The Sultanate of Jal-Hadar is the third of three major nations that dominate Loriath's southernmost continent. It is a decadent empire founded on trade, piracy, and slaving, a realm of coastal cities rimmed by vast deserts to the west and the glittering warm southern ocean to the east. Over this empire rules the Sultan Karil Ad-Din from his city of gold and spices, Hayda. The Sultan is a young man, only recently ascended to the throne following the death of his father, and perhaps it is his youth that makes Karil more open-minded than many of his officials.
The Sultanate consists of thirteen coastal cities, each of which is ruled by an emir. All the emirs swear fealty to the Sultan, but they often act with a wide degree of independence. Its capital, Hayda, is a gleaming gem and widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the known world outside the Glittering Isles. It sits in a glittering arc along a vast, natural deep water harbor teeming with ships of every size and description. Famed for its dusky red sandstone walls and buildings, Hayda has long been the personal passion project of Karil Ad-Din, who has spared no expense in his zealous desire to elevate it into one of the great cities of the known world. He has sponsored and funded a vast array of initiatives to turn Hayda into a bastion of art, culture and knowledge: he has built vast libraries and filled with them with books and scrolls, filled gardens and menageries with exotic flora and fauna from all over the known the world, and patronized the arts to attract the best writers, playwrights, scholars, architects, sculptors and musicians to his court. He has held grand debates that have drawn the greatest philosophers of many races and nations. All of this has been to the great chagrin of many of his more traditional advisors and officials, who view his fascination with "heathen" lands as a sign of weakness. But Karil also has strong support from many of the Sultanate's powerful merchant guilds and trading dynasties, who view the ancient practice of raiding foreign shipping as an anachronism that has outlived its usefulness.
Each of the other twelve cities in the Sultanate retains a fierce sense of individual identity. Miluha is known for its shipwrights, Al-Faraz for its weaponsmiths and metallurgists. Hakaran is famous as the so-called City of Tears, with its slave markets always filled to bursting with chattel. It is from Hakaran that many of the Sultan's corsairs set sail, seeking plunder and glory. The Emir of Hakaran, Bin-Harazad, is the most outspoken critic of the Sultan's rule and leads the opposition faction of traditionalists who increasingly chafe under his attempts at reform. The city of Qiraz is known for its elite Assassins Guild, an order of silent killers whose legendary skills are always for sale to those able to pay their exorbitant fee. The Emir of Qiraz, Zara al-Jazira, is the sister of the Sultan and a formidable leader in her own right--a rarity in the Sultanate where women are relegated to the status of second-class citizens. She is a staunch supporter of her brother, with whom she is very close, and many believe (quite correctly) that the backing of her city, and the Assassins Guild along with it, is the main reason Karil hasn't already been murdered by his political enemies. Zagrat is the city closest to the Great Southern Desert and has longstanding trade and diplomatic relations with the Serpent-Men of Ti-Amatu. Its bazaars are the most cosmopolitan and diverse in the entire Sultanate, and traders from every realm can be found within its walls. The other cities in the Sultanate are Lakish, Ilam, Ul-Hadar, Mirv, Nishapoor, Marakansa, Fustat, Aqaba, and the island fortress of Karkomish.
The Sultanate has no centralized legislative, judicial or executive system. Each of the cities within it are responsible for keeping order and have their own traditions, quirks, and laws. Hayda, the capital, is where the Sultan's will is strongest, but even there, the power of the guilds and the influence of the merchant classes are felt. The emirs of each city often have their own councils, advisors and courtiers, and they often settle disputes between themselves without the need for the Sultan's intervention. This decentralization allows for a certain degree of flexibility in governance but also provides fertile ground for corruption and nepotism, particularly in the more isolated cities where the emirs hold almost absolute power. It can also lead to much confusion, especially for travelers and foreign traders who must navigate the different customs and regulations of each city. In Lakish, for example, the punishment for petty thievery is flogging, but in Al-Faraz the penalty is instead a steep fine. Some cities have a designated legislative council or body of representatives from the different social and economic classes, while others are governed almost entirely by the emir's whims. Sultan Karil has taken a few tentative, cautious and very small steps toward reform and centralization, but here, as in all other things, he must tread with extreme care. Karil knows that pushing too far too quickly might very well mean the next assassination attempt is successful.
