Shem is a large nation, lying betwixt Koth and Stygia. To the west and to the east are Argos and Turan, respectively. In the west, Shem is meadowland. In the east, desert. The division seems to occur at the hills that rise between the Mountains of Fire on the border of Koth and the Ford of Bubastes on the Styx. The deserts of Shem are vast and cover a wide variety of terrain. Sandy dunes to sun-baked mud to savannah to salt plains. Salt lakes are common in some portions, with attendant pillars of salt and ancient ruins rise out of the hot plains in other places. Ancient tombs can be found buried in the sands or burning on the baked savannahs, silent and grim testaments to the time when Stygia ruled this land. This section lists the largest and most important city-states of Shem. Lists of natural features found in Shem can be found in Conan: The Road of Kings and a list of ruins found in Shem can be found in Conan: Ruins of Hyboria.
City Structure Shem is home to some 34 cities, 180 towns and over 19,000 villages or nomad encampments. Most of the cities and towns are in the west. The cities tend to be the seats of power for each city-state, ruling attendant towns and villages. The cities are constantly at war with each other, even though few, if any, of them are economically stable enough to exist without the trade that passes between the cities, for each city has specialised in some tradable good or other, such as weaponry, wines or the herding of animals. Shemite cities are characterised by white zikkurats and gleaming towers. The only laws in these cities are the ones enforced by the individual kings. What is against the law in one city-state may well be perfectly legal in the next. Shemite cities, often surrounded by high, wide, rectangular walls, are centred on a zikkurat dedicated to a god, for a god either owns the city or comes from the city. Smaller zikkurats may surround the largest one. Broad avenues lead from the city gates to the central zikkurat. The zikkurat is a terraced pyramid; the terraces are often planted with trees, shrubs and other plants, forming gardens. On the top of each zikkurat is a shrine to a god or goddess.
Near the central zikkurat the king and the nobles live in grand palaces complete with spacious gardens and open courtyards. The wealthy citizens have white-washed, two story houses with around a dozen rooms and servant quarters. The buildings of the wealthy are white-washed inside and out to present affluence and an appearance of cleanliness. Some actually have mausoleums on the grounds. The homes of the middle classes, still clustered tightly amid the web of thin alleys, are usually one story with a central court amid several rooms. The common people, slaves mostly, live in small mud-brick houses packed together as tightly as possible in a hodgepodge. Narrow lanes serve as streets. Craftsmen who practice the same trade live and work on the same street. These streets are lined with shops and stalls for these craftsmen, serving as a type of bazaar for that particular type of good.
Gazetteer
Shemite Gazetteer
Many of the cities have canals to serve as harbours for boats. Each city also has one or more ‘ports of trade’, called karum. The karum may be actual harbours, if the city has a riverfront or is on the sea, or the karum may be a harbour for caravans. In addition to being a centre of commerce, the karums also housed foreign traders, keeping them segregated from the arrogant Sons of Shem.
Abbadrah Abbadrah is a minor city-state of southern Shem. Several caravan roads pass through this walled city, leading to Eruk to the north and to Asgalun to the west. This small city exports pomegranates, dates and mercenaries in exchange for common trade goods. Abbadrah has a thick, battlemented wall but many of its districts lie outside that wall. It has one main gate. The main gate is a massive construction, a fortification inlaid with coloured tiles. One side of the city is against the local hills but is not well defended. Its asshuri is commanded by a 14th level soldier, the regional commander. Beneath him, are the 660 members of the Abbadrah asshuri. The mercenary half of the Abbadrah asshuri is led by a 12th level soldier (a captain) and he routinely utilises around 300 of the available soldiers. This half of the asshuri may or may not be present at any given time. Two 6th level flight leaders answer to the captain. Four 3rd level hawk leaders command the remaining 2nd level mercenary soldiers. The home
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