WATER RINGS. These metallic counters represented the volume of water released by a body processed through a deathstill. They were manufactured in denominations ranging from fifty liters down to one thirty-second of a drachm (a drachm being one two-hundred-fiftieth of a liter), which serves to give some indication of how precise the Fremen water-measuring devices were, as well as the importance placed on even the most minute quantities of the precious substance.
The counters for water released by the bodies of Fremen who had died a natural death, or by those of strangers found in the bled who were treated as a water-gift from Shai-Hulud, were consigned to the care of the sietch's Naib and considered held in common by all the people. Those tallying the water once held by enemies killed in group combat were similarly treated.
Only the water rings which represented the water of one killed in a personal combat were given over to individual members of a tribe: they — and possession of the water they measured — were the property of the combat's victor. This was the winner's compensation for the water lost during the fight, since it was required that combatants face each other blade to blade, without their stillsuits. (The water was stored in the sietch holding basin, of course, but its owner was permitted to draw upon it at need, or bestow it upon needier members of the tribe).
The rings possessed great social significance above and beyond their representation of water. In Fremen betrothal, the would-be groom presented his water rings to his fiancee; she would then arrange them on fine wires to be worn either as earring or (more commonly) as hair ornaments. Part of the marriage ceremony involved the groom's putting the newly fashioned ornaments on the bride.
This use of the water counters helped regulate much of the interaction between the sexes. A wali, or untried youth — one yet to meet another male in mortal combat — could not marry. Thus, the only men in the sietch who would father children would be those who had already proven themselves capable of survival. Cowards, weaklings, and other such undesirables were never given the opportunity to clutter the gene pool; as further insurance, children born out of wedlock were left in the desert, a sacrifice to Shai-Hulud.
In addition, the requirement that a man's possess water rings before a marriage could take place helped to control the polygamy permitted Fremen males. It was not permitted, for example, for men to divide their counters between two or more women, so multiple marriages did not take place. If a man wished to take another wife, he had to wait until he had accumulated more rings; and any Fremen suspected of inviting challenge solely for that purpose was considered ridiculous and made the laughingstock of his tribe.
It should be noted, also, that Fremen women who killed an enemy (an outside enemy, invariably, since women could participate in the formal challenge ritual only via a champion) were not awarded the combat water or its rings. These were turned over, instead, to the tribe's Reverend Mother and were believed to confer Shai-Hulud's special blessing on their donor.
Following the death of their owner, water rings were returned to the tribal store, or, if worn by a woman, remained with her until her death.
FUNERAL RITES. No memorials were held for out-freyn killed by the Fremen; their water was simply reclaimed and the dry remains discarded.
For their own, however, the Fremen believed it necessary to conduct a formal memorial service in order that the shade of the departed one would leave in peace and visit no harm on the tribe. The ceremony always took place at the rising of the sunset on the evening of the death, after the body had been run through the deathstill under the supervision of a Sayyadina.
All the members of the sietch would gather around a mound made up of the dead man's or woman's belongings and the water bag containing the fluid released by the deathstill. The naib would speak first, reminding the others that the moon rose for their lost comrade and would summon the spirit away that night. He would then declare himself a friend of the deceased, describe a time when he had personally been helped or taught by the dead person (in such a small, tightly bound community, such occasions were common) and take one item from the pile.
This would be followed by the Naib's claiming certain items for the deceased's family and by his claim of the crysknife, which would be left with the remains in the desert. The other members of the tribe would then come forward, declare their friendship and its reason, take an item, and return to their places. When nothing remained of the mound except the water bag, a Sayyadina came forward to verify its measurement and to turn the water rings over to the appropriate person.
The tribe then chanted a prayer committing the spirit of their comrade to Shai-Hulud and recommitting their own destinies to that god as well. The sietch watermasters took charge of the bag following the prayer and, with the entire tribe serving as witnesses, poured the now-liberated water into the communal basin, ending the ritual.
WATER BONDS. Among the Fremen, water was also seen as the ultimate bond between individuals whether or not they belonged to the same tribe. For instance, a person from one sietch who saved the life of a member of another was owed a water debt, not only from the person saved, but from his or her tribe as well. Such a debt to another was considered a heavy burden, and was paid and cancelled as quickly as possible.
The water of one group's dead, if shared with another, also created a bond, this one indissolvable. Once such a sharing had taken place, the two groups were no longer seen as distinct; they were melded into one larger organization, since water, once mixed, was impossible to divide.
A living person's water — provided it was in the form of blood, and not just water carried in a literjon or stillsuit catchpocket — created an unbreakable bond as well. If a stranger, or even an enemy, could force or convince a member of a Fremen tribe to drink of his blood, he was Wadquiyas with the tribe: joined to them as one of their own, and safe from having this water taken unless he offended the tribe. (It was for this reason, incidentally, that no Fremen would ever attempt to wound an enemy in a fight by biting him, even if doing so meant certain victory).
Pledges of loyalty to a single person, such as that of each member of a tribe to its naib, were also made in the name of water — in this case, to the water of the individual. A tribe's pledge to its leader did not end, nor its acceptance of the new leader's rights begin, until the funeral service for the dead naib was completed and his water free.
