Makuubi Fire

The lands around the Mekub are a great flat plain, inhabited by a people who revere the sun and hold fire sacred. Fires and bonfires hold a prominent role in most Makuubi festivals and celebrations, but are also used for signaling. A fire left to burn can by itself have meanings in the right context, most often serving as a claim on grazing land in the area. The Makuubi also make use of smoke signals, setting fires and extinguishing them with wet cloths in order to transmit simple messages across long distances.

Vocabulary

Fire vocabulary tends to be simple but context dependent. A single puff of white smoke from an extinguished fire might simply mean "we are here and something worth noting happened." Two, three or more puffs generally indicate danger, with three puffs often being a warning sign for an incoming raid. However, Makuubi scouts often adopt coded messages that only the intended recipients can understand.

Less commonly, fire itself is used for sending messages, often in a ritual context. A migratory cattle-herding tribe might set a bonfire indicating their intent to stay in an area and claim grazing lands. A large fire in the horizon answered by equal fires nearby often means trouble, as it means multiple communities of herders intend to claim the same grazing.

Ritual fires are also set to indicate that something good or bad has happened, with a fire to the east where the sun rises marking weal and a fire to the west where the sun sets marking woe. For example, a prince's palace might announce the birth of an heir by setting a bonfire on the eastern side of the palace, while the death of a lord might be marked by a fire on the western side.