Qus and Southern Egypt

Qus is an ancient city, called Apolloinopolis by the Greek historians, which fell from prominence but has risen in the last century to be the second largest city in Egypt. Its rise is due to three main factors. The Fifth Crusade has blocked traditional pilgrimage routes, diverting them across the Red Sea; Qus is considered the last civilized place in Egypt on the new route. The city of Qift, which used to serve as the gateway for foreign merchants into southern Egypt, was the site of a Christian uprising, and the sultan's brother put 3,000 of the inhabitants to the sword, allowing Qus to steal Qift's role as a market. Finally, there is a gold rush at nearby Wadi Allaqi, and Qus serves as the main center for the production of mining supplies. Many new families have risen to power in Qus, propelled by trade and mining.

Merchants from Egypt meet their equiva-

Pulling it All Down

In real world history, the Egyptians decided that the loss of Damietta could never again be permitted. To prevent this they pulled Damietta down, and replaced it with a new city, also called Damietta. The new site, a mile and a half away, was better defended by both by expensive fortifications and by its geography. As Damietta's buildings are pulled down, to provide building material for the new city, treasures and secrets are revealed. Ghosts are disturbed, and the hidden cesspits of the servants of the Infernal are exposed.

The selection of the new site, if carefully manipulated by magi, might include ancient tombs, with Magic auras, creating lacunae in the city's Dominion.

Pelagius's Destiny

Pelagius was lifted to the leadership in part because, in Damietta, a prophecy was found which predicted his victory. The prophecy is written in an ancient book, in Arabic, but no one is sure who wrote it, or how it came to be found by a crusader. If the characters can find a clearer version of Pelagius's Destiny, as the book has come to be called, they can trade it to either side for valuable concessions. Alternatively, they can use the material it contains to manipulate events themselves.

What Happens Next?

In the real world, the Fifth Crusade failed. This might not happen in Mythic Africa, so here are some key events to hang stories on. The player characters may alter the flow of these event at any time, sometimes with quite subtle manipulation.

In February 1220, the various factions agree to redivide the spoils from the sack of Damietta. This brings peace between the warriors, although their leaders still can't stand each other. John of Brienne is given permission by the Pope to leave the crusade, to attempt to claim the throne of Armenia. This leaves Pelagius in sole charge of the Crusade, but he's not a noble and so has little practical experience commanding on the battlefield. He decides to wait for Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor, to arrive. This will give him both reinforcements and a skilled general. Frederick II never arrives, although in May 1221, 25,000 of his soldiers do, commanded by Louis of Bavaria. Louis strongly suggests an immediate attack and preparations begin. John of Brienne returns in July, and counsels against an immediate attack, but is, again, unable to affect Pelagius's policies.

The Egyptians, who had spent the last year wondering why the Christians were giving them so much time to rearm, march out to meet the invaders. Shocked by the size of the enemy host they retreat to the military city which had grown up at Mansourah, behind a tributary of the Nile. The Christians pursue them and fortify aposition opposite the city, at Sharimshah. In August, the Nile floods, and a dry canal the Christians had crossed in pursuit of the Egyptians begins to fill. The Egyptians get ships into the canal, cutting off the army's path of retreat and resupply. Pelagius orders a retreat back to Damietta.

This goes spectacularly wrong. The Teutonic Knights set fire to most of the supplies, to deny them to the Egyptians. They are unable to burn the wine, so to keep it from Muslim hands, many crusaders get drunk. The Egyptians, watching the Christians burn their camp, are forewarned that a retreat is imminent. As the Christians begin to flee, Al-Kamil orders the wall lining the canal smashed open. This transforms the land through which the Christian army is marching into thick mud. The Egyptians wait for nightfall, then attack from firm ground. The Christians rally about John of Brienne and the masters of the crusading orders and retreat to their camp, but as there are no supplies there, they are forced to surrender or starve. Pelagius finds his way onto a boat and runs the Egyptian blockade of the canal, but even he sees that all is lost. He accepts an offer from the sultan in which Damietta is handed back and the Christians leave Egypt for at least eight years. In return, all prisoners from either side are freed, and the return of the True Cross is promised. Oddly, the Sultan's servants cannot find the True Cross; it has been stolen. On 8 September 1221, the Egyptians re-enter Damietta.

