Domain description: Domain of the Sphinx
Alignment: Chaotic evil.
Status: Not available for PCs.

Army: the Sphinx’s followers are cutthroats and outlaws. Any militia the beast raises should be treated as irregulars instead of a levy. Gnolls, goblins, and human brigands make up the creature’s military units. (Four to 10 units remain active at any given time.)

The Sphinx also keeps a standing bodyguard of elite infantry at Irbouda.

Regent: The Sphinx (Maw; Wiz12; Az, great, 47; NE) has ruled this region for hundreds of years. Early on, it lived as a marauding beast, preying on local villagers and passing caravans. Over the last century or so, the Sphinx has chosen to expand its domain and become a true regent.

Few outsiders meet the creature face to face; it prefers to deal through its lieutenants. Although the Khinasi consider the Sphinx quite intelligent and articulate, they all know of its murderous, bestial rages.

Description: Only patches of arid badlands break the monotony of the Sphinx’s dry, dusty domain. It’s the most inhospitable part of the Baïr el Tehara. Once the Basarji domain of Irbouda stood here, but the Sphinx’s depredations forced residents to abandon that city-state hundreds of years ago. Only criminals and the like chose to live in the Sphinx’s lands; the creature tolerates a few hill tribes and herdsmen, but only felines and other true followers of the monster feel really at home here. In recent years, the Sphinx has greatly increased the strength of his armies by demanding fealty from hill folks and nomads; the awnshegh can muster thousands of desert warriors with just a word, although even he has trouble keeping peace among the rival tribes.

Capital: As noted above, the Sphinx uses the ruined city of Irbouda as the seat of his power.
According to legend, he destroyed the city-state himself as long-planned revenge for a forgotten slight.

Trade goods: The Sphinx’s raiders produce little — Many live well on booty from raids on neighboring provinces. The Ghoudaïa Coster, a local guild based in Sendoure to the northwest, has began making inroads into the Sphinx’s domain.

Regency Generated/Accumulated: 47/100 RP.

Treasury: About 25 GB. Many believe the Sphinx has a hoard of treasure hidden in his ruined palace in Irbouda. Rather than taxing his subjects, the awnshegh demands tribute, which earns him 12GB per domain turn.

Oldest and worst of the three awnsheghlien in Khinasi is the Sphinx, a human-lion fusion ages old. A long-time menace to trade, the Sphinx craves territory and power above all else.

Enemies: These days the Sphinx focuses his attention on expansion into eastern Binsada. He bides his time though, until the Queen of Binsada reveals a vulnerability he can exploit. Certain tribes in the western Tarvan Waste have harbored great ill will against the Sphinx since the Carnegauan Massacre, in which the awnshegh gained three tarvan counties in the area’s bloodiest skirmish ever.

Lieutenants: Great cats of all kinds serve as minions of the Sphinx; the awnshegh’s nature links it to these mighty predators, from savannah cats to lions, and no feline can resist the monster's command. Association with the Sphinx has raised a few very rare savannah cats to a semi sentient state. They have become the awnshegh’s eyes, ears, and assassins throughout its domain.

Human or humanoid servants of the Sphinx don’t live to serve him long; sooner or later they displease their master, with fatal results. One exception is the leader of the khourseti alif: the mad priestess Tuara min Mesire (FKh; Pr9, Sphinx; CE), who often acts as the Sphinx’s official spokeswoman. Most of her Hands are warriors or thieves; a few a priests. The Sphinx’s subjects live in fear of these agents, never knowing which neighbor might turn out to belong to that mysterious group. However, the khourseti alif remains only a rumor outside this realm.

Important NPCs: The strongest of the tribes that follow the Sphinx is the Yezdaga gnolls, a brutal band that raids nearby lands from a stronghold in the Meid Tarvai. They follow a powerful witch-chieftain called the Yezd (MM; Ftr6; CE). This brilliant warlord conceals his dreams of displacing the Sphinx.

A Vos warrior-druid named Iuri Ilyich (MVo; Ftr7/Dru8; N) wanders the northern reaches of the Sphinx’s realm, using spells to contest the monster’s control over the great cats. His solitary guerilla war has wreaked such havoc with the Sphinx’s northern lands, the awnshegh has placed a 5,000 gp bounty on Iuri’s head.


Province Law* Temples Guilds* Sources
Agradil(2/3) Sx(1) -- Sx(1) Sx(3)
Akhada(3/2) -- -- -- --
Baïr el-Tehara(1/4) Sx(1) -- -- Sx(4)
Birbeg(0/5) -- -- -- Sx(5)
Facessin(0/5) -- -- -- Sx(5)
Irbouda(2/3) Sx(2) -- Sx(1) Sx(3)
Khousaba(2/3) -- -- -- Sx(2)
Meid Aïn(2/3) Sx(1) -- Sx(2) Sx(1)
Meid Tarvai(1/4) Sx(1) -- Sx(1) AR(4)
Meid Zhirgen(3/2) -- -- Sx(1) Sx(2)
Seïf el Avarra(2/3) Sx(1) -- -- Sx(2)
Sérifel(3/2) Sx(1) -- Gho(1) Sx(1)

• The khourseti alif, or Hands of the Sphinx, control law and guild holdings in the awnshegh’s name.
  

Abbreviations: Sx= the Sphinx; AR Adara bint Reshoud; Gho= Ghoudaïa Coster

Provinces/Holdings:The Sphinx, a powerful awnshegh, rules a desert realm. Most of his domain is empty steppe, but gnolls and bandits inhabit strongholds throughout the area.
Law: In the Sphinx’s lawless lands, the strong rule the weak. The awnshegh’s authority extends as far as the reach of the Hands of the Sphinx: his human agents, the Khourseti alif. The creature wants to build his realm of marauders into an organized state, but these unreliable humanoids and brigands are not the stuf from which one forges nations.
Temples: The Sphinx suppresses organized worship, destroying any priests who try to gather congregations. Most people assume the creature perceives temples as a threat, but others see a more sinister purpose. Rumors claim some priests among the khourseti alif worship the Sphinx and the realm’s resident felines!
Guilds: The hands of the Sphinx control most domain trade. Raids and the efforts of a local guild add to the realm’s income.
Sources: The Sphinx, a formidable sorcerer and warrior, has created a network of ley lines across the face of the open steppes and wields near-complete control of the region’s magic. The sorceress Adara bint Reshoud of Shoufal has challenged his control of the borderlands; the Sphinx hasn’t responded to this situation yet.