Many Awards Granted by Story Guru Nada
The brilliant creator of the Kalahari Storytelling Series, the noted Literary Lioness Nada Syuhada, announced the First Kalahari Storytelling Awards, informally known among the literary elite as the Hassanys.
Nada was so impressed with the quality of the selections entered by the cream of Kalahari's literary greats that she changed the original rules, by rewarding the first FOUR winners, not just the Grand Winner.
Here are the winners!!!
FIRST WINNER OF A HASSANY: VIEW LUMINOS
First Place View Luminos L$500
Second Place Jack Docherty L$300
Third Place Elyssa Kalaratri L$200
Fourth Place Marrissa Greene L$100
Remaining participants win L$50 each for their excellent stories.
Abla, Afraa al Abid, Bill LeBrave, Hew Hoall Saw, Josie North,
Mad the Barbarian, Malika Kingbe, Rosecendre Moonwall, Roxelana Chronander.
And to please the large audience of story lovers in Kalahari and around the whole world, here are the four stories that won awards.
VIEW LUMINOS
KALAHARI
Why does one like some place or something? This question can either make your mind go
blank or rattle of a list of things, at the end of which you may still be
wondering if you have got it all?! So
what is it about Kalahari – is it a place that has to be experienced but can
never be adequately described in words or are there a multitude of flattering
terms that do it justice? The best place
to start would be, I suppose, at the beginning.
The search for life beyond our space and time has
intrigued man for time immemorial and any reference to it enlists firm support
by those who believe in there being “someone out there” and plain ridicule from
those who think otherwise. Hazarding
some of this ridicule, I can truly confess that time and space travel has been
pretty much what I have been enlisted to do for the past few years. My reason for it – well that would be too far
in the beginning so maybe we should start from just this point on!
Prior to landing at Kalahari, I was at the Amazon. It was a rather arduous stint there what with
one having to watch out for the beasts and the humans who were still living in
smaller settlements and spending much of their time vigorously guarding the
same. Their way of life, simple and
primitive was difficult to adjust too, though the ladies there added much
beauty by moving around topless – very suitable for magazines reporting on faraway
places that will find themselves in the market a few centuries after their time!
On landing at Kalahari, the calming salty sea breeze at
the point of entry, the warm sunshine, charming turrets, arches and the aroma
of delicious food from the adjacent inn all together gave the impression of
Kalahari being a peaceful and welcoming abode, far removed from the dangers of
the Amazon. Definitely a place to
explore, to linger, to relax……….
It was with these attractive thoughts that I began to
explore the Kingdom, striking up conversations with the citizens that I came
across, an easy task given the friendliness exhibited by most. One thing that soon became apparent was that
this almost picture book like “fantasy” land was not one for shirkers but one
that was carefully created and maintained with the efforts of all its citizens
who contributed to the wealth of the Kingdom through dedication in their own
professions.
So there was peace, there was a bountiful of plenty and
contentment amongst the citizens or was this all too good to be true? The Kingdom does have its structure of
command that can be very firm at any visible sign of disagreement and while
there is a general atmosphere of subservience, it is not that alternate
opinions are not accommodated, but there is firm action against what is
perceived to be “indiscipline in the ranks”.
But then again maybe it is this fear of the ‘rod’ that keeps would be
trouble makers at bay and allows the Kingdom to provide for itself and its
citizens.
There is a lot of material that explains the organisation
of the Kingdom and the reason for its opulence and stability but a narration of
administrative details is hardly the manner to express the feeling that is
Kalahari. While it may be regarded as
presumptuous for me, one who is not yet a full-fledged citizen to claim to know
this feeling, I do end this submission with a few lines that to me summarise
all that is Kalahari.
Kalahari, a Kingdom from far and away,
An atmosphere it has that beckons one and all to stay.
It’s not the food, not the trees, not the breeze that
sets it apart
It’s the affection of the people, it’s the warmth in
their heart.
