Rules, Editing, and Additional Text: Jeremy “Blackwingedheaven” Puckett Special Thanks: Mikhail “NeoTiamat” Rekun (Pharazia concepts and ideas from “The Domain of the Endless Word,” Quoth the Raven Issue 21.) Release date: February 18, 2016 Ravenloft® is a registered trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This book does not represent a challenge to any Wizards of the Coast-held trademarks. Wizards of the Coast is not officially affiliated with this book in any way. This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com. Savage Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permission. Pinnacle makes no representation or warranty as to the quality, viability, or suitability for purpose of this product. The Amber Wastes are desert lands give way to harsh, stony mountains filled with parched by the relentless heat of the sun. ruins and hidden passes. South of the There is no ebb and flow of seasons in these mountains lies the forsaken land of Sebua, arid domains; the scorching temperatures are where the only people known to inhabit the relentless. Here the Mists are not fog but ruins are tribes of wild children, surviving on instead shimmering heat mirages or blistering the barest edge of starvation. sandstorms. The Wastes can be harsh and Somewhere in the mountains lies a pass to unforgiving, and they breed hardy folk who the realm of Al-Kathos, a land that is are keen survivors. Life huddles near oases mysterious and exotic even in a region known and rivers, and it hides beneath the shifting for mysteries. The mountains of Al-Kathos sands. are said to burn with fire and smoke, spitting The deserts of the Amber Wastes—known out blood-colored lava without end. The to its natives as the Pharazian Peninsula—are humans of Al-Kathos live side by side with home to four domains united by a common several strange races left over from the days history. According to the common history, all of Assayad—animal-headed men, women with of the peninsula was once controlled a mighty the bodies of lions, and stranger things still. empire known as Assayad. After centuries of Beyond the mountains and countless miles rule the empire collapsed, leaving behind of trackless desert is the domain called cities that gradually sank into the desert Har’Akir. Once a mighty empire of its own, sands, filled with decaying magic and strange predating even Assayad, the modern region is wonders. The people of the Amber Wastes a pale remnant of its former self. A few live in the shadow of these wonders, their dozen tiny villages cling to life on the fringes lives filled with constant reminders of a of diminishing oases, living in the shadow of brighter world that has passed into legend. mighty monuments to forgotten kings and The largest and most populous region of tombs full of wealth that none would dare the Amber Wastes is the nation of Pharazia. exploit for fear of awakening the inhabitants While the “Empire of Pharazia” claims to from their deathless slumber. control the entirety of the peninsula and the The people of the Amber Wastes tend to territory of old Assayad, in reality it holds be short and lithe due to their harsh only the westernmost third of the region. environment, ranging in skin tone from Lowland Pharazia holds many rivers and deeply tanned to nearly black. Hair is almost oases, with crowded cities clinging to the life- uniformly dark, but eye color can show a giving waters and trading with merchants who surprising amount of variation from region to arrive via the landward Mistways and the Sea region. Though many of the distant tribes still of Sorrows. worship their pagan gods or ancestors, the As Pharazia sweeps upland into the vast, vast majority of civilized folk in the region are trackless desert, the population gives way to followers of the Iron Faith, imported long nomadic tribes who are constantly on the ago from the Far Steppes (or, some say, move between the few oases, herding camels exported from the Amber Wastes to the Far and hardy horses as their ancestors have Steppes). Few other generalities can be made done for centuries. The highlands gradually of the many peoples that call the region a connection to the old faith of Har’Akir and home, due to the vastness of the area. Al-Kathos. Languages The Iron Faith The only living language of the Amber Like the Far Steppes, the Amber Wastes is Wastes is Pharazian, a language that excels at a land of religious devotion to the Lawgiver. poetic expression and song. Pharazian is well The local version of the faith assigns him no known for its musical, liquid sound and its other names, however, holding that giving flowing written script, a writing system that anything