Waddan specialisms

Equestrian
Shooting

The Taghlib ibn Wa'il had sent 35 of their militia to where they suspected the Anazzah tribe were looking after their old and sick. The "Town" of Murqquab was a series of single story yellow sandstone buildings with wooden sheds upon their roof which acted as store rooms. Like most Waddan tribal towns it was small and the houses were used communially. The arrangement was simple, a well sat in the centre and the houses fanned out in a circle around them. The militia had left their camals with a force of ten several kilometers away and had walked for the last distance in silence. Now as the sun was beginning to creep its way above the sandy horizon the groups best shots remained on the dunes around the town while around 30 of the militia sneaked towards the buildings. A young boy sat watching the pen in which the goats belonging to the village roamed. There were about 100 goats and the boy sat whistling while picking up small stones and trying to hit them with a stick he was carrying. He couldn't be more than 12 or so and wasn't even beginning to have fluff on his face yet alone a beard. His attention was focused on his little game rather than what was around him. The sun was on its way up and so the threat from predators was going. He was probably thinking more about his bed than the knife that slid between his ribs as one of the militia men covered his mouth to stop his cries from being heard. As his blood began spilling onto the warming sand his throat was cut speeding his departure from the world. While he bled out several other began trying to doors of the houses and obviously found them open. A few ancient grenades were launched into the homes yet only one exploded as the militia began screaming and entering the houses firing at anything that moved with old rifles acquired over the last 50 years. When the guns didn't work or there was a need to reload the butts were used to beat down those inside. There wasn't much of a fight, the elderly hadn't been ready and the young tasked to look after them was either unarmed or weak women. It took only about thirty minutes to kill everyone inside the town.

Once the killing was over the bodies were dragged out and dropped down the well clogging it up with the dead. Searches of the homes yielded a horde of bounty, coins, jewellrey, rich cloth, all things that could be traded and so these were bundled up ready to take. They would have liked to take the livestock but the sands would potentially give away the sight of 100's of goat being herded while they could easily disguise their own camals. One of the militia men examined the goats, "They are diseased" he pointed at one of the hooves of the nearest goat.

"Kill them all." The leader of the militia, a man called Kazan with an eye patch said as even before he turned to check on the progress of packing up the bounty he heard the sound of a goat bleeting as its throat was cut. He was pleased with what they had found and was sure the Chief would reward him for his work, he however had found a lovely roll of cloth that he was sure his wives would like and so he instructed that to be loaded onto his camal when it arrived. It took them maybe an hour to kill all the goats and pull down some of the wooden sheds to create a bonfire. With the destruction done and the security party having brought the camals they mounted up and spliting into small groups headed back into the desert.

It took about an hour for the fire to really catch and the light get to a point where the smoke was visible. Some distance away across the flatish desert to the North a plume could be seen by two members of the Anazzah tribe who were out examining a rocky outcrop for the prescence of minerals they could use. They knew that the tribes town was in that direction and even though not part of their plan set off on the days ride to see what was happening as their was no way a smoke plume like that should be coming from any town in Waddan this time of year.

The Prince knew that the Bene Gesserit schools had a reputation not many liked, he had heard words such as "Child soldiers" being used to describe some of them, that was a concept that was foreign to him, if you could fire a rifle you could be a soldier and so he suspected most tribes of Waddan had many child soldiers. He also liked the idea of the girls school taking in those with no family or no tribe anymore. There were several reasons a young girl could find herself in difficultly as they could be the child of someone exiled from the tribe, they could be an orphan or just the unfortunate girl in need of being cast aside because of problems in the tribe such as food or water shortages. Often these girls, and there were not many, found themselves left for dead in the desert however he suspected the tribes may see this as a chance to jettison some of their young girls, at least for a while, in order to give the tribe more food and water.

"Hmm" the Prince mused, "The first two ideas I like and I think we should go ahead. I in many ways like the third idea too but I have read of these Chapterhouses and some problems connected to them. I therefore wish to impose three conditions. The first is that the girls there must be taught about the religion their tribe holds sacred that way should they wish to ever return to them they would be able. The second condition is that no girl may be used as one of the Honored Matres I have read of without approval of a member of our royal family. I will not have Waddan girls used without our say so. Finally the school must be able to be visited by our nations administration regularly. If those measures are meet then we have an agreement."

