Tarantis is a city state which has a rather romantic reputation throughout the Wilderlands.
This fame rests
on fact that it is the port through which goods from the exotic and ancient Kingdom of
Karak flow to the towns and cities of the Wilderlands. It is also the site of
the ruins of the legendary Ivory City of the Empire of Kelnore which exist just across the
bay from modern Tarantis.
The truth is rather more prosaic for Tarantis is a large city (several times the size of
Zothay) but also a rather dirty and smelly one.
The rule of law in the city is actually only a veneer across a rather more chaotic underbelly.
Tarantis
was laid out as a city 2,500 years ago although it had existed for maybe a hundred years
before that. It was founded originally by an alliance of Gismesh and Paldorian tribes
and the culture of those tribes and their religions are still deeply ingrained in city life.
Although there are eighteen religions officially recognised by the state the chief gods of
Tarantis are
Selanii, a Gishmesh Goddess of the Sea, and Adorak Tau,
the Paldorian Sun God.
For much of its history Tarantis has existed on an uneasy combination of trade and piracy.
The Tarantian Merchants Association, founded some 400 years after the city walls were built
is probably the leading faction in the city and membership of it helps to distinguish
between the traders and the pirates. Rumours, however, are that the pirates themselves now
have a similar organisation and the state, the Merchants Association and the pirates are
hand in glove.
The current Emir's father, Edario, came to power when he overthrew the last dynasty whose
heir had been a rather sickly child who later died in exile. Edario and his successor and son,
Atar the Lion,
have ruled for nearly hundred years beween them and brought considerable stability to Tarantis,
although both father and son acquired a reputation for ruthlessness. It is said that
the secret police,
the Blue Cobras, are the only real law in Tarantis.
Tarantis has long vied for supremacy of the northern seas with the
Skandiks and the fleet of the Warlord of
Quitak. Lately, however, their has been an uneasy standoff with the
Warlord's ships and noone knows the reason as there is no official peace treaty. The Tarantian
pirates of course continue to attack allcomers.