other than a title to the highest of looks more like complicated line art than gods would detract from his glory. letters. Over the last few centuries, Pharazian Pharazia is the center of Lawgiver worship has also developed an extensive and complex in the region, having converted to the religion language of scientific and mathematical several centuries ago at the height of the terminology, useful for speaking about empire’s power. The missionaries that alchemy, astronomy, and medicine, all of converted the locals filtered their preaching which have been developed to advanced through native beliefs in spirit worship and levels in the region. tribal democratic traditions to create a Dozens of dead languages compete for version of the religion radically different from space on the walls and scrolls of fallen cities, that practiced elsewhere. but the most common is Assayadi, the The central point of the Iron Faith in the language used by the ruined empire of region is that spiritual authority is reserved Assayad. The blocky, spiky script of Assayadi solely for the Lawgiver, and that therefore no endures the passage of time better than many man may claim to be spiritually superior to languages, not the least reason of which was another. While still aspiring to order and the empire’s preference for clay tablets over emphasizing the need to obey temporal paper for its records. authority, the local Iron Faith is non- Akiri is spoken only in the domain of hierarchical. There are no priests of the Har’Akir. It is a linguistic forerunner to both Lawgiver among the Pharazian faithful, only Assayadi and Pharazian, surviving virtually ascetics and scholars who endeavor to unchanged for centuries in the distant understand the intricacies of law and the isolation of its homeland. The pictographic natural world; these teachers are highly script of Akiri is poorly understood even by respected but are not considered to be modern speakers, however; literacy is yet one spiritually superior to any other practitioner. more skill that has fallen away from their This makes the Pharazian branch heretical to gradually decaying culture. the clergy of Nova Vaasa, while the Pharazians see their distant cousins as spiritually bankrupt and fallen from the true Connections meaning of submission to god’s will. The easternmost coast of Pharazia is a coastal region, fronting onto the Sea of Sorrows. Pharazians are excellent sailors, and Spirit Cults many explorers have gone forth from the Despite the ascendancy of the Iron Faith domain and later returned to write extensive throughout the civilized portions of the travelogues and memoirs. The southern Amber Wastes, the region is still rife with portions of Pharazia contain several Mistways cults. The dark wonders of Assayad and the that give passage to the Far Steppes, and the inhuman empire of the Vossath Nor tempt ancient cat statues dotting Nova Vaasa hint at the faithful away from the Lawgiver. Many of these cults are relatively benign, simple survive—and whose venom can transmute worship of old spirits and veneration of flesh to stone. ancient superstitions. When these cults Despite the harsh environment, many stumble across something of true power, different peoples call Al-Kathos home. however, the results can be dangerous in the While most of them are humans of short extreme. stature and dark skin, several unique races of The most dangerous and common of these beast-folk dwell in the region as well. groups are the Djinn Cults, groups that Humans and the beast-folk consider worship old beings of smokeless fire and themselves equals in Al-Kathos, and the powerful passions. Djinn are not inherently domain suffers none of the prejudices against evil or sinful, but they have incredible power non-humans that many other lands endure; that magnifies their virtues and faults tenfold. marriages between humans and beast-folk are Calling these groups cults are something of a both common and accepted, though such misnomer since the djinn is generally not unions cannot produce children. worshipped. Instead, they accept tribute from One of the most unique aspects of society their followers in exchange for using their in Al-Kathos is the disparity between the powers to benefit them. Such tribute is rarely number of women and men. Females of both easy or safe, and djinn are alien beings who major races outnumber males by almost four often want things that humans would to one due to a higher rate of female births. consider unwholesome or dangerous. Because of this, males are considered rare in Al-Kathos and are not permitted to enter dangerous professions, such as hunting or soldiering. Extended families in which several