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The Desert Nation of Târiq
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The Desert of Târiq
[bright star]The desert borders (and in some places joins) the Deathwaste along its north face and against the western coast of Talanu, and is home to wild magic and a dichotomous people. The Desert itself is a vast place of heat and sand, comprising the largest true desert in all of Talanu. Because it borders the Deathwaste, it is a place of strange magic and stranger creatures
The Nation of Târiq
The nation as a whole is ruled by the Salaf as-Saalih [people of the past, ancestors], who resides in Istawa [rose over](which he also personally rules), and he is served by a fanatical sect of Sahabah Paladins known as the Taqwa [acting in obedience]. Tâbi’een will often times forsake their ways and embark on the spiritual path that is the Sahabah way, just as Sahabah will not be ready for their own path and will return to Istawa and the Tâbi’een way.Târiq pays tribute to both Kar-thone and the barbarian tribe that borders them to the north. This is merely a gesture of friendship, not one of submission. Every 50 years or so, one barbarian tribe or another decides they want to capture the spoils of Istawa, and mounts a large-scale offensive against Târiq… and every 50 years or so, many thousands of barbarians die in the sands of Târiq. No nation has ever laid siege to Istawa, and no hostile force has ever found the travelling city of Ghaib [unseen].
- Exports
Târiq has very few natural resources, and must import most raw materials of value. What they do produce are the finest craftsmen and artisans in all of Talanu. Partly due to the proximity to the Deathwaste, and partly due to the excessive wealth of Istawa, the Muhsin produce some of the most extravagant and masterful crafts in the world – musical instruments, jewelry, light arms, architecture, clothing, cuisine, wine, and other crafts. Târiq also provides the world with exotic poetry, music, dance, theatre, narratives, historical texts, feats of magic, and odd creatures. In short, Târiq exports the exotic and extravagant, from which it amasses great wealth. - Imports
Minerals, precious metals, livestock, and crops must be imported to Târiq, all of which comes through Istawa, the largest warm-water port north of the Deathwaste.
The City of Istawa
The City of Istawa is the one of the largest cities in the North (outsized only by Mellik) and one of the most elaborate in the entire world. Rising out of the Desert towards the ocean, the city arouses naught but awe in visitors upon their first glimpse -- it truly does "rise above." Istawa is filled with gleaming towers and crystal spires; every building is elegant and breathtaking. The essence of beauty flows through every aspect of the city. Jewels and glorious metals adorn every surface one could imagine, while the buildings themselves rise up in marble, obsidian, ivory, and ebony. The city is as immense as it is beautiful, and possessed of an enormous bazaar, dwarfed only by the sumptuous palaces. Every minor noble possesses a palace of their own, all mundane compared to the Salaf as-Saalih’s palace (around and through which flows a canal of fresh water).The city has public bathhouses, theatres, taverns, places of dining, and shops of every imaginable variety. Then of course, there is the Hadeeth [something new], the large bazaar near the heart of the town. Anything can be found in the Hadeeth, and it also provides many stages from which performers, gladiators and bards can entertain. The Hadeeth is also the heart of the spring festival known as Muharram [forbidden].
Istawa is a port city, the largest warm-water port north of the Deathwaste. Almost all national imports and exports are transported by ship through Istawa. A substantial navy, a merman mercenary force, an ensorcelled kraken, and a Dragon Turtle protect the port and merchant ships. The navy is comprised of small, maneuverable ships that can easily navigate the channel into the Hijab [concealing] Bay. Much of the navy is housed on the various islands just off the coast of Târiq, and can thus be drawn in around an attacking navy.
The Travelling City of Ghaib
The Travelling City of Ghaib is a nomadic desert city, where the Sahabah faithful live and follow the stricter ways of Ilâh. Its location changes every few months, and at a moment’s notice, it can move hundreds of miles without leaving a trace. Ghaib is a city where the faithful can pray and study, where the unfaithful can begin to cleanse themselves, and where the Muhsin as a whole can talk with the Desert.Ghaib markets and trades camels and other desert beasts, weapons, spartan goods, and knowledge. Though knowledge can be found in Istawa, the wisest and most learned of all Muhsin are Sahabah, and they reside in Ghaib. Ghaib is also the home and training point of the Taqwa. While the 200 best Taqwa journey to Istawa to serve the Salaf, close to 10,000 more live in Ghaib. Here they train and learn, and also serve to protect the Desert in times of war.
Ghaib is a harsh place that breeds a hardy people. It is a City to test of the faith of Sahabah, and to follow in his ways. It is in the Desert and of the Desert.
