The day had finally come for young Aminah. It had been only 9 months since the
meeting with the Waddanites and King Heydar. In that time she had been studying the Anahthaist faith carefully, developing her knowledge of the Goddess and her rituals all in an effort to be ready for what was to come. As with every Priestess she now had need to develop her skills working in the community which she was to serve and for little Aminah that meant the desert of Waddan. She would not be coming alone though as the High Priestess, Raniya Attar, had assigned two other girls to accompany her. Both of these girls were more experienced than Aminah but like her were not yet fully qualified Priestesses. They would all head out with the Banu Lakhm tribe and live among them while helping attend to their spiritual needs. The Banu Lakhm were an anomoly in Waddan, their 80,000 or so members were the only people with Anahitaism as their faith and finding an actual Seleucid trained Priestess was a rarity. The tribe had been preparing for their arrival for several weeks now. A new tent had been sewn together by the women of the tribe, it was pale blue to mimic the waters for which Anahitaism devoted their faith towards and fine white embroidary of the Goddesses name decorated it. The tent would be the home of the three young women and the interior would be furnished with as much luxury as the tribe could muster, some large hammocks, rugs and most importantly the tribes ritual table. The old lady who had served as the Priestess for the tribe for 20 years was happy that it would seem there was now someone willing to take over her duties. She herself had learned the ways of the faith off her predecessor and with Chief Tarik Karimi's daughter Arij now training in Seleucid to be a Preistess herself the old woman could look forward to a retirement of sorts.
The trio had been loaned an aircraft from the Seleucid government and were feeling rather nervous as Chief Tarik greeted them at the nations new airport. Tarik touched the feet of Aminah who would one day become the Priestess of his people and therefore the highest ranking Priestess in Waddan. Even the King of Royal Seleucid showed such respect to his nations High Priestess but the gesture was new to Aminah who was unsure what to do and found herself giggling nervously. "Welcome to Waddan" The Chief had now stood up and embraced each of the three girls. "Our tribe is excited to have you with us." Tarik felt out of place at the airport, large metal tubes whizzing through the sky was not normal and he was much happier when the group found itself on the road out in a rather beaten up Toyota Hi-Lux convoy. The vehicles were not commonly used as the tribe much preferred their camals and horses but the journey of some 200km from the capital would have taken several days otherwise. The tribe had been holed up in Germa, a small sandstone village that served as the Banu Lakhm's only fixed settlement. During the run up to markets and festivals the village would be surrounded by a ring of tents as everyone came to barter, trade and party but following the Land Decree of the Sultan many had opted to take shelter and so as the vehicles came down the road they were forced to drive through a tight network of tents of various colours. The sound of a motor vehicle brought many outside their tents to witness the arrival. Aminah was shocked for two reasons, the first was the fact that so many of the tribe bowed to her as the vehicle passed and the second was the smell. With hundreds if not thousands of sheep, goats and camals penned up on the rough dry grasslands their stink filled the air. To the Waddanites this was so familiar it was no longer registering in their nasal receptors but to the Seleucids it would take some getting used to. Several large groups began following the convoy as it neared the centre of the mass of tents and by the time they had pulled up outside the circle of buildings and the newly made pale blue tent the sound of the tribe welcoming the girls was deafening.
"Priestess.....Priestess" a voice stood out to Aminah who was expecting to see the white robed shape of someone looking like they would back home. It took her a while to realise the voice was calling to her and as she turned a young woman, around 20 years of age and heavily pregnant was desperatly calling to her. "My Priestess" the woman sank to her knees on the sand and touched Aminah's feet. The Seleucid youngster began to protest but the woman was desperate to speak. "Please...Please...I beg you. I carry my husband's child. He has six daughters but no sons. He is getting on in years and this may be his last child, I beg you bless me to give him a son." Aminah looked to the other two girls for advice but both simply shrugged, this was not something they'd been prepared for. Aminah took a deep breath and helped the woman to stand worried that in her frantic state she may just burst here and now.
