Chapter Five
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Outskirts of the Central Desert of Dorne, the Bone Fields
Queen Nymeria Martell stops her horse as she overlooks the grand deserts of Central Dorne. Now commonly known as the Desert of Bone and Ashes due to the new residents that call it home. She can espy from one distance to another a sea of sand left to right. Frankly it reminds her of her original home in Essos and if not for the dangers that it poses, might have even enticed her to go here on vacation. Alas, it shall not be so for her responsibility to unite Dorne is ever calling and this is one that she knows that she must use her head rather than her strength of arm. That is why she has only brought a ten or so entourage instead of the usual armies she brings when she's out to conquer a petty kingdom and add it to the collection being ruled by Sunspear.
Five years, it has been five years that she has heard about the queer events here in the Desert of Bone and Ashes. She has been busy with her husband then Mors Martell, conquering city after city, town after town, uniting all to the Kingdom of Dorne with Sunspear as its capital. The La'Os, or the Desert Dwellers that call this home are never ones to stray from their beloved deserts. That is the information that she manages to gather from her new subjects. However for the last years or so, some tribes can be seen escaping the Desert of Bone and Ashes with even some begging on their knees to be able to be accepted into towns and cities.
Normally they would be refused by the people that call the towns home by tradition. However that is during a time when the petty kingdoms ruled Dorne then. Now with the Martells in charge, all desert dwellers are welcome in their banner.
That is also why Nymeria is here right now.
She and Mors have been basing on the belief that they have fully conquered all the petty kings of Dorne; from the rocky mountains of Starfall towards the great harbors of Stonewood to the East, all have fallen to the might of the Martells and have submitted to their rule. Now here is a rumor, a final city that is said to be compromised of hundreds of La'Os tribes banding together in the face of the new threat of the Sandworms which seems to have appeared at the deserts of Central Dorne. Originally, Nymeria and her husband have zero designs when it comes to the La'Os. The Desert Nomads are of little consequence compared to the other Dornish that call the South their home. They are simply too dispersed, too separate in distances. It would be too tedious to bring them to heel. They simply have no land that they rule over and each La'Os tribe has its own customs and traditions that would simply take too much of their time to understand.
In the end she has opted with Mors' view to leave the desert dwellers be. They are of little consequence after all in the grand scheme of things. Now however that they have a dwelling that they call their own, it changes things. Now they have something worthy to be conquered about and Nymeria views this last settlement to be the final stepping stone of the unification of Dorne.
That is why she is here now. Despite her reputation as a warrior queen, she is not a brutal butcher. There are enough of that in men. Instead she would offer the hand of diplomacy first. The La'Os after all are friendless and have no allies in the region. They are a despised and misunderstood people. The petty kings and rulers of Dorne have hunted down many a tribe like beasts. Nymeria would offer to them a new order of things under the ruling of House Martell where they at least can live in peace.
If living in peace means contesting and surviving in Central Dorne where the Sandworms are particularly active that is.
That is another reason why she opts only to bring ten people with her. Any larger than these and that would attract a Sandworm. This is also another reason why she doesn't want an armed conflict. With the Sandworms calling the desert surrounding the Eye of the Snake, the mountain range where the La'Os is said to have built their home, it would be near impossible to march an army to invade it. An army marching in the thousands would probably attract nearly every Sandworm in every direction to feed on them.
The Sandworms might be staying at Central Dorne but word in the past few years or so might have already informed every Dornish in Dorne to avoid at all cost unless absolutely necessary the Desert of Bone and Ash due to it being home of the giant Sandworms. Even Mors disapproves on this venture of hers due to the danger. Too bad Nymeria is not the listening type.
"Let's go!" she barks out to her men who wordlessly nods as they urge their horses after her in a fast gallop leaving dust plumes behind them.
Normally Nymeria is not one for hard riding, but until they reach the Eye of the Snake, they would be travelling fast and non-stop. The best way to get past the Desert of Bone and Ashe is to get past it quickly without attracting the attention of a Sandworm.
"Your grace! Rocky outcrop two miles East," calls out one of her riders pointing at a flat place where there is rock and sand.
"We head into it, adjust course. Keep your eyes peeled for any signs of Sandworms,"
"Yes your grace!" the reply from her men can barely be heard as they turn towards the rocky outcrop. For now they would be transferring from one rocky place to another to lessen the chances of Sandworms getting them.
It would be a fast but long journey.
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The Eye of the Snake
The sun blazes like a hot observer in the sky, and people from all over the Continent hides under their roofs with the Highborn doing their damnest to chill themselves off one way or another to stave off the heat. Even in the cold frigid region of the North, green grass can be seen as the Summer of the Seven Kingdoms shines in all of its glory.
