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--- al-qadim:diary [2020-10-19 21:14] – Magarib www-data
+++ al-qadim:diary [2020-10-27 11:24] – Magarib www-data
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 Eli's books. I still use his towels, still eat off his plate. I am
 still stretched on his grave.
+## Magarib 3–13
+### The Tale of Barnacle Bess
+A bard cast Awaken on a crab, and the other missionaries were deeply
+moved by the crab's dedication to Hakiyah and named her Barnacle Bess.
+She loved singing, and especially singing hymns dedicated to Hakiyah's
+wave of truth, and the most famous of them is
+Weeping, my beloved,
+who adores
+the sea and the land,
+Our hearts are filled
+with the sorrows
+of our own tears.
+We have vowed to give
+you our lives,
+for you are a great one
+O Hakiyah!
+They say that the one who
+is most beloved
+is the greatest of matters,
+and that the greatest of
+the great is the
+greatest of the lesser.
+I have sworn to you,
+to give my life
+to find out what is true,
+O Hakiyah!
+She was adored by the missionaries.
+The Faith Ethoist of Hakiyah is gradually becoming more secular; the
+priests now involve themselves in local issues, and the faith is more
+familiar with the settlers. The faith is also less invited to be
+involved in politics.
+In the present day, the faith is a highly respected institution, often
+referred to as the Widow's Keepers because of its passage of years.
+The faith remains one of the few institutions in the Land of Fate to
+keep a watchful eye of the latest arrivals of holy slayers and mamluk.
+### The Tale of the Founder's Story
+Rubban Safaq bin-Jute himself assembled a force of half the people of
+the city, together with the sultan's vizier, to confront the hags,
+lead by Evanore bint-Rūm.
+Safaq and his crew defeated the hags and their fish, and they had a
+great victory.
+When Evanore and the other hags saw their fate, they were filled with
+regret and stayed in captivity. They were allowed time to think of a
+plan, but when they did, they found that the time for their escape was
+short. They took a ship from the city, but when they got there, they
+were met by a swarm of hounds who took them prisoners. They prisoned
+them in the palace, but when they had been taken there, they set about
+making their escape.
+When they got there, they had to bear a great deal of cruelty and they
+had to eat the flesh of five hogs. Each of them had to go through the
+streets of the palace for a whole day, but when they were brought back
+and told that the palace was empty, they got up and left.
+When Safaq saw the shipwreck and the slaughter, he was satisfied and
+said: "This is a wicked and treacherous race and they are all doomed."
+### The Tale of Henrietta's Jewels
+Henrietta's Jewels & Appraisal is a merchant's shop run by a misfit
+who is also a wizard. The shop is full of exotic and exotic items,
+usually hidden under the tops of bookshelves.
+The shop is respected by the local gentry, and is often visited by the
+stables of the Black Riders, who have complained of the shop due to
+the number of odd (and colorful) items they see there.
+The shop is usually full of exotic and exotic items from top to
+bottom, but the problem is the shopkeeper's son. The shop also sells a
+wide variety of gemstones, but the shopkeeper's son is more interested
+in his own jewelry and accessories than in dealing with the locals.
+Henrietta herself is a merchant who frequents the canteen and bath and
+mooch. She has no idea why, but is still fond of it. She also has a
+dimmish but fond sense of humor.
+## Magarib 14–19
+### The Tale of the Last Fels
+As you all know, this eulogy is for Rumfels, who was eaten by an orca
+earlier today.
+Rumfels was usually alone. Half-elven, half-human, and with an
+ambiguous expression, who liked to wear a big, loose cloak of camel
+wool, originally brown but worn thin pale gray through many years on
+board sunny decks.
+The craftmanship of this cloak must've been superb originally because
+the one time I saw them take it off, not a stitch was loose. It was
+only the cloth itself that was being worn threadbare, day and night,
+almost exposing the quilted lining.
+Their bahrayin's rucksack contained several balls of twine, some finer
+thread and needle, a mess kit, a tinderbox, and a durable, heavy
+lantern.
+A couple of times I saw them at the docks, marveling at the tales of
+sailors from other ships especially when they had sea creatures or
+exotic treasures on display.
+As far as I know, they grew up on the high seas, but those seas never
+lost their sense of wonder and fascination to them. Often looking
+wistfully at the sun glittering on the waves of the Golden Gulf and
+further south, on the Crowded Sea itself.
+I asked them once where they had gotten the name Rumfels and at first
+I couldn't hear their mumbled reply. I asked again, and they said,
+still softly: "Because I always set aside my last fels, my last copper
+piece, for some rum."
+### The Tale of the Skeleton's Advisor
+The House of Dhi'b, or as some call them, the Sons of the Wolf, are
+ruled by an old, gaunt sheikh, Anwat al-Makkar, nicknamed the
+"skeleton". He is not long for this world. His granddaughter Moira
+al-Dhi'b is too young to rule.
+Anwat's advisor, the legendary sha'ir Mamun bin Harun bin Hamid,
+traveled to Hiyal to search help but was referred to the gnome rulers
+of Sikak. Those rulers did not open the gates to this scruffy sha'ir
+with his al-Badia–accented Midani. They did not let up whether they
+knew of his reputation as commander of genie.
+On the island village of Samak, he received the hushed whispers:
+"Bring your young ruler-in-waiting to the hakimas on Saliam Island".
+Eager to return home, he signed up with the Sea Ghost Trading Company
+for passage home to his tribe in the deserts west of Ajayib.
+### The Tale of the Botched Raise
+Thirsty Salt is what they call me, and me and my best friend Clever
+Copper are acolytes here at Safaq's Hakiyah mosque.
+Petitioned by the residents of Safaq, Na'wa min-Hakiyah, the new
+priest, had attempted to raise the guard captain, Eli, from beyond the
+shroud between life and death.
+Accompanied by two of the novices, Hafam and Zobeiza, they commenced
+the hour-long, solemn process. Suddenly, after just a few minutes, we
+heard a terrible commotion, screams and… and a snarling, wet sound.
+I, and Namarida, one of the novices here, rushed up the stairs and on
+the other side of the door we saw a horrible stillness. Spatter on the
+wall and floor and the three of our fellow clergy, with whom we break
+bread before every vesper and after every laud, dead. Their injuries
+too gruesome to detail, but, seemingly committed by tooth, claw, and a
+curiously precise assortment of needles.
+Eli's own body still on the slab, not a drop on him.