Policies

• Becoming a Member
  We regard membership as a strictly OOC distinction, separate from in-character concepts such as citizenship or slavery. The process is fairly straightforward, and generally takes around six weeks after an application. The entire process is outlined here.
• Character Types
  As our stories mainly focus on Turia and its holdings, we encourage (but don't require) members and potential members to play city Goreans, at least as their primary characters. We are open to other character types, especially those that would not be unheard of on the southern plains. We provide full details on how we regard alternative character types on the forums.
• Gender.
  We don't police the gender of typists, or restrict types of characters a typist may play based on their gender. We don't care. It's all make-believe to begin with. We elaborate a little on the Character Types policy, but there isn't much more to say.
• Guests and Visitors
  While we permit people from other homes to come and roleplay, we do not extend all privileges and access to non-members.
• Primaries/Secondaries and Dualling
  This policy is not yet written. As such we are currently not permitting secondary characters, but that will be changing soon.
• Relations with Other Homes
  This policy is not yet written. As such we are not currently formalizing diplomatic relations with other homes, but that will be changing soon.

The Ta-Schendi Steppe

The open steppeland north of the Turian Plateau and south of the Schendi jungles is overrun by the Wagon People; what few Turian farms that once were in the lower grasslands have been put to the torch and the lance. While none of the tribes currently rest their wagons in the Ta-Schendi Steppe, all four tribes routinely seek the shelter of the western mountains and northern jungles to make their winter pastures.

The road known to Turians as the Avto Kasra, and to the rest of central Gor as the Southern Salt Line, runs through the Ta-Schendi Steppe before entering the Cartian Valley. Other key features include the Omen Valley where wagonfolk haruspexes read the signs in bosk livers, and the Plain of 1,000 Stakes where the games of Love War take place.

The Crimson Fields

While the port town of Kargash is safe and secure on the far side of the Ta-Thassa Mountains, the road to Kargash runs through the Crimson Fields, west of the Turian Plateau, before reaching the safety of the mountain passes and the Turian forts defending them. The Kataii have made the Fields their home for the time being, and no caravan makes the journey through their territory unscathed.

Once, the Crimson Fields were so-named for the fiery tunics of the Turian warriors who marched out each spring to secure the safety of the Avto Karga and peasant farms. After the Sack, the meaning of the name has changed - now a grim recognition of the Turian blood that feeds the earth with every Kataii raid.

The Unbordered Grasslands

The deep southern plain goes on seemingly forever, though the soil gets poorer and poorer (for grazing or farming) the further south one goes. As a result, Turian farms always kept to the north of this region, meaning the great city rarely came into conflict with the Wagon People over these lands. Now only the Wagons of the weakened Paravaci tribe make their homes here.

Unlike most of the other regions, no significant trade routes or important roads travel through the Unbordered Grasslands. Little beyond the endless grasses and the wagons of the Paravaci dot the landscape, and the weakest of the wagon tribes chafe at having been denied the opportunities for riches and plunder their brethren enjoy.

The Lost Prairies

In better times, Turia sought to contest Tor's position as the "gateway" to the Tahari and its lucrative dominance over the desert trade (salt, spices, dates, and other desert goods). The fulcrum of these economic sorties against the second city of the south was the merchant-fortress of Turmas, nestled on the edge of the Tahari, offering traders an alternative route to the desert with superior access (via Kargash) to the sea.

Following the Sack, that power is at an end - the Prairies are lost to Turia, and the Kassar tribe has made the area home to their wagons. Turmas is besieged, the Kassars hungry for the riches and plunder it holds, and the once relatively-safe Avto Turma is now overrun.

The Cartian Valley

Whether the lands south of the Cartius River and northeast of the Ta-Schendi Steppe are even part of the plains at all is a matter of debate. Turian influence in this far-off region was never more than nominal - with Tor dominating the desert trade leaving the Tahari, and Kasra commanding the most stable crossing of the Cartius.

Kasra is connected to Turia by what the rest of Gor calls the Southern Salt Line, and those of Turia call the Avto Kasra, which wends north-east through the Cartian Valley until it reaches that river port (whereas the Northern Salt Line runs north from Kasra, all the way to the far-off crossroads city of Torcadino). Through this great highway, Turia is connected to the rest of central Gor, while the Avto Toria branches off eastward to reach the city of Tor.

Now the Tuchuks have brought their wagons to the Cartian Valley, ranging far from their usual grazing lands, hungry for new opportunities for riches and plunder. Whether Kamchak, the newly-annointed Ubar-San, will content himself with the wealth available here or range north across the Cartius remains to be seen.

Castes of Turia

The caste is the central institution of Turia (as is the case with all city-states). Virtually every caste practiced across Gor is represented in the great city to some degree, but the most significant or notable castes (or groups of castes) are listed below:

• The High Castes - the traditional five castes (Initiate, Scribe, Builder, Physician, and Warrior) dominate the social and political institutions of the city. Among the traditional high castes are the so-called Great Families, high-caste lineages of great wealth and power who have recently reasserted their primacy within Turia in the wake of the disastrous war with the Tuchuks.
• Merchants - once the rulers of Turia in all but name, the Merchant Caste has been devastated, even more than most Turians, by the Sack as the Great Families preserved at least some of their own wealth at the expense of the powerful merchant houses. The Merchants now find themselves in a difficult position, with their greatest weapon - their incomparable wealth - denied them (for now), and the majority of Turians blaming their greed for their recent suffering. Furthermore, the lesser mercantile factions (the Sub-Caste of Slavers and the Wagon Traders) whom the great merchant houses always kept firmly under their thumb, seem to have noticed the weakness of their 'benefactors' - and are no-doubt quietly making their own plans.
• Tharlarion-Keepers - the caste that breeds, trains and cares for both the high and broad tharlarion may not be wealthy or powerful, but they have a place of honor and regard within Turia. Her cavalry, the caravans of her merchants, and the great races in the Cursus Tharlarium, all depend on the great beasts, and thus the caste that tends to them. This is especially true, given that the tarn is not native to the southern plains and is rarely seen this far south.
• Peasants - congregating in their own small villages beyond the city walls, the caste of peasants grow the crops and tend the herds that feed Turia. Many of these villages and farms were put to the torch as the Tuchuks advanced to Turia herself, and while many peasants fled to the city walls many more were captured or killed by the nomads. With so much destruction, the most recent harvest was poor - and how Turia will feed herself is becoming an ever more-pressing question.

