Pazar

Pazar was a city in the kingdom of Bakar, abandoned after the river Athis dried out. The Star of Aga-Pelar was secreted away in the Temple of Eilish in the city, used to trap the efreet Khalitharius.

Background
Pazar was constructed on an island within the River Athis. The white rock of the island was excavated as the city grew, exposing more limestone to the flow of the river. Entire blocks of the city had begun to sink by the time the city fathers decided to use powerful spells to reinforce the foundations; when the river dried and the city was abandoned, these spells eventually faltered, leading to the entire city being swallowed up into the empty spaces of the limestone.

Around the late 3 century DR, Princess Sithal Al-Husn of Pazar was married to Athis Al-Din of Akhir, but she was kidnapped on her wedding night by Habrauk Al-Nirin of the Al-Alisk clan. This unleashed a blood feud that lasted for five generations, until by the year DR, the bloodlines of Pazar, Akhir, and the Al-Alisk clan were all extinguished both by the fighting and the Curse of Amun-Re.

The last administrator to leave, Kalif Maniozimus, had a statue to himself erected on top of the Temple of Eilish.

Imprisoning of Khalitharius and Prophecy
After Khalitharius created the Skysea in his rampage through Raurin, he was stopped by the archmage Martek. The wizard created a lead box to use as the efreet's prison, and set the Star of Aga-Pelar, a gem of inestimable beauty, to function as a stopper. However, the prison would only hold for a thousand years. Vizier Martek secreted the prison in the Temple of Eilish, and made sure only the most determined could release the efreet by placing mighty magic to guard the prison.

By using the Star of Aga-Pelar as a stopper for the prison and prophesizing the need for the gem later on, Martek sought to ensure that adventurers would release the efreet a thousand years later in the future. The wizard was positive Khalitharius would resume the rampage rather than return to their home plane, thus leaving themselves vulnerable to Martek returning as well to use their full power in order to bind them for good.

In, adventurers employed by Aman Al-Raqib removed the Star of Aga-Pelar, accidentally releasing Khalitharius.

Temple of Eilish and Statue of Maniozimus
The only structure of note visible in the city as of the mid-14 century DR was the statue of Maniozimus, half-buried to its chest in sand, visible from 10 miles away. It held a tablet, where it was written that the city had once been great. The statue had actually sunk into the ground due to the damage that the river Athis had caused to the limestone bedrock, which had gone unrepaired in the years after the city was abandoned, and people standing in front of it were at risk of falling into the a hollow dome beneath, which belonged to the Temple of Eilish.

The dome beneath the statue was the only surviving structure of any note; the 100-foot tall structure had a 70-foot tall pile of sand in it. The place was crawling with giant tarantulas; a magically obfuscated inscription warned against disturbing the Vanquished One, referring to Khalitharius. The area leading to Khalitharius' imprisonment chamber was magically password locked; the passwords were held in a scroll room.

Khalitharius' imprisonment chamber was warded by three rows of two statues, each of which projected a magical barrier between the statues. The first barrier was destructive cold, the second barrier was a curtain of powerful electricity and the third one was an extremely powerful flame shield. Passwords would bypass all of those barriers, found in the same room. Behind all the barriers was the star of Aga-Pelar, set above an altar of white marble; that altar was Khalitharius' prison, who would be released and escape in gaseous form if the star was ever removed.

Appearances

 * Desert of Desolation