Gulg

To understand the society of Gulg one must first understand the concept of the dagada. The word comes from the Gulg term for home and represents the single most influential social force on an individual outside of his or her immediate family. The dagada is an extremely close-knit community that shares attributes of both clans and neighborhoods found in other societies. It is similar to a neighborhood in that it is a social organization defined first and foremost by physical proximity. It is like a clan in the role that it plays in enculturating an individual to the values of the society. The word dagada is used to collectively describe both a cluster of huts and the people who live there. A dagada may contain up to 100 huts, all usually within a common thatch or clay wall. A dagada may include a number of families, but extended families may not necessarily live within the same dagada. Each dagada has a number of social classes present and represents a cross-section of Gulg society. These communities have a large degree of autonomy in managing the affairs of their neighborhood, as well as a degree of responsibility for the other people in the dagada. It is considered the societal duty of the dagada to provide for the members who cannot provide for themselves. Parents in a dagada share the burden of raising their young. Several women may care for the young children of a dagada while others attend to their various occupations in the fields, the craft halls or the marketplaces. Elders within a dagada are collectively responsible for the education of the young, although this task generally falls to individuals who command respect and have a propensity for teaching.

The dagada is the center of its members' social lives. Members of a dagada spend most of their leisure time socializing within the neighborhood. A dagada often enters teams into city-wide contests. Dagadas may vary in their internal political structure. Some are run on a simple town council model where every citizen may speak. Others are ruled by a single elder or a dominant family. There is, however, always one individual who is recognized by the state as having the authority to speak for the community, arbitrate differences between members, and allocate grain that the queen's templars distribute. This leader is called the ambo, from the Gulg word for oversee. The state usually allows each dagada to select their own ambo in the manner that they see fit. Occasionally, the state appoints an ambo or assigns a templar to manage a troublesome community. Individuals are expected to resolve their problems and disputes within the structure of the dagada. Whether it is a personal difficulty that needs to be overcome, or a difference between neighbors, it is considered the responsibility of the entire community to see that the problem does not leave the dagada's walls. It is considered a great embarrassment and sign of weakness to allow the problems of a dagada's members to extend outside the dagada.

different dagadas, the ambos will attempt to resolve the problem. If no satisfactory solution can be reached, the queen's templars become the sole arbitrators. People try to avoid escalating a problem to the point where a templar must intervene, for such a solution is generally disagreeable to all involved parties. The templars are deliberately severe in their judgments to discourage people from requesting their intervention. Some dagadas specialize in one particular craft or trade. These communities function as small independent craft guilds within Gulg society. While there are usually a number of dagadas based around any given trade, they are not affiliated with one another. For example, the decisions made in weaver dagada will only indirectly affect the others. Each craft dagada has its own criteria and rites associated with accepting individuals into the community. Some will allow adolescents to apprentice within the craft hall, but will not initiate the youths until they have trained for a number of years and proven their ability and commitment to the craft. Sometimes young people will train in a craft dagada but never seek admission. They will instead remain at home and practice their craft for the benefit of their neighborhood. An apprentice will never be allowed to gain full mastery of a craft, however, without actually joining the craft dagada. The craft dagadas turn over the bulk of their output to the templars. This output is then sold to the exporting merchant houses for the benefit of the city. 

The Peoples are broad kinship groups that are the vestiges of the most ancient families of Gulg. Before the development of the dagadas, the Peoples had a strong influence on the shaping of an individual in Gulg society. Now they serve primarily as a means of bridging relationships outside the dagadas. Two people who have never met but share the same People will treat one another more favorably or take extra effort to assist one another. Children will trust a stranger who is of their People. Each People has its own unique origin myths, taboos and prescriptions. However most Gulgs' lives are affected by their People affiliations only during festivals and funerals. During the high and low sun festivals, huge celebratory convocations of the Peoples take place. Each of the Peoples is associated with a particular elemental cult that prescribes the funerary rites of its members. There are 39 Peoples in the city of Gulg, three of which are kinship groups of the slave-born who have traditionally served the city for hundreds of years. The Peoples of Gulg include Gebekirovi Alalazonu (which translates as human-kirre-children who of old came from Alala); Akosuwi Madjanu (the sons of Akoso who come from a place where it does not rain); and Ribenu (the people who are sellers of goods).

