[tab][/tab]Oh, this isn't a special send off. They do this all the time, two or three times a week. Ibicencans just like to party. Never before have I encountered a Muslim community that is so dearly enamored with alcohol. Technically, though, this stuff isn't wine. I have met many Muslims that like wine, and they make the best wine, but wine is distinctly against the laws in the Koran. I think. Beer and this herb beverage are technically okay. They also have these strange hers the like to burn for incense, the vapor has an intoxicating effect. And stay away from the hashish. Imports from the Levant have been limited and restricted since the king took over last year. But they make their own.
[tab][/tab]As for culture and religion, these people have their own unique spirituality. Mainly, they align with whomever holds the big stick. Their ancestors were Christian, before that various forms of pagan. Most call themselves Muslim nowadays, but they are quick to convert in order to save their skins. A lot of town over in Mallorca did that. They saw the fundamentalists being driven out and deported, so they were quick to take up the cross and claim they were cryptic Christians the whole time. They guys here, they will flip back and forth just as redilly. But if questioned without intimidation and they feel free to speak, these guys will readily admit that they feel that the true Divine God supercedes these petty divisions, and will forgive them for converting back and forth to save their skins, for they say God loves both faiths.
[tab][/tab]But now, as for Egypt. I must warn that the Muslims you will meet there are more hard core than what you are used to in Iberia. Maye less in some ways though. They are not as fundamentalist as the Almohades, but those guys follow their own form of Islam that is isolated from the education and philosophy of the Levantine Saracens.
[tab][/tab]Is Saracen a bad word to you guys? I apologize if it is. I just don't like repeating the same word over and over again.
[tab][/tab]Still, in my opinion, Egyptian Muslims are more conservative that European Muslims. They almost have to be. They are competing with Coptic Orthodox Christians and clandestine pagan cults. The people there had mastered civilization long before pagan Arabs encountered Mohommed, ages before Christ the Redeemer walked the land, and they predate even Greece and Rome.
There was once a library there, in Alexandria. I have heard different stories of what happened to it. Cesar burned it, a Coptic Pope burned it, the caliph in Syria ordered it burned, an earthquake caused the fire, and some say that all of these have happened. It is said that the caliph was quoted "If those books are in agreement with the Quran, we have no need of them; and if these are opposed to the Quran, destroy them". Not sure if that is true though. It doesn't sound consistent with what I know of Arabic scholarship and their love of ancient texts. I actually think most of those writings were preserved in Andalusia and Constantinople.
[tab][/tab]There is also a story that an earthquake caused some of that building to slide into the sea. Maybe we can check that out while we are there. My girlfriend is the ruler of a sunken city nearby. Princess Soteria of Heracleion, daughter of Triton and granddaughter of Neptune.
[tab][/tab]What else should I warn you about? I was only there once, and I was sort of too busy to take in the sites. A few of my grogs spent some time in Cairo before I was able to rescue them. Allen, Albert, and Wen. We had docked in Cairo, the group split up to carry out orders establishing a base of operations for our expedition. Then we were attacked at the dock by enemy sorcerers. My good sword was ruined when I ran an efreet through and it melted. My friend Pedro,...(crosses self) My dear old friend was killed in that battle. I had known him and Carlos for over half my life. With his last reath, Pedro gave me the sword he just made and said "Kill them with Kindness", the name he gave the weapon. (This is an embellishment. Pedro was already dead and Roberto had the sword named and engraved at a latter date). Our ship was burned, but then my man Joan cam flying out of the sea with a small ship he was now able to said over and under the water. We evacuated from there as best we could, raced off to the covenant of Pyramids. I caught up with Leolinus halfway between Gixa and the City of Brass. That is where the villain was headed. Put him down like the dog he is. i would have loved to press on to the City of Brass, but I had crew in Cairo that needed rescuing and a mission to accomplish. Wen and Allen were hiding out working in a bar catering to European merchants. Alert was hiding out in the slums. Grabbed then, then had to break two more guys out of jail, and then delivered the Alabaster Lioness Casket to Valnastium.
[tab][/tab]It was a grand adventure, but not without a heavy price.
[tab][/tab]But now, this mission is not supposed to be an adventure at all. We are a diplomatic envoy. If it turns into an adventure, then something has gone wrong. But then again, always expect the unexpected.
. Granted, Ignem is a core part of my magic and I know a decent selection of "fire spells". But I have since moved on to other interests and tactics.