women are married to one man are common; men in such extended families are High in the mountains of the central pushed into scholarly or mercantile positions Pharazian Peninsula lies a vast and barren while the women collectively raise children plateau among fiery, smoking mountains. and work in professions often reserved for Oases are rarer here, and rivers little more men in other areas. than shallow, muddy streams. What water Most of the people of Al-Kathos cling to exists is often polluted by ash, sulfur, and the cities, which are built around deep gritty sand. The arid and sandy wastelands of aquifers and suffer few of the privations of Al-Kathos burn with heat during the day but the rest of the plateau. This puts the folk see little respite at night due to the lava flows under the tyrannical rule of the sorcerer-king and ash falls from the nearby volcanic Malbus, a cruel goat-headed man who rules mountains. from his Burning Citadel. While Malbus can Only the hardiest plants and animals be very cruel to those that draw his attention, survive on the plateau of Al-Kathos—desert his demands are few and so people risk the lizards, scorpions, jackals, camels, cacti, and chance of coming to his notice rather than scrub brush. The few oases are crowded with dwell in the desert wastelands. The majority life, much of it poisonous or adapted for of buildings are made from black volcanic survival in the alkaline deserts. More than a basalt, making the cities of Al-Kathos look few horrific monsters dwell in the wasteland somewhat sinister to outsiders. as well, monstrous creatures adapted to Unlike most people of the Pharazian survive on unwholesome fare. Perhaps the Peninsula, Al-Kathosians are not followers of most infamous are the cockatrices, hybrid the Lawgiver in large numbers. The Iron bird-lizard monsters capable of eating rock to Faith’s insistence on the inferiority of non- humans makes the religion unpopular with to bury travelers under tons of debris in the local populace. Instead, the spirit cults landslides, and earthquakes can swallow are openly followed in Al-Kathos, including people whole, leaving not a trace. the djinn cults and temples that worship the Everything in Al-Kathos is suggestive of elemental spirits of the deserts and burial or entombment—and things that mountains. Malbus has an entire order of are buried rarely stay in their tombs lesser wizards who serve his djinn cult and act peacefully. People feel vaguely trapped in as both bureaucrats for his government and Al-Kathos, even if they could walk away enforcers of his will; these white-clad at any time. templars are greatly feared by the people for  No Such Thing as a Free Lunch: their ruthlessness and power. Kathosians are well known in neighboring domains as shrewd negotiators and canny merchants. Some say that a Kathosian Tropes would sooner see his own mother starve Al-Kathos is a decadent desert kingdom, than give her a loaf for free. While this the sort that is often referenced as an enemy isn’t quite true, the people of the domain nation in the stories and myths of old Arabia. are loathe to give up anything without Despite its strangeness, it is not a place that is getting something in return. Almost every anymore inherently evil than any other land interaction in Al-Kathos is an exercise in in the Amber Wastes, but it is more openly give and take—with the locals looking to prone to corruption, dark magic, and strange take as much as they can. For what it’s mysticism. In some ways, it is intended to be worth, such bargains tend to be honest… a “sword and sandals” domain to serve as a more or less. counterpoint to the “Arabian Nights” theme of the rest of the Cluster, while still holding to the general aesthetics of Arabian mythology. The Darklord The dread sorcerer-king Malbus is the darklord of Al-Kathos, a powerful beast- Themes headed wizard and binder of djinn who  Dark is Not Evil: The people of Al- dwells in a perpetually burning palace at the Kathos have a sinister demeanor to them. heart of the desert. The flames permit Many of them aren’t even human. They entrance only for those that Malbus wishes to openly worship demonic entities and enter—and those who set foot in the Burning dabble in black magic. Most of them are Citadel are rarely seen again. Malbus is perfectly nice people who just seem feared by his people for his infrequent acts of creepy to outsiders. At the same time, the cruelty, but he generally leaves the daily most genuinely evil people in the business of his kingdom in the hands of his domain—the templars of Malbus—wear white-clad templars. white and evoke the power of the sun as Malbus began his life as a human woman part of