Ulqataadi

At the eastern edge of the Dulqa lies Ulqataadi, a small, forlorn town at the base of a rocky ridge, set about a desert watering hole. Ulqataadi is the capital and largest town in the Sultanate of Halul, a desolate and very lightly populated stretch of desert. Its tormented inhabitants make for good customers. The town was originally founded as a religious retreat by nomads from the Tarak Mountains, site of most of Halul's towns and villages. Strictly celibate and exclusively male, the Ulqataadi brotherhood lived an ascetic existence of toil and self-denial, sleeping on beds of stones in the open air, storing their meager possessions in pits concealed by leatherleaf branches.
Ulqataadi culture changed forever when a revisionist leader, Sultan Furok Izraun, reinterpreted their doctrines to allow marriage. Under Izraun's direction, the brotherhood manufactured gaudy religious trinkets, which they traded to superstitious hill barbarians for brides.
Within a generation, it was no longer necessary for Ulqataadi's males to trade goods for wives, as women from across the Dulqa began to show up in droves, offering themselves as mates. Who could blame them? Ulqataadi husbands were obliged to treat their wives with the same reverence due the gods, serving them with deference and submission, fulfilling their every wish. Should a wife desire a steed, the husband would secure a herd and let her take her pick. Should her toes ache, he would offer his back as a foot rest. Should her nose run, he would offer the clothes from his back as a handkerchief. It was an arrangement many women found difficult to resist.
Though most Ulqataadi males accept the conditions of marriage, others wonder if Izraun's reinterpretation violated their forefathers' original intent. They gather in small groups to analyze religious doctrine, often concluding that they have corrupted the will of the gods. A stranger might ask, "If you are convinced that marriage is wrong, why not renounce the concept and revert to the old ways?" "Too late," the reply would come. "The damage has been done. And besides, perhaps the gods did indeed intend marriage. And if so, then our doubting is a blasphemy." The stranger might conclude that Ulqataadi doctrine evokes guilt, no matter how it is interpreted.
Interestingly, seers in Ulqataadi have predicted that "storms of green fire" will destroy their town in the not-too-distant future. In anticipation of this disaster, many have abandoned the town to resettle the villages of the Tarak Mountains.
Category:Towns
Category:Locations
Category:Locations in the Kaspari Empire
Category:Settlements
Category:Settlements in the Kaspari Empire
Category:Locations in Halul