"The exact number of any tribe is difficult to work out" Karam mused, "it is not like Tamora where we have such things as a Census or regular administration. We don't even have a registration of births like many nations do. I believe officially the nation has 12.5million people, except I believe that number to be closer to 14, but we will never know. Our tribe is also not always in one group, like many of the others we split into sub groups, we call these bands. Each band is lead day to day by someone I appoint known as a Marshall. At set times of the year we all come together at semi-permanent settlements, the birthday of the Prophet being such an occasion. Otherwise these Marshall's carry out my orders and follow my guidance between meetings. One day I shall pack Yasin off to be a Marshall. Currently I have 12 such Marshall's, so along with myself we have 13 bands, each band contains roughly 1,500 people. We then have maybe another 100 people living in the capital full time, I have emissaries with some of the other tribes too and altogether I suspect we have around 20,000 of us. We're one of the smaller tribes mainly because we are not part of the nations main faith so historically we have no enjoyed the position of Sultan. I think ourselves and the Banu Lakhm who follow the Anahitaism faith are the only ones to never have had someone elected to the position of Sultan and I think we never shall." Karam would have loved the thought of one day having his son or other descendent become Sultan but it was never going to happen, the tribes following the folk faiths always ensured one of them became Sultan. When they elected the current Sultan his grand-father had received just two votes and out of those who had been nominated had been the first to drop out the process. It was OK though as at least Sultan Yahya IV kept out of religion, he was an old man concerned about traditions of the desert, the tribal hierarchies and maintaining peace between the tribes and as far as Karam was concerned he was happy with that arrangement.

"The largest tribe are the Talafha, the Sultan's own tribe, it explains why that tribe have amassed the most number of Sultan's. They have enough influence through the smaller tribes by marriages, land shares, just the size of a militia they can put out in emergencies to ensure they will always get the most votes. I believe they have around a million members, in ancient times their raiders were like horde if they put a mind to attack another tribe. Thankfully such situations haven't come about for 200 years, long may that continue. It is this lack of war in a way that has brought me to your nation. In ages past it was a way of us gaining access to slaves, we'd buy from the Seleucid, we'd buy from other tribes who had taken prisoners in their skirmishes with neighbouring tribes. Now both those avenues don't exist and we are stuck with essentially buying our slaves from the small pool of criminals within the tribes. The changes we will see happen in the nation soon mean we need a larger workforce, my people will be unwilling to give up their livestock and their way, thankfully, so we are left with needing slaves and I understand you have an abundence." The Chief began steering the conversation towards one of the main reasons for his visit.

	Yahya IV
Tribe	Talafha
Roles	Sultan of Waddan Chieftan of the Talafha Emir of the Sands Guardian of the Ports
Year of Birth	1940
Positions Held	1960-1965 Officer in the Waddan Armed Forces as Infantry 1965-1983 Member of the Talafha Militia 1983-present Sultan of Waddan, Chieftan of the Talafha, Emir of the Sands, Guardian of the Ports
Education	None
Family	1st Wife - Dalal El-Mofty (Talafha Tribe) m.1955.(Deceased -2008) Children:- Prince Fadil (b.1957) Prince Zayd (b.1961) Princess Batul (b.1967) 6 Grandsons / 4 Grand-daughters 2nd Wife - Raniya Saab(Ghatafan Tribe) m.1965 Children:- Prince Baki (b.1967) Prince Talib (b.1970) Prince Javed (b.1974) Princess Maryam (b.1978) 3 Grandsons/ 3 Grand-daughters 3rd Wife - Raniya Saab(Banu Hanifa Tribe) m.1973 Children:- Prince Jamshaid (b.1976) Princess Shafiqa (b.1982) 2 Grandsons / 3 Grand-daughters 4th Wife - Wahida Nejem (Banu Qays Tribe) m.1981 Children:- Princess Daniyah (b.1982) Prince Adnan (b.1982) Princess Samiyah (b.1984) 2 Grandsons / 2 Grand-daughters Other Children with Concubines Lord Mahfuz (b.1988) Lord Seyed (b.1996) Lady Amaal (b.2003)
Links to Important events?	WHat have they done
Biography	Comes from the Talafaha tribe which is the largest in the Unified Tribes, as such it has produced more Sultan's than any other tribe. The current Sultan was the son of Sultan Mafruz who died in 1983 at the age of 60. Yahya was at this point a well respected member of the Tribal Council and had been Emir when his tribe had appointed the rank. He was also a respected military leader having overseen the build up of the Talafaha tribes militia into one of the best equipped and trained in the nation. He gained the support of 17 of the 25 tribes during his election. He has been keen to try and establish a more permanent prescence in the capital in an effort to try and bring about an economy for Waddan utilising its rich but untapped natural resources. This has not always been popular with many of the tribes. He has also though brought back some traditions his father began to discount such as the "hostages" situation where when the Sultan left his own tribal lands to visit another a female member of that tribes Chiefs family must go reside with the Sultan's family. Additionally he has overseen attempts to ensure a more robust military while retaining the militia systems of old.

