Zarekten was a city in Araby that guarded the entrance to the Great Erg to the south. It is one of the last frontiers between the settled Arabyan principalities and city-states of the prosperous north, and the nomadic Arabyan tribes who inhabit the desert to the south.[1]
Zarekten lies in a valley, protected by a moat carved by a river long since dried up. The ruling emir, a cruel and wanton man, forcefully conscripted the men of the surrounding villages and tribes into his service when Old World crusaders assaulted the city during the Great Crusade Against Araby under the leadership of Prince Friedrich Weiss of Wissenburg.[1]
The emir maintained a private zoo, which held exotic beasts such as Sand Dragons that were tended to by his slaves. During a slave revolt, many of the beasts imprisoned there were set free, wreaking destruction on the garrison. When the slaves opened the gate, the Crusaders came. The resulting slaughter lasted for three nights and two days.[1]
In the aftermath of the massacre, Prince Weiss set up a garrison in Zarekten and then led his knights into the Great Erg itself, to seek the fabled city of Jabal Sinjar.[1]
Sources[]
- 1: Blood and Sand (Short Story) by Matt Ralphs