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Arawaq Asl, Arima (2026)

01/09/2026

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THE THREE-DAY MARCH IN CAPTIVITY — An Imaginative Tale.

The Imperial Soldier did not lower his spear, his eyes remained fixed upon Abu Bukhari.

“Who are you!?”

For the briefest moment Abu understood only fragments of what was being said, yet instantly he perceived an ill feeling .The words were familiar enough in rhythm, yet shaped by a style of tongue he had not fully mastered. He answered cautiously, drawing upon the mere fragments of language he had learned from the Lokono, the Shibaio, the Wara’Ro, and the Surinen.

“I am...” He hesitated, searching for the correct words. “A traveler. From across the....”

His accent betrayed him.

The soldier’s expression changed instantly from severe to worse. Not a confusion....one of suspicion.

“You do not speak as the people of these lands speak! Certainty you are an odd one amongst them.”

Abu opened his mouth to attempt an answer or defense but the soldier stepped forward.

“Where are you from traveler!? Who sent you!?”

Abu remained silent....his tension grew.

That was enough silence and hesitation, enough defiance. The warrior seized him by the firmly by the arm....Abu reacted instinctively by pulling away violently, to match the Guard's aggression. The soldier took his arm again and tightened his grip. Then everything happened at once in a sudden rush.

“Leave him!” one of Abu's companions shouted from the group.

The soldier turned his gaze in distraction and Abu's men rushed forward. The first companion struck the imperial soldier across the shoulder while another grabbed the shaft of his spear.
The warrior staggered backwards briefly.

For a moment, the impossible seemed possible and the improbable happened with ease. The stranger and his companions, with strategy and might overwhelmed him, even without a proper plan. Though the Imperial Guard was taller, broader, and stronger than most of them, a clear giant....Abu's companions came from behind, from the side, from every direction and overtook him. One seized his arm. Another pulled him backward while nother pushed. A third struck at his legs precisely....the crowd that was gathered gasped deeply in disbelief.

For perhaps the first time in the memory of those gathered around them, someone had resisted the Empire and stood against the authority of its Soldiers. The common people began to gather more now, inquisitive. Merchants abandoned their stalls, mothers pulled children close, even captives pressed themselves against their wooden enclosures to get a better view.

No one spoke aloud, they all watched intently. Abu's men had gained the upper hand. The great warrior fell to one knee dazed and winded....when just then a loud horn sounded. Once, twice, three time altogether....the people shuffled themselves and made a clearing. From across the Marketplace came the pounding of feet....

Imperial Soldiers, many more of them. The Lokono elder watched silently as he hid himself away in the crowd. The Wara’Ro elder closed his eyes and stood in one spot, as though in disbelief. The Shibaio elder to did not move but stood calmly as everything that happened, happened. All the while the Surinen chief stood with his people, an expression unreadable and pale.

They had not intervened, nor offer and help. This was no longer their struggle to fight was all that could be understood. It belonged to Abu Bukhari and those who had crossed the ocean with him solely. Within mere moments, the tide turned unfavorably. Now, towering Copper-armored Warriors flooded the clearing and entered the make s**t area. Abu's companions were struck with a powerful defensive move. Quickly after they were seized, violently forcefully flug to the ground.

The resistance ended as abruptly as it had begun. Yet....the People had seen it. They had seen ordinary men challenge the Empire's Soldiers with active defiance. Something long lost to the bedtime stories of grandparents.

The guards bound Abu and his companions together hastily. Rope was drawn tightly around their wrists. Crafted wooden poles were fixed between each man by the neck, sometimes in groups, binding their movements and forcing them to march as one.

More rope joined their necks to these poles.The same methods Abu had witnessed in the slave markets of his own Kingdom. The sight was not lost upon him nor was it unfamiliar. A few hours earlier, he had stood outside the enclosures in amazement of its sheer size.

Now....he walked among those destined for them, how quickly our circumstances change by Allah’s decree. The elders remained behind watching from afar. The Wara’Ro, Lokono, Shibaio, and Surinen watched on as the prisoners disappeared into the dense jungle.

Abu looked back once....just once, when the Lokono elder met his eyes. No words were exchanged nor could they be, but Abu understood something in that look.

"This was not the end of the path...."

