The Forbidden City

Originally called Talkathu, the city of the desert, the now renamed Forbidden City lies in the far western part of the desert of Talka-makal and houses the people of the desert, the Mahouti.

As a sanctuary
Built as a sanctuary for the people following the prophet Mahout during the great exodus. Mahout revolted against the ban on the old ways of worshipping ancestors. After an unsuccesful revolt which lead to great losses for the rebels they were forced to move westward in hope of finding a new future.

The sacking of Talkathu
During the War of the Sacred Oath (LINK), the initial success of the Mahouti skirmishers proved to be futile as the Xanathuan counter-attack eliminated all resistance. Countless civilians meet their end at the hands of the mericiless hordes of slave-warriors and their Xanathuan masters.

Even though the marsh through Talka-makal decimated the numbers of the Xanathuan invaders they still retained enough military power to besiege and eventually sack Talkathu. To deter the Mahouti from resettling the area the Xanathuan army built a garrison nearby and gave the city it's new name as a warning. The city has since been restored to its former glory as the lack of supplies made the Xanathuan garrison weak and eventually succumbed to hunger and desperation. This gave the surviving Mahouti time to reorganise and recapture the area.

Surviving in the desert
The blistering sea of sand which is Talka-makal gives little of opportunity for the weak-willed. At first glance the desert seems almost devoid of life as only a few trees and cacti grow here. Only a few oasis breaks the monotomy of the landscape.

To survive in such a harsh environment requires discipline as the scarce resources makes a life of leisure impossible. Hardship marks all who wanders the dunes of Talka-makal.

The Mahouti survive and even thrive in this region due to the following factors:

The domestication of the Ogdba reptiles which produce meat, egg, shells and leather. Their shell make for excellent protection from the sun and are often used as both shields and headware by the Mahaouti. They also produce water stored in sacks underneath their shells.

Another factor which contributes to the surivival of the Mahouti is the use of greenhouses. These are made of out of obsidian glass which are almost pitch black but translucient enough to let the rays of the sun through. Most of the architecture of the Forbidden City on the surface floor is dominated by these structures. Many wonderous plants and edible roots grow in these greenhouses.

The third and last factor is the art of turning sand into building block. It's rumoured that it was Mahout himself who learned the first Mahouti to transform the crystal structures of the sand into hard enough materials to build houses and even form tools and equipment out of it. They use so-called Solar Forges to melt and reconstruct the sand into hardened glass.