THE WATER OF LIFE. Nowhere in the Fremen histories is there a ritual so closely guarded, so sparsely documented, as that of the Water of Life. All that is known for certain is that, on infrequent occasions, a select group of watermen (Fremen consecrated for and charged with the ritual duties concerning water) went out into the desert, captured a small sandworm, and returned with it to a special underground chamber which could be filled with water from the communal basin. The watermen then, after having been blessed by the tribe's Reverend Mother, dragged the worm into the water and held it there until it drowned.
Their leader stood watch in the water at the worm's mouth, waiting for the creature to begin its death flurries. When that moment came, he signalled the men holding the front of the worm to lift it from the water so that he could capture its last, liquid exhalation in a special water bag; this liquid was the Water of Life.
In its raw form, this "illuminating" poison was deadly. When altered within the body of a Reverend Mother, however, it became safe for consumption by the uninitiated and was used by the Fremen in their sietch orgies (times of heightened awareness of one another's thoughts and emotions which served to bind the tribe ever more closely together). A single drop of the changed poison was sufficient catalyst to alter even large amounts of the liquid.
The alteration process is described in much the same way as that undergone by Bene Gesserit Reverend Mothers being initiated with melange. The consciousness of the individual became internalized, her timesense was slowed, and she was able to perceive the molecular structure of the poison; perceiving it, she could change it.
Sometimes, in the case of a Say
yadina attempting to achieve Reverend Mother status, this perception was not sufficiently quick or strong, and the poison remained unchanged. In such cases, the candidate's body was cremated — the only instance in which cremation was used — and the Water of Life set aside and carefully guarded until a new candidate could be found. To put the body through the deathstill while it contained the unchanged poison could be fatal to the entire tribe, and leaving it in the desert invited even worse consequences, as it was known that the Water of Life could become Water of Death if allowed contact with a pre-spice mass.
The result of that transformation could be the death of the entire desert ecosystem.
OTHER CUSTOMS. As more information concerning the Fremen is made available, it becomes clear that many customs other than those described above were in use during the period in which the wandering tribes were, in truth, the rulers of the Arrakeen desert. Some are detailed in Jarret Oslo's book, Fremen: Lives and Legends, and can best be further studied there.
One in particular, however, is a striking example of priority determination, and deserves mention here. It has long been accepted by scholars that the Fremen held water to be of supreme importance, and its procurement and conservation the highest priority of the individual or of the tribe. No drinkable water, it was thought, was ever wasted; even the water of those given to Shai-Hulud was seen as being used in the service of the Fremen by placating their god.
However, a document found amidst the Rakis Hoard (and cited in Oslo, p. 152) describes an exception to that rule:
the water of one possessed by demons shall not be touched, not by man nor beast... no one shall say that it once belonged to a friend, or offer prayers for the release of its spirit; for a demon has dwelt within and it is forever tainted...
Let it be taken into the desert in the heat of the day and poured out into a basin to steam away. Let a guard be posted so that no creature will drink of it. And let its demon burn in al-Lat's fury for all eternity.
In addition to providing an interesting contrast to the body of Fremen water customs, this rite for the possessed offers possible answers to other questions as well. It helps to explain, for example, the tremendous guilt the Fremen were reputed to feel after a Trial of Possession, since by not releasing the water's spirit they were damning a former comrade to eternal torment.
It also suggests the possible fate of the remains of Alia Atreides, who — unlike every other member of her Family — is not recorded as having a final resting place anywhere. Further support for this hypothesis is currently being sought.
C.W.
Further references: Jarret Oslo, Fremen: Lives and Legends (Salusa Secundus: Morgan and Sharak); Harq al-Ada, The Story of Liet-Kynes, Lib. Conf. Temp. Series 109.
FREMKIT
The basic desert survival kit of the Fremen of Arrakis. Until recently the term "Fremkit" has been loosely applied to any and all materials carried by most Fremen when they were outside the sietch. Now, however, it seems likely that the Fremkit contained a specific grouping of practical items, and was owned but not always carried by most Fremen males.
The shift in understanding came when one reference to Paul Muad'Dib's "first handbook" was reexamined. It had been assumed that this phrase in the Oral History referred to the Kitab al-Ibar. Then it was realized that a "desert survival kit and accompanying instruction manual" mentioned in The Traveler's Introduction to Arrakis likely referred to the Fremkit. At this writing two incomplete versions of that "instruction manual" have been uncovered. They are small filmbooks, with mounting hardware still attached, requiring glow tabs and magnifiers. Both "micro-manual" fragmentary versions contain the same listing of survival equipment. Unless contrary evidence is discovered, it will have to be assumed that this equipment made up a Fremkit:
Literjons Stilltent Energy caps
Recaths Sandsnork Binoculars
Repkit Sinkchart Baradye pistol
Filtplugs Paracompass Maker hooks
Thumper Fire pillar
The manual identifies each of these and mentions their general function. A complete kit, packed in a small bundle and cleverly fitted with shoulder straps, weighed in the vicinity of 10 kg.
