Afolyan Invitation (Zimalia and Kermah)

[DaveIronside]

To:- His Majesty King Tshepo

The people of the Afolayan tribe of Zimalia would like to ask for a meeting between our two people. Our tribe is the largest in the nation of Zimalia and we have several ties to your Kingdom as during the height of Seleucid slave trading many Zimalians who were liberated from captivity opted to find a home amongst your people in Kinjanja. While those ties between our people may have never become formal, nor can they now, we believe that it is important that we show both our gratitude and respect for those ancestors of ours your people so readily took in. We would like, if possible, to explore these connections and if possible establish cultural ties between us.

I hope that you will therefore permit me to visit your Kingdom and that we may meet to discuss these matters.

Yengwayo Thembelani
Elder of the Afolyan People.

[Kermah]

Tshepo had not expected to have to be the face of the Confederation in terms of meeting with foreign guests. While the meeting was not on a level of national significance he was still a little nervous. His role as King of the Kinjanja region of the Confederacy had seen him spend most days dealing with trying to ensure prudent management of their resources and make use of their financial foundation. He had informed Consul of the Confederation, Dr. Adebola Kamau, of the visit and while taking a keen interest he was happy for Tshepo to do whatever he thought was best describing it as "an inter-tribal arrangement" which did slightly annoy the King, he was not a tribal chief but a King. The city of Dlamini was buzzing about the visit too. While the Afolyans had long merged into Kinjanja society there were a whole host of organisations that sought to keep the Afolayan heritage alive if even it was supporting local museums. It was Tepu, a leader of the Afolayan Cultural Trust (ACT), that was perhaps most excited. The 60 year old had traced his family history back to one of those slaves who had been freed, he believed by the Paracambian Navy, and brought to Kermah before settling on a farm just outside Dlamini.

As Yengwayo arrived at the cities old ceremonial gatehouse, where the laws of  King Tibati the Judge still were etched upon the walls, a series of chants from a group of the Kinjanja Youth Corps began to welcome the guest. As Yengwayo exited his car the King stepped forward and held a wax tablet towards the Zimalian. "Sir it is wonderful to greet you" The King said before explaining the tablet, "In days of old since King Tibati the Judge's time it was tradition that any non-Kinjanjan entered the city would sign the wax tablet confirming that they would abide by the rules etched on these walls. I would therefore like to invite you into our peoples capital" He extend the wax tablet towards the guest for him to make his mark with a stylus attached. The words on it merely saying, "I accept the invitation of King Tshepo to walk the streets of Dlamini"

[DaveIronside]

Yengwayo was slightly in awe of the city of Dlamini. While the Afolyan may be the largest tribal group in Zimalia the constant wars there until around 40 years ago had done a great to destroy the influence of any tribe on the cities. It was clear that the "Zimalianisation" That had occured under Elwes had an even bigger impact than Yengwayo imagined. The various tribes influence had wained and now his role as Tribal Elder was nothing more than a symbolic position that mainly saw him carry out obsolete rituals, bless marriages and speak at funerals. He took a few moments to marvel at the walls and then the ancient texts written on the wall. He was introduced to Tepu and the two conversed for a moment in the Afolyan language before he was introduced formally to King Tshepo. "Your Majesty the city looks beautiful and I can not wait to see it. I hope you don't mind me getting a tour at some point?" He enquired. As the King offered the wax tablet he accepted the stylus. "Your Majesty I am deeply honoured by your invitation to walk your streets." He did his best to sign his name but in wax and unused to the strange surface he wasn't too sure his name was even legible. "What happens to the tablet now?" he asked wondering whether they were simply melted down and recycled. "I hope we can discuss many things, among them the idea of our people being able to find extended family members here. We've perhaps several hundred years of seperation but the Afolyan are taught that our tribe is more like a family and having cousins here that we do not know is important to us. I also want to see if we can fund a memorial here in the city for those who helped the initial Afolayan settle her once freed from their bonds? Is there perhaps a site we could purchase?"

[Kermah]

"You're more than welcome to visit us as often as you like, as for a tour I'm happy to accompany you however I'm not the person to give you the detail you may be looking for but perhaps we can look at that after we finish the business we have in store." They passed through the gatehouse and the King handed the wax tablet to a man there, "The tablet stays in the gatehouse and upon your departure you have two options. The first is you may take it with you, a nice souvenior of your visit but back in ancient times it acted as proof you were in the city if for example you were paid to deliver messages, part of a trade caravan or the like. The second traditionally was that it was destroyed however today when not everyone signs one we display them in museums as a kind of guestbook of visitors to the city." They entered the city through the gatehouse where the large solid wooden doors were tied back with a red rope. Each night at sunset the doors were symbolically closed to keep out evil spirits. As they walked further away from the gates the buildings modernised until after a few hundred meters they were entering a low modern building. It was the cities museum and was just five years old. It was a project King Tshepo was very proud of. He had arranged for a room overlooking the main hall showing a reproduction of the gatehouse to be the venue for their talks. "If I may begin, you started asking about a memorial that you can fund. I think the memorial is a fantastic idea and will fully support its construction now while you're going to be funding it I will of course have the city councillor approve its final design. While it commemorates your people's tribe and I want that to be important it is also something the people of of  Dlamini will have to live with on a day by day basis. I'm sure though that we can find some kind of design both parties can be happy with. Now as for finding family members that would be going back several generations beyond both our births. How do you propose this takes place?"