Nobatia

Nobatia formed as a splinter kingdom of Kush in the last days of the empire. It worshiped the Kushite gods, and followed Kushite customs. For the last four hundred years or so Nobatia has ceased to be an independent kingdom, and has instead been under the suzerainty of Makuria. A viceroy called the Eparch of Nobatia rules from Premnis in lieu of an independent ruler. Thus far, Nobatia has remained culturally distinct from its southerly neighbor, and has resisted all attempts to become a mere province of Makuria. Like ancient Kush, Nobatia practices state-mandated redistribution of wealth: all excess produce is collected by inspectors, and then given out to those who

need it. Priority is given to those who have made contributions in former years. There is little poverty in Nobatia as a result.

Nobatia is a free trade zone, unlike Makuria. All cargo destined for further upriver must be delivered into the hands of Nobatian factors. Egyptian coinage is legal tender, and Egyptians can trade without restriction. Trade with Alodia cannot pass through Makuria, and so Nobatian towns are departure points for caravans crossing the desert destined for Alodia, bypassing Makuria altogether. This is a risky prospect given the dangers of the desert.

Nobatia extends from the first to the third cataract of the River Nile. It is mostly desert, with the Libyan Desert to the west of the river and the Nubian Desert to the east. The Nobatians do not stray far from the floodplain of the river, and have built all their settlements on its banks. Those on the eastern bank are more heavily fortified, to protect them from the occasional raids of the fierce Blemmyae tribes.

Since the recent threats from Ayyubid forces, and facing aggression from Bedouin nomads, the population of Nobatia has begun to concentrate in hilltop and island walled towns, rather than remain in the more scattered traditional settlements. Houses have been reinforced, and have internal stores for food and valuables.

Ado is a hilltop fortress which, along with Premnis and Pakhoras, is one of the three principal towns of Nobatia. Ado is the capital of the subkingdom of Dotawo, a province of Makuria within the subject nation of Nobatia, and the lordship of the eparch. Like Premnis, it suffered under the Abbasid invasion of Nubia in 1172; the Egyptians searched Ado (which they call Jabal 'Adda) for the Eparch of Nobatia, but failed to capture him.

Ado is home to the eparch's personal church; while not a cathedral church, this place of worship is an impressive work of architecture with a complex geometric mosaic floor.

Under the Fatimids, this Arab tribe controlled the Aswan region, and one of their rulers was awarded the title of Kanz al-Dawlah ("treasure of the state") for his services to the caliph; this title subsequently became hereditary.

The Ayyubids that replaced the Fatimids drove out the Banu al-Kanz, and they retreated into the northern territories of Nobatia, where they have established a semi-independent Muslim principality within Nobatian territory.

Extending southwards from around the second cataract for eighty miles is the Batn al-Hajar, or "belly of stones." Named by Egyptian traders, the Nile flows through a barren, mountainous landscape. There is no floodplain at all; for much of its length the Nile flows between high cliffs and in some places the river may be no more than twenty paces wide. The river is constantly interrupted by numerous rapids, outcrops, and small islands, and cannot be navigated even at the peak of the Nile flood.

Some of the islands are big enough to house miniature forts, built recently by people fleeing encroachment of the Banu al-Kanz following their expulsion from Egypt. The islands are often built upwards into rocky towers so that the fortress can withstand the yearly floods. Apart from these fortress-dwellers, the Batn al-Hajar is virtually uninhabited, so hostile is this land and so poor in resources.

The Batn al-Hajar marks the division between Lower Nubia where foreigners are welcome, and Upper Nubia where foreign trade is forbidden. The fortress at Akasha has a garrison guarding Nobatia from the Banu al-Kanz.

Kalabsha was the capital of the post-Kushitic Blemmyae state, and they raised a temple to Mandulis here which is mostly still standing. Kalabsha today forms the smallest of Nobatia's bishoprics.

For centuries there have been stories of twin temples carved out of a mountain somewhere upriver of Philae. Buried under millennia of dust and sand, their location is now unknown, but this does not stop treasure hunters from searching the sands of Lower Nubia for clues. It is said that Pharaoh Ramses built these temples in order to intimidate his southern neighbors, whom he claimed to have defeated at Kadesh. The Great Temple was dedicated to Amun, Ra, Ptah, and the deified pharaoh himself; the Small Temple to Hathor and Ramses' wife Nefertari.

