Golden Fountain

### Part 1

The first Caliphate fugitives landed on the coasts of Lion's Head Bay about 600 years ago and found potable water in the region. Not only have they saved themselves from hunger and thirst, these fugitives knew they discovered the site for their own city. The place was named Mastang Zahab - the Golden Fountain.

The Council was comprised of 9 Wise Seers. Five were leading scholars, generals, and traders from Shiraz. The other 4 were local tribal chieftains. Members of the Council were elected from amongst the leading families every 8 years. The Council also voted to decide upon important matters.

Under the rule of the Council, Mastang enjoyed 5 centuries of prosperity. However, good things never last. Generations later, the Council of the Wise became a coven of corrupt individuals jostling each other for their own selfish gains.

The Council had long since become a political instrument of the great families and eventually splintered when disagreements could no longer be settled in peace. Civil war erupted. Fire consumed the Eternal Peace of Mastang and fractured the Sapphire of Africa. Ambitious clans and Wise Seers took their turns to usurp power, only to fall victim to the next group of power mongers. Warlords and mercenaries only added to the devastation. Young Sa'ad defeated the other warlords and dissolved the corrupt Council, becoming the first and last King of Mastang Zahab.

### Part 2

A great sandstorm came from the western desert while aquifers dried up, leaving the Kingdom vulnerable to invasions.

The arriving Portuguese disguised their slave trading intents with lies of peace and commerce. To them, Mastang seemed like a promising target. But King Sa'ad saw through their schemes. Port officials imprisoned the sailors while the captain was executed. Only one sailor was freed to bring the head of his captain back to Portugal. The rest were sold off as slaves.

King Sa'ad, wrathful and fearless, managed to find the Portuguese spies and punished them. But the leading maritime power of Europe treated this as an insult committed by an already weakened African kingdom. 3 years later, a Portuguese conquistador arrived with war galleons and an army. His European priests imposed their own faith upon this ancient land. Mastang was offered two choices: surrender or be razed to the ground.

King Sa'ad refused to kneel. The war began, and the Mastang Kingdom was destroyed. The Emerald Gardens became a pile of rubble. The Azure Baths belched smoke. The sky itself took on an ominous reddish tone. The conquistador's army looted and killed as they pleased. Blood flowed like rivers along the streets. Even the vultures were disgusted by the carnage and refused to land in the city.

The conquistador laid siege to King Sa'ad's citadel on Table Mountain. There were only several hundred Mastang refugees by the Young King's side. After several failed assaults, the conquistador took the banner of peace and asked for conditional surrender. But the Mastang answered him with a hail of arrows and musket balls, killing him. His surviving army gathered all their cannons and proceeded to leave the citadel, killing King Sa'ad and every Mastang refugee.

Thus ended the once great Kingdom of the Golden Fountain. The Portuguese built a new city upon the ruins of Mastang gardens, temples, and bazaar and renamed it as San Fonte. A legend rose amongst the surviving Mastang. They believe a true scion of Young King Sa'ad will one day to Table Mountain to bring Eternal Peace, and that the Portuguese conquerors will be destroyed just as they destroyed Mastang.

**Irrelevant Files**:
**Chapter 1 -** Mission Report Kv10297 • St. Fountain Tour Guide • **Golden Fountain** • Fountain of Blood • From Sint Fontein to St. Fountain • Unsent Letter • A Flyer • A Resident's Diary • A Scrap of Paper • Duino Elegies