- Of Kittens and Lizards -



 

 
Someone has once said:

The best book can only provide you with knowledge but never aid you in any other way.

We read books and we respect the knowledge they provide us with, the guidelines, the hints, the help but we never forget who we are and where we live. The desert is a threatening, life-sucking demon and so we're hard and always ready to fight for our lives.

May this tome of knowledge about our Kingdom, Tahnn, help you understand our ways and guide you safely on your travels...

~ Cztchrezz Ss'theshh, Ss'tiss librarian
 


 

Major Imports

  • Mirg: pelts, exotic animals, fabric
  • Lirynn: wine, wooden furniture and musical instruments, medicine, fine fabric (linen, velvet, silk...),food
  • Korresh: wood, finery
  • Garr:

    • - (Dwarves) dwarven ale and sharp blades
    - (Delfae) cloth like sheer spiderwebs, mushrooms

    FORBIDDEN: crystal shards - the goods of caravans transporting crystal shards will be confiscated, the caravan leader looses a hand

    Major Exports

    The famous gems of the Ss'tiss' mines as well as red sandstone, glass, glasswork and skssar*, salt, carpets and blankets, woven of the wool of fessal, interwoven with strange symbols, wool

    *skssar:

    Nuts of palms, brown, thick shell filled with a sweet liquor that looks like water mixed with milk. Within this the core is 'swimming'. This light green core one splits up in quarters before eating it. It's consistence is like that of an apple but a little fibrous.

    In opposite to the sweet taste of the liquid the meat of the core tastes a little like citron and sour apple and is usually eaten AFTER taking the liquid. This
    combination of sweet and then sour is highly refreshing though one who has never tried it will surely need some time to accustom to the sour taste.
     
     

    Government

    Since the Ss'tiss are the predominant race in Tahnn they oficially rule. And because of their matriarchal social structure there are always only females leading the Ss'tiss tribes and joining the Council of Three.

    Tahnn is governed by this Council of Three, three female Ss'tiss, leaders of three different tribes. 

    Every five years the leaders of all tribes gather and choose three among them who will govern Tahnn for the next five years. If one of those three dies the tribe leaders will come together again and choose a new third one who will join the other two for the rest of the time. 

    Someone who HAS already been member of the Council can not be chosen for the NEXT period of 5 years but only for the one after that again.

    At the moment Tahnn is governed by these three women:

    Chhlessa T'sznecziss, representing the tribe Sha'essin; 

    Tsselyzz Theshh'am, representing the tribe Ssthineshh;

    Shechress Pchhessin, representing the tribe Zhantchress

    The Council of Three resides in the palace of Hasst. This palace is adorned by wonderful mosaics made of colorful shells and with its inverted, domes, shining golden under the light of the sun at daytime it is already a wondrous structure. But at night, when the colored shells glow and enlighten the the Sun Square and the streets around it one realizes why this palace is named Shhezz'thaliss 'Sun of the Night'.

    The Ss'tiss don't abuse their power to suppress the Misharr. The catmen have their own rules and as long as they do not harm any of those set up by the Ss'tiss they can decide about their own people freely. 

    Military

    Tahnn doesn't have any sort of military service - there only exist few keeps maintained by the government and the government also decides about how many soldiers run the various keeps.
     
     

    Need Work?
    Major Industries
    Salt Works:

    About a days travel east of Hasst there is a bay which is guarded by two watchtowers and a small fort. Here, where the coast is relatively low and almost on the same level with the ocean, the salt works of Tahnn can be found. 

    The workers flood wide areas with sea water and let the sun dry it. They use special glass-lenses to intensify the heat of the sun which speeds up this process. Afterwards the remaining salt is gathered. 