Prince Jamshaid was the Sultan of Waddan's 6th eldest son and therefore a man with little or no influence at home. He did however have access to some funds, nothing compared to that of those he now mingled with. He looked at the fancy fighter jets overhead and believed that each of those was probably worth more than the Waddanites could afford in a lifetime. Even the boats in the marina were far beyond anything he could have imagined. The money though was enough to perhaps make him a little wealthier than his siblings if he managed it correctly and while they vied for the affections of father he knew it was more important to strike out on his own. He was accompanied on his visit by Mahfuz, one of his father's illigitimate sons. Mahfuz was not a Prince but the Sultan had ensured he had a good life and the 32 year old felt it was his duty to repay his father's kindness and so had found himself dedicated to looking after his siblings often as the head of their security, particularly his half sisters. He and Jamshaid though were close and when the Prince has persuaded his father to let him attend this event the Prince had asked for Jamshaid to come with him. They'd both been amazed so far. "Where to first?" Mahfuz pondered once the ribbon had been cut.

"We have to be diplomatic first" The Prince managed to manouver through the crowd until he found the Seleucid royals. "King Heydar" Prince Jamshaid attracted his attention. "I am Prince Jamshaid or Waddant. This here is my half-brother Duke Mahfuz." Mahfuz rarely had his title utilised but today was a kind of special occasion. "I want to congratulate you on an amazing project. It is rather mind blowing" he flattered the King, "My father is looking forward to the completion of Waddan Blue and of course you coming to visit once that young girl finishes her religious training. All the tribes look forward to getting a chance to meet such a generous King. You must forgive us as we need to go show our faces at the Waddan building. I do hope we see you there later perhaps." He extended a hand to the King and the young Prince while bowing respectfully to the Queens.

GROUND FLOOR

As Jamshaid and Mahfuz entered the building the aroma of roasting lamb filling their lungs. The downstairs was set up to look like you had just entered an oasis. Fabrics had been hung to create what looked like tents, the walls painted with murals looking like the sands rolling away into the distance and even sand had been brought in to create a desert feel. Wooden walkways linked the tents, some of which had food stalls in serving the succulent roast meat in flatbreads along with hummus and dates. Displays of citrus fruits were gathered together and in one of the "tents" a pair of women sat spinning wool using traditional tools. A group of young men sat on the floor outside another playing music and singing traditional songs of Waddan. Mahfuz recognised the song and couldn't help but join in much to the amusement of the singers and Prince Jamshaid.

2nd FLOOR

Having walked up the stairs the oasis beneath gave way to a large open plan space with a few stalls. Each stall was being manned by a man from a different tribe and each had a selection of their wares. Mostly fabrics of various types, wools, leathers. suede and hide. Some of them seemed keen to try and sell even to the two VIP's from their own nation and there was almost a competative feel to the floor. It was perhaps one problem with the Waddanite economy, it was rather narrow and the pair expected to see much more variety when they visited the other pods. Having not spent a penny they continued upwards.

3rd FLOOR

The 3rd floor was a kind of museum. The walls had various tapestries hung showing scenes from different tribes stories. It had been a real effort to find someone to write the stories on panels next to them so the uninformed on Waddan history, which probably meant every visitor, could understand what was being shown. It was perhaps one problem Waddan faced, they were still very much an oral tradition in terms of history and to reflect this various towers had been constructed around which sets of headphones had been installed allowing people to put them on and in several languages select a folk story to listen to. Three old men sat smoking around a circle of cushions on the floor, these were men capable of telling stories to groups of children if they came.

4th FLOOR

Unlike most Waddan probably didn't have enough to fill all their floors and so this was the final one with anything people could access. The top floor had been turned into a makeshift set of storerooms and offices for those in the other floors. The 4th floor though was where several young Waddanite friends of Prince Adnan were based, around them were boards showing the scenes of Waddan. They advertised some of the resources and business oppurtunities, tribes that thought they may have access to metals, other tribes with large livestock herds, ideas for solar farms and desalinisation. It was a chance for anyone wanting to find out how to invest to gather information. They Prince and Duke spent a while checking these out before heading back downstairs and leaving to explore elsewhere.

