to Shazza may not agree, however, and the sagacious heads of court are looking for him, hoping to shut his mouth with either gold or steel.
Other rumors suggest that agents of various vampires from Dalkhrova have been active in the vicinity. Many individuals reporting contact with vampires have mysteriously disappeared soon after.
Category:Small Cities
Category:Locations in Kurgad
Category:Locations in the Kaspari Empire
Category:Locations
Category:Settlements
Category:Settlements in the Kaspari Empire