While not exactly a “nation”, al-Shhubus is the northern region of Eqos centered around the cities of al-Fahim (anglicized to Alphanim) and Shhai. The land of necromancy and the undead, they are akin to a city state confederation specializing in forbidden magic. The northern coast of Eqos has been a well of undeath since the first era. It used to be a dry grassland home to a kingdom known as “Vetalo”, but near the middle of the era it was infected by undeath and darkness. The grassland became cursed and died, and the living abandoned the northern coast entirely. Over the next thousand years, a new city known as al-Fahim formed on a key leyline magic well under Eqos’ northern coastline. Exiles, criminals, and opportunistic undead alike flocked to this city from all over the continent and beyond. The darkness only strengthened when the new god of undeath, Mawekh, opened a gate to the negative energy plane in the city. Over time, the miasma of the city grew to the point that it now lets the undead roam in broad daylight.
This “evil” city has become a bastion of dark beings, from vampires to demons. It hosts the only true college of necromancy on Abmarah, and follows the cult of Mawekh. The other major city in the region is Shhai, a smaller settlement also corrupted by the darkness with great mines that dig deep into the cursed land. Not every resident of the cities is undead, as many regular humans and other species also call it home for some reason or another. Much of its culture stems from the southern city of Varkunast, who exiled many evildoers from the holy city over the years who ended up in al-Shhubus.
Despite its infamy as a realm of darkness, it is far from chaotic and lawless. The vampire lord who now controls the coast has an army of dread knights and spawn who maintain the order of the region. There is a council of undead lords who control the region, currently led by the Mahavetala Vampire Lord Betala Zzar. Opportunistic wizards and those who have lost everything are often the most common visitors to the dark cities, looking for a deal to make with the devils or to start their lives anew far away from any common law or faith. Traders often either skip the cities entirely, or end up smuggling goods using the city as a base. Pirates across the Istapphavet treat the coast as free ports safe from the navies that hunt them, but even they stay wary of venturing too far into the dark cities. Ultimately, nothing much is known about the region by any outsider in any true sense.
The rulers of al-Shhubus try to make al-Fahim and Shhai bastions of forbidden knowledge, building colleges and libraries that attract scholars willing to bend their morality. Many religious leaders from around the world claim that the region needs to be exterminated as it is normalizing necromancy and undeath, but no true crusade has ever been attempted against al-Shhubus.
The city of al-Fahim also opens its ports to the shipping lanes between Teer and western Eqos towards Aurial and eastern Eqos, but the only non-pirate ships that stop in their ports so far are those desperate for supplies, smuggling illicit goods, or actively trading with the dark city.
al-Shhubus is near universally hated and feared across the world, and they have no legitimate trade routes or diplomatic links with any other nation or city state. That being said, smugglers and traders end up as middlemen who export many materials out from the Undead Sands, including everything from forbidden books to obsidian. They only have land borders with the Kasaaqi Dynasty and the Vurmark Raj. The Veiled Wall separates the Hukumat from the undead sands, where an order of rangers following the goddess of the afterlife Therahti keep the undead from infecting the Kav’orra Desert. There are rumors that House Zaaba has made deals with al-Shhubus secretly more than a few times, especially the Blood Queen, Raktii.
The Vurmark Raj has a much more loosely defined border with al-Shhubus. Vurmark keeps the dark forces of al-Shhubus at bay by relying solely on a few forts and their small army to regulate passageways to Shhai.
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