From time to time everyone observes that no two families on Athas seem to have quite the same skin color. Though this holds true in Gulg as well, people here tend toward much darker skin than anywhere else. They possess wiry black hair and eyes, except for more than the usual number of albinos (the “moon people”). Gulgs overall grow taller than citizens elsewhere, and tend toward thin builds and long necks, with a pronounced bulge on the back of their heads. One People, the Obante Kopokono (children of the oba who remain in the forest), are not actually a People in the common sense. Gulgs believe that some forest spirits like to visit the world of the living briefly and then return to the forest again. Consequently, when a Gulg dies in childhood, the belief is that the child was an Obante birth, or of the Obante Kopokono People, who wanted to visit the living world for a short period of time. All Gulgs venerate the ancestral burial site of this People, for no one knows when a member of their family will join them.

The Peoples of Gulg each have a daga-fari, or housetree. This is a small complex of huts built among the branches of an agafari tree. It is similar in principle to the oba's Sunlight Home. The structures are, however, very modest in comparison to Lalai-Puy's palace. The dagafaris of the Peoples are considered the ancestral homes of the clans. Each daga-fari is tended by a single ambofari, or overseer of the tree, whose duty is to tend to the tree and administer the activities and responsibilities associated with it. The daga-faris serve in a charitable capacity and as a repository of the heritage of their respective Peoples. Each house contains the artifacts of a People's history that are used in festival processions. A dagafari also contains the People's skull room. The ambofari of each succeeding generation contributes his skull to the dagafari. A peculiar ritual involving a speak with dead spell maintains the continuity of a People's history. The treehouses also contain a small stock of grain that is contributed by individuals for good luck. The grain is used to help indigent members of a People. Because the dagadas take care of members who are having difficulty, only the most desperate people end up turning to the daga-fari of their People for aid. The daga-fari will also provide temporary shelter for such individuals.

Theoretically, all property under the sway of the oba's empire belongs to Lalali-Puy herself. For this reason, land is held by the person who is actually using it at the time, but the ultimate title to the land is vested in Lalali-Puy. In fact, all land, livestock, goods, belongings and the people themselves live under the claim of the oba. In practice, however, there is a distinct sense of property rights in Gulg that accommodates several types of property: the property of the person, the family, the dagada, the People, the client villages, and the queen. 

Property of individuals includes utensils, weapons, mats, pipes, fetishes, pots, clothes and money, as well as the hut a person builds. As long as a person meets the social obligations of their dagada and People, as well as the legal obligations of the state, they are free to do with these items what they will. Many personal effects are buried or burned with a person when he or she dies. Items which are not buried or passed to the dagada are inherited by the oldest child.

Family Property

The individual family may lay claim to their home while they live in it, a plot of land while they work it, and the collective belongings of its immediate members. The eldest member of the family has discretion over all of these items, including the family members themselves. No one but the queen and her templars, however, may enslave a free citizen.

Dagada Property

Property of the dagada includes all communal goods within the confines of the neighborhood, such as the wells and granaries. The huts in which individuals live are also property of the dagada. While a person is living in a hut their ownership is not challenged, but if that person leaves the dagada the hut is given to someone else at the discretion of the community. A dagada also has claim to a certain amount of their members' output in order to pay taxes and to meet the needs of the other community members. A young man training part of the day in a weaving dagada is expected to leave his work behind for the benefit of the craft community. When he returns home, however, he is expected to weave goods for the dagada which can be used by members or sold to raise tax money at market. The ambo of the dagada has discretion over the distribution of grain which is provided to each community by the templars.

The People's Property

The various Peoples of Gulg have some common property. This is limited to their daga-fari, their charity grain, and their ancestral burial sites. These things are placed in the stewardship of the ambofari, who has sole discretion over their use.

The Client Villages' Property

The resources of any village that requests the protection of the army of Gulg, or that receives such attention uninvited, become the property of the queen. Every family in the client villages knows that the templars may, at any time, seize their property or press their children into military service. Each client village has at least one Gulg citizen who is appointed headman by the state. This leader is treated much like an ambo of a dagada but is individually responsible for meeting the tax burden of the village. Personal property is handled in a wide variety of ways in the client villages. Generally, property rights in a client village embody the customs of the people who are native to the village. The client villages at the farthest reaches of the oba's empire were founded by a variety of races and cultures and often reflect little of Gulg's cultural influence. As long as the villages are able to provide their taxes and levies, the templars rarely interfere with their administration or property.

