Dabba

Dabba is a long, thin, dry and rocky peninsula running east to west at the northern tip of Gondwana. It joins the mainland through Qaddan, Dar continues it to the west, and it has the Mediterranean on one side and the Sahara Sea on the other. Its small, scattered population is mocked by outsiders as the Lotus-Eaters.

Dabbans are light brown, with Mediterranean looks and tightly curled brown hair, much as in Dar. Most are unkempt, underfed and barely clothed, and wear a constant look of blissful meekness, caused by long dependence on a drug ground from lotus leaves. Nearly all follow the ancient Cult of the Lotus, whose rituals of lotus use run through every part of life; most people idle away the day watching clouds and chewing blossoms. Even finding food takes more willpower than many can manage, so many starve, and only a threat to the lotus supply truly rouses them.

Conquerors come often but never last. The Dabbans ignore them and will work only under the harshest pressure, and garrisons and officials tend to fall to the cult themselves, so most nations have given up and many ban travel to and from the land. Gorgons take Dabbans as sacrifices and slaves, though sickly addicts make poor workers and some end up as concubines of either sex. Mediterranean corsairs raid mainly for the powder, a costly contraband that Tharshesh is thought to buy in bulk. Qaddan still hopes to annex the peninsula for its superb Mediterranean harbors, but not until it can find an answer to the Lotus Cult.