The Soldiers driving them forward, deeper, and deeper still into the great unknown. The journey lasted three days altogether. They had traveled beneath towering Ceiba Trees and through dense forests where the sunlight barely touched the ground. Rain came suddenly and without warning, soaking their clothes and turning the paths to mud.

They crossed streams, climbed ridges, passed abandoned clearings and distant settlements buried deep in the thick jungle, whose inhabitants watched from the shadows. At night, they slept bound together while the Guards took turns watching.

Abu, never being one lost to distraction or overwhelmed by situations....he counted them, watched their movements, listened, learned. By the third night, they had reached a river deep inland. An encampment was established along its bank. Abu recognized immediately that this was no ordinary stopping place.

Several small boats were tied beneath the trees. Long river vessels, sunken and damaged, some broad enough to carry man soldiers, or broad enough to carry many prisoners and slaves.

One of Abu's companions leaned toward him.

“They are taking us by water brother....”

Another nodded in agreement.

“To the Mian Kingdom it would seem.”

Abu said nothing, his own mind was already moving, plotting, scheming....and that night, after the Guards settled into their watches, the companions began whispering their plans.

“We cannot overpower them,” one said.
“There are just too many!”

“....and what if we fail to act, should wait untilit is too late?” argued another, while one more answered bitterly....“Then we meet our end.”

The words hung between them in a low tone. One of the younger men shifted against his bindings. “I did not cross an ocean to die in chains.” Another leaned closer....“Then speak....tell us your idea”
The man lowered his voice more....“The boats....”
Abu looked toward the river to help visualize the plan....“They will Have to unbind us at some point, this will be our opportunity.”

No one spoke....they weighed this thought in silence and without objection.

“They cannot load all of us like this onto those crafts,” the companion continued. “Not with the poles between us, not this many. They will need to separate us and I suspect they simply await a designated transport that may arrive at any time.”

Abu's eyes narrowed as he accepted this argument.

“...and when they do?” The companion looked around the circle...."Then we fight!" A murmur of agreement passed between them, others in disbelief, arguing that fighting could not work and the Guards were just too powerful, concerns that not enough of the others would stand and fight were heard....but Abu raised his hand.

“Not all of us need to fight...”

The men all turned toward him attentively.

“We will just create a great confusion!”

He pointed subtly toward the prisoners taken from the market men and women from different tribes, exhausted and frightened, some bound only a short distance away.

“In the madness and clamoring, their chains will break....”

“....and then?” someone whispered.

Abu looked into the darkness....“Then everyone who can run….runs for their freedom!”

The plan began to take a clear shape and form. A diversion. A sudden struggle. A violent stand....not to conquer the Soldiers, but to break the order that held them together long enough for as much people to escape as they could, in a mad rush for the jungles cover. Therefore in the confusion, Abu and his companions would be able to disappear among the fleeing captives from the great market.

The river moved silently beside them in the darkness. Black beneath the moon, waiting. At dawn, the Guards would lead them to the river bank to board the boats. Their bindings would be loosened. Hands would become free. Wooden poles would be removed....and for a few precious moments, the Empire's prisoners would become Men again. The Free and the Brave from among them.

Abu Bukhari stared into the darkness. “Be ready,” he whispered.....“For tomorrow, we either escape into the forest or the forest becomes our eternal grave by Allah’s will.”

Laa il'laaha il'Allah wa Muhammad'ar Rasool ul'laah

🌞🌝🌟🙇‍♂️🤲☝️

29/08/2026

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Welcome to ARAWA'Q ASL ONLINE SHOP where every T-shirt we craft carries Culture, Meaning, and Presence. Shop now and represent with purpose!

Come Along, Follow Us on A Path of Discovery, as We provide Thought Provoking Content, while Listening for the Echoes of Our Past, Leading to Our Future....

Step into your Tribal Identity!

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25/08/2026

AMERINDIAN COSMOLOGY SERIES — THE RAVEN

From Strength, comes Transformation....

The RAVEN does not simply move through the World, it Observes, it Remembers, it Adapts, and where others may see an ending, the RAVEN Sees that which may yet Begin.

Where the FALCON taught us to See, the BEAVER taught us to Build, the DEER taught us Situational Awareness, the WOODPECKER taught us Rhythm, the SALMON taught us Perseverance and the BEAR taught us the Strength of Stillness....