Aside from its 13 cities, the most important locations in the Sultanate are its fields of arable land--something which, as a coastal kingdom bordered by oceans and deserts, is in perpetually short supply. This was in fact one of the reasons why Jal-Hadarans began their tradition of piracy to begin with: lacking the agricultural resources to support a large population, they had to acquire food and goods by other means. Over the centuries, this has led to a series of ingenious methods of agriculture and water management in order to make maximum use of every square inch of soil. These field are fed by vast network of underground aqueducts, known as Qanats. Built upon, maintained and expanded by generations of Sultans, they are a marvel of engineering and Karil has brought in Dwarven and even High Elf architects at enormous cost to modernize them with the most advanced techniques known to the Elder Races.
The most fertile of the areas fed by the Qanats is the Plain of Gorgol, which is protected by a massive fortress known as simply as the Citadel. It is here that the Sultan's own elite guard, the Ahl al-Khilaz, are trained and stationed. These are not mere soldiers; they are fanatically loyal to the Sultan, raised and trained from birth to defend the region at all costs. Their primary duty is to ensure the safety of the fields and the peasants who farm them from the depredations of desert nomads and raiding parties, particularly those from Keshara. They are also tasked with suppressing any hint of unrest or sedition that might threaten the Sultan's control of the breadbaskets. The Ahl al-Khilaz are feared throughout the Sultanate and beyond for their discipline and ferocity.
The Great Library of Hayda is another notable location. It is the crown jewel of the Sultan's cultural ambitions and a symbol of the reformist faction's determination. At exorbitant expense, Karil has gathered a vast collection of tomes from all over Loriath and paid the Conclave of Magisters to train archivists to maintain and organize them. Karil is an enthusiastic supporter of the Conclave and has actively petitioned them to open a fortress-monastery in Jal-Hadar, but so far, the Magisterium has not agreed. In any case, the Great Library remains Karil's most beloved passion project. He has sent merchants and emissaries out to every corner of Loriath to bring back books, scrolls, and artifacts from every known race and culture to fill its halls. Some of his detractors jeer that their Sultan would rather spend time with books than with his harem, but Karil knows that knowledge is power and ignores their mockery. He is bound and determined to see Jal-Hadar raised up to stand alongside the great cultural centers of the world.
The Sultanate's culture is often derided by outsiders as hedonistic. Its people feel no shame in enjoying the pleasures of life to the fullest. They love to eat lavishly, drink the finest liquors, and indulge in the pleasures of the flesh. But this interpretation is a shallow one. Far from being indolent hedonists, the people of the Sultanate are industrious, curious, and innovative. They have adapted to an environment with very little in the way of arable land and have turned their vast coastline into a bastion of trade and wealth. Their ships are some of the fastest and most feared in the known world, and their navigators are second to none. Jal-Hadarans also love to talk, and their culture encourages haggling, storytelling, and rhetoric. The art of negotiation is a highly valued skill, and even the lowest street urchin can spin a tale that would make a seasoned diplomat envious. Visitors from other lands often say that a Jal-Hadaran's tongue is by far their most effective weapon, not swords or spears or arrows. Jal-Hadaran culture also places an enormous emphasis on the custom of hospitality, or "guest right," which its people define as a sacred law. A visitor to the Sultanate, even an enemy diplomat, is treated with the utmost respect and care.
The laws of hospitality are inviolate, and both guest and host have specific obligations to each other. A host is expected to provide food, shelter, entertainment, and conversation with his guest, and a guest is expected to honor the rules of his host's house, show respect to the host's wife or wives, eat the host's food without complaint or criticism, and not to bring harm to the host or his family. For either host or guest to violate any of these rules is to invite the harshest penalties, and wars have been fought between some Jal-Hadaran cities over insults--real or perceived--after hospitality was offered and accepted. Interrupting one when one is speaking is also a huge taboo, as is ending a meal early. In fact, meals in the Sultanate take much longer than they do in other kingdoms because most of the time is spent talking rather than eating. Dinner at a Jal-Hadaran house can last up to three or even four hours, and that's if the host isn't particularly talkative.
