Back Story on Minya, Noph, and the Order of the Crystal Mind

[Incandescent]

Minya Caliphate
Ruler: Caliph Rahim Rasalased Sadalmelik
Capital: Noph (see Sultanate of Noph below)
History:
Prior to the spell plague the Califate controlled most of the region from the southern basin of the Lake of Eternal Mists to the mouth of the Great southern River where it meets the ocean.

Since the spellplague devastated the world the Caliph has had less and less control over the Caliphate.  The various Sultans have assumed absolute control over their lands.  However they keep each other in check as none are strong enough to take the Caliphate by force.  Instead they allow the puppet Caliph to rule while they grow rich off of trade and commerce.

While many of the Sultanates have remained a part of the Caliphate some further to the south fragmented off, were over run, or were simply abandoned as the magic that sustained many of the cities failed.

Geography:
The Caliphate still sprawls along the banks of the Great Southern River that drains the Lake of Eternal Mist into the ocean.  In the north there is a band of fertile land along the river bordered by deserts that take the camel trains almost a week to cross.  In the south there is dense jungle where several spice and fruit plantations are located.  The three major centers of trade are the Saphire Gate (town on the shores of the Lake of Eternal Mist), the Emerald Gate (near the jungle plantations), and Noph (Capital midway between).

Military:
Most of the military is controlled now by the Sultans, having been stripped from the Caliph.  For the most part the Sultans keep their military at home, however recent Yuan-ti activity in the jungle has cause many of the Sultans to send a division of their troops to aid in the defense of the Caliphate.

Current Events:
The Order of the Crystal Mind has recently managed to become the largest religious group.  The order used to be a small dojo/temple for pinnacle gifted people.  However they recently opened their doors to anyone interested in what they have to teach.  Additionally they are responsible for routing the surrounding intelligent monster tribes from the area.  This made them very popular with the citizens.  Additionally they revealed that some of the monsters had received support from members of the clergy for the other major temples.  This made the citizen very angry. While several key members of the clergy for the various temples have faced repercussions several of the temples have lost many of their worshipers.  People the Order or the Crystal Mind were more than happy to welcome.

While many of the temples will be able to continue operations it is expected that the lack of donations will limit their ability to drive their political agendas in the long run.  As well many of the clergy are still adjusting to new roles they have found themselves in after the removal of key members in relation to the charges.  This has created a power vacuum that the Order of the Crystal Mind has been more than happy to fill.

The Order of the Crystal Mind tried the same thing with the merchants, but that didn't go so good.  The merchants managed to spin the giving treasure to the monsters as paying for protection and/or the spoils from sacked caravans.  Paying up was cheaper than large numbers of well trained guards, and when the bribes didn't work the guards that were there made sure that the monsters paid a price for being greedy.  And since paying protection is the norm for doing business the merchants just factored it in as a cost of doing business.  Now that they don't have to pay as much protection they can reduce prices on the goods they are bringing in.  They also pointed out that they aren't in the monster killing business, that's the job of the army and all the religious crusaders that are supposed to be driving back the "forces of evil"; throwing the clergy under the bus for all those years of medling with their business practices.

The Sultans responded by pointing out that the army is fighting off a large number of yuan-ti and if people really wanted to do something they could join the army.  The sultan then offered to conscript the people complaining and give them weapons and let them go kill more monsters than they could shake their spears at.  The Order of the Crystal Mind decided that they didn't want to fight that battle at this time and told people to go enjoy the sales in the markets.

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Sultanate of Noph
Ruler: Sultan Parvaiz Eltanin Azi Ejdeha
History:
Prior to the spell plague the Sultanate of Noph was run by the Caliph.  During the turmoil the Caliph at the time gave the Sultanate to the Parvaiz's family for their assistance.  Parvaiz's family have been strong supporters of the Calif ensuring that while they may have little power they are kept in place to act as an arbiter in case of dispute between the sultans and as a figure head for the people.

Noph is a major trade city.  Anything can be bought or sold so long as the proper taxes are paid on the transactions.  Trade goods from other planes can even be found here, though they do have a substantial markup.  Slavery is common, though there are laws in place to ensure that slaves are treated well.

The sultan of Noph draws input from a council of lesser nobles, merchants, and religious leaders.  With the recent issues the religious leaders have been dealing with their influence has dropped. While the council may provide input to the sultan they have no actual power to to make changes to the laws, and the sultan makes an example of those who challenge his rule.