The RAVEN teaches us Transformation through Knowledge and Intelligence.

The RAVEN is a Creature of Change. It moves between the lush Forests and the open Sky, between the Silence and the Sounds, between what is clear and known....and that which has yet to be Discovered.

Its Intelligence is one of its Greatest Qualities. It Learns quickly, it Adapts easily, it solves complex issues and responds to its Surroundings Meaningfully and with Purpose. For this reason, the RAVEN becomes a fitting Symbol for a Powerful Cosmological Lesson:

"To Survive the Endless Turning of the Cycles, one must Learn to Adapt and Change with it."

Across various Indigenous Traditions of the Americas, RAVENS and other dark-feathered birds like crows, carry diverse meanings depending upon the People, thier Place and the Oral Tradition. They may appear in stories of origin and creation, rapid transformation, insight or fore knowledge, mystical messages from spiritual realms and the movement between physical and spiritual Worlds.

There is no clear single meaning that is shared by every Indigenous Nation. Yet the RAVEN is repeatedly mentioned to remind us of these Important Principles:

— The Unknown and Unseen exist.

— The World is always changing.

— The Seasons change.

— The Moon changes.

— The Rivers rise and fall.

— The Sky that appears Eternal is constantly in motion.

Through example, the RAVEN teaches us not to fear this movement and constant change, that transformation does not necessarily mean destruction.

Sometimes....what ends only ends so that something else, something new, something better may emerge to overtake and replace it.To Adapt is not about forgetting who you are, it is to carry the memory of lived experience forward, while learning how to thrive within an ever changing World.

When the BEAR taught us when to become still, the RAVEN teaches us when to change direction seemingly seamlessly. To Look and See beyond what has already been and to recognize the next movement of the Cycle....and to step into it with the Intelligence of Lived Experience.

From the Keeper of Strength....to the Guide that Navigates through Inevitable Transformation, the Cycle continues.

11/08/2026

POWERED BY ARAWA'Q ASL

Welcome to ARAWA'Q ASL ONLINE SHOP where every T-shirt we craft carries Culture, Meaning, and Presence. Shop now and represent with purpose!

Come Along, Follow Us on A Path of Discovery, as We provide Thought Provoking Content, while Listening for the Echoes of Our Past, Leading to Our Future....

Step into your Tribal Identity!

Wear the message!

🙇🤲☝️🌞🌝🌟

11/08/2026

POWERED BY ARAWA'Q ASL

Welcome to ARAWA'Q ASL ONLINE SHOP where every T-shirt we craft carries Culture, Meaning, and Presence. Shop now and represent with purpose!

Come Along, Follow Us on A Path of Discovery, as We provide Thought Provoking Content, while Listening for the Echoes of Our Past, Leading to Our Future....

Step into your Tribal Identity!

Wear the message!

🙇🤲☝️🌞🌝🌟

10/08/2026

POWERED BY ARAWA'Q ASL

"Playing on the ignorance of simple people is not a reason to mislead them into further ignorance."

This meme attempts to make a very complicated history appear simple: “If you cannot produce an exclusively Black Indigenous Tribe, Language, Cuisine, Clothing, Art Style, Architecture and Historical Figure, then your Indigenous Identity MUST be fabricated.”

However, that argument falls apart when each claim is actually examined properly.

The Indigenous peoples of the Americas were NOT one homogeneous population. They were thousands of nations and communities extending from the Arctic to the Antarctic, possessing different Languages, Customs, Technologies, Appearances and Histories.

Historical observers themselves described Indigenous Americans using terms such as Black, Brown, Dark, Dusky, Tawny and most famously Copper-colored. Those descriptions should not automatically be equated with the modern racial category of "African American" or “Black,” but they certainly demonstrate that the simplistic image of the Indigenous American as universally light-skinned is historically indefensible.

Now, to the individual claims:

1 — “They cannot name an exclusively Black Indigenous Tribe.”

This is a dishonest standard to begin with. The existence of dark-skinned Indigenous Peoples does not require the existence of a Tribe whose members fit a modern racial category called “exclusively Black.”

Indigenous nations are not defined by a modern American racial color chart.

