Xanastyr

Dominion of Eternal Xana
A great city laid out in strict geographical precision, according to strident military guidelines, the githyanki of Xanastyr serve their general-queen, the lich named Eternal Xana. A vassal of Queen Vlaakith CLVII of Tu'narath, Eternal Xana is obsessed with military precision and tightly controlled society. Even among the militaristic githyanki, the Xanastyrai are seen as particularly hidebound.

Xanastyrai society - including the small handful of colonies and conquered domains - is divided into social units called chalaxass, or "legions". Roughly analagous to clans or tribes, each of the chalaxa strive to provide their own internal structure in all things: each is bidden to be independent and strong in its own right, providing not just armies, but also support structures such as familial units, mercantile efforts, craftsmen and the like.

Population: 65,000. Githyanki are the dominant people of Xanastyr, and found in all its districts. Indeed, it is illegal for non-githyanki to be in any part of Xanastyr save Greytown and the Dockyards.

Eternal Xana, the Lich Queen of Xanastyr

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The Chalaxass

• Cadres: Rather than familial units, githyanki society is made up of cadres - training teams that raise githyanki up as soldiers, weeding out those that don't belong in the gish caste, and arranging for specialized training for those who have potential as warlocks or sha'sal khou. Githyanki mothers of all chalaxass give birth in the Maternal Barracks, a portion of the Eternal Necropolis. There, the babes are raised by nannies of the mral caste until they reach two years of age, at which point they are named and assigned to a chalaxa and thence assigned in roughly even proportions among that legion's cadres.
• Squads: Led by terrth (sergeants), squads are made up of eight-man teams.
• Company: Led by kithrak (captains), companies are made up of five squads and their terrth.
• Alaxai: The alaxai (plural alax) are the generals of the chalaxass, potent warriors and warlocks who are in charge of seeing to the prosperity and readiness for war of their legions. More than half of the alaxai are females - unsurprising given the societal preference for women in leadership positions.

Chalaxa Yrth'hil

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Chalaxa Qohavish

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Chalaxa Lar'al'atiss

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Chalaxa Krryth

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Chalaxa Weliv'as

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Other Factions

Githyanki Societal Roles

• The Liches: There are a rare few liches in githyanki society, and they are always entities of tremendous power and influence. In honor of Gith, the first of their number, liches in githyanki society are only ever permitted to be women. The greatest of the liches is the reclusive Queen Vlaakith CLVII of Tu'narath. A few others are rulers of their own githyanki client-nations, vassals to the Lich Queen of Tu'narath. Most of the ruler liches have a few less powerful liches as their lieutenants, though they keep the numbers within the rangers of what the lich-queen can handle in battle, for any rivals to her power inevitably come from their number. Occasionally a nation might attempt to break away from the rule of Tu'narath, but they are inevitably destroyed - to turn from the rule of Queen Vlaakith is to turn from the Eternal Crusade, and such heresy is not permitted to last long.
• Duthka'gith: Dragon-githyanki crossbreeds, the duthka'gith are the preferred servitors of Queen Vlaakith, who is said to consider them to be "perfected githyanki". They are unwelcome but permitted in Xanastyr.
• Ch'r'ai (Profession): Warlock-inquisitors of the lich-queens, the ch'r'ai serve as the templars and foremost servants of their mistresses. They usually function as secret police, and they are considered most-favored: if any are permitted to ascend to lichdom, it will be warlocks who come from the ch'r'ai. Ch'r'ai stand above any of the chalaxass or caste.
• Gish (Caste): The warrior-caste of the githyanki, the gish make up approximately half of the githyanki populace in Xanastyr. Those githyanki of other castes who prove themselves in annual combat festivals may be moved to the gish caste. Likewise, those born into it without any fighting talent may find themselves shunted aside into one of the other castes.
  • Sha'sal Khou (Gish Profession): Elite dragon-riding warriors whose name means "silver swords", these are the psionic knights of the githyanki.
  • Warlocks (Gish Profession): All with the talent to wield arcane power are given this title.
• Mlar (Caste): Workers and craftsmen, the mlar are also the slave-owners of society, responsible for breeding and training slaves. The mlar are the lowest-ranking caste with membership in the chalaxass, and typically perform the necessary duties to keep the legions running (along with a healthy population of thralls).
  • Ghustil (Mlar Profession): A nearly-heretical mral scholar who studies the divine. Though they do not worship gods, they do master techniques of seizing untethered divine energy in the Astral Sea, and bending it to their whim.
• Glathk (Caste): The least of the githyanki, the glathk are farmers and laborers who belong to no chalaxass.
  • Nilghar (Glathk Profession): Landowners given the responsibility for interacting with outsiders. Far less xenophobic than most githyanki, they are still treacherous and given to treating others poorly. Though wealthier and more influential than others of their caste, nilghar are still considered tainted by continual contact with outsiders.
• Thralls (Caste): Slaves utilized for menial labor. Thralls are owned by those of mral and glathk castes.