    The salt purified this way is used for various purposes:

    -pickle; salted meat and pickled herring (and other sorts of fish) are the only way to provide the ships with meat for their long journeys as well as caravans and nomads 
    -cooking - salt intensifies the taste of every sort of cooked food and the coloring of cloth 
    -production of glass 
    -export

    Gem Mines:

    The mountains located north of Ta'ess with the active volcano by their side provide the Ss'tiss with the wonderful gems they use for decoration, jewelry and export. The exact locations of the mines are probably only known to those working there - only Ss'tiss - and the guards protecting the area from renegades and other bandits. Everyone travelling in this area will be eyed suspiciously and also treated like that. 

    Ss'tiss who want to work in the gem mines must ask for work in special offices located in Ta'ess and Hasst. 

    Sand Fields:

    These are located not far from the gem-mine territory, only short north-east of it in fact. A small village is located halfway between both. Here craftsmen produce glass-squares which are transported to Hasst and Ta'ess where craftsmen will create wonderful glasswork and glass-art from it. The men collecting the sand for the creation of these glass-squares are called 'diggers'. They aren't paid very much and so only those who can't find other work, who are broke or need to disappear from the cities for a while for one reason or the other will start working here. They're mostly roughs and the poor and this also shows up in the village where they live. Shha'kesh is small, dirty and consists of dilapidate sandstone buildings as well as tents...

    Sandstone-quarry:

    Located a few day-rides south of Hasst the vast, imposing sandstone-rocks guard the coast from intruders. 

    No one knows how long this will last since at the side turned to the desert a vast quarry is located where the sandstone is worked/mined. 

    Near this quarry there is a small settlement where more or less only the miners are living in. 

    Caravans of mules carry the sandstone to the larger settlements where it is needed.
     
     

    Major craftsmanship

    Glass-blowers:

    Since hundreds of years this business is established in Hasst and to a lesser amount in Ta'ess. Since the Ss'tiss have discovered how to turn sand into glass they have strived to create perfect glassworks. Not only glasses for drinking but also bowls, lamps, plates, even entire statues and many other things they do create. Since the production of glass is quite expensive only those who are at least wealthy can afford the glass-blowers' creations...

    Gem Cutters [Jewelers]:

    Their business sounds simple. Turn the small tubers of gems into sparkling, shiny crystals. And then create most beautiful, wondrous jewelry....

    In fact, this is a hard and bloodsucking business. One wrong cut and the gem is ruined... 

    But those who survive the long process of learning the job will never starve. The wealthy and rich, the aristocrats, pay awful sums for unique, finely crafted, perfect pieces of jewelry - suffice to say that to reach perfection the jeweler will need years - and some never make it...

    Carpet Weaving:

    This business is entirely in the hands of the Misharr. They started domesticating the arrasa hundreds of years ago and worked their wool into blankets, carpets and cloth. Their carpets, interwoven with strange symbols, sell very good - especially since the Misharr have found a -secret- way to make the wool feel like silk but look like furr - the carpets [and anything else created from the wool of arrasa by Misharr] are thick, warm and furry but upon touching it one finds it as smooth and silky as anything can ever be....
     
     

      We about...

    ~ Dwarves: fine blades an' tasty ale... we love 'em...
    ~ Delfae: not a wise man who mentions them here - sure, they may be friendly but they 're also magic users...
    ~ Elves: skinny, pointy eared weakies... at least they produce the best wooden stuff we've e'er seen...
    ~ Goblins: green an' mean - good combination... now if they'd only keep their dirty fingers out of other people's pockets....
    ~ Minotaurs: make love not war? Hah... boring ones they are...
     

    Those about us...

    ~  Ss'tiss are demons who arose from the depths of the earth and like to eat their victims alive.
    ~  Misharr play with their victims like cats do, enjoying their fear...
     
     

                            Find more added soon!
    Special warnings...

    go to mages... don't even THINK of using any sort of magic in this Kingdom - well, at least not against a Ss'tiss that is. As much as the Ss'tiss hate magic they hate the ones who use it - especially those who use it against them. 

    Be careful or you might find yourself ripped apart by a pair of strong claws...

    Or your bones crashed by a hit of a strong tail...

    Perhaps your head will find itself on the street beside a bleeding body? Our axes are sharp....

    Various possibilities to find a sudden death...