For many centuries, raiding and piracy were state-sponsored by the Sultanate and seen as honorable professions. Sultanate corsairs have been feared for generations by mariners from every nation, and many a young man has joined a corsair crew to make his fortune. However, the practice has been gradually declining for a century as commerce has gradually eclipsed raiding to become the most important part of the Sultanate’s economy. Many corsairs have reacted to this with increasing bitterness and resentment, feeling that their way of life is being eroded by the softness of civilization.
The Sultanate also has the dubious distinction of being the single largest slave-holding nation in Loriath. Slavery is commonplace at almost all levels of society, from the lowest to the highest. The rich and powerful own armies of slaves to tend to their every need, while the poorer classes might have only one or two to help with chores. The most prized slaves are those who come from distant lands, bringing with them exotic skills, knowledge, and beauty. Slaves are bought and sold openly in the bazaars, and the conditions of their existence range from relative comfort to brutal cruelty, for they are utterly at the mercy of their owners, and abuse of slaves is almost never punished. Some slaves are valued members of their masters’ households, especially if they are skilled artisans or entertainers, and beautiful women purchased by wealthy buyers may enjoy a pampered status similar to a prized pet. But for every slave that is treated well, there are many more who are subjected to a life of hard labor and degradation. Men, women, and children of all ages can be found in the slave markets of Jal-Hadar, either traded for in distant lands or taken in corsair raids.
In recent years, Sultan Karil has taken a few tentative steps to reform the slave trade--not to ban it completely, but to at least curb some of its worst excesses. Even a novice statesman like Karil, still new to his role, knows that wholesale abolition is simply not possible, as the economy of his empire is built upon the backs of slave labor and slaves form an integral part of Jal-Hadaran culture. However, even these small efforts have earned him the furious enmity of the traditionalists. The Emir of Hakaran, Bin Hazarad, and his supporters view any move to moderate slavery as the first step on the road to abolition and thus an existential threat to the very fabric of their society.
Unlike some of the other nations in Loriath, the goals of the Sultanate are not as straightforward as, say, the Empire of Morghast or Ti-Amatu because it is increasingly split in two. On one side, there is the traditionalist faction, led by Emir Bin-Harazad of Hakaran and other Emirs from the cities where the old ways of piracy and raiding have the deepest roots, such as Al-Faraz, Ilam, Mirv, and Karkomish. They view the Sultan's fascination with the "soft" culture of the Americans as a sign of weakness, a betrayal of the martial spirit that had made Jal-Hadar great, as well as a direct threat to their status and their very way of life. They long for the days when their pirate galleys ruled the waves and their ships brought death and fear to distant shores. They whisper that the Sultan has been seduced and corrupted by foreign ideas and deeply resent his attempts to curb the practice of raiding and slaving. The idea of giving up the corsair traditions, to say nothing of limiting or perhaps even ending the practice of slavery in the Sultanate one day, is horrifying to them.
On the other side are the reformists, led by Sultan Karil, his sister Emir Zara al-Jazira of Qiraz, and the Emirs of the more trade-oriented cities such as Zagrat, Ul-Hadar, Nishapoor, Marakansa, Fustat, and Aqaba, who believe that the future of the Sultanate lies in trade, diplomacy, and knowledge. They view the traditionalists as backward, clinging to a past that can never return. The tension between these two factions has steadily worsened and, over the past few years, has erupted into brief, bitter, and sometimes violent confrontations. Multiple plots against Karil's life have been uncovered and thwarted in the past year alone, and although they are always met with brutal reprisals from Qiraz's Assassins, each attempt inflames the situation further. The Sultanate appears strong when viewed from the outside, but it is deeply divided, and the political crisis deepens with each passing day.
