The City-States of the Black Desert
Oases of life within the oppressive heat of the Black Desert, the seven tiefling city-states spring forth from the sands. Each of the city-states is run by a merchant prince: the wealthiest persons in the land, and perhaps even the world.
Descendants of Sin
In ancient times, the Black Desert was ruled over by a powerful empire. Their monuments can be found buried deep beneath the sand to this day. Their pharaoh, whose name has been lost to time, was a powerful shaman who used dark, fiendish magic to destroy his enemies and become nearly immortal. Fiendish blood still flows through the descendants of this empire, though if it is a blessing or a curse no one can say.
The Merchant Princes
Each city-state is ruled over by the wealthiest and most influential individual, known as a merchant prince. These positions are relatively stable now that the city-states have brokered a tenuous peace.
A Fiendish Reputation
Though the tieflings of the Black Desert are not descended from fiends, outsiders are quick to make such claims. This reputation has earned the city-states the nickname of the Cities of Sin, with each earning its own title corresponding to its vice.
Most tieflings embrace this reputation and use it to their advantage, though some are truly ashamed of their people's devious ways.
Tiefling Appearances
The tieflings of the Black Desert have skin in warm shades, typically red, and sport horns protruding from their foreheads of various shapes. All tieflings share the iconic traits of digitigrade legs, sharp fangs, and black sclera.
Alvar'el
The City of Lust
Population: Tieflings (Fierna or Asmodeus w/ Devil's Tongue Variant)
Merchant Prince: Saleema (Female Fierna Tiefling)
Alvar'el is immensely popular among travelers, being a city of free love; it has the largest brothel-per-capita of any in the known world. As such, the city-state's biggest industry is entertainment. Alvar'el has many theaters, fine dining establishments, and dancing troupes to satisfy tourists.
The tieflings of Alvar'el have pink-red skin, with curved horns and spade-tipped tails.
Jasa'ad
The City of Greed
Population: Tieflings (Mammon or Asmodeus)
Merchant Prince: Shaziir (Male Mammon Tiefling)
The largest trading center of the city-states, Jasa'ad is also the most wealthy. As such, its merchant prince is arguably the most powerful, controlling a large banking network that spans the entire desert.
Shoppers who seek the highest quality goods will find them in Jasa'ad, but they must be willing to pay a hefty price. Those who find themselves indebted and unwilling or unable to pay end up enslaved or unceremoniously killed.
The tieflings of Jasa'ad have bright red skin,
with forked horns and short tails that
end in a tuft of hair.
Rafe'em
The City of Envy
Population: Tieflings (Glasya or Asmodeus)
Merchant Prince: Nalia (Female Glasya Tiefling)
The city-state of Rafe'em is home to the largest and most powerful thieves guild in the realm. It is said that the merchant prince herself is only a puppet of the guild. Nothing within the city happens without the approval of this criminal organization.
The city is built upon the ruins of the catacombs from the old Black Empire, and many treasure hunters journey into its depths to find their fortune.
The tieflings of Rafe'em have deep purple-red skin, with twisted horns and tails ending in a scythe-like spike.
Dhurh'el
The City of Sloth
Population: Tieflings (Baalzebul or Asmodeus)
Merchant Prince: Hamza (Male Baalzebul Tiefling)
Dhurh'el is the largest supplier of slave labor for the Black Desert. Many of the slaves are criminals, but many also are captives from the nomadic tribes that roam the desert. With menial tasks being done by free labor, the City of Sloth's citizens are free to live in relative luxury, enjoying the lush produce and bathhouses that came to rise from the city's natural freshwater springs.
The tieflings of Dhurh'el have yellow-orange skin, with two pairs of short, straight horns and a line of short spines running down their tails.
Yusaf'hed
The City of Pride
Population: Tieflings (Mephistopheles or Asmodeus w/ Hellfire Variant)
Merchant Prince: Amnya (Female Mephistopheles Tiefling)
Seated in the fallen capital of the Black Empire, the citizens of Yusaf'hed view themselves as the direct descendants and rightful heirs to the Ebony Throne. The other city-states have yet to recognize the City of Pride's self-proclaimed superiority.
The merchant prince herself is said to be obsessed with rediscovering the vile, ancient magics that the last pharoah had mastered.
The tieflings of Yusaf'hed have orange-red skin, with long, straight horns that are often highly ornamented.
Id'hadar
The City of Gluttony
Population: Tieflings (Dispater or Asmodeus)
Merchant Prince: Kamiil (Male Dispater Tiefling)
Also known as the City of Haze, Id'hadar is the home to a highly addictive substance that is smoked by nearly all of its inhabitants. While the other city-states have outlawed its use, the merchant prince of Id'hadar is said to be a lover of the substance, even keeping a personal priest at his side at all times to reduce the side effects of the dangerous drug.
The tielfings of Id'hadar have maroon skin, with short tails and horns and fangs that are often filed down and capped with bronze to prevent their growth.
Musa'am
The City of Wrath
Population: Tieflings (Zariel or Asmodeus)
Merchant Prince: Arkaan (Male Zariel Tiefling)
Musa'am's greatest feature is its large gladiatorial arena in the center of the city. Criminals and prisoners of war are thrown into the pit to earn their freedom. The merchant prince himself created his fortune from fighting in the pit, and still patronizes the sport in hopes of finding a worthy challenger.
The military force of Musa'am is greater than any of its sister city-states. Anything the City of Wrath cannot gain through trade, it will take by force.
The tieflings of Musa'am have dark red skin, with thick, curved horns and muscular tails.