The Queen's Property

While all Gulgs recognize that everything in her domain is the property of the oba for practical purposes the property of the queen includes: the money and goods she obtains from taxes and revenues; the tools and equipment of the army and the state; the lands surrounding Gulg; and the client villages. The oba also owns the slaves who work the lands and serve the citystate in various capacities. The popular understanding that the oba holds title to all the lands surrounding Gulg is illustrated when earth cultists bury their dead. The family offers the oba a finely woven decorative cloth as a way of symbolically compensating the ruler for the land used for the grave.

Education in Gulg society is essentially a system of apprenticeships, with formal education being reserved for the templars of the queen. Until the age of six, children in Gulg spend most of their time at play in the care of a dagada mother who is compensated by the entire community. The children are taught simple tasks, including how to clean and dress themselves. Their games are often centered around hunting and stalking skills. At the age of six, children begin to accompany their parents to work. Farmers' children chase birds from the fields, craftspeoples' children begin to assist as they can. In the evenings, the children gather to hear dagada elders tell fables and stories. They hear tales that explain the countless superstitions and customs which surround life in Gulg. At the age of 13, children undergo the Forest Walk During this ceremony, a vocation is chosen for them and they accept the mantle of citizenship in Gulg. At this point the young people begin to prepare more formally for adult life by pursuing apprenticeships. Mornings are spent performing menial duties around the dagada and practicing hunting and combat skills at the parade grounds. In the afternoon the children assist practitioners of the crafts they hope to one day master. The morning hunting games take on more importance during adolescence, for the army is usually the only option for youths who fail at their apprenticeships. Some end up outcasts, still others end up exiles or criminals. This is not to say that the army is not highly esteemed in Gulg society. On the contrary, the army is highly regarded as the right arm of the oba's wrath. The army is simply the one place where most young Gulgs can take any skills and most likely find acceptance. The responsibilities of an apprentice are entirely at the discretion of the master. The master, however, is expected to instruct the apprentice in the legends and stories specific to his trade and the totem of the child. The craft dagadas have developed rigorous programs of training designed to prepare an apprentice for eventual admission to the dagada. The evenings for most young people continue to be spent under the tutelage of the dagada elders. During adolescence, however, boys and girls attend separate storytelling sessions and begin informal instruction in legends and mysteries that will prepare them for marriage. Through these sessions the elders of the dagada are able to gently educate the youths to their physical capabilities and responsibilities. Children who are chosen to pursue the elemental cults of the priests or the disciplines of the Unseen Way are sent to live at the temples or the Seer's Dagada respectively. Aspiring psionicists do not leave the Seer's Dagada. They are no longer considered members of their home dagadas or their Peoples. Children who cannot endure the rigorous mental training demanded of a seer remain inside the dagada and simply perform menial tasks for the community. The children who are chosen to join the elemental priest cults leave their home dagadas to study at the elemental temples. However, they often return home and continue to retain their claims of membership. The young acolytes tend to the needs of the sick and ailing within their home communities. They are generally treated with nervous indifference by the people of the city. A child who is selected for a life of service as a templar leaves home to live in a special dagada for young templars. Here, not unlike the students of the seers, children are divested of any allegiances they may have had outside of the priesthood. They renounce their claim to any kinship group and devote themselves solely to the queen. A templar's education is structured and involves capability testing at every level. After two years, students begin to specialize in particular areas of expertise ranging from military engineering to the research of defiling magic. A student selected for the priesthood who is unable to advance simply remains in a subordinate rank, attending to menial tasks.