There is firm action against those who choose to cross
the line,
Be not afraid, for good efforts beget days of roses and
wine.
One may say this is all false how can such a land be true?
To them I say, why tell me -
Have you ever seen a man here feeling blue?!
A great wonderland, pearl hidden from most,
To the Land to the people, cheers, I do raise a toast!
CAPTAIN JACK DOCHERTY
JACK'S TALL TALE
This is a tale from about three or four years ago, the
days when things were a little different, well, some may say quite different. A
tale involving four countries, Kalahari, Abydos, Meyonia and to some extent,
Kuwar.
It all started one evening with a formal reception at the
presidential palace of Meyonia, for dignitaries visting from other countries. I
attended it, as part of the Meyonian entourage, you know, the usual mingling,
cocktails, me keeping ears open on any dropped information, partially to
entertain myself.
Then I was privately approached by one of the Abydos
Goddesses, Allegra. It seems one girl close to her, a young gypsy girl named
Eman Shehata, who was a bit involved with a cousin of mine at the time, had
mentioned me to the Goddesses.
We talked about various states of affairs and she invited
me to Abydos.
A few days later, I took her up on the offer, and headed
for the gates of the Queendom. At first being challenged, since I was a man, I
stated my name and who had invited me, and I was not just admitted, but given a
guided tour of the land by Allegra herself. At that time, Abydos and Kalahari
were neighbours, and the gates of each were entered from a common place where
you arrived.
There was also an older arena, located right between the
lands, Kalahari gates to the east and Abydos gates to the south.
I returned on and off, between my voyages, sometimes
Allegra or some of the Goddesses were busy handling state affairs, and I took
the opportunity to wander down to the arena, for a bit of practice, both with
sword and rifle.
While heading there, I chanced upon a warrior, practicing
her skills, and we started talking. Well, rather, we started training, as she
said something about needing to warm up and the wooden dummies were not able to
provide for that. She was good, a really good fighter, and when we ended the
session, we both grinned.
She presented herself as Livia, sister of the Kalahari
King. Well, princess or not, she was damn good with a blade, and we sparred
with each other on and off.
When I arrived one day to the arena, Livia was not there,
so I started some target shooting with my rifle instead. Someone approached me,
and I recognised, Eman, the young gypsy girl that I had met a few times, both
in Meyonia and in Kuwar.
She was on her way from Abydos to Kalahari and asked me
if I would like to join her, which I thought would be a nice idea. After all, I
had never really been there. She led me to a small place with a dance scene,
with two men, one seemed pretty obviously some kind of noble, and the other...
well, pretty noble too, those maybe one notch down, or something.
Eman introduced me to them, while she was preparing for a
dance she would perform for us, they were King Hassan Ibn Trrrol, His Highness
of Kalahari, and his Minister, Magdy.
At first, the King was very wary of me, inquiring, almost
interrogating me about who I was and what I was doing there. I later found out
that his intelligence had briefed him of my presence and dueling with his
sister, the Princess, that I was a sharpshooter, in addition to being deeply
involved with businesses in Kuwar. During that period, the relations between
Kuwar versus Kalahari and Meyonia were.. well, shall we call it a little
tense.. to use real understatements. I think General Romanova of Kuwar.. or was
she colonel back then? She rose in ranks so fast, it was hard for us to keep
up. Anyway, it seems she was perhaps behind a couple of recent assassin
attempts on His Highness, so no wonder he was on his guard.
I became rather fond of both Kalahari and Abydos,
spending what time I could be away from Kuwar there. At this time, my friend
Afraa was working as the new hotel manager in Kuwar, and I am afraid I
sometimes referred to her coughingly to the Emirate’s Guards, when I needed to
leave Kuwar for a bit. Sorry about that, Afraa, heh.
Livia was pretty much as wild in the Kingdom as she was
in the arena it turned out, we enjoyed the sparring, me learning from her
fighting skills and she picking up a couple of.. well, let’s call it “my bag of
pretty unorthodox tricks”.
