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What do the PCs find in a City of the Jann?
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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6973712" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>Inhabitants of Qaybar</p><p></p><p>Maktab Al Rasam: The most celebrated artist of Qaybar and also the most mysterious. No one knows his real name, and as far as anyone knows, no one has ever interacted with him on an extended basis. He performs only one sort of art. In the early morning before first light he finds a quiet street somewhere in the city and carefully creates a painting made of colored sand and chalk, laid carefully down on the street in a thin and wholly transient layer. The subject matter is extremely varied, but he has a fondness for complicated geometric shapes, stylized animals and plants, and abstract forms. The size of the painting can vary from between a foot across to on rare occasions vast pieces of artwork 30' or more across. He's widely regarded as having the most subtle and best executed art in the city. Centuries ago when his work first came to attention, each noble house tried to commission him to design murals and create paintings for them, but he proved quite impossible to communicate with. A slender being of not extraordinary height, he is always cowled, with his lower face wrapped in a scarf. He flees if interrupted in his work, leaving it unfinished, and seldom has been known to speak. When he does, it is as one who is very nervous, but he is apparently fluent in many languages. He has proven to have extraordinary powers of evasion and stealth, and the few times he's been successfully cornered he has managed at some point to distract his would be employers or captors and disappear without a trace. After many such attempts, it has become a matter of tact and politeness to ignore the artist in his work, and the main families have all agreed to a truce with respect to 'the Rasam'. Although his creations seldom last more than a few days before wind obliterates them, it is considered very poor manners and very bad luck to step on them - to the extent that denizens of the city will leave through windows or depart over roofs rather than their doors to avoid being seen destroying a painting. Several attempts have been made to preserve his work, but the sand drawings have always proven far to delicate to move, and all have agreed that even the most successful attempts fail to capture the subtlety of the original's lines.</p><p></p><p>Khalil Alddafdae Bazzi Al Marbi ('Khahil Al Marbi'): A tall Jann with swallow skin. His long black hair is braided and carefully gathered into a great black turban like the dome of a tower, and his carefully coifed, oiled, and perfumed beard terminates in a jaunty spiral. The nails of his long slender fingers are painted, and each has a fine ring bearing a tasteful stone. Khahil Al Marbi always dresses in blacks and other somber tones. He seldom in fact appears in public save at the most stylish and desirable banquets, and then he is noted for being excessively taciturn and paranoid. Although he has several less distinguished rivals, Khalil Al Marbi is the acknowledged master in the art of breeding amphibians of every sort, but most especially brightly colored frogs in vivid nearly florescent hues. Few great families considering themselves stylish unless they have a terrarium displaying his works, and each family desires to gain exclusive access to a particular breed with unusual patterns or colors which no other family possesses. Great fortunes are exchanged for frogs or newts of the most vivid and exotic sort. Less discussed, but an open secret known to all in the city, is that Khalil Al Marbi is also one of the cities greatest artisans in the manufacture of poisons, capable of producing as they say in the city, "a poison for every occasion and circumstance". For his part "Al Marbi" is extremely secretive and paranoid, never taking apprentices despite endless offers and promises of wealth, and never allowing anyone into his home beyond the front parlor. He is known only to trust his three servants: a notoriously foul-mouthed and odiferous creature called Barakaka (ooze mephit/rogue 6) that delivers messages, a hulking Ogrima that serves as Khalil Al Marbi's doorman and bodyguard, and a hunchbacked goblin known only as "the Toad" that serves as his manservant. All have proven unswervingly loyal to their lord, even when anyone is desperate enough to stoop to the embarrassing task of attempting to bribe ones of such uncouth station and breeding. Khalil Al Marbi only purchases breeding stock from a handful of trusted merchants, only one of which lives within the city, and anyone wishing to deal with Al Marbi must generally deal through intermediaries.</p><p></p><p>Gamali Sabbagh Tartib al Zuhur ("Gamali Al Zuhur"): A broad shouldered tan skinned Jann with dark red hair and a short trim beard, Al Zuhur is the leading botanist of Qaybar, famous for his greenhouses, his extravagant lilies and orchids, his careful manners, and his sunny optimistic disposition. He wears multicolored silks, often embroidered, and much garish jewelry. Although he has never married, he lives in a great household with a half-dozen concubines, and a dozen apprentices - each of which tries to ape the mannerisms and fashion of his master. Despite his manners, he is something of a recluse, seldom found outside the labyrinth of his beloved greenhouses - many of which contain plants of a most exotic and dangerous sort. He conducts business through his ever changing cast of apprentices. Ever changing, because each apprentice strives to win the trust and approval of the master at the expense if necessary of his rivals - up to and including acts of subtle murder and sabotage. Al Zuhur is widely regarded despite his manners and appearance as one of the most dangerous persons in the whole city, and a Jann not lightly to be crossed. He is a master and purveyor of all manner of potions, poisons and narcotics, and it is said he has a secret greenhouse where he maintains a crop of rare black lotuses. Gamali al Zahur and Khahil al Marbi are said to have an old grudge between them, and it is said that each is engaged in attempting to outdo the other and produce a poison for which the other cannot produce or concoct an antidote, and that this is the reason both are so seldom seen outside their respective fortress like homes. Whether this is true or what is the exact cause of the grudge, none can or is willing to say, but it is certainly true that either refuses to discuss anything touching upon his rival.