Yasin and his son Karam were rather shocked by the site of the city of Djerb. It seemed to Karam at least like the whole population of Waddan could be housed here and the fact that a car, even when slowed, could drive for 30 minutes and still not reach its destination was a strange thing. In the city of Sabhā it was possible to walk across the entire city in almost the same amount of time as their drive. The overhead jets too were rather shocking, it wasn't that they'd never seen fighter jets it was just that they never flew in high numbers and the size of Waddan compared to the size of population meant that you were very unlikely to see them often. It made Yasin slightly worried, what if Tamora ever cast their eyes east, after all it was well known that Tamora had influence with Clysperis, what if these feats of military engineering took to the skies above Waddan? It was a thought Yasin pushed to the back of his mind with a smile, after all he shared the faith of these people and they had extended a hand of friendship so it was very very unlikely a fighter would appear above the sands of Waddan.

As they reached the Great Temple Karam's eyes widened, the building could engulf the Temple back home many times over, just one of the sections with the domes would have been about the size of the one in Sabhā. It made the pair of Waddanites only too aware of how few of the Manist faith resided in Waddan. The mark of respect from the faithful to the Emperor, Empress and themselves was something Yasin was more used to, as Shiekh of the East he was well respected and his tribe, as well as those from other tribes who recognised him, showed respect. "Your Majesty this Temple is a marvel." Yasin remarked as he stood in the front row his eyes taking in the view. "Back home our temple is much plainer, white walls and ceiling however with bright red calligraphy everywhere. Sadly the calligraphy of the Holy Book is rather pointless, very few of the tribe can actually read. We rely on our clergy to tell us the words of the Prophet and guide us. It marks them as some of the most important in our society, its a status I agree with but for the wrong reason. I would like to see the people able to read the words for themselves, however as I'm sure you can appreciate carrying a library of books with us as we travel is not exactly conclusive to our nomadic lifestyle." As the sermon took place Karam kept nudging Yasin to pay attention as his eyes kept gazing at some manner of the decoration that he had spotted, the last thing the Chief wanted was people to think his son was day dreaming as the Ayatollah spoke. As the Holy man spoke of Waddan, Karam placed his hand on his heart and gave the Ayatollah a respectful nod of thanks for the recognition.

As they sat in the car on the way back from the Temple Karam thought before answering the Emperor's question. "It was eye opening" he mused, "Back home it is rare to mention what I would refer to as Politics, the mentioning of other lands or current affairs. I think that may be for the reason that for the average member of our tribe we are out of the loop of global affairs for much of the year. I'm embarrassed to say but I suspect many Waddanites will not be aware of the civil war in Clysperis, thus our clergy speaking on that manner would be a waste of words in many respects, in fact it may be fair to say that for much of the year the clergy may not even be aware of the affairs beyond the tribes land. Our services are more about the stories from the Holy Book, from the history of the Prophet and advising us how we can apply that to our lifestyle. Son?" he turned to Yasin who seemed once more distracted by the city, "What did you think of the service?"

