Category:Zamorian



Zamorian It was exactly such laughter as he had heard bubble obscenely from the fat lips of the salacious women of Shadizar, City of Wickedness, when captive girls were stripped naked on the public auction block.- The Scarlet Citadel Spider-haunted Zamora is a mysterious nation of thieves, kidnappers, extortionists, prostitutes and sorcerers. Small villages boast white hedge witches and the larger cities have powerful priests that work such potent magic that even the king fears them.

Description
Zamorians, as a race, tend toward dark complexions with dark eyes and black hair. Pale skin is considered beautiful and healthy and is seen as a symbol of wealth and breeding. Although Zamorians are dark skinned by nature, the working classes have the darkest skin from spending the most time outdoors. Those whose skin tones approach alabaster are admired by all for their grace and beauty.

Many trade routes pass through Zamora, particularly through Shadizar the Wicked, giving a cosmopolitan air to many of its cities and creating a melting-pot of humanity. Shemites, Corinthians, Turanians, Hyrkanians and others have found homes in Zamora.

Priests and wizards seem to be ever in abundance in Zamora, although their presence is nowhere near as visible as in shadow-haunted Stygia. Zamora is an ancient kingdom, descended from a mysterious race known as the Zhemri, an elder and evil race from pre-Cataclysmic times. The 3,000 year old civilization has fallen into decadence and its people are viewed as a wicked race of thieves, cutthroats and sorcerers.

Clothing
All social classes wear cloaks or blankets when the weather is cold or wet. Likely the first sign of status in Shadizar, clothing and appearance styles among the economic classes often reveal more than is intended. Women dress provocatively, if at all and ornamentation tends to be somewhat erotic.

Among the poor, clothing is a personal issue and is usually considered an expression of individuality. Clothing is usually stolen, handed down from others or bought used. Scars, tattoos and body piercing are common in the lower economic echelons, as these enhance individuality and otherwise mark people who feel they are lost in the masses.

Those in the servant or craftsmen classes tend to wear clothes appropriate to their vocations, although many add personalized touches as a nod toward individualism. Harlots and dancers wear little but jingling girdles of coins, sometimes with two strips of silk, sometimes not.

People in the merchant class tend to wear velvet, fine linens and some silks. Clothing is chosen for quality and ease of use and wear. Clothing must be well-crafted yet still be functional. Versatility is more important than artistic or aesthetic merits. Many who climb to this rank from the lower economies wear gloves to hide the scars and roughness of their hands, which might betray their lowly origins.

As a person’s wealth increases, jewelry replaces body piercing and tattooing as marks of individualism. When members move up to stand among the wealthy, pains are often taken to hide marks that are now considered boorish or counter-cultural. Nobles wear silk and other high quality materials. Fit, aesthetic merit, craftsmanship and quality are more important than functionality or individual expression. Surprisingly, jewelry is worn sparingly but what little is worn is always of the highest quality and beauty. Colors tend to be muted and understated.

Behavior and Notable Oddities
Self-interest - Zamorians do not respect the rights of others. They do what is best for them. Trade in vice is treated by the Zamorians as a freedom, not a crime. The liberty of the private contract is more important than the subjective idea of sin.

Bribery - is a way of life in Zamora and is expected and encouraged. Few Zamorians will even consider making a business transaction unless some sort of bribery is involved with the expectation that bribery will be part of the income. Zamorians, on the whole, do not trust in the integrity of professional services, of government and the courts, of law enforcement, of religion and of anything touched with bribery.

Dependable Thieves - Zamorians do make the best thieves and are well-regarded for not betraying their employers if hired for thievery. This has nothing to do with honor but is entirely an instance of the Zamorians realizing that a certain degree of faithfulness is simply good for business.

Hedonism - Zamorians have a tendency toward egoist hedonism. Every pleasure is good and natural. Pleasure is preferable to pain, which is bad and to be avoided. For many in Zamora, pleasure has become the measure of right and wrong. The Zamorians feel their ‘anything goes’ approach to sexuality is completely natural. So long as sex is possible with a natural creature, be it man, woman or animal, then it is being done according to nature.

Connections - Among the Zamorian noble class knowing people, and Who they know, is far more important than what they know, or what they can do as an individual. Everyone known is considered to be one or more of the above types of connections; otherwise the person is not worth knowing or even noticing. In the class, people do not introduce themselves. People are introduced by others in this fashion: ‘This is (name) of (family name) family.’ This serves the purpose of not only identifying the noble, though illustrates his connection at the same time. If an introduction is merely, ‘This is (name), a very dear and close personal friend’, or something similar, then the unspoken understanding is that the person has no connections of worth. Being skilled is less respected than knowing skilled people.

Religion

 * Bel
 * Zamorian Pantheon

The Zamorians worship many divinities and have no problem with importing and accepting foreign gods. Most Zamorian cities have local patron gods that embody the cities in some manner. The spider-god of Yezud is such a patron deity. Other gods represent natural forces or concepts, such as the Shemite god Bel, worshipped in Zamora as the god of thieves and patron of the city of Arenjun. Foreigners to Zamora find the Zamorian pantheon extremely complex and difficult to understand, if not downright oppressive. All Zamorian priests enforce absolute obedience among their congregations and are quite skilled in mesmerism to ensure unwavering loyalty.

Government
Ruler: King Tiridates

Zamora is not a Hyborian monarchy, a Turanian satrapy or a Stygian theocracy. Zamora is a dictatorship, run by a selfish king who does not tolerate alternative political opinions. King Tiridates is a drunken tyrant but he understands the essence of Zamora. Zamora understands the fearful predicament the king leaves them in, however. They cannot allow the king to fail, for there is no organized opposition which can take over power should he fall. Everything is staked on the king; this system permits lightning efficiency when things are good but nothing to fall back on when times are bad.