Five days ago the Chief of the Taghlib ibn Wa'il, a man in his early fifties with a pacthy grey beard and a squink caused by decaying eye-sight by the name of Khaliq Darzi had discovered that around 200 members of his tribe had been gunned down by someone, he was yet to determine who. The nomadic nature of the Unified Tribes of Waddan meant no one was ever in one place for very long and the desert was helpful to those who had committed the crimes as its late evening winds and the occasional sandstorm could hide the tracks of even the largest group travelling across the sands which were like oceans between oasis'.  Conflict between the tribes wasn't a common thing but it was usually no more than a few shots fired and the occasional bout of fisticuffs. This was vastly different though, this wasn't a disagreement over which tribe's turn it was to take water or how many head of sheep to trade for a bride. This had been a massacre and had shoked Darzi. His immediate reaction had been for vengeance as the usual way of dealing with even slights was an eye for an eye which explained  why the tribes often ensured so carefully they never caused each other offence. Darzi was in a difficult position now though as he sat in the Red Tent which his tribe used to signifiy those living there were the family of the Chief. He had called some of the tribal elders to him and now sat cross legged on the floor they smoked a pipe and discussed what action to take. "Someone must pay." one of the elders asserted, "If we do nothing the others will know we are cowards and that is bad."

"That is the least of your problems my Chief" a tiny old man with waist length beard added, "If you do nothing then the tribe will think you can not protect them and that spells disaster for you, and for the tribe."

"So what do you recommend?" Darzi asked. He had racked his brain the last few days and had asked himself that question many times already but had failed to really think of anything that he saw a positive outcome coming from.

One of the elders unrolled a document, it was nothing other than a collection of drawings on a map and patterns. It was a document that was designed to show the land rights that rotated between the tribes and was essentially a calender saying who had which watering hole and when. The man pointed at the spot that showed where Darzi's tribe were currently sat. "You must attack the Anazzah. We sit just half a day away by horse from their town of Murqquab. Someone is always there. This time of year it will be unguarded. Word of the attack will spread among the others, if we do things right no one will know it was us, however the tribe that did attack us will be the only ones who suspect it was us as no one outside us and them, whichever scum they are, knows about what has happened so far. They will not be willing to speak out because it will show their own guilt, but our tribe will believe we have taken vengence which protects you. It is the best course of action."

Darzi was not happy about the suggestion. Shedding the blood of an innocent tribe sat uneasy but the township would also be full of the old and infirm making it perhaps even more cowardly. The old man though had spoken sense. If the Chief did nothing then it was likely he would lose the support of his own people and so he reluctantly agreed with the suggestion and gathered the tribe together. "The past days we have mourned in sadness the murder of our brothers and sisters but today I have received word from our scouts who is behind this. The Anazzah tribe wanted to destroy our herds. Well they have a nearby township and soon our warriors will exact vengence there." The crowd cheered lead by a tall man with only one eye. Kazan was the militia officer and Darzi had told him the plan a few moments before the tribe meeting. He knew it wasn't the Anazzah but he wasn't about to tell anyone. He was Darzi's cousin and that meant as long as the Chief retained power he would find favour in the tribe, if Darzi lost the respect of the tribe it wouldn't bode well for his relatives and so to maintain the status quo Kazan would put the township of Murquabb. Truth be told he rather enjoyed violence, it was this that had lead to him losing his eye when he had been just 17 and had it beaten to jelly by an older man after refusing to pay up on a wager following a horse race. It was a foolish mistake but was also the last fight the 35 year old had ever lost and he'd enjoyed quiet a few, the fight ahead should be one of the easiest in his life and he was smiling as his Chief berated the cowards of the Anazzah. This time tomorrow he'd be plundering the old and stealing their cattle.

