Caliph
Long ago, in a place known only as the Valley of the Burning Sands, two tribes warred ceaselessly for control of the valley's limited resources. This is the story of a young Caliph and his torn heart.
His name was Xinef-Ra, and he would one day be the lord of his tribe -- but until then, he was trapped under the watchful eye of his tutor, Ilyt Anubis. Xinef-Ra was arranged to wed a young woman from his tribe, the noble Popichao, but as his people's tradition dictated, he was not allowed to meet with her. Instead, her three handmaidens, said to be chosen because their beauty approached hers, met with Xinef-Ra and told him of her ways and habits.
He was not impressed. Beautiful though she may be, she was just like every other member of his tribe: constantly looking to the future or worried about the past, never living in the moment.
Upset with his arrangement, Xinef-Ra summoned his men-at-arms, the Three Pharaohs, and asked them to go out into the world and find another; someone he could present to Ilyt Anubis as an alternative bride.
As Xinef-Ra continued his training, the Three Pharaohs ranged out into the world, roaming from the shores of the Esswater Sea to the weird otherworld of Eisybracheron, seeking always to fulfill their obligation: to find a woman of such passion and ardor that she lived always in the moment, not plagued by memories of the past or complex plans of the future. If she was pretty, well, that would help.
At long last, far from home in a place known as Jumbaland, the Three Pharaohs heard rumors of a woman who competed with queen Gyrlsjen in her beauty; a lady of such depth of feeling that it was impossible to shake her out of the now. A lone bartender, a former member of the Fire Eaters, told them where they should seek her out.
When they asked to see her, to introduce themselves, they were started to hear that she shared in their tribe's custom. Rather than meet the beauty themselves, they were introduced to her three handmaidens, each more beautiful than the next, but none, they said, comparable to the glorious pulchritude of Princess Antagonia. Convinced by the rumor and the beauty of the handmaidens, they flew back to Xinef-Ra on the backs of a pair of small Phoenixes that the Princess had lent them. That should have been their first clue.
When they returned to Xinef-Ra and told him of their find, he was ecstatic -- at first. But when he mentioned Antagonia to his mentor Ilyt, his tutor's face fell, and the story came out. Antagonia was the exiled Princess of the Fire Tribe, their people's long time enemies. There could be no seeing her.
Xinef-Ra decided that even an enemy maiden was still a maiden, and couldn't possibly be more distasteful than Popichao. In a bold move, he bade his Pharaohs to seduce Popichao's maidens and use them to create a diversion as he escaped to Jumbaland. Once there, he met with Antagonia's handmaidens, and through them, he wooed the Princess.
Wooed her, that is, until her guardian came to visit. One evening, as Xinef-Ra sat in his people's traditional nomadic dwelling outside of the capital of Jumbaland, a rapid series of explosions was his only warning. Operating mostly on instinct, he buried himself under a pile of blankets, peeking out to see fire raining down, scorching the dwelling and his belongings -- pouring from the maw of a massive red Dragon floating high in the sky.
Xinef-Ra knew he had only seconds to act -- the explosions had destroyed his outer defenses, but he had one last trick up his sleeve. Diving across the tent, holding the thick furs over his head to give himself a few extra seconds against the falling fire, he snatched up his father's staff, and hoarsely gasped the ancient prayers that activated it. The staff lanced out a ray of golden energy, and the Dragon vanished, returned from whence it came as though it had never left.
Knowing the Dragon would soon return, he turned in desperation to the handmaidens of Antagonia, asking them to come with him, plotting to one day return and take Antagonia for himself. He also hired a mercenary Chimera to stay behind and delay the Dragon, giving him time to escape back to the Valley of Burning Sands to collect his retinue. Gathering all of those who helped him -- from Ilyt Anubis to the forsaken bartender -- Xinef-Ra left the Valley of the Burning Sands, left Jumbaland, and left his own broken heart behind, determined to build himself a new empire -- one where his Princess could live, free of her own people's persecution, free of the war their tribes had shared for centuries, and free of the terrible inescapable den of iniquity that was Jumbaland's capital.
His success lies in your hands.
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Caliph is a complex God, utilizing a variety of strategies to bring success. His focus is on expensive creatures with powerful skills -- Anubis, Pharoah, and two breeds of Nymph -- with a few straight hitters -- Ruby Dragon, Fire Eater, and Minor Phoenixes -- as backup. He brings strong creature control with Fire Storm, Scarabs, and Red Nymphs, a little bit of PC with Explosions, and if he gets Anubis and Aether Pendulum out at once, he can get quite annoying. Red Nymphs can make Anubis, Pharaoh, and any advanced Scarabs into hard-hitting badasses as well.
At the same time, he's quite slow for an FG in most cases, and unless he does get Anubis out (rare), he suffers badly from strong creature control. He also goes down hard to quanta denial -- the Pesty FG deck would probably be an 80% win here -- and he has very limited permanents, so even a little PC would do the job to keep him out of weapon and shield.