"What is your name?" Aminah asked and the pregnant woman told her, "Well Rakan" Aminah kissed her on each cheek. "The Goddess knows best. She will give you what she needs to give you. While your heart desires a son the Goddess will have a plan for your child." She had studied the Waddan tribes quiet a bit before coming, "I already see that the child is blessed. To be born into the Banu Lakhm and is to be born into a tribe that shows love, to its members, its guests and most importantly to the Goddess. I will pray for you to have a happy healthy child and to make the tribe stronger." There would be nothing worse than promising a son and then her blessing not producing one when Rakan finally gave birth, it would undermine her connection to the Goddess but it seemed the tribe and Rakan were happy with her words. "But please" Aminah now addressed the crowd. "I am no Priestess yet. I am here to learn about you, serve you and if you allow it be part of your tribe."
"Of course we allow it." the Chief said loudly with a cheery voice. "All of our faith our members of our tribe.....they just don't realise it yet." the tribe who had gathered laughed and cheered as people were eager to welcome the girls. Suddenly Aminah felt someone grab her right hand then her left hand.
"Priestess come quick" a little girl was pulling on her along with her friend, "Come on" they seemed insistant and so Aminah followed, "We helped make this for you." They proudly swept their arms at the tent, "Well, we made the picture" the girls must have been six or seven and pointed to an image of a water jug on the door.
"Its beautiful" Aminah kissed each girl on the forehead, "You are very kind" the two girls seemed pleased and hurried off to their beaming parents who were part of the crowd. The Chief spoke to the tribe for a while as his three wives helped the new arrivals settle into their new home. For tonight the trio would be able to gather their strength after their long journey from their homeland.
Two days later the tribe was on the move, tents were dropped, animals gathered and goodbyes said. The tribe would split up into numerous smaller groups and head off across the sands utilising their land rights to graze their animals on the odd islands of grass that sprang out of the sand sea that formed the majority of Waddan. Aminah was going to stay in Germa for several more days as she learned the stories of the tribe from their current unqualified Priestess. It was therefore up to her two travelling companions to clamber into the saddle of a horse, as naturally they would be treated as high ranking members of the tribe, and head out into the desert. Chief Karimi had allocated them to his brothers group as having them with him would perhaps be seen as playing favourites and as the group headed out into the desert he stood waving them off. After just a few hours of riding the pair of Seleucid girls found their back and legs ached from the riding but did their best to not complain as the tribe seemed so comfortable in their own saddles on the backs of camals and horses. They prayed that they wouldn't be going far but around six hours later their hell was over. They crested a dune and discovered an oasis where seemingly against all odds a lush green island had sprung from the endless yellow. The problem was a group of men with motor vehicles were also there. Chief Karimi's brother seemed concerned and told the tribe to hold its ground as he and two others rode down to the oasis. From where they were waiting the tribe could see very little until the sound of a gunshot rang out, followed by several more. There was a scream from within the tribe as suddenly the air around them filled with the sound of machine gun fire whizzing past. Many bullets struck home ripping the tribe apart as the blood of human, goat, sheep and horse began to flow down the sand. Several of the vehicles hurtled towards them and men jumped off the back each armed with rifles and began gunning down everything that moved including the first of the Seleucid girls. The slaughter took only ten minutes and the devestation was total, not a single member of the party was permitted to survive as black robed men walked between the wounded exeucting them with a single cut across the throat. It was when they found the unconcious and heavily bleeding Seleucid girl that they bothered to carry her to the centre of the oasis and then there on the green grass cut her throat allowing her blood to wash over the vegetation. A few palm trees dotted the edges and a rope was tied around her ankles and used to string her up further allowing her blood to drain. She was stripped naked and then one of the men in black took his knife and carved symbols into her back. The message to a foreigner wouldn't be anything more than a simple series of cuts but to a Waddanite it was clear. "Foreigners Leave Our Water Alone." Once his bloody work was done the man clambered into the flatbed of one of the motor vehicles. "Riders of the Sands. These Banu are weak, they and the other unholy tribes shall be gutted, they shall be cut from the flesh of our nation. The Sultan had a chance with his Land Decree to end them but he failed instead being happy that our tribes fought each other, he bombed loyal tribesman while leaving Muslim, Manist and Anahitaist witches to wander the sands. He courts foreigners and he brings them gladly to our homes. We must oppose him, we must end his reign. With your support I shall form a new tribe, the tribe of the One Waddan, the tribe under the Riders of the Sand and we shall make this land a paradise." The group cheered and mounting their vehicles checked maps to find the location of where they suspected other members of the Banu Lakhm were heading.