Post by Admin on Feb 24, 2015 20:15:58 GMT -5
For centuries, the People of the Sands lived harmoniously in cities initially established by the verdant oases, where the cool waters and mixed soil provided them the means of subsistence even in the desert. The cities, composed of tents that encircled the oases, permitted the people to respect the limitations of the oases, rotating locations four times a year to allow for recovery, trade opportunities, and acknowledgment of the hottest months of the year.
Nearly six hundred years passed in this well-established pattern, allowing the People to live increasingly bountiful lives. Families grew, expanding the cities and testing the resources provided by the oases, though the wells seemed endless. For this, the People gave thanks to their god, Sura, Lord of the Sun. It was He who smiled upon them with golden rays and the flickering, dancing flames of fire and torch. Sacrifices of lambs and kids were made in Sura’s name to show the People’s gratitude for His generosity.
However, Sura was not without His wrath. As the cities grew, taxing the oases, and the People became more indolent, forgetting themselves and what they owed to their God, Sura grew more angry. Determined to remind the People of their duties to their faith, He acted decisively, drying up the established, known oases and sending a savage sandstorm to ravage the cities.
Forced to depart the oases, the People separated into five groups that would ultimately become the Tribes of Rohari, seeking another oasis at which they could settle and resume their lives. As they reached the next oasis, the People discovered that it too was dry, as was the next, and the one following, the sandstorm following to chase them out once more.
Despair mounted, for without water, they could not survive. As they reached the last known oasis, confirming that it too offered no succor, hope was all but lost. Their water was nearly gone, their food stores would not hold out much longer, and the flocks were dying as well. If they could not find water in the next day or two, if Sura’s wrath persisted much longer, they would surely die. Humbled and unhappy, the People made camp amid under a cloudy, orange sky in an effort to gain some rest.
One among them remained wakeful, the sheikh of the al-Khalid, devoting himself to avid prayer and the sacrifice of a newly born lamb. Kneeling on his rug, he was unceasing in his efforts, seeking Sura’s mercy for the women, the elderly, and the children, if nothing else. The night was long and cold, but he did not seek shelter or cover, continuing without pause or concern for exhaustion.
His efforts were rewarded in the darkest part of the night, the hour just before dawn. Feeling a hand rest on his bowed head, the al-Khalid sheikh looked up to see a man before him clad in robes of black and silver, reminding him of the cool, clear night sky. The man revealed himself as Nabi, his words a whisper that roared in the al-Khalid’s ears like a conflagration.
If you and your people would survive, heed well my words. Lead them three days to the west and seek ye the mountains that brush the very sky. There you will find what you need to survive until it is safe to emerge. Then will come more counsel for the future you will have…
The al-Khalid man, looking up into Nabi’s eyes, saw that they held neither iris nor pupil; rather, they were fathomless darkness speckled with tiny points of light like the night sky. Realizing that he had just experienced a divine visitation, he knew he must obey. Bowing before the Prophet, he expressed his gratitude, only to look up and find himself alone with the sun about to rise. Without further ado, he hastened to obey the instructions given to him.
There was dissention among the people as to the visitation’s authenticity, resulting in division among their ranks; the majority followed the al-Khalid sheikh to the mountains and survival with their families and their flocks. At Nabi’s instruction, they stayed in the mountains for nearly twenty years, learning new ways to survive life in the desert and at the shores of the great sea. It was at Nabi’s inspiration that the process of desalination was discovered and developed by the al-Khalid sheikh. And it was thanks to the Prophet that the People of the Sands were reconciled with Sura.
When the time came for the People to emerge, Nabi instructed them to divide into those who would settle into cities, and those who would continue to wander the great desert. He named them Tribes, choosing one man from each to stand as the Tribe’s leader and sheikh. From there, the Prophet advised the Tribes to select one to stand over all as leader, to treat with those who lived beyond the desert’s boundaries. He offered no guidance in this choice.
After much discussion, it was decided that the al-Khalid sheikh should be this great leader. After all, it was he to whom Nabi first appeared, and he who not only led them to safety in the mountains, but taught them all how to take the salt from seawater to make it potable. Thus became the first Caliph, and the Tribes of Rohari.
Sura saw this, and He smiled on the people as they gave thanks, remembering to honor the ways of Sun and Sand. Since then, the People have always kept faith with Sura, and with Nabi, maintaining tradition over all.