15th June 2020

Ghayth Najjar observed the scene before him and shook his head in astonishment. One of his scouts from the Abd al-Qays tribe he commanded had returned to camp just before sunrise having ridden from the Quttah Oasis which the tribe was due to arrive at in two days time. It was the usual thing to do that as the tribe moved to the next oasis on their turn that a group of scouts headed their ahead of the tribe to check everything was in order and sometimes even do a spot of trading with the tribe that was vaccating the area. Baqir had ridden his camel most of the last 24 hours with the carcass strapped to its back. He had insisted the Chief be woken immediately and now stood at the entrance to the Chiefs tent he had unwrapped the goat.

"What is this?" The Chief asked more retorically than expecting an answer.

"We are not sure my lord but there are ten more of them. We followed the tracks away from the oasis, must have been four days ago maybe and it was clear some of their herd was lame." Baqir explained. When they had arrived at the oasis they had found several carcasses dotted around where the Taghlib ibn Wa'il tribe had been staying. It was strange as they were not due to move their encampment until today yet clearly they had gone early. That in itself was not unheard of because tribes situations changed, leaving early was not a problem, staying late was but more worryingly leaving the dead undisposed of was one of the worst things you could do. It was in many ways an insult as the remains would bring predators to the region endangering the next tribes livestock which was their life-line, it also left disease. A few of the elders of the tribe had gathered and poked and prodded the creature before them.

"Its like the swelling sickness[1] but this isn't right." one man pulled the goats tongue out and looked closely at it. The swelling sickness gave a distinct blue tint to the swollen tongue however this was more of a yellow hue. "I'm not sure what this is but it is not good."

Chief Ghayth Najjar thought for a moment and then turned to Baqir "Ride back to the Oasis, take the carcasses several miles away from where we will camp. I want you to burn them if you can otherwise leave them for the wild." Fuel was a rarity for fires, infact it was more a case of using dung but that was never going to be enough to cremate several animals. The Chief was also keen to preserve what stocks of solid wood they had for the coming weeks and any unexpected jobs such as this were a problem. "Take a horse." the Chief instucted his scout who bowed respectfully and prepared to retrace his journey.

17th June 2020

"Dirty son's of whores" Ghayth Najjar exclaimed, the tribe gathered behind him concerned. "Baqir!!" he exclaimed, "Why did you not tell me this before?" he demanded as he watched two boys drag a dead goat out of the water at the centre of the oasis.

"My Lord I swear it was not here when I came back." He knelt before the Chief concerned that he was seen as a failure. "Forgive me."

Najjar trusted Baqir and while he was angry he was also positive that Baqir would not lie to him. The chief motioned for several of his senior men to follow him away from the 400 or so members of the tribe who were travelling with them. He spoke in a low tone, "Those bastards from the Taghlib ibn Wa'il have done this. They know markets are a few months away and they want to destroy our herd. We can't use this water now and we are stuck here for three weeks." He looked around. "Where is the next nearest watering hole that's empty."

A man with a bald head but long beard thought, "Two days east I think." He pronounced, "We could send scouts in caravans with skins but we should also set up the desert stills. The men nodded in agreement.

"How far away are the Taghlib ibn Wa'il?" the chief asked.

"Three days North." The bearded man explained.

"Baqir prove yourself. I want you to take 30 of the militia and the rifles. Go take water from the Taghlib ibn Wa'il." The chief ordered.

---

20th June 2020

The Taghlib ibn Wa'il had been easier to find than Baqir had expected. They clearly were not travelling as fast as they should have as it took only about two days to catch them. Baqir and his militia men and women had managed to sneak ahead of them using dunes as cover and now as the sun was about to raise they took aim. Every tribe stood a group of people as watchman for their animals they were expected to ensure no wild animals took off the livestock and were usually armed but as Baqir knew many of the watchman were only youngsters given the night shift to allow the experienced herdsman to sleep. The four of the six watchman fell as the militia fired their first shots and was people began emerging from tents to investigate they too were gunned down. It didn't take long for panic to set in as the tribe below the dunes began running for their lives. Baqir and his fellow fighters kept gunning them down. By leaving the Abd al-Qays without water the Taghlib ibn Wa'il had all but consigned them to see some of the weaker members of the tribe die, even their livestock would suffer especially the Taghlib ibn Wa'il having left disease for them. Vengance was to be expected in such circumstances and Baqir made sure to kill everyone they could find. The killing over they looked for tracks to ensure no one had escaped. It was clear this was not the main body of the  Taghlib ibn Wa'il tribe, nor was their chief here but it was still important that the do their best to cover their tracks. They picked up as much of their empty cases as possible and then took several blankets and rugs tying them behind horses. They also took as many of the  Taghlib ibn Wa'il's horses and camals as possible. The clean up done the Abd al-Qays militia did their best to cover their tracks, three scouts walked on foot several kilometers in the opposite direction herding the captured camals and horses before them. Satisfied they had gone far enough they picked out three animals and headed back to their own camp using rugs and blankets tied behind the animals to remove their own tracks. The same process was going on with the main body as they made their way back with all the water they could carry to tell their Chief vegance had been taken.

