Calimshan

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Law and Order

Compared to other realms where order and law are forces for good, Calimshan is a cesspool of corruption, graft, and greed. Its so-called laws support this structure. All the forces of law and order in Calimshan are organized to maintain the status quo of the syl-pasha's rule and the slave state. While not totally immoral or unfair, Calishite laws and those who enforce them are harsh and unforgiving. Similar to the state of affairs in Zhentil Keep before its fall, individuals with any influence have a virtual army of folk to defend them from each other and from their foreign and hidden enemies.

The Pasha's Laws

The laws of Calimshan are few, and most are unwritten. For more than five millennia, the syl-pasha's will (or that of a sultan or vizar) was deemed lawful enough to decide what was a crime and what was appropriate punishment for it. Despite the lack of a uniform legal code, the amount of overt crime is far smaller in Calimshan than most outsiders anticipate. Calishites maintain that this is because of the deterrent value of Calishite punishment: All penalties are harsh, and they always have been. Even the theft of a loaf of bread in the market can see personal justice legally enacted by the owner of the baked goods stand, who is entitled take anywhere from a finger to the whole hand of the person who stole from him. Typical penalties range from brandings and whippings performed in private (never publicly, to save face) to the amputation of limbs to executions by beheading.

Corporal punishments are usually carried out by the wronged party, or by an amlak upon those of the lower or middle classes, or by either a member or officer of the other armed forces upon those of the upper class. Sometimes a professional member of a guild of executioners and torturers is employed. Such people's fees must be paid by the lawbreaker or his estate.

Imprisonment only occurs if a person's death for a crime would lead to great unrest or political chaos. While there are no true jails in Calimshan, each drudach has at least four cells in the cellars beneath its amlakkhan, the guard house for the local amlakkar. Persons of greater station might be taken to a druzir's, sabbalad's, or sultan's house, where they would still be kept prisoner, though usually under better conditions. (Prisoners are not considered guests, and thus their captors are not held to the customs and responsibilities of being a host.)

For the most part, a Calishite penal code does not exist. Objective and fair laws, if they were decreed or enacted at all, have not been adequately enforced since the days of the Shoon Imperium. Many rangers and Harpers have noted that in Calimshan, as in the wilderness, the law is really quite simple: The strong prey on the weak; might makes right; and you are only safe as long as you respect your foe's territory and do not attempt to take what is claimed by a stronger opponent. Even paladins, who wish to uphold and honor all laws, recognize the laxness and subjective nature of law in Calimshan and, while they rarely flout or flagrantly disobey what laws they can discern, are not confounded when trapped by agents of the government in a frame or extortion. Still, Harpers and many others often give advice to those traveling into the pasha's domains. This advice breaks down into some straightforward instructions to avoid trouble:

• Never make direct eye contact with someone above your social rank. If an adventurer stares into the eyes of a pasha, she is insulting the pasha by placing herself at his level. While some Calishites laugh at the audacity of outsiders in such an instance, the more typical reaction is to call for their immediate death for the insult. To make eye contact with another's spouse without their leave is as scandalous as having an affair. Many duels of honor have been fought over this point by confused wanderers and enraged husbands.

• Never publicly contradict any amlak (member of the watch), soldier, sailor, or person of a pasha's social stature or above unless you wish to be thrown in a cell or executed on trumped-up charges. Such folk watch for outsiders to bully, and they do so often. They trust that legitimate merchants and folk worthy of doing business with in Calimshan have already been told by their partners or associates where to go and what to do both before and after dark. Anyone who is obviously not Calishite and is doing something unusual or inappropriate or who is just in the wrong place at the wrong time becomes as much a target of much mischief as a suspect of the same.

