City of Countless Names- Dervishes

Long before the Ottoman Empire began, Nithamiyeen mystics gathered together to learn celestial truths through holiness, humility, and privations. Over time, they codified their practices and beliefs, becoming the dervish orders.

At the siege of Constantinople in 1453, the dervish Ak Shemsu-d’Din prophesied to Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror of the Ottoman’s victory over the city, and personally led 77 dervishes into the battle. Their miracles protected many soldiers from Constantinople’s magical defenses, helping the Ottoman armies overwhelm the city’s defenders.  After the victory, Mehmed’s viziers puzzled over the fallen city full of magical wonders, talismans, and holy relics. They couldn’t allow such powerful artifacts to be looted, destroyed, or lost in the administrative confusion of the new capital. Remembering the dervish’s wisdom and bravery, they tasked the dervishes to collect, and guard the most dangerous artifacts.

Since then, the dervishes of Constantinople use their mystic insight and their devotion to protect the Ottoman Empire from the practitioners of Sihr. Some believe the dervishes’ repetitive recitation of “the Word” gives their breath supernatural healing power, and bring sick or wounded loved ones to be breathed upon to restore their health. Legends speak of dervishes forcing two fighting armies to halt their war, learning cosmic secrets from angels, instantly appearing at locations hundreds of miles away, and projecting their consciousness out of their bodies.  More commonly, the Nithamiyeen faithful rely on dervishes for dream interpretation, deliverance from curses, and finding stolen property. Most Turks proclaim these abilities as miracles, while Guild magicians say the dervishes’ mystic practices enhance their Magnetism. Although, the Grand Mufti has authority over the dervish orders, he rarely exercises that power, despite the distrust the clergy have for the dervishes’ heretical beliefs.

Dervishes gather with other members of their order in monasteries called Tekkahs. Most Tekkahs house 15- 30 dervishes, led by a sheikh. Some of their mystic ceremonies are open to the public for a small donation toward the upkeep of the Tekkah. Anyone, faithful or foreigner, may watch, but the devotions, meditations, and lives of the dervishes in the Tekka remain private. Constantinople quarters many dervish orders, such as the Halvetiye, the Kadirye, the Naqshbandi and the Qadiriyya.  The three most famous in the city are the Mevlevi, the Bektashi, and the Rufa’i.

Mevlevi

Also known as dancing dervishes, or spinning dervishes, members of the Mevlevi order perform elaborate and vigorous ceremonial dances called “Sama” to reach a state of religious ecstasy and sanctity. Fifteen or more dervishes chant and slowly rotate on their left foot, their speed increasing as they spin, arms outstretched and eyes closed, for a quarter of an hour with no fatigue or dizziness. A small orchestra of dervishes playing flutes, zithers, drums, and tambourines helps pull the dancing dervishes into their trance-like state.

Mevlevi dervishes are easily recognized by their kulahs, tall brimless hats of undyed camel hair, but they only wear their most famous article of clothing, the long loose white skirts, during their ceremonies. Outside of their ceremonies and services, Mevlevi dervishes wear, long dark robes.

Of all the Dervish orders in Constantinople, the Mevlevi hold the most power, and prestige. When a new Sultan takes the throne, a Mevlevi sheik girds his waist with the sword of Osman, the founder of the Ottoman Empire. Their historic ranks include Grand Viziers and other members of the Ottoman government. Even the Sultan’s father, Mahmud II, associated closely with the Mevlevi. Although bound to poverty and charity, the endowments of the order’s lay members provide the dervishes with the most impressive tekke’s in Constantinople.

Bektashi

From their inception, the janissaries were closely associated with the Bektashi order. The sheik Hadji Bektash gave a special blessing on the group of young boys who became the first janissaries before their training began. Many janissaries worshiped with or joined the Bektashi. After the destruction of the janissaries, orchestrated by Sultan Mahmud II, Mahmud turned Bektashi Tekkes over to the other dervish orders, ordered its three leading sheiks executed for treason, and exiled their dervishes.  Under the reforms of Tanzimât, the order slowly renewed practice in the Ottoman Empire. Considering their vilified status in society, it’s fortunate Bektashi dervishes prefer study and contemplation to ecstatic displays of zeal. 