Politics

Phanius Turmus, once-Administrator and now-Ubar of Turia and head of the Turmian family, sits atop the city's political order - but it is an increasingly uneasy seat for him to occupy. Though the Tuchuks have now withdrawn, the Ubar has elected to maintain his position - citing the devastation wrought upon Turia and its people as an emergency that demands the unemcumbered hands of an Ubar - rather than step down or aside. For now this has been accepted, but with each passing month there is more discontent and quiet murmurings behind closed doors about whether the Ubar truly has Turia's best interests at heart - or his own.

Officially, government in Turia is overseen by the High Council and its subordinate Magistrates. Long-term policy and law, not to mention the appointment (and, more rarely, deposition) of magistrates is the purview of the Council, while the various magistrates wield more immediate, day-to-day power within their narrower scope. The office of Ubar, however, supercedes this traditional arrangement - able to appoint and depose magistrates by his own power, while passing edicts and suspending laws as he deems necessary.

Unofficially, power in Turia resides in the hands of the Great Families - storied High Caste lineages of great respect and wealth. These families, each of whom have some degree of representation on the High Council, extend their influence further through a series of patron-client networks - bringing other, lesser High Caste families into their political orbit. This has the effect of making the Great Families the centers of political gravity within the Council - with alliances and rivalries among the families shifting and changing frequently.

The Low Castes meanwhile, are more or less locked out of direct political office - though it is often said that coin has no caste, and wealth has often been the path to political influence if not actual power. Low Caste families also join in the same patron-client networks, though for different reasons than the High.

Holdings

While most of the agreement between Port Kargash and her patron focuses on trade and free Turian access to the sea, considerable ink has also been spilled regarding the Ta-Thassa Montains and the disposition of their wealth. Turia recognizes Kargash's rightful claim to any and all minerals within the western two-thirds of the mountain range, while retaining the eastern third for itself.

While this might seem generous, the truth is more complex. Kargash sits within the Ta-Thassa Mountains, better positioned to take advantage of their material resources than far off Turia. Further, as the western side of the mountains gives way to the Thassa, most mines or quarries (even those buried in the far west of the mountains) can only be accessed from the eastern side. Turia takes a percentage for granting access through its territory, not to mention defending those points of access which (unlike Kargash itself) are exposed to the depredations of the wagon people, particularly the Kataii.

Meanwhile, their closer access means that the Kargashi are better situated to administer any holdings within the mountains regardless of which side of they lie on. Nearly all of Turia's holdings are managed, in some capacity, by Kargashi merchants contracted to oversee them - with large shipments periodically making their way to the greatest city in the south (or directly to Kargash to be shipped off to foreign ports by Turian merchants).

Trade

Serving as the gateway to one of the two largest cities on Gor, more trade flows into the Kargashi harbor than the small client-port can handle. Had it room to grow, Kargash would likely boast at least three times its current berths - but as the port long ago expanded to fill the available space west of the mountains, any new docks would go unworked and unmaintained. Thus, despite Turia's preferential access to Kargashi docks, the great city is forced to rely on the slower and more dangerous overland routes for much of its trade with the rest of Gor.

Kargash reserves two-fifths of her berths for her own merchants, with another fifth reserved for Turians - and the remaining berths allocated as the harbor master sees fit (with only a reasonable amount of graft tolerated; Kargash was founded by Karians, after all). The result is that Kargashi merchants, with their easier access to the port's facilities, frequently act as middlemen for countless Turian cargoes. Further, Turian merchants pay no tariffs, duties or taxes on any of their goods passing through Kargash.

Unsurprisingly, Turia is the client-port's largest trading partner. As Kargash is surrounded on all sides by either water or mountains, sa-tarna grain and other foodstuffs form the majority of its imports. Most of this comes from Turia's surrounding client villages, though Port Schendi, Anango, and Ianda also sell some of their surplus crops to the port as well. In return, Kargash offers Turia the bounty of the sea itself - not just seafood but also pearls, tharlarion oil, and other maritime goods.

Tribes

Though united by the leadership of Kamchak, the men of the wagons are not truly one people - they are men of their tribes first, and share in the brotherhood of the bosk and the lance second. First among equals are the Tuchuks, conquerors of Turia and tribe of the Ubar-San himself - still recovering from losses taken in their war with Turia and the Paravaci.

The Kassars and the Kataii stand alongside them. With their numbers untouched by the Tuchuks' wars, none save the Ubar-San can truly gainsay them in the field and they have elected to remain close to Turia, raiding farms and merchant caravans, their eyes upon the uncaptured wealth of the great city's other holdings.

Lastly, the treacherous Paravaci, now treated as the youngest sibling at a table otherwise occupied by equal brothers, have greatly suffered in the half-year since the Sack of Turia. While Kamchak made a show of including the Paravaci in his words about the men of the wagons, that implied pardon seems to have limits - thusfar the Ubar-San has declined to intervene as the Kassars and Kataii engage in not infrequent raids against the former-traitors. Their numbers and herds have thinned as a result, and they find themselves pressed on nearly all sides - the only tribe of wagonfolk not exultant in victory.