Yasin mumbled a little nervous about being addressed like an adult. His father scolded him gently to speak up, "Sorry father" the boy said respectfully. "I liked it." he began, " We are told about the greatness of our Prophet and his ideas, but when you are sat in our rather plain temple compared to yours it is perhaps hard to imagine that when it is viewed side by side with those places of worship of the folk faith back home. But then most of the time we pray outdoors or in a tent. At times I was too focused on the beauty of the Temple and not the words, I think perhaps we may have an advantage there as I don't get distracted by the building back home. I....."

"Thank you son." Karim cut the boy off before he gave anymore of his comparison for fear it may offend the host. "I agree with my son. Your Temple is stunningly beautiful but so are the words of the Ayatollah, I hope you will convey how honoured we were to him when next you can. As for visiting our Temple in Sabhā you would be most welcome as far as I am concerned, however Sabhā is a holding of all tribes and for me to host a foreign dignitary of your rank there without the Sultan's permission would be difficult, however I believe the Sultan would be glad to have you visit. Should you wish to come visit some of our tribal lands then I can extend that invite at any time you wish. However I suspect you would get rather a more dusty experience than we have had today." He chuckled, "Although our lands change every few days as well. Our nation has what I think would best be described as a rota system for who owns which land. Currently we are based about 100km outside Sabhā, in two days time we shall drop our tents, gather our livestock and follow a stream west for about 50km. The Nammir ibn Qasit tribe will take over the land we leave while we will take over the land the Al Maktoum will be leaving. It ensures a fair division of the grazing land and a fair division of any hardships. This year I will be leaving Yasin here as what we call our Caretaker, it will be his duty to ensure that the Nammir ibn Qasit tribe are satisfied we have left the land in condition for them. Should their be an disputes he will be required to reach a settlement with them. It's time he begins to learn to deal with the other tribes." Yasin seemed rather excited by the prospect. It would see him and five members of the militia make their own way to the next encampment following the tribe. "But if Your Imperial Majesty is keen to see then we can make our schedule available anytime you wish."

That morning this had been rather hectic for Chief Karimi and his daughter Arij. They had taken a ride down to the tribal capital at which point Karimi had given his favourite grey stallion into the keeping of the Sultan's stable-boy. He gave the young horse carer a purse with small golden coins in and told him about the things the horse liked and didn't like. "It will be fine Guardian" the boy said rubbing the horses nose gently. "By the time you are half way to see the Seleucid we will be good friends won't we boy?" he soothed the horse. It was clear the boy, who must have been aged no older than 16 was great with horses and the Chief had no qualms about leaving his beloved stallion in his care. Once the traditional formalities had been taken care of the Chief and his daughter made their way over to the highway which entered the capital. Traffic was not an issue as the one or two cars had been stopped by members of the Sultan's guard and then had sat by the side of the road waiting for the Chief. Now he had arrived the guards trotted their camels to the ends of the highway and stopped the traffic, in this case a single truck. Once safely inside the small four person plane it taxied onto the road surface and climbed away into the sunny sky. The aircraft gone the guardsman waved a thank you to the waiting truck driver before trotting his camel back to his patrol of the town.

It was a rather difficult journey, neither of the two had flown before and as they landed at the base in Seleucid they were amazed at the contrast between the dusty highway and the professional airbase. Karimi was thankful to be back on solid ground meanwhile Arij found herself placing her hand to her lips and then the ground marvelled at being in the country where her faith and her future had been shaped. She was nervous about the role ahead of her and excited about the chance to be the first Priestess in their nation trained at the Royal's place of worship, the most Holy of places. Her father had raised her devout in the faith ensuring that when the time came she would not hestitate in becomig a Priestess.