As it is the second city of Egypt, there are many stories which may begin in Qus.

Akhmim

Pilgrims traveling south to Qus usually pass through a city called Akhmim, which is likely to be of interest to Hermetic magi. Arabic writers say that wizards live in a temple there, and are served by moving statues, or perhaps moving reliefs on the walls. The travelers' reports say that the statues fulfill the desires of the magicians, and yet these magicians have no political power. They do not, for example, politically dominate the town surrounding their temple.

There are many theories as to why these wizards have not taken control of the surrounding area. Some magi, who note that the town is named for a god who in classical times was seen as equivalent to Pan, suggest their magic is weak outside the Faerie aura of the temple. Some Christians call them worshippers of Asmodeus, and say they are kept down by the imminent wrath of God. Some Muslims counter that they serve a Divine being, and avoid contact with the outside world for pious reasons.

A redcap or magus wanting to explore Ethiopia or Arabia asks for an escort to Qus. The character wants to contact the merchants who come here. She hopes to learn the language of the distant country in which she is interested, and learn the dangers on the route she must travel.

Keepers of the Roads

In emergencies merchants leave their goods by the sides of the road. These are guarded by faeries, who enforce the boundaries of the road, and the moral boundary concerning theft. These creatures do not need to attack their victims; they can simply disorientate them and hide the road, so that the thief dies of exposure or thirst. Characters may be asked to find the bodies of lost merchants, for burial, or to save a merchant who has angered a keeper by theft, but had the good fortune not to die of thirst.

Qus is the closest large settlement to the ancient capital at Thebes, its necropolis, and the temples of Luxor and Karnak. The tombs near Thebes are rock-cut, and likely include those for rulers directly following the odd period under the heretical, monotheistic Pharaohs of the lost city of Armarna.

The town of Qift is full of Coptic Christians who have been impoverished by the failure of their rebellion. Magi seeking grogs, companions who speak Coptic, and people influential with the Coptic clergy may seek hirelings in Qift.

Smuggling

The Qusian authorities stringently enforce taxes on merchants, but smuggling is difficult because the narrowness of the Nile Valley acts as a choke point for travel. Magi or their servants, able to travel through the desert, can make a great deal of money smuggling. Shipping goods to the gold miners at Wadi Allaq, and carrying away untaxed gold in return, might be particularly lucrative.

Sultans no longer charge pilgrims to cross Egypt, but the previous dynasty, the Fatimids did. Everyone entering Egypt via 'Aydhab owed a fine of seven and a half dinars. Those who did not pay were hung by the testicles. The names of offenders were then sent on to Qus, and some other places, where, if they were found without proof of payment, the tax agents would do something which medieval travelers refer only to as "worse." The House of Torturers retains an Infernal aura, and minor demons, which encourage locals to rob or murder pilgrims, dwell there.

Characters wanting to make money in this region in an entirely legal way might seek out the nearby islands Surrounding them are seabeds which teem with a silver bivalve. Its flesh tastes like sea turtle, its shells are mother of pearl, and pearls are often found in the brief pearling season, in June each year. Pearls are recovered by divers, but every ton of shellfish gives only approximately four pearls. Some divers pass out as they surface, and these seem to sate the creatures who guard the pearls. If magi make diving safer, these creatures may cease slumbering.

Bujat

Sailing from Jiddah back to ' Aydhab is dangerous, as winds blow people south into the lands of the Bujat, called the Blemmyae by the Romans. According to some travelers, the Bujat rent camels to people and lead them north, but under-supply each caravan. The Bujat then claim the goods and possessions of the people who die of hunger and thirst on the trip.

