IC:
An Historical Report on House al-Qaruq
Before the Masetians arrived in and settled the lands of southeastern Cerilia, the Basarji were present already . . . contrary to the widespread belief. Their population was by no means great, and their males outnumbered their females by perhaps three or four to one; but they were present, and their small settlements were a foretaste of that massive migration and those awe-inspiring city-states, which were to follow some five centuries and more thereafter. But that, which even fewer recall, is the name of the ancient House, to which those scattered communities of traders and those isolated outposts looked for guidance, in their struggle to survive the vicissitudes of nature and the depradations of monstrous races of humanoids, who ever preyed upon them, seeking to enslave or exterminate their kind. Yet no Basarji on the western shores of the Sea of Dragons,—and no Masetian of any worth,—could have failed to recognise that name in the five hundred years, which preceded the great Cataclysm at Mount Deismaar . . . nor even in the first two hundred years, which followed. For, in the centuries preceding the organised colonisation from Djapar, the Basarji of Cerilia had a saying, in which much truth was present: ‘We are, all, al-Qaruq; and al-Qaruq are we, all.’
Qaruq, son of Faruq, was not the first Basarji to set foot upon Cerilian shores; but, in later years, his fame was such, in his homeland of Djapar, that he may as well have been: for the reputation was his; and few were those, who would dispute it in public. Whatever reputation made of him, though, he was, without doubt, the first Basarji to travel to Cerilia and to return with vast riches; and his success was followed by a considerable increase in the number of explorers setting sail for the distant continent. Yet, over time, the excitement surrounding exploration did quiet, until, some four years later, a second ship returned to Djapar, as filled with strange treasures as the first. To the wondre and amazement of all, at its helm stood the selfsame Qaruq.
It was now that adventurous men began to flock to this Qaruq in great numbers. And, with his wealth and his following, he set forth with some two hundred fifty Basarji,—sixty of whom were women,—to establish the first true Basarji colony in Cerilia. Coming, in the course of time, to a river, which the Basarji explorers had styled Ibnoume, he chose, for a site, a fair plain on the southern banks thereof, which sat several miles inland; and he named the place Faben, in honour of his young, second, wife.
The population of Faben did not increase for very many years; in fact, it decreased for a time, until, at length, it attained a level of self-sustainability. Once it had attained this level, though, it naturally developed into a kind of nexus between the scattered Basarji outposts in Cerilia,—whether coastal or inland,—and distant Djapar. Qaruq, himself, did not live to see the full extent of this development; but his heirs,—the Sons of House al-Qaruq, as they came to be called,—assuredly did. And, managing the trade nexus shrewdly and profitably, the family fortune of these heirs did grow. So, when men began to utter, ‘We are, all, al-Qaruq; and al-Qaruq are we, all’, they were expressing a reality: for their link to the culture of Djapar, their link to supplies, and their link to women,—three things scarce in the wilds of Cerilia,—was Faben; and none did business in Faben except via al-Qaruq.
By the time of the War with Shadow, the connexions and contacts of House al-Qaruq had spread beyond the Yousera Peninsula in the north and the Straits of Baqira,—later, Bagira,—in the southwest. It goes without saying, then, that al-Qaruq found little difficulty in dealing with the Masetians, who so dominated the region for so many tens of decades . . . although, in absolute truth, the family’s influence was far more significant in the north, where the Masetian traders less frequently sailed. Adapting, then, to Masetian mores and the like, House al-Qaruq also adopted various Masetian improvements, particularly in terms of naval technology; so, when war came to Cerilia, the ships of al-Qaruq were hired en masse. And thus it was that one, Lahim al-Qaruq, eldest son of the then family patriarch, found himself in unfamiliar waters, at the head of a fleet of privateers, whilst he watched, when the demands of a comparatively minor naval battle did not demand his attention, a mammoth confrontation between two enormous armies unfolding in the distance, upon the plains beneath Deismaar. His fleet in shambles, as a result more of the forces unleashed at the conclusion of that battle than of any naval combat, he returned to the East, a new sense of power coursing steadily through his youthful veins.
