Islahami

"One does not speak to an Islahami any more than is absolutely necessary."
-- Chalid, Booklet 017

"The Chalid clan does not give up."
-- Hrassan Chalid, Booklet 051

The Islahami (German: Islahami) are a nomadic warrior people native to the planet Rorqual, inhabiting the arid deserts south of the Northern Mountain Range. Proud, austere, and bound by a rigid code of honour and taboo, the Islahami are among the most formidable fighters on Rorqual -- feared even by pirates and bandits who flee at the mere sight of them. They live in symbiosis with the Barries, enormous bear-like dogs with whom they share a mysterious psychic bond, and they travel in caravans as warrior-traders, selling their wares in Rorqual's cities while maintaining a strict social distance from all outsiders.

The Islahami play a recurring role across the Rorqual arcs of Die Terranauten, appearing as allies of the Terranauts in booklets 017-018 and 051-052, and departing as independent survivors in booklet 057. They are one of the most distinctive indigenous cultures on Rorqual, embodying the planet's feudal, pre-industrial character while maintaining traditions that set them apart from all other Rorqualan societies.

Origins and Culture

Heritage

The Islahami are organised into clans, the most prominent being the Chalid clan, led first by Chalid (c. 2500) and later by Hrassan Chalid (c. 2587). Each member of the clan has an assigned place and role; every warrior, healer, and animal is accounted for, and the loss of even a single member is felt acutely. Chalid tells David terGorden that "his people lived under impoverished conditions and every member of the tribe had an assigned place" (Booklet 017).

Homeland

The Islahami inhabit the arid lands south of the Northern Mountain Range, in a region described as desert where "hardly anything grows and thrives" and where water is scarce. Despite the harsh conditions, they refuse to relocate: "They could certainly go somewhere else, but they don't want to. They don't make great demands on life, but they also don't let anything be taken from them" (Booklet 017). A helmsman on the Windsbraut describes them as people who "live at the foot of the Northern Mountain Range."

The Three-Pace Rule and Social Taboos

The Islahami maintain a rigid code of social distance. They never approach closer than three paces to any person outside their own people -- a rule so deeply embedded that even in moments of crisis it is reluctantly upheld. When the Islahami set up trading stalls in Aliruth, customers point from afar at the goods they want, lay payment on the table, retreat several paces, and collect their purchases only after the Islahami vendor has likewise stepped back. David and Farrell observe this "strange behavior" with astonishment (Booklet 017).

The Shadow Realm -- Treatment of the Captured

Perhaps the most striking Islahami custom is their treatment of clan members who have been captured by outsiders. Any Islahami who falls into captivity and is subsequently freed is considered dead -- consigned to the "shadow realm." These individuals are ignored entirely by their former companions, treated as though they do not exist. Their role thereafter is to "follow the living in silence and to constantly remind them of what became of an Islahami who had entered the shadow realm" (Booklet 051).

This taboo is absolute. When David suggests to Hrassan Chalid that Layla and Golan -- both formerly captured -- could fight and should be informed of plans, Hrassan reacts with indignant fury: "Layla? Golan? But they are dead!" David notes that "he had no idea how the Islahami punished a breach of taboo, but he reckoned that his insubordinate words could very well earn him a blade between the ribs" (Booklet 051).

An Islahami is never to be taken alive. Those who accompanied David in the early Rorqual arc "were not in a position to fight to the death" and had to be "set down on the bank" by Old Markham -- an act that, by Islahami reckoning, rendered them dishonoured (Booklet 051, German text).

The Islahami and Combat

The Islahami are universally feared on Rorqual. A single Islahami warrior is said to be "worth ten ordinary men" (Booklets 017, 051, 052), a claim borne out repeatedly in combat. They fight in complete silence, wielding curved sabres with devastating efficiency. When the Polaris attacks the Windsbraut, "the Islahami proceeded in complete silence. Already after the first wave of attack, four dead men had lain at their feet" (Booklet 017). Their reputation is such that even pirates aboard a four-master, the Feuerdrache, turn and flee at the sight of them on deck.

When facing the Roulian sea creature in booklet 051, the Islahami leap overboard onto the monster's back and hack at its hide "like a pack of berserkers" -- an act of extraordinary courage against a beast over a hundred metres long.

The Islahami also know only one verdict for every offence against them: death. They never attack without cause, harbour no ambitions for power, and live frugally -- but "whoever threatens them is as good as dead" and "whoever provokes them or publicly shames them" will face retribution (Booklets 017, 051).

