Surenshahr

Surenshahr, capital of the Suren Confederacy as well as seat of government for the eponymous province of Suren. Once an oasis city within its own enclosed valley, and the site of a nearby ruined Babkhan MilZig, the city became the capital of the Suren Confederacy on account of being a defensible location from which to the rebel Surenids could maintain a close siege of the House of Osman loyalists in Raspur during the Second Euran War.

Home to 260,218 citizens, or 17% of the population of the province of Suren. The main street, unsurprisingly is Lord Suren Avenue, named for the father of the present Surenshah, the leader of the clan during its revolt against the holders of the Flayed-Skin Throne in Raspur. The walled bazaar, as well as the fortified compounds of the major ministries, the government offices, and the transportation stations, the departure point for land-cruiser convoys and the infamous local autobus service, are all to be found along the north-south axis of the broad thoroughfares that constitute Lord Suren Avenue. In contrast to Raspur, some effort has been put into repairing the roads of this city, a mixture of raised cobblestone and concrete, provided with adequate gutters for draining away the refuse of an otherwise inevitably insanitary Euran metropolis.

Landmarks

The Bazaar

The grand bazaar of Surenshahr serves as far more than a mere market place, it is the place where the eminent representatives of the great merchant houses and the transportation guilds meet to transact business over interminable cups of coffee, cigarettes, and trays of bághlavá - a delicate and flaky pastry glazed with honey and nuts. It is, as such, the place where the prices of staple commodities are fixed in such a way as to be replicated throughout the Suren Confederacy in all places where the Bazaaris, as men of good sense and discretion, hold sway. The bazaar has grown haphazardly since the days of the Second Euran War, and can, in consequence, be rather sleazy, especially in the hours of dark when the streets are only lightly patrolled by lantern carrying nightwatchmen.

The main entrance to the bazaar is along the Lord Suren Avenue, and, as it is contained within its own crumbling defensive wall, it has the aspect of being almost a city within a city. Within the bazaar can be found a dozen fire temples, a fighting pit, a house of strength, several guest houses, and the stalls of the powerful money-changers. The bazaar has its own dedicated fire brigade which doubles as a police force, paid for by the subscriptions of those who conduct business within the walls of the bazaar - these traders not being notable for the faith they place in the gendarmes of the Confederacy. Within the warren of streets and alleyways may be found distinctive districts where specialists in particular commodities may be found; copper, paper, gold, spices, carpets, contracts for indentured servants, tobacconists, shoemakers, tailors, scribes and bookkeepers, haberdashers, gunsmiths, knife-makers, and carpenters. To walk past any of these establishments is to run the danger of being firmly accosted and whisked off for a tour of the wares on offer, culminating in the insistent politeness of the Babkhan hard-sell, the highly professional demonstration of which rivals only that of their great rivals and competitors in the bazaar of Raspur.

Surenstan Palace

Proceeding south along the Lord Suren Avenue and past the walled bazaar the traveller will encounter the Surenstan Palace complex, formed of six concentrically enclosed courtyards, each one representing a province of the confederacy, culminating in a lush water-garden at its heart and the citadel that houses the private quarters and harem of the Surenshah. Although the citadel began life as an artillery tower dating back to the Kapav era of Babkhan history, the surrounding palace complex itself, and the landscaped gardens they are set within, were created by the Lord Suren, and the work of their construction and beautification continued by his son the Surenshahr. The palace is closed to the public although petitioners and those on official business are granted admission after passing through the outer security cordon maintained by the Gendarmes, and then the inner security cordon controlled by the Ghulaim, the slave-guards who defend and patrol the royal residencies and whom are pledged by oaths of blood and salt to sacrifice their lives for the Surenshah and his kin if called upon to do so.

The Palace of Justice

The Palace of Justice should be noted, the better to avoid it. The Palace is in truth a squat two-storey building, constructed of reinforced concrete, faced with mud-brick and decorated with blue mosaic tiling. The mosaic patterns spell out, in recursive Eurani script, the ancient Babkhan saying which became ubiquitous during the era of the Harmonious Society: "Zurvan ordains thus for all Believers: there can be no Mercy, only Justice; swift, everlasting, and implacable. Woe to all who forget this". Although the Palace of Justice is notable for the octagonal panopticon tower, festooned with CCTV cameras and miscellaneous antennae, which looms large over it, the visitor will truly know that they stand before it if they are in a position to observe the adjacent raised platform upon which, at the time of writing, are to seen the first two tiers of what is fully planned to be a pyramid of skulls. We are here confronted with confirmation that the Suren Confederacy is a polity which is governed, unapologetically, along Neo-Babkhan lines. The reasons for avoiding this wretched spot are two fold, both arising from the fact that horror and morbid fascination could be misconstrued as an undue interest by either the gendarmes, or else by the more crafty and guileful members of the populace who are forever on the lookout for that most perennial of victims - the tourist. Look overlong at the grisly collection of bleached skulls and the visitor stands in danger of either being whisked inside the grim barracks by two or more heavily armed gendarmes, or else runs the risk of being accosted by a talkative gentleman, invariably sporting a fez of the type that went out of fashion before the Babkhan Holocaust, who will begin to discourse, earnestly and insistently upon the particulars of specific skulls set in amongst the tableau of horror. In either eventuality the unfortunate visitor will have to pay dearly in order to extricate himself from the unfortunate position he has fallen into.

Industrial New Town

Located a distance of five kilometres to the east of the city walls can be found the Industrial New Town, built in increments during the 1680's and centred around the vast and growing chemical works owned and operated by the Immortal Fire Company. The Suren Central Manufacturing Organisation specialising in the production of internal combustion engines, including piston engines for aircraft, and diesel engines for vehicles including land cruisers and armoured vehicles.