Not Current 1782 Fluff.
The arrogance and greed of the mir Zadu would begin its rapid decline in 1742 with the failed invasion of the Tokish Svarld. Like a domino falling in slow motion, the generations-long dynasty would collapse within 15 short years, due as much to their own unpopularity as the efforts of Alykinder’s Airmobile. Crusader propaganda fueled the oppressed Krysters while the Airmobile and Tokish Tractor Corps ransacked the military storehouses and supply lines. After the capitulation of the majority of Kryst’s military, the First Family fled for their lives. Their progeny are now scattered throughout Alwyd; powerless refugees of the Crusade, no better than the generations of Krysters they so ruthlessly suppressed. During the Hasty War of 1757 Alykinder installed a puppet regime atop the famous Spire of Zaengi, granting them limited control of the city and the Crusader-held country.
Since the deposition of the mir Zadu, the city itself is still full of hustle and bustle, but the jewel in the desert has lost much of her luster. Most of the movement through the city since the occupation is from passing catrawds rather than the merchant trains of old. As part of his general pattern of reforms, Alykinder has ordered the construction of a large airfield outside the walls, but the peculiarities of the desert weather make airship travel difficult across Kryst. Some of the burden of transportation of Kryst’s trade goods has been taken up by aerocraft, with the remainder being moved en masse during the few weeks a year that the southern zephyr abates enough to permit airship travel.
Truth be told, nothing has changed drastically for the common quar of Zaengi. There is always work to be done, the Iron Regime sees to that, and mouths to be fed at home. Pay has changed for the worse, however, and fear grows as whispers of inflation and price hikes loom over the ancient city. Paper currency has just recently been introduced throughout the Crusader states and confusion has set in, for the Krysters have never dealt with anything other than coin.
While the stalls and bodegas are still open along the Djedji Promenade, famous for its mix of quar cultures, the market boasts little of its former self. In the past, shopkeepers and merchants came from far and wide to market their wares in Zaengi, especially spices, herbs and foodstuffs. Vast amounts of food from far off lands were stored in rented vaults beneath the city. These stockpiled goods have since been consumed by Alykinder’s armies, and without the steady flow of merchant caravans through the city, there has been no resupply. Merchants from different city-states that came to purchase these goods in bulk and ship them home now only stir restlessly in brew shops and taverns, hoping for what once was. Though the mir Zadu were ruthless in their measures to control Zaengi and surrounding Kryst, the royal palanquins are now missed. Popular support of the Crusade has waned; foolish indeed were the children of Kryst, but times have changed and there is no looking back now.