Here however in the Eye it is another story. The sound of trumpets and horns can be heard as the Fedaykin rejoice with the final finishing touch of their city here. Ari herself is proud as she stares at the great entrance of the hilled city. Five years, it takes five years to finish the city of the Fedaykin. In honor of the old world that is her past, she has aptly named the city, Jerusalem in honor of the most holy city of many religions in her old world.
Jerusalem is not a pretty city. It is built for functionality and strength instead of appearances, just like the Fedaykin that calls it home. Situated on a hill at the middle of the Eye, it has an elevation of two thousand five hundred and seventy five feet, to give it the protection against any encroaching enemy that would sadly slide down if they ever got the miracle of even getting inside the mountains that surround the Eye. It is also encircled by two walls, the otuer wall containing an urban agglomeration made up of walled buildings with stones of lime and desert rock. This is where all the Fedaykin dwell and conduct their day to day lives with some houses reaching up to the heavens like towers made up of rock and stone. Markets, houses, living quarters, bathhouses, all can be found on the Outer Quarter.
The inner wall on the other hand is much smaller containing the only singular building on it. It is nothing special, a regular rectangular palace esque structure filled by empty dirt in almost every direction. Also a maze of some sort and animal sculptures attached to those mazes surrounds the place like a large field. At the very center of the structure is a large circular open space like an amphitheatre where the maze all interconnects with dirt on it.
This would the seat of the prophet, the home of the Voice from the Outer World that she has personally commissioned to the builders when they asked her what home she would like. It looks simple and unattractive….for now at least. But there is a reason why she has made it that way.
Now while the years pass by ;Ari has not simply twiddled her thumbs these past five years even as the city of Jerusalem is being built stone by stone, no.
First and foremost she has made is the establishment of the new Path that would serve as the pillars of the new lifestyle she would be introducing to the Fedaykin. No point in being a prophet without adding a direction for the people. Thus she introduces to them the Paths. The Paths are disciplined ways where a person might focus himself on for years, mastering said path with all his heart and soul. Only when he finishes said Path can he then elect to find a new Path to follow. Paths are focuses, for example: the Path of the Scorpion, the path that teaches a man how to fight and die for the people, the Path of the Deer where one be a farmer, a cultivator for the people, the Path of the Snake, where one learns the art of patience, hiding in the Sands unmoving for hours before ambushing either for protection or for scouting, the Path of the Worm, where one learns the ways of the Sandworms, moving like them in the desert sands with only your feet and preventing them from spotting you. There are dozens upon dozens of Paths that Ari introduces, a focus for the Fedaykin to dedicate themselves in and prevent them from being stagnated. It takes years upon years for a person to stay in a single Path and some even does not want to leave it, these ones the Fedaykin call the Autarchs, the Steady Ones who remain unmoving.
However as the Lhisan-Al-Gaib, the representative of Mother Rhoyne, Ari makes sure to emphasize the Path of the Water. It is the only path that is not represented by an animal. It is here that she uses the Fedaykin's old traditions against them. The Path of the Water indicates that water is precious and is part of the known world's system. An ever present aspect that has been here since time immemorial. It emphasizes respect to the waters and to acknowledge its importance and to find meaning on it. It is more of a philosophy akin to a religious belief where one needs to meditate on it.
Currently, the followers of said Path have no place to really think about it. It all changes after today.
"Lhisan-Al-Gaib!"
"Lhisan-Al-Gaib!"
"Lhisan-Al-Gaib!"
"Lhisan-Al-Gaib!"
The cheers of the people surround her as she rides her brown horse through the entrance of the East Gate of Jerusalem. Wild flower petals rain around her and Ari smiles at them through the transparent veil she is wearing.
Currently she is wearing a transparent white robe kind of dress with a long headdress trailing behind her. It is so transparent that it barely covers her modesty if not for the shifts she is wearing in her top and her privates. It shows off her pale skin perfectly. Also a gold necklace with diamonds on it hangs at her neck alongside wrist braces made of bronze and inlaid also in gold. The best artisans of the Fedaykin after all made the effort on adorning her with this style. Many of them have seen it as an opportunity to be of recognition to their prophet and the one who brought them in this new life. A tiara of diamonds also sits atop her head gleaming like a thousand gems under the midday sun.
Around her the buildings and walls of Jerusalem stand like giant sentries. Despite herself Ari can't help but feel proud of the Fedaykin. Sure she's manipulating them in a very underhanded way but they have risen above the challenges she has put on their path and built from it something new. Building a city is no joke, yet they've done it. Massive walls thick enough where two and three may walk abreast surround the city. With the creation of this city, is the creation also of a new culture. The Fedaykin's old culture as Desert Nomads has not gone into the wind. Instead it all lies now on the Path of the Desert Mouse, the do's and dont's of how to survive under the harsh treatment of Shai-Hulud. Ari knows that at least one year of their lives do younger members of the Fedaykin takes the Path if only to learn the ways of their ancestors.
