Chapter 13

The Planet that Sar'ha lives on is called Zorba'n - it circles two suns and has no satellite which means the nights are very short and the days are long, with the brighter sun (Clander'n) rising and setting in nine hours after which the red sun (Clander'ha) is fully visible until its sets - which casts different colours during the remaining seven hours of its day. The planet has a rotation of 27 hours and takes 421 days to rotate around the primary Sun.

With the lack of a moon at night the sky shows a full display of stars, placing the planet closer to the centre of its stellar system, unlike Earth there is no superstition related with the stars, they are accepted as other suns with possible planets on them.

There is one large sea which divides the two main continents although there are islands dotted in the sea, some of which are large enough to hold villages. There is life in the sea with predators and prey as on other worlds. Sailing and fishing is well known as the winds can be relied on to blow regularly, although the lack of a satellite means there are no tides as on Earth.

The Eastern Continent was worst hit by the war, only a few towns remain surrounded by deserts or twisted life where it's dangerous to walk especially while the red sun shines. In this continent the deserts are growing and this means that at some time it will be impossible to live on the Eastern Continent - at which point they will invade the Western Continent in order to survive (the true time of the Traveller and The Stranger). It is in this land that the group known as the Brethren has emerged.

The Western Continent (which is where Sar'ha lives) has vast plains of devastated land where the planet has lost the power to maintain growth, although these are now smaller than before and it will be many hundreds (if not thousands) of years to return to the way they should be.

There are no large cities on the Western Continent - ruins are known to be in the desolated area, but people avoid those regions and so nothing is known about them - There are villages that dot the land. These have to be self sufficient and so they grow enough food for their own use but sometimes have enough for other villages.

Trade between villages is restricted to the central market place near the Mage's castle. Each Mage acting as a Baron would do on Earth during medieval times.

During these Market Days the goods would be brought in by horse and cart (the name horse is an equivalent term for the beast) and every village would be known for the product they sold, some dealt with vegetables, another clothing, and yet another with iron works (blacksmiths). The Mages would also be there acting in judgement for the villages in cases of dispute or criminal trials where they held the right of life and death.

The Mages would also demand taxes from those who used the market to help build their funds for servants and soldiers to maintain order in the villages, some were sent out to be watchmen ensuring the security of the villages and their dependence on the Mage.

The villages have a head man who can act as a local magistrate, he assigns a sheriff to work with the watchmen sent out by the Local Mage to maintain order where and when necessary. Every village has a square with shops selling local products, a tavern which would offer food and beer as well as lodgings for visitors — not that there are many who want to travel far from their villages.

Industry is kept to a minimum, due to a fear of technology taking over and causing another devastated area. The mages keep an eye on all innovation and decide over what should or should not be allowed, some are arbitrary — just on the whim of the ruling Mage — and others are destroyed and the person suggesting the innovation is 'steered' towards less 'dangerous' ideas. So in Earth terms, the world is kept to a medieval level, all travel is by horse, the farmers grow crops without any 'man-made' fertiliser, cows are milked by hand.

Medical matters are mostly carried out by the Mages, rather those who have decided to study healing rather than other areas of the Art. Should the injured person need urgent attention then they might go to the local 'wise' person (again either male or female the skill wasn't dependant on sex) who would be able to help up to a point, if only to stabilise the patient so that they could travel to the nearest healer. Badly injured people who could not be helped in time were allowed to die.

Hedge Mages (or wise persons) have the power of the Art within them and access to personal libraries, but they have to be checked on a monthly basis by the local Mage to ensure that their libraries maintain their level of competence — really a way of keeping the local knowledge to a minimum. Once such a low-born mage is discovered they are allowed to study under their local Hedge Mage until they gain fifteen cycles of the planet at which time they are sent to a distant village to help their Hedge Mage, this has two effects, the first causing a separation of a person from the ones they knew and the second is cause possible mages to ignore their potential so that they may stay in the village with their friends.

Minstrels — these wander from village to village, acting as entertainers and news vendors, passing on 'gossip' and songs. They are employed by the Local Mage and so the version of the information they pass on is slanted to show the better side of that Mage (he who pays the piper), their main instruments are the Rhine-horn (a curved horn made from the 'rams' which has holes placed at regular spacing's and a reed on the mouthpiece, producing a musical range), and the Cruther (a seven stringed mandolin) which is normally carried on the Minstrel's back. Every four years the Minstrels are called to a central place to learn new songs and to train apprentices in the art. Also to ensure that their standard is maintained.

Houses of the villagers — mainly the houses are small double roomed structures, simply made with wattle and daub (mixture of straw, mud and cow, pig or human shit) and painted to reflect the fashion of the village. The weather on Zorba'n being such that more substantial buildings are not needed, although rain is known it isn't heavy and the winters are mild compared to Earth standards.

The Head man's house is larger, of course, not only to advertise his status but also as it is used as a Town Hall, for meetings and trials etc. The walls are plastered with murals of the devastation and how the mages worked for the good of the people to help during this time — not mentioning that they were also the cause of the problem — an early form of propaganda on the planet. The Head Man does have a staff to look after the House and to ensure that all is ready for whatever may be required,

The Mages and their families, as said before, are on a par with Barons but they are not responsible to any single monarch however but to the Council which is made up of the major houses and their representatives