Explorers have been unsuccessful in locating the lost temples because they reside

Pakhoras is built on the Kom, a hill that forms the original island on the Nile. When the pre-Christian Nubians first settled here, they slew the giant who was the embodiment of the Kom and a powerful servant of the Red. Its bones were crushed and fed to livestock and its flesh shredded and fed to birds. These animals were then fed to dogs and lions, who in turn were killed and burned, and the ashes scattered into the wind. Some believe that the sand that blows daily into Pakhoras to be the Kom, trying to reconstitute its disintegrated body. If this is the case, then it is gradually winning; more sand enters Pakhoras each day than can ever be removed, and some claim they have seen the sand piles ripple and move on their own, like muscles preparing to flex.

within a Faerie regio with an aura of 5. The entrance to this regio can be divined from the behavior of a troop of baboons who are descended from animals kept at the temple. There are always twenty two baboons in the troop, and at dawn they raise their arms and worship the rising sun. If a human replaces one of the baboons in this daily ritual, he witnesses the sun penetrating the sand and alighting upon the statues that guard the temple, and may approach.

Menarti is a small island at the foot of the second cataract; the name means "island of Mei," Mei being a name for Saint Michael who is patron, along with Saint Cosmas, of the small monastery on the island. Menarti is the limit of the upriver navigation from Egypt; south from here is the Batn al-Hajar (see earlier) which is impassable by boat.

Takoa

A small town on the southernmost tip of Menarti, Takoa is a customs post on the frontier between Lower and Upper Nubia. No foreign merchant is permitted to pass through Takoa; all cargoes must be surrendered to the officials at Takoa, from where they are delivered to the eparch.

The name of this city is rendered as Bukharas in Arabic, and it is occasionally referred to as Faras. Pakhoras is still the religious and cultural center of Nobatia, even though the Makurian-appointed eparch now administers the kingdom from Premnis. The inhabitants of Pakhoras have a daily struggle against the tons of sand blown into the town. Pakhorans employ armies of 'sand-warriors' armed with buckets and spades, whose job is to remove the daily accumulation of sand from the important buildings such as the cathedral and the palace, as well as the properties of those who can afford to pay for the service. This sand is dumped on the west side of the city in such quantity that Pakhoras, once built on an island, now stands on a peninsula, since the channel to the mainland has silted up entirely. Even this is not enough, and every few decades the citizens of the city are forced to raise their thresholds to surmount the sand. Past generations have even raised their walls and replaced the roofs.

Most of the city was built during Kushite times, and is still intact and in remarkably good condition. Most notable are the city's enclosing wall and the royal palace. The wall surrounds the city on three sides, with the river providing poor defense on the east. It is ten paces high and three paces thick, and has just three gates. Like other buildings in Pakhoras, periodically the walls and gates are extended upwards due to the accumulation of sand. The palace of the former king now lies empty in the center of the city; it is richly decorated with statues of the lion-headed Kushite gods. As the highest point in the city, sand does not tend to accumulate here. There are two temples built in the days of Ancient Egypt; one is mostly ruins, and the other has been converted into a warehouse for trade goods. Pakhoras is famous for its pottery factories. Owned by the monastery within the town, it produces finely decorated vessels that are exported throughout Nubia and beyond.

Pakhoras has a large and imposing cathedral to house its bishop, and in the immediate vicinity has six other churches. It also boasts a large monastery on a hilltop just outside the city as well as a smaller monastery within the town. There is even a mosque, to service foreign traders, although the call to prayer is not permitted to be declaimed publicly on the order of the bishop. As well as numerous warehouses, the city has a large marketplace, which sells all manner of exotic goods from Alodia and beyond. Outside the southern gate is a vast tent city of drovers who care for the horses, donkeys, and camels of visitors. Here too can be found escorts and mercenaries from Atbara (see later) who can arrange passage across the river and south to Alodia without entering Makuria.

