Taarqen

Taarqen is a settlement in the southern jungles of Ixtal, set within the greater Shuriman expanse and lying closer to the great arcology of Ixaocan than the remote wilds of Semchul. It keeps a semi-independent standing, ordering its own affairs while remaining within reach of Ixaocan and the elemental order that governs the region. The settlement appears in The Axiomata, recounted by a young Yun Tal aspirant traveling with the teacher Mivasim toward Ixaocan. As master and student pass through the arcology's northern gates and into its crowded thoroughfares, they are hailed by Chiuq, a burly, green-eyed teacher of the Yun Tal who has arrived ahead of schedule with a dozen aspirants of his own in tow. Chiuq accounts for his early arrival by remarking that the road from Taarqen is not half so far as the wilds of Semchul, the outlying villages that Mivasim tends. The comparison marks Taarqen as a place from which the Yun Tal travel to Ixaocan, nearer and more easily reached than the remote settlements where students have little time for study. Taarqen remains active. Its ties to Ixaocan and to the Yun Tal place it within the elemental traditions of Ixtal, though it is chiefly known through the passing account of Chiuq's journey.