• Failure to meet a debt, theft of someone's property, or bearing false witness to authorities are all crimes with punishments that vary, depending on the people involved and where the crime occurs. Among the lower classes and in the seedier city areas, restitution takes the form of indentured servitude, full enslavement, the severing of the offending limb (common targets are tongues, fingers, hands, and feet), or a duel of honor against the wronged party. The accused always has the choice of weapons, but the wronged party chooses the time. Thus, duels of honor can often be ambushes and traps perpetrated on a "criminal" later as much as they are immediate battles to first blood or death. In fact, only when members of the upper class (whose members place more stake in honor and saving face than their lives) are involved will anything resembling a fair or straightforward duel occur. Folk of the upper classes who have been wronged sometimes demand monetary restitution in place or in addition to the punishments outlined above. They can ask for three to 10 times the value of stolen property or a fine whose amount is decided by a vizar, sultan, or the syl-pasha.

• Revealing apparently criminal activities to the authorities should not be done out of hand. The line between illegal and legal activities in Calimshan is so blurred that many foreigner's assume they are one and the same. They are not, but revealing criminal activities to the authorities can lead to any number of woes. Often, such honest folk become celebrated friends of the authority for a very short time-just long enough for those they reported to identify them and set up their revenge. Should the authorities have a stake in said illegal activities, those who expose the illegal activities are often killed. At other times, lesser figures in such activities use the opportunity provided them by such revelations to be rid of annoying partners and enemies, masking their coups as upholding the law. Sometimes, particularly cunning folk might be invited to join an ongoing illegal operation or to assume a position of authority as the result of their diligent effort. Most likely, though, they will be used as expendable stalking horses or decoys to sacrifice to the enemy.

• If all else fails, leave the city that has branded you an outlaw. What few outsiders remember about Calimshan is the myopic focus its inhabitants have on the urban areas over all other places in the nation. If criminals flee into the Spider Swamp or the Marching Mountains to avoid capture, they have merely commuted their death sentences to a danger-riddled life among the repulsive and deadly creatures therein, in the opinion of city folk. Such people then automatically assume fled criminals to be dead and do not pursue them or even report their activities to other cities. Unless the criminals return to the same city and encounter people who remember them, they have little chance of being caught.

There are so many groups of enforcers and strong-arm thugs throughout Calimshan that it is impossible to identify but a fraction of them. Everyone with something to protect or hide-from the lowliest member of the merchant class with a shop to protect to the highest of vizars shrouding the secrets of a thousand intrigues beneath the shine of a threatened blade-employs enforcers, whether they are related sons, hired mercenaries, or well-trained slaves. Often, only the locals or those who make a specific practice of studying their enemies can identify a particular band of well-armed legbreakers. However, nearly everyone within Calimshan has heard of the following three major groups of enforcers, though few outside of Calimport's upper-class drudachs could identify the groups on sight.

• El Pajabbar
• El Sikaena
• El Ghadabaan

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History of Calimshan

Main Article: History of Calimshan

Government

Basic Information

History in a Nutshell:

• Calimshan is a several thousand year-old nation founded by genie lords, and (obviously) named for Calim.
• Calim was a Djinn (air), Memnon an Ifrit (fire).
• They warred with each other and brought ruin to the land and its people.
• Eventually they were banished under the Calim desert by magic, where they purportedly battle to this day.
• As a result of the mayhem, the people of Calimshan have very little patience for conjurers or outward displays of genie magic.
• Memnon and Calimport have had an intense rivalry even into modern times, though it has not escalated into warfare of late.

Who Rules

• Syl-Pasha Ralan el Pesarkhal, liberator of Calimshan and conqueror of the (short-lived) military dictator Ramal el Zalaqh. Pesarkhal has ruled since 1362. The last true dynasty of Syl-Pashas ended in 1358 with the assassination of the beloved Rashid Djenispool.
• Pesarkhal begun construction of an immense city wall for Calimport in 1364, which is yet unfinished (but very close).

People

• People from Calimport are called Calishites, which has often been extended to include anyone from the nation itself.
• People from Memnon are called Memites.
• In both cases, the words are used for the people, architecture, craft, etc. (i.e. A Memite sculpture).
• Chultans and Tethyrians are a fairly common sight in most cities, with the former more often than not kept as slaves. Halflings are uncommon, but the most numerous of the demihumans. True genasi are rare, perhaps constituting 1-2 per thousand people in Calimport.

