دارجلا Al-Jarad

The land of Al-Jarad fea­tures vast swamps, tow­er­ing moun­tains, and mys­te­ri­ous caves. To the east, the ter­rain trans­forms into a dry desert with impos­ing pyra­mids. The land is known for its ancient tem­ples, sacred tombs, and deep con­nec­tions to Egypt­ian deities such as Ra and Osiris.

• What does the coun­try look like?
  The coun­try has sandy areas but also many trop­i­cal areas. There are many moun­tains, and the plants are larg­er than nor­mal, as they used to be in the days of the dinosaurs in movies and books.

• Which coun­try or coun­tries is this near?
  Al-Jarad is an island near Varné (the land of the elves).

• How many races live in this coun­try?
  The races that rule the coun­try are: Spi­der­folk, Thri-kreen, Vespoids, abu daqiq, Bee­tle folk, drag­on­fly flok and the moth­man

  The races who live in the coun­try are: Camelfolk, Tlin­cal­li, Hiss­folk (and oth­er large insects, but they are not main races)

• What are the cul­ture and tra­di­tions?
  The cul­ture is based on Egypt­ian cul­ture, so think of Pharaoh, pyra­mids, and dai­ly rit­u­als to hon­or the gods!

  Tra­di­tions are:
  Hos­pi­tal­i­ty, such as offer­ing and accept­ing tea, and respect­ing reli­gious norms, espe­cial­ly dur­ing prayer. Also, the dress code, which requires mod­est cloth­ing (par­tic­u­lar­ly cov­er­ing the shoul­ders and knees, and for women, a hijab in reli­gious places) and respect­ful use of the right hand (which is con­sid­ered “pure”).

• What is the tra­di­tion­al dress­code?
  The tra­di­tion­al dress­code of Al-Jarad con­sists of light, loose cloth­ing made of linen, because it’s hot there. Men usu­al­ly wear a loin­cloth or an apron that reached to the knee or calf, while women often wear long robes. Pharaohs have spe­cial cloth­ing, such as a hip apron dec­o­rat­ed with roy­al sym­bols and a dou­ble crown.

  How many cities are there?

  There are sev­en cities linked to the race.

• What reli­gion pre­vails in the coun­try?
  

  The peo­ple who live in the land of Al-Jarad believe in sev­en ancient gods. These gods take the forms of insects and spi­ders, and each one rules over a dif­fer­ent kind of insect or insect-like crea­ture.

  • Bralm: God of Agri­cul­ture and Insects Bralm is the god of agri­cul­ture, nature, and insects. He is close­ly con­nect­ed to the growth of crops and the fer­til­i­ty of the land. Farm­ers pray to Bralm for healthy har­vests and pro­tec­tion from pests that could destroy their crops.
    
    
  • Kil­Moth: God of the Moth­man Kil­Moth is the mys­te­ri­ous god of the Moth­man. He is asso­ci­at­ed with dark­ness, secrets, omens, and the crea­tures that emerge dur­ing the night. His fol­low­ers believe that see­ing a Moth­man is a sign that some­thing impor­tant or dan­ger­ous is about to hap­pen.
    
    
  • Bee­gawueen: God­dess of Hon­ey, Bees, and Vespoids Bee­gawueen is the god­dess of hon­ey, bees, and the Vespoids. She rep­re­sents com­mu­ni­ty, hard work, and the pro­tec­tion of the hive. Her fol­low­ers believe that every mem­ber of a com­mu­ni­ty has an impor­tant role to play, just as every bee has a pur­pose with­in its hive.
    
    
  • Obox-ob: God of Bee­tles and Beetle­folk Obox-ob is the god of bee­tles and the Beetle­folk. He rep­re­sents strength, endurance, and the abil­i­ty to sur­vive even in the harsh­est envi­ron­ments. Bee­tles are con­sid­ered sacred to him because of their resilience and their con­nec­tion to the earth.
    
    
  • Drakon­flyr: God of Drag­on­flies and Drag­on­fly­folk Drakon­flyr is the god of drag­on­flies and the Drag­on­fly­folk. He is asso­ci­at­ed with speed, free­dom, and the waters of Al-Jarad. His fol­low­ers see the drag­on­fly as a sym­bol of change and trans­for­ma­tion.
    
    
  • Beaut Abu: God of Abu Daqiq and But­ter­flies Beaut Abu is the god of the Abu Daqiq and but­ter­flies. He rep­re­sents beau­ty, trans­for­ma­tion, and the cycle of life. But­ter­flies are sacred to his fol­low­ers because they sym­bol­ize the jour­ney from one form of exis­tence into anoth­er.
    
    
  • Miska: God­dess of Spi­ders and Spi­der­folk Miska is the god­dess of spi­ders and the Spi­der­folk. She rep­re­sents webs, patience, cun­ning, and secrets. Her fol­low­ers believe that every­thing in the world is con­nect­ed, just like the strands of a spi­der’s web.

  Miska once had a daugh­ter named Lolth. How­ev­er, Lolth was stripped of her divine title and pow­er after com­mit­ting an unknown crime or betray­al. She was cast out of the realm of the insects and ban­ished from the land of Al-Jarad.

  Even today, the peo­ple of Al-Jarad remem­ber Lolth’s fall. Some fear her, while oth­ers secret­ly wor­ship her, believ­ing that one day she may return and reclaim what was tak­en from her.

  When a new pharaoh is cho­sen, it is cus­tom­ary for the old pharaoh to be cer­e­mo­ni­al­ly sac­ri­ficed and eat­en start­ing with the head, fol­lowed by the rest of the body.

• What is the sym­bol of the coun­try?
  Pyra­mids and tem­ples and also the Sphinx, which has an insect head.
  
  
• How do crea­tures trav­el in this coun­try?
  By boat and camel or large insects such as giant bee­tles.