The al-Bujat originally lived around Philae, and were Isis worshippers. They fought the Romans, forcing them to move Egypt's border north and garrison it. Their sultan lives in the mountains near Philae. Some travelers report the family are morally corrupt and nudists, who never wear more than a loincloth, and often less. It is not clear if these are the Bujat, or acephalous faeries who have adopted their name and story.

lents from Yemen, Ethiopia, and beyond in Qus. Many complain that in Qus the taxes are levied unfairly. Common complaints are: that goods are assessed for annual taxes, even if they have not been owned for a year; that the assessors do not take into account the minimum possessions and tools of trade which should be exempt; and that the assessors check for smuggling by piercing the bags of good with sharpened sticks. On the other hand, merchants in this area feel extremely safe: a merchant whose camels become ill will often drop loads of pepper, cinnamon or other spices on the roadside, and return in the expectation that these riches will have been left untouched by other passersby.

Aydhab

'Aydhab, on the Red Sea, has existed as a seedy port for pirates and smugglers for centuries. It has recently become very wealthy, because it is the port by which pilgrims leave Egypt for Jiddah. Travel narratives advise pilgrims to stay in trusted groups here, perhaps with others from the same town or region, for the locals are more like beasts than men, and will rob and murder pilgrims if there is money in it.

There are no natural resources in the desert around 'Aydhab. No crops are harvested by locals. Even drinking water needs to be imported. Most of the older buildings are made of woven reeds, every reed shipped in from the Nile. A few of the newer and fancier buildings are made of plaster. The town's wealth comes, officially, from merchants, pilgrims and fishing. The merchants are pirates, the pilgrims are victims, the fishing is poor.

The merchants of the town deliberately pander to the vices of the pilgrims. Some, believing that the pilgrimage in some way washes out their sins, take the opportunity of the journey to enjoy forbidden acts. Most of these experiences can be had, at exorbitant prices, in Aydhab.

Pilgrims passing through the town are fleeced in three legal ways. The prices for necessities are notorious, even given the shortages in the town. Pilgrims are forced to pay a portion of their food as a tax. This is a relatively light imposition. Finally pilgrims must rent jilabs, the local variety of ship, if they wish to continue their journey.

A jilab is a rickety wooden boat. Its planks are sewn together with coconut fibre, caulked with palm tree shavings, rigged with sails made of Theban palm leaves, and the hull is greased with castor or shark oil. There are so many reefs in the Red Sea that these boats, which flex when they strike submerged obstacles, are considered far safer than boats nailed into a rigid shape. The cost of renting the boat is extremely high, so that if it sinks and the pilgrims die, the owner is not out of pocket. There is a local saying is "Ours to produce the ships: the pilgrims to protect their lives." Boats are often lost: they are packed full of pilgrims, and the Red Sea is notorious for shipwrecks and sharks. Every person from the town who is not poor has at least two boats.

Most Egyptians live along the length of the Nile, and depend for their livelihood on agriculture. In the Iqta' system, the sultan divides his land between his powerful supporters, through a series of contracts. In these contracts the right to the produce of particular territories is exchanged for military service and taxes. The Egyptian system differs from the European in that these lands are deliberately not hereditary, to prevent

Cane sugar is a new crop in Egypt, still found in relatively few areas. If Mythic history follows actual history, it will rapidly expand to be one of the main crops in certain areas of southern Egypt. The rulers of Egypt like growing sugar because, although it needs land which has long been fallow, requires tremendous amounts of water, and is a pain to press for its juice, it is avidly sought by European merchants. Europeans are strangely addicted to sugar, and treat it like a spice. They pay enormous amounts of money for what is, when you have the finances to overcome the setup costs, a relatively easy crop to grow.

Peasant Revolt

Sugar requires far fewer workers to maintain than wheat or barley. In some areas, nobles who are residents of the capital and have no emotional connection to their territories have demanded the people grow as much sugar as is possible, at the expense of other crops. This creates widespread unemployment, and may even create famine if several nobles in a region all try this simultaneously, counting on their profits to buy wheat from their neighbors. When a horde of starving peasants threaten the interests of the magi, can they deflect their ire?

