| Long before there was a Citadel of Ice and Steel, there was El Ziafar. Once upon a time the djinn had no single leader, but were broken into many tribes even as the jann are today. It came to pass that eight tribes settled in a great axial point in the Plane of Air where eight winds diverged in eight directions. Each of the eight claimed one of the winds and built a gate to harness it and a palace around the gate. Eventually the palace-gates were connected and became a city. Because one of eight families claimed each of El Ziafar's eight directions, however, it was difficult to make any move between the palaces without one of the winds buffeting the traveler another way. Finally, it was decided that an impartial moderator was needed to make decisions on how the winds were to be routed. Enter the Caliph, both a secular leader and a priest of Wind itself.For a time, all was well. Unfortunately, the eight families began interfering more and more with the Caliph's decisions. They claimed many ancient privileges and protocols, so that eventually it became impossible for the Caliph to make any decision without being pulled in eight different directions.Disgusted with this state of affairs, the Caliph decided to move his capital outside the eight families' grasp. He called upon the greatest artisans in the planes to create a new capital - the azer, the invisible stalkers, the titans, and several forge gods have claimed credit, but the merry djinn keep everyone guessing as to who finally built the Citadel of Ice and Steel, which now moves freely through the different winds of the plane, going wherever the Caliph pleases.El Ziafar has in the meantime lost much of its prestige. The families that once held so tightly to their titles are now mostly forgotten by the rest of the plane, and they are willing in their desperation to appoint any visitor they meet ruler of their town for a year and a day. How else can they exercise their ancient traditions?DescriptionThe eight palaces of the eight families surround the central place, now empty but kept in good condition for the Caliph should he or a replacement return. In between are a number of smaller buildings and marketplaces that sit on a (somewhat faded) magic carpet stretched between the eight gates of the winds.The families are old and strange by the standards of modern djinn. The dialect of Jannti, the genie language, that they speak is archaic and stilted and much more closely related to Auran than more recent dialects. Their appearance, too, is bizarre, a relic of a time when the djinn were first trying to adapt themselves to the Elemental Plane of Air. Some have made themselves birdlike, while others are elongated and wispy. They're entirely aware that their kin elsewhere on the plane have abandoned these strategies.The names of the families are: Tramontana, Greco, Levante, Siroco, Ostro, Libeccio, Ponente and Maestro. These names aren't derived from Jannti; where they come from is unknown, but it is thought to be some archaic version of the Auran tongue.The Tramontana family is the most martial of the eight. Their symbol is the spear. The family's head, Dun Matteo, is a pure fighter of a strength unmatched in all El Ziafar. The family is characterized by tongues of airy flesh, like tongues of flame, that erupt from their bodies and vanish at random times.The Greco family is the most humanoid of the eight. They dress in severe black togas and claim an ancient tie to the Olympian (or Carcerian) titans. Their head is named Dun Themistocles, and is a powerful cleric of Akadi.The Levante family are mostly mystics with a tradition of prophesy and healing. Their bodies are elongated and slightly transparent. They worship many gods, including Akadi, Aurifar, Zoser, Raven, and Azul. Their family's head is called Dun Gaetan, and he claims to be the more potent cleric of Akadi than Dun Themistocles Greco.The Siroco family are sensual lot, more willing to offer pleasures of the flesh to those strangers who would be their city's new caliph than others. They are humanoid, but steam roils from their supernaturally hot flesh. The other families speculate that the Sirocos have efreeti blood, but this is not considered the bad thing it might seem to more modern djinni sensibilities. The head of their house is Dun Karm, a bard.The Ostro family is the most birdlike of them all, with beaklike noses and feathers in their flesh. They are secretive, and rumors have it they have congress with dark powers. This is not looked down upon among the Eight Families, though few but the Ostro would bother. The head of their family is Dun Ximenes, a necromancer.The Libeccio family is the most chaotic and tempestuous of the lot. The wind that flows from their palace is filled with nonstop shouts and screams; when unrest threatens El Ziafar, the Libeccios are the cause. Each shapes himself or herself to look different; their forms are a mad riot of creativity. Their leader is Dun Mikiel, a rogue.The Ponentes wear little clothing except for body paints and feathers. Their skin is very dark for djinn, the color of the evening sky. Their palace is made of light canvas and, in many places, open to the sky. They have planted palm trees and the like in their estate. Their leader is Dun El-Irvell, a druid.The Maestros are musicians and assassins. They contract themselves out to the other families to entertain or kill them. They have subtly birdlike features and movements; their hollow bones make them lighter and quieter than most of the other families. The Maestro family has two heads: Dun Xuereb, their greatest assassin, and Dun Mifsud, their greatest bard. The two are brothers, and tend to agree with one another in all things.ChantThere are, among the families, genasi descended in part from nongenie caliphs who have reigned in the past. Known as the half-winds and quarter-winds, they have a social status equal to their full-djinni siblings.Whydo the Eight Families remain in this isolated corner of the plane? Whynot abandon El Ziafar and join mainstream djinni society? Part of theexplanation is that they've become too out of touch to relate tomainstream djinn anymore. The greater part, however, is that the axisupon which the town is built really contains great power over thewinds, a power those outside aren't even aware of. What causes onebreeze to blow one way in the Plane of Air and not another? The EightFamilies know. Their problem is that the families quarrel with oneanother so much that the winds might as well be entirely random - atleast, when there is no Caliph reigning.There are whispers among inner-planar chant-mongers that the Caliph of the Djinn didn't commission the Citadel of Ice and Steel at all - that it was instead stolen from Cryonax, the icy Prince of Elemental Evil, and Cryonax wants it back.The djinn seem unconcerned with this, though they take their usual precautions against invasion. After all, they've held on to it this long. Unless the Princes of Elemental Evil have some new tricks in their sleeves, what could happen? And when has Evil ever created anything new when it could pervert the work of others instead? |
