Qadiran Nights are nothing like Qadiran Days

The westernmost province of the Padishah Empire of Kelesh, Qadira (pronounced kah-DEER-ah) is a kingdom with the power of the sprawling Casmaron empire at its back. Qadira is Kelesh's doorway to the Inner Sea region, and is perhaps the single most valuable piece of real estate on Golarion. Rivers of spice and gold flow through its capital of Katheer, and Xerbystes II, the satrap (designated ruler) of Qadira, boasts that his kingdom holds the wealth of any other three on the Inner Sea.

Qadira has been at war with Taldor numerous times throughout its long history. The war drums of Katheer have been silent since the beginning of the Age of Lost Omens, but Qadira has never stopped waging its wars. Gold is its weapon now, spices its shield, and its incredible trading power is its armor. The last great war with Taldor began in 4079 AR when a Qadiran and Keleshite army of 40,000 crossing the southern border of Taldor, in order to take advantage of troubles happening elsewhere in the Taldan empire. This war lasted over five hundred years, not ending until three years before the end of the Age of Enthronement in 4603 AR. This period became known within Qadira as the Ghevran Victories.

As governor of a distant province of a vast, sprawling empire, the satrap of Qadira does not have the power he desires, but is still a political force to be reckoned with. Every year, to maintain his position, Satrap Xerbystes II has to send thirteen golden bulls and three hundred concubines to the heart of the empire, but for a man as rich as Xerbystes II this is nothing. His power is curtailed by his vizier, Hebizid Vraj, directly appointed by the Padishah Emperor himself. While Xerbystes II has complete power within the borders of Qadira, as a satrap he has little control over events outside his border; things like piracy, trade, and war are controlled by the Padishah Emperor himself. Unfortunately for Xerbystes, the Padishah Emperor does not want war and therefore the vizier restrains Xerbystes' lust for yet another war with Taldor to the north. Xerbystes II attempts to sate his desire for conquest by charging his special noble advisors, known as the Peerless, with near-impossible tasks and quests.

Meanwhile their counterpart nation to the north, Taldor is in the midst of its twilight years as a nation. A derelict empire, a hollow shell of its former glory, it stagnates under a weight of false pride, simply bleeding its bank dry. The loss of Cheliax and the war with Qadira led to a sharp decline in power, and Taldor remains in decline even several generations after these events took place; corruption runs rampant through its bureaucracy, and its lower class has been stricken by poverty. Its prefectures fight border skirmishes, its noble houses fight one another, and its sparsely populated frontiers have become lawless. Taldor’s vast wealth is the only thing keeping the empire alive.

he current Grand Prince, Stavian III, has only one heir, his daughter Princess Eutropia. Taldor has a decadent noble class, bloated with titles, short-sighted and lethargic. Taldor’s bureaucracy is headed by the senatorial class. Much of the government management is left in the hands of the senatorial class, who constantly argue over jurisdiction, while fighting for position in the nation's vast and complex bureaucracy. Greed and lack of trust are the hallmarks of Taldan politics, with assassination and betrayal the preferred methods of advancement.

A strong-willed woman, Princess Eutropia intends to inherit the throne upon the death of her father. Such an act would be against the law of Taldor however, as the nation follows the rules of primogeniture, and thus only male heirs are able to take the crown. Despite this, Eutropia has grown disgusted with the stagnation of Taldor and intends to force the nation into the modern world, even if that requires taking power by force. Many fear that this could result in a civil war that the nation cannot afford, but Eutropia disagrees, and has been building support among the Senate.

She has sent several notes of written word with her most trusted messengers, to deliver a most urgent message to the satrap's vizier, without letting this act of potential treason reach word to hear father. Her aim is to negotiate for the Satrap's financial support, to aide her in quest to set up a new Taldan state, one that is free from the lethargy propagated by her father. She means to secure the necessary financial leverage by way of channelling trade funds, by securing the aide of few merchant princes. The goal being to front the gold by means of trading companies loyal to the satrap in both Katapesh, Jalmeray and Absolom. In exchange she offers to lead an internal sabotage campaign to destabilize and ultimately successfully disband the Zimar Corsairs. But sowing the seed of this ueasy alliance is beyond treacherous.

Qadira and its parent state, the Padishah Empire of Kelesh, are hated in Taldor. Taldans watched as Qadira occupied southern Taldor for almost 500 years, enslaved the city of Zimar, put nearly every settlement in the Zimar Scrublands to the torch, and distracted the empire at a crucial moment with an invasion, allowing Cheliax to secede in the Even-Tongued Conquest. At nominal peace for the last century, Taldor now uses the Zimar Corsairs to plague all Qadiran shipping from Katheer to Sedeq, and both nations still raid across their borders. Qadira is eager to invade Taldor again and Taldor is ready to defend its border. Taldor doesn't dare to invade, but keeps a wary eye on its neighbor to the south.[27]

Taldor would like to see Cheliax wiped from Golarion's face, as it was the center of Even-Tongued Conquest that shattered the empire. After the recent takeover by House Thrune, Taldans see Cheliax as a hated abomination. Taldor plans to burn Cheliax clean, conquer Absalom, and rule the entire southern coast of Avistan. Cheliax, however, pays little attention to Taldor, seeing it as a toothless, old lion.

Taldor fears the revolutions in Galt could spill across its southern border, and therefore keeps encampments along in the north. Taldan border guards have captured handbills calling the people of Taldor to rise up and shake off their oppressive rulers.

Taldor sees Absalom as the key to reinvigorating its empire. Given that Absalom has never fallen by siege, the emperor directs Taldan agents to infiltrate Absalom and one day merge it quietly with the empire. Absalom, like Cheliax, does not consider Taldor to be a serious threat.

Tensions are high, and while a truce has prevailed for over 30 years, the cinders of conflict and mistrust still smolder, and are simply waiting for the right catalyst to reignite the flames of war. Even though Taldor's armed forces no longer possess the power and prestige of the Armies of Exploration of the past, they are nevertheless powerful organizations. They are divided into the Taldan Horse, the Phalanx, and the Imperial Navy, and are commanded by High Strategos Maxillar Pythareus. The most notorious, however, are the Lion Blades, (a counterpart in infamy to Qadira's Cult of the Dawnflower) who specialize in subterfuge and urban combat, and are often recruited from Oppara's best bardic colleges.

Our story begins in Absalom with an urgent need for a courier vessel to depart for Oppara at first light.

​Players will be responding to an open call for guards and/or prestigious merchants or other such dignitaries for a resupply and diplomatic envoy mission to Oppara with some accompanying hijinks along the way there and then onto Qadira's capital city of Katheer. Players will be establishing rapport and prestige that can be exchanged for favors once in Katheer and with luck the rest of Qadira.

Player Characters from Pathfinder Society scenarios can carry over provided they have not participated in any scenarios that have takn place in Qadira.