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Tìr Oltairg
:::::by The Bedouin

Lying on the western portion of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering the Red Sea is Tìr Oltairg, the so-called "Land of Wealth."  This elven dominated country came about abruptly and quite mysteriously, just as Tìr Tairngire and Tìr na nÖg did.  Apparently, in this case, the elves had managed to make anonymous connections with certain powerful arms dealers, as well as using their seemingly innate magical prowess, to clear the region of opposition, securing their borders in only a few short months.
     Just as in the case of the elves of the other two Tìrs, there is much speculation as to whether or not the choice of the land in question was haphazard or carefully planned.  In this case, the speculation lies in the city of Mecca, which the elves maintain complete control over.  Aside from the obvious tourist revenue they can generate from the city, it appears to lie on a primus class ley line, and the only one of its kind, size, and power in the Mid-East region.
     One of the most noticeable external aspects of Tìr Oltairg is its "little brother" appearance, compared to the other two major elven nations.  All three, Tìr Taringire, Tìr na nÖg, and Tìr Oltairg, are fiercly competitive amongst themselves and it would seem as though they were in on some secret race and all three were jockeying for position.  Despite its often overwhelming presence, it is often ignored by the other two Tìrs, who compete primarily with one another.  Nevertheless, Tìr Oltairg seems to try and live up to the standards of its "big brothers" and at times even appears to surpass them.

CLIMATE
Tir Oltairg's climate is more compatible with the general run of humanity than it had been in the past.  Due to the magical tempering the elves have done to the environment, the temperature has been lowered to a tolerable 38 degrees Celsius in the summer and an average 25 degrees Celsius in the winter.  The country recieves about 65 inches of rain per year, which has increased vegetation, though the rainfall is also magically stimulated.  The source of the extensive magical tampering is unknown, whether it is the result of a massive spell lock somewhere or the efforts of a cadre of magicians, though it is known that only the most heavily populated areas were so affected.  Many regions still exist in their "raw" form: hot, stagnant deserts.

GETTING IN
Though it has not shut off its borders completely, Tir Oltairg is a difficult country to acquire a visa to.  Visitors are closely scrutinized from the moment they arrive to the moment they depart.  Since the country does little business with outside organizations, they feel that there is little need for outsiders to come on business, and therefore rarely grant entrance to representatives of major corporations.  Tourists are granted visas more often than businessmen, and even they are granted entrance in small numbers, with a prejudice favoring elves and other metahumans.  Few visas are approved for more than ten days and many visitors wish to stay as short a time as possible anyway, since visitors are made to feel so uncomfortable by the nation's law enforcement agencies.

By Plane
A nationalized airline (Tir Oltairg Air) runs flights out of Mecca daily. >>>>>[Actually, the airport lies somewhere between Mecca and Medina, though it is closer to Mecca than Medina.  —C.Z.]<<<<< Approximately twice a week the government permits a plane from an outside organization to land and take-off there. A few other airports operate, though they are not nearly as large.

By Road
Nearly impossible to enter over land, Tir Oltairg's borders are closely guarded.  Border stations lock down the roads and patrols (magical and mundane) monitor the [thousands] of miles of border at all times.  If the appropriate visas are obtained far enough ahead of time, the border guards will permit passage.

By Sea
Several seaports dot the western and southern coast of Tir Oltairg.  Commercial passenger services rarely travel there, however, and those ports are most likely the home for exporting transport ships.  Attempting to gain illegal entry into Tir Oltairg by sea is probably the least likely to be successful.  The fishing towns which run up and down the coast almost contiguously are very loyal to the Taami'rae, their regional nobles, and the rest of the government, and would be eager to report interlopers.

Necessary Documents
Visitors are required to carry the following with them at all time: their passport, an approved up-to-date visa, some form of secondary identification, and a temporary "activity" lisence given to them upon arrival.  Failure to produce any or all of these documents will result in prosecution by the state inclusive of immediate deportation and a negation of all visitation rights.