Religion
The people of Târiq are known as the Muhsin [good-doer], and they are split into two groups – the Tâbi’een [those who learned from the prophet] and the Sahabah [companions of the prophet]. This split is one of religion. All Muhsin, worship the same deity (whom they call Ilâh [god] – Lugh, the Sun God, under different trappings and strictures), but each group follows the way of a different prophet. The two peoples do not get along well, though in the face of outside pressure or invasion they join together to form a united whole.The Tâbi’een
The Tâbi’een follow Ilâh in a very ritualized and devoted manner; they simply do not shun pleasure as the Sahabah do. The Salaf as-Saalih has many concubines in his harem, as do most Sultans [powerful nobles] and most anyone of wealth or power. They celebrate Qadar [decree; Ilâh’s will], the 30-day period of temperance during Kalliag, just as the Sahabah do. They also celebrate Muharram, a festival of the forbidden, for one week in the spring just before Beltain. It is a festival in the tradition of every celebration of debauchery. During this festival, the Taqwa withdraw from the city for prayer and fasting.There is a small sect of Tâbi’een that believes Muharram is also the celebration of the birth of Ilâh’s daughter, Shi’ah [reverence of the prophet’s family]. To these believers, Shi’ah is a goddess of beauty, sexuality, music, dance, and the arts. Belief in Shi’ah is a heretical offense, however, punished and shunned by both Sahabah and Tâbi’een. Shi’ites add a crescent moon to the standard sun symbol worn for Ilâh.
The Salaf as-Saalih
The Salaf as-Saalih is the supreme ruler of Târiq, and the personal ruler of Istawa. The current Salaf is a direct descendant of the first Salaf, Saaws [prophet], and as such, he is the prophet (high priest, really) of the Tâbi’een. During times of war or conflict, the Salaf becomes the leader of the Sahabah, as well. In all matters of statecraft, the Salaf’s word is law.It is a decree of Ilâh that there remain two separate peoples, each following a different way [except in times of grave discord]. The Salaf abides by this, and makes no laws concerning what the Sahabah can and cannot do in their own city.
The Salaf has over 20 wives, and the largest harem in all of Târiq.
The Taqwa
The Taqwa are a fierce sect of Paladins, devoted to protecting the Salaf and his people – they are also Sahabah. 200 Taqwa reside in the city of Istawa, guarding the Salaf and key parts of the city. Only during Muharram do they lay down their guard, leaving the city to fast and pray in the desert (at which time they are replaced with a mercenary guard comprised of women, brought into the city for the festival every year).The Taqwa are as fierce as barbarians, with the discipline of Paladins. In their actions, they can be bloodthirsty and cruel, but they are wary of displeasing the Salaf.
The Sahabah
The Sahabah also follow Ilâh in a very ritualized manner, but with many more strictures. They avoid pleasures, except those of learning and faith. Women amongst the Sahabah are completely covered and veiled, and sex is something that only occurs within the bond of marital union – and even then only for procreation. A Sahabah man may take 5 wives, and may discard any that do not bear him children. Sex between a mentor and his student is far more acceptable and indulged, and it is expected and understood amongst wives that they may care for each other when left alone. Still, this is a tacit understanding, and is not discussed openly.Wine and liquor and things of extravagance are also not to be had by the Sahabah – these things only distract from Ilâh. Sahabah have a long list of strictures and laws, all of which carry harsh penalties for the breaking of. Some foreign diplomats are extended basic courtesies, but not much. Typical punishments include behanding, branding, putting out an eye, castration, removal of the tongue, and death. In times of war, these laws are suspended for Tâbi’een and other foreign allies, and they never apply to the Salaf.
The Sahabah do NOT tolerate the worship of other deities, particularly Shi’ah. The penalty for this is almost always death; in the case of foreign dignitaries, they usually have their tongues removed instead.
The Sahabah celebrate Qadar with fervor, and observe the time of Muharram with executions and prayer for the wicked people of Tâbi’een. No one not of the Sahabah may enter or reside in Ghaib during Qadar, and the Sahabah will not make war during this time. Women may not speak such that a man might hear her, and men do not lie with nor touch them at all during Qadar. This is an extreme practice only observed by the Sahabah.
The Da’wah
The Da’wah is the honorific given the current prophet and leader of the Sahabah (named for the original prophet Da’wah). It is not a hereditary position, and it is not a secure one – many a Da’wah has perished for breaking the law. Ironically, it is the Da’wah who is responsible for interpreting and implementing the law – it is he who determines punishment in special cases.The Da’wah controls the Taqwa army and rules Ghaib. He is generally one of the most learned men amongst the Sahabah, though it is religious faith that is paramount for a Da’wah. The Da’wah leads his people in prayer and all matters of faith. To touch a Da’wah is a heinous crime, and the offender is either slain, or the offending hand is cut off. A Da’wah forsakes his wives and the company of all women upon becoming such.
