Qarat al-Mahari

The Kingdom of Qarat al-Mahari is a small nation in the Arabian Peninsula on the Red Sea Shore. King Farid ibn Khalid al-Mahari, the former king of Qarat since the ‘70s, sold out his nation in favor of cronyism: allowing friendly loyal tribal lords, businessmen, and bureaucrats to own stakes in the extremely rich oil reserves across the country. Most heinous of these violations was when King Farid allowed the Russian oil conglomerate Zvezda Vostoka to directly take over many oil reserves and even the port city of Khadir. The cronyism, corruption, and authoritarianism of King Farid’s reign proved the tyranny of the al-Mahari dynasty which had controlled the land since the early 1900s. In the large port city of Azimah in the northwest of Qarat, an intellectual society was being formed known as the Order of Azimah. The Order started off originally as a secret political society advocating for liberal democracy, but, after witnessing the events of the Arab Spring, Hanfi Rahal, the leader of the Order of Azimah, ordered the assassination of King Farid. The assassination was a success, and Qarat fell into chaos and civil war. Now, 13 distinct factions patrol Qarat with their own armies, ideologies, and goals, each of them uniquely brutal and dystopian. As an American mercenary, will you remain with Zvezda Vostoka or form your own path in the desert, leading a different faction to power or even leading a new government with yourself at its center.