One lazy afternoon in the Kingdom, which was very quiet,
Livia and I were relaxing over at her private quarters. We were drinking wine
and munching away on some delicious cakes she had made herself. Unfortunately,
she had forgotten they were spiked with hashish. We never really noticed, but
enjoyed a friendly conversation with various, perfectly normal topics, like”
what colour of the rainbow would possible a blue penguin have” or ”if you clap
with one hand and miss, does a tree fall in the forest”, when she jumped to her
feet, crying out that she knew what mission we had to accomplish. As soon as I
had gathered myself up from the floor, which I hit, falling off her couch as
she cried out, I asked her what kind of mission that may be, but she was
already well out of the door.
By the time I finally caught up with her—that lass could
run, I tell you—I crashed into her, as she came dashing out the door to the
King’s private quarters, shouting” RUN!”. As she passed me, I took a step in
through the door, seeing parts of the royal bed on fire, the result of a prank
gone terribly wrong, but that seemed like a good idea after seven pieces of
hashish cake and two bottles of wine. Outside, I heard the Princess exclaim a
less than regal” Oh shit! The Guards!”
So there I was, trying to put out the fire of a royal bed
in front of me, Royal Guards approaching behind me, no idea where the Princess
were.. The King, however, I discovered, was with his Guards, and he sure looked
less than happy.
You know, I am no paladin, or something like that, honour
and blood for their own sakes, but I don’t rat out on crew mates. The King
assumed I was guilty of this, and I didn’t claim otherwise, so I ended up in
the gaol, gruel, chains and all.
But Princess Livia she was really straight about it all,
when she saw where I had ended up and went to her brother, explaining everything.
You know, that was definitely not the first time I was in
a gaol, but sure the first time I shared it in royal company. That would happen
again, with another princess, but that’s another story.
The King told me I was free to leave, I really hesitated,
not wanting to leave his sister in the ironer, but both King and princess
assured me it was not the first time she had ended up there.. and probably not
the last, so I walked out, thanking the King for his mercy and headed straight
for a beer. All that hashish and prison dust had made really parched my throat,
you know.
His Highness and I become friends over time, I still
count him as one, and if he ever needs support, I’ll be there with my blade. We
both actually later were appointed the first Knight Protectors of Abydos by the
Goddesses, the two men to first ever hold titles of that dignity in the
Queendom.
ELYSSA KALARATRI
ELYSSA'S
BIOGRAPHY
My
name is Elyssa Kalaratri. Elyssa means 'god is my oath' and that was the name
my mother chose for me. My father was in rebellion against the King of that
land, and his rebellion failed. The situation was such that my mother was in no
danger, but I was. My father had sired many children, with the intent of
breeding an army for his revenge. Mother had me raised in India, in the village
where she grew up. She thought I would be safe there.
Safe,
but not loved. Those villagers scorned me for being born of a mixed union, and
for being born out of wedlock. It was they who gave me my second name
Kalaratri. It is a reference to the goddess of war, destruction, and
devastation Kali. As soon as I was able, I returned to the Kingdom of Sand where
I was born.
There
I had difficulty finding my mother, as she had been adopted into a Bedouin clan
and had a new name. I wanted to cause her to suffer as I had suffered. My
father was easier to find, and he happily took me in. Under the tutelage of him
and his harem, I learned the ways of war. Yet another soldier in his army, with
his other spawn.
But
the war was only planned. Disaster struck and leveled the kingdom. I know not
who else escaped, but surely little could escape that!
I
travelled the world, always fleeing from men and their evil intent. For a time
I was a waitress at the Matsubaya brothel in Japan, but made my way out before
they could think of making me yet another whore. At the end of my travels
across the world, I came here to Kalahari.
Lady
Louise Kingbe invited me to be her houseguest, but I slept in the courtyard and
prepared my own food. She encouraged me to sleep inside, in a spare bed. I did
so but one night, and she then charged me with a bill for room and board. It
was all just a trick!