There were, and remain, Indigenous Peoples with a tremendous range of complexions. There were also centuries of interaction between Indigenous and "migrant populations" throughout the Americas, producing communities with intertwined histories.

Therfore the real question is not....“Can you find a tribe that looks "Black" enough for me?”

It is....

“What EVIDENCE exists for this person's Indigenous Ancestry, Community, History and Cultural Connection?”

Those are two completely different questions.

2 — “They cannot name an Indigenous language.”

This is where Historical and Linguistic Investigation becomes important.

Across the Caribbean and Northern South America, there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of Indigenous place-names and ethnonyms whose origins remain the subject of Linguistic Study.

Our own studies have examined the possible connections between Indigenous Names and Arabic, Hebrew and potentially even Phoenician Linguistic Roots, particularly within the broader historical question of Moorish and Old World contact with the Americas.

We are not presenting every proposed etymology as settled academic fact, rather asserting its relevance. They must however be examined and verified individually against established Indigenous Linguistic evidence.

But that is precisely the point:

"A person cannot dismiss an entire field of linguistic investigation simply because they personally cannot name a language."

The Caribbean and South America possess an enormous Linguistic History. The existence of Indigenous Languages is not even remotely in question.

3 — “They cannot name an Indigenous recipe or cuisine.”

This one is particularly easy to dismantle.

"Corn is Indigenous to the Americas."

Also, there are numerous other foundational crops, including Beans, Squash, Cassava, Cacao, Peppers, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peanuts and many others.

Corn was not merely another plant. It became foundational to Indigenous Agricultural Systems, Foodways, Economies and Spiritual Traditions throughout large portions of the Americas and later, the wider World.

The Smithsonian's Indigenous foodways programs today document Traditional Recipes built around Indigenous Ingredients and Agricultural Traditions.

Therefore, if an Indigenous American community prepares food using "Indigenous Crops cultivated and consumed by their Ancestors," as mentioned above, that food belongs to an Indigenous Food Tradition.

Cuisine does not have to resemble a modern restaurant menu to qualify as cuisine and the fact that colonialism subsequently introduced Wheat, Rice, Sugar, Livestock and other ingredients does not somehow magically erase the Indigenous Foundation underneath the surviving and existing foodways.

4 — "They cannot name Indigenous fabric or clothing.”

This argument confuses "fabric" with "clothing."

Indigenous clothing was not required to resemble European textile manufacturing or modern social standards.

Indigenous Peoples notably used the materials available within their environments, including Animal Hides and Leather, Feathers, Beads, Woven Fibers, Plant Materials, Decorated Cloth, and other locally produced materials like Wool.

The question should therefore be:

“What did Indigenous peoples wear?”

not....

“Can you show me a European-style fabric associated exclusively with a Black Indigenous Nation?”

Those are completely different standards. Clothing is an Expression of the Environmental Conditions, Technological Capabilities, Status in Society, Ceremony and Tribal Identity.

Throughout the entirety of the Americas, Indigenous Peoples developed distinctive methods of Adornment, Weaving, Beadwork, Featherwork and Garment Construction....long before European colonization.

5 — “They cannot name an Indigenous art style.”

Again, the premise is artificially narrow. Indigenous Art was never limited to what modern Western Society labels “fine art.”

Song was Art.
Dance was Art.
Storytelling was Art.
Body Decoration was Art.
Beadwork was Art.
Featherwork was Art.
Carving was Art.
Pottery was Art.
Basketry was Art.
Ceremonial Performance was Art.

Many of these Traditions survived Colonialism and continue to be Practiced Today....so if someone demands that an Indigenous Person produce a particular European-style painting or sculptural school before accepting Indigenous Artistic Heritage, the problem isn't the Indigenous Tradition.

"The problem is the definition being imposed upon it."

6 — “They cannot name an Indigenous architectural style.”

This may be by far, the easiest claim to destroy Historically.

The Americas contain enormous irrefutable evidence of Indigenous Engineering and Monumental Construction.

"Mound Building and Monumental Earthworks were, and are not, mere myths."

Cahokia, for example, was a major pre-Columbian urban center with Enormous Earthen Monuments, UNESCO describes it as the largest pre-Columbian Settlement North of Mexico, with roughly 120 mounds....and Cahokia is hardly an isolated example.