their magic. Shadows and light from a desert-dwelling tribe on another seem strangely inverted in Al-Kathos. world. In her culture, men dominated the  Buried Alive: The entire domain of Al- tribe politically, but only women were Kathos is a place that is slowly falling permitted to learn magic. Ambitious and apart or being covered in ash. The clever, Malbus tried to buck tradition by volcanoes cover villages in ash, the desert using her magic to manipulate the male swallows oases, and even the cities look leaders of her tribe. When the senior witches more like tombs than places for the of her tribe discovered her transgressions, living. The mountains can suddenly shift they bound Malbus and enacted a terrible The djinn, for their part, intend to keep curse upon her. Physically, Malbus was Malbus alive forever if they can; they’ve never transformed into a man, then had her powers had a mortal so willing to stay in perpetual locked away. If she wanted to be male so debt to them before, and they will not tire of badly, the witches told him, then male he him for centuries yet, if ever. would be. They then branded him and cast Malbus has everything he could ever want— him out into the desert, there to die. and yet he has nothing, because he has Instead, Malbus made bargains with neither freedom nor his own body. Every powerful desert spirits to save his own life time he looks in a mirror, he is reminded of and regain his magic. To repay these services, what he has lost and can never regain. Every Malbus returned to his tribe and murdered time he must bargain with his “servants” for a every single woman there, cutting out their simple meal or the right to walk in his own hearts as tribute to the djinn—including his garden untended for an hour, he is reminded own mother, who had been part of the coven how little his immense power really means. that cursed him. When the men of his tribe When Malbus wishes to close the borders returned to find what he had done, they tried of his domain, he must bargain with the djinn to kill him and were crushed beneath his to do so. The longer the borders remain mystical might. closed, the deeper into debt he goes. Because Malbus wandered the desert for weeks after of this, he rarely spares the energy to keep taking everything he could from the ruins of the borders closed for more than a few his tribe’s possessions. Before he saw another hours. For most enemies, he instead sends living soul, he found himself starving and groups of his templars to harry them or dying of thirst. The djinn offered him squads of soldiers to patrol the passes out of survival, but at terrible price. Malbus gladly Al-Kathos. paid what they required of him, falling ever deeper in debt to his terrible patrons, his body twisting ever further from the woman he had once been. By the time he was done, Malbus had garnered for himself a mighty A land of vanished empires where the kingdom, which he ruled from an sands erode ancient monuments and the folk impregnable fortress crafted from elemental live in the shadow of faded glories, Har’Akir magic—but found himself a virtual prisoner of is the most distant part of the Amber Wastes, his own bargains, and a literal prisoner of his though not quite the most forsaken. The own palace, as well as horribly deformed and burning sandy deserts of the domain drift up barely human anymore. against the towering cliffs to the east and Now, Malbus can only leave his palace and peter off into endless, impassable wastelands the watchful eyes of his “allies” by making to the west. Several deep, powerful rivers cut terrible sacrifices to them, which garners him across the domain, and the landscape is only temporary freedom. The rest of his time dotted with rich, fruitful oases. is focused on performing pointless or horrific Every year, the rivers flood their banks and rituals to maintain his powers, which in turn seed the surrounding land with rich black soil offer him little pleasure since he has so little that allows the natives to produce far more time or freedom to enjoy them. He has tried food than they need. Traders from Al-Kathos more than once to return to his original connect their rich farmlands to the eastern gender and appearance, but each time a crisis markets, bringing them virtually everything has arisen that required him to use his stored else they need in exchange for grain, dates, favors—and then some—to overcome them. and exotic fruits. The major thing that the spirits of their ancestors and by the gods prevents the Akiri natives from expanding of the old empire. Most Akiri believe they their influence over the domain is the will be found wanting in such judgment. prevalence of