There are five distinct economic classes in Shadizar, each with its own unspoken rules and hidden habits. These classes are economic in nature and are based around people’s opportunities to develop resources. At the top of the social ladder in Zamora are the nobles and the leaders of the craft guilds. The nobility of Zamora live precarious lives. Should their estates, reputation or popularity ever be perceived to exceed King Tiridates’, their lives are forfeit. Should they show even the slightest sign of discontent in their lord, their lives are forfeit. The king has spies in every household as well as assassins. The nobles know this.

The nobles of Zamora organize themselves by Houses. These noble Houses strive to rise in the king’s favour without raising the king’s drunken paranoia. The Houses engage actively in the vice and trade of Zamora, employing complex networks of intermediaries to control the wealth of the city.

Some of the noble families are little more than organized crime families and others are descended from ancient Zhemri nobility, inheriting their wealth and status generation after generation. The nobles control so much of the wealth in Zamora the king must play a careful game. Even though he is a tyrant, he knows he needs some level of fear and support in the noble classes to remain in power.

Economy and Common Professions
Trade is vital to the life-blood of Zamoras economy. Especially the cities of Shadizar and Arenjun is a marketplace for Turanian slave caravans. Even though Zamora is a bit concerned about the Turanians nipping at their mountainous borders, Zamora is pleased to accept Turanian caravan trains. Slavery is quite accepted in Zamora. Many of the common people outside of the big cities live by herding sheep or cattle. Zamora also mines tin, copper and iron from the mountains that cover two thirds of Zamora’s borders.

Common professions:
 * Assassin
 * Dancer / entertainer
 * Merchant
 * Priest/priestess
 * Prostitute
 * Slaver
 * Sorcerer
 * Spy
 * Thief

Sex Roles and Marriage
Human beings, especially women and children are, for the most part, property or potential property to the Zamorians. Women are valued either for their domestic abilities or their entertainment abilities. In the minds of Zamorians, women fall into one of the two categories. An unmarried woman remains in the custody of her father during his life or under another fraternal relative if the father is dead. Fathers have the complete right to dispose of their children as they see fit, eventually selling the girls to prospective husbands as purchased property. Women in Zamora cannot hold a civil office.

The idea of chivalric, courtly or romantic love really has not hit the Zamorians. Lust is readily acknowledged but marriages are largely either arranged or made for economic or social reasons. Marriages tend to be handled much as any business contract, complete with terms and payments. Courtship is considered to be a career move, not a romantic interlude. A woman’s property is transferred to the man upon marriage, so courting is taken with deadly earnest by both men and women.

Slavery
Slavery developed into an important part of the culture and and became a significant part of trade early on in Zamora, dating back to Zhemri times. Slavery in Zamora is an institution, advocated and encouraged, with deep roots in the society. Modelled on the domestication of animals, Zamorian law recognizes slavery and has done as far back as the most ancient histories can find.

Slave trade - In Zamora's past, male war captives were slain and the women enslaved. Zamora's modern economy is based on trade, not war. Shadizar and other Zamorian cities are marketplaces for Turanian slave caravans, bringing in trade and income. Main slave markets are situated in Shadizar and Arenjun.

The slave market is a favorite haunt for many Zamorians, who love to watch the slaves exposed for sale. The demand for slaves is met around the public auction blocks. Zamorians tend to delight in the humiliation and degradation of others, so slave girls are stripped naked on the block as fat madams and wealthy patrons laugh and make sport of the embarrassed girls. Although the slave is stripped naked and the potential buyer is permitted to examine her, all access to her is controlled by her current owner.

For Zamorians, if a person is in the position to be enslaved, then that person is enslaved. Youth and beauty are the prime requisites for enslavement. A man in Zamora may even find himself enslaved because of something his father or uncle has done.

Influences
Architectural influences: Early Ukrainian Baroque.

The ancient heritage that is distinctly Zamorian shows itself in its architecture, which is not Hyborian in style but strange and familiar all at once. Intricate and complex, having long since lost the pristine essence of the Zhemri style, the alabaster towers and golden domes of Shadizar reveal foreign inﬂuences. Turanian styles are a popular fad now among the wealthy and familiar Easterners, but the Zamorians still manage to add bizarre twists to even this styling, creating a sense of the strange intermingled with the familiar. Zamorian architecture also betrays Hyborian inﬂuence, again a familiar style to many visitors to the city and still the Zamorians add their own ﬂourishes and lines to even this style, producing a sense of the bizarre. Likewise Stygian, Shemite and Acheronian styles exist in Shadizar but never in whole, always in part. Non-Zamorians ﬁnd the strange mixtures of style to be unnerving and even evil, throwing a shadow over their views of Zamorians as a whole.

Zamorian villages tend to be low buildings sprawled out around small temples with slender towers. Gongs can often be heard ringing from the towers and fragrant smoke rises from the myriad altars. Many sport tall statues of gods and demons. Most cities, such as Shadizar, are built around oases.

More Information
RPGS:
 * Return to the Road of Kings (Zamora, p 234-241).
 * Faith and Fervor (Religion in Zamora, p 87-89).
 * Shadizar - City of Wickedness

Zamoran or Zamorian?
A long time argument of Conan enthusiasts: Is it Zamoran or Zamorian?

According to Robert E. Howard (who gave a rather dickish and funny response when questioned about the historical misspelling), it is "Zamorian" as cited in the earliest mention of Zamora and its people in "The Tower of the Elephant," published in an issue of Weird Tales in March, 1933. All of the original source material (and the RPGs which maintain much of the universe's fidelity) cite the spelling to be "Zamorian."