The Risalla Clanholds

There are three big clans living in Risalla Desert and each one of them has claimed a portion of the desert as its territory. Each clan is ruled by a Pasha that has been appointed by the Sultan or Sultana who rules all three clans. Each clan is versed in magic in a specific way and favors a certain school of magic. Divination, Abjuration and Evocation are the prime focuses that the clans use, each school used by a different clan. One clan perceives a threat, the other defends against it and the last eliminates it. That cooperation is vital to the survival of the clans, especially when dealing with dangerous desert threats. While the clans consider their land sacred, they are not selfish enough to ignore someone’s need of shelter and not foolish enough to scorn potential allies. When mortal Goldenveil brought Saramar from the skies down to Risalla Desert, the Sultan of that time agreed with Goldenveil to give a part of clan land to independent Saramar in exchange for gold and the slaying of the Blue Dragon Azrakalhan the Prodigious who terrorized the clans and brought destruction for years. Since then, people from the clans have long lived in peace with the neighboring Saramar.

The clans have been in this part of the desert since way before the Scarring, and over the many years have formed three great cities that are now structurally united, forming one mega-city, bigger than even Saramar. The city is called the Jewel of Risalla since it was formed and now this has become its official name and title. It is ruled by sultana Rashida Zhir Harimah who tries her best to help her subjects have better lives. The city itself is a sight to behold, its markets always crowded and bountiful and its squares are graced by beautiful fountains adorned with jewels. The water which the city lives by is provided by decanters of endless water which are scattered throughout the whole the city, the installation of which was made by order and founds of sultana Rashida; one of the reasons why the people of the clans love her. Before Rashida's rule, people had to go in the water caverns below the city to claim water which was not always safe and the wells that were made to get water sometimes brought more than water in the surface; monsters that made their home there. This became such a frequent problem that sometimes it exhausted the city guard so caravans had to go out to the desert and drain water from desert springs and an oasis. Of course that was not safe as well and some people didn't survive the trip and at other times the water brought was not enough. That changed when Rashida brought the magical decanters in the city.

Rashida is a trained warrior, taught by the best tutors in her youth brought in by her father the late sultan Awad Zhir Harimah. She used to be an adventurer and explored regions around the Jewel of Risalla and beyond, much to the dismay of her father. During her adventuring days she had discovered a map which led to a supposed lifelong water source. Her father never explored that prospect as the map led to the dangerous Tainted Land and the Ruins of Elketha. When she became Sultana, Rashida left with some of her most trusted warriors and returned after two months with the decanters. That was when she passed in clan history as of the greatest rulers of the clans.

Now, the caverns under the city have not been used for water in a long time and the wells have all been sealed. As a result, less savory enterprises have taken residence in its depths after they drove some crittrers further into the bowels. Thieves, assassins and other marauders lead life in the dark and their unseen hands affects aspects of people's lives in the Jewel of Risalla from the shadows.

The people of the Risalla Clans speak Risallanej, a language that is used all across Risalla Desert.