"Your Majesty" He said hesitatngly, he wasn't 100% sure what to call Whilhom Queen Katerina, Karim knew that she had once been the actual Queen of Royal Seleucid but exactly where in the hierachy did a Whilhom Queen sit. "We are very honoured to be in your nation, and very excited." he said humbly. "My daughter Arij has dreamt of this day since probably she was as old as the young Prince here. It is an honour to meet Your Highness." he bowed to the young Prince and his daughter who remained silent did likewise. "I am eager to meet your Step Son and see the Temple. Is that possible?" he asked.

Yasin had probably the least regal like arrival for a state visit that Tamora had ever seen. The small prop driven plane had picked him up from a small tribal town and had actually used the dusty road as a runway. Prior to boarding the aircraft a representative of the Sultan had arrived to wish him well on his travels but also to take his horse, just as when the Sultan left the nation measures of tradition had to be taken, so when a Chief left he had to give something important to the Sultan to ensure his return and usually this was the horse a prized possession in Waddanite culture. Yasin was unique among the Chieftans for several reasons. The first was that he was a Manist but thankfully the difference in religion meant very little in Waddan, the second difference was his age. Unlike the other Chiefs who tended to be old men Yasin was in his late 20's his father having been blessed by the Prophet with eight children, but only one son and that coming very late in life. He was not travelling alone for while his father had not been blessed with sons Yasin was luckier and having been married at 14 he had two sons, there was Karam his eldest who was 14 years old and 10 year old Mahomet. It was Karam who sat opposite him in the plane, his face pressed up against the window. In his short life he had seen very little other than the desert and to watch the world whizz past below at such speed made him feel a little ill. His father was nervous too, he'd never left Waddan and he certainly hadn't ever flown for this long. He tried to pass the time reading some notes that he had made after speaking to his council before setting off, just numbers of what was needed and in what numbers.

As the aircraft landed at the international airport both Karam and his father hadn't seen aircraft so big as those around them leading Karam to get nervous. "Son, remember they may be bigger than us but the Addax can be eaten by the snake, and the snake is much smaller. Size matters little in many things." He placed a reassuring hand on his son's shoulder, checked his head-dress and then awkwardly made his way out the tiny aircraft. He approached the Empress and bowed deeply, "Your Imperial Majesty" he said while respectfully keeping his eyes lowered, a step behind him and to the right Karam did the same. "I have my son Karam with me. I believe as our nation changes the next generation of leaders must also change so I hope you do not mind Tamora in many ways being his classroom today."

"Thank you for meeting us Your Majesty" Karam said. He produced from inside his robes a necklace made of silver with a vile of water attached. "Our tribe pours water into a keepsake on the birth of  a child. We keep it all our life." He instinctly pressed his hand to his around his neck. "When we die our water returns to the desert and hopefully allows it to give new life to something else, if the Prophet wills it." he handed the necklace towards us, "The people of the Humaydah hope this is a birth of friendship so would like you to accept this." Yasin smiled, happy with how his son had done. His task complete the teenager returned to stand behind his father.

"Perhaps we can make our way to the Great Temple, I am very eager to see it. Back home our Temples are likely to be very small if we compare the size of our plane to yours.......and I would like to give thanks for that thing even getting me here." he chuckled as he followed the Empress towards the waiting cars.

To The Esteemed Emperor Abbas of Tamora

As you will be aware following his visit to your nation our Sultan has granted us permission to begin contact with the outside world. While he maintains the sole authority to speak on behalf of the Unified Tribes each is permitted to discuss matters concerning it. I represent the Humaydah tribe and like yourselves we maintain the practice of slavery. Traditionally we have utilised criminals from our neighbouring tribes however as our people have recently discovered a rich vein of Coltan in our lands we wish to exploit this resource and to do so require a larger number of slaves to work the mines. As such we would be interested in arranging a partnership for our tribe to acquire around 150 slaves to man this mine. Additionally we would be interested in setting up some kind of arrangement where the transfer of slaves between our two people's was possible with ease. As such if Your Imperial Majesty could spare me the time to visit and make such arrangements, either in person or through your representatives, I would be honoured.

