The Oasis of Varr was once the oasis of the Gnolls worshipping Laughing Nkishi.
The Oasis got corrupted by Arbeyach – Prince of Swarms, Arch-Devil of the Buzzing Hell, Scion of Endless Hunger. Those gnolls that remain have been infected by Arbeyach.
Built around a natural oasis and aided by elemental magic, Siwal is a garden city southeast of Per-Bastet where the Mhalmet Road meets a dusty trade trail through the Sarklan Desert
Most of the buildings and main avenues, and all of the high walls surrounding the city, are lined with gardens and fruit trees. Minaret-topped buildings soar above granite fountains pluming fresh or perfumed water into their basins. Marble statues of heroes and gods litter the city’s intersections and parks.
Sandships glide silently through the massive Sandship Gate bringing goods from across the Sarklan Desert, and traditional camel caravans carry wares from Nuria Natal, Saph-Saph, and other locales into the city by the Camel Gate.
Master Gravebinder Panshal al-Mahrji and his family are the gravebinders of Siwal. The preparation of the body for the afterlife is a sacred calling, and the gravebinders oversee all aspects of it: making shrouds,embalming and grooming corpses, performing mourning ceremonies, and consecrating graves. The purpose of all this is twofold. First, the gravebinders ensure that all steps are taken to assure their charges’ acceptance into the afterlife. Second, the preparations prevent the rise of new undead in the necropolis.
The nine districts of Per-Bastet perch along the River Nuria near ancient monolith-statues depicting the gods. Felines rule the city. Uncountable numbers of them, along with gnolls, basteti, and feline lycanthropes of all varieties, walk the streets under the gaze of Reborn Queen-Goddess Meskhenit.
The cats of Per-Bastet believe that the city’s namesake walks the streets and alleys alongside them, occasionally stepping through a catslide alley (see the sidebar) to elsewhere for a time when she sees fit.
A moving “river” of sand flows into Per-Bastet from the Sarklan Desert at a speed of 15 miles per hour, coursing through the city’s core beneath numerous aging bridges, before pouring into a vast, funnel-shaped crater known as the Pit, where it vanishes. Objects carried into the Pit are sometimes found years, decades, or even centuries later, often hundreds of miles away in random locations in the desert. The river is home to earth elementals and emits a strong aura of elemental magic.
The former capital of the Kingdom of Luria, Tes-Luria fell into collapse centuries ago. After the fall, the tombs of the richest godlings of Nuria Natal remained, guarded by mummified sphinxes, stone golems and undead gnoll warriors, but few of their faithful visited the site. Some years ago a cult of catfolk and gnolls, calling itself the Sisterhood of the Feral Scratch, who worship Bastet’s darker aspects of ferocity and lust, took root at the location. The cult’s priestess was killed, and many of her followers were chased from the still-unfinished Grand Fane. The new priestess, Mau-tet Tivali (CN female nkosi pridelord, Tome of Beasts, p. 308), renamed the cult the Slinking Sisterhood of the Untamed.
The forgotten tomb of Dhali Soliman, a long-dead high priestess of Bastet, has been rediscovered in the wilderness outside Per-Bastet. Wizards affiliated with the Slinking Sisterhood of the Untamed have created a portal in Tes-Luria that leads to and from this location.
Windwalker Boots (uncommon), pg 187. These lightweight boots are made of soft leather. While you wear these boots, you can walk on air as if it were solid ground. Your speed is halved when ascending or descending on the air. Otherwise, you can walk on air at your walking speed. You can use the Dash action as normal to increase your movement during your turn. If you don't end your movement on solid ground, you fall at the end of your turn unless otherwise supported, such as by gripping a ledge or hanging from a rope.
495cp, 3996sp, 1980gp, 90pp (3194gp); Quartz (transparent white, 50gp), Quartz (transparent white, 50gp), Sardonyx (opaque bands of red and white, 50gp), Sardonyx (opaque bands of red and white, 50gp), Zircon (transparent pale blue-green, 50gp) 250gp; Hat of disguise (uncommon wondrous item)
