Rahoum

The Province of Rahoum

Allegiance	Sirdabi Caliphate
Capital	Sirdab
Governor	Mu'omer bin Imran Bey
Demonym	Rahoumi
Official Language	Sirdabi
Official Religion	Azadi
Currency	fals/dirham/nour
Native Heritages	Sirdabi

The province of Rahoum is the heartland of the Sirdabi Caliphate and the birthplace of the Azadi faith. It is famed for the vast sweep of its burning deserts and the fiercely independent tribesmen who inhabit them, but boasts equal renown for the vibrant culture of its capital, the wealth of its adventurous merchants, and the depth of its people's piety. Set apart from the extensive irrigation works that line the banks of the River Ennescu, the shaded oasis of the Sirdab Shrine beckons the faithful to prayer and meditation.

Geography & Climate

Rahoum is, above all, a dry and stark land. Although the terrain varies greatly from mountain to plateau to vast desert basin, the defining character of the entire area is its extreme aridity. Most of the province receives on average less than ten inches of rain each year, and some places receive far less -- parts of the Vast Solitude may go years without seeing a single drop of rainfall. The landscape as a whole can be extremely unforgiving, but scattered wells and the weaving muddy band of the River Ennescu furnish a precious gift of water that makes life -- and a flourishing blend of cultures -- possible.

The elevation of Rahoum is generally higher in the west, where the land rises up in a huge plateau that covers nearly half the province. Several mountain ranges rise still further, from the jagged peaks of the Brokentooth Mountains along the Gulf of Adwa, to the uniform cliffs of the South Palisades that form the border with Saramat. The land descends steadily towards the Ennescu where it winds through the heart of Rahoum, marking the divide between the western and eastern halves of the province. In the east the land is much lower and flatter, though broken here and there with low rocky hills and stark massifs. Most of the land here is pure desert -- immense expanses of sand in the Vast Solitude, particularly in the Quarter of Vanished Tracks, but also plains of low sand scrub or gravel. In many places sand and stone come right down to the desolate shore of the Gulf of Khurum, where settlements are almost equally sparse save for the great port city of Suurmi in the far south.

The greatest centers of population lie along the River Ennescu, whose waters feed extensively irrigated fields and orchards as well as providing fresh fish and easy transport through the center of Rahoum. Wells and oases allow a few small towns to prosper even in the eastern desert, while springs and small but regular winter rains supports the residents of the western steppe. Precipitation in the rest of the country is desperately scarce, as the wet monsoon winds that sweep in from the Sea of Salaah from Ashbat to Kholabi drop all their rains upon Marzum and the Sodden Isles, leaving only a dry harsh wind to blow down from the mountain peaks and across the open desert.

People

Rahoum is chiefly home to the Sirdabi people, who have resided among its deserts, mountains, and river plains for time out of mind. Although the Sirdabi were originally a tribal people engaged chiefly in nomadic pastoralism and small-scale farming, much of the Sirdabi population now lives in towns and large cities scattered widely across the province. Besides herding and farming, they frequently find occupation as merchants, artisans, and government officials, as well as poets, teachers, legal experts, and in numerous other learned professions. Even so, there remain numerous small tribes who reside at the fringers of civilization in the remote reaches of the deserts and mountains.

Besides Sirdabi, a wide variety of heritages can be found in the larger cities of the province. Many Irzali are commonly encountered in the capital, employed as court functionaries of various kinds and filling the ranks of the best universities. Yehani dwell in the mountains bordering the southern province of Marzum, survivors of the long-ago fall of the great Yehani kingdoms there. Coastal cities such as Qaysum and al-Dhoum are thriving multicultural centers of trade, where the native Sirdabi mingle extensively with Salawi, Jalanit, and Irulao.