The adult life of a Gulg begins at the age of 13 with the rite of passage called the Forest Walk. After this initiation, young Gulgs are directed into the occupations which they will pursue as adults. This rite also marks the time from which a Gulg is recognized by the state as a citizen. While the hunter cult of Gulg, the army, and many of the craft dagadas have their own rites of passage, the Forest Walk affects the lives of all Gulgs. The Forest Walk is a difficult trial. When children turn 13, they are awakened before sunrise by their dagada ambo. An ambo chases an initiated youth through a narrow gauntlet of neighbors. The neighbors beat the child's back with stinging vines while chanting, "Not a boy and not a man, leave our home." (Or, in the case of a young female, "Not a girl and not a woman...") The elder parent delivers the last and hardest blow before the child sets off a one into the Crescent Forest. Initiates take no food or water into the forest, and they may not eat anything they find. They may only drink water that they find at dawn or dusk. They may not follow any paths or animal trails, but must make their own way through the foliage. After several days of abstaining from food, the child awaits a vision. The vision usually involves a creature of the forest which the child accepts as his or her totem. The animal totem is a source of strength and an omen of the child's destiny. After a child has received a vision, he or she may stop fasting and return home. Upon the youth's return, the parents present their child to the ambo with the ritual request, "A man (or woman) from another place seeks a home here." The ambo then welcomes the new member of the dagada and a feast is held. At the feast, the youth sits to the right of the ambo and is welcomed to adulthood by the members of the dagada. A templar is often called to acknowledge the arrival of a new citizen. The elders within a dagada interpret the youth's vision and proclaim his "honor name." If a child has displayed any of the talents that are sought after by the psionicists and clerics, a representative is certain to appear to help guide the "interpretation" of the vision. There is a codex of specific meanings associated with every beast of the forest that a youth might envision. According to this set, a child who sees a vision of a muddauber wasp is destined to become a daga builder. A child who receives a vision of a hegbo lizard, the symbol of Gulg, is chosen for life among the templars. There is even a list of interpretations for fantastic creatures which do not exist on Athas. No child in recent memory has claimed to have seen any of these creatures, though the interpretations associated with them remain in the memorized codex of honor names. Those with magical talent can learn to focus their totem's strength and magic in the creation of a fetish (described in the Veiled Alliance accessory). Occasionally children do not return from their forest journey. They are not considered to have died, but are said to be "still searching for their path."

Throughout the folklore and customs of the entire Gulg and Nibenay region, reminders exist of the power of sacrificing human life to appease supernatural forces. Sometimes the sacrifice is symbolic, as in the practice of promising a newborn child to service in the army. Other times the sacrifice is very real. The Gulg legend of the sacrifice of the oba provides the cultural foundations for the sacrifices of the elemental cults and the Dragon's Levy, both of which persist today.

The Sorcerer-Queen

Ancient legends tell of a massive sacrifice made by the people of Gulg in order to keep their ruler. According to the story, the oba emerged from a huge agafari tree to eliminate dangers that threatened the forest. Once she had secured the safety of her people, the oba told them that it was time for her to return to the forest. The people wailed and begged the oba to remain. "Surely," they cried, "without you the desert will overtake us, our enemies will enslave us, and our children will not know where their elders are buried." The oba smiled upon her people but told them that her work was done. The elders selected 1,000 volunteers to be sacrificed so that the oba could stay. Apparently, the sacrifice worked. The oba was transfigured and her power became even more radiant. It is believed that one day the oba will again be called back to her home, and again the people may need to intervene.

The Elemental Cults

In small pockets scattered throughout the region, the practice of offering human sacrifices persists. The hunters and gatherers of the Crescent Forest sacrifice humans (or demihumans) when an elemental force appears to be out of balance and threatens their forest homes. For example, an extensive drought or damaging windstorm will often prompt a sacrifice. The army of Gulg sometimes performs such sacrifices as a way of requesting that the elements strengthen their mutual child, the forest. The soldiers believe that by performing such sacrifices the spirits of the dead will intervene on behalf of the forest. This in turn strengthens the forest-goddess, who then strengthens her army. Although the elemental priests insist that the sacrifices do not, in fact, influence the elemental planes, they are still occasionally called upon to preside over them. In Gulg, to resist popular beliefs is often more dangerous than breaking the law. The common people believe that the only hope they have to influence the forces of nature is to send a spirit to intervene, even though clerics can personally direct and channel the energy of the elements. They believe that the impact of a sacrifice is a greater influence than the meditations of a single priest. Volunteers are ritualistically immolated in a manner appropriate to the elemental force they wish to appease. If the earth is barren, a volunteer will be buried alive. If the sun or wind must be controlled, the volunteer is burned alive. The volunteer is expected to carry a message to the elemental force upon his or her death and intervene on the community's behalf. If no volunteer steps forward, an unwilling victim is selected for the sacrifice. As an unwilling sacrifice cannot be relied upon to intervene for the community, a stone or stick is imbued with the message and placed in the victim's mouth. This message totem is believed to carry the community's plea to the elemental force when the victim dies.

