The Saharan Kingdom - Songhai: A first person perspective.

Alexandru, I quote:

Well, Bulgaria, Cambodia, how about a nice game as Songhai? It has some good leaders in the first part of the game, nice position, can easily steal maps from Marocco....

Click to expand...

....Posted in the thread asking for suggestions...

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I felt a sensation of weightlessness, and then a new scenery occupied my field of vision. I landed
gently after falling several inches. At least the machines safeties were working. Except for the
fact that people were transported without warning. Who knew how many more were to fall
through! But that was not my concern. I was in a desert. And a mean looking one at that. I had no
idea where I was. I tried the Universal GPS. It didn’t work. It didn’t even sense satellites. And
none of the space debris that humans had left in orbit. I was in the past. It was clear. But how far
back?

I did not know which way to walk, so I stayed, building a small portable shelter included in the
survival kit. Not much to say there. I waited until the sun hung much lower in the sky, and I
heard something. The clang of bells, not too far off. It came from directly ahead of me. Fate can
be interesting. So as night fell, I wrapped up the shelter, stuffed it in the pack, and trudged
forward. I topped several sand dunes. It was cold. Very cold. But I knew it was surely not much
farther.

I topped the crest of yet another dune, and there was the source of those bells I had heard earlier;
a city. A large city. There were many, many houses, larger buildings that looked like
administrative centers, other buildings, and in the center of the city, tall, domed, spired, and large
open air places that looked like markets.

I would have to wait another few hours.

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The next, very anticipated day, I walked into the city, heading straight for the market. I drew
some stares, but not many, for I had been able to procure some Muslim clothes the day before.
On the way, it became apparent that this city was a large one, and that I was right; It was Muslim.
I came into the market, a bustling, crazy place with people all about, chatting, haggling, cursing,
beating each other to death... Just what you would expect in any marketplace.

I glanced around, and walked over to a promising looking dealer, looking like he knew
everything that went on in the town, looking very intelligent, and besides, he had a mode of
transport; camels. I came up to him. Setting the translator for the language of Arabic, I asked
him,

“Excuse me, I have made a long journey, and I have several questions, in addition to buying a
camel.”

He looked at me and said, “You are lucky that you came to me. Not many around here speak
Arabic. Do you come from Mecca?”

“N- err, Yes, yes I do,” If I could convince him that I came from a foreign and powerful city far
away...

“So what brings you to the farthest outpost of Islam?”
“Songhai?” I guessed, “Have a reached Songhai?

“No,” he said. “You are in Mali, but Timbuktu- the city you are in, by the way- Timbuktu is in
rebellion, and we hope to join the new and bright power of Songhai!”

“Very nice. And excuse me again for my seeming ignorance, but what is the date? You see, I lost
track across the desert, and-.”

“The date?” he asked laughing, “796 AH! Did you want a camel, by the way?”

“Yes, and directions to Songhai.” 796 AH. Muslim calendar, that would be 1418 CE!

“It will cost you.”

“A moment,” I said, feigning dropping something, and reach down, scooping up some sand. I
carefully placed it in the largest thing in the survival pack; a transmutation device. In a couple of
seconds, I had two handfuls of large gold coins. I place half of them on the table. “Is this
enough?”

“Yes, all of that shall cover it.”

“You can’t be serious,” I said, and spent a few minutes haggling. My pocket considerably lighter,
I mounted the camel (which fortunately I had learned to ride at some point or another), and set
out for Gao, the capital of Songhai.

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Rirre: Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a few hundred years for the transmutation device. And even then, they wouldn't release them to the public. People could make so much money the inflation would be through the roof.

Ulyanov: Hmm, and I didn't even intend this to be a humorus story... Glad you enjoy it, anyway.

Mike Von Bek: Glad you like it.

Alexandru: I haven't gotten him yet in the game. It will take a while. But I do anticipate him eagarly.

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Ever ridden a camel before? No? Trust me, it isn’t like in the movies. I had left Songhai, and as I
left the sights, smells and sounds of the city behind, it was just me and the camel. Oh, and the
couple dozens of people wanting me to hand out money. Who knew giving a large gold coin to a
single beggar means everybody would want one? *Sigh*. Back to camels.

As I rode on, I thought that riding a camel must be like riding a skunk. Both were smelly,
stubborn, god-for-nothing animals that are only good for riding across a desert (Well, the skunk isn't, but...). By nightfall,
though, I had gotten used to riding a camel, and I managed to disperse the beggars with a few
gold coins. I hope I didn’t raise the inflation of the kingdom too much.

So onward I rode, into the night, finally stopping for some rest. A few days like this, and I came
upon the city of Gao. I was disappointed. It was smaller than Timbuktu, and had no such air of
prosperity. I headed straight for the palace, drawing some stares, and whispers of “Is he an
Arab?” I wanted to shout “Heck no! I am just a scientist who got dumped into this lousy place
because of a random twist of bad luck!” But that would ruin my cover story.

I got to the palace, where two imposing guards stood. They looked imposing. Not really. They
looked kind of stupid, as a matter of fact. Well, to me at least. Swords don’t do too well against
lasers. I asked them, “May I please speak to the king?”

“No.”

Somewhat rude, I thought. “Would this convince you?” I cut a hole in the door with the laser.

They exchanged a look. The larger one said, “We changed our mind. You may see our glorious
and great king.”

They opened the doors, an unnecessary gesture, as the hole was big enough for a two meter tall
person. I walked in, and they directed me to the throne room. Pretty simple directions, as I was in
it. I asked the king for a private audience. We had some things to discuss...

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