Shaarmid is a free trading city with a population of about 23,500. Its stout walls and formidable defensive forces make the city a safe haven for merchants, who flock here from all points in the region for protection from raiding tribes; bandits, and monsters of the grasslands.
Shaarmid's citizens claim no connection with or allegiance to the tribes of the surrounding plains, though many are descended from them. In fact, some privately embrace their heritage, but they prefer that others not view them as biased in favor of their former clans. A slight majority of the population is ethnically pure Lapalian, and therefore closely related to the Tashalans. The ancestors of these folk migrated here to found Shaarmid after the fall of Lhesper in 640 DR.
Despite the refusal of Shaarmid's citizens to show favoritism, the tribes accept them as long-time allies because of their reputation for brokering the best deals possible with traders from other lands. The markets of Shaarmid have become a little less wholesome of late because of the illicit trade that has been trickling down from Innarlith since Ransar Pristoleph came to power there (see Innarlith in Chapter 12), but this change has attracted little attention so far.
Shaarmid is a trade town on the plains of The Shaar, the only settlement of any size in the interior east of Ormpur. Populated by settled Shaaran tribesmen and the descendants of various immigrants, the city was spared by the Tuigan riders because of its great value to their Shaaran allies. Shaarmid is a place where the nomads of every tribe can gather to buy, sell, craft and negotiate, and gives them the novel experience of doing so inside four walls and a roof. Many caravans pass through here, and many settled merchants of all nations and races have established themselves.
But most important to the tribesmen is the great two-week horse fair that occurs here every spring, sponsored by the nearby tribes and the many stables and horse breeders in the town itself. This event is always thronged with the nomads and foreign visitors from all over The Tuigan Empire and elsewhere, who come to buy, sell, trade, breed and inspect the many Breeds of Horses that Faerun has to offer. The central attraction of the fair is the Horse Racing. Races are held every day, and there is a large winner’s purse for the most famous of them at the end of the fair.