1.	Waddanites know livestock very well but aren't medically trained. swelling sickness is what they'll call blue tongue.

"In Waddan there are many traditions regarding leaving the tribe, as long as these are fulfilled then a person can travel where they like. For example just to come here today I have had to leave my horse with the Sultan.  When the Sultan leaves the nation then we have to ensure one of our daughters, grand-daughters or even sisters go and live in the Palace during his excursion. Technically they are hostage but the only damage that ever befalls them is they return a little fatter from the genorous banquets thrown by the royal family. " Yasin chuckled before continuing, "Now should any member of our tribe wish to take up the call of life as a missionary of sorts we shall not stand in their way. It may take though some time before we have any willing to be missionaries but I suppose the best we can do is see what happens" he shrugged.

The Chief thought for a while on the second question, the one focusing on what needs his people had. "To now the people of any Waddan tribe needs are the same, a herd of animals, mounts of guard them, the grass to grow and the water to run. Now with the addition of the mine we will be changing these things slightly. The only other changes we are making is at our tribal capital where we are working to make devices known as Water Mines. They essentially extract water from the very air." Perhaps a more educated man could have explained how the process worked but as far as the Chief knew air came in, did something, and left behind moisture. Any ideas on how to increase our water reserves is always going to be welcome, however I do not think short of somehow persuading the almighty to give us rain you have much chance with that."

"Well Your Majesty I would welcome such a development. It would certainly help our nation. Theoretically the Sultan would have to give permission, however a back up plan may be that we can authorise its construction on our own private tribal land even if the Sultan does not give permission. But this is a matter that I must discuss upon our return." The Chief stood. "I shall be in touch shortly regarding how the projects we have discussed have been received by our Sultan but I am very confident that it will be extremely positively." The Chief extended a hand towards Heydar. "I hope our next meeting will be in Waddan soon and look forward to welcoming Aminah shortly to her new role." The Chief and his daughter embraced warmly, "I expect you daughter to make our tribe proud and forge a new path for us."

"I will father" the girl said with a trickle of tears down her cheek. She had no idea when next she would see the father whom she couldn't ever remember going a day without before. The Chief pulled himself away and headed towards the door proud of how his first meeting with a foreigner had gone. It would be a long trip back home but perhaps the last time a Chief from his tribe would have the same fear he had of that small light aircraft bouncing down on the dusty roadway. As Karimi exited the small light aircraft the Sultan's son Prince Jamshaid was waiting for them. He helped the Chief down the steps ensuring his robe didn't get stuck under his feat.

"Welcome home Chief Karimi" the pair shook hands before embracing. "First before you tell me how things went we have someone to see you." a young stable boy held a calm grey stallion which was now lead to him.

"Your Lordship. He has been a well behaved guest" the young stable boy warmly rubbed the horses nose and it was clear the horse liked the youngster. "I hope that if you ever leave the nation again I'd be honoured to have him stay with us again." He kissed the horse on the nose and then handed the reigns back to the Chief who was pleased to see that the horse was clearly in good health, it actually looked like its coat was neater than he'd seen it in many a while, perhaps he should recruit this boy to look after him full time.

"Excellent" the Chief extended a hand to the young stable boy. "You're clearly a skilled young man." The Chief said as he and the Prince headed back towards the city. "As for the talks I rather enjoyed them. I have many gifts for the people and I have some excellent news for your father. Will I be able to see him today."