monuments and tombs This point of belief is reinforced by the virtually littering the landscape. priesthood of the Akiri, who venerate the old Due to the vast number of ancient grave gods and a long line of dead kings and sites, the Akiri consider almost all of the land queens that they say are watching their beyond the rivers—and some along it as well— people from beyond the grave. The priests to be forbidden and cursed. Their spend much of their time investigating old superstitious dread of the forsaken lands of tombs and making sure they have not been their ancestors keeps their numbers small disturbed and viciously punishing anyone and their travel limited. There are dozens of foolish enough to attempt such desecration-if cities in Har’Akir—all of them ruins, half- the tomb’s inhabitants don’t get the offenders covered by sand and filled with the restless first. dead of ages past. Har’Akir was once the Priests also manage the domain’s heart of the Assayad Empire, but today it is population of slaves, lending them out to an impoverished hinterland. The modern people wealthy enough to rent them; people cling to life in tiny villages whose generally, slaves are drawn from the ranks of buildings are squat structures of whitewashed criminals and those that fall into debt, and mud or sandstone. tradition holds that no one can be enslaved The Akiri are short, wiry people, their from birth. A few slaves are foreigners, features weathered by the desert sun and people who committed crimes such as grave winds. Their skin is dark, ranging from dusky robbing and were sentenced to servitude to bronze to deep brown. Eye color is usually repay their debt to the Akiri. deep brown, but some Akiri have eyes flecked with gold or copper. Their straight, Tropes stiff hair is either dark brown or flat black, Har’Akir is Egypt as viewed through the but many stain their locks a luxurious glossy lens of classic horror movies, a place of black and braid them into tight coils. Male tombs, mummies, and curses. Old gods and Akiri are clean-shaven, and many shave their unquiet dead are the order of the day in heads entirely. Both men and women wear Har’Akir. Anything from trap-laden tombs to loose, white robes of linen belted at the waist magical artifacts with unexpected evils are with a sash; the ubiquitous Akiri head cloth possible in the domain, but the big draw is can be drawn across the face when stinging the mummy. As one of the “big five” of the sand becomes windborne. Humble sandals Universal horror monster franchises (along are the customary footwear, though Akiri go with Dracula, the Wolf-Man, the Creature, barefoot indoors. and Frankenstein), it remains a highly While Akiri are suspicious of outsiders, resonant enemy for horror stories. their customs insist that they offer hospitality Viewed through the lens of Gothic horror, for desert travelers—which they offer Egypt is a land of exotic frontiers and grudgingly and with little enthusiasm. Even in timeless mysteries. Outsiders come to their own company, Akiri tend to be quiet Har’Akir to purchase artifacts and delve and reserved. There is a tired sadness to their tombs. While the natives forbid such things daily routines, as if they remember vanished as a matter of course, there are always times of happiness and nobility. Every waking villagers willing to risk curses and worse for a moment is spent preparing for the afterlife, in pocketful of silver or a share of the plunder. which the Akiri believe they will be judged by Every tomb has treasures—but they are also The Darklord full of dangerous monsters and cursed relics. Once a priest of the sun god Ra, Ankhtepot desired immortality more than anything else. Themes He performed horrific experiments on slaves  Fallen Empires and Faded Glories: for years, seeking the mystical secrets of Har’Akir is a land where great and everlasting life. As he grew older, his terrible things once occurred—long ago. bitterness made him lash out against his The land was the seat of a mighty empire divine patron and the gods as a whole, with powerful kings—long ago. Everything cursing them and destroying their temples. A that was important in Har’Akir comes vision of Ra came to Ankhtepot, telling him from the distant past, a time so ancient that he would have the immortality he that virtually no one remembers much of desired—but that he might not appreciate it as it. Enormous monuments speckle the much as he thought he would. deserts, but none can say if they were At first, the fallen priest was elated but he palaces or tombs. The great threats are soon came to understand the extent of his also from the distant past, in the form of curse. Everyone he touched died