Poverty Point in Louisiana contains Monumental Earthworks constructed roughly 3,400 years ago, demonstrating Sophisticated Engineering long before European contact.

The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks of Ohio represent another Enormous Indigenous Engineering Tradition, with Geometric and Astronomical Precision.

All throughout Mesoamerica and South America, Indigenous civilizations constructed Cities, Pyramids, Temples, Plazas, Roads, Terraces and Monumental Stone Architecture on an unimaginable and extraordinary scale.

Therfore the claim that Indigenous Americans lacked architectural traditions is Historically Indefensible, ignorant and ludicrous.

As for later structures displaying architectural features that resemble Old World Traditions, that is an area where Individual Sites and Proposed Dates must be examined carefully. The mere resemblance of a building to an Old World structure does not automatically establish Old World contact....neither should Potentially Significant Archaeological Evidence simply be dismissed because it challenges a comfortable, long standing narrative.

"Investigate it. Date it. Excavate it. Compare it. Test it....then do it again. Practice Science, don't follow it."

7 — “They cannot name an Indigenous historical figure.”

Here is one from Arawa'q Mamlakah, aka Trinidad:

HYARIMA

Hyarima was a Lokono Indigenous War Chief and Leader, who later became Arawa'q, to be associated with North-Eastern Trinidad. He is remembered for his violent resistance to Spanish Colonization. The National Library and Information System Authority of Trinidad and Tobago describes him as "a major Indigenous leader and warrior who was feared and respected by Spanish colonizers and Dutch settlers."

His name survives in the History and People of ARIMA, and a statue stands there today in monument. The statement that Indigenous People cannot name their Own Historical Figures is simply false and shows more ignorance.

"Hyarima is an Indigenous historical figure. He was a Warrior. He resisted colonization. He belongs to the Tapestry that is the History of Trinidad."

He is only one example....the Arawa'q Asl has many.

THE BIGGER PROBLEM WITH THIS MEME

The entire argument depends upon an assumption that Indigenous Identity must leave behind a European-style Racial, Linguistic, Culinary, Textile, Artistic and Architectural "package" BEFORE it can remotely be considered legitimate.

Indigenous Civilizations in the Americas and Globally, did not exist to satisfy modern people's expectations of what a “real tribe” or "true tribe" should look like. They existed long before the categories being imposed upon them were ever even thought of, to be created.

Their Histories Survived through extensive Archaeology, Rooted Oral Tradition, Prosperous Surviving Communities, Languages, Place-names, Foodways, Material Culture, Songs, Dances, Ceremonies, Artifacts, Architecture and most importantly....Genealogical Traditions.

While some Histories may have been destroyed, some languages evolving or disappearing altogether, some practical traditions suppressed, some communities being absorbed, some people being renamed....even with records being written and rewritten by colonizers who misunderstood the People they were documenting....

"That does not mean the people never existed."

When next someone wants to investigate your individual claim of Indigenous Ancestry, by all means...."ask for evidence. Examine the Genealogy. Examine the Historical Records. Examine the Language. Examine the Community Connection. Examine the Archaeology....but don't replace Historical Investigation with 'he mad'...."

Please dont mistake 'You don't look Indigenous' or 'I personally cannot name it...' for 'It never existed.'

Ignorance is not evidence....and the inability of someone to recognize Indigenous History, whether they claim Indigenous Heritage or not, does not erase that History.

The burden of History is to Investigate what existed, not to Decide what existed based upon what we were taught to expect....taught though slavery. Masha'Allah?

Laa il'laaha il'Allah wa Muhammad'ar Rasool ul'laah!

🌞🌝🌟🙇‍♂️🤲☝️

08/08/2026

AMERINDIAN COSMOLOGY SERIES — THE BEAR

There is a Strength that does not need to announce itself, it waits, it watches, it endures, and when the moment comes, it moves with purpose.

This is the Lesson of the BEAR.

Where the FALCON taught us to See, the BEAVER taught us to Build, the DEER taught us to Remain Aware, the WOODPECKER taught us Rhythm and the SALMON taught us Perseverance...

The BEAR now teaches us Strength Through Stillness.