"Of course." Jamshaid nodded, "He has eagerly been awaiting your return and that of Chief Yasin who is currently in Tamora. It stands to be a great few days for our nation." As they walked through the sandstone gate house of the capital city a few people peered out of buildings at the sound of the hooves clip clopping on the cobbled road. Most of the city was empty but at its centre surrounded by an earthern ditch was a small white building that served as the Sultan's residency in the the capital. The residency was surrounded by a few men dressed in black robes with silver cross belts indicating that they were members of the military guard, a few snapped to attention as the Prince and Chief entered and then a few moments later Karimi was sat in front of the Sultan telling him of his news.

For Faruq this was a rather momentous journey. By the time it was done he would probably have travelled further than any other Chieftan for a meeting ever in the history of Waddan, even if you added up all their journies throughout their life. His trek began by horse heading down to the nations capital of Sabhā where he left his grand-daughter Sarah with the Sultan's family. It was an old tradition and although she would be called a hostage Faruq knew no harm would come to her, the 19 year old would if anything enjoy the time there as an honoured guest getting to mingle with members of the Sultan's rather large family. From the little used dual carriageway outside a small plane picked him up along with a young man called Abdul, the man was a member of the Chief's militia and while that for many would make him the equivalent of a soldier he was also highly literate his grand-father having been an imam. Faruq hoped the younger man could be of use and beyond that he would company on the long journey.

They first flew to Ipsus where they transfered onto a scheduled flight. Faruq and Abdul had been nervous on their first leg of the flight, the tiny aircraft having been loud and seemingly fragile. The opposite was true of this second flight. The aircraft was larger than any vehicle they'd seen before and the prospect of travelling with hundreds of others. The ability to watch a movie was a novelty to the Chief and was something he normally only could do for the few weeks a year he lived in Sabhā. Upon touch down in Solemani the Seleucid airliner allowed the Chief and his travelling companion to leave the aircraft first where they began to look for the welcoming commitee.

"It would appear Your Majesty has just acquired access to a variety of different metals.....at least I hope so." Yasin was not sure of the way things were done here in Tamora but a handshake with witnesses was literally as good signing a contract. "In Waddan between tribes it is enough for us to have a witness each to the agreement" the Chief turned to his son "Karam, you've just witnessed the first trade deal between Waddan and another nation, this is something you'll tell your grand-children about" Yasin patted his son on the shoulder. "As our witness it will be your job boy to report to the Sultan honestly what has been done here. Do you understand?"

"Yes father." Karam nodded, "Congratulations to you and Your Majesty" the boy nodded respectfully to the two men.

"Naturally whatever must be done to conform with Tamoran law will need to be done and we are happy to do that." Yasin added.

OOC- Yeah, intertribal violence does happen but usually doesn't extend beyond a punch up. Fighting is extremely rare to end up with anything other than a black eye and maybe a broken nose.

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"If I may deal first with the questions about land allow me to give Your Imperial Majesty a crash course in Waddan geopolotics." He removed a sheet of paper from his folder and drew a shape rougly similar in outline to Waddan. Outside of that he drew an outline parralel to the first, two shapes one inside the other. He then set about marking off particians between the two. The inside of the shape he split haphazardly into various shapes and sizes. "This is Waddan. These areas..." he began to shape the small blocks that sat between the two outlines of Waddan, "These are the Tribal Lands. What that means is they belong to each tribe, this is dependent on very old claims that date back in most cases around 400 years. These are recorded and are not able to change. So here....." he pointed to an area he shaded in about half way along the border with Abuqiya "is the land of our tribe, contained there is what we call our capital, a place called Assengrey, a mere village by the extent of Tamoran settlements but it provides a year round supply of water and with careful management enough feed for winter. Each of these outer squares represents a tribes own territory and that is essentially their own Kingdom in effect. No tribe would try and take away another tribes private lands for a simple reason, to oppose the law that has stood for centuries would mean they themselves would become fair game. 25 tribes living side by side only works if we all follow the rules, once one breaks it then they become targets too. While it is true we follow a faith different to the others it is also the case that even those within the Folk faiths have huge differences between their faiths. In much the same way that religious scholars will talk of the People of the Book being Islam, Christianity and Judaism because of the connection to the origins of their faith but today they are very distinctive the same could be said of the Folk faith. These factors therefore make me believe the mine will be entirely safe. I also think that you will find many tribes will also have rare metals on their tribal lands and that these will developed once they hopefully see the success of our own. What will be interesting is what will happen to the resources found on this." with that he tapped the lands in the middle.

