Marangad is the biggest town in The Dastan. Situated on a natural intersection of the mountain path and the milky Velamma River, what it lacks in resources, it makes up for in histories. Although most inhabitants boast some inherited variant of the story, that is entirely unrecognizable and yet much the same, it is generally agreed that the town was founded by a pair of brothers who led a group of pilgrims across the Abyssal Ocean and landed on the shores of Marangad, eager to build a new life for themselves. Where they came from, no one is quite sure, only that it is perpetually distant from where the story is being told.
But alas - the details vary as to why - some months after starting work on their new settlement, the brothers had a terrible fight over who was truly meant to rule. Eventually, an agreement was made - neither brother would rule over the town. Instead, the people would select a new leader to succeed them. Embittered by their feud, both brothers built mighty homes on either side of the city that still stand to this day, albeit rebuilt enough times to be altogether different. Which homes these are, whether Marangad is truly the place from the story, or whether both the brothers were actually gods - there are no clear answers to any of these questions.
One theory is, that, at some point during the great gulf of time separating their story from ours, their original last name was forgotten, replaced with two distinct surnames allegedly taken from a publicly overheard argument between the two. Armin, the elder brother, proclaimed that he had built his house first, and therefore deserved to lead. Kaveh, the younger brother, retorted by assuring that his house would be the last to fall, and therefore he would be the better choice. Thus they became Armin Mukhamsa, or that Armin of the First Lineage, and Kaveh Nirvahamsa, or that Kaveh of the Last Lineage.
This seemed like the logical line of thought for many people, as the Mukhamsas and Nirvahamsas have been the most powerful families of the town for as long as anyone can remember, despising each other for some old unknowable hatred. Neither family has proved or disproved these claims. The people who believe say both lines are waiting in vain for one of the brothers to be proven right, an eventuality that will never come to pass. For it is the nature of stories that there cannot be beginning without end nor end without beginning.
Regardless, all the families that date back to the first settling, formed the roots from which Marangad grew. And after many generations, once the potential of the land had been fulfilled, the children of the The Dastan travelled outwards into the vast world that was all theirs for the taking. Nobody outside the area knows it, or would even begin to consider it, but there is a belief that Marangad’s story is deeply intertwined with the founding of the Empire itself. While the town never boasted any particular political significance of its own, due to its secluded nature, it is said that any native of Marangad who ever dared to venture out of the Dastan changed the course of the whole continent in some way or the other. Warriors, poets, philosophers, rulers and prophets, there is no one a town elder will not claim for the land, when half-drunk on Moonsday Eve. To grow up in Marangad, you will find in its ancient homes, in whispered stories to rocking cradles, among distant ancestors the stuff of legend, and in the great myths an aching familiarity.
The People, Factions, and Places of Marangad:
- Kasbah (Old Town)
- Kotwal House (Administrative Center)
- The Arena
- Mukhamsa House
- Nirvahamsa House
- Shetranityam (The Docks + Fishing Area)
- Fisheries
- Slums
- Docks