The BEAR is Powerful, but its greatest Lesson is not Aggression, it is Balance. The BEAR knows when to move and when to withdraw. It knows when to confront and when to conserve its strength.

It enters periods of rest, emerges with the changing season, and moves according to the conditions of its environment. Its power is therefore not simply physical, it is the power of knowing 'when' to act!

Within Indigenous Traditions across North America, BEARS have carried Diverse Meanings depending upon the Nation and Region. They may appear as Powerful Beings associated with Healing, Protection, Courage, Leadership, or Spiritual Knowledge.

Therefore these meanings cannot be reduced to one "Universal Amerindian Interpretation."

That distinction matters....our Study is NOT about forcing every Indigenous Culture into a Single System, rather....is about Examining the Recurring Relationship Between Animal Behavior, Environmental Cycles, and Human Understanding.

The Bear brings us deeper into that cycle. As Winter gives way to Spring, stillness gives way to movement. Rest gives way to renewal and the apparent silence of nature is not the absence of activity. It is preparation, and perhaps that is one of the BEAR'S greatest teachings:

"Strength is not measured by how constantly you move."

Sometimes strength is knowing when to become still, when to conserve, to observe or to recover. When to emerge at the precise time the cycle calls. The SALMON fought against the current, the BEAR teaches us something different:

"Not every current must be fought, some must simply be understood."

From the Traveler of Purpose, to the Keeper of Strength....The Cycle Continues.

28/07/2026

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THE EMPIRE'S SHADOW — An Imaginative Tale

Abu Bukhari stood motionless, stricken with amazement. His companions did likewise.

Before them stretched the largest marketplace any among them had ever witnessed before. They had visted many far lands, and seen bustling ports with merchant quarters of every kind, where seasoning and spices, fine garments and cloth, precious metals and gemstones, every kind of livestock, and rare crafts changed hands beneath colorful awnings. Yet this place dwarfed them all in sheer size and population. It was a Great City of Commerce unto itself, where countless voices seamlessly merged into a single, ceaseless roar.

Nothing seemed absent or missing. Nothing....except mercy. The farther they walked beneath the watchful eyes of the imperial guards, the more the market revealed itself in Truth. There were stalls for gold dust gathered from rivers.

Others displayed polished jade uncut and refined, varying crystals, copper ingots of all sizes, colorful sea shells and pearls, countless woven fabrics, medicinal herbs for all symptoms, even carved idols, ceremonial masks, and feathered garments fit for nobles and royalty.

Beyond these desirable treasures stood the Market of Flesh. Rows upon rows, upon rows of captives stood beneath shaded enclosures. Some were secured with braided fiber ropes looped around their wrists, ankles, and necks. Others wore broad wooden collars connected by poles, forcing them to walk together, coupled together in pairs of two or more.

Families had been intentionally separated into different rows. Children cried quietly, others traumatized and stunned to violence. The elders among them stared silently with a dull gaze at the Earth. Most of those awaiting sales were unmistakably younger in age.

They could be seen with strong backs and calloused hands from daily labor. Healthy bodies, fit, strong, and sturdy. The kind of specimen sought by kings and kingdoms that measured its people by ability for labor rather than lineage and talent.

Abu's heart grew heavy with despair. This is the condition that was in part, his reason for leaving his homeland. He was not shocked beyond imagination. He had witnessed slavery and its inhumane nature in other kingdoms before, beyond the great sea that brought them to Qyra’ni.

But never....never had he seen it displayed with such perfect order, such immense scale and with such an ordinary acceptance. One enclosure caused even the Wara'Ro elder to lower his eyes in shame. It held mainly young children. Many were scarcely old enough to understand why they were there, being enslaved and in captivity.

Some clung to one another for comfort while others sat silently, their expressions emptied by fear and horror.

Abu broke his silence and spoke almost in the lowest of whispers.

"The children..."

The Surinen Chief bearly overhearing what was uttered, answered before anyone else could.

"Some are captives...." he paused. "Others have been demanded." His words came reluctantly and with hesitation.

"...have been demanded."

"Demanded!?" Exclaimed Abu....the Lokono elder nodded in acknowledgment of this terrible reality.

"There remain houses among the ruling elites who offer the youngest of us as sacrifices during certain ceremonies and rituals."