horribly, timeless monster, undead priests, and making him a walking desolation. Rather constructs left as guardians by forgotten than repent, Ankhtepot turned to the dread peoples. art of necromancy to gain control over the  Time and Again: The people of Har’Akir dead. This final blasphemy was too much for believe strongly in reincarnation and the the people, and the remaining priests of his cycle of time. Old things never remain faith lead a rebellion against Ankhtepot, buried forever, but instead come back striking him down. from beneath the sand to threaten the Ra’s promise was good, however: Ankhtepot was not truly dead. Unable to world once more. Spirits of the ancient time find new life as new people—but control his newly undead body, he went mad those that survive from the past may not as the priests embalmed and mummified be willing to let go. Lost loves might be him. By the time he had gained the ability to won or lost anew, while ancient enemies control himself again, he was sealed inside a born into new flesh can become the tomb. Now, Ankhtepot spends decades at a obsessive focus of an immortal. The time slumbering in his moldering crypt. He classic story of the mummy rising from its can neither truly sleep no die, but he can tomb to seek the reincarnation of the love forget the world for a while and daydream of its life is a common tale in Har’Akir. about the lost pleasures denied him. He dreams of becoming human again; he would  The Desert Deeps: While the desert is a gladly throw away his immortality for the common feature in the whole of the chance to live again as a mortal man for just a Amber Wastes, nowhere else does it few years. seem as foreboding and trackless as in Events of great import rouse Ankhtepot Har’Akir. The deepest parts of the desert from his slumber, as he can sense the unease are featureless wastelands of sand dune of his people. Great enough need wakes him and sporadic rock outcroppings where and brings him to settle the matter, though mere survival is an ordeal. The desert can his coming usually portends only more death claim a man’s life even if he thinks he is and destruction. The people of Har’Akir well prepared—and the unprepared will dread the possibility of “waking the pharaoh,” surely die horribly. which becomes ever more likely as foreigners trample their ancestors’ graves and loot them women grow it exceptionally long. Neatly for relics. groomed beards and mustaches are common When Ankhtepot wakes, he can close the among men, while a large or unkempt beard domain borders at will, though this distracts is a sign of holy madness. him and gradually fatigues him, pushing him Pharazians of both genders wear long, closer to returning to slumber. When the loose robes over trousers or skirts. Men and borders are sealed, an impenetrable wall of women alike wear head cloths, both for the heat rises up from the desert sands. Anyone sake of modesty and to guard against trying to push through suffers horrible windborne sand. Women of strong religious dehydration and burns until they either turn bent typically cover their hair and wear veils back into the domain or burn to ash. to hide their faces in public. Sandals and slippers are customary footwear, and jewelry and makeup are considered vulgar in public. The vast majority of Pharazia’s population lives in and around Phiraz or along the rivers that feed it. A common saying is that Pharazia is a land of endless, searing “Pharazian culture is a thousand miles long deserts as pitiless as the judgment of god. and three miles wide.” A few nomadic tribes The rolling dunes and rocky badlands offer dwell in the desert, considered by city- no respite or release, save for the sparkling dwellers to be little more than vagabonds, oases that break the harsh tedium of the thieves, and bandits. A consequence of this is wastes. These oases feed the domain’s that the habitable areas of the domain are brackish, muddy rivers as they wend their densely populated, putting the people in way to Phiraz, the greatest city of the domain. constant close contact. The common social Phiraz sits at the conflux of several rivers unit in Pharazia is the clan, a sort of extended where they empty into a deep bay, a great family unit, creating a social safety net and port that accepts trade and travelers from protection network for those who belong to a across the world. family. People without families, such as The western part of the domain is home to orphans and outcasts, are the lowest of the the al-Hajar Mountains, tall and barren peaks low; they have literally no one to rely upon. that claw at the sky. They stretch the length of Pharazian society emphasizes moral purity the