Barakeel (cradle)
120 miles wide, low 3,400 ft, high 13,000ft
Geography
Barakeel boasts two parallel sets of mountain ranges on opposite edges, each rising 8,000 feet or so above the lower points of the land mass (putting them at roughly 13,000 feet above the average "surface" level). Between these ranges, which are known as Abas and Darhan in the Baraki tongue, is a 100 mile wide saddle of rolling rocky hills and sand dunes dotted with expanses of melted glass. The entirety is shot through with the occasional oasis and greener valley. Near the center of the Island and rising up 2,000 feet on its own is a nearly intact structure of the Ancient Race, the Citadel.
The Citadel houses the Gate and central city of the Island. Like Anvard City on Anvard, the interior is a warren of households, craftworks, and markets, but tends to have fewer spectacles and entertainments.
People and Culture
The history of Barakeel is one of nomadism and small groups of people surviving the harsh environs as best they can, and their culture is based around this tribalism. One’s first and fiercest loyalty is to one’s immediate family, then the immediate tribe, then a larger Overtribe. Relations between tribe members tends to be built around aggressive trading, aggressive insults, and general aggressive posturing. Outright fights are rare but bloody and fierce. Paradoxically, relations among those considered tribal leaders is marked by hospitality, elaborate compliments, and impeccable manners. Rituals for meetings between varying levels of tribal authority are many and carefully scripted.
Most outsiders don’t register as any kind of tribe, and therefore typically receive vibes ranging form laid-back to indifference from local Baraki. However, once any transactional discussion has started, Baraki can seemingly change their attitude without any obvious provocation based on some internal cue invisible to outsiders. Interactions can quickly grow complicated and somewhat volatile, depending on where a Baraki places a foreigner on their internal social scale. Baraki expats, those who often travel abroad, and those living in the Citadel are smoother at these interactions.
Baraki are generally short and tan, with brown and black hair and eyes that are nearly always a deep brown. Dress among the many tribes even among the Citadel dwellers usually consists of lightweight cloth wraps draped in complicated folds indicating Overtribe and tribal affiliations.
Local Authority
The hundreds of tribes on Barakel are organized into four distinct “Overtribes”, Abas in the one mountain range, Darhan in the other, the Akalin nomads to the north of the Citadel, and the Akadat to the south. Barakeel is ruled by the Abasdarhan, an "absolute" ruler chosen by the heads of the four Overtribes of Barakeel with the approval of the Arcanists. As Barakeel is the ancestral and current home of the Arcanist organization, they have great sway over the Abasdarhan and all Baraki affairs.
The Abasdarhan exerts authority through the Baraki Guardsmen, fierce warriors (and lesser known trained spies) chosen from the lands outside the Citadel to give up their tribal identity and pledge their lives to the Abasdarhan. The Guardsmen police the Citadel, resolve tribal disputes on Barakeel, enforce Barakeel’s interests on other Islands, and act as occasional escorts to Arcanists. However, it is widely known that outside the Citadel the Abasdarhan only has as much power as the heads of the Overtribes allow.
Language
The Baraki tongue has a simplified “common” core used to communicate with and among Barakis, and dozens of more complicated tribal dialects. To outsiders it sounds swift and lilting.
The Traverton
The Gate on Barakeel opens in the middle of the Citadel, and the Traverton set aside for foreigners occupies the near warrens. The area around the Gate represents a true urban amalgamation of humanity, as its citizens are of mixed descent from many Islands. However it is not uncommon for visitors and those waiting between Gate openings to seek lodging beyond the Traverton on the outer edges of the city with access to fresh air and daylight, or even in the many hospitality pavilions in the near desert.
High in the Citadel is the original home and current center of the Arcanist society. Arcanists come and go from other Islands frequently, and petitions regarding Gate openings or surface explorations usually end up in the high chambers of the Citadel. Near the Arcanist chambers in the Citadel is a district that caters to the brave and reckless surface explorers. Some come there to sign up and serve Arcanist-led expeditions, and some come to propose trips of their own and seek Arcanist support. All manner of adventurers can be found there.
The Citadel is also built down as much as up and famously has many passages ending in open air on the bottom of the Island. These areas are controlled by the Baraki authorities, and visitors are rarely allowed to the bottom levels.
The rest of Barakeel is sparse and many tribes are still largely nomadic, except for a few villages in the mountains and around oases. The few visitors that venture out do so from curiosity or a need to separate from their own Islands for a time. The tribes are generally welcoming of such visitors, if they are not too many, and especially if they bring gifts - although if any trade, business, or transaction is suggested the interactions can become harsh and sometimes dangerous for foreigners.