May the Prophet Guide You
Chief Yasin Najm of the Humaydah Tribe
Shiekh of The East.

The tribal system of Waddan is very important in everyday life with people considering themselves more loyal to their tribe than to the nation which is essentially nothing but a vehicle for collective security and ensuring peace between the tribes who used to squabble endlessly over resources. Each tribe tends to have a unique identity and is permitted to make its own laws on many issues, additionally those following the Folk religion have their own ways of undertaking rituals and prayer and may also have slight differences in the way they understand the religion.

The table below is a summary of the tribes that exist, it is presented in order of rotation for which they fill the role of Emir.

The current Emir is from the Abd al-Qays tribe and will stand aside in December 2021. Each Emir rules for one year.

Name of Tribe	Leader	Religion	Other Details
Talafha	Sultan Yahya IV	Folk	Leader also holds title "Guardian of the Ports" as they tend to spend most of the year in the South"
Banu Hanifa	Rahman Hanifa	Folk	Leader also holds title "Duke of the Oasis at Nafis"
Anazzah	Jamal al-Din Zaman	Folk	Have a fixed township at Murqquab. The Tribal Leader is the Shiekh of the township
Abd al-Qays	Ghayth Najjar	Folk	Only tribe that permits women in the militia.
Banu Bakr	Sabah Kader	Folk	Leader holds the title of "Master of the Rolls" as they have a tradition of maintaining a depository of ancient documents
Banu Shayban	Akbar Nagi	Folk	Leader of the tribe is also known as "Shiekh of Falcons"
Banu Qays	Tahmid El-Mofty	Folk	Tribe operate one of the nations few mines.
Taym-Allat	Faruq Karimi	Islam	The tribe are responsible for the upkeep of the nations main mosque in Sabhā. The Chief is also called "Shiekh of the Minarets" They maintain a combined militia guard of the Sabhā Mosque with the Al Nahyan tribe.
Banu Yashkur	Bahadur Sultan	Folk	Only tribe that does not permit Polygamy. Chieftan maintains the title Duke of Rajmi
Taghlib ibn Wa'il	Khaliq Darzi	Folk	Leader of the tribe is granted the title "Duke of the Red Tents"
Nammir ibn Qasit	Mus'ad Attar	Folk	Chief is also the Chancellor of Sabhā University, the nations only University. He also gets to use the title Shiekh of the Scholars because of this.
Al Ghardaqa	Izz ud-Din El-Amin	Folk	The nations folklore tells of them introducing horses to Waddan. As such the chief is known as the Master of Horse.
Al Nahyan	Muhammed Saab	Islam	They maintain a combined militia guard of the Sabhā Mosque with the Taym-Allat tribe. It is tradition that the tribe provide the nations leading Imam. The tribal chief is permitted to use the title "Shiekh of the Crescent Moon."
Al Maktoum	Jaffar Samara	Folk	Have produced more Sultans than any other tribe. They are thought to have the largest herd of Camels. Their Chief is allowed to use the title Duke of the Herdsman"
Dahaminah	Ziyad Hakim	Folk	The chieftan is permitted to use the title Shiekh of Wadi Qor as they maintain a year round presence around a water hole
Al-Farahidi	Rusul Abdulrashid	Folk	One of the two tribes that make education compulsory for everyone to the age of 16. They are revered for their scholarship as legend says their founder Khalil Al-Farahidi was the first Chief to learn to read and write. As such the Chief is allowed to call themselves the Lord of Letters.
Ghatafan	Hashim Samara	Folk	One of the two tribes that make education compulsory for everyone to the age of 16. Historically they are famed for mapping the nation and organising the system of nomadic migrations that keep peace today. Their leader is permitted to use the title "Master of Maps"
Humaydah	Yasin Najm	Manism	The only Manist tribe. They maintain a series of small religious sites dedicated to their faith. They also still permit slavery and while other tribes may have given up the practice some still sell their criminals to the Humaydah as a form of punishment. Their Chief is allowed to use the title Shiekh of The East.
Al-Ja'aliyin	Thamir Khoroushi	Folk	A tribe famed for their leather work they once made the best saddles in the area. Traditionally the Sultan is always presented a new saddle made by this tribe. Their Chief is permitted to use the title Shiekh of Riders"
Kunud	Rashid Ajam	Folk	Rather uniquely the Kunud are a coastal based tribe that rely on fishing rather than herding. Their Chief is known as the Shiekh of the Gulf of Auraxis
Banu Lakhm	Tarik Karimi	Anahitaism	The only tribe following the Anahitaism faith. They maintain the Shrine in Sabhā and traditionally the first daughter of the Chief trains as a Priestess. Their chief is allowed to use the title Guardian of the Goddess. They maintain a small ceremonial guard at the Shrine in Sabhā.
Marar	Zafar Qadir	Folk	The smallest of the tribes it is thought that today they number less than 500 people. They are famed as a warrior tribe throughout history having produced many famed military leaders. Their Chief is also called the Shiekh of the Blades.
Naqbiyin	Zahir Khoroushi	Folk	Along with the Sheekhaal tribe they traditionally control one of the gatehouses into Sabhā. The Chief also uses the title "Duke of the Western Gate"
Sheekhaal	Majid Alinejad	Folk	Along with the Naqbiyin tribe they control one of the two gatehouses into Sabhā. The Chief also uses the title "Duke of the Northern Gate"

