What do the PCs find in a City of the Jann?

[Ath-kethin]

Hah, different crowds! Never even occurred to me until you pointed it out!

About ten years ago I ran a game in a completely homebrew campaign world, and the capital city of one country was called Ma'kok. It seemed great until I said it out loud in front of my group.

I liked how in your conversion of Zakhara's jann you removed the etherealness and flying – it just made more sense with how they're depicted as being bound to the world and traveling in wondrous caravans. With the these jann of Qaybar I'm looking to do a direct translation of the AD&D and d20 jann keeping those powers since they're more "in tune" with their elemental roots.

It's a little funny, given all the discussions we've had in which I pressed for literal translations and you argued for more 'spiritual' or thematic ones.

But it's your project, so do with it what you will. For what it's worth, I've used my jann in my Primeval Thule campaign to great effect - they are a terror to mere mortals.

Simple politeness makes sense. I do imagine that more sensitive areas like the armory, prison, emir's palace, and so forth would have defenses like gorgon's blood; if not to protect against rebellious jann, then to protect from dao with the ability to passwall.

The more I think about a city built with inhabitants with the ability to enter the border Ethereal, the more I think Qaybar would have a presence on the border Ethereal. Sort of a city within/parallel to the city, with some architecture extending into the Border Ethereal (or new architecture entirely!). Ethereal access is the one exception to the restriction on teleportation/planeshifting magic; so spells with an ethereal presence like blink, forcecage, Leomund's secret chest, Mordenkainen's faithful hound, and wall of force still would function and might be highly valued. The jann (and perhaps anyone powerful jann bestow with a charm) would routinely use the border Ethereal, both on guard duty and for convenient conveyance

It's reminding me a bit of this concept art from the 2008 Prince of Persia game...


There was a sort of spirit world to the city in that game which defied normal physics - running up walls, flying, teleporter pads - and could be used to access hard-to-reach areas & uncover secrets.

Hmm. Maybe when sandstorms hit Qaybar, warning balls toll not just on the Material Plane but on the Border Ethereal as well as it is struck by an ether cyclone concurrently with the sandstorm.

Some kind of transplanar hyper-elemental storm, which contains bits of all elements, para-elements, and quasi-elements, sounds terrifying and the stuff of legendary scenes. It makes me think actually of the Black Cloud of Vengeance - perhaps most people think they are just freak normal storms, but they are actually malevolent entities trying to breach the defenses of the city.

 

[Quickleaf]

I like the idea of transplanar hyper-elemental storms being sent by, or disguising, malevolent beings trying to breach the city's defenses. Genius! Thanks [MENTION=6798775]Ath-kethin[/MENTION]!

Now that I'm getting a better feel of the City of the Jann (more elemental ultra-mercantile jann, planeshifting, hidden, labyrinthine, wondrous, material & ethereal, dark side of guest hospitality), I think it's time to envision some potential encounters for my players...

So I'm thinking of two 2d10 encounter tables, one for Material Plane and one for Border Ethereal, with some overlapping entries... What would be interesting and apropos here?

I'll take a first stab at it... using these probabilities as my guide...

Very rare (2-3 and 19-20) 6% chance
Rare (4-5 and 17-18) 14% chance
Uncommon (6-7 and 15-16) 22% chance
Common (8-14) 58% chance

[SECTION]Qaybar, City of the Jann (Material Plane) Encounters (2d10)
2 Brotherhood of the True Flame (see sub-table) – this entry is an ongoing threat in the campaign
3 Invisible stalker sent by an NPC
4 Jann infighting
5 Jann duplicity (see sub-table)
6 Sandstorm (Arabian Adventures p.82) blankets the city, horns sound as gates are sealed, corresponds with ether cyclone on Border Ethereal
7 Wondrous fruit tree (see sub-table)
8 Minor Elementals (see sub-table)
9 Talking animals (see sub-table)
10 Janni* (2d6)
11 Wondrous merchants (see sub-table)
12 Al-Badia (see sub-table under High Desert)
13 Pearl City emissaries (see sub-table)
14 Thieves (see sub-table)
15 Ogrima* bazaar guards (3d4)
16 Labyrinthine streets
17 ?
18 ?
19 Genie
20 DM’s choice / Roll twice[/SECTION]

Here's a sample sub-table entry for "Wondrous Merchants"... I used the Sane Magic Item Prices PDF as a price guide... And [MENTION=6798775]Ath-kethin[/MENTION] I added you former PC Barack in memoriam, hope you don't mind!

