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Chammur (pronounced chah-MOOR), also known as Fabled Chammur, Chammur of the Flaming Heights, and Mighty Chammur, is a city located on the eastern border of Sotat. The city is ancient, and has existed for 1200 years,[1] which means it was standing during the time of the Kurchal Empire.

Geography[]

Climate[]

Being on the edge of Sotat, Chammur is practically in the middle of a desert. It is very hot and dry.

Landforms and bodies of water[]

The Qarwan River runs by the city to the west. To the north and east, there are cliffs that the Chammuran Oldtown was built upon.[2]

Politics[]

Government[]

Chammur is technically under the rule of the King of Sotat, who has palaces in Hajra, the capital. The amir, or prince, is king of Chammur in all but name, and is a kinsman of the King of Sotat. They have aristocracy in the city, and nobles are styled as Name X doa/doen Family name. The nobles wield a considerable amount of power in the city.

In Chammur, women are of lesser standing than men. Noblewomen, however, are given some amount of power, if only through their powerful male relatives.

Economy[]

Chammur is a wealthy city-state, as it is a trade epicenter. They presumably have mines, and have gotten wealthy through gemcutting and masonry. The city straddles the trade routes between Capchen and Yanjing.

Currency[]

Chammur has its own currency consisting of copper and silver davs and silver and gold chams. The smallest coin is a copper dav and three copper davs are one silver dav. Twenty copper davs make one silver cham. Twenty silver chams are one gold cham, the largest coin in Chammur.[3]

Culture[]

Religion[]

The religion of the Living Circle is foreign in Chammur, and the residents worship a different pantheon of gods.

Known Chammuran gods:

Language[]

Chammur has its own language, Chammuri, which is very different from the language spoken to the west of it, Imperial. Some terms in Chammuri are:

  • amir - prince, ruler in Chammur
  • belbun - rat (animal)
  • bindi - paint, metal, or jewel placed between the eyebrows
  • bunjingi - miniature tree form in which trunk is long, with a few branches balanced at the upper end
  • cham - large sum of coin in Chammur
  • dav - smaller coin in Chammur
  • doa - daughter of (noble house)
  • doen - son of (noble house)
  • eknub - foreigner
  • hammam - bathhouse
  • hedax - rank similar to lieutenant
  • mutabir - head of law enforcement and courts in Chammur
  • pahan - teacher, mage
  • souk - market
  • takamer (m.)/takameri (f.) - rich person
  • tesku - leader of a street gang
  • thukdak - Chammuran slang for street rat
  • zernamus - parasite like a tick, one that survives by living off the rich

Architecture[]

City layout[]

Map of Chammur

Map of Chammur[4]

The original settlement, now known as Oldtown, was in Heartbeat Heights. The cliffs were originally settled by shepherds, miners, and goatherds. The rocky mazes made a safe sanctuary for them. Once Chammur became a trade epicenter, other folk began to move in, and joined the others on the cliffs. Once it began to be too crowded, richer people and families built palaces and buildings on the open ground. These areas are all called Newtown. The wealthiest and most powerful became the amir.[2] The entire city is encircled by walls, but there is a wall between Newtown, Oldtown, and near the palace. The amir's palace is located on Fortress Rock.

Because of the surplus in stone, Chammur is completely built in stone. This requires stone mages to inspect the buildings in search of signs that it may collapse.

Wealthier Chammurans build their homes with expensive and ornate stones, and design them [their homes] in such a way to take advantage of any breeze in the hot Chammuran desert. Lady Zenadia's large mansion in a very wealthy residential part of the city is spacious and airy. Her gardens are well-placed to take advantage of shade. The plants that need more water are usually placed in the shade, and the plants that need less are placed in the sun, or to give other plants shade. Wealthy Chammurans have colored tiles for their floors, in indoor as well as outdoor areas of the home.

Classes[]

The people of Chammur, like many of the countries surrounding the Pebbled Sea, are at the whims of the class system. Nobles, of course, are able to afford the most expensive living in Newtown. Mostly rich and middling class people live in the newer part of the city. Heartbeat Heights is now mainly inhabited by the city's poor folk.[5]

Clothing[]

Wealthy Chammuran women wear airy pants or skirts, leave their stomachs showing, and have long veils. If the woman comes from wealth, these clothes are made in the finest cloth and encrusted with gems. Girls and women from respectable families wear skirts, but those who are from the streets are given more license and usually wear trousers because of the potential dangers.

Events[]

In 1039 KF the farms surrounding Chammur experience difficulties because the soil is drained and full of acid from being cultivated for too long and too intensively.[1] This problem is ameliorated by Dedicate Rosethorn of Winding Circle.

Known residents[]

A list of all the known residents of Chammur.

Nobles & Upper class[]

City officials[]

Merchants & Working class[]

Lower class[]

Vipers[]

Camelguts[]

All surviving Camelguts became Vipers after a brutal attack.

Unaligned[]

Appearances[]

Chammur only appears in Street Magic, and is mentioned in Battle Magic and Melting Stones.

Fun facts and trivia[]

Tamora Pierce may have based Chammur on the ancient city of Persepolis.

Other elements were based on Indian culture, such as the use of the bindi and the veil known as the saari. The clothing worn by Zenadia doa Attaneh is also inspired by wealthy Indian women.

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Street Magic, Ch. 6 (pg. 112; Scholastic paperback)
  2. 2.0 2.1 Street Magic, Ch. 1
  3. Street Magic, Glossary
  4. From Street Magic
  5. Street Magic, Ch. 2 (pg. 35; Scholastic paperback)

See also[]

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