It was hard to take the Pharoah seriously. She had seen her nation facing a gaggle of terrorists as she called them and in response had called upon the help of two Empires, both of whom she now assumed her nation and Tamora could force out. So on the one hand she was saying she was unable to take on a small non sovereign force yet somehow believed she could defeat two major military powers. "I'm sorry Pharoah but I do not believe that your assessment of being able to push a determined Achkaerin and Dragovah military out of your nation. The fact you have no agreement with them means they have no agreed to leave just as much as they have not agreed to stay." He hoped the Pharoah wasn't overseeing her military personally, after all Dragovah alone had the inventory to be able to put as many aircraft in the air from aircraft carriers as Clysperis could from their land bases and that was before even considering Achkaerin. "You speak of your allies Tamora. You do not share a border with them, as such them waging a war to support you having to cross around 500km of other nations territory first is likely to not give them the punch an encamped Achkaerin and Dragovah military would have. You've given zero indication of how you intend to end this foreign occupation other than you believe their predictable." He thought for a while, "Midaranye has never been able to keep its own neighbourhood in order. King Akakois of Royal Selecuid was weak and has unleashed a Celtic prescence on us. Midaranye were more than happy to allow Midaranye citizens to be killed and we all stood by and watched, for reasons only each of us will understand. Your talking of building a huge infrastructure project, yet Royal Seleucid are awash with oil money, look at their Palm hotel. Tamora too have no issue splashing cash, look at what they have done to Zimalia, look at the joint projects those two have done, a gigafactory, joint military production. Your logic of needing Achkaerin or Dragovah makes little sense to me."