Language

• Calishites speak Alzhedo, which has no written language. If you are from Calimshan, you are stuck with this as your freebie language, and unless you take another language, you are considered illiterate.
• The vast majority of all writing is done in Auran, which is the tongue of air creatures. Ignan (fire) is known to some, but writing in or speaking it instantly identifies you as a knave.
• Certain secret societies make use of rare or unique languages, but this is on a need-to-know basis.

Calimshan is older than either of the other Empires of the Sands, first settled over 7,000 years ago by the Djen, a humanoid race from the Elemental Plane of Air. These Djen were known to be very magical, and during the course of their rule they developed many new spells previously not available in the Plane of Air. The Djen prospered for over 1,000 years in Calimshan, but their reign was ended by an invasion of creatures and minions from the Plane of Fire. Some say this is where the bitter hatred between djinni and efreeti started, though others contend this was just a result of a hatred that was already there.

Whatever the cause, the battle was long and bloody, and took over 100 years to complete. The Djen finally routed the attackers, but were greatly weakened in the attempt. They slowly declined, and the last mention of the Djen is just under 6,000 years old. For the next 4,000 years Calimshan was dominated by nomadic tribes of humans. Tribes from various places - Chult, the Shaar, The Shining Plains, Chondath, even Amn and Cormyr - took turns dominating, only to be conquered by the next, nearly identical tribe. Slowly, the nomadic nature of Calimshan began to change.

As explorers and traders from Amn, Waterdeep, and Cormyr discovered the wonders of the area, some tribes began to settle down and develop new means of support, like fishing, farming, or trading. These communities began to band together for mutual protection, and soon a civilization was born. It was only 1,300 years ago that the Shoon Empire (now called Iltkazar) came into being.

The Shoons were a grand and glorious empire, and their excesses were the foundation of Calishite snobbery today. They grew wise and powerful in the ways of magic, and ships and caravans bearing the Shoon flag traveled across the Forgotten Realms.

900 years ago the Shoon empire abruptly vanished. A great magical upheaval was suspected at first, but learned mages of other lands dispute the claim. A force that great they say, would have disturbed magical powers and beings throughout the Realms, and that didn't happen. Sages who have studied Shoon at great length have reached no definite conclusions, but the most popular theories today center around a plague or disease that decimated the population. Today, the Shoon impact on Calimshan is still great. The grandeur of that empire is responsible, more than anything else, for the strong national character of Calimshan today.

Timeline

1358	Year of Shadows	The Time of Troubles The Syl-Pasha Rashid Djennispool and his heirs are assassinated on Midwinter night of this year, the “Night of Red Tears”.
1359	Year of the Serpent
1360	Year of the Turret
1361	Year of Maidens	Discovery of Maztica
1362	Year of the Helm
1363	Year of the Wyvern
1364	Year of the Wave	Syl-Pasha Ralan el Persakhal begins construction of the Grand Wall of Calimport, the “Syl-Pasha’s Folly”.
1365	Year of the Sword
1366	Year of the Staff
1367	Year of the Shield
1368	Year of the Banner
1369	Year of the Gauntlet	The Trades Conflagration (Fire):  This blaze engulfs over 60% of Emerald Ward and 50% of Grand Ward.  Marekh Sabban is destroyed by the fires along with numerous area of the Muzad beneath it.
1370	Year of the Tankard
1371	Year of the Unstrung Harp
1372	Year of Wild Magic
1373	Year of Rogue Dragons
1374	Year of Lightning Storms
1375	Year of Risen Elfkin
1376	Year of the Bent Blade
1377	Year of the Haunting
1378	Year of the Cauldron
1379	Year of the Lost Keep
1380	Year of the Blazing Hand
1381	Year of the Starving
1382	Year of the Black Blazon
1383	Year of the Vindicated Warrior
1384	Year of Three Streams Bloodied
1385	Year of Blue Fire

Make no mistake; the Syl-Pasha’s word in Calimshan is law. This of course extends to the Pashas and ruling class of each city. Rarely does this directly affect the citizens, however, as countless millennia of existence ensure that traditions rule the day. Because punishments are extremely harsh (such as the loss of a hand for stealing a loaf of bread), would-be criminals must be careful to avoid exacting immediate justice by the offended party. Floggings are not uncommon. Prison time is rare, reserved for those rare individuals who could cause political upheaval if executed.