Nor is the Sultanate lacking in enemies outside its borders. Chief among these is the Merchant Republic of Argonis, a powerful maritime nation composed of a series of islands in the Southern Sea. Enmity between the Sultanate and Argonis runs deep; the Sultanate's corsairs have preyed on Argonite merchant shipping and battled its navy for centuries, and the Merchant Republic, long recognized as the most powerful trading nation in Loriath, bitterly opposes the Sultanate's growing influence and sees it as a direct threat to its own dominance. Attempts by Karil to thaw relations with Argonis have met with little success. The Argonites do not trust him and have no interest in peace with a nation they view as fundamentally predatory and morally corrupt, and the Jal-Hadaran traditionalist faction is doing everything it can to sabotage Karil at every turn. Yet Karil still dreams of a Sultanate that is not just feared but also respected, a nation that is seen as a beacon of civilization and learning rather than a realm of pirates and slave-traders. His fascination with the Americans is driven by more than just curiosity; by allying with them, or at least trying to understand them, he hopes to find a potential path forward, a way to rebrand the Sultanate and elevate it beyond the barbarism that is its historical legacy.
The Sultanate possesses a range of assets far larger than most nations of similar size. By far its most famous asset is its ships: the infamous corsair galleys with their black sails and serrated bows that strike fear into the hearts of sailors across the Southern Ocean. But even more than its naval prowess, the Sultanate's biggest asset is a large, growing trading network that Karil is enthusiastically working to expand across the world. The goods of the Sultanate are known and valued everywhere: spices and fine textiles, exotic animals and plants, and items from places as far afield as the Under-Realm of the Dwarves and the Dryad Kingdom. Jal-Hadaran merchants pride themselves on their ability to obtain any item a customer asks for; anything, no matter how obscure, rare, or unusual, can be found in the bazaars of the Sultanate for the right price. The nation's growing political and economic power, and the swelling treasury along with it, mean that Jal-Hadar can equip its troops with the finest weapons and armor, outfit its ships with the deadliest, most exotic weapons, and influence the policies of distant nations. Like the Merchant Republic, Sultan Karil is learning how to wield soft power, and while he may not be a great general or warrior, he is discovering his talent for statesmanship, diplomacy, and intrigue.
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Jal-Hadar does not, however, have an official currency as such. Rather, trade is conducted in a complex web of barter and gold exchange. The purest gold is known as "sailor's gold," minted into bars that are stamped with the seal of Hayda. These bars are the closest thing to a standard currency in the Sultanate, although goods and services are often traded based on their perceived value and utility instead if one doesn't have any sailor's gold in one's pocket. This system has been in place since the earliest days of the Sultanate and has allowed for a thriving economy despite the lack of a central bank or mint. Slaves are also used freely as currency. Healthier captives, or those with specialized skills or other valuable traits, are often exchanged in place of coins in marketplaces across the Sultanate.
The Sultanate's imports come from all over Loriath. Dwarven steel, elven spices, and exotic goods from the distant lands of the East all flow into its bustling ports. The Great Bazaar of Al-Faraz is particularly renowned for its variety, with traders and merchants from every corner of the continent coming to sell their wares. It is a place where one can find almost anything, provided they have the gold to pay for it. The air is thick with the scent of incense, roasting meats, and spices. The cacophony of a thousand different languages fills the air, as buyers and sellers haggle and barter for everything from bolts of shimmering silk to rare tomes of ancient knowledge.
As the Sultanate's growing trade network continues to stretches across much of the known world thanks to Karil's tireless efforts, certain goods are becoming trademark exports for Jal-Hadar. One of these is a wine made from spicy-sweet grapes which grow only along the Jal-Hadaran coast, known as "Serpent's Kiss," which has become a favorite of nobles and monarchs across Loriath. Fine silks and fabrics dyed in brilliant colors are another lucrative commodity, but by far the most famous is glassware. Jal-Hadaran glass-blowers are widely regarded as the most skill of all the mortal races, and even the Elder Races like the High Elves view their work with grudging respect. The craftsmen of Hayda produce goblets, vases, and lamps of stunning beauty that seem to shimmer with an inner light. The process is a tightly-guarded secret and gifts of Jal-Hadaran glass are often presented as gifts to help seal new trade agreements or open negotiations.