As she spoke of their nation lasting for centuries again the Sultan was puzzled. "Nations like East Moreland have existed for just as long as Clysperis, some like the Alanders have been around for longer, Lodja trace their Temples back to early B.C. If you're attempting to somehow lord your nation and culture above them you are no better than them. I came here hoping to build solid friendships between our nations yet so far I have no impression that you believe Midaranye is some throw piece of your game. Like us you and the rest of the region allowed Seleucid's to be slaughtered by their own people and we did nothing to stop it. You however saw this slaughter as an opportunity to harrang a whole group of Seleucid people by attacking their religion. This divides our region not unites it. We, and by that I mean ourselves, you and Tamora among others have done nothing to help the Seleucid end their occupation by the Celts, I fear you're creating a similar situation that will see, in whatever guise it is, a foreign military prescence for years to come. How do you intend to become part of a more united Midaranye when you sell the region short. What I propose is that when I next convene a gathering of the tribes in our capital I shall be inviting the Emperor of Tamora, the King of Royal Seleucid and yourself. While I have no desire to see things like this foolish MICA or TUNA I do believe our region is too fragmented and infiltrated."

The Sultan was by now finding the whole visit rather bizarre. The letter had been rather clear, this woman who claimed she was sovereign of sovereigns had said she wished to meet him and yet now he had been greeted by Shiek Ahmad al-Afifi, a man not even from the Pharaoh's nation. "It is a delight to meet you" The Sultan touched his right hand, the one representing purity in Waddanite culture to his heart and then his finger tips to his forehead, a traditional mode of greeting back home. "I thank you for hosting me in your lands and making the Palace available for this meeting." He followed the nobleman to the room where the Pharoah was waiting.

"Pharoah" the Sultan said, "I am disappointed our first meeting was not in our homes." He began, "I also know this is the first meeting between our nations, I must though emphasis before we begin my people are rather direct. We say what we mean and we mean what we say. It would therefore be remiss of me to impart something before we begin. I will not recognize you as sovereign of sovereigns and should you claim to be towards me then we have little to discuss. My people have selected me to be their leader. I have earned their trust and it is to them my loyalty and duty is directed, they in a way are my sovereigns, not some neighbour. This shall be the only meeting we conduct should I ever receive address from you claiming such titles over me or my people." It was a harsh beginning but it was a title that smacked of arrogance and superiority, yet this woman wasn't even capable of mustering the full support of her own people and had to rely on foreign powers to prop her up. "I apologise for this beginning, I wish good relationships between all nations, but I will not build them on a foundation of incorrect assumptions or disrespect for my people." He softened his harsh expression. "I wish to present you with this." He reached into his robes and and produced a small gold pendant about the size of a thimble inside it contained a miniscule amount of water. "When a child in Waddan is born the father captures some water from nearby and bottles it up. This water is stored through the person's life and when the individual dies the water is returned to the desert. It is my hope this pendant represents the birth of relations between two neighbours who should have done this long ago, and it is my hope the desert remains dry forever." He handed the gift over to the Pharaoh 

Prince Rayyan enjoyed it when his father went away out of the country. It was an act that set in motion one of Waddan's stranger traditions, many centuries ago if the Sultan ventured outside of tribal lands you could have almost guaranteed that one or more of the tribes would try and remove them from power. So in order to stop that every time the Sultan left the country each of the other 24 tribes would have to send a "hostage" to the Sultan's family. It was the usual custom that the eldest unmarried daughter, grand-daughter etc, of the tribe would be sent and Rayyan was given the task of looking after them. It was strange to think that these women were called "hostages" as each were given luxurious rooms and were well looked after. Since the system had started no chief had tried to get rid of the Sultan, they knew better as if they did the Sultan's family would determine what happened to their "hostage" and it was more than likely that it would involve their throat being slit. Rayyan was 28 years old and widowed, he had two sons, one six and one three and he knew his boys would be spoiled rotten by the Chieftan's daughters and he enjoyed their company.

Sultan Yahya IV meanwhile was making his way to Djerb, he was slightly bemused, if you wanted to open a dialouge with someone you didn't meet at the neighbours house, you went to one of the two parties homes. The Sultan understood it was unlikely to be a safe visit to Clysperis but he could have easily have hosted things himself. He had travelled with his own personal militia men as escorts, dark blue thawbs and plain white Keffiyeh were standard among his tribe and the only difference between his men and the Sultan was the fact his head band was gold in colour while theirs was black. He arrived at the Palace and awaited someone to meet him,

Dear Neighbour

We are pleased that you have extended your hand to our nation.

