Al Khayran - The Bastion of Strength

To hear the tale of Khayran, the Banished Prince, is to hear the very essence of Zhakataran stories. The son of a fallen sultan from the north, Khayran came to Zhakatar seeking refuge. Here, Khayran found both solace and love. Yet, he did not find peace, as he had sworn a oath of revenge against his cruel relatives.
And so, his wicked uncles’ knifemen prowled in the shadows, poised to strike him done. And as his beloved Yassan was slain by a knife, Khayran understood that the serene wonder of Zhakatar was not for him. And he struck a deal with the most vicious of all the gods.
Safah Ghurur, He Who Shed the Red Water, granted him power unlike any mortal.
Of course, there was a price, and Khayran gave up the lifeblood of his infant son in return, and fled Zhakatar.

In the desert, he fought his uncles’ armies and colored their sands with the crimson sprays that endures to this very day. And it was under a lonely juniper tree that Khayran’s enchanted blood seeped from him in small rivers, giving birth to the Well of Unending Crimson. As the vultures descended upon the battlefield, so did the priestesses that had prayed for Khayran’s victory. For ten days, they labored and burned the bodies of the fallen. Upon those bones, they built a city for those who would follow Khayran’s example and keep their oaths.

Today, al-Khayran is a land only for the strong.
Any weakness is shunned and sent into the scorching red-tinged sands to suffer a fitting fate.
In al-Khayran, the sombre attitude of the populace have given them a grim reputation and their habit of drinking blood more often than water has done little to alleviate that. In fact, combined with the love for the pit-fights in the Red Temples, and it is easy to understand the uneasiness that the neighboring cities feel about this people.

In the inner sanctum of the palace, thousands of warriors compete in the Trials, in which victory will grant you the right to drink from the potent draught within the well in the center of the city. Anyone granted a sip gains the strength of ten mighty warriors.
These Sharr, form the elite of Khayrani culture and are celebrated as living inheritors to the man whose blood course within them. One thing prevents them from ruling Khayran to their whim. Once the blood has been imbibed, oaths sworn are unbreakable, as the blessing of Safah Ghurur consider oath-breaking to be sacrilegious.
The Ruler of Al-Khayran is known as the al-Qayid, the finest general in the land.
And despite them sharing the culture of the Pasharates, the Khayrani maintain their independence by serving as auxiliaries in the Pasharates’ conflicts.
Currently, a thousand Khayrani are stationed in the city of Shem, awaiting word if the Scorpion Empire intends to invade this year.

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