Akalate of Azka-Sur

Erlian Surzuir

Barid Szel-Sur

The **Akalate of Azka-Sur** was one of the Bulwari states that existed until the 15th century and its eventual conquest by the Jaddari Legion.

Azka-Sur, itself, is one of the oldest cities of Bulwar and always has been a great religious centre of the Bulwari Sun Cult. Close to the Dwarf fortress of Seghdihr, it is also the easternmost city before the Salahad desert and also close to the source of the Suran river.

## History

### Ancient history

The origins of Azka-Sur are lost to history like many cities in Bulwar although it seems that Genie rule was never strong in the Upper Suran. According to Dwarven records, the Dwarves of Seghdihr had established a small trade outpost called 'Logrod-Tungr', the River Harbor, on the site that would become the Fortress of the Sun, but it is not established if the local Human tribes were organized. The bond between the Citrine Dwarves and the Surani people dates from these times and has never faltered throughout the centuries.

Azka-Sur is first mentioned in Bulwari texts during the God-Kings Era but it does not appear as an important settlement and was only known as the 'Mountain-Fortress'. It was only following the establishment of the Bulwari Sun Cult around the tenth century BA that the city became a strong religious centre and became known as the Fortress of the Sun. It was nonetheless never the centre of an independent kingdom, the kings of Hašr becoming the main power of the Upper Suran following the demise of the Gnoll kingdoms. Trade with Rahen made the city rich and a target for Gnoll packs who inhabited the Salahad desert. The Djinn sultanates helped the Gnolls defeat the Surani and sack the city in 228 BA. The area would be controlled by gnolls until the Ashen Skies.

### The first kingdom of Azka-Sur (178-1033)

Surprisingly, it was the Harimraj conquest that strenghtened Azka-Sur. In 155 AA, Raheni soldiers crossed the Salahad and took the city, making it the new centre of their protectorate over Eastern Bulwar. While their conquest was short-lived, the noble that threw them out in 178 kept the Raheni kingdom and administration mostly intact. The Raheni influence was strenghtened by the events of 321 when an exiled human prince named Baji arrived in Azka-Sur after his defeat in battle against the Harimraj as they slowly worked on creating the caste system. His war elephants and veteran soldiers were welcomed by the local king, who saw this as an opportunity. He married his daughter to him and the prince converted to the Sun Cult, changing his name to Barid szel-Sur. He then joined the Bulwaris in the Great Revolt, eventually establishing control over the entire region, human and gnoll alike forging the new realm of Suranšes. While his heirs never could keep his kingdom intact, Azka-Sur remained the primary power of the Upper Suran and Salahad until the campaigns of Aakhet the Bronze in 448 saw the kingdom divided between various princedoms.

### Elven Azka-Sur (1033-1444)

Azka-Sur's fate changed with the Arrival and the proclamation of the Phoenix Empire. The kingdoms of Akalšes, Avamezan, Hašr and Azka-Sur held out following the declaration of the temple of Eduz-Vacyn that disagreed with the statement that Jaher was Surael come again. Seeing the threat on their border, King Zimud Semiz of Azka-Sur and King Udeš Ašrat of Hašr formed a marriage alliance and rallied their forces. Azka-Sur even secured the help of Dwarven forces, but this coalition was no match against the Jaherian legions.

Jaher spent several months in Azka-Sur before his Halessi campaigns and he organized the city as his main centre of operation for his Legions before the crossing of the Salahad. The city saw its first influx of Sun Elves that quickly took up the upper positions held before by the disgraced Human nobility. But as Azka-Sur became the geographic centre of the Phoenix Empire and one of the main stops of the Golden Road, the Sun Elf population increased to become one of the most numerous of Bulwar along with Sareyand or Bisartanšes. The death of Jaher and the return of the Sun Legions only strenghtened this trend.
In the Decades that followed the splintering of the Phoenix Empire, a veteran from the Raheni campaign, Carodir became the Akal of Azka-Sur and established the Surzuir dynasty. While one of the weakest Akalates, its relative isolation from the rest of Bulwar along with a generally cordial relationship with the Desert legions allowed Azka-Sur to enjoy a relative degree of independence, often threatened by its strong neighbor in Sareyand.

## Places of interest

Azka-Sur is known for its huge religious complexes, the main one being the Confluence temple which sits where the Golden Suran joins with the Brown Suran, a place considered holy by many of the Bulwari for it is the Suran river that brings life and prosperity to the region. Following the conquest of Azka-Sur by the Jaddari, it became the centre of the Jadd priesthood.

Azka-Sur is also known for its fortress which sits on a foothill of the Dwarovar and which dominates the whole valley. Rebuilt several times throughout its long history, the Sun Fortress still bears Dwarven elements dating back to the Logrod-Tungr settlement, a tower that is said to date from the Era of God-Kings and the Elven new walls that were commissioned by Jaher following the conquest of the region.

Thanks to its long history and its role as a trade and travelling hub, Azka-Sur welcomed influences from all its neighbours which was then synthetized in the Surani style, formalized by the Surani Architecture Academy located in the city. There students from Bulwar and beyond are told the intricacies of Bulwari, Dwarven, Raheni or Elven buildings.

But the most famed place of the city is its Great Souk, the Bil-Eklu. Meaning "Between the Palaces" in Bulwari, this marketplace is as old as the city itself, the palaces that gave its name are long gone, their ruins integrated in some of the darkest alleys of the souk. There travellers from the Dwarovar, Bulwar or Rahen trade and discuss around cups of the famed 'Sun coffee', known throughout the world as the best plant of coffee to exist.