The Sultanate's territory is composed of thirteen large cities along the southwestern coastline of Loriath's western continent. It is bordered by the Great Southern Desert, the Serpent-Kingdom of Ti-Amatu, and the jungle of Keshara, respectively. Its geography and climate resemble those of North Africa or coastal Arabia, with vast deserts and a few fertile plains and valleys that can support agriculture. The climate in the Sultanate is notoriously hot and humid, which is why Jal-Hadaran architecture is characterized by tall, slender buildings of mud brick with intricate latticework, thick walls to absorb heat, and small windows to minimize direct sunlight.
As a maritime nation with a long tradition of naval warfare and plunder on the high seas, Jal-Hadar's military forces and combat doctrine are unsurprisingly rooted in its long piratical traditions. Its navy is one of the largest, most lethal, and most experienced in Loriath, and the thirteen cities of the Sultanate, when united, can field thousands of ships. Jal-Hadaran vessels are infamous and renowned for their speed and maneuverability, and are able to dance rings around larger, heavier, and more cumbersome warships. They are always crewed by some of the hardiest and most skilled mariners in Loriath and powered by both sails and ranks of oars pulled by wretched slaves chained below deck. These vessels, though varying in size, are always lateen-rigged and shallow-drafted to allow passage up rivers and into dangerous shoals where other vessels cannot follow. Their hulls are narrow and typically painted black, measuring on average around fifty meters long with a beam of ten meters. They are equipped with powerful battering rams similar to those used by ancient Greek triremes and biremes, and are further armed with small onagers and ballistae that can shoot bolts six to seven feet long or bombard enemy vessels with pots of burning oil, though more and more corsair captains are using cannon and culverins to devastating effect. The ships are also equipped with boarding ladders, boarding ramps similar to the ancient Roman corvus, grappling hooks, and specialized launchers that fire harpoons attached to long ropes to pull enemy vessels in. The Sultanate excels in both large-scale naval battles and swift, devastating surprise attacks. Centuries of piracy coupled with countless wars with the Argonite navy have made the Jal-Hadarans just as deadly in a full-scale engagement as they are in sudden, brutal raids. Jal-Hadaran naval doctrine is based around the concept of closing with the enemy as quickly as possible and initiating boarding actions so the Jal-Hadarans' expertise in close-quarter combat can come into play. However, this emphasis on speed comes at the expense of durability. Jal-Hadaran ships are lightly armored compared to naval vessels from other nations and lack the heavy cannons and thick oak hulls favored by Argonis. This is a deliberate choice and a trade-off that most corsairs are happy to make; the Sultanate's vessels are designed to strike fast, strike hard, and overwhelm the enemy before they can respond effectively or attempt to withdraw. And much of the time, that is precisely what happens.
Due to the hot climate and the risk of drowning, heavy plate armor is not something most warriors of the Sultanate favor. A typical Jal-Hadaran warrior is clad in lamellar armor consisting of small, overlapping steel plates. Each plate is individually attached and overlaps the next, providing good flexibility while maintaining an excellent degree of protection for the wearer. Beneath the armor, a cuirass of stiff animal hide is often worn for added protection. The scales of Jal-Hadaran armor are often lacquered with bright colors to prevent corrosion in the salty ocean air, and wealthy corsair captains have theirs filigreed with gold and silver or engraved with intricate patterns. Lamellar armor is devastatingly effective and perfect for the fast, mobile combat style the Jal-Hadarans have perfected. It is light enough to allow for swift movement and maneuvering in combat, but robust enough to protect them from hacking, heavy blows so common in boarding actions and close-quarter engagements. Jal-Hadaran helmets are typically conical and open-faced, with a chain mail aventail to protect the neck, a long nose-guard, and cheek guards. This design allows the wearer to maintain a clear view and good airflow, which is vital in the sweltering conditions they often face. Metal bracers, gauntlets, and greaves are worn to protect the arms and legs, and over all of this is worn long, flowing robes of thin silk or fine linen dyed in vibrant colors to keep the wearer cool. A typical Jal-Hadaran warrior is armed with a short, vicious double-edged saber similar in design to, but shorter than, the famous kilij sword so favored by the Ottoman Turks. This saber, known as the saif, is incredibly sharp and versatile, capable of cutting through ropes and chainmail with equal ease. A typical saif has a T-shaped crossguard, and the blade is curved with a distinctive flair near the tip, which allows it to deliver both slashing and thrusting attacks. It is a utilitarian weapon specifically designed for the cramped confines of naval boarding actions, where space is limited and the need for quick, decisive strikes is paramount. A saif is not a tool for elegant swordplay; it is made to smash past an enemy's defenses and butcher him as quickly as possible. Many warriors of the Sultanate also carry a short-handled mace for smashing through enemy shields or armor, as well as a light javelin for throwing at foes before closing in for hand-to-hand combat. These javelins are called zaghnal and are often thrown in a volley at the enemy just before boarding commences.