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 6973712, member: 4937"] Inhabitants of Qaybar Maktab Al Rasam: The most celebrated artist of Qaybar and also the most mysterious. No one knows his real name, and as far as anyone knows, no one has ever interacted with him on an extended basis. He performs only one sort of art. In the early morning before first light he finds a quiet street somewhere in the city and carefully creates a painting made of colored sand and chalk, laid carefully down on the street in a thin and wholly transient layer. The subject matter is extremely varied, but he has a fondness for complicated geometric shapes, stylized animals and plants, and abstract forms. The size of the painting can vary from between a foot across to on rare occasions vast pieces of artwork 30' or more across. He's widely regarded as having the most subtle and best executed art in the city. Centuries ago when his work first came to attention, each noble house tried to commission him to design murals and create paintings for them, but he proved quite impossible to communicate with. A slender being of not extraordinary height, he is always cowled, with his lower face wrapped in a scarf. He flees if interrupted in his work, leaving it unfinished, and seldom has been known to speak. When he does, it is as one who is very nervous, but he is apparently fluent in many languages. He has proven to have extraordinary powers of evasion and stealth, and the few times he's been successfully cornered he has managed at some point to distract his would be employers or captors and disappear without a trace. After many such attempts, it has become a matter of tact and politeness to ignore the artist in his work, and the main families have all agreed to a truce with respect to 'the Rasam'. Although his creations seldom last more than a few days before wind obliterates them, it is considered very poor manners and very bad luck to step on them - to the extent that denizens of the city will leave through windows or depart over roofs rather than their doors to avoid being seen destroying a painting. Several attempts have been made to preserve his work, but the sand drawings have always proven far to delicate to move, and all have agreed that even the most successful attempts fail to capture the subtlety of the original's lines. Khalil Alddafdae Bazzi Al Marbi ('Khahil Al Marbi'): A tall Jann with swallow skin. His long black hair is braided and carefully gathered into a great black turban like the dome of a tower, and his carefully coifed, oiled, and perfumed beard terminates in a jaunty spiral. The nails of his long slender fingers are painted, and each has a fine ring bearing a tasteful stone. Khahil Al Marbi always dresses in blacks and other somber tones. He seldom in fact appears in public save at the most stylish and desirable banquets, and then he is noted for being excessively taciturn and paranoid. Although he has several less distinguished rivals, Khalil Al Marbi is the acknowledged master in the art of breeding amphibians of every sort, but most especially brightly colored frogs in vivid nearly florescent hues. Few great families considering themselves stylish unless they have a terrarium displaying his works, and each family desires to gain exclusive access to a particular breed with unusual patterns or colors which no other family possesses. Great fortunes are exchanged for frogs or newts of the most vivid and exotic sort. Less discussed, but an open secret known to all in the city, is that Khalil Al Marbi is also one of the cities greatest artisans in the manufacture of poisons, capable of producing as they say in the city, "a poison for every occasion and circumstance". For his part "Al Marbi" is extremely secretive and paranoid, never taking apprentices despite endless offers and promises of wealth, and never allowing anyone into his home beyond the front parlor. He is known only to trust his three servants: a notoriously foul-mouthed and odiferous creature called Barakaka (ooze mephit/rogue 6) that delivers messages, a hulking Ogrima that serves as Khalil Al Marbi's doorman and bodyguard, and a hunchbacked goblin known only as "the Toad" that serves as his manservant. All have proven unswervingly loyal to their lord, even when anyone is desperate enough to stoop to the embarrassing task of attempting to bribe ones of such uncouth station and breeding. Khalil Al Marbi only purchases breeding stock from a handful of trusted merchants, only one of which lives within the city, and anyone wishing to deal with Al Marbi must generally deal through intermediaries. Gamali Sabbagh Tartib al Zuhur ("Gamali Al Zuhur"): A broad shouldered tan skinned Jann with dark red hair and a short trim beard, Al Zuhur is the leading botanist of Qaybar, famous for his greenhouses, his extravagant lilies and orchids, his careful manners, and his sunny optimistic disposition. He wears multicolored silks, often embroidered, and much garish jewelry. Although he has never married, he lives in a great household with a half-dozen concubines, and a dozen apprentices - each of which tries to ape the mannerisms and fashion of his master. Despite his manners, he is something of a recluse, seldom found outside the labyrinth of his beloved greenhouses - many of which contain plants of a most exotic and dangerous sort. He conducts business through his ever changing cast of apprentices. Ever changing, because each apprentice strives to win the trust and approval of the master at the expense if necessary of his rivals - up to and including acts of subtle murder and sabotage. Al Zuhur is widely regarded despite his manners and appearance as one of the most dangerous persons in the whole city, and a Jann not lightly to be crossed. He is a master and purveyor of all manner of potions, poisons and narcotics, and it is said he has a secret greenhouse where he maintains a crop of rare black lotuses. Gamali al Zahur and Khahil al Marbi are said to have an old grudge between them, and it is said that each is engaged in attempting to outdo the other and produce a poison for which the other cannot produce or concoct an antidote, and that this is the reason both are so seldom seen outside their respective fortress like homes. Whether this is true or what is the exact cause of the grudge, none can or is willing to say, but it is certainly true that either refuses to discuss anything touching upon his rival. [/QUOTE]
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