A complete Fremkit was probably not carried into the field every day, however. The inclusion of literjons, for instance, suggests that not all items were regularly carried outside the sietch. Such large water containers were carried for individual use only under unusual conditions. Similarly, the Baradye pistol, which was used by specialists for marking spice blows, would not be part of everyone's traveling kit. Binoculars were heavy, sinkcharts were of little use close to home, and the fire pillar was hardly an everyday device.
The possibility that the Fremkit may have had symbolic or ceremonial significance is suggested by some passages in the manual. There is mention of such confidential matters as the riding of sandworms and the uses of melange in both food and manufacture. The manual was obviously not supposed to be seen by outsiders.
At this time scholars are testing the hypothesis that the Fremkit and Instruction manual were presented, together, to Fremen youth at some point along their transition toward adulthood, perhaps as a rite of passage.
J.L.G.
Further references: BARADYE PISTOL; FILTPLUG; MAKER HOOKS; PARACOMPASS; REPKIT; SANDSNORK; STILLTENT; THUMPER; Anon., Kitab al-Ibar: Manual of the Friendly Desert, Rakis Ref. Cat, 1-Z288; Anon., The Traveler's Introduction to Arrakis, Rakis Ref. Cat. 6-Z295.
FRIGATE
The generic term for the largest spaceships which could land and lift off in one piece from a planetary surface. Although common usage makes it appear that "frigate" means one sort of spaceship, there were at least several hundred, perhaps as many as a thousand, different designs which were all referred to by this single term, the factor common to all being mass. While most Houses, Major and Minor alike, owned a few troop carriers and the richest of the Major Houses had more specialized cargo and combat spaceships, it was the frigate which was the true workhorse of all the House fleets.
One of the more popular frigate designs was the "steamship," in which a fusion plant heated a reaction mass, usually water but sometimes ammonia or some other light compound. Various heat exchange techniques utilizing plasma fluxes and electromagnetic fields made the system reasonably efficient, and it was cheap to maintain. The same sort of energy fields around the launching pad absorbed much of the initial blast so that the major environmental problem was noise as the ship rose above the port.
A second widely used design was the "brat," which exploded small fission bombs under an ablative plate at its base. It was faster, more efficient, and lifted more pay-load than the steamship, but it was also much more expensive and left much short-term radioactivity in its wake.
Most efficient of all was the "torch," whose exhaust was plasma, but ruling Houses were often reluctant to allow what amounted to giant heat cannons to come and go overhead.
Because of the Guild monopoly, no frigate was capable of trans-light operation. In interstellar transit, frigates were mere cargo. In the confines of a planetary system, however, the frigate was dominant. No other class of ship was so flexible, with so favorable a combination of size, speed, and surface accessibility. Obviously no single frigate could be wholly representative, but one that is broadly illustrative was Antiock, the personal spaceship of the Padishah Emperor Corrin XVIII (r. 6874-6892). Surely one of the largest frigates ever built, Antiock massed well over nine hundred thousand tonnes and was four hundred and eleven meters in length. Its torch engine gave it a maximum launch acceleration of approximately seven standard g's.
Corrin, an aggressive scion of an aggressive family, intended Antiock for combat and planetary bombardment. It had storage for seven hundred missiles and torpedoes, fittings for a hundred lasguns, and emplacements for a large number of projectile weapons. Its shields were probably the strongest ever installed on a mobile base. But for reasons known only to the Bene Gesserit, Corrin's favorite courtesan, a member of the Sisterho
od, persuaded him that Antiock should also serve court functions. Almost half of the armament was either removed or never installed; one of the missile bays became a ballroom, another an audience chamber; at least one of the lasgun turrets was converted to a starshine conservatory. Antiock was never used in combat. Neither did it serve long as a space-going palace: it was first launched in 6890; less than two years later Corrin was dead of chaumurky. His heir, Harmon III (r. 6892-6898), sold Antiock to the Guild, and it disappears from history.
Unlike heighliners, monitors, crushers, and other specialized ships of the Imperium, the frigate endured even long past the God Emperor's time. Since a frigate was simply a spaceship of a certain size with certain capabilities, it may be said to exist in fact, if not in name, today. Thousands of contemporary craft are of that size, launch as single units from planetary surfaces, and use some form of reaction drive. Most, of course, are also capable of trans-light operation, but only the Guild monopoly prevented the addition of that capability to the frigates.
M.M.
Further references: Odri Shang, "References to Frigates in the Catalogued Documents of the Rakis Hoard," Archives Quarterly Review, 21:26-111; Dekonalit Winity, "Antiock and the Frigates of the Imperium," Journal of Paleoeconomics, 37:141-253.
G
GALACH, Sound and morphology changes
In the outline below, "C" stands for any consonant and "V" for any vowel. Vowel symbols represent the following values:
/i/: a high front lax vowel, the vowel sound of bit. /iy/ represents a tenser vowel, with a forward and upward glide, the vowel sound of beet.
/e/: a mid front lax vowel, the vowel sound of bet. /ey/ represents a tenser vowel, with a forward and upward glide, the vowel sound of bait.
The Dune Encyclopedia Page 56