Facing Pakhoras on the opposite bank of the river, this old pharaonic fortress has been refortified, and is occupied by Pakhoras's military. There are plans for evacuation to Serra in the face of an invasion, and the fortress maintains plentiful stores of food and firewood.

Philae consists of a pair of islands in the first cataract of the Nile, also known as the Pearl of Egypt. The smaller island, Philae proper, was sacred to Egyptians and Nubians alike as a burial place of the god Osiris, and was dubbed "The Unapproachable" due to the social and religious ban on landing on the island except after completing the appropriate rituals. No birds fly over Philae, nor can fish be caught from its shores. The larger island is known as Senmut or Beghé, and bears monuments to the pharaohs and emperors who claimed Egypt.

In both the pharaonic period and the Graeco-Roman period, Philae received an abundance of buildings, to such an extent that most of the area of both islands bears a monument of one era or another. Most prominent are the temples to Isis, Amun-Osiris, Hathor, and Horus. The region around Philae was called the Dodekachoenus, and was considered the estate of Isis. Its revenue was used to sup-

Throughout Nobatia, on both sides of the Nile, are massive tumuli holding the bodies of kings and princes. Many of these man-made hills enclose palaces or compounds housing the dead royal, along with rich grave goods and the bodies of sacrificed animals, especially dogs. Most of these graves belong to pre-Christian kinglets, although the earliest Nobatian kings also chose to be buried in this manner despite their Christian faith, to maintain continuity with the past. Each intact tumulus (for some have been robbed) has a Magic aura of 1, and may contain a grave guardian such as a mummified dog.

port the priests of the Great Temple.

Philae was one of the original bishoprics of the Nubian Church, although the cathedra was later moved to Kalabsha. The land around Philae that once served the priests of the island is now occupied by the Banu al-Kanuz (see earlier), and the small populace — mostly inhabitants of the small monastery, both regular clergy and lay brothers — feel under siege from the Muslim nomads, although they have made no serious attempt on the well-fortified island as yet.

Premnis (Pedeme in Kushite times, Qasr Ibrim to the Arabs) is a fortified hilltop settlement that serves as the administrative center of Nobatia. It was originally the site of seven temples built by the Nubian pharaohs of Egypt, but the site was occupied by their Ptolomaic and Roman successors. The Ptolomies built a massive girdle wall about the town. It was not until the conversion of Nobatia to Christianity in the seventh century that Premnis became an important domestic rather than religious settlement. Its temples were converted into churches, and an impressive stone cathedral dedicated to Our Lady the Pure Virgin was built for its bishop.

Premnis suffered an invasion by Ayyubid forces in 1172, and the cathedral was damaged. Following their expulsion, Premnis's fortifications were restored and improved, and secular buildings were built among the religious ones. A large, two level piazza that had been built over the remains of one of the temples has now been occupied by irregularly-built stone housing to accommodate the growing population. The eparch of Nobatia moved his administration from Pakhoras to Premnis at the same time.

Premnis is built high above the floor of the Nile Valley. During the inundation it does not need to be abandoned like many sites in Lower Nubia, although it does become an island. Premnis is an administrative capital rather than a mercantile one; foreign merchants usually bypass Premnis in favor of better opportunities at Pakhoras.

The largest permanent island on the Nile, Sai is six miles long by three miles wide. A large, brick-walled fortress stands on the eastern shore of the island; this ancient structure dates back to pharaonic Egypt. Sai is the seat of one of Nubia's bishops, and a small town surrounds the cathedral.

Since the middle of the 12th century the kings of Makuria and Alodia have been building a number of fortresses along the River Nile. There are currently over fifty of these, which stretch from Soba in the south to Kalabsha in the north. Nearly every isolated hill top with an independent water source now bears a fortress big enough to hold the local population, and contains deep crypt-like storage rooms stocked with grain and other food. These fortresses are a response to the increasing aggression of Nubia's Muslim neighbors to the north.

As a preparatory measure, the smaller fortresses are often manned by a minimal garrison, and lie mostly deserted. More than one has been covertly taken over by bandits; sometimes more sinister forces can be found in residence.