A fairly large, busy trading city several days away from the Rus/Cherkess border.

DM of Da: The city stands on the bank of a river, and appears to be a fairly large, busy trading city

DM of Da: As you descend into the river valley, you can spot, from a distance, multiple bazaars, several caravans entering and exiting, a dock with a number of river boats

DM of Da: You've found out, via conversation on the way, that they've been to the city a couple of times, but don;t know it too well

DM of Da: You discover that while the trade here is mostly of mundane items, commodities, etc., there is one trader who specifically deals in buying and selling exotic (i.e., foreign) magic itemry that passes through Maikop

DM of Da: Other than him, most trade in magic happens in the Capital City

DM of Da: Which is further into the mountains

DM of Da: He is a merchant named Salim, and you're told he lives in a lavish house near the city's largest bazaar.

A large Cherkess trading city that stands on the banks of the Kuban River in the northern lowlands of the Caucasus Mountains?. Most of Cherkessia's trade with the peoples of the steppes and beyond comes through this river valley, so Maikop is home to a number of respected merchant families. Though not as overtly magical as the capital, Maikop is a wealthy city, its wide streets lined with expansive mansions behind high stone walls. In addition to the majority Cherkess population, people of neighboring tribes, such as the Abkhaz and the nomadic Cumans?, may be found here, as well as Mongols? from nearby Crimea?, and even Russian? traders, from Chernigov or Smolensk?, who brave the steppes for a chance to acquire Cherkess goods.

Maikop is an ancient city, long predating the rise of the Cherkess nation. Traditions of honor, hospitality, and settling matters in a private fashion are still strong here; the city's elders rarely intervene in disputes between citizens, except when their wisdom is called upon as arbitrators, and the warriors of the city guard serve primarily to protect the city from invaders or marauders. This also means that the more unsavory sorts of goods and services may be more easily acquired in Maikop with a minimum of scrutiny.

Local legends speak of kurgans, or burial mounds, that date back to the Bronze Age civilization that built Maikop, thousands of years before the Cherkess came. These kurgans are supposedly located near the city, and are said to be the resting places of warriors and kings, who were buried with the great treasures of their age. Some tales speak of Cherkess heroes of later ages discovering some or all of the kurgans and plundering their treasures, while other stories say that the tombs lie undisturbed even to this day.