"You see these lands belong only to the tribes for a set period of time each year. There is a document called the Map of Tribes held in the nations capital. It is a complex timetable for when each tribe owns each piece of land. It ensures fair division of the land of different qualities. The fights between tribes only occur when someone messes this system up. I firmly believe that soon the Sultan will try and develop mining in these areas and use the money for the nations good, when this happens I would like to have had our facility making us good money so I can lobby for us to be givena  significant role in its operation."

He hoped his quick lesson left the Emperor in a better position to understand the way Waddan worked, however he was sure it was a system that unless you grew up in it would take someone a very long time to get fully to grasp with. "Now as for the discussions on the price. If I understand this correctly are you saying that we would get our slaves but we would then pay you the $25,000 per slave in Coltan? If that is what you are suggesting I think we are in very close proximity to a deal." He leaned forward, " as we dig we may well find other metals of interest to you and this gigafactory.  I am told where you often find Coltan you may also find Lanthanum which while cheaper in value is also useful in batteries. What if we said that rather than paying you in Coltan we pay you, with the same discount applied, in any metals we find. Naturally should you determine that Lanthanum is of no use to you then you can refuse the trade. This way we pay off our debt quicker, you get access possibly to more metals than just Coltan?"

Karimi was thrilled that he could take gifts of the water back home to his people. He was sure that they would all give thanks in his name to the Goddess for his generosity and being spoken of well to the Goddess could only be a positive for him and his family. "Having regular supplies of the Holy Water would be fantastic if we can arrange it" the Chief replied excitedly. "I would be happy to discuss with Your Majesty any topic you think I am qualified to discuss with you. Trade can be one of them of course.....but up to a point. Please allow me to explain." He pulled his seat a little more round to face the King specifically as it was clearly going to be a waste of time discussing such matters with women. "The rules of Waddan are rather vague when it comes to trade, this is both a good and bad thing. While you as King I believe will own all the land in Royal Seleucid and can within your nations laws do as you wish with it things are a little different back home. Around 1/2 of the land in Waddan has no owner on a permanent basis. It is on a kind of rota basis established over hundreds of years to meet each tribes needs without damaging the land. The other 1/2 of the land is the equivalent of winter quarters. It is land that belongs to us all year round. I am free to sell the goods from these lands to whom ever I wish on whatever terms I wish however the Sultan will expect a cut of the proceeds as a form of tribute. Add to that the idea that should I wish for the goods to leave Waddan then I must have his blessing. We as a nation therefore currently have no such things as tariffs as we do not really import much. I however am always happy to hear the ideas of a man more experienced than myself in such affairs so what did Your Majesty have in mind."

Reports reached the capital today that there have been clashes over land in the South of the country. It has yet to be confirmed however it is believed that members of the Taghlib ibn Wa'il Tribe arrived at a site they believed was to be at their disposal at the Awbri Oasis and discovered that the Banu Yashkur tribe was still there despite having loss claim to the land a day earlier meaning that they should have left the site for the next tribe. A independent merchant who was utilising the oasis as the time said he heard arguing and then saw a man staggering from being stabbed. Soon after there was gunshots exchanged and screaming while the eye witness took shelter behind rocks. When he emerged he reports that 3 members of the Banu Yashkur were dead and four members of the Taghlib ibn Wa'il tribes advanced party were dead. He also confirmed that it was Chief Bahadur Sultan, the Duke of Rajmi who halted the violence by pulling his tribesman back and standing between the two groups.

The Sultan has now sent his military to the region and they have arrested several people from each tribe. The Sultan will announce measures taken regarding the situation tomorrow.

