Shar Tulya (pronounced SHAR TOLL-yah) is a shar, or fortified city, in Abanir. Located on the northwestern shores of Tomb Lake in the southern steppe, the lands around Shar Tulya are more verdant and fertile than are most other places in the Aban, and the city has grown quite large as a result of this excellent farmland. It serves as an important stop for caravans traveling the southern route of the Hundred Days Road, the last major settlement where goods are plentiful before reaching the dry grasslands to the north.
Shar Tulya was originally built as the palace of the famed targai leader Sariakesh, who in the late ninth millennium united many of the tribes of the southern steppes into a large confederation. To cement his power he ordered the construction of an immense palace on a bluff overlooking Tomb Lake, where all kings under him would be made to travel to receive their orders. This immense black marble and onyx edifice was barely finished when Sariakesh was assassinated, likely by figures within his subject tribes who chafed at his rule, and the site was abandoned for several centuries before new inhabitants began to arrive. The city has grown immensely since then and is now one of the largest settlements in Abanir.
The current ruler of Shar Tulya is Shammuramat, a Dalbanu warlord whose power rests in her influence over the inhabitants of the surrounding farming villages and her control of the central grain stockpiles. She is quite unpopular with the gatai of the city itself.