A Lost Desert Interview

Queen Amira: I was glad to make time out of my schedule for it.

Princess Vyssa: You’re not one of the Senate, so I’m happy to chat!

So my first question is on the Senate, how does it work? Are they elected? Appointed?

Queen Amira: The Senate consists of fifteen members and is voted in by the people of Sakhmet once every four years. Each of the quadrants of Sakhmet is thus represented by three people, and three others represent the palace district at the centre, keeping it from being a tie vote. The Senate is considered an advisory body but does have the power to overrule the monarch should it be needed.

Previously, Senate members could be elected indefinitely. Thus, Senator Palpus and Senator Barca have been in it since my father’s reign, but they are the only two remaining from then. After the recent debacle with Aymas Xendrik, however, the Senate has agreed to term limits of twenty years and passed legislation that would allow for their removal should they become involved in a scandal or coup attempt. It would require a majority vote, however, to remove a Senator, and only if substantial proof existed of compromised behaviour.

Princess Vyssa: With the new rules, both Palpus and Barca are looking at the end of their tenures soon. This is probably a good thing in Palpus’s case since lately he’s been napping when he should be listening. It’s not enough to get him removed, but I know the other senators are a bit tired of his snoring! I don’t know if General Dacon will run for Senate or not, but I think he’d make a great senator and be a good replacement for Palpus, who also used to be a general. Senator Barca is a different matter. It’s hard to imagine someone replacing her; it seems like she has a hand in everything!

That leads nicely to my next question. Recently we found out about the Lost Desert Alliance, which includes King Heksas. When last we heard of King Heksas, it was as the invader of Khamtef and killer of Princess Sankara’s family. Why does he hold a place on the Alliance after committing such deeds?

*Both look grave.*

Queen Amira: After our father’s death, and the capture of Princess Sankara, we sent officials into the Lower Mentu Region to find out what had happened there. Despite our ill feelings towards her, we did not wish to allow someone to wage a war of attrition and get away with it; it’s far too easy for someone to want to lay claim to more than one country.

Princess Vyssa: I hate her! It could have been me dead! But if he invaded, he needed to be ousted. We found that King Heksas controlled the whole Mentu Region, but no one in Khamtef was unhappy. King Sobek the Wise, as it turns out, was ironically named.

Queen Amira: While King Heksas did lead an army into Khamtef, it was King Sobek who had provoked the fight by various unfair taxes on traders from the Lower Mentu Region. Despite all attempts to negotiate, it fell apart and King Sobek declared war.

Princess Vyssa: The rest of her story was also basically true, but what she didn’t know was that the army of Heksas was welcomed as liberators. The Fourth Khonsu Dynasty liked to live high, apparently, and didn’t care if their people suffered. Her parents did die in the war as well, but the details are a bit sketchy.

Queen Amira: Most reports claimed they died in an accident of some sort after attempting to flee the oncoming army. No report blames King Heksas or his army, and no one in the region seems ill-treated. Therefore, we feel comfortable having him on the Alliance.

Princess Vyssa: Unlike that nasty Princess Sankara who’s still in the royal dungeons. We won’t kill her, but she’s as unrepentant as ever. We still have a reward for the capture of Malkus Vile and the Meerca Brothers.

I see. What is the Lower Mentu Region like? Is there an Upper? What of Khamtef?

Queen Amira: The Lower and Upper Mentu Regions are vast savannahs just north of the Frostbite Forest. The Upper Mentu Region is on a plateau near the Icecap Mountains. The Lower Mentu Region is closer to the ocean. The part of the Lower Mentu Region closest to the Frostbite Forest is a steppe.

Princess Vyssa: Khamtef is the capital of the Upper Mentu Region while Khaef is the capital of the Lower. Both cities are still standing and doing well. They’re both considered part of the Lost Desert, though they’re about the furthest south it extends.

Queen Amira: King Heksas is a Skeith and his wife Queen Nebet is a Kougra. They have two children: Prince Ptolemy, a Hissi, and Princess Hesat, a Kau. They are both the same age as Vyssa.

Ah, thank you! What of the final member, Sultan Volsan?

Queen Amira: Ah! Well, he’s from a city known as Bahagra in the Lonely Lands close to Altador. In fact, it is both the first city from Altador and the last city to it, depending on where you start.

Princess Vyssa: It’s a good bit rainier and cooler there too, so there’s lots of vegetation. Bahagra itself is actually built into the mountain cliffs! There are lots of hanging gardens and each tier of the city is a different colour stone! The rock spires in that region are similarly streaked with colour—talk about pretty! Volsan spent a lot of time looking for a fabulous treasure to help enrich his city. He must have found it since he now rules there.

Queen Amira: Between the four city-states of Bahagra, Qasala, Sakhmet, and Khaef-Khamtef, almost the entirety of Lost Desert is represented. Of course, there will always be the Ruki wanderers who help keep the trade routes safe and smaller city-states here and there. We each help any settlements closest to our own territories, but we let them self-rule.

Do you think the Lost Desert will ever have one ruler? And speaking of, why is it considered a single land when there are so many city-states? I’d have expected something more like the Darigan Citadel, Meridell, and Brightvale.

Queen Amira: I severely doubt it, but it could come to pass. Neither my sister nor I are interested in marrying, though we could adopt. Should we not have an heir, Queen Nabile will inherit since she’s still of royal lineage.

