[Hourglass of Zihaja] Chapter 2: The World of Siraaj

[Zeta Kai]

Safar Alquba

The road that leads from the City of God to Salah, near the west coast of Admaja, goes by many names. The people of the City of God call it the Pilgrim’s Road, while the citizens of Salah know it as Arch Rock Road. But its most common name is the Safar Alquba (sah-FAR ahl-KOO-bah), which means “the Journey of the Arch.”

The Safar Alquba crosses over the Samal River & the Ajdab River on its way southward from Salah. It is named for the many natural arch formations that can be seen in the rocky hills along the road, although it is often speculated that the arches are not as natural as they appear. The followers of Zaia, for example, believe that they are the remains of one of their goddess’s incarnations, petrified as she swam within the earth in one of their many myths.

The Safar Alquba is patrolled & maintained along much of its southern stretch by soldiers from the City of God, after bandits waylaid the former sultan’s caravan & killed him. The bandits have mostly been eliminated, but those that remain grow ever more desperate & cunning. They have even begun preying upon the nomadic tribes that hunt the grazing animals in the area, which the bandits used to strictly avoid.