It was clear Heydar was being rather generious and while Karimi believed this may well be some motivation beyond helping the faith he was not one to turn it down as it would be of massive help to his people. "Your Majesty is extremely generous and on behalf of the Guardian's I give you their thanks. Might I make a suggestion however. Rather than have any of our guardians leave the Temple to come and train with your military perhaps once they are nominated they can come and train, therefore when they take up the role they are ready and primed to go." Normally the guardians were selected a year or so in advance of a post being avaliable and while they had never really fought in over 100 years they were people who would be expected to be ready to if they need to. "As for young women coming here I would accept with a condition that any group we send are accompanied by an older woman to advise them of the conduct a Waddanite would be expected to demonstrate within a guests home. Perhaps an older priestess of ours?" It wasn't that he didn't trust Heydar or the Seleucid however he didn't want any of his young women becoming used by their hosts in ways unbecoming.

Arij was still amazed at the way they were being treated. As a chief's daughter back home she was accustomed to being respected everywhere she went and given preferential treatment. She got some of the best cuts of game, she got to take her rations of water before others and her tent was one of the first pitched, closest to the fire that was always kept burning. She hadn't expected this though from a foreign ruler. "Your Majesty I think many girls will be deeply honoured to be able to come here. Thank you." She added in support of her father. As they walked towards the temple the young girl could feel her stomach bubble with excitement of seeing the birth-place of her all consuming faith. She was then surprised that Heydar spoke with her directly. "I do not really know" she shrugged, "I suspect father would be arranging a good marriage for me, one that would probably cement a friendship with another tribe, or perhaps elevate some young man in our tribe to a higher status and thus ensure loyalty. My days would have been filled with helping make food for the tribe and looking after the young. We occasionally have ill goat kids to care for, each is seen as important for the future and so are given great care. I would much rather serve the Goddess as I feel that I would be doing something useful."

"And helping your tribe increase in size and stature isn't useful?" Karimi asked his daughter who lowered her gaze.

"I did not mean in that manner father. I love my tribe, if you commanded it I would do it happily." She noticed his nod of approval and relaxed a little. As they reached the Temple the Chief and his daughter fell to their knees pressing their hand towards the Priestesses feet. The Priestess was not as stern as Arij had for some reason expected nor as tall. She seemed warm and welcoming which the more Arij thought about it the more it made sense. The High Preistess was supposed to be the mother of the faith and she was indeed acting as a mother towards the young girl. As the Priestess drizzled the water on her head Arij waited for it to dribble down her cheek and tasted it as it passed her lips, it was the sweetest water she had ever tasted and she wasn't sure whether that was just her mind willing it to be or a genuine thing.

As the Priestess blessed Karimi he kept his head bowed, "We would be more than happy to have you set foot within our Temple, it is a small thing but any time you wish you would be the most honoured guest." He wondered how he would arrange it, after all there would be little doubt the entire tribe would wish to be on hand and that would be chaos. He even doubted whether the Sultan would allow all the tribe into the capital of Sabhā at the same time.

As the High Priestess asked Heydar to allow this young girl called Aminah to be a Holy Ambassador Karimi wasn't sure how to take it. The girl was clearly about to become more officially qualified than any Priestess in Waddan, however she was still a child in the eyes of many. Perhaps that did not matter and he was supposed to follow the guidance of the High Priestess after all the Goddess had given her the task of guiding the faithful and that included him. "I wish you good luck in your exams Aminah. I am hopeful that you'll find life in Waddan interesting and exciting." He turned his attention back to the High Priestess, "I hope it would not be too forward of me but I would like to take back a significant amount of the water from the Temple, something to distribute among my people as a connection to our spiritual home. Do you think that is something that I could do?"

Dear Ambassador Verspasian Atreides

It has been brought to my attention that as the Bene Gesserit's highest ranking individual in this region of Mundus you may be able to help me with a project. Our nation has a single University and is at present seeking to extend its provision. The strange nature of Waddanite society means our schooling system faces significant challenges. As such it is my understanding the faith that you represent has a long tradition of constructing educational systems in difficult circumstances. We would be interested with speaking with some of your educationalists in order to try and learn from their experience. If possible I would like to invite you, or a representative of the Bene Gesserit educational system to our nation. It is my understanding you have had some prescence in Tamora for some time so we feel that you may have gained some affinity for the region which may make the meeting smoother. We look forward to your response.

Best Regards

Prince Adnan
Head of the Foreign Engagement Council.