RichGreen
Adventurer
Hi,
This week’s icon is brand new – the Maharani of Sampur gets a very brief mention in Parsantium: City at the Crossroads, but that’s it. This expanded world map should help with the geography
Let me know what you think!
THE MAHARANI
The Maharani rules the six Kingdoms of Sampur which lie to the southeast of Parsantium beyond the Pillars of Heaven Mountains at the end of the Path to Heaven.
QUOTE
“While I sit on the Peacock Throne, brother will no longer take up arms against brother.”
USUAL LOCATION
At one of her six royal palaces in the Kingdoms of Sampur
COMMON KNOWLEDGE
The wise and beautiful Maharani Rashmi is the daughter of the former Rana (queen) of the Sampuran kingdom of Jhanzadar and the resplendent sun god Surya – her name means “ray of light” or “sunbeam” in Sampuran. The Maharani has five husbands, each one a Rajput (prince) of the kshatriya (warrior) caste and ruler of one of the other five kingdoms. Rashmi rules Sampur from each of its six kingdoms in turn, spending two months of the year in each with her court and living with each husband, before returning to the Royal Capital in Jhanzadar, where she has no husband, in the winter.
The Maharani’s unusual marital arrangements have allowed her to unite Sampur under her rule, although there is nearly as much jealous squabbling among her husbands as there was between their kingdoms before she married them. Nevertheless, the forceful Maharani is determined to keep control of the Kingdoms and prevent them descending into civil war yet again. Strong trade links with both Parsantium and Aqhran are vital to maintaining stability in Sampur, and Rashmi feels a responsibility to safeguard the interests of Sampurans living in Parsantium.
ADVENTURERS & THE ICON
The Maharani sees Parsantines of Sampuran origin, whether human, halfling or vanara, as her people, and will use adventurers living in the city to look after her Kingdoms’ concerns. This might involve guarding an important caravan as it passes through the Pillars of Heaven Mountains or protecting the interests of House Kapali against the machinations of its Bathuran rivals in House Marfisi. Her oracles have warned her of the Rajah’s impending return, prompting the Maharani to call upon high-level PCs to oppose his rakshasa agents.
ALLIES
Tapasranjan, the vanaran Grand Master of the Blue Lotus, is the Maharani’s closest ally in Parsantium, but she also maintains cordial relations with her key trading partners, the Basileus and the Caliph.
ENEMIES
The Maharani fears for the return of the Rajah whose tyrannical rule in Dhak Janjua was no better than that of the geomancers of Karjan the original Sampuran refugees were fleeing from. Rashmi is also concerned by tales from Parsantium of the Witch of Flotsam and the Cult of the Black Mother which is twisting the worship of Kali to some dark purpose.
HISTORY
Rashmi has been on the Peacock Throne for fifteen years. After the death of her mother Avanti, Rashmi became the Rana of Jhanzadar and soon found herself wooed by the rajputs who ruled the other five kingdoms of Sampur. Each proposed uniting his kingdom with Jhanzadar through marriage. One prince offered her a sacred white elephant as a wedding gift, another offered her a ruby as big as a giant’s fist, the third offered a cloak spun of purest gold, and so on. Rashmi, who was as wise and clever as she was beautiful, told the rajputs she was having trouble deciding between them and proposed that she would marry them all. The princes dismissed this suggestion angrily, but Rashmi, who knew how much they loved to gamble, challenged them to a game of dice: if she won the game, she would marry all five of her suitors and become Maharani of Sampur, but if any of the rajputs won, she would marry that prince alone and he would rule both their kingdoms. Some say that Rashmi was lucky, others say that she used a magic dice, but whatever the truth of the matter, she won the game and that is how she became the Maharani with five husbands.
THE TRUE DANGER
As long as the Kingdoms of Sampur stay united under the Maharani’s rule, the geomancers of Karjan will never return to power.
Cheers
Rich
This week’s icon is brand new – the Maharani of Sampur gets a very brief mention in Parsantium: City at the Crossroads, but that’s it. This expanded world map should help with the geography
Let me know what you think!THE MAHARANI
The Maharani rules the six Kingdoms of Sampur which lie to the southeast of Parsantium beyond the Pillars of Heaven Mountains at the end of the Path to Heaven.
QUOTE
“While I sit on the Peacock Throne, brother will no longer take up arms against brother.”
USUAL LOCATION
At one of her six royal palaces in the Kingdoms of Sampur
COMMON KNOWLEDGE
The wise and beautiful Maharani Rashmi is the daughter of the former Rana (queen) of the Sampuran kingdom of Jhanzadar and the resplendent sun god Surya – her name means “ray of light” or “sunbeam” in Sampuran. The Maharani has five husbands, each one a Rajput (prince) of the kshatriya (warrior) caste and ruler of one of the other five kingdoms. Rashmi rules Sampur from each of its six kingdoms in turn, spending two months of the year in each with her court and living with each husband, before returning to the Royal Capital in Jhanzadar, where she has no husband, in the winter.
The Maharani’s unusual marital arrangements have allowed her to unite Sampur under her rule, although there is nearly as much jealous squabbling among her husbands as there was between their kingdoms before she married them. Nevertheless, the forceful Maharani is determined to keep control of the Kingdoms and prevent them descending into civil war yet again. Strong trade links with both Parsantium and Aqhran are vital to maintaining stability in Sampur, and Rashmi feels a responsibility to safeguard the interests of Sampurans living in Parsantium.
ADVENTURERS & THE ICON
The Maharani sees Parsantines of Sampuran origin, whether human, halfling or vanara, as her people, and will use adventurers living in the city to look after her Kingdoms’ concerns. This might involve guarding an important caravan as it passes through the Pillars of Heaven Mountains or protecting the interests of House Kapali against the machinations of its Bathuran rivals in House Marfisi. Her oracles have warned her of the Rajah’s impending return, prompting the Maharani to call upon high-level PCs to oppose his rakshasa agents.
ALLIES
Tapasranjan, the vanaran Grand Master of the Blue Lotus, is the Maharani’s closest ally in Parsantium, but she also maintains cordial relations with her key trading partners, the Basileus and the Caliph.
ENEMIES
The Maharani fears for the return of the Rajah whose tyrannical rule in Dhak Janjua was no better than that of the geomancers of Karjan the original Sampuran refugees were fleeing from. Rashmi is also concerned by tales from Parsantium of the Witch of Flotsam and the Cult of the Black Mother which is twisting the worship of Kali to some dark purpose.
HISTORY
Rashmi has been on the Peacock Throne for fifteen years. After the death of her mother Avanti, Rashmi became the Rana of Jhanzadar and soon found herself wooed by the rajputs who ruled the other five kingdoms of Sampur. Each proposed uniting his kingdom with Jhanzadar through marriage. One prince offered her a sacred white elephant as a wedding gift, another offered her a ruby as big as a giant’s fist, the third offered a cloak spun of purest gold, and so on. Rashmi, who was as wise and clever as she was beautiful, told the rajputs she was having trouble deciding between them and proposed that she would marry them all. The princes dismissed this suggestion angrily, but Rashmi, who knew how much they loved to gamble, challenged them to a game of dice: if she won the game, she would marry all five of her suitors and become Maharani of Sampur, but if any of the rajputs won, she would marry that prince alone and he would rule both their kingdoms. Some say that Rashmi was lucky, others say that she used a magic dice, but whatever the truth of the matter, she won the game and that is how she became the Maharani with five husbands.
THE TRUE DANGER
As long as the Kingdoms of Sampur stay united under the Maharani’s rule, the geomancers of Karjan will never return to power.
Cheers
Rich
