The Gentleperson’s Guide to Byrsa
PrinceCon Staff
The Gentleperson’s Guide to Byrsa
[Gentle Readers, la Comtesse de la Tour regrets that her distant cousin the Magnificent Dido XLI refuses to let her pen a word about that august country. Instead, we offer another traveler’s tale for your amusement.]
by Karbaron Babaronson
How I found myself in Byrsa is a story unto itself and would read more like a fiction than a true account. So I will not include it here. However if we find ourselves in a pub that serves a hearty Vosgod Ale, I would tell you the tale if a filled stein was the payment for my thirsty tongue.
First of all, Byrsa is brown and boring. Its sky is vast and bright. Clouds are plentiful in other places I have seen but, here, I am sure they have never heard of a thing called a ‘cloud’. Without any clouds the days are sunny. You would expect high heat but the sun only warms the frigid place to a level of tolerance. At night the temperature drops ever lower and lower and during that time (or any other time) the wind never lets up. The wind drives the sand into everything. I swear, this morning, I brushed even more Byrsan sand from my beard. I have not been in Byrsa in three years.
The Byrsan people are hardy and strong but always seem tired at anytime of the day. Life in the harsh environment in the frigid desert must be physically taxing. Of the strongest, I am sure you are aware of the power of the Byrsan mercenaries, as they can be found in all corners of the world. They can become more surly in the borders of their country and are not to be trifled with. Luckily, as a dwarf, I was an oddity in the land and given some cultural leeway.
If you are led through one of the passes in the perimeter mountains that surround Byrsa, you may find yourself in one of the two cities of note in the sand strewn empire. Jakutru is the main city of trade. It is located in the most southern portion of the country and overlooks the Central Sea but does not actually touch it. There is no port for ships for the city is located too high from the choppy water surface. It consists of many levels carved into the cliffside. Most Byrsans hope to see the huge expanse of water one day before they die. What we call the Central Sea, they call the Infinite Thirst. For although it is beautiful, it cannot be drunk because of its high salt content. There is usually a high troop presence in the city and a fear of Shiang invasion. Learn the laws and follow them here unless you are looking for trouble.
The other major city in Byrsa is Thulak Kolom and it occupies the most northern flatland of the country. It consists of many comfortable palaces and is the Dido’s seat of power known as the Golden Sedan. Dido XLI is the current ruler and has only been ruling for the last five years when Dido XL wandered into the desert wastes, as is the tradition.
The Dido (as the ruler is called) seems to undergo a transformation when power is transferred to him or her. It is said that he embodies all the good qualities of the country’s population. So the Dido becomes both male and female, human and elven, as that is the primary population. But the strangeness doesn’t end there.
It is said that the face of the Dido becomes so perfect no one may see it without being awestruck. For this reason, the Dido wears a mirrored mask at all times. The Dido’s voice also becomes so beautiful that it could shatter a mortal’s ears. Servers who are telepathically linked to the Dido translate the pure thought of the Dido to the population.
It is also rumored that the Dido can hear the thoughts of the population carried on the wind to the palace wind chimes. Though we would consider this a severe intrusion, the Dido is revered and respected in many ways. It is almost as if, Didoism (as I call it) is more prevalent than the worship of their Steel god, who seems to be analogous to Leo in other countries.
As a dwarf, I find this ironic, because there is hardly any steel to be found in Byrsa. Or wood for that matter. That’s right. Elves with no forests in sight. Picture that! Almost anything that would be made of wood or metal is instead made from glass that is hardened by secret non-magical methods kept by the Byrsan glass smiths. For you see, Byrsa has no lack of sand to make glass.
The most impressive sight to see (when sandstorms do not obscure visibility, that is) are the glass catamaran-style ships called El-ye-Aldeh sailing through sand like Nassau ships travel through the water. Harnessing the unrelenting wind with their large sails, the Byrsan ships can attain great speeds over the cold sandy dunes. It is said that these ships could travel on the water as well, but in the recent past, the knowledge of how to navigate on the waves was lost. And to compound the problem, since Hesperia captured the ancestral homelands of the Byrsan people in the eastern provinces their enemies have cut off the only easy access to the ocean.
Trade between villages and cities often takes place using these ships, however, personal transportation still requires mounts. One might expect some sort of strange horses suited to the desert, but instead the typical mount is unlike anything I had ever seen. It is a spider. Yes, a spider. But it gets stranger still. The spider usually has a white body but its abdomen is covered in large mirrored facets. They call it an Ancabould and I believe that the nobility uses the more pure facets to create their blank mirrored masks.
I have a few words of advice to you if you plan on travelling in Byrsa. Bring your own water, pack warm clothes, and cover everything to prevent sand infiltration. If you can’t do these simple things avoid Byrsa at all costs.
Byrsa at a glance:
Monarch: Dido XLI
People: Elven (24%), Human (24%), Half-Elven (47%), Other (5%)
Religions: primarily Leo, The Steel god. Religion is almost secondary to the reverence they feel for the Dido
Symbol: A white crescent moon and spider on a blue field.
Personages of Note: Shia Zaik, Mistress of Concubines
The ShamuraMutra family of royal servants.
Tovalafir, the Spider Racer.