Abu closed his eyes briefly in disbelief and hopelessness...."and the tribes, they permit this atrocious act of oppression?"

"They do not all permit it," the Shibaio elder replied in defense. "Some resist, risking their lives and livelihoods regularly. Others remain in fear of the rulers, more than they fear the idol gods those rulers claim to serve."

Silence settled suddenly over the traveling group, as though to absorb the gravity of this new situation to assess how their destiny's may be altered.

After some time in light thought, Abu asked another question...."How do the others come here? How did they end up captives? By what means did this condition meet them?"

The Wara'Ro elder answered so as to satisfy and satiate Abu's curiosity...."Not every soul here was taken by force or a prisoners of war. Some entered into service and servitude willingly, knowinly so.""

He gestured toward several well-dressed young men standing calmly beside a merchant, in a manner that their attention was briefly turned toward the gathering....Abu looked on puzzled as to it's meaning. The elder continued. "A debt owed to a Ruler may be repaid through years of service."

He pointed farther down the line. "A poor family, engulfed in hardships may send a son or daughter, their first born, into the households of nobles for servants of every duty....in exchange for food, protection, or relief from the emperor's overbearing tribute and tax"

The Surinen chief joined in unexpectedly and added, "Some become palace guards...."

"The strongest amounts them...." said the Lokono elder, "for soldering or farming the vast Empire's rich plantations."

"Others become temple attendants," the Shibaio elder continued, as they began to interject each other to share this information in hopes that clarity could be found in understanding it.

"Temple and shrine clergy....keepers who kindle the sacred fires of its halls, orators for relaying ideas and orders, diviners who interpret omens and dreams, scribes who help to preserve the words of rulers and mystics....and many many women," the Wara'Ro elder said quietly, "serve as maids or cooks within noble houses."

His expression darkened drastically...."Others become concubines and bed maidens."

Abu's companions exchanged troubled glances, clearly disturbed by this finding. However common, it is still very unsettling to learn. "So even willing service," one of them observed, "may become another kind of bo***ge?"

The elders did not answer. They did not need to, nor was there a requirement for the rhetorical questions asked in disbelief. Abu watched on cautiously merchants bargained over contracts of service while, only a short distance away, captives from rival tribes were inspected throughly like livestock.

The contrast was unnerving and unsettling. Where one life entered bo***ge by necessity, another by conquest, another by unpaid burdening debt and others even by birth, the empire made room for them all. The Lokono elder leaned closer...."This is why many among our people withdrew deeper into the forest generations ago. Even escaping as far as to the Antilles for sanctuary and safety from the Empire's grip."

"The farther from the cities we are able to settle," the Surinen chief added, "the farther from the reach of those who demand tribute and intrusion over our privacy and lives that we are."

Before Abu could respond with a meaningful retort, a heavy footstep echoed from behind them. Leather creaked as it tightened and relaxed. Heavy copper armor clinked and creaked at the hinges as they rubbed together....a tall shadow fell across the gathering.

"HALT!"

The voice rang out, thunderous, raised high above the marketplace. Several nearby merchants on hearing the command immediately fell silent and motionless. Abu turned slowly, inquisitive....standing before them was one of the imperial soldiers.

His broad copper breastplate gleamed magnificently beneath the bright afternoon sun. Scarlet and black feathers crowned his helmet with a decorative style. His hand rested firmly upon the shaft of a long spear. His sharp eyes moved deliberately from face to face as towered over the gathering....unusually tall.

Finally, they settled upon Abu. The soldier frowned.

"Why are you common people gathered here!?" He demanded to know, in an authoritative and firm tone.

No one answered. They all paused in shock. Around them, conversations ceased abruptly, the marketplace itself, which only mere moments before was alive with noise, bustling....seemed suddenly to hold its breath.

For the first time since entering the Empire's domain, now close to half a year ago, Abu Bukhari realized that they themselves had begun to resemble what the market traded most....a People whose freedom could be decided whimsically by the will of those in Power.

Laa il'laaha il'Allah wa Muhammad'ar Rasool ul'laah!

🌞🌝🌟🙇‍♂️🤲☝️

Arawaq Asl

01/09/2026

29/08/2026

25/08/2026

11/08/2026

11/08/2026

10/08/2026

08/08/2026

28/07/2026

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