A Wheel for the Verditius

Sugar cane is crushed with waterwheels, and a Verditus magus has become interested in their mechanisms. He lives in Greater Alps, and has sent a messenger by redcap, asking the player characters to carefully disassemble the most efficient wheel they can find, and ship it to him. Can the player characters procure such a wheel without disturbing the mundanes, pull it apart without breaking it, and ship it away? Would it be easier just to find the finest maker of waterwheels in Egypt, and send him to the Alps? Do the player characters accompany the shipment through Italy? How do they cope with the nobles attracted by the rumors of a Saracen siege engine?

The Source of the Cane

Sugar cane appears very suddenly in Egypt, and there are rumors it was given to the first farmers by supernatural powers. Did a demon of gluttony first offer the canes to humans? Are there really faeries that can possess the bodies of children who eat sugar, and make them run madcap?

nobles developing regional bases of power. Once the sultans used to order the entire class of landholders (called mutqa's) to move domains, on a regular timetable, but this has ceased because the last time it was tried the wealthy nobles threatened to revolt. Now each family moves when its leader dies, and his heir is sent to some other place.

After the land floods, a servant of the muqta arrives in each village to assess how high the flood water has risen. He classifies land by how well irrigated and fertile it is. He then assigns different fields to different cultivators, through a series of written contracts. These contracts usually include a loan of seed, tools, or money, and they state a required return at harvest, specifying the crops to be grown, and also regular, small, payments in money. Most contracts go to settled farmers, but may include itinerant farmers. These are particularly common if land that is generally unflooded has been inundated this year, if a lot of inundated land is to be farmed, or if they are skilled in tending a new and desired crop, like sugar cane. All of these contracts are witnessed, and the head men of villages are given responsibility for making sure that the agreed things are done.

Note that in this system, the nobles move and the farmers have no legal connection with a specific piece of land.Magi from Europe, where many covenants are agrarian, may find it difficult to maintain their power using familiar tricks, like a tame nobleman.

The calendar of Egypt differs from that of Europe, but for convenience, modern months are used here as approximations:

September

Quince, winter grapes and dates are picked. Citrus begins to be harvested.

Balsam is teared out.

Irrigation canals opened. Loan seed is distributed.

October

Rice harvested. Trefoil and turnips are planted. Mytle and nenuphar pressed for oil. The Nile reaches its height.

November

Wallflower, violet, narcissus and horseradish are harvested.

Water is drained from flax fields, seeds are sown.

December

Sugar cane in its second year is harvested and pressed. Other crops harvested include narcissus, carrots, citrus, green broad beans, and white leeks.

Trefoil is sown.

Young sugar cane is harvested. Trees are transplanted.

Waterwheels for pressing cane are set up. Fields are weeded and plowed. Irrigation dykes are breached.

February

Almonds, grapes, lotus fruit, and turnips are harvested.

Fields are plowed again, twice more by preference.

Summer crops are planted.

March

Broad beans, lentils and flax are purchased.

Ships from Africa sail to Mediterranean ports.

Summer crops cultivated.

Sugar cane is planted in a field that has been left fallow for years.

April

Broad beans, barley, cereals, cucumbers and roses are harvested.

Flax seeds threshed.

May

Balsam, sesame and rice sown. Crops threshed.

June

Figs, peaches, pears, prunes, mulberries, dates and sour grapes harvested.

18th: Festival of Saint Michael, when the Nile begins to rise.

Flax is soaked. Indigo is planted, and harvested after one hundred days.

Honey is gathered.

July

Flax is drained and dried.

August

Unripe dates are harvested.

Summary: Common Crops Along the Nile

Agriculture along the Nile benefits from Egypt's role as a nexus of trade. Crops from all corners of the globe travel here, and are rapidly adopted.

Summer Crops

Cabbage, caraway, cotton, cumin, eggplant, green beans, indigo, lettuce, melons, nile sesame, onion, radishes, sesame, sugar cane, taro, and turnips.

Winter Crops

Barley, broad beans, chickpeas, flax, garlic, grass peas, lentils, lupine, onions, trefoil, and wheat.