Wadi Emet

March 9 - Wadi Emet

"Go home, then, with your ships and comrades to lord it over the Myrmidons." - Homer

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I made my way gingerly along the path beside House Shanjian that led to Wadi Emet. The sandy slopes were steep and treacherous. One misstep and I would fall. Broken at the bottom of a chasm, my life blood irrigating the dry desert floor.

I have been to the Great Desert Basin. I have crossed the sands to the east of Splintered Rock. But this was the furthest south I have travelled on Al Raqis.

As usual, I had no guide with me. Only a faint worn pathway leading over the rocks to show me the way. There were no roads in Wadi Emet.

The landscape was stark and beautiful. It evoked a silence of the mind that mystics dream of, but seldom achieve.

The term 'wadi' is an old one. It refers to a dry drainage course formed by sudden, heavy infrequent rain. I had never heard of rainfall on Al Raqis. This suggested either that once rain did fall here or early settlers brought the word with them from elsewhere.

After a time, I came upon an unexpected sight. Plant life. Precious greenery hinting at the existence of sub-surface water. These were the first natural occurring plants I had seen on this planet.

This was highly significant. Xeno-biologists would flock to this region if they only knew. And if the UFS were as serious about scientific study as they claimed to be, they would sue for peace immediately just to visit this vegetation.

How would such an expedition get here?

The canyons were increasingly narrow as I made my way through the Wadi. Only small craft could negotiate the twists and turns.

And where would they land?

There were no roads here. But you wouldn't want surface traffic of any kind. This amounted to sacred ground. Harming these plants in any way on a world so dry would constitute a crime of the greatest proportion.

Finally, after a day's journey, I arrived at the manor houses of the Myrmidons and House Morloch.

Jup had said that House Morloch controlled the Myrmidons. It was no surprise therefore to see the two structures in relatively close proximity.

The manor house of the Myrmidons was as dark and glorious as any mansion of the Noble Houses of Al Raqis. The stones were thick. The towers high. A small landing pad was attached high up on the side of the structure.

The Sun beat down. The wind shifted tracing new patterns in the sand.

I frowned.

There were no roads in Wadi Emet. The canyons were narrow. The mountains high. The greenery unmolested. No signs of surface traffic. No place to land a large ship.

Building these structures would have been a logistical nightmare.

These bricks would have to have been brought in by foot, or flown in by small shuttle. An army of workers....

I laughed sharply. The sound echoed off the canyon wall.

Here was the hard evidence. Three storeys tall.

Orion may be allied to the Myrmidons. But it was Morloch that was lord.

The real power is the power to command.

The real power here was desert born.