Geography:
Noph is situated around an oxbow in the great southern river.  The central section in the middle of the oxbow is home to the Palaces of the Sultan and the Caliph.  As well many of the nobles and wealthier merchants have small estates or manor houses surrounding the palaces.  The inner section also houses the grand market where anything can be purchased.  The outer section houses the majority of the population, temples, smaller markets, and the industrial section of the city.  Along the banks of the river on both sides are docks, ship yards, warehouses on the outer bend and parks on the inner.

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Order of the Crystal Mind
Leader: Grand Master Wulfenite - Shardmind
Structure:
The order's structure is based off of a martial arts dojo.  A series of different colour coded levels represent a person's progression.  The current leader, Grandmaster Wulfenite, is responsible for the order's rapid rise to prominence.  Several masters of the order have been dispatched to communities through out Minya to spread the order's teachings.  The Grandmaster resides in the original academy located a few hours outside of Noph.

Beliefs:
The order teaches self discipline and belief in ones self.  Rather than looking to some outside force (gods, spirits, demons, kings, etc...) for solutions to ones problems the order teaches to look within ones self to find the strength to overcome the issues.  Much of this introspection is done via meditation using crystals as a focus, giving the order it's name.  Those advanced in the order's teaching can use crystals for more advanced purposes such as healing, divination, and combat.  While many of those with psionic talents can quickly advance to the more complex crystal techniques, mundane members of the order are proving that it is not a requirement provided enough dedication.

Once of the key components of the progression through the ranks is a journey made out into the world to use the teachings of the order to aid people.  While out in the world it is expected that the member on their journey will bring back new techniques and learning to share with the rest of the order making it stronger.

History:
The order used to be a small academy used to train psychicly gifted people on how to use their powers. For centuries its members would go out into the world to fight against the forces of darkness that sought to enslave the world.  That changed about six years ago.

Six years ago the former Grand Master passed away due to old age.  He decreed that Master Wulfenite and his twin Master Onyx would be co-grandmasters.  The two shardminds were the most gifted members of the academy, and they complimented each others talents.  Wulfenite was trained as a battlemind, using his powers to defend the order, Onyx was trained as an Ardent to heal and lead the order's members.  While initially, as was expected by all the members of the order, Wulfenite and Onyx worked well together.  For the first year under Wulfenite and Onyx the order prospered and won many key victories over the forces of darkness.  However it became apparent that the twins did not see eye to eye on all things.

Wulfenite saw the plight of the people of Minya, monsters ravaging the country side, people living in poverty their lives ruined by the vices peddled my the merchant class.  The priests talked about how their gods would protect those that believed and how their holy warriors were driving back the monsters.  The nobles throwing lavish parties while not hundreds starved within the city walls.  Wulfenite wanted to take action, to share the teachings of the order and to save the people of Minya from those that sought to take advantage of them.  Onyx however feared that by opening the order to outsiders that the teachings would become corrupted and twisted until the order was little better than the churches that so enraged Wulfenite.

The debate raged between the twins went on over the next three years. Sometimes it was in the background as more pressing concerns came up, but it was never far from either twin's mind.  Eventually they decided that the only way to solve the debate was a duel.  Winner would be the sole grandmaster, loser could either leave or stay on as a master within the order.  Reports vary on the duel itself, some say it was an epic battle between the twins that went for hours, others say it was over in a single blow.  The outcome however was that Onyx left the order, becoming a hermit in the deserts about two days outside of Noph.  Caravans occasionally report encountering a Shardmind in the dessert who aids those in need of help against the natural forces of the desert, never taking anything in return for his assistance.

Wulfenite has made several changes since his brother left.  The order now welcomes anyone willing to learn, it has sent several of its master out to spread the teachings and better the life of the commoners in Minya. Wulfenite has also driven off the intelligent monster tribes from Minya, many of which had fled north across the Lake of Eternal Mists into the marshes around Lakecrest.  Wulfenite has exposed the clergy for what he knew them to be.  Unfortunately the merchants weaseled their way out of any retribution.  The Sultan of Noph and Wulfenite have come to an understanding and tensions between the order and the nobles while not as tense, are not exactly friendly either.

[Incandescent]

From Scott:

Specific information I'm looking for:

• Are the Yuan-ti in the jungle associated with the cult activity we have been dealing with? (I'm guessing so)
  
  • if so, does this give us an opportunity to find out more about what our enemies are planning?
    