[SBLOCK=Wondrous Merchants (d6)]
1. Sassan Mukri, jaded male janni*, has marvelous animals for sale, including: 7 songbirds claim to be polymorphed royalty but one claims to be harem guard (10 gp), mule who lies he’s a polymorphed mage (25 gp), saluqi* (50 gp), “giant” and “dwarf” camels (permanently enlarged/reduced) (100 gp), elephant (200 gp) with palanquin optional (5,000 gp), war camel* (400 gp), bloodhawk (600 gp), griffon egg (2,000 gp), young hippogriff learning to fly (2,500 gp), petrified terracotta giant spider (5,000 gp), and a pseudodragon named “Timaar” (15,000 gp).

2. Pardis Jang-Ju, absent-minded female janni*, distills fruit into potions (see DMG p.187 & Sane Magic Prices), specializing in potions of dreaming* (which she charges only 100 gp for). Also sells hookahs (25 gp), her own book “Jang-Ju’s Herbarium of Zakhara” (75 gp) and dreambliss* (# gp).

3. Honest Yazdan, fast-talking male janni*, deals in contraband and smuggled goods: jellaba with hidden inner pockets (25 gp), book entitled “Meditations on Imix: Writings of the Tenth Circle” (50 gp), smoke grenade (100 gp, DMG p.268), spell scroll of Nystul’s magical aura (125 gp), forged safe passage papers from the Emir (250 gp), spring-loaded concealed dagger wrist sheath (250 gp), forged signet ring Arcanium of Jafar al-Samal (500 gp), map allegedly depicting the labyrinthine streets of Qaybar accurately (750 gp), golden furnery urn of the usurper Malik Hakiziman allegedly holding the efreeti’s ashes (2,500 gp), recipe for oil of liquid star* (5,000 gp), and poisons (DMG p.257).

4. Barack al-Jazil, polite Zakharan ogre mechanician with 6 helmed horror bodyguards, has mechanical marvels for sale: clockwork toy like a brass monkey with cymbals (50 gp), magnifying glass (100 gp), clockwork messenger pigeon (150 gp), music box (200 gp), masterwork lock DC 20 (250 gp), spyglass (500 gp), map to an alleged manual of golems (750 gp), spell scroll of animate objects (750 gp), wind-up rogue monodrone and duodrone (1,000 gp), dimensional shackles (3,000 gp), and a folding boat (10,000 gp).

5. Ozymandias, a mercane* with 4 xorn bodyguards, was known to do brisk business with the efreet; he specializes in unique magical items of war: book entitled “Account of the Wind Dukes of Aaqa” (100 gp), recipe for making silvered weapons (1,000 gp), sentient sword of vengeance with special properties (1,000 gp), adamantine shamsir (2,500 gp), “dancing sword” proficient in Perfomance that is actually a flying sword (2,500 gp), wand of the war mage +2 (4,800 gp), map to an alleged weapon cache in the Great Dismal Delve (5,000 gp), necklace of fireballs w/ 6 beads (7,680 gp), and a staff of striking (21,000 gp).

6. Marinj the Poet, a planewalking human bard (VOLO) guarded by 2 maelephants*, deals in stories and songs: book entitled “Fourfold Furnaces and Fires Terrible” about the Lower Planes (50 gp), dwarven songsmith’s seal imbues magic item with “song craft” minor property bottled (100 gp), spell scroll of enthrall (125 gp), spell scroll of compulsion (325 gp), spell scroll of awaken (650 gp), a poem so moving it will makes statues weep (750 gp), bottled siren’s song as per a harpy with disadvantaged saves for males (1,000 gp), True Names of the seven magmin musicians (1,500 gp), hookah of veiled meanings* (2,500 gp), and a poem to gain passage on Captain Soot’s Ebony Queen on the Plane of Fire (2,500 gp).[/SBLOCK]

