The Beginning: An Epic Introduction
GENERAL INFORMATION
A forgotten land, once called a desolate waste by 16th and 17th century explorers on their way to the Americas, Desera (rumored to have come from the Twi words for calm and desert) has been the home to nomadic tribes for thousands of years. No documented history has ever been recorded from the island situated in the middle of the atlantic, although the oral history – told through generations by tribal storytellers – is as rich as any. Even in this day and age, Desera has been ignored by the world until now, thanks to the discovery of that black gold: oil.
Historically, there has never been a recorded settlement on Desera until now (Kafra being the only), but current estimates have put its total population at around five million, split up into as many as three hundred different tribes. Of those three hundred, there are around twenty larger tribes who dominate the landscape. The largest is the Kasoa tribe, but the most powerful is the Mallam tribe, the tribe of the current leader of Desera, the Royal President Sidebe Mallam. Underneath him is the recently formed Desera Council, made up of tribal leaders from across the land and who act as advisors and planners for the Royal Presidency. The Desera Council sits above all other ministries, which report directly to it and take its orders directly from it.
The capital city of the newly formed nation of Desera is called Kafra, and is situated on the southern shores of the island. Kafra has only been recently formed, thanks to the construction of the small seaport and Desera’s only power plant. Currently, Kafra’s residents are made up of workers of the seaport and powerplant, as well as all official Desera Council representatives. It is the first time in the known history of Desera that there has been a permanent settlement, although stories do speak of forts and such throughout the years.
BRIEF HISTORY
As stated above, very little is known about the history of Desera, and other than the stories of the tribal storytellers, there is no way of knowing anything about it. There have been no recorded documents either on or off the island, and until very recently, it was not even considered a country. The son of current Royal President Mallam, the Prince Diallo Mallam, on a fishing expedition off the southern coast of Desera a few years, ran into a sailing ship, which anchored off the islands and stayed as guests of the Mallam tribe for three nights. During that time, Prince Diallo learned much of the outside world, and persuaded his father to allow him to travel with the ship, with the promise of returning in two years.
Prince Diallo Mallam returned in two years on a much larger ship, and with a team of oil explorers that had pinpointed vast reserves underneath the Deseran soils. During his time in Europe, the prince had found out about oil when he was casually explaining to the sailors of the black liquid that could be found all over the island. He was swiftly taken to a company called Brand Oil, who wasted no time in committing to a journey to Desera.
One year after the return of Prince Diallo Mallam, Desera was officially formed into a nation after a meeting by all the tribal leaders, naming the leader of the Mallam tribe, Sidebe Mallam, as the Royal President. He had won the other tribes over with the promise of vast riches beyond their wildest imagination, something that he was sure he could give after the worth of oil was explained to him. With help from Brand Oil, a small settlement called Kafra was built on the southern coast, in what was known as Mallam nomadic territory, with a small seaport and powerplant to help support the settlement. The preliminary oil fields that were set up were minor in size, exporting only 5,000 barrels a day, and were found a few hundred miles north of Kafra. A single road was built to reach the small oil fields from the seaport, cutting through Kafra, which was located just to the north of the seaport. With the government in place and the official recognition of Desera as a country, we begin the story of this once desolate land as it grows its way into the world.
The settlement of Kafra.
The Kafra Powerplant to the north of the settlement. The powerplant runs on coal.
Kafra and the Kafra Seaport - looking south.
The Kafra Seaport - looking north.
An aerial shot of Kafra.
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