The people of the Barbary Sultanate collectively celebrated the return of its veterans, but these celebrations had a somber air about them--something felt fundamentally wrong throughout the Sultanate's cities, just as the atmosphere of a party or feast feels "wrong" when the turnout of attendees is half of what was expected.

This was just such a celebration. Out of around thirty-two thousand soldiers and four generals who were invited, more than half lay dead in the deserts and cities of a foreign country.

Order was restored in the neighboring country of Cyrene, and the Sultan's administration gave to Cyrene a hefty loan which is expected to be paid in full with interest, but neither of these facts was of much comfort to more than fifteen thousand widows and orphans. The restoration of peace and unity in Cyrene was of little significance to parents who never even had the chance to bury their sons.

Further, while Cyrene owed a significant debt to the Sultanate, this hardly offset the expense of training, arming, and feeding the Berber armies who were deployed--too few at first, and perhaps too many later on. This war effort taxed both the granaries and the coffers of the Sultanate, and so even those provinces far away from Cyrene--those which would not reap benefits from trade with that nation--had to bear the burden of beating back hordes of warriors who never had enmity or even rivalry with the Berbers. The Sultanate's citizens supported the war effort enthusiastically when General Massen Aït-Gwasila rode to avenge the beloved Agerzam the Lionheart, but even Massen did not return in one piece.

While the Sultanate's actions likely helped to assure that Cyrene would not be ruled by foreign and unpredictable men, the Sultanate had traded security in this area for civil unrest and depleting coffers at home--all of this not long after the first Sultan restored trade routes that were neglected by the administration before him for decades. The Sultanate, in attempting to treat another's ailment, acquired a disease with far worse symptoms and an uncertain prognosis. Those who are not actively rioting in the streets wait to see how the Sultan might restore his nation to good health.