Restictions
Tir Oltairg places many restrictions upon its visitors.  All weapons and potentially harmful devices (including spell locks, foci, remote control decks, and cyberdecks) are explicitly prohibited and all attempts to acquire one or bring one into the country is considered a felonious action and may result either in immediate deportation or criminal prosecution.  Individuals equipped with cyberware are to required to wear inhibitor devices at all times to restrain their implanted implements.  Individuals with bioware are typically not granted visas.  Magically active visitors are asked to take an inhibiting agent to reduce their astral sensitivity, spell casting, and conjuring capabilities.  Visitors are also asked to supply information about any medications they may be on when applying for their visa.  Violation of any of these restrictions is treated harshly, most commonly with immediate deportation but sometimes with criminal prosecution.

CURRENCY
Just as in most countries, the universally accepted ccurrency is nuyen (in the electronic form).  However, at the government's insistence, Tir Oltairg's own hard currency is entering circulation more and more.  The monies consist of taenasha (paper bills which come in ¤5, ¤10, ¤25, ¤50, ¤100, ¤500, and ¤1000 denominations) and taenachi (nickel coins which come in ¤0.01 [circle], ¤0.05 [triangle], ¤0.1 [square], ¤0.25 [pentagon], ¤0.5 [hexagon], and ¤1 denominations [larger circle]).

GETTING AROUND
Once inside Tir Oltairg borders, the government funds a great deal of mass transit.  Electric trams are the preferred mode of transportation within the larger cities, and buses provide the majority of inter-city transportation.  Fares are usually low, with tram service running approximately ¤0.5 and inter-city bus service averaging ¤0.1 per kilometer.  However, if mass transit does not suit your needs, several private cab services operate in the major cities, and at least one helicopter service is in operation for quick transportation between cities.  However, fares for private cabs and helicopters can get rather steep, especially considering the government tax on such modes of transportation.

LAWS & LAW ENFORCEMENT
The Tir Oltairg law enforcement strategy involves stopping crimes before they are committed.  Therefore, they go about this in what might be considered a brutal fashion.  Individuals may be arrested on grounds of suspicion and they do not have to be released until enough evidence can be produced to clear their names.  A word of advice to all who intend to visit Tir Oltairg: These laws apply across the board!  They can pick you up no matter who you are, where you are from, or what you are doing.  Enforcement of their laws is extremely strict and the maximum penalty is more likely to be doled out rather than the minimum.  Fortunately, law enforcement officials are very prominent, as their uniforms are very recognizable and undercover work is performed very rarely.

EMERGENCY SERVICES
Emergency services in Tir Oltairg are centrally networked through the national telecommunications infrastructure.  An operator can be reached by dialing any combination of the four corners of the number pad (1379, 9137, 7139, etc.).  The operator can then route any of the appropriate emergency services to the caller.

Medical services are funded and controlled by the government.  Tax paying citizens are given the highest priority treatment at hospitals and emergency care centers.  Individuals who are visiting the country are required to produce the appropriate passports and visas before they can be given any medical treatment and even then they have to wait until higher priority emergencies have been met.

>>>>>["Higher priority emergencies" includes anyone who is a citizen above you.  You may come in with ten gunshot wounds and provide all the necessary paperwork, but if a Tir citizen comes in with a papercut, they'll treat him before you.  Granted, they won't treat the papercut if he comes in after you -- there are certain limitations to how this works -- but you won't get bumped up the list under any circumstances that I know of.]<<<<< ---Header <04:17:27 / 10-20-56>