Clothing

The Islahami wear distinctive garments made of scale-skin (German: Schuppenanzug), a grotesque-looking but practical material suited to their harsh desert environment. This scaly attire is immediately recognisable and contributes to their fearsome reputation. Golan Asgayr's traditional scale-armour alone is noted to have "made a lasting impression" on prisoners aboard the SOMASA (Booklet 052).

The Barries

The Barries are large, colourful, bear-like dogs that accompany the Islahami and serve as both pack animals and war beasts. They are enormous -- their paw prints are distinctive enough to be identified at a distance -- and their razor-sharp teeth make them "valuable allies in a fight" (Booklet 017).

The most remarkable aspect of the Barries is their psychic bond with the Islahami. Chalid explains: "The Barries understand us -- that is all. When we want them to be quiet, they are quiet; when we want them to fight for us, they do that too" (Booklet 017). David suspects that the animals have mutated, possibly through Rorqual's unique environment or through genetic manipulation, and that they share a PSI connection with the Islahami -- which is paradoxical, since the PSI powers of Drivers are suppressed on Rorqual. The question of why a PSI link exists between the Barries and the Islahami while Driver PSI abilities fail remains unresolved.

Farrell muses that "the Islahami's Barries would make ideal draft animals" for sled transport, "provided they could tolerate the climate" of the frozen north (Booklet 018). The animals are used to track fugitives -- on Skull Island, the Barries pick up Rogier's trail immediately and "behaved as if they had gone mad" (Booklet 017).

History

First Encounter with the Terranauts (c. 2500)

The Islahami first appear in the narrative when David terGorden and Claude Farrell, seeking allies to rescue their kidnapped companions from Rogier, encounter a caravan of Islahami led by Chalid in the city of Aliruth. David learns that Chalid's daughter, Layla Chalid, has also been captured by Rogier's forces. Despite the Islahami's deeply ingrained reluctance to interact with outsiders, David's directness and the shared enemy forge an alliance.

Chalid and his warriors -- accompanied by their Barries -- board the Windsbraut under cover of night. Their presence on deck is enough to make the regular crew retreat to the bridge in fear. When the pirate ship Feuerdrache approaches, the Islahami merely withdraw from the railing, and the pirates immediately flee.

During the sea battle with Vasik's Polaris, the Islahami prove decisive. Fighting silently alongside the Terranauts, they suffer only two dead while inflicting eleven casualties on the attackers. One Islahami saves David's life by leaping on Vasik from behind, though the warrior is killed by the Green Flyer's knife (Booklet 017).

The Islahami then storm Rogier's summer palace near Tambourg without informing David, scaling the castle walls with grappling ropes at dawn. Though they breach the defences and engage Rogier's guards, the merchant lord escapes with the captured women aboard the Dunkle Dame. Three Islahami are killed or wounded in the assault (Booklet 017).

On Skull Island, Chalid, David, Farrell, and the warrior Mahmoud land by boat and pursue Rogier's trail inland, guided by the Barries. The entire party is ultimately captured by Old Markham and the Children of the Black Dragon (Booklet 017).

Captivity and Release on Skull Island (c. 2500)

On Skull Island, the captured Islahami are held prisoner by Old Markham. David negotiates for the lives of his companions and the Islahami, but Markham initially refuses to release them, stating: "My people demand a sacrifice. They will not escape their fate." David argues that the Islahami warriors are too valuable to waste and that releasing them could forestall a retaliatory attack. After prolonged negotiation, Markham relents and has the Islahami "rowed to the shore and set ashore near Tambourg" (Booklet 018).

The Islahami who had remained behind on the Windsbraut meanwhile "forced the crew to turn back and were already on their way home" (Booklet 018). Layla Chalid, however, refused to leave the Terranauts and had to be gagged and carried away.

The Revenge on Skull Island (between 2518 and 2587)

Decades later, when David terGorden returns to Rorqual (Booklet 051), he finds Skull Island deserted and destroyed. The evidence is unmistakable: Barrie paw prints, hundreds of graves, and the systematic obliteration of the island's inhabitants. David recalls that "a command of the Islahami, with strong support from their war dogs, had avenged the shame that had been inflicted on some of their own on Skull Island." The Islahami "never attacked anyone without cause" and harboured "no ambitions for power," but "whoever provoked them or publicly shamed them" faced annihilation. The capture and imprisonment of Chalid's warriors on Skull Island had been such a provocation, and the Islahami had exacted their retribution without mercy (Booklet 051, German text).