Bektashi dervishes wear clothes rich in symbolic meanings.  They cover their heads with a dome-shaped cap made of white felt with four grooves, called a Taj. The grooves (called Doors) represent the four stages of spiritual life according to the Order’s teachings. Three more grooves further divide the Doors.

Beneath their cloak, dervishes wear a vest bearing 12 stripes, a rope around the waist with three knots tying the dervish to truth, honesty, and chastity, and a belt made of wool from the sheep sacrificed at the dervishes’ initiation.

Rufa’i

The ceremonies performed by the Rufa’i order shock the uninitiated. The Rufa’i dervishes (known in Europe as”Howling Dervishes”) shed their outer garments and reach a state of violent bliss by kneeling, stamping their feet, and chanting. Their chanting grows into shouts as the dervishes stab, and cut their flesh with knives, and touch red-hot metal instruments, all while in this state of intoxicating bliss. At any other time, these wounds are horrifying if not fatal, but during the ceremony the dervishes feel no pain and barely bleed. Knives, swords, spears, and axes adorn the walls of Rufa’i Tekkes to be used in their ceremonies. The dervishes call these implements “roses”.

After the last Rufa’i dervish falls in exhaustion, their sheik rubs his saliva and breathes on their wounds. Rumor says all their wounds and scars fade within a day. Despite the Rufa’i order’s popularity with impoverished Ottoman citizens, the Nithamiyeen clergy suspect the taint of dark magic in their practices and try to quietly shut down their public displays.

Rufa’i dervishes wear a cap similar to that worn by the Bektashi order, and little else during their violent ceremonies. The eight grooves in the cap represent eight sins the dervish left behind. Their cloaks and outer clothing can be of any color, but bordered in green cloth. Most wear black.

City of Countless Names- Water Ways

The brilliant blue Bosporus and the natural harbor of the Golden Horn split Constantinople into the three distinct cites of Stambul, Pera-Galata, and Scutari. Fleets of fishing boats, warships, steamers, and other water-bound transports connect the city’s shores and inhabitants.

Caiques

The most ubiquitous watercraft of Constantinople is the caique. Although the people of Constantinople use “caique” for any number of small passenger boats, caique properly describes the long and narrow rowboats commonly used for transport on the Bosporus. The caique's sleek hull (15-20 feet long and 3 feet wide) cuts smoothly and silently through the waves. Their ornamentation and ostentation varies widely, from the simple unadorned caique with one rower to the grandly embellished caiques of the Sultan’s household propelled by three powerful rowers, and adorned with delicate awnings protecting their passengers from the sun during pleasure trips.

Much like the gondolas of Venice, thousands of caiques line Constantinople’s piers and harbors all day long, their caiquejees (rowers) ready to ferry travelers across the water. Caique ferries only stop when the waves of the Bosporus grow too rough to transport passengers. Because caiquejees work in the sun all day, they wear thin white long-sleeved shirts, and drawers tied at the knees over their deeply tanned muscular frames. The caiquejees row seated on wooden benches, but their 1-5 passengers sit on the bottom of the boat cushioned by a Persian rug.  Although caiques provide safe trips for their passengers on the whole, first-time passengers should take care to step directly into the middle of the boat or risk of the caique tipping. 

Caiquejees always haggle over the price of their services but the following are a reasonable guide.

Caique Ferry Fares

To briefly visit a vessel and return-               1½-3 piastres

To transport luggage from a ship-   3-5 piastres

Emin Eunou to Tophane-                  2 piastres

Across the Golden Horn-                                   1/2 piastre

Scutari to Tophane-                                            5 piastres

Scutari to Tophane- round trip-                       7-8 piastres

Seraglio Point to Scutari-                                   6 piastres

Tophane to Seraglio Point-                                2-3 piastres

Tophane to Beshiktas-                                       5 piastres

To travel up the Bosporus                                2 piastres per mile

Steamers

As more and more European steamships transport troops and passengers into Constantinople, the city’s need for modern efficient transport across its waterways increases. With the enthusiastic encouragement of the Ottoman government, a Galata banker named Manolaki Baltazzi and the Turkish reformer and scholar Ahmet Cevdet Pasha started Sirket-i Hayriye, the first Turkish steamship transport company. In 1851, Sirket-i Hayriye ordered 6 paddle steamships from England. After three years of complicated shipping and assembly, their small fleet began ferrying passengers from Emin Eunou to the villages along the Bosporus, and across the Bosporus to Scutari. Although the ships carry passengers from all neighborhoods and ethnicities, all their ship captains are all Greek.