HISTORY
This story doesn't start simply.  What you have to understand is that the Middle East has never been a stable place.  It has always been a dangerously explosive region torn by religious and social differences, economic factors of every kind...basically, if you can think of it, it has been a contributor to all the unrest throughout the centuries.  Anyway, my original history lesson here goes back pretty far, sketching out stuff as far back as 1992.  Let me tell you, all that is unnecessary.  Most of the pre-Awakening elements, both religious and secular, really become irrelevant around 2011-2012, when the first elves are born into the Middle East.  That is the point where things begin to take shape.  The real business doesn't start until 2029.  That's right, the Crash.
     There had been civil unrest throughout what was then Saudi Arabia and Yemen for decades.  It had been increasing exponentially ever since the Awakening began.  Fear of the New caused violence.  Retaliation caused more violence.  Counter-violence perpetuated itself.  Magic and technology meshed in an eruptive spree of chaos.  Granted, it wasn't out and out war, but skirmishes were rampant throughout the peninsula.  Then the Crash struck and the confusion set in.
     No one is really for sure how they had come together or how they had organized themselves or where they had gotten their equipment but in late '29 (December 18, to be precise) Qu'al'dina and his forces struck, coming out of the desert.  An army of elves, swarms of djinn spirits, and a rag-tag division of armored vehicles swept across the dunes into Mecca.  They met no resistance, driving the human population out.  They established their state there — though in no official capacity yet.  Qu'al'dina and his followers (then identified by the Middle Eastern media as "the elven Mohammed and his devoted fools") preached their expansion of Islam in Mecca, despite protest after protest by the Muslim world.  Qu'al'dina did not try to stop the pilgrimages in the years to follow, nor did he interfere with the Muslims in any other way.  However, he did continue to spew forth his continuing revelations, in clear violation of the Qu'ran.  This went on for nearly a decade.
     What's important to note is that at the time it was not a political move (there was no change of boundaries), but a religious one.  Qu'al'dina was not seeking to establish a new country.  At least, he did not express this as his will during this time period.  He preached his revelations, receiving minimal media attention, even while the other Tìrs were establishing themselves.
     This all changed in 2039.
     The newly formed Council of Islam, champion of Muslims everywhere, announced a jihad against Qu'al'dina and his blasphemers.  Rapidly raising an army, the jihad began, surrounding Mecca and demanding Qu'al'dina's surrender.  Qu'al'dina refused and instead challenged the Council of Islam to enter the Holy City and apprehend him.  A stand-off developed, lasting six weeks.  Finally, in what was proven later to be an elaborate illusion, Qu'al'dina burned Mecca to the sand.  Massive suicides took place in the glow of the ill-perceived flames.  As the remainder of the army retreated, Qu'al'dina's forces, now accompanied by two dragons, struck, cutting down the Islamic army wholesale in a surprise assault.  Qu'al'dina's forces then swept through the rest of western half of the Arabian peninsula, securing it in its entirety by April, 2040.  A DMZ was then established by the elves to keep their enemies out.  They fortified it with a magical ward and established a corps of magicians to conjure djinn spirits to patrol it at all hours of the day.
     Qu'al'dina then set about the tedious task of getting his fledgling country on its feet.  Unfortunately, he had barely gotten the groundwork laid before he died in August, 2040.  The Taami'rae ascended to their positions and set about to complete Qu'al'dina's work.
     Tìr Oltairg's establishment really shook up the rest of the region.  The Council of Islam was weakened by their humiliating defeat.  The remainder of the Arabian peninsula, not included in Tìr Oltairg's borders, nor willing to join the disgraced Council of Islam, was forced to reorganize, becoming the Free Arab Republic.  The Damascus League, who had not participated in the jihad, received trading privileges (though only temporarily: they were revoked a few years later in an outwardly capricious decision by the Ay'yod'ti-Taami'ra) and was — at the time — the nation's only trading partner.  The region has never really settled and this is evident no matter where you go in the Middle East.  Tìr Oltairg is the focus of a lot of bitterness, now even more so than the Free Zionist Nation, yet no one seems to be able to do much about it.
     I know it's clichéd, but I only have one thing to say about this situation: What will happen here?  Only time will tell.

GEOGRAPHY
Tir Oltairg is located on the Arabian Peninsula in southwest Asia, in the area commonly known as the Middle East.  S%&asd,,e|+010000100111001<<DATA CORRUPT: 2.4 Mp LOST>>

>>>>>[Sorry about that, but you're going to see a couple of those kinds of occurrences throughout this document.  Seems the initial data dump was infected with some kind of weird virus.  It was coded in a language our deckers had never seen before and while we raced to decompress this file and put it back together (most of it was already scrambled), the virus was hard at work trying to destroy the entire file.  We saved what we could, but we're still trying to reassemble as much of the lost data as we can.  Bedouin has also had to go underground so we don't know if we'll be able to get another copy of the document from the source.  What can I say, just deal with it.]<<<<< ---Commander Zippo, SysOp <02:15:01 / 10-17-56>

