The monarchy of Sardalas is a weak institution, the real power behind the throne is the Sardalas Traders. While some seek to restrain the power of the Sardalas Traders most have seen more wisdom in allying with them and thus partaking of the guild's wealth and power.

Centered around the city of Sardalas, which was built atop an ancient Masetian ruin, this realm is one rich with splendor and corruption. The economy of Sardalas is based on sugar farming, and its sugar is renowned throughout Cerilia for its purity and quality. Plantations dot the country side worked by serfs and owned by rich business men - almost all of whom are members of the guild. The forces of the guild maintain law and order through out most of the realm, protecting it while the Emir entertains himself with frivolous activities at court. The guild maintains Sardalas in a strict caste system to ensure that its power is unchallenged. The serfs are tied to the land, much like Anuirean serfs while noble and merchant classes are held above the law. Sardalas was much freer realm once, but the rise of Rashida Faran has changed all of that by protecting wealth - and thus power - of the merchants at the expense of all others.

The plantations stretch on for miles, the sugar cane waving in the wind while tended by legions of peasants with no hope of a life other than relentless toil. Yet Sardalas is a beautiful realm, the white sand of the shore gleam in the bright sun, the waves dance a perfect azure over coral reefs of spectacular beauty, deep verdant jungles grow beyond the plantations and provide cool shelter from the sun and an abundance of wildlife.

The guilds grip is weak in Djinnim which is still ordered by the red sashes of the Golden Dragons, gruff old soldiers who won the right to wear red sashes after slaying the pirate queen Badiat Min Djinari. These soldiers have now served the royal family for 20 years or more each and have no truck with haughty guilds-masters demanding respect above their station. These old soldiers are sadly a fading breed as they slowly retire - or are forced out by the growing power of the guilds.

Several of these soldiers however, have passed their strict honor code to their children and younger officers, and many of these are beginning to believe that the corruption of the guilds needs to be driven from the land, and that Ahmed ibn Hussein should be placed on the throne in place of the weak Amir. Fortunately for the Amir Ahmed is the first to oppose such plans and his strong support for the Amir has kept these young hotheads loyal - for now.

Azusena sitt Sahiri overseas the plantations and farms of the Sardalas Traders with a fist of velvet and steel. Deeply enamored with her wealth and station she is said to watch peasants flogged in the noon sun while cavorting with her servants and arrange fights between peasants and suitors for the latter to prove their worth. In el-Sahir the life of the peasants is utterly wretched and the gulf between wealthy and poor starker than anywhere else on the island. An official of the guild can claim a peasant as slave in all but name for any of a dozen slights without any question being raised, while those few peasants that speak out or even simply try to flee the fields to which they are indentured are often savagely beaten - if Sahiri is feeling merciful.

All peasants except Kamal bin Anwar that is. The so called 'jungle bandit' has spent the last decade tweaking the nose of the guilds, freeing plantation serfs and smuggling them to other provinces - or even away from Sardalas, killing particularly cruel or sadistic merchants and guards, stealing or destroying rum and other produce, sabotaging operations, etc. His crowning act - writing 'we live free' on the hillside in fire (courtesy of channels dug the night before and copious quantities of stolen rum) while Azusena entertained Reshida Faran saw Sahiri nearly slain for her incompetence - particularly after the guildmistress's prized black stallion was stolen by the laughing Kamal. Only the vast wealth produced by Sahir and her abject groveling spared her life and she was severely reduced in the guilds internal standing by Kamal's open defiance.

Sardalas the province is dominated by Sardalas the city, a city of gleaming white stone where aqueducts bring water from the hills to slake the cities thirst and fine worked fountains cool the inhabitants. These wonders were built long ago by Aasim ibn Diyab el-Akkari, a legendary ruler who cleared the wide streets of the city and lined them with palm trees, dredged the harbor and built the pier and docks until the city could welcome even the largest ships, and truly earned the epithet 'the shining' from his adoring subjects. Even today his sayings are used to add weight to arguments and his poetry is commonly recited.

Sardalas has a large number of fishing villages and is noted for its pearl divers, but its true wealth comes from agriculture and sugar - the city is the center of sugar refining in the realm, lesser specialties are the production of salt and sugared delicacies such as fruit preserves.

The city of Sardalas is the pearl of the realm. Most of the sugar comes through here for shipment both near and far. Most of the city is in some way related to one guild leader or another. Despite this population of rich merchants, Sardalas has an extraordinarily high population of poor folk; mainly cheap labor for the docks.