Traveling by steamer costs less than traveling by caique, but steamship captains stick to their company’s strict timetables, leaving a specific harbor on thier scheduled course.  A caiquejee takes his fares wherever and whenever they want to go, as long as they can pay. Because of their cheaper rates, Constantinople’s lower classes take regular passage on steamers to run errands, commute to lucrative jobs away from home, or visit relatives on the opposite side of the Bosporus.

Steamer Ferry Fares

Emin Eunou to Scutari                                       1 piastre

Emin Eunou to Tophane-                                  1 piastre

Emin Eunou to Orta Kui                                    2 piastres

Fares to the northerly villages along the Bosporus cost 2-4 piastres, depending on distance.                        

In addition to caiques and steamer ferries, the Bosporus, the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara teem with Ottoman, French, English, and Italian warships, fishing boats dragging nets full of fish, and barges carrying cargo, any of which may also provide transport if a traveler is headed their way and can persuade the crew to provide them with passage.

Bridges

While boat passage is the only transportation between the European shore and the Asian shore, anyone can cross the Golden Horn on foot. Throughout history, many bridges connected Stambul and Pera-Galata, but only two remain inside Constantinople: Hayratiye Bridge and Galata Bridge. Crowds of pedestrians, pack animals, even mule-drawn carts constantly cross to the opposite shore amid the performers, fishermen, and merchants set up on the bridges. The Golden Horn occasionally freezes over during winter allowing pedestrians to cross on frozen paths until laborers smash through the ice to free ships.

Hayratiye Bridge (Also Called The Bridge, or Jewish Bridge)

Sultan Mahmud II, reportedly at the urging of his favored wife, Bezmialem Valide Sultan, ordered the construction of a boat bridge spanning the Golden Horn. After its completion in 1837, the people of Constantinople dubbed it “Hayratiye Bridge”, meaning charity bridge.

Hayratiye Bridge has no piles driven into the waterbed. Instead, the bridge floats on buoyant pontoons made of iron, which replaced the original wooden pontoons in 1853. Two wooden drawbridges break up Hayratiye’s 1,300 foot length; their ascension lets ships sail up the Golden Horn.

Galata Bridge (also called the New Bridge, or the Valide Bridge)

In 1845, Sultan Abdulmejid, at the urging of his mother, Bezmialem Valide Sultan, ordered another bridge built downriver, connecting Galata’s southern shores with Emin Eunou. Much like Hayratiye Bridge, Galata Bridge floats on the Golden Horns waves on pontoons and raises its drawbridges for passing ships. Galata Bridge serves as the disembarkation point for steamers traveling up the Bosporus, across to Scutari, or south to the Sea of Marmora. The entire bridge received a complete overhaul in 1853,

Bridge tolls (Only Turkish Money Accepted)

Herd animal (goats, sheep, etc)                       3 paras

Pedestrians                                                           5 paras

Porters and others carrying good across       10 paras

Horses and riders                                               20 paras

Load bearing animals                                         20 paras

Horse-drawn carriages                                      2 ½ piastres

Although the tolls collected on the bridges fund the Ottoman Navy, rumors suggest Bezmialem Valide Sultan also collects a healthy income.

The City of Countless Names- Getting Around the City

The war in the Crimea and the business interests of foreign firms bring scores of Europeans to Constantinople every day. While modern conveniences such as train travel and steam ships simplify such excursions, most travelers from England follow one of four routes.

Because of the perilous countryside surrounding the city, all of these routes approach Constantinople by water. Only a few miles from Constantinople, the villages and farms spread far apart. Bandits and Bashi-Bazouks (Ottoman mercenaries) patrol the roads ready to rob and kill undefended travelers, and caravans. Wild dogs and other predators, far from the abundant scavenging brought by city life, hunt whatever food comes their way. Only fools leave Constantinople unarmed or unguarded.

The Danube Route (10 Days by Train and Ship)

Cross the English Channel to the Belgian port of Ostend. Travel by train from Ostend to Cologne in Prussia. Take another train across the German Confederation to Dresden, and from Dresden to Prague, and from Prague to Vienna.  Barring accidents and incidents, this leg of the journey can be undertaken (with proper planning) in 3 days.

