“You think you know what it means to be hungry? We wear our starvation like armour, our poverty is our knives and greed is our hope. I spit on your struggles, you lie in them ignorant of what you have.”
Overview
North of the Basilisk gate, facing westward into the Great Trade Sea is the land of the Adanji. An Esterran people, the Andanji (meaning ‘Crablike-mortals’ in their tongue) are a harsh and cunning culture. Growing from a confederacy of cities and trading fleets over the last four hundred years, the Adanji are bound now in a vicious and ornery defensiveness. Their land is a hard and unforgiving swamp bound by salt lakes as large as some nations, a place of no good and little wealth. But the Adanji survive, if not thrive, and they will damn those who try to take it from them.
Known History and Geography
The Adanji Shahak refers to the polity that rules the geographic region known as Adan, occupied by the people known as the Adanji. Concordian Sailors, old maps and rumour say that Adan stretches from Zatiri Zan in the West, along the North West coast of Esterra until the colossal mountains in the north rise from the waves and stand tall. While travel for foreigners in Adan is limited, those who have visited say that maps of Adan encompass three coastal territories known as Zatiri Zan, Kothar Mal and Mallak Zan (west to east) and two inland territories; Gossen Mal and Hodag Zan.
Viewed from the sea, Adan is a land of briny mangrove swamps that are fed by vast inland swamps. Numerous large estuaries disrupt the coastline as if a massive creature of the sea had taken bites out of the land. The cities of the Adanji (notably Bohak in Zatiri Zan and Calamanji in Kothar Mal) are wide and squat settlements built of bright cream clay floated downriver from the inland regions. Sailors have likened the appearance of Bohak as ‘the bleached lower jaw of a giant sunk into the swamp, its square teeth jutting stupidly into the sun.”
An Esterran people, the Adanji are tight lipped about their history (like they are about most things) but the assumption is that the ancestors of the Adanji existed in the region of Adan for some time before being united by their current line of rulers, a bloodline that is apparently five hundred years old. It appears that the Adanji Shahak is at its height although the true internal history of the Andanji is likely more complicated than simply rise and falls.
The Shahak is ruled by a royal title known as a ‘Malzan’. The current Malzan is known as Malzan Parassan Kashik, a man of middle years who has ruled as Malzan for some time. The eldest son of the last Malzan, Parassan is said to be a strong Malzan who has protected the Shahak and ‘kept the ways of bone and salt.’
The Adanji are a non-spheric people, instead their spirituality is tied strongly to the land of Adan and particularly a pantheon of spirits within it, each personified in a single animal found within. While a complex understanding of the religion has not been completed, the large hunting fiddler crab called ‘Jikalli’ appears to occupy the central position. The priests seen in Bohak and Calamanji are garbed in bright robes of red and yellow, often adorned with bones, salt and bleached crab carapaces.
Outside involvement, be it aggressive or economic, in The Shahak is minimal. The Adanji have very little to trade aside from a smattering of strange herbal ingredients from within the mangroves and refuse to trade their currency with outsiders. Equally, the lands of Adan are lousy with dangerous creatures like slim tree-climbing crocodiles called ‘Casunam’ and parasitic aquatic millipedes that bite like ticks or leeches called ‘Pauhki’. Lack of fresh water, ornery wildlife and poor material wealth make for poor conquering and so the Adanji have largely been left well enough alone. The Adanji themselves are also quite aggressive to outsiders with piracy in their waters being the norm and access to their cities restricted to those without an ally within their white-clay walls.
Recent History
The Adanji have had little to no contact with The Concord since its founding. However a fleet of ships flying the Adanji banner of a blue moon over red and gold have acted on behalf of Trade Prince Majiid, ruler of the Trade Principality of Aprivano, since mid 222AE. While these small but fast craft have yet to trade blows with Concordian mariners, they have fought against the Golden Fleet of Ophelia Diablos and held their own. Their connection or agreement with the Trade Prince remains unclear.
Look and Feel
A poor people, the Adanji favour hard wearing garb and tools that are reserved in ostentatiousness. Thick woven fabrics from plant fibre are common for most, often added to by animal hides of large reptiles or short furred animals of the swamps. Dies are common, predominantly in warm colours such as yellows and reds. Metal is rare and expensive within Adan and so axes and spears are common weapons instead of swords, with many common craftsfolk working with bone instead. Adanji bonecrafts are exceedingly well made and can fetch a good price in foreign ports.
The Adanji Shahak In Play
The Adanji are a distant and slightly alien culture to The Concord despite sharing a continent with them. Their prickly nature and limited reach ensure that they remain so for all but the most interested scholars and sailors. Currently Adan is closed to Concordian ships and most information arises as rumour rather than fact. While this may change in time it would require some effort from The Concords part.
As The Concord has lacked any strong ties to the Adanji up to this point, much of this information may be out of date or perhaps based on rumour.
Pronunciation Guide
Adanji - Uh-DARN-Jee
Shahak - SHUH-hack
Adan - Uh-DARN
Malzan - MALL-ZARN