More on the factions

What Gorakheel knows about the players in Banzeel.

House Borine

A very strong merchant house, Borine has been involved in a power struggle with Jeltha, resulting in Jeltha's eventual relocation to the Free city of Cthul-Ra. House Borine is rich and employs large numbers of warriors (private army); in fact, Gorakheel suspects that the Banzeel mercenaries involved in the Lifeblood battle belong to Borine. The house was strongly anti-revolutionary and Gorakheel suspects that many of the guards who raided his shop were also in House Borine's pay. Recently, rumor has it that Borine is favoring the idea of an independent (but pro-Eastern) Banzeel. This house is on good terms with most of the priesthoods in the city.

House Jeltha

Used to be led by a reclusive merchant known as the "Grey Lady" until her mysterious departure -- precipitating an internal power-struggle which resulted in the rise of the Cthul-Ra merchant Elbleem (now Jeltha's leader). House Jeltha is a strong proponent of the "Banzeel/Cthul-Ra Sister Cities" movement and is trying to undermine Borine. Jeltha sponsored Gorakheel's membership into the Wizards' Association despite his rumored Good tendencies. In exchange, Gorakheel gave free training to Jeltha wizards, identified items, and so forth. Gorakheel's reluctance to join in Jeltha's secret (Evil?) missions guaranteed his political low status in the organization. Openly scoffed at by many of his collegues for his views, Gorakheel never gained access to the Wizards' Association's Restricted Spells List. This house has traditionally remained aloof from most of the temples in Banzeel.

House Rushkita

This house has always been strongly pro-Empire (i.e., pro-Marakeel). Marakeel has rewarded this loyalty by allowing certain members of the house access to the Imperial Libraries (a big honor). These libraries also contain rare spells unknown to the outside world. With the unrest in Banzeel, House Rushkita has been forced to retreat to Marakeel, strengthening Borine's power in the city. Most of the remaining Rushkita members have allied with the Temple of Death.

House Baleel

The word "Baleel" is synonymous with "Underworld" in Banzeel. While the House's hidden headquarters in the sewer network may not be prestigious, there is no doubt that the house (especially since the turmoil) is very prosperous. House Baleel also supports many of the undesirables in Banzeel, including much of the demi-human population. Unfortunately (for Gorakheel), this house has a reputation for Chaos, and many of the members are suspected to have close dealings with the much-feared Temple of Insanity. The other three houses are somewhat united in their dislike for this house and have accused the merchants of inciting revolutionary activity. The halflings in Gorakheel's employ started out with House Baleel but left when they could no longer tolerate the senseless violence of many of the thugs employed by this house. Nevertheless, Gorakheel maintains some indirect contact with the house since most fences are (at least peripherally) on trading terms with House Baleel. Recently there have been rumors that a network of Good thieves is attempting to take over this house.

Wizards' Association

The Banzeel Wizards' Association was created after the Undead War to help mages pool their resources at a time when the ink flow was low. Now it also functions as an administrative body for enforcing law over the Banzeel's wizards. Any wizard of fifth level or higher is expected (i.e. required) to join, and members are forbidden from training or helping non-members. The biggest restriction on members is the Wizard Treaty which prohibits members from killing each other. For most Easterners, this means, "if you're going to kill a fellow wizard, don't do it in front of witnesses." The membership fee is 500 e.p. and usually involves a background check on the wizard. Gorakheel is largely ignorant of the internal politics of this organization but knows that some of the wizards are openly hostile to Priests.

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Info from Rahul Sukthankar, coded by Erich Greene on 7-19-97