When a Da’wah dies, a new one is chosen from the most devote and pure men. The Prime Taqwa assembles a group of candidates, and each one sits face to face with a desert adder. Whoever survives their encounter with this very poisonous serpent is sent out into the Desert for two weeks. Survival of this test qualifies him as the Da’wah.
History
From The Origin of the Desert Nation of Târiq
Part 9 of the 34 Volume Treatise: The Tediously Complete History of Târiq
by Filemaus Davius, 1st rank Scholar of Talanu History, Chief of the Muhsin Studies Department,
Penderwydd College, Lyrenn
The origin of the Desert Nation of Târiq and the formation of their rather-unique form of religion can all be found in the ending of the Great Kćron War [1]. The death and destruction wrought by this conflict was physically and psychologically devastating. One could imagine a great desire to divorce oneself from the setting and antecedents of war [that setting being Talanu itself, and the antecedents being the gods themselves, architects of the just ended conflict]. Such were the thoughts of one Admiral Kroieth Melketh, the supreme commander of the rebellion's navy [2].
The Admiral had the backing and faith of most of his men and their families, so that just one month after the end of the War, A full two-thirds of the naval fleet set sail for the Essence Rift, and what lay beyond. They thought, that with the help of the Kćron slaves they took with them [3], they could successfully navigate the Essence Rift [4]. Quite predictably, they failed.
But the New Angars [as the assembled pilgrims took to calling themselves] didn't realize they had failed. Upon exiting the Rift, they immediately entered into a forceful storm - one that carried them for quite a number of days before depositing in Hijab Bay. There they found a strange new desert [5].
The New Angars, thinking they had found a whole new landmass, decided to settle at the mouth of the bay. They began to convert their ships into buildings and other materials, though they did save some for exploration and fishing. Admiral Kroieth was content to take a wife [from the stock of slaves] and lead the life of small village ruler ship. His first mate, known only as Ceiron [6], was not. He, and a sizable contingent of men and women, wanted to explore the reaches and edges of the desert. Thus did the New Angars divide.
And thirty years passed. The settlement on Hijab Bay flourished, and had nearly doubled in population. Life was peaceful and calm for these folks of New Angar - everything they had sought by leaving Talanu. Ceiron's people, on the other hand, had found danger and death. They had wandered southward and found nightmarish creatures of terror. Northward they had found naught but cold and ice. They had retreated to the relative safety of the desert again, but they were lost and slowly starving.
Ceiron and his followers turned to prayer. They implored the sweltering sun to have mercy on them and show them the way. And he did. Or rather, as history is to understand it, Lugh did.
And this is the key to the Muhsin religion. The god that came before them - the sun that shone down on the Desert of Târiq - was not seen as Lugh. He was the one true god, Ilâh. He was in fact Lugh [as Lugh is the power of the sun], though he didn't tell these people that. These people wanted a single god to follow, a power of good and right. Lugh took pity of these people who had suffered in the desert and gave them their single god [7]. For the New Angars [which he renamed the Muhsin, offering them a new language of faith] there would only be one god, the Sun, Ilâh.
Ceiron returned to the settlement, and brought the remaining New Angarians their new faith and language. And thus began the true course of the Nation of Târiq. The Muhsin, of course, deny that this is what occurred, adhering to the fanciful belief that their people sprang from the desert itself. Absolute rubbish, but an entertaining tale nonetheless.
[1] See Colanx the Bear's PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF THE KĆRON FAERIE WAR and Starfire Oakleaf's comprehensive multi-volume WARS & BATTLES OF TALANU.
[2] See Jerryn Bachu's MANUVERS & TATICS OF ADMIRAL KROIETH MELKETH.
[3] Quilan Diatoth's controversial treatise THE BLOOD OF SLAVES proposes that the Muhsin owe a portion of their dark skin tone to a diluted Kćron bloodline - presumably from sailors taking Kćron slaves as wives. The premise has been thoroughly debunked with research, but the general description of pilgrims, sailors and soldiers taking slaves as wives bears reading.
[4] See the great Saedhe poetic work, BEYOND THE ESSENCE RIFT (the Penderwydd Translation).
[5] The Desert of Târiq's existence is a byproduct of the Deathwaste. Whatever magic keeps the Deathwaste in flux also works in a limited manner to keep Târiq warm and dry in the otherwise cold and icy Trall-Goth.
[6] See the excessively bland and boring biography CEIRON TO SAAWS, by Filemaus Davius.
[7] See the definitive SUMMER KING, by the monk Lucilivus, for full details on the religious ramifications of this. In a most basic of summaries, The Dagda allowed Lugh this course of action because it greatly intrigued him to see a group of people so focus and clear of conscious.