Princess Vyssa: We reinstated her back into the family.

Queen Amira: As to why it’s treated as one land, I cannot answer. It seems odd to us as well. The Lost Desert, which we call the Hudjefa Desert, was never lost to us, but the word “hudjefa” means “missing” or “erased” and it earned that name from the many disappearances in it over the years. I suspect since Sakhmet is so easy to get to, no one thought of it as separate from the desert itself.

Princess Vyssa: You also have to remember that when Brucey B visited way back on the 21st Day of Relaxing in Year 3, we were the only place anyone could visit. Qasala was still…wherever it was…and neither Sultan Volsan nor King Heksas was interested in visitors at the time. That may change soon, though.

Okay. What do you know about the Ruins of Thanyros?

Queen Amira: While they’re still being explored, we’ve managed to determine an age thanks to the same glyphs that gave us its name. It was founded in 873 BN. We believe it was founded by King Coltzan I.

Princess Vyssa: Though he was credited with founding Sakhmet, it seems like that was a myth that developed because the two cities overlap. In fact, older sections of Sakhmet are really part of Thanyros!

Queen Amira: Though we’re still finding more information, it seems as though the city flourished for two hundred years before entering a state of decline. In 500 BN, Chen-Ra, Son of the Sun, rebuilt over parts of it and named the city Sakhmet after a faerie who helped him. It’s been thriving ever since.

That’s fascinating! Would you mind telling us more about the royal family? We know your father was King Coltzan III, but not who your mother was or what happened to her. Also, while King Coltzan I and King Coltzan III are well-known, we never hear about King Coltzan II, why is that?

*Queen Amira and Princess Vyssa both get pained expressions on their faces.*

Queen Amira: Our mother was Queen Lightfoot, a Cybunny our father rescued from the clutches of the evil Baron Nehlaki. She died in an accident when we were young. Our father was so heartbroken he would never marry again.

Princess Vyssa: You don’t hear much about King Coltzan II because he was a pretty nasty ruler, and we don’t like talking about him much. He was the one who drew up that marriage contract with King Jazan and he was also the one that disowned poor Princess Neera. We think he may have been involved with Emperor Razul too! In fact, it used to be a family tradition to name Lupes in it ‘Coltzan’ but after his reign, our father was the first to be named that in almost two hundred years!

Ah, that explains it! So, when it comes to the Lenny Conundrum…

*Princess Vyssa rises from her throne, sparks seem to literally fly from her eyes!*

“Lenny Conundrum? LENNY CONUNDRUM?! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THE WRITER OF THE LENNY CONUNDRUM, THEY WILL BE WORKING THE BAGGUSS FIELDS IN HIGH SUMMER UNTIL THE DESERT TURNS GREEN!”

*Queen Amira rises and helps to calm her sister before they sit down again. One of the servants begins to fan Princess Vyssa vigorously.*

Queen Amira: Please excuse my sister; the Lenny Conundrum badly maligned her. We have never had slaves here in Sakhmet and my sister is still furious about that. As to the other one involving Sakhmet’s rulers, yes there was a King Hephaes-Ru who lived from 120 to 40 BN. He reigned for nearly sixty years due to the untimely death of his family. He had a daughter named Cleopetra who ruled from 40 BN to 20 BN. Our father was born in 40 BN and took the throne when Cleopetra died. If you’re wondering, Princess Sankara arrived at our court in 7 BN. She was nine at the time, the same age as my sister Vyssa. I was eleven.

As for Galat-Ra, he was a ruler once, but he died well before 0 BN. Much like how Burlak is really a fine sculptor, but not a slave, Galat-Ra was a real ruler, but not when the Conundrum listed. I would not use the Conundrum as the basis of fact without researching what it has written.

Ah, my apologies. I’m glad you straightened that out. My final couple of questions are somewhat related to the situation of information. Both Vyssa’s trading card and her Neopedia entry say she is the heir to the throne, not you Queen Amira. Why is that? And, given what you just said, how true is the Neopedia entry on Sakhmet?

Princess Vyssa: It was when Princess Sankara arrived that our father sent Amira out on that ‘diplomatic mission’. While she did visit a number of the other, smaller, city-states it was pretty clear he wanted her away from the court in case King Heksas decided to invade Sakhmet too. Yet for all his kindness to her, Princess Sankara still murdered him.

Queen Amira: As to Vyssa, it was our father’s idea. He was so afraid that the royal line would go extinct. He wanted to send Vyssa away too, but Wessle advised against it. One daughter—the elder and heir—going on a diplomatic mission would be plausible, but two would cause all sorts of gossip.

Princess Vyssa: I wish he had! Courts are no fun at all!

Queen Amira: As to the Sakhmet article, it is not entirely untrue. While there remains a divide between the royal inner city and the outer, we have made increasing efforts to ensure that the lives of [i]all[/i] citizens are improved. After that rebellion, it was only too clear that our previous efforts were not enough!

Princess Vyssa: And if you mean that bit about my sister getting snow cones from Terror Mountain, it’s as true as my having a slave! For ice products, we have yakhchāls not too far from Sakhmet. They look a bit like oversized buzzer hives. We keep hoping whoever is in charge of the trading cards and the Neopedia will update the entries.

Ah! Thank you! I think that really covers everything!

Queen Amira: You’re very welcome.

Princess Vyssa: Come back any time!