(L5R) Ch 4 – The Burning Sands, part 1

The Souq

Synopsis: The samurai join up with a group of Moto traders to meet up with caravans from the Burning Sands – to try and find a way to journey to the Jewel of the Desert.

The samurai stay at Exile’s Road long enough to get supplies and trade their koku for other things such as gold and jewels – things that would make it easier to trade in a foreign land.

The samurai leave Exile’s Road and within a week, they meet a band of Moto who have never returned to Rokugan since they were known as the Ki-Rin Clan. Moto Chen-Shih is delighted to have them as guests and they join the caravan until they reach the edge of the Burning Sands whereupon they will meet up with caravans from all over the Burning Sands and trade. Once the caravans have left, the Moto will return to their lands with much needed trade goods. In the meantime, Moto Chen-Shih teaches them the language of the Burning Sands.

Within a few days, several small caravans begin showing up for the Souq – Moto Chen-Shih tells the samurai that once a year, the Al-Badian meet here to trade with the tribes that live in the mountains – namely the Moto, Yobanjin and even some Rokuganese who flout the laws of their Empire by trading with foreigners (mostly Unicorn or Mantis Clan). The caravans show up with riders riding camels – strange hump-backed creatures that are overloaded with supplies as well as riders.

Chen-Shih introduces the samurai to Najib al-Nisr, a merchant from one of the many Houses of Dahab located in Medinaat al Salaam. Chen-Shih has known Najib for many years. He asks Najib to assist the samurai and guide them toward the Jewel of the Desert. Najib gladly accepts and invites them all to his tent that evening to be his guest.

Najib introduces them to his traveling companions, Haroun and his daughter Alia. Ryu notices Alia immediately – her dark, long, flowing hair, brown eyes and dark skin are very attractive to him and he begins to speak with her. Alia, of course, will have none of it and rebuffs his advances. Ying-Lien, meanwhile, asks Najib about bringing her Utaku steed with her to the Jewel. Najib is not sure if that is possible, given the size of the horse. He directs her to Alia, who is just finishing rebuffing Ryu’s advances. Alia examines Ying-Lien’s steed and tells her that it is a fantastic horse, but requires so much water it may not be feasible to ride it to the Jewel of the Desert. She should instead, ride a camel.

The samurai decide to find a way for Ying-Lien to bring her steed with her. Noriyaki can call the water kami and summon water to them (but how much in the middle of the Burning Sands is debatable). The samurai decide to pool their new “funds” together to see if they can essentially “rent” a camel. They will buy everything off one camel, give it to Moto Chen-Shih, and then request that enough water be carried on the camel for the sole purpose of allowing the Utaku Steed to join the caravan.

They discuss these things with Najib. The samurai soon discover that their bargaining powers are limited. Najib wants more than three quarters of all their available funds to buy all the exotic spices and merchandise from one camel. The samurai consider the price too steep to pay and decide to wait and see. Since Najib invited them to his tent that evening, they will see if they can do better.

The evening arrives and the samurai visit Najib’s Al-Badian tent, guarded by a mamluk of great size. Upon entering they are surprised to see a sumptuous feast and many luxuries such as pillows and blankets spread about the room. The samurai sit on the pillows provided and Alia washes each of the samurai’s hands with warm rose water before Najib passes around a bowl of salt. He takes a pinch of salt and sprinkles it on the food on his plate. Each samurai does the same. Najib tells them it is a custom in his land to engage in a bond of salt. A guest can be assured of three days of hospitality and safety. The host can do no harm to the guest and vice versa. This bond of salt ensures safety in travel and hospitality wherever one goes.

As they begin to eat, Najib’s servants pour goat’s milk wine for his guests. Most imbibe it and like it – especially Ying-Lien who takes a great liking to the milky-coloured alcohol. Ryu does not even bother. At one point, he distracts everyone and switches his full cup, with Ying-Lien’s empty one. Ying-Lien notices the newly full cup, wonders for a moment where it came from, shrugs and drinks up. Only Haroun took any notice to the switch.

At that moment, another gentleman enters the tent. He is introduced as Khalid, a merchant from a different House. Khalid washes his hands, thanks his host for the gracious invitation and then turns down the salt saying he has an “allergy” to salt and cannot ingest any. The refusal to participate in the bond of salt enrages Alia who gets up and storms out.

Najib conducts a coffee ceremony, handing out small cups of a very thick, and very potent brew, not unlike the coffee served by Ide Murai in Kyuden Ikoma, but the thick, viscous liquid was very bitter. Most of the samurai had a hard time with it.

The meal continues with Ying-Lien getting more and more drunk. Najib begins telling tales of the Burning Sands and Noriyaki, eager to try out his own storytelling abilities on the Al-Badian merchant, tells a few tales of his own. While each are spinning tales, a servant enters the tent and serves Khalid more goat’s milk wine. He drinks it, then his eyes widen. He looks down at the goblet of wine, spits it out, looks up at the servant who he now sees as Alia, and then storms out of the tent. Ryu takes the goblit and tries it. The goat’s milk wine is salty. Khalid had ingested salt and was now bonded by it. Ryu comments on how dishonorable Alia’s actions were, but no one hears him.

Later that evening, the samurai retire to the tents provided by Moto Chen-Shih. Ying-Lien drags Kenjiro back to their tent. Much rustling and the occasional yelp and frantic calls to the kami was all anyone heard from them for the rest of the night.

Ryu tries hard to get rid of his yojimbo, who is duty-bound to follow and protect him wherever he goes. Since the incidents at Kyuden Ikoma where Ryu disappeared for hours, Jin is much more wary of his charge’s habits and insists on following him. Jin is afraid that he will try and seduce Alia. Instead, Ryu wanders over to Khalid’s camp. Khalid and his mamluks sit around a fire. Unaware of his presence, Ryu finds Khalid’s House Crest attached to one of Khalid’s camel saddles and cuts it off. Ryu returns to his tent accompanied by Jin and they lie down for the night. Ryu, still hopped up on coffee, stays awake and slips out silently. He approaches Alia’s tent and slips in unnoticed, walks up to her, crouches down and strokes her hair before slitting her throat with his wakizashi. As blood pools around her body and soaks into the sand, Ryu drops Khalid’s House Crest beside her and slips out into the night.

Next: The Bond of Salt