"Yes, a desert. Maghrib means 'land of the sunset', a romantic name, really, but it suits the mood I was in when I created it. It's a world and a city, built on oasis hedged by cliffs. Worship many gods, of stone and sand and water. Mother Sun and Daughter Moon and Father Earth. They are a people who refuse to draw these gods, but who can build the most fantastic patterns and mosiacs to dedicate to Their glory that you can imagine. More women then men, so there are harems from which the women peer out from latticed windows, or else walk the streets in veils to get water and gossip. Not a mask of civilized behaviour, just a manner that you act in the city, whereas when you are out of it, you are the warrior. No shame in killing, nor being killed. I can show you it at night, here, if you so like."

As she talks about it, her voice rises and falls with a distinctive, and musical, beat.