From Vienna take passage on a steamer down the Danube to the Black Sea. Leave the Black Sea, into the Bosporus Strait to reach Constantinople from the North. Due to the Crimean War, most steamers do not take this route anymore.

The Trieste Route (12 Days by Train and Ship)

Travel from England to Vienna by Ostend, Cologne, Dresden, and Prague, as described in the Danube Route (3 days barring accidents or incidents). Take a train from Vienna to the Italian seaport of Trieste. From Trieste, book passage on a steamer passing through the Mediterranean. Most cruises stop at the Greek islands Corfu, and Syra, the Turkish port in Smyrna, along with the Dardanelles before reaching Constantinople from the South.

The Gibraltar Route (15 Days by Ship)

Leave on a steamer from the English port of Southampton to the strategic British territory of Gibraltar at the mouth of the Mediterranean. From Gibraltar, sail the Mediterranean sea to Constantinople. This route is the most expensive and time-consuming, however, the best way to ship heavy equipment or large amounts of cargo is by sea.

The Marseilles Route (10 Days by Train and Ship)

Cross the English Channel to Dover. Take the train to Paris and from Paris to the great port of Marseilles in southern France. Tramp steamers regularly depart Marseilles every few weeks traveling through the Mediterranean Sea directly to Constantinople.

Most European steamships dock in Tophane, in the European quarter. Kolji (Ottoman custom officials) oversee the unloading of cargo and inspect the luggage of most travelers. Anyone wishing to expedite their tiresome inspection can charitably give the Kolji 3 piastres to be on their way. Hamals (local porters) gather at the piers ready to bear the luggage. The Hamal’s stooping stance, permanently leaning over from carrying heavy burdens on his back, identifies their profession. A Hamal carrying a trunk from Tophane to Pera charges 5 piastres for his labor and his guidance to the traveler’s quarters.

Constantinople confronts travelers with more struggles than the average unfamiliar city due to its cosmopolitan history. Beyond the plethora of languages spoken by its inhabitants, finding a specific location is further complicated by its disorganized streets. The deeper into the city, the narrower, and more crowded the street. Small alleys may open on gigantic thoroughfares or important squares, but the most vital arteries of traffic are the cramped back streets. 

Outside the European quarter, few streets bear official names, and no houses have addresses. Locals describe their neighborhood’s geography based on the nearest fountains, coffeehouses, or mosques. Directions to further destinations in the city refer to monuments, ruins, or palaces, which is also how most quarters and neighborhoods get their names. For example, the Cemberlitas district gets its name from the Column of Constantine. After an earthquake damaged the column, the Sultan had the column strengthened with metal rings and Cemberlitas means “hooped stone”.

While almost all the traffic on the cramped twisting streets consists of pedestrians, a few riders mounted on horseback and the occasional carriage temporarily breaks up the crowds. Livery stables in Pera, Galata, and Tophane, hire out horses and rigs, mostly to visiting Europeans planning day trips to popular sites in the countryside.  A comfortable carriage costs 40 piastres a day, or simple jostling hack 25 piastres a day. Driving a carriage through Constantinople requires tremendous vigilance to avoid the constant flow of crowds, camels bearing heavily packed burdens, packs of feral dogs, vendor’s carts, and of course other equally dangerous carriages. The streets outside the bazaars and near the shore bear the most populous foot traffic. 

City of Countless Names- Wish Magic of the Jinn

In the Celestial Order, mankind sits below the Archons, above the animals, and next to the Jinn.  As mankind came from dust and to dust return, so the Jinn are spirits of smokeless fire, partly natural and physical, partly aetheric and magical. Like men, the Jinn have their own hierarchies, governments, and societies, but unlike men, the Jinn freely wield tremendous magical forces with ease.  Considering the incredible power at a Jinni’s fingertips, it seems impossible the will of lowly men can command such mighty entities to grant their wishes.

Mastering a Jinn

To master a Jinni, first, you must find a Jinni. Ever elusive, Jinn seek out isolated places such as far in the inhospitable desert, deep in the sea, behind thick storm clouds, or in dark places under mountains. Less adventurous would-be masters make the Jinn come to them. Old scrolls and secret grimoires hold invocations summoning certain Jinn by name. Both methods hold equal peril, for both lead to an angry Jinni.