GOVERNMENT
The government of Tìr Oltairg is an unquestioned oligarchy.  Three positions reserve absolute power within the country.  The three leaders hold distinct sway over their established spheres of influence, though they are dependent upon each other to govern the spheres which they do not control.
     The three positions include the Sajj'kal-Taami'ra (Spiritual Leader), the Shru'drane-Taami'ra (Social Leader), and the Ay'yod'ti-Taami'ra (Economic Leader).  >>>>[NOTE: the three positions are in Al'lathiel, see below.  ---C.Z.]<<<<< Each holds absolute power over their respective interests and can make no decisions which significantly effect any other interest without a reciprocal decision by the would-be affected Taami'ra.  How the balance of power is checked is unknown, though no problems have ever been recorded within the Tìr power structure.
     Beneath the Taami'rae is a series of what appears to be feudal nobles.  Each noble holds limited control over a specific region, owing allegiance in ascending order, from the lowest ones on up to the Council of Ya'jjeesti, a body of eleven of the highest ranking nobles who serve as a "Parliament" under the Taami'rae.

POLITICS
The internal workings of the Tir Oltairg government a%&pa:::\\~!0011110010100 <<DATA CORRUPT: 3.1 Mp LOST>>

SOCIETY
Society in Tìr Oltairg can be described as the bastard son of "typical" elf culture, which has a certain Gaelic feel to it, mixed thoroughly with Arab-Islamic culture, giving you the elves of Tìr Oltairg.  There's the usual "top-down" oppressive feel that comes with the oligarchical government the elves favor, not to mention everything else that comes into play.
     To understand the culture and society of Tìr Oltairg, you must look at it from every possible angle or, if you really want to empathize, from the inside out.  The nation's feel comes from every aspect of its society.  Language, religion, popular culture, everything contributes to the land's "feel."
     Tìr Oltairg officially sanctions three major languages, all of which are taught to Tìr school children.  Those three are Arabic, Sperethiel, and Al'lathiel.  Arabic is the "traditional" language of land, the language of the Qu'ran, and is the most widely used language in the region.  Sperethiel, on the other hand, is considered the "official" language, since it is an elven nation and Sperethiel is the elven language.  Al'lathiel is a patois of Arabic, Sperethiel, with a heavy dosage of other, unidentified words.  It translates vaguely as "God's Music."  Al'lathiel is spoken primarily by Tìr nobles, though a cursory understanding of the language is required for graduation from secondary school.  Al'lathiel was introduced by Tìr Oltairg's founder, Pahtmaya Qu'al'dina.
nbsp;    In terms of religion, the elves of Tìr Oltairg practice a creative mix of traditional Islam and post-Qu'al'dina elven neo-Islam.  To the elves of Tìr Oltairg, Mohammed is now not much more than "just another prophet," rather than the prophet.  When Qu'al'dina led the nation into existence, he brought with him Al'lathiel and his "new" Islam.  The "new" Islam of Qu'al'dina is more "technology friendly" and has what some consider to be a built in loop-hole for magic.  According to Qu'al'dina, Allah gave men creativity and thought in order for them to use it.  According to his revelations, Allah would not allow man to create things such as cyberware and the Matrix if He had not intended for them to be created.  Allah keeps everything in check.  As for magic, it is an extention of that philosophy, combined with the notion that Allah intended for man to be at one with his surroundings and to "use nature as a tool as it would use you."  This allows for both hermetic and shamanistic magicians to live, though there is a greater proportion of mages than shamans.  Qu'al'dina's Islam also has a "built in" magic system of its own, but that will be detailed later on.  This elven neo-Islam, on the surface, embraces men and women and all meta-types.  In practice, however, questions have been raised to this.
     The Tìr Oltairg culture seems to be built around the glorification of metahumanity.  Just as the symbol of the Humanis Policlub is the rounded "human" ear, the pointed ear of the elf (and to some extent the rest of the metahuman races) has taken center stage.  Ears are pierced repeatedly and symbolically, often as parts of progression rites (not to be confused with the Tìr Tairngire Rite of Progression).  Couples have been known to court, basing much of their flattery on the beauty of their partner's ears.  However, the "new" religious symbolism behind the ear goes much deeper.  In the writings of Qu'al'dina, he cites the elven ear as "...perfect in shape and function."  Much of the pride of the people of Tìr Oltairg comes from this assertion of perfection.  However, Qu'al'dina also refers to the ear as "...the centerpiece of the body...[because it is] a receptor for the spiritual energies transmitted by Al'lah for our ears alone to hear."  This focus on the ears is a distinct deviation from conventional (meta)human thinking, which so frequently ranks the eyes as the locus of attention.