The Chalid Clan in Crisis (2587)

By the time of booklet 051, Rorqual is in chaos -- environmental catastrophe, wars, and the Seven Plagues ravage the surface. David and Thorna, after crashing their Ringo, are rescued by a small band of Islahami led by Hrassan Chalid, who identifies himself as a member of the Chalid clan. Hrassan explains: "We have left our homeland and are on our way north, for nature has fallen into disorder and has brought the Seven Plagues upon us, ever since some among us have failed."

This group includes:

• Hrassan Chalid -- Leader of the remaining clan members, dark-eyed and commanding
• Golan Asgayr -- A warrior, formerly captured and thus considered "dead"
• Layla Chalid -- Chalid's daughter, also "dead" by Islahami reckoning
• Alyr -- A young warrior
• Falha -- An old woman and healer who examines David after the crash
• Mahmoud -- A warrior (from booklet 017)

Despite the group's small size, they maintain their customs. Layla and Golan follow the living in silence, invisible to their companions. The clan presses on at a trot "that taxed David and Thorna greatly," while "the desert dwellers showed not the slightest signs of exhaustion" (Booklet 051).

Journey with the Terranauts (2587)

The Islahami travel with David and Thorna to the Lannon River, where they find passage on a two-master captained by Karaman. When the captain orders them ashore at Yanda, the Islahami refuse. A violent confrontation erupts -- Hrassan declares "You sail on, skipper," and when the drunken sailors attack, the Islahami and the Terranauts defeat them in a pitched battle. Six sailors are killed; Alyr sustains a cut to his left arm (Booklet 051).

The ship is later attacked by a Roulian, a whale-like sea creature over a hundred metres long. The Islahami leap onto the creature's back and hack at it with their curved sabres in a frenzy. Despite their bravery, the ship is destroyed, and the survivors wash ashore on Saryfa (Booklet 051).

On Saryfa, the group is captured by the Arcanians, a fanatical monastic order that plans to sacrifice them. The Islahami, despite their fatalistic worldview -- "Islahami who had been defeated in battle saw no further point in rebelling against fates of any kind" -- are persuaded to participate in the escape plan. During the revolt aboard the Arcanians' airship, the SOMASA, "the Islahami unexpectedly seized the initiative and -- dealing well-aimed blows in all directions -- drove a breach into the phalanx of the black-clad figures" (Booklet 051).

Aboard the SOMASA (2587)

After the escape from Saryfa, the Islahami warriors -- Alyr, Hrassan, and Golan -- serve aboard the SOMASA as guards, keeping watch over the captured Arcanian helmsman and fighting in the mutiny led by Toland Ryker. During the mutiny, "the three Islahami warriors Golan, Alyr, and Hrassan came from the control centre and fell upon the mutineers like a whirlwind" (Booklet 052).

They continue to assist during the rescue of survivors from the STURMVOGEL and the HYBRIS, hauling sailors aboard and urging them to climb faster as danger approaches. Layla Chalid is counted among the women aboard the SOMASA (Booklet 052).

When the SOMASA ultimately crashes in the Valley of the Green Flowers, the Islahami survive and accompany the Terranauts into the next phase of their journey.

Departure from the Terranauts (c. 2587)

In booklet 057, after Nayala del Drago retrieves the stolen seed of Yggdrasil, Layla Chalid and Marcel d'Guinne choose to remain on Rorqual rather than continue with the Terranauts to the Great Abyss. Layla approaches David with warmth: "It is time for us to set out. Our people need us." The Islahami and d'Guinne's companions march out of the valley and disappear from sight. "Conditions on Rorqual had largely settled down in recent days. For them, their world was back in order" (Booklet 057).

Known Members

Relationships

Significance

The Islahami represent one of the most fully realised indigenous cultures on Rorqual. Their rigid honour code, their silent ferocity in battle, and their eerie custom of treating captured members as dead create a society that is simultaneously admirable and alien. They serve as a mirror to the Terranauts themselves: both groups are displaced peoples fighting to survive on a hostile world, but while the Terranauts adapt and improvise, the Islahami hold fast to ancient custom even when it means walking alongside the "dead."

Their symbiotic relationship with the Barries hints at deeper mysteries of Rorqual -- the existence of a PSI bond between the Islahami and their animals, despite the planet's PSI-suppression field, remains one of the saga's unexplained anomalies.

The Islahami also embody one of the saga's recurring themes: the tension between rigid tradition and the demands of survival. Chalid's willingness to ally with outsiders, Layla's refusal to leave the Terranauts, and Golan's readiness to fight despite being "dead" all represent quiet rebellions against custom -- suggesting that even the most unbending culture must bend or break when the world changes around it.

Appearances