    • Can we get this information from the Caliphate military or the order of the crystal mind without involving ourselves in combat?
• Are the Crystal Mind as "good" as they appear to be?
  • Did they create the evidence that they used against the temples?
• Laws
  • Under what circumstances does one become a slave?
  • Are outsiders bound by different laws

[Incandescent]

Info on the start of the Yuan-ti conflict is a little sketchy from the sources you have access to.  Near as any one can tell they may have taken exception to recent development in the area and the taking back of territory lost to Minya after the spell plague.  But it's not like anyone is interested in having a polite conversation with snake people that are pissed off and rampaging through the jungle.  It could also be that the Yuan-ti finally had built up enough of a force that they felt they could take territory from Minya, driving them entirely from the jungle, and the recent expansion in the area just came at a poor time.  If you want more info you are more than welcome to venture into the jungle, find one of their temples and see if they'll tell you, last group that tried that hasn't been heard from since.

Opinions on the Order of the Crystal Mind vary depending on who you ask.  The man on the street thinks they are good people actually doing something to make things better.  The merchants are split, on one hand it's safer to ship goods, on the other hand they did take a shot at them.  The Sultan of Noph is not a fan, but respects the work that they do, the other sultans feel very similarly and are keeping a close eye on the upstarts lest they rock the boat too much.  The other religious sects think they are something spawned from the nine hells, the abyss, the far realm, or some combination there of, they might be biased/bitter though.  The problem is that they have burst onto the scene in such a short time no one has really had a chance to properly size them up and to collect any dirt on them.  Those that have tried have found them to be so squeaky clean they can only conclude that something must be up as no one is that "Good" without being up to something.

As far as the evidence goes, some of it was confessions from prisoners taken, some was from documents found, some was eye witness reports of deals going down.  All of the evidence was examined with every possible technique magical and mundane to verify it was indeed genuine.  Even so there are some people that think some of the evidence was too good to be true, and that if a cover up of this scale was going on for a long period of time that previous raids by adventurers or the town guard/army would have turned something up.  But that's the only flaw that could be found, it was like the perfect storm of how to discredit most of the major power players in one neat little package was dropped right into the order's lap.

Laws:
Becoming a slave happens in one of two ways: a.) you are unable to pay your debt to someone and are sold into slavery for a period of time as determined by the courts based on the size of the debt and any special skills you may have, b.) you are sold into slavery by your legal guardian or you sell yourself into slavery, normally more common amongst the lower class where there is no other option available and money is needed. There are rumors of option c.) get completely wasted in the wrong bar and wake up a slave, but proof of this is hard to find.

As certified adventurers from Eideburgh you have certain diplomatic privileges:
1.) You can't be sentenced to slavery, instead any assets on you would be ceased by the courts and you would be deported.  Return to the Caliphate of Minya would be possible upon paying any remaining debt off at one of their embassies.  Normally they are nice and leave you with a set of mundane gear so you can get back to adventuring and have a hope of earning some coin to pay off the rest of your debt.  You can still choose to willingly sell yourself into slavery, use of this option is left up to the adventurer in question.
2.) You are allowed to carry all your toys with you without them being peace bound or needing to detail just how many people you can kill with the power of your mind in 60 seconds.  You are still responsible for not using them on the population unless attacked first, even then collateral damage is not acceptable and striking to subdue is preferred as it makes interrogation by the guards much cheaper for all involved (speak with dead rituals don't exactly grow on trees).  You will likely still have a couple of guards assigned to follow you around the major cities to ensure you don't get into too much trouble with all the firepower you have, they try to be subtle about it, it's their job don't give them too hard a time about it, they'll go away after a while. You may also pick up a contingent of spies for the various merchants/nobles depending on how interesting you are, they are more subtle than the guards, you don't have to go easy on them, they go away when you are no longer interesting.
3.) You may request a meeting with the local sultan to discuss concerns or issues your activities in their territories may have/will raise.  In theory you may also request an audience with the Caliph, but you'd better have a good reason for doing so (also strongly recommended that you have gone through the local Sultan and the Sultan of Noph, if not the same person, first).

Otherwise the only other advice that the adventurer's guild has on visiting Minya is to be aware that while Eideburgh is more of a might makes right kind of place, Minya is more of a coin/blackmail/favors makes right place.

Akram Kareem, Leily's father, has heard of your recovery of an airship.  He has offered to pay for the entire retrofit and repair if you can get it down to Noph.  He has purchased a small crystal which should allow you to get it there without worry of it falling out of the sky and had it teleported to your mercenaries at the ariship.  The mercenaries have fit it into the ship and are on their way to pick you up, initial reports are that while it's flying with the new crystal, it handles like a stubborn mule and goes about as fast as a river barge against the current.  They aren't sure how much of that is the cargo they are hauling (dragon eel bits + sharks) and how much is an under powered crystal. though it is agreed that it is better than walking as they can run it 24/7 to make up extra time.