[SBLOCK=Ogrima (reinterpreted from AQ1 Golden Voyages)]

[/SBLOCK]

[SECTION]Qaybar, City of the Jann (Border Ethereal) Encounters (2d10)
2 Brotherhood of the True Flame (see sub-table) ?? – though an ongoing threat in the campaign, not sure if it fits here
3 Invisible stalker sent by an NPC
4 Jann infighting ??
5 Ethereal Hazards (see sub-table)
6 Ether cyclone (DMG p.49), corresponds to sandstorm on Material Plane
7 Ethereal treasure (Leomund’s secret chest)
8 Minor elementals (see sub-table)
9 Ethereal animals (see sub-table) Memedi from KARA-TUR??
10 Janni* (2d6) patroling Border Ethereal
11 Illusionborn/Dreamborn (see sub-table)
12 Ether circle (see sub-table)
13 Apparitions & Ghosts
14 Thieves (see sub-table) with etherealness
15 Foo dogs* (2)
16 Labyrinthine streets
17 Nightmarish monsters (see sub-table; night hags, nightmares, succubi, phase spiders) ??
18 Court of Shattered Statues (medusa, 2 basilisks, 4 cockatrices, charmed veteran with stoneskin)
19 Genie
20 DM’s choice / Roll twice[/SECTION]

I cracked open the AD&D Guide to the Ethereal Plane and tried to pick out creatures that were native (N) or dwelled in the Border Ethereal (B) & fit the themes of the City of the Jann. I noticed some patterns...

[SBLOCK=AD&D Ethereal Guide encounter table]

[/SBLOCK]

Animalistic Predators: These include the ebon tiger (MYSTARA) and memedi (KARA-TUR).
Celestial Guardians: These include the shedu and the foo dog (KARA-TUR / PLANESCAPE).
Intangible Undead/Skeletons: These include the thought eater (technically not undead), the plasm (also technically not undead, from MYSTARA), and ghosts.
Nightmarish Monsters: While the AD&D version only lists phase spiders, the 5e MM includes night hags, nightmares, and succubi as nightmarish monsters that can be encountered in the Border Ethereal.
Petrifying Monsters: Basilisks, cockatrices, and medusa are all listed. While in 5e their Ethereal connection is removed, I liked the image of a court of shattered statues floating in the mists, governed by a medusa with her pets.
Really Weird Obscure Monsters: These are things like the cerebral parasite, dharculus, dhour, gingwatzim, magran, nathri, nethling, rabbiun, tween, and xill. Many are from PLANESCAPE, and they tend to look tentacular, insectile, ameobic, or sci-fi bizzare and seem like they'd fit better in a Dark Sun or Cthulu type setting.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Something else you could work in, though maybe not in an encounter table, is Majnun, the rogue jann vizier suspected of poisoning the amir of Ubar.

 

[Ath-kethin]

And I don't see any reason to leave out the weird monsters. After all, as Wolfgang But pointed out so long ago, Zakhara can work really well as a Lovecraftian weird fiction/horror setting for those who desire it. Maybe list them with alternatives?

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

How about a gladiator arena where the announcer is a beholder and, between contests, the crowd is entertained by giants juggling and making balloon animals out of magically-enslaved beholders?

 

[Brandegoris]

Travel through the city at different points should include "Elevators" of pure air that lift residents up and down.
Maybe a river that defies Gravity and is used with Boats to travel the city.

An Aquarium that doesn't need to stay behind glass? its like a city Park in a normal material plane city and people can enter and walk around within it. Perhaps if they cant breath under water they can pay for apparatus or a Spell to be able to go in? From like a vendor?

Races through a desert landscape quarter where they race sand ships for sport in an Enormous "arena" area?

Gladiatorial Style games where people fight Elemental style battles ( Magical or otherwise)
The Arena Magically keeps the most destructive magic from spilling into the city or to the Spectators?

 

[Celebrim]

What's the overall culture of the Jann like in your setting?

Do they cherish their relationships to their elemental Genie ancestors, or do they harbor resentment toward the Genie for so often enslaving, abusing, and generally looking down on them?