For now though, she would accept their praise and jubilation as is her right as the Lhisan-Al-Gaib,
The procession goes on and Ari waves and smiles to the people she passes by. Many fall on their faces at her coming and she makes sure to touch a head here and there murmuring the blessings of Mother Rhoyne to them. Of course every time she touches them, she makes sure to mutter a small "Lumos," to make a bright light come at every contact on their heads. This only increases the fervor of the gathered people and their praises to her name and that of Mother Rhoyne are non-stop as she heads to the inner wall and finally to the inside of the square building at the middle of it. The people of course follows her in it, easily filling the prepared audience hall that could seat hundreds surrounding the circular earthen ground connecting to the maze of dirt outside.
Ari stops her horse at the entrance of the building gently stepping down from the saddle, light as a feather. Immediately, Autarchs of the Howling Scorpions Path, the elite of the elite of the Fedaykin and only those deemed worthy to guard the Lhisan-Al-Gaib paves a pathway for her through the throng of people. She walks at the middle through them with the people immediately falling at their faces at her presence. She keeps her eyes forward as she steps inside the empty building of brown and white made of limestone and clay before pausing as she reaches the edge of the large circle space containing dirt and ground.
She smiles at the people around her before kicking off her sandals and walking barefoot on the dirt, the hot sand kissing the skin of her feet. She stops only when she reaches the middle of the circle before looking around at the temple where every eye is looking at her.
"At the start of your hope," she begins, her voice echoing on the empty walls. "To the end of your time. All you have are each other. Five years, all of you, for five years believed not only on me but unto each other. You have labored long to build this city of Jerusalem, a testament to all your work and an end to all your wanderings," Ari pauses smiling at them morosely.
"All of you have chosen to disregard the old in favor of the new. And I cannot be more grateful than that for putting your trust in me. Today there is no man, woman or child in here that is alone. Today all of you are family. As Mother Rhoyne always says, as the waters are connected throughout the world, so are we all connected with one another. Today we establish this, today we mark this. Five years, five long years and now we can truly say we are one people, one family. You pledged your loyalty to me and Mother Rhoyne and this is also my pledge,"
Ari snaps her fingers and immediately the invisible seed she has prepared beforehand manifested into her right hand that she raises. It is coloured in metallic silver gleaming in the sunlight.
"So long as the silver leaves of Teleperion remain, the waters of Mother Rhoyne will fill Jerusalem!" she declares in a loud voice before placing the seed in the middle of the circle and covering it with dirt.
"With Mother Rhoyne as my witness, I am the Voice from the Outer World! Surge Lintum Argentum! Proxima Aguamenti!" she booms out, her voice coming out thunderous that literally shakes the air.
Immediately the snake bracelet at her arm glows green at the eyes and everyone exclaims in fear and wonder as without warning, water explodes from nothing and a giant tree of white grows extremely fast bursting into branches at least fifteen feet tall. Silver leaves gleam like metallic silver alongside golden ones with flowers of pink, red and purple. The water fills the circle fast and everywhere it touches, plants grow as it escapes through the maze transforming in minutes the entire dusty area to a robust area of green and blue as the water follows the prepared pathways for it. Lilies and grass grows innumerable filling every ditch and every pathway creating vines from the upper levels as the water fills the maze up top also.
With it comes blossoming flowers, ripe fruit, gushing waterfalls, terraces lush with rich foliage and exotic creatures coming to life. It is a fertile imagination come to life that would have been impossible for anyone to imagine. There are remarkable gardens, palm trees, and imposing trees that is rich and fertile. The whole mass is supported on different limestone columns. Streams of water also appear from sources of elevation that flow down from sloping channels. These waters would serve as irrigation to the whole garden that would saturate the roots of plants and would keep the whole area moist.
As everyone fells on their faces shouting her name and praises to Mother Rhoyne, Ari sings out.
I sing of leaves, of leaves of gold and leaves of gold grew
I sing of wind, they came and the branches blew
Where the Sun rose and the Moon danced, where foam was with the tree
By the deserts of the Eye, away from the sea.
Beneath the stars of hot sands, in Jerusalem it shone
On inner walls whence spells were weaved and all were said and done
There long the golden leaves would grow upon endless years
While here beyond the nowhere of worlds, where Shai Hulud dries tears
Author's Note:
Hi readers, so yeah we have finished the making of Jerusalem. Hope you enjoyed it. Anyway hopefully we are proceeding with the Plot next chapter. Our setting so far is a thousand years before Aegon's Conquest. Guess who will meet Ari next chapter?
Do you guys want a war scene or simply diplomacy? I would base next chapter on it. To see whether the Fedaykin would bow to the Conquerors of Dorne.
Anyway as usual please review for your reviews are the song to this writer's heart.