Mastering a Jinni requires an opposed test of Presence or Resolve based skills between the would-be Master and the Jinni. This roll could be modified by any number of circumstances such as:

-The Jinni has been summoned to a holy site: +3 black dice to the Jinni’s roll

-The Jinni is in its home: +3 black dice to the master’s roll

-The master offers something the Jinni desires in exchange for service: +3 black dice to the Jinni’s roll

-The Jinn is currently trapped in a magical prison: +9 black dice to the Jinni’s roll

-The master owns powerful magical artifacts or guardians: +3 black dice to the Jinni’s roll

-More than one Jinni is present: +6 black dice to the master’s roll

Obviously, the master must also survive to the fury of the Jinni in order to command it. It’s possible a master could gain a Jinni’s loyalty through acts of kindness and friendship. Few understand how a lowly man’s will forces the mighty Jinn into servitude, but Nithamiyeen holy men say the evil command Jin in their pride and ignorance, the devout in their holiness and purity.

Wishes

A mastered Jinni gives its master a pool of wishes for their master to spend as they desire. A master receives wishes equal to the Jinn’s Quintessence Pool + the number of the master’s successes over the Jinni’s roll to resist their mastery.  The master spends these wishes as they desire. If the master does not have enough wishes to cover the cost of his desire, he cannot wish for it.

Spent wishes are gone forever, but once a Jinni is in their service, a master can call up a Jinni again to master it starting the process over again.

-A master can command the Jinni to perform an action on their behalf. Every wish a spent by a character before rolling dice negates 1 black die of a single test. If they spent enough wishes to negate the test’s entire black dice pool, the character may spend 1 more wish to gain 2 automatic successes. In effect, the character automatically succeeds the test without rolling.

If they do not spend the extra wish for an automatic success they must roll the skill check with the reduced or negated black dice. In this case, the master only commanded the Jinn to assist them.

-Wishes can also be spent to negate the skill dice of an opposed roll (for example in combat). Before any dice are rolled, each wish negates one skill dice. Again, once all the opponents’ skill dice are negated, the Jinni’s master may spend one more wish to gain two automatic successes. Also, if the master does not pay the extra wish for the automatic success they must roll their skill as normal against the reduced or negated skill dice of their opponent.

-Wishes may also be used to task a Jinni with simple errands not requiring a skill test, such as delivering a message, or retrieving an object needed from their master’s house, These simple tasks cost one wish each. The cost in wishes of more complicated errands (such a following a suspect, answering questions on ancient history, or outright killing someone) is up to the Gamemaster. Jinn do not like to be treated like simple minions. After an errand, the Gamemaster may roll two dice for Treachery if appropriate, and keep 1 or both results.

-A Jinni’s master may also wish for riches, valuables, or other desired objects. If the master wishes for money, the master gets £5 for every wish spent.

-Similarly, masters can command Jinn to spontaneously create an item desired by its master. After calculating the cost of the desired item, the master spends enough wishes to overcome the cost, with each wish worth £5. Note that this is not the value of the objects raw materials, but how much the finished object costs. A stack of bank notes or an invitation to an embassy ball may be pieces of paper covered in ink, but their value is much greater than that.

-Jinn are capable of tremendous magical feats. If a master desires a spell's effect, they must spend wishes equal to the spell’s Cost + Difficulty +1 for the Jinni to automatically and instantaneously cast the spell. Spellcasting commanded by their master does not cost the Jinn Quintessence.

Treachery

If resentful to the commands of their master (as most Jinn are), the Jinni causes his master’s downfall, death, or humiliation by giving their wishes unforeseen consequences. After each wish commanded, the Gamemaster rolls a die for Treachery. If the result is a 1, the Gamemaster can change the result of one test rolled by the Jinn’s master to an automatic Foul Failure. This Foul Failure can occur in the same session or be spent at a later date to embarrass or do deadly harm to the master.

New Talent: Jinn Mastery 3 points

You command a minor Jinni and have a small pool of 10 wishes from its servitude. If you select this talent more than once, you’ve mastered another Jinni with an additional pool of 10 wishes. Once their master uses up their wishes these Jinn must be summoned and forced, cajoled, or pleased into further servitude to gain more wishes.