Is this city primarily a cosmopolitan crossroads of the elemental planes, or is it primarily a bulwark against and refuge from the more powerful genie?

What is the relationship between the Jann and the Genasi? Do the Jann owing to their own oppression sympathize with their mortal kindred, or do they treat their mortal kindred much as the greater genie treat Jann?

What is the spirit life of the Jann like? Do they disdain the gods, and worship themselves, with their Pashas and Mufti's and so forth considered veritable gods among them? Do they worship the lords of the genie-kind, or abhor them? Or are the centered entirely on their selves, enjoying perhaps the mystical experience of drug reverie and arcane investigation, but offering homage to no other being?

Are the Jann unified in their beliefs, or do they have a great many factions, with complicated Byzantine politics and perhaps not some small amount of violent feuds between political parties, families, and sects? If the later, who is currently in charge and who is scheming against them and why?

 

[Quickleaf]

Fantastic questions! I've considered some of them, but those are some great questions to inspire world-building. Thanks

What's the overall culture of the Jann like in your setting?

There are 3 cultures within the Jann in the setting (my version of Al-Qadim):

1. House of Sihr: The jann of the High Desert are mystical nomads sworn to the human Grand Caliph, prone to a bit of mischief but usually keeping to themselves unless it is to help a lost traveler in the desert or answer the summons of an allied sha'ir. They travel in caravans between oases, which the serve as stewards of, setting up temporary tent towns.
2. Jann of the Haunted Lands: More wild and less predictable, these wandering jann are less hospitable to mortal kind, more apt to haunt and raid than to help. They live amidst the many ruins of fallen cities that litter the Haunted Lands.
3. Qaybar, City of the Jann: Settled jann, they live in a city that wanders the Inner Planes and Material Plane. They are utterly mercantile. Anything can be traded, even "a last memory of unrequited love” or “my shadow.” And everything has a price. For example, if a jann of Qaybar were to help someone in the desert, they'd later ask a "water price" debt be paid...or perhaps they'd negotiate with a stranded victim of a sandstorm as he seeks shelter water-less in a cave. Unlike their Material Plane kin, they are used to living with more magic as a part of daily life.

Do they cherish their relationships to their elemental Genie ancestors, or do they harbor resentment toward the Genie for so often enslaving, abusing, and generally looking down on them?

There are different views depending on which segment of Qaybar's jann population you'd ask. Maybe 50% cherish the relationship, 30% are just looking to deal with powerful genies to further their own aims, and 20% that actively resent the mightier genies.

The Alchemist's Guild at Qaybar also hopes to unlock the spiritual secrets of how the jann might transcend / become as mighty as the other genies by following mystical pathways on the Border Ethereal they believe were left as a secret map to jann transcendence.

Is this city primarily a cosmopolitan crossroads of the elemental planes, or is it primarily a bulwark against and refuge from the more powerful genie?

Mostly a cosmopolitan crossroads (like a Sigil of the Inner Planes), though being a bulwark is also a very important consideration. Before it shifted to the Material Plane, Qaybar was conquered by an efreeti warlord and was living under occupation. But as the city moved closer to shifting to the Material Plane, the efreeti was overthrown and his followers scattered.

What is the relationship between the Jann and the Genasi? Do the Jann owing to their own oppression sympathize with their mortal kindred, or do they treat their mortal kindred much as the greater genie treat Jann?

Mostly, it is racially harmonious, though genasi are regarded as having "built in allegiances", which means the jann sympathize with one ear, but watch out for genasi treachery with the other. But there are certainly some janni nobles/viziers who look down on the genasi.

What is the spirit life of the Jann like? Do they disdain the gods, and worship themselves, with their Pashas and Mufti's and so forth considered veritable gods among them? Do they worship the lords of the genie-kind, or abhor them? Or are the centered entirely on their selves, enjoying perhaps the mystical experience of drug reverie and arcane investigation, but offering homage to no other being?

I've been wondering this myself. Great question! Again, my instinct was that there's a mix...

Some worship the Great Gods of Zakhara.
Some worship the Elemental Gods (e.g. Kossuth, Imix, Zaaman Rul).
Some worship Jarmik the Thirsty Jann (and perhaps other legendary jann revered as transcended demi-gods).