domain, providing a natural barrier to the and propriety, and has a tendency toward border with Al-Kathos. East of the mountains patriarchal structures. Despite the emphasis is the blasted desert known as the Nameless on male dominance in the family, divorce is Quarter, a place considered uninhabitable by reasonably easy to obtain, and women have all but a few desert tribes. Even the nomads both inheritance rights and control over their avoid the deep desert, holding to the oases own property. Part of the reason for this is and rivers. the confluence of the Iron Faith meeting Pharazians themselves are a handsome and local traditions and superstitions, creating a trim people, their features angular and their syncretic faith regarded as heretical by skin ranging from light olive to dusky bronze. devotees of the Lawgiver from other Almost all Pharazians have deep brown eyes; domains. the desert nomads leave children with black eyes behind to die in the desert due to superstitions calling such births unlucky. The Tropes vast majority of Pharazians have black hair; Pharazia is very much a pastiche of the men keep their hair trimmed short, while stories of the 1001 Arabian Nights. It is a land where destiny turns street rats into by their workings. No modern mage can sultans against a backdrop of vast and barren perform such amazing feats, not without desert vistas. More broadly, it is a place for becoming something other than human. Middle Eastern legends and myths, flying  Decline of the Golden Age: Pharazia is, carpets, magic lamps, camels, and the like. If above all else, a land living in the twilight Har’Akir is The Mummy, then Pharazia is of a better world. While Har’Akir’s the dark mirror of Aladdin or Lawrence of glories are so far in the past as to be Arabia. The darker side of Pharazia owes a nearly forgotten, the time of glory is a debt to H.P. Lovecraft’s “Nameless City,” recent—even painful—memory for the and to the legends of Irem, City of Pillars, people of Pharazia. The former age was a taken from the Quran. time of greatness and riches, but the The domain should convey a sense of age modern world is much diminished from and grandeur, power and wonder, with the that time. People now struggle just to get understanding that forces beyond mortal by rather than building up anything of knowledge lurk just out of sight. Pharazia is note. The greatness of the world is fading intended to act as a setting for any number of away, a piece at a time, and it will never Arabian-inspired adventures. The cities are again return. hotbeds of politics and religious rhetoric, but the deep deserts hold alien wonders, ruined The Darklord civilizations, supernatural tribes, and stranger None quite understand the nature of the things still. being known as Diamabel. During the day, he appears as a radiant man of soul-searing Themes beauty, resplendent with his black hair,  Destiny and Fate: Arabic stories emerald-green eyes, and vibrantly colored emphasize the importance of destiny in wings. He heals the sick, gives charity to the the lives of every person. This poor, and brings wise counsel to kings. At impersonal and all-powerful force can night, his demeanor and appearance change bring the virtuous to ruin or raise the entirely; he becomes an ebon-skinned meek to positions of great power. The creature with eyes like fire, covered in heroes of Arabic stories are not those that strange, gold-glowing runic patterns. In his seek to thwart fate, but those who use darker guise, he is an agent of fury and cunning and wit to turn destiny to their vengeance, turning his wrath against any advantage. Prophecies inevitably have a unfortunate enough to cross his path. kernel of truth to them, though their final Diamabel has destroyed tribes, burned dispensation might well be very different villages, razed farms, and cast down rulers. than expected. Diamabel rarely answers questions about  High Fantasy, Low Magic: Pharazia is an himself, and when he does, his answers are exotic land of magic and possibilities, a ambiguous or unclear. The peoples of place where a genie’s lamp can be found Pharazia have countless stories and legends in a trash heap or where a journey about him. Some think him a powerful djinn, through the desert can stumble onto an while others believe he is an angel of the invisible palace. This powerful and Lawgiver. Others whisper that he was an wondrous magic is the province of the angel of the Lawgiver, cast out for pride and past, of the inhuman, or the outright vainglory. No matter what people believe, all alien. Such powers are encountered only know one thing: Diamabel is an agent of Fate indirectly, seen more by their effects than