The Dragon's Levy

The single cultural ritual that cuts across the societies of all the city-states is the Dragon's Levy. Although it is explained and implemented in different ways throughout the Tablelands, it is practiced in every sorcerer-king's empire. In Gulg, the people believe the Dragon is the one force that can endanger their home while the oba rules. Every year 1,000 people are led into the salt flats by the oba's templars to serve as sacrifices for the Dragon. Sacrifices are usually comprised of prisoners of war, criminals and captive slaves, though a few zealous citizens always join the group in a display of religious or patriotic frenzy. There are conflicting cosmologies that explain the role of the Dragon and his levy in Gulg society. The most common belief is that the Dragon serves to cleanse the city of those who would diminish Gulg's supremacy by accepting its undesirables. Military campaigns are often undertaken to raise the numbers necessary to appease the Dragon.

A funeral is considered a private matter, although elemental priests, the ambo-fari of the bereaved's People, and a few members of the dagada will generally attend. Each People of Gulg is associated with a particular elemental cult for the purposes of funeral rites. Each cult prescribes how a body is to be returned to its elemental components after death. The dead of an earth cult People, for example, are buried, while those of the air and fire cults are burned on pyres. Only the Obante Kopokono People are considered a People of the element of water. This People's dead are washed in water and then buried in mud-filled graves. A white and ochre band is painted around the middle of every body that is prepared for funeral rites. This band is meant to prevent a spirit from returning to bother the living. The effectiveness of this custom is doubtful since the dwarven community of Gulg has been plagued with its share of dwarf banshees.

Marriages in Gulg follow the same rituals and customs for all classes of people. Only the slaves follow different constraints on pairing with mates. In Gulg, marriage is as often a practical matter as one of affection. A mate is seen as a way of securing one's spiritual and economic well-being. The spiritual life is ennobled by continuing the lineage of one's family and People. Economically, a mate can generate offspring and contribute to the production of the dagada. In fact, when a person asks permission of a partner's guardian to marry, the request is made with an offer of service. This offer is meant to compensate for the loss of productive capacity associated with losing a family member. It usually takes the form of several months of labor. Intimate relations prior to marriage are common in Gulg, and an unmarried girl who has had several children is prized for her fertility. The gift that must be paid for such a spouse is correspondingly larger because of the additional productive capacity of the children. After the marriage, a spouse is expected to remain monogamous except during certain celebrations and festival days. The eldest member of a family has discretion over the matching of his or her younger charges. It is, however, the responsibility of the elder partner to request the permission of the younger's guardian, regardless of whether a marriage is arranged or of the couple's choosing.

Storytelling is the most popular form of entertainment in Gulg. There are even games built around storytelling. In the dagada, neighbors will often weave tales long into the evening. Some dice games are popular, as is a simple strategy game played with pebbles in hollowed-out pockets in the ground. Outside the dagada, the most popular forms of entertainment are the hunting games and festival contests. Hunting games range from spear throwing contests, to savage children's games in which the participants reenact the Red Moon Hunt. The public festivals all include gladiatorial games as well as various contests in which dagadas enter teams. Gulgs traditionally eat two meals each day, one during midday when the sun is at its zenith and the other after dusk. The Gulg diet consists almost exclusively of millet, fruit and erdlu. Kola nuts are used to make a mindstimulating drink. A diet of red meat is almost exclusively a privilege of the hunter nobles. Hunters returning from the forest are expected to share what they cannot eat themselves with their dagadas.

Both sexes wear colorful skirts in Gulg. The women sometimes drape their longer skirts from the shoulder, while men wear theirs around their waists. The elders of Gulg wear pale caftans as a sign of their seniority. Children often wear little or nothing until after the Forest Walk when they become adults. Elaborate jewelry, from heavy earrings to elaborate bead necklaces, is popular among all Gulgs. Hunter nobles wear dark brown or mottled green skirts as well as elaborate body paint. These body paints are generally used as camouflage. The warriors of Gulg's army also wear body paint, but they use fierce colors meant to inspire fear in their opponents. Templars wear coarse layered robes of red or black with collars that come to the base of the neck, just below their necklaces of rank.

Art

Decorative arts are deeply integrated into the lives of the Gulgs. Virtually all Gulgs practice jewelry making, simple pottery shaping, weaving, and ceremonial body painting. Even the warriors of Gulg's army spend time decorating their shields and weapons. Only the hunter noble cult of Gulg abstains from such idle pursuits. They believe that mark making saps the strength of a hunter. This is not to say that they eschew ornament. On the contrary, the nobles of Gulg often sport the most dazzling array of feathers, paint and blood. However, slaves prepare all of their decorations for them.