My
money was exhausted from my travels, so she decided I would work it off as her
handmaiden. She set a collar around my neck and had me help her dress and
assist her in the bathhouse.
Her
husband, Mr Kingbe, didn't like my attitude and stripped me naked and left me
in a cage in the slave's room. My imprisonment lasted a week, with regular
beatings. All because I did not acknowledge him as my Master. A brute he is,
truly.
Louise
was interested in my time in Japan, and bade me to make a garden for her in
that style. I dug the channels for the pond and planted the lilies myself. For
that effort, I was freed after only a month or so of shameful enslavement. King
Hassan proclaimed me a citizen and granted me an apartment to use, in which I
reside to this day.
Minister
Magdy found my work at the farm very useful, and made me his assistant, to
manage the slaves when he was unable to. In time, romance bloomed and I now
count myself as close to a wife as he has. All went well, until the civil war.
Only
a few days before the final battle, I encountered Mr Kingbe, now calling
himself Halim. We fought at the arena, after I commanded that he return to his
territory. We fought, and somehow he got a second wind in the middle of the
fight. (He switched from combat mode to arena mode, which gave him back many of
his hit points. It was cheating.) I was knocked unconscious and he dragged me
back to that same cage he had locked me in before. He ripped my clothes off my
and left me shivering and wounded.
Days
later, and I heard the slaves talking. The war was over and he had lost. He, on
the other hand, was determined to keep on fighting. He had missed the final
battle, and did not count the result as valid. We all know what came of that
determination of his. Nothing.
Still
I was kept, unlawfully imprisoned. Starved and denied water. Only by tricking
some of his slaves did I get any food or water. I would have died in that three
week period otherwise. At the the end of the three weeks, probably expecting me
dead or too weak to resist, Halim declared I was to join his harem as a slave.
He handed some tawdry red silks to wear, and I put them on, glad to have
something to wear at last. He foolishly left the front door unlocked and went
to sleep. I walked out and ran to my apartment, burning those silks and
replacing them with one of my own modest dresses. He was not going to get me
back so easily!
I
continued my work at the farm, just waiting to see if it would be worth making
a criminal case about. When I saw the entire House of Kingbe leave the kingdom,
I thought it would not be worth doing, but now that rumors say they may return,
I wonder...
MARRISSA GREENE
MARRISSA GREENE'S STORY
I
first visited the kingdom to broaden my mind and learn about other cultures.
My
family was rather wealthy and well positioned. One of the first persons I met
on arriving was the Minister for Entertainment. She showed me some of the local
dances and advised it was something all the ladies here did.
With some
encouragement from her I donned what seemed rather flimsy clothes but she
reassured me that was what all ladies wore in the Kingdom when dancing. Not
wishing to create a diplomatic incident I went and put on the clothes then
danced with the others.
I found it fun and the Minister declared I had talent.
After the dance she told me about the dancing school the Kingdom ran and how
foreigners like me were welcome to join it. The idea tickled my fancy so
naturally I agreed. I also assumed it would please my family what with me
creating diplomatic connections and such and learning about another culture.
I
found some of the customs the students had rather odd, such as the cramped
accommodation, sleeping on furs and the rather dreadful food. I had heard
student food was bad but what we ate at the school was absolutely horrid. It was made
from fish heads and other stuff we normally throw out in my own land. But as
they say you shouldn’t knock other cultures so I just tried to grin and bear
it. What I found odd was how well the Minister seemed to eat in comparison.
One
of the strangest customs for students how we had to kneel all the time and call
the teachers Master or Mistress depending on gender of course, but in our
schools sometimes such titles were also expected. Equally odd was how all the
students wore special necklaces that showed they were part of the school. For
some odd reason my necklace got stuck for some reason. The Minister was
disconcerted but alas always too busy to find some solution.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
