Situated in a vast crater of a exploded volcano, Navem is safely tugged away from the hardship of the open desert. Here, the nightshade blooms with purple blossoms, and colors the fields of Navem, and alongside poppies and harmal, marking this northern city as one of the most fertile in the Pasharates.
Opposed to most of the Sisters, Navem’s oasis is buried beneath the earth, but hundreds of geysers sprey water into the air on a daily basis, granting natural irrigation to the entire valley. Of course, this has drawn attention.
The plants grown on the fields are a crucial part of the production of intoxicants, a trade that is essential for the survival of Navem.
Both the Guild and rival cities have a stake in the drug production here, granting Navem and by proxy, the Jabil merchant-clan, a powerful token in the political scene. Incense and myrrh laced with the purple sap of the Navemse has been sought after sacrifice for centuries to many a delighted god. And some young, weaker gods even fall to the seductive properties of the substance. How come?
Few know the truth, but some speculate that the starlike horoscope-flowers that grow in the wild parts of the crater is a part of the reason. After all, these flowers were a gift from a god of the night skies to the demure Navem, He Who Slumbers Beneath, there must be something of note about them.
Much of the population indulge from time to time, high as well as low. But none indulge as much as the old pasha, Mahmoud bes Rashaq.
He spends his days in a drugged delirium, and is only roused to listen to his beloved storyteller, Ojala, the star-eyed spinner of tales. Some even claim that she is the only reason that the city still functions, as her tales incorporate the daily happenings of Navem, causing her master to act out his part in the tale.
Of course, this much power, in the hands of a storyteller? Many water lords find the state of affairs to be insufferable, but as their power is so diminished here, there is little to be done.
Except to depose the pasha by the way of a sharp blade.
However, the Blue Shades have already been present in the city for years, awaiting the day where someone might threaten their hidden stranglehold on Navem and their mistress, Ojala.