Dominated by jungle Sira is only lightly populated, though the jungle is slowly being driven back by the expanding plantations. This expansion is furiously opposed by the wizards Rami Niall and Alejan ibn Karim el-Zulif, indeed stopping the mebhaighl of the land being dissipated by the slash and burn tactics of the plantation owners is the only thing the warring wizards agree on.

TBA

Power is split between the Emir and the guilds, though conflict is never overt. The temples mostly avoid politics, having long since learned not the offend the might of the Sardalas Traders, but conspire against each other constantly.

Sardalas is in an intriguing position in that it has two regents. The hereditary regent is Hakim ibn Rashad el-Akkari (MKh, Ftr2, Vo, major, 25, NG). When Hakim inherited the throne (about 10 years ago), several ajazada opposed him and tried to seize the throne themselves. As it turns out, these ajazada were the leaders of the Sardalas Traders, famous at that time for its sugar trade. The insuing civil war had a devastating effect on Sardalas. As the realm was nearing bankruptcy and collapse, a minor merchant within the Sardalas Traders offered the Emir a deal. Soon after, the ajazada leaders of the guild began to die, leaving that minor merchant, Reshida Faran (FKh, T6, Ba, minor, 20, NE) as leader of the guild and partner to the Emir.

Hakim was never intended to be the Emir of Sardalas. He had an older brother that had been prepared for the role. Unfortunately this brother was killed by an unknown assailant, leaving the disinterested Hakim in line for the throne. As a result of this disinterest, Rashida Faran has taken a majority of the law in Sardalas. In addition to the RP donated to her by the Emir, she generates RP from her own law and guild holdings, making her the true power of Sardalas. Reshida Faran is a ruthless business women. Once she has a monopoly in something, she never lets go. Her fleets also raid shipping from surrounding nations and guilds, weakening the competition.

Lieutenants: The leader of the Golden Dragons, Ahmed ibn Hussein (MKh, Ftr4, CG), is a trusted friend and adviser to the Emir. The Emir most often follows Ahmed's advice even though that advice is often contrary to the advice given by Rashida Faran. In fact, Ahmed it appears to some watchers that sometimes it is Rashida ruling, rather than the Emir. As a result, the guildmistress has grown quite tired of Ahmed and the way that he keeps getting in the way of her plans and may soon arrange his downfall - either by disgrace, ambush by bandits, or outright assassination.

• Law: Currently, the regency of Sardlas is a partnership between the Emir and the Guildmistress of the Sardalas Traders. Over the coarse of time, the Sardalas Traders have come to dominate the partnership.

• Temples: Long ago the main religion of the isles, the Southern Seas of Nasri had all but vanished until a recent surge in their popularity brought about by the rise of High Priestess Khalilah min Aqaba. The Besarif Temple of Sarma, founded by the last, corrupt ruler of Besarif held a monopoly on the holdings here for some time. But with the SSN rising in power, and the loss of power in Besarif itself, the BTS has been losing influence steadily. In the insuing chaos, the Askarus Temple of Avani has gained a foothold in Sardalas, hoping to control both ends of Askarus' trade routes.

• Guilds: The sole guild in Sardalas is the Sardalas Traders.

• Sources: The sources are divided between the Doppleganger, Rami Niall, and Alejan ibn Karim el-Zulif, the mage of Semara.

Army: The Emir maintains a unit of Infantry known as the Golden Dragons. This unit acts as his personal body guards. In addition the Emir maintains 3 Khinasi Skirmishers. The Guildmistress Rashida Faran maintains an army of 5 Khinasi Spearmen, 3 Khinasi Skirmishers, and 3 Khinasi Marines.

Navy: The Emir possesses 2 Dhouras. The Guildmistress possesses 4 Zebecs and 6 Dhouras.

Allies: None. Long ago Sardalas was allied with Besarif but those halycon days are long gone, every few generations an idealist tries to revive the nations fortunes by expanding its trading partnerships into true alliances, but these efforts inevitably fail over the years.

Enemies: The guild leader remains suspicious of Askarus, but takes no action against them that might ruin her monopoly over the sugar trade there. Sardalas also faces occasional raids by the forces of the Doppleganger. Sardalas' main enemy remains the realm of Djinara whose pirates are fond of raiding Sardalas' ships and stealing their rich cargo and even raiding the outlying villages to steal rum and foodstuffs.