The years after Deismaar presented some challenges for House al-Qaruq. Its fleet was greatly reduced; and, to make matters worse, merchant fleets from Djapar had begun to arrive in considerable numbers, now that the Basarji colonisation was in full effect: quantitatively, then, it was at some level of disadvantage, in this regard. Futhermore, with the Masetians so decimated from the war, there was little prospect that the remainder of the gold, which had been promised to al-Qaruq for the use of its ships, would be paid in full. But there was also opportunity: in light of the weakness of the Masetians, there were certain markets, which could now be exploited; and the new immigrants from Djapar would have to rely on the al-Qaruq network for supplies, at least initially, if they wished to settle in the few established communities, which could boast a fair-sized populace and an existing Basarji majority. And then there was this bloodline, which coursed through the veins of Lahim and the sons, whom he bore on his return from the West: people could almost sense its pulsating power; and the family, in time, became rather noteworthy for the heirs, which its members were wont to produce.
So, why, then, did al-Qaruq fade? Well, firstly, it flourished. In the first century after Deismaar, it came to be the leading guild around the Ajari Deeps, practically dominating trade on the island, which would later become known as Suiriene. However, in time, the rise of the Serpent in Masetium and the development of hostility between House al-Qaruq and the Anuirean governors of Suiriene,—which events more or less coincided,—nearly wiped out the guild’s presence in that region, over the course of several decades. That, which remained, then, by the year 300 HC, was a guild network essentially confined to the region surrounding the Meïre el-Merasaf, focused primarily around the small city of Faben (modern-day Pipryet), which would eventually become the capital of a Basarji realm, now lost, named Famenna.
In the centuries, which followed, the focus of House al-Qaruq was ever upon revenge: either revenge against the Serpent or revenge against the Anuireans. Children of the family were still desired in marriage; and, roughly speaking, these were sold to the highest bidder, in order that the domain could maintain a fleet beyond its sheer economic means. For it was believed that, one day, their fleet would lead them in glory to reclaim the Ajari markets: and, quite conceivably, it might have, had there been one competent leader amongst the many, who sat in the familial seat of power over a span of some five hundred years. That is perhaps hyperbole, as, to be fair, there were some, who were capable, and as there were a few, who were more than competent . . . who were even exceptionally insightful: but one of these latter died in a freak accident, and the other two were slain by jealous siblings (each of the three failing to reach his thirtieth year); and none of the merely capable was followed by a capable successor. And the power of the guild dwindled or, at best, remained stagnant.
There was one last glimmer of hope for House al-Qaruq in the second half of the eighth century, reckoning by Haelyn’s Count: the formation of the Basarji Federation. To quote a family historian: ‘Finally, here was a chance to strike back, with allies, at the Anuireans. The fleet was sent to Ariya; the sons of al-Qaruq fought valiantly in the Battle of Kfeira; and the dog, Caercuillen, accepted the terms of el-Arrasi. And the Suirienean— El-Arrasi agreed to what? To the continuation of the Suirienean governors? And what of the unwritten pact between al-Qaruq and el-Arrasi? Is his word not his bond? Is it perhaps he, who is the dog, and not Caercuillen? This is an outrage! And now he will not see us and make amends?! Where would he be without the fleet of al-Qaruq?! Where is sayim?!!’
Needless to say, it did not take long for the reputation of House al-Qaruq to plummet, when men heard its scions scoffing at the deeds of el-Arrasi. And, in turn, House al-Qaruq came to view the established order more and more disdainfully, as the latter assumed more and more of a Khinasi,—which term was of course derived, in part, from el-Arrasi’s name,—identity; and al-Qaruq began to view piracy in an altogether different sort of light . . . certainly different from the House’s traditional view. Minor wars were not long in coming: wars against piracy and wars against a rebellious House, according to the enemies of the family. And al-Qaruq, whose domain was primarily guild-based, was not well equipped to defend itself against multiple foes, especially when those foes struck by land. And, so, less than two centuries after the Anuireans had suffered defeat at the hands of el-Arrasi’s forces, the last scion of House al-Qaruq sold his remaining holdings for as much profit as he could possibly manage and took to the sea with his fleet, which was still of considerable, though reduced, size. For this last scion, unlike so many of his predecessors, was more than a competent patriarch: and he could see that the survival of his line,—which was an unbroken line, since before the days of Qaruq, son of Faruq, over a millennium agone,—would be far less secure in Faben, where its presence was known and where its existence had become more than a little infamous, than in hiding at sea. And, so, he chose for himself and his family a life of constant piracy, as a life less notorious than that, which he and his own had been theretofore leading, howsoever ironic that may have seemed. And he sailed off, with his fleet, to ports unknown, to return, perhaps, upon some happy, future, day.
And the line has in fact remained unbroken still.