Jal-Hadarans are not, as a rule, a magically gifted people. But there are some spellcasters among them, and these are almost universally feared and respected in equal measure. The most powerful of these are the Sahirak, the sorcerers of the Sultan's elite guard, the Ahl al-Khilaz. These warriors are recruited and trained from a young age in the mystical arts alongside their military duties. Many of them are the descendants of captured mages and sorcerers taken in pirate raids generations ago. The Sahirak are the most feared of all Jal-Hadaran soldiers, for not only are they skilled fighters, but they can also call upon the elements to do their bidding. They are capable of conjuring fire from their swords, or summoning whirlwinds and dust devils that blind foes with driving sand. But by far their most infamous and feared technique, and one unique to the Sultanate, is their ability to summon, bind, and command elemental spirits known as the djinn. Even the great mages of the High Elves are not certain as to what, exactly, the djinn are, but the most learned of the Conclave of Magisters postulate that they are ancient, primeval beings--creatures of pure elemental energy leftover from the world's creation. The djinn are capricious, destructive, and often as dangerous to those who summon them as they are to their enemies. Djinn often take on different appearances based on which element they are affiliated with. A rock djinn, for example, will take on the form of a lumbering creature composed of rocks and sand, while a fire djinn will manifest as a being of pure fire that can fly and hurl bolts of flame. Weaker djinn have little sentience or none at all, but the most powerful are distinctly unique and have their own quirks and personalities. The secret to djinn-summoning is a closely-guarded secret, and even the High Elves, universally acclaimed as the greatest magic-users in Loriath, are unable to replicate the process. The Sahirak are the only known mages capable of such a feat.
Jal-Hadar's technological level is roughly equivalent to that of medieval Europe, but with some notable differences. The Sultanate is ahead in shipbuilding and navigation technologies, with ships that can navigate the treacherous currents and shoals of the Southern Ocean with ease, thanks to centuries of innovation driven by the need to evade larger, more heavily armed vessels of their enemies. Their use of the astrolabe and compass is unparalleled, and every Jal-Hadaran sailor knows how to navigate by the stars even on moonless nights. The Sultanate has even invented new navigational instruments unknown to outsiders that give its forces at sea an additional edge. However, its long reliance on piracy also means that its innovational and scientific capacity has stagnated. Outside of sailing, naval warfare, and water management, the Jal-Hadarans are not particularly advanced. They do not have the intricate clockwork or steam-powered contraptions of the dwarves or the arcane mastery of the High Elves. Their armies, though fierce, are not equipped with the gunpowder and firearms that are beginning to transform warfare in other parts of Loriath, and their style of governance, with its lack of centralized power, also does not lend itself to rapid innovation or widespread education. Indeed, some of the more warlike cities in the Sultanate actively shun things like education or philosophy as effeminate and weak.