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Eminent Office of the Medal

An office run by ch'r'ai, the Eminent Office is a political entity wholly separated from the chalaxass, a fact that the alaxai dislike greatly. The Eminent Office recruits githyanki from all walks of life in Xanastyr, according to its needs, and those who join are freed from their previous affiliations. Though the Eminent Office is outwardly the ambassadorial wing of Eternal Xana's dominion, they also serve her as her secret police, occasionally engaging in purges to wipe out heresy and rebellion. The Eminent Office maintains a compound in Greytown.

The Grey Collegium

Fortunate is the githyanki who manages to gain entry into the hallowed halls of the Grey Collegium. Though each of the chalaxass maintains its own occult mentors, those with great magical potential are often sent to the Grey Collegium to learn, their astronomical tuitions paid for by their legion. As such, there is a great deal of pressure on the magi of the Grey Collegium, but it pays off - this school of magic turns out some of the most potent warlocks in Xanastyr, and every one of the ch'r'ai has studied here. The Grey Collegium is mostly subterranean, and found in the Eternal Necropolis.

Districts of Xanastyr

Xanastyr's layout is made up of extremely orderly geographical lines, preferring grids with numerous military choke points.

The Eternal Necropolis

The vast tiered garden-graveyard of the Eternal Necropolis boasts as its center an ancient temple to a long-dead god.

Yrth'hil'dal

Legion-quarters of the Chalaxa Yrth'hil.

Qohavish'dal

Legion-quarters of the Chalaxa Qohavish.

Lar'al'atiss'dal

Legion-quarters of the Chalaxa Lar'al'atiss.

Krryth'dal

Legion-quarters of the Chalaxa Krryth.

Weliv'as'dal

Legion-quarters of the Chalaxa Weliv'as.

Greytown

A district imbricate with the City of Planes, Liminal, Greytown is the only district other than the Dockyards where non-githyanki are permitted entrance and residence.

The Dockyards

An expansive set of docks for the tying-up of astral skiffs and spelljammers, the Dockyards belie the orderly nature of Xanastyr, being quite chaotic and prone to sudden violence and crime.

The Killing Ground

A cordoned militarized zone just outside of Greytown that separates Greytown from the rest of Xanastyr. The risk of invasion from the city of Liminal is too great for a militaristic, paranoid race like the githyanki to ignore, so they have taken steps to see that an array of forces awaits any who try to gain entry into the city. In addition to multiple squads from all of the chalaxass, there is always at least one ch'r'ai stationed here, as well as a pair of red dragons. The fields of the Killing Grounds are often used as sparring grounds by the armies of Xanastyr.

The Under Fields

The underside of the chunk of rock that is the foundation of Xanastyr is home to acres and acres of fields, pastures and orchards. Xanastyr's food supply comes wholly from these rich lands, and Xanastyr even provides enough excess to serve as a sort of breadbasket for other githyanki citadels. Lining the edges of these fields are tall stony abuttments in which have been dug caverns as homes for the red dragon allies of the githyanki. They defend the fields in return for a weekly tithe of livestock and thralls.