Words to the Wise

• Never make direct eye contact with someone above your station. Insinuating yourself as an equal to your superior is considered a dire insult and can be punished by death.
• Making eye contact with a man’s wife without his consent is tantamount to having an affair, and one can reasonably expect to be challenged to a duel on the spot, while the woman will assuredly be beaten later.
• Do not argue with the authorities. They rarely face reprisal for abusing their station, so it is generally a very bad idea to make ones self an easy target.
• Do not expect your enemies to be honorable in the classic sense. If someone has cause for revenge, it would be wise to expect it at the worst time possible.
• Do not openly speak ill of the Syl-Pasha, and do nothing to offend him. An example of this: it is unlawful and an unforgivable affront to his Grace to build any structure or monument that obstructs the view from the palace.
• Don’t be a snitch. You’ll probably regret it.
• Calishites respect money, magic, and cunning above all else, though the latter is never formally recognized.

Women’s Rights

Women have it especially difficult in Calimshan. To summarize, a married woman cannot hold any property, and is expected to obey her husband. An unwed woman is expected to obey her father, and in either case, can expect to be beaten for disobeying. Most marriages among the non-poor classes are not for love, but rather, are arranged, to bring as much good fortune to the family as possible. Women of age who are yet unwed are scorned, most of all by other women.

Women striving for a life beyond the male-dominated culture that is Calimshan, must have *ahem* money, magic, or cunning – preferably all three. Individuals so gifted can rise above the restrictive confines of their station and hold power of their own. Few women in the history of Calimshan have ever held a position of office, and though it is rare, it is not unheard of.

Line of Pasha-syl-Pashas of Calimshan

Calishite names follow a fairly rigid format in general. First are a person's title or titles, then his personal name, then the name of his parent and his house. Daughters are identified in relation to their mothers by the word yr linking their names. Sons are identified in relation to their fathers, unless their mothers are better known and liked. The word yn links a son's name to that of his father. The word el or a1 links a person's name and parent's name to the family name. Slaves are often allowed to keep their own personal names but have the name of the family or person that owns them added to their own with the word adh.

Example: Ariana yr Tora el Bakran is the daughter of Tora in the Bakran family.

Example: Chawal Kalil yn Nur el Jibril is a lieutenant (chawal) in the military first and foremost, after which he is the son of Nur of House Jibril.

Example: Tagar the wanderer from Westgate is captured and taken to Calimport, sold to Chawal Kalil above, and his name in Calimshan becomes Tagar adh Kalil (if kept as a personal slave) or Tagar adh Jibril (if used as a general house or estate slave by the family).

Many examples exist of people from Calimshan whose names do not conform to this format. There are a number of reasons for this problem, the largest of which is, as the above pasha put it, the "innate addle-pated nature of the barbarian scribes of the North, which does not allow them to accurately recall a name that has more than two syllables or even to tell a tale more than a minute

in length without a serious error." Other names used by a Calishite might not follow this format might because she or he is trying to remain incognito and giving a false name. The final reason for apparent name inconsistencies derives from a person's estrangement from his or her parents or family. When such a falling out occurs, a person often follows his or her personal name with just the family name (Fatim a1 Bajidh) or merely adopts the name of his or her birthplace or residence linked to his or her personal name with a word meaning "from" (Fatim yi Almraiven).

Many devout priests change their surnames to those of their gods when ordained into their priesthoods. In doing this, they do not dishonor their families, but rather they honor their deities. This practice is almost exclusively limited to Calishite clergy.