We accept an offer to meet with some reservation. We are confused by your letter to us, on the one hand we welcome the fact that you appear to have similar views as our own regarding the politicized nature of treaties such as the MCUR, it is always easier for neighbours to live side by side in peace when they have something in common. On the other hand we are confused as how you can be critical of what you call "internationalist powers" while at the same time bringing one of the prime backers of these documents, namely Achkaerin, into our region to fight wars on your behalf. It is our experience such acts of generosity requires reciprocation and the nature of this concerns us.

We however believe that it is important that neighbours have the ability to communicate and therefore we accept your offer of a meeting.

With Bountiful Blessings

Sultan Yahya IV

The nation of Waddan is maybe unique in the way its armed forces is made up. It still operates somewhat of a feudal system. Each Chieftan is permitted to keep a military of its own within limits set by the Sultan. These many be called up by the Sultan at any time for a period of no longer than 60 days, should the Sultan require them for longer then he must get permission of the Chiefs. In addition to this each tribe every year is expected to send "Servants of War" to the Sultan, this is a pre-determined number of young men (In Waddan women can not serve in the military) who will serve in the military of the Sultan for 10 years. Upon completion of their contract they may return to their own tribe or remain in service. These Servants of War are not particularly well paid during their service but receive a major bonus upon completion of their service and should they elect to stay in service they are extremely well paid compared to the national income.

In recent times as warfare has become more technologically important it has often been the case that the Servants of War have been utilised in the more technologically important aspects of the military such as communications and the Air Force while the Chieftan's military is essentially utilised as infantry.

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18 x F-20 Sirocco multi-role fighter
15 x C-26 Aeolian cargo plane
20 x H-17 Wuther Helicopters
4 x A-6 Haboob Attack Aircraft

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6 x D-Class Missile Boat
3 x E-Class Missile Boat
40 x C-Class Fast Inspection Boat
2 x F-Class Combat Ship

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30 x Scimitar armoured vehicles
150 x Ferret armoured cars
40 x Fox Reconnaissance Vehicle
40 x Iguana mobility vehicle
35 x M198 Howitzer
20 x Vulcan mobile Air Defence systems

The city of Sabha is a strange capital compared to many around Mundus. It has a constantly fluctuating population with a winter high of around 300,000 and a summer low of around 120,000. The reason for this change over the year is the fact that the majority of the Waddanites prefer to remain on their own exclusive tribal lands for the majority of the year tending to their livestock, during the winter many move to the relative safety of the city to trade and prepare for the next herding season. The city often experiences snowfall during December to March yet also ironically holds the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded in Waddan of  42.5 °C (108.5 °F).

The majority of the buildings within the city are over 150 years old, most older than this have seen significant repair following an Earthquake of the late 19th Centuries. The city is also home to many significant places of worship belonging to the Islamic faith as well as the local folk religions which make up around 70% of the nation.

The city is home to a port which was in 2017 upgraded to be able to accommodate the new ultra-large container ships favoured by many today. The city houses a large market square, known as the Fairground, which during the summer can be rather oddly empty as many of the traders are out around the nation on routes that see them meet up with various tribes that move around the nation. In winter and at ceremonial times of the year the market swells. The Fairground is also home to the point where the Sultan is voted for and during that time the square becomes packed with people sitting in their tribal groups as often their Chieftan will consult with his elders about what decision to make.

Nation Name: Waddan

Nation Link:https://www.nationstates.net/nation=waddan

Provinces you wish to claim:

1r94
2 R95
3 p2
4 p21
5 p24
6 p53



Proposed colour of your nation on the map: something blue if possible

I, Wadden, have read the rules set down above, and agree to follow them.