It's that last point (Jarmik is from an Al-Qadim book) that led me to coming up with the idea that some jann believe they can transcend, having greater innate potential than other genies because they are comprised of four elements, instead of just one.

Are the Jann unified in their beliefs, or do they have a great many factions, with complicated Byzantine politics and perhaps not some small amount of violent feuds between political parties, families, and sects? If the later, who is currently in charge and who is scheming against them and why?

Definitely Byzantine politics. Regime change is frequent, and internal strife and lethal politicking abound as various factions vie for control (not the least of which are the Zahranis whose allegiance is still with the efreet, the Caravaneer's Guild, the Alchemist's Guild, and the military/guard against genies seeking to take the city).

The iron-willed but respected Malik Jilani governs en abstentia, as the young would-be Emir Jazzar Shahid ibn-Mahmud is missing. This ties into a Dungeon #63 adventure called Blood & Fire.

[SECTION]Qaybar, at-a-glance
Population: 16,000, about half of which are jann, and the other half a mix of humans, demi-humans, genasi, humanoids, and minor elementals living together mostly harmoniously (with a few misgivings).
Government: The iron-willed but respected Malik Jilani governs en abstentia, as the young would-be Emir Jazzar Shahid ibn-Mahmud is missing. Regime change is frequent, and internal strife and lethal politicking abound as various factions vie for control.
Defense: The Emir’s military includes 150 janni* jundaran (foot soldiers) equipped with shields (AC 18), pikes, and javelins; 100 janni* aswaran (knights) mounted on enlarged war camels*; and 100 human scouts paying their “water price” mounted on camels. Sometimes groups of jundaran or aswaran hire out as mercenaries. Internal security is maintained by 50 ogrima* bazaar guards.
Commerce: Everything is traded in Qaybar, from carvan supplies to talking camels and saluqis, from magic items and spells to ephemeral things like “a last memory of unrequited love” or “my shadow.”
Power Centers: Alchemist’s Guild, Caravaneer’s Guild, Military, Zahranis
Magical Traits: Planeshifts every 20-25 years. Restriction on teleportation/planeshifting, and hard to find. Animals can talk within its walls. Magic items are traded. Presence on Border Ethereal. Jann of Qaybar do not suffer damage for prolonged time away from the Material Plane.[/SECTION]

 

[pemerton]

My conception of Jann is shaped by this, from the original MM2:

Jannee tend to be suspicious of humans. They do not like demihumans, and detest humanoids. Jannee will accept djinn, but shun daos, efreet, and marids. They favor dwelling in forlorn desert areas at hidden oases, where they have privacy and safety. They will sometimes befriend humans or work with them for some desired reward such as potent magic items.

The society of jannee is very open, and males and females are regarded as equals.​

This makes me see them as rather xenophobic, and also (given their acceptance of djinn) as rather mercurial (though I'm not sure how that fits with their dislike of marids). That mercurial nature seems to be reinforced by their high fly speed (faster than djinni - 30" vs 24"), and their ability to change size and turn invisible and ethereal. The equality of men and women reinforces a sense of a fluid rather than static society. (Although perhaps that is in tension with their hierarchical tribal structure?)

Given that they have all those abilities, and 6+2 HD by default, I'm not sure why safety should be such a high priority for them - maybe they are worried about efreet and/or blue dragons?

In any event, I would expect their city to be hidden and planeshifting, as it is described in the OP. I would also expect it to reflect the seemingly mercurial nature of the Jannee - as well as their broadly Arab/Central Asian them. It should have spires, and buildings/structures that float in the air, and itself be ever-changing in its layout. (Which fits with the idea of it being labyrinthine.)

Conversely, it should not be static, or solid, or predictable. So I wouldn't see a map as being appropriate.

When necessary, the most powerful Jannee - the viziers - would use their powers of Augury and Divination to predict both the plane-hopping path of the city, and the changing details of its internal layout.

 

[was]

..huge libraries
..elaborate bathhouses
..magnificent city gardens: rare plants and elemental/magic sculptures.
..open-air amphitheater: strange wind instruments
..maybe some type of aerial races