Sculpture

Gulgs adorn their homes with small wicker animals and fetish dolls made of wood, straw and bone. These, along with some decorative objects used in public ceremonies, represent the extent of sculpture in the city. Hunters sometimes make a fetish model of their prey before embarking on a hunt. Suitors create fetish dolls of the objects of their affections. These small totems are believed to help the creators gain mastery over the beings that are modeled. The queen's templars, psionic masters, and elemental priests have all imbued such dolls with power at one time or another, which has contributed to continuing popular beliefs about the benefits of fashioning them.

Architecture

Most Gulg homes are dagas, circular clay huts with thatch roofs. The homes are arranged in clusters around a granary or well. Some family units within a dagada build a circle of dagas whose doors open into an open center area. The huts are connected by a wall of clay or rushes, depending on the wealth of the family. These walls serve to keep livestock from straying, and high oval doorways prevent animals from wandering into the huts. Often an entire dagada will be enclosed in this manner. The dagada wall serves to define the boundary of the neighborhood, as well as prevent the unobserved approach of strangers. Individual dagas are often adorned with colored stones and decorative lines. It is not unusual to find objects pressed into the clay around the doorway of a daga. These are usually totems of the resident's family, People, occupation, or elemental cult. The dagas of hunter nobles are painted with broad bands of ochre and white. The paint stripe must completely surround the house. It is said to protect the inhabitants from spirits that a hunter may have angered. The architecture of the merchant emporiums operating in Gulg sometimes follows the conventions of the merchant house's home city. Most, however, use rectangular clay buildings with thatch or clay roofs. Brilliantly-colored awnings make the merchant's stalls easy to identify The Temple of Earth is the only stone building in Gulg. The Temple of the Sun is baked clay. The Temple of Air is an open clearing surrounded by the dagas of the priests. Certainly the most distinctive architectural features of Gulg are the daga-fari tree buildings. The greatest of these is the queen's palace. Each of the 39 Peoples of Gulg has a tree building which serves as a symbolic clan home. The tree buildings are all built in large agafari trees. These trees can survive for centuries with large sections of the trunk hollowed out. Generally, the tree houses consist of a few small, thatch huts resting in the branches of an agafari. They are accessible by ladders, ropes, or stairways cut into the tree trunk. The huts are often surrounded by several small platforms and walkways made of lashed wood. The daga-faris are considered sacred sites within the city.

Literature

Gulg's literature is a rich oral tradition of folk tales and animal fables. The stories are often told at family fires, and all Gulg children grow up with a common body of knowledge rooted in these tales. The stories are an important part of a child's education in Gulg. The Gulg stories are always allegorical and, as a result, details often vary in a tale's retelling. Gulgs value the emotional truth of a story much more than the veracity of particular events. Storytellers are encouraged to discard facts in an effort to better add drama or express the moral of a story. Historical tales are equally subject to reinterpretation, which makes it very difficult for outsiders to piece together an accurate picture of Gulg's past. The only subject that Gulgs can be relied upon to recall accurately is the lineage of their People. Writing is neither valued nor legal among the free citizens of Gulg. The hunter nobles of the city disdain writing as a crutch for the feebleminded and, while they are permitted to pursue it, they prefer to spend their time improving their predatory skills. Templars use writing as necessary, but often maintain accounts through systems of counted pebbles. Bards in Gulg rely on their memories for their storytelling. Writing is primarily a tool of foreign merchants, who use the written trade language of their House in their work. While even this is illegal within the city walls, it is largely ignored by the templars. Writing is generally associated with magic use and immediately arouses the suspicion of Gulg's citizens.

Gab-Ali Stories

The Gab-Ali stories are an endless collection of tales about a young thief who escaped the Red Moon Hunt and gained the queen's favor. Many fantastic feats are attributed to this mythical hero who usually defeats much stronger opponents through his sharp wits and stealth. Gab-Ali stories allow for a form of audience participation in which the storyteller pauses at a dramatic moment, turns to the crowd, and asks as if he were Gab-Ali, “Should I open the door?” The crowd responds with raucous suggestions from which the storyteller directs the plot. Part of the fun of a Gab-Ali story is to see how a skilled storyteller can arrive at the traditional ending of a tale while overcoming the obstacles of the audience's directions.