In a seemingly endless procession, the caravan paraded with stately
dignity through the front gates in a grand display of riches and
home-spun glory. As the long line of great beasts continued to enter
the great courtyard in sedate single file, they halted one-by-one and
stood waiting patiently for their handlers to unload them.
Strapped securely upon their backs were bulging, tightly bound oilskins
and pungent, coarse burr-lap wrapped bundles of herbs, spices, and rare
woods with which to make the finest idols, furniture, and fixtures, as
well as priceless swatches of the most extraordinary block-printed
cloth, and gourds of rare, hard-to-obtain dyes -especially scarlet and
purple- and a cornucopia's horn of other riches.
Before he finally left in a few days for other lands, the Trade Master
would leave behind his entire treasure trove, having exchanged all for
the finest works of Master Rababull's clever craftsmen. The beasts
would be heavily laden with countless intricately graven idols adorned
with gold, silver, copper, ivory, ebony, black- and red-striped woods,
and other rare woods, and gem stones with which to make crudely faceted
jewels for their eyes. The precious stones and metals with which the
idols were adorned were dug out of Rababull's secret underground gem
mines, the precise location of which, under heavy guard within his own
lands, was a closely guarded secret known only to Rababull himself and
the captives who slaved in the mines.
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