Tessere

The Province of Tessere

Allegiance	Sirdabi Caliphate
Capital	al-Sabiyyah
Demonym	Tessere
Official Language	Sirdabi
Official Religion	Azadi
Currency	fals/dirham/nour
Native Heritages	Tessouare, Sirdabi, Yehani, Bissenke, Razmani

The province of Tessere lies at the far western end of the Sirdabi Caliphate, the furthest of its north Idiri lands save for the neighboring Emirate of Koumbasi. To the north lies the Adelantean Sea, and to the south the equally vast expanse of the Great Hazari Desert, while its eastern border touches upoin rustic Ifru. Although remote from the Sirdabi capital, Tessere is a thriving land whose cultural and economic prosperity owe much to the Koumbasi gold trade and the province's key position as a middleman on the trans-Hazari and Adelantean trade routes.

Geography & Climate

Tessere Province, Sirdabi Caliphate

Like all those lands whose territory spans the Hazari Desert, Tessere can be a harsh place of extreme temperatures and hostile terrain. Great sand basins such as the Whirling and Sunset Sands hold great beauty but equal peril, while the barren expanses of the Windswept Reaches have been known to instill despair into the heart of even seasoned desert travelers. Such lands are only thinly populated, and only by the hardiest of nomads whose survival skills are second to none. Caravans navigate the challenging weather and terrain, carrying shipments of gold and other precious goods from Koumbasi and the Idiri interior to the coast, but thirst, hunger, and disorientation in the strange landscape are not uncommon and sometimes lead to disaster.

Not all parts of Tessere are as harsh as the open desert, however. The broken peaks of the Sentinel Range rise up starkly from the arid flatlands, creating refuges of scrubland and sentinel pine forest high above the desert floor. Two more isolated plateaus, the Riij and Dirj Massifs offer their own unique environments, where sprawling grassland and stunted groves of oak and cedar are watered by scattered springs. In between these mountain lands lies Cradle Basin, once a series of marshy lakes in ancient days, now a landscape of fine-grained black sand that glides in wind-borne ripples across the gravel. But the Tessouare town of Redbird Wells offers clean and plentiful water as well as a rare abundance of shade that is deeply welcome to all those crossing the desert.

People

Like neighboring Ifru, Tessere is part of the historic heartland of Tessouare territory and culture, and it is these people who still predominate in the region today. They exhibit a wide diversity of lifestyles, ranging from nomadic pastoralism in the desert interior, to settled farmers and small-town tradesfolk, to sophisticated urbanites in the bustling capital. The Tessouare here are particularly proud of their heritage, as they continue to cherish stories of the great kingdoms of ancient days and their heroic resistance against the Ruvans, which led to centuries of independence in the face of the ever-present threat from both the Ruveran and Kalentoi Empires.

Despite the dominance of the Tessouare, Tessere has a high population of Sirdabi relative to most other provinces in the western caliphate. The Sirdabi have had a strong presence here ever since the early days of Seeking, having arrived in the area not long after the beginning of the New Dawn. The great majority dwell in al-Sabiyyah and Ridmah, where they are involved in various trading and shipping ventures and in local craft industries. But they are widespread in smaller numbers throughout the province, where most have melded almost seamlessly into the local populace over many generations.

Also concentrated most heavily in the coastal cities are the Yehani, who have made their homes along the Adelantean shore for countless generations. Having lost their great city-state of Druth to the tidal waves of the Great Dark, the Yehani resettled among their Tessouare neighbors and are still a strong and influential presence in the capital. Most unusually, al-Sabiyyah is home to those Yehani who are technically Yelemites, worshipers of numerous of the old gods rather than solely of Elu Hani (known to most Avarians as the One True God). But typical Yehani are common in Tessere as well, where their ancient ties with the Tessouare make them largely welcome despite occasional cultural and religious frictions.

Many Bissenke also make their home in Tessere, particularly in the southern portions of the province along the Tajeddi River. The city of Mirzuq in particularly represents a rich blend of Bissenke and Tessouare culture, and despite earlier clashes with Koumbasi in antiquity, the relationship between the two peoples has more often been founded on friendship. Although not as widespread here as in the eastern regions of the Hazari, several Razmani communities reside in their typical cliffside enclaves within the mountains and canyons of the desert.

Cities & Towns

• al-Sabiyyah, the proud capital by the sea, known for its wealth and the devious complexity of its local politics.
• Illizem, a remote desert retreat, favored by monastic communities desirous of solitude and travelers seeking a cure from Lake Alewa's healing waters.
• Murzuq, a vibrant multicultural trading town sprawled out upon both sides of the Tajeddi River.
• Oued Jebed, a raggle-taggle village in the Cherchem Mountains whose mines supply a generous bounty of agate, amethyst, and other precious stones.
• Redbird Wells, a shady Tessouare oasis town nestled in the shadow of the Dirj.
• Ridmah, a peaceful and pragmatic town in the Plain of Plenty, whose surrounding farmland feeds much of Tessere and neighboring lands.
• Sidi Negrim, hometown of one of the great religious scholars and physicians of the early caliphate, and also a source of numerous rare herbs.

Points of Interest

Bitterwater Sink Cherchem Mountains Cradle Basin Dirj Massif Lake Alewa

Nirous Bay Plain of Ghiraz Plain of Plenty Riij Massif Sentinel Range

Sunset Sands Whirling Sands Windswept Reach Zebil Heights Zegoura Bay