The Sultanate's relations with other nations in Loriath range from tepid to frosty to downright hostile. Centuries of raiding, piracy, and slaving have done little to endear Jal-Hadar to its neighbors, and even those who are not direct targets of its predations often view it with suspicion and disdain. The Merchant Republic of Argonis, whose ships and coastlines have been the most frequent victims of Jal-Hadar's depredations, despises the Sultanate with a passion that borders on the religious. Each boasts a proud naval tradition and considers itself home to the best mariners and sailors in the known world, and their fleets have clashed countless times. Karil's enthusiasm for trade has only deepened the Merchant Republic's bitter hatred. The Argonites chafe more and more each day as Jal-Hadaran traders and diplomats continue to cut into its markets and influence. Karil himself wishes for some form of rapprochement with his nation's historical enemy, but centuries of bloodshed, coupled with the trade network he's building at the expense of the Republic's mercantile interests, make this nearly impossible. The Sultanate's relations with the Jungle-Realm of Keshara are little better. The rakshasa under King Kashtarhak view the Sultanate's bubbling political turmoil as fertile ground for their plots and schemes, and have seeded agents across Jal-Hadar to try and manipulate the growing schism to their own ends. As for most of Loriath's other powers, they have long regarded Jal-Hadar as an uncouth and barbarous collection of pirates and slavers. The opinion of most of the "Elder Races," such as the High Elves of the Glittering Isles and the Dwarves of the Under-Realm, is particularly low. The High Elves and Dark Elves both view Jal-Hadar as an especially dismal example of humanity, and although the Dwarves respect the Sultanate's wealth, they have little use for the rest of it.
Recently, however, the Sultanate's reputation has slowly begun to change as trade has started to displace raiding as the primary engine of Jal-Hadar's economy. Karil has eagerly supported this trend. Under his rule, and for the first time ever, the Sultanate is sending forth more diplomats, ambassadors, and traders than corsairs and slavers. Many of these emissaries are hand-picked by Karil himself. This concerted diplomatic offensive, followed often by the establishment of new trade agreements, has led to a cautious thaw in many of the Sultanate's foreign relations. Yet as the Sultanate becomes more integrated into the global community, the traditionalist faction grows ever more restless. Jal-Hadaran corsairs are far from extinct, and each new raid sets back Karil's goals. Many foreign officials suspect that Karil is playing a double game, feigning friendship and trade agreements by day, while secretly supporting his corsairs by night. This tension is a constant backdrop to every negotiation, every meeting, and every trade deal.
Jal-Hadaran agriculture is and has always been very limited. The coastline of the Sultanate is famous for its sky-blue seas, gleaming beaches, and beautiful cliffs, but arable land is at a premium, and only a select few areas are suitable for growing food. This was, as previously stated, the reason why piracy became such an integral part of Jal-Hadaran culture for so long. Unable to grow enough food to sustain themselves, they turned to the sea to provide for their needs, which included not only goods and wealth but also the slaves to work the land they did have. The Plain of Gorgol, watered by the mighty Gorgol River and its ingenious network of canals and aqueducts, is the breadbasket of the Sultanate. Here, crops such as wheat, barley, dates, olives, grapes, and figs are grown, along with livestock such as goats and sheep. Fishing provides a far larger part of the Jal-Hadaran diet. Its fishing trawlers regularly ply the shallow waters and return with nets teeming with fish. Caviar is a delicacy and a major export for the Sultanate, but Jal-Hadarans also enjoy a wide variety of other seafood. Its waters teem with oysters, clams, shrimp, and crayfish as well as crabs, yellowtail, and swordfish.
The most important infrastructure in the Sultanate is the system of Qanats: those critically important underground aqueducts that transport water from the distant mountains to the cities and agricultural areas of the country. The Qanats are a network of tunnels and channels that snake under the desert sands, bringing life to the otherwise barren landscape. The water they carry is used not only for drinking and irrigation but also for the ingenious system of water wheels and windmills that pump water into elevated cisterns, which in turn supply the fountains and baths that adorn the public spaces of the cities. Legend says that the Qanats were built in ancient times by the first Sahirak mages, who bound legions of djinn to labor nonstop for a hundred years. They are the lifeblood of the Sultanate, and their protection is paramount to the survival of the nation. Sultan Karil has spent vast amounts of treasure to modernize the Qanats and even brought in and Dwarven supervisors to provide advice and all the engineering expertise of the Elder Races, but even with countless laborers working in shifts around the clock, the project will take decades to complete.
