Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Outremer: Aqaba



The Emirate of Aqaba is a splinter off of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Like Jerusalem, it is peopled by both Christian and Muslim folk, the Christians centered in the north, around the Crusader fortress and city of Montreal, and the Muslims occupying the rest of the land, with a sprinkling of Jews throughout. The Emirate split off from Jerusalem when the Kingdom was ruled by a regency for a very young king, and by the time that king grew up, it was a fait accompli.

Aqaba is a dry, arid land, the dryest in Outremer. The valley running to the Dead Sea - the Arabah - is well below sea level, and very hot. Water comes from wells, or, in a few places, springs, tapping into an underlying aquifer. The hills to the east are less dry, and much of the population lives here - around Montreal, Ma'an, Arindela, and Zodacatha. Petra is the old Nabatean capital - made famous by the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - resettled by Franks from Montreal.

The city of Aqaba itself is a port, dealing mostly with the Hejaz, Yemen, and Ethiopia. Coffee, incense, ivory, silver, and gold are all moved through here and up into the rest of Outremer. The Gulf of Aqaba joins with the Red Sea, and on into the Indian Ocean. Copper is mined in Timna, and that also is traded through Aqaba.

Al Maqnah, or Magna to the Christians, is a port and caravan city built around an oasis at the mouth of the Wadi Maqnah. Coconuts, dates and figs are grown, and melons, and arak is distilled. The city is the terminus for caravans coming from the Nejd, Bahrain, and Oman, as well as the areas dealing with Aqaba.

-clash

3 comments:

  1. Sounds good. You gonna treat how the Muslims have adapted to the destruction of Earth? Do they pray in a specific direction? What about the Hajj how do they deal with that?

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  2. Hi SE!

    This isn't for StarCluster 3. It's for a different game, called Outremer, set on an alternate Earth in 1560 or thereabouts. I commonly write several games simultaneously so I don't get burned out. This one is a sister game of On Her Majesty's Arcane Service and Blood Games II.

    -clash

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  3. OTOH, StarCluster 3 does have an extensive section on Religion, so your questions are perfectly appropriate for that game!

    Since Muslims can no longer go to earth, the Hajj is not possible. Lesser pilgrimage sites in the Cluster bring some amount of merit. This is called a Lesser Hajj. In the Cluster, Muslims pray towards Earth that is gone, where the sun would be if the sun were still there.

    -clash

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