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ResourcesShaula raise horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and camels. Salt from the mines PlantsThe desert is not as barren as one would think. There are many trees and plants which dot the landscape. Desert veminium is a small purplish flower that may be used to make perfume. The flowers are boiled in water and the vapors are then condensed into an oil. In the Zuben regions, this oil may be added to water and used to wash the eating hand before and after dinner. The babool is a hardwood tree. The Zuberi use all parts of this tree, the wood is very hard and makes excellent tools. The bark, roots, leaves and fruit are used in tinctures, poultices and herbal washes to cure a variety of ailments. The Champi tree is a softwood tree with a lovely scented creamy white flower. The flowers of this tree are used in decoration throughout Zuben. The wood of this tree is very soft and easily broken. The Lanthom tree has fragrant flowers and is often found growing in the monastery where, according to superstition, any unlucky or ill thing will lose its bad effects. Dates palms are grown wherever water is available. The entire tree is used by the Zuberi for food, fuel, clothing and shelter. Dates become ripe in the heat of summer, and are then picked, cooked and dried. The desert does have some green plants. There is a cactus like hardy plant with thick cuticle ( green) and succulent leaves. Some desert cactus have a very short life span which grows and blooms within few days of rain. There are also some hardy grass which become green quickly. Most of the non cultivated plants are sporadic, growing where better quality soil is present with a source of water deep below. Crops of flax, maize, wheat, barley, cotton, and lesser millet are cultivated in rows near the river. Some palm trees are also cultivated in small orchards. Very few yellow colored turgets are cultivated for religious offerings. SaltOne of the most important exports of the Zuberi is salt. Various types of salt exist including white, red and yellow varieties. The most extensive and richest deposits of salt are in the Genubi region. Its deposits account for about 20% of all salt and salt-related products, such as medicines, antiseptics, preservatives, cleansers, bleaches, bottle glass, and tanning chemicals. The salt of the Genubi desert region is famed throughout the lands. It is brought from secret pits and mines deep in the interior of the desert. It is bound in heavy cylinders on the backs of camels. Each cylinder weighs about forty pounds. A strong camel can carry six cylinders but the normal load is four. Even numbered loads are carried so the beasts are balanced. There are areas of the desert where salt is used as currency. One of the major sites within the Genubi for obtaining salt are the brine
pits. They are hidden deep within the dune country and its location is closely
guarded. It is worked by hundreds of Al'misam and escape is nearly impossible.
There is a well there but no other water for about a 500 miles. Women are not
permitted there so that men will not kill each other for them. The Al'misam are
taken to the mines on foot, hooded and chained. Many die on route. At the mines,
their feet must be bound in leather to the knees as they will sink through the
salt crusts. The salt would grate and burn their flesh. In the mines, most of
the salt is in solution. It is obtained in either of two ways, by drilling and
flush mining, or by sending men to collect it in the deeper pits. A work day is
from dawn to dusk and some men kill others for lighter assignments. The Salt Pasha's men, "Salt Riders" as they are called, are customarily veiled as their allegiance is supposed to be to no tribe but to the protection of salt. They ride the trade routes of the caravans and pack camels and guard against raiders that would make off with the precious salt. The Salt Riders of the Shaula tribes are chosen for their honor, horsemanship (if were sticking with horses), and their devotion to the tribes of the harsher lands of the Oaises (plural?). They hold the secrets to the locations of the mines and the Pasha himself. If a salt rider were to betray the Pasha, or reveal the locations of the mines and trade routes, the punishment for such callous dishonorable actions would be a long drawn out death. For to betray the salt of the sands, is to betray Acrab himself. |
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