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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7192354" data-attributes="member: 20323">Thirteen year-old Na'im exchanges a look with his younger brother Naji, gnawing at his lower lip as he studies each toy given by Lal Qalandar. His eyes dart toward Usqual, as if he were expecting to be chastised for breaking trust of a kept secret. "The oasis is our home, but it's more too. Our family has protected it as long as...as...as long as I can remember, longer even!" Na'im declares as if a tradition older than him must be very old indeed. However, it's clear the boy is not revealing the whole truth. To his credit, he is a poor liar. Nothing like the jann Usqual.[SECTION][align=left]http://i.imgur.com/hwLpNWG.jpg[/align]Sitting with a straight back, Usqual listens to the boys talking with Amina attentively, his astute multi-hued eyed unwavering. "Ah, the Genie's Anvil. There is a true desert. It has been nearly two years since I had the pleasure," and here his wistful expression changes to one of ironic scorn, "of sitting at the court of His Resplendent Magnificence, Amir Bouladin. You see, sha'ir, my people have not forgotten – as some of our brethren have – that our place is to move as the winds and stars guide us. We were harvesting frankincense and following the southern herds when the Lost City returned..."Eyes narrowing above his red veil, Usqual seems to recall some troubling event. "There is a tribe called the Khaldunis, jann who fled the Lost City long ago and  settled in the southern oasis of Khaldun. You will not find it on your maps. It is hidden behind the Awâmîd at-Sharîr, the Pillars of Wickedness. They are jann who've lost their way. Their sahers (sorcerers) possess ancient powers to steal the waters from a jann and perform other unnatural feats. We fought mightily against them...raids exchanged back and forth as days bled into nights...until Sheikh Ja'afar al-Din al-Shakari led us against Khaldun in open battle." Glowering, his teacup steams in a swirling pattern as Usqual watches it before returning his eyes to Salahuddin. "We did not win."[/SECTION]</blockquote>

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