Pasha's Sabban

There is only one entrance, as far as 99% of Calimport’'s population knows, to the Pasha'’s Sabban: the Caleph'’s Gate. A two-story-high barbican gate, this entry is constantly guarded by four guards atop the gate, two outside the gate, and two just inside the walls. There are a series of three portcullises that drop down to deter any unwanted entry, and murder holes above and aside the 30-foot passageway into the Pasha'’s Sabban. The final defense within the Caleph'’s Gate is its trapdoor floor. If determined resistance is met, the supports beneath the floor inside the gate can be withdrawn, and the hinged floor drops away to deposit invaders more than 20 feet below, into stake-lined pits more than half filled with the dry, shattered bones of previous invaders (2d6 falling damage plus 3d6+2 for stakes and bone shards).

There are many secret ways in and out of the Pasha'’s Sabban, and only a few of the syl-pasha'’s sultans and a few trusted advisors and protectors know of even half of them. Some scholars and random advisors or thieves (or anyone who either knows the area or listens to rumors) know of one or two, but most are believed to be false. The syl-pasha alone knows of all of them, and he and his agents purposely seed the taverns with rumors of secret doors and tunnels to mislead the syl-pasha'’s enemies away from the true entries. There are subterranean tunnels to and from the Palace of the Murabirs in Faiths Ward, so the greater generals and commanders of the syl-pasha'’s military can easily reach the sabban. There are also secret passages within the sabban walls leading into the Qysaghanni Fortress of Palace Ward, so the larger contingent of the syl-pasha’'s personal guards can reach him when necessary (and either whisk him to safety through Armada Ward and a swiftly procured ship or allow immediate bolstering of sabban troops to prevent coups). There could even be more passages leading to the Muzad or even into the Underdark, but even the syl-pasha may not know of them, since the deaths of previous syl-pashas ensured many of their own secrets would be kept.

There are 20 buildings in total within the Pasha’s Sabban. The majority of them are Class A buildings that rise no less than three and up to seven stories high.

The Pasha'’s Villa

Within the 7-foot-high walls of this villa are the Pasha'’s Palace, the Jhasinnadah, the three Minarets of the Bakkals, and the Djenassadh House. The three Minarets were once the sites from which the bakkals of Calimport called out prayers over their city and country; they are still religious sites, and they house separate shrines in their many rooms for nearly every extant god in the Realms (and a few who no longer answer any prayers). The Djenassadh House contains the living quarters of the syl-pasha'’s wives, family, and personal servants; the Jhasinnadah, of course, houses the syl-pasha'’s jhasinnar, the males and females living in separate wings and kept under close guard.

The Pasha'’s Palace has one central building connected to four smaller wings, spread out in a cross shape, and a solid-gold dome tops each of the sections. Within the central building rests the Caleph’'s Throne, the syl-pasha'’s personal chambers, and the bulk of the offices tied directly to the management of the city and country. The eastern wing of the palace is exclusively el Pesarkhal'’s art museum of Shoon sculpture and many more treasures. The other wings hold the offices and quarters of advisors, guests, and the syl-pasha.

The “Houses of Ardor

This villa structure contains four five-story palaces, each with discrete and independent sections for more than 36 family units. Here the syl-pasha “entertains” the families of the major military officers, sultans of other Calishite cities, political rivals, and the like. Beneath the luxurious palaces are a large collective of three cellar levels, within which numerous cells hold less-respected hostages and prisoners, some of Calimport'’s greatest treasures kept in strictest secrecy, and magical gates to important sites throughout Calimshan (and even some leading to long-lost parts of the former empire). These cellars are guarded by 40 Qysaghanni at all times.

At the southern wall of the Pasha'’s Sabban are a jumble of buildings: three warehouses and granaries, the well for the troops and the animals, four large stables for horses and labor animals, and the garrison and amlakkhan for the guards.

In general, the Pasha'’s Sabban is the most highly defensible place in the entire city. It has nearly 100 troops garrisoned within its walls and the 500-troop-strong Qysagghani Fortress immediately adjacent promises more protection beyond that. The primary living areas within the sabban have the added protection of villa-style walls and separate guard contingents beyond the external guards. Thus, in order to attack the syl-pasha'’s palace, one must pierce and overcome the external Caleph'’s Gate, the internal Pasha'’s Gate into the Pasha'’s Villa, and the heavily guarded entrances into both the Palace and the Throne Room-—an unlikely feat, even with magic.

While the armory is no larger than the standard amlakkhan'’s armory out in the city, nearly all of the defenders of the Pasha'’s Sabban (whether the amlakkar on the walls, the Farisan directly guarding the buildings and grounds, or the Qysaghanni guarding the syl-pasha and his family) are supplied with magical weapons while in the direct service of the ruler of Calimshan. Standard magical weapons are scimitars +1 and spears +2 for the rank-and-file warriors, while officers wield weapons of no less than +2 enchantments. Wands, while scarcer by far, are wielded by qysaghanni officers in addition to their spells.

Finally, the greatest defense of the Pasha'’s Sabban is its magical ward. Few ever notice it, as it does not react at all to sunshine, wind, arrows, or any everyday occurrences. The ward, established during the Sixth Age, prevents anyone from entering the areas defined by the sabban walls by flight, teleportation, immaterial phasing or interdimensional travel. There are some pre-existing gates and methods to teleport into and out of the Pasha'’s Sabban, but the ward accounts for those exclusively. Attempts to physically fly into the sabban will be met both by the arrows of its defenders and by the magical fields providing an invisible barrier as effective as a wall of force against entry at any angles. One of the subtler effects of the ward keeps the moisture in the air over the sabban during the day, preventing troop or animal dehydration, and keeping the air cooler on average than the rest of the city. At night, the moisture coalesces as small rain clouds at the top of the ward as the temperature drops, and by midnight every night, the moisture falls as light rain within the sabban (and replenishes the rooftop and cellar cisterns).