Caravansery of Elkhazg

The Caravansery of Elkhazg is an old, four‑storey complex of stone, brick, and wrought iron set just inside a thick wall and archway on the edge of an ancient city. Courtyards with fountains, flowering vines, and potted fruit trees open behind three successively bolted gates. Visitors describe a dense maze of courts, galleries, and cloisters—some very old, including an "Old Cloister" kept without electricity or plumbing.

Origins and history

Elkhazg began as one of the oldest Cartasian maths, founded by fraas and suurs who had witnessed the Fall of Baz and knew Saunt Cartas. They built near an oxbow lake a few miles off a main river. When floods later shifted the channel, a trade route adapted to cross nearby, and the wardens of Elkhazg spun off a caravanserai adjacent to the math, plus a ferry. The single tariff they charged was permission to copy every book and scroll that passed through; they also recorded geometric designs seen on traded goods. With a special focus on plane geometry and tilings, Elkhazg became synonymous among theors with difficult tiling problems.

By the time of the Rebirth, the library had been dispersed and copied across the world, and the complex passed into private hands. It was not re‑made into a math at the Reconstitution; instead, it came under long‑lived financial interests similar to those that run Ecba.

Description and notable features

• A decagonal courtyard used for The Teglon, where multiple historical solutions are layered one atop another; a senior Thousander, Fraa Jad, demonstrated a fresh solution overnight, making a fourth visible layer.
• A circular courtyard roofed by a living bower: interlocked flowering vines forming a green dome that throws dappled light on the space below.
• Extensive tilework throughout, with walls and floors bearing intricate nonrepeating patterns that also carry theorems in tiling and plane geometry.

Current status and use

The complex is sparsely inhabited: the Heritor, Magnath Foral, and a liaison‑partner reside on site with a small staff of janitor‑curators. Visiting avout were recently turned away to clear the place. It now serves as a secure host and staging ground where prepositioned equipment has been unpacked for training—most visibly space‑suit systems and personal upper‑stage launch units destined to be consolidated for an attempt to rendezvous with Daban Urnud.

Relationships and affiliations

• Historically tied to the Cartasian branch of the mathic world and to copywork of texts and designs.
• Presently overseen by the Heritor Magnath Foral, who shares a family name with Ignetha Foral; the scene notes the coincidence but states no formal relationship.
• Served the surrounding Sæcular community as a crossing and market nexus when the river’s course shifted.

Present condition

Elkhazg remains large, wealthy in art fixed to its masonry, and largely empty of residents. It functions as a discreet, well‑defended compound suitable for hosting small groups that require privacy, supplies, and training space, with access to limited Reticulum connectivity within its courts.