ECONOMY
The economy of Tìr Oltairg is very self-contained.  They export very little and import even less.  They somehow seem able to produce and consume all they need within their own borders.  Megacorporate influence is not only extremely limited, but practically non-existent.  The self-supporting economy places Tìr Oltairg in a very strong position, being totally independent from foreign trade.  Goods made in Tìr Oltairg are known to be of the highest quality and are known to sell for three times as much as comparable items on the "gray" market.
     One of the reasons the country can so easily support itself is because of its relatively low population.  Only slighlty smaller than Tìr Tairngire, Tìr Oltairg's production rivals that of many larger, more established nations.  Factories sprang up almost overnight when the country was formed.  What was even more amazing was the magical conversion of thousands of acres of what seemed to be wasteland into flourishing, profitable farms and forests.  The country supports itself under the expert leadership of the Ay'yod'ti-Taami'ra, who carefully determines each aspect of the nation's delicate economic status.  With the variables set each year, factories are ordered to produce at certain levels, the law of supply and demand quelled through what appears to be an adroit calculation.
     Tìr Oltairg has also freed itself from the shackles of the megacorporate dominion.  By being so extremely self-sufficient, the country has been able to make the economic environment inhospitable to the likes of companies such as Renraku, S-K, Yamatetsu, Shiawase, and the other major players.  The companies are represented in the market, but not nearly in the capacity which they are in true free market economies (i.e. the UCAS).  Because of this, "home grown" companies in Tìr Oltairg have been allowed to flourish and, in many respects, rival the power of the megacorporations.  The Ay'yod'ti-Taami'ra permits an audience to a delegation from the megacorporations every year, however he has never been successfully persuaded to allow them a greater share in the market.
     Also, because Tìr Oltairg is free of the burdens of foreign trade, it places it in an extremely strong political position.  Unbound by the pressures of foreign markets, the government of Tìr Oltairg cannot be pressured by the conventional means of trade embargoes, tariffs, or financial interdict.  This gives the government an almost unheard of leeway in the making of foreign policy.  This also brings other nations into a position of supplication in regard to Tìr Oltairg.  Every nation on Earth seems to desire trade with it and it grants that privilege so infrequently that it creates a sense of consequence when trade privileges are granted to a particular nation.
     Tìr Oltairg currently maintains cordial trade relations with the Aboriginal Australian Council, Macronesia, and the Saami Nation.

NATIONAL CORPORATIONS
Considering that very few foreign economic powers are legally permitted to operate within Tir Oltairg's borders, this has given wasy to an extremely strong national economy based on strong domestic corporations.  Th%&ee;"</>"{--+[]}0111011000011000 <<DATA CORRUPT: 4.3 Mp LOST>>

SECURITY
Tìr Oltairg's level of security is reasonably high.  Crime is reasonably low, kept in check by a strong law enforcement agency.  The country is also well protected from outside forces by a small but extremely formidable military.
     The military, known semi-officially as the Husbands of Privilege, is a small, tightly knit unit of troops trained to a high level of efficacy.  There is no organization in the sense of a clear distinction between the ranks of enlisted to officers.  However, the ranking system is implied from the level of society a particular soldier is drawn from.  The majority of the negligibly sized standing army is drawn from the lower nobility, with a few from the upper echelons and a few from the bulk of society.  Though Tìr Oltairg is yet to go to war in any official capacity, it can only be assumed that during times of crisis, that those of low social stations can be called on for military service.  However, because Tìr Oltairg has yet to enter a full blown war, not much is known of how their military operates.
     Internal security is maintained by a state run agency known only as the Constabulary.  The Constabulary is an all-encompassing organization, reaching into every district, province, and region of Tìr Oltairg.  For example, extradition is unnecessary because the establishment's jurisdiction reaches from border to border.  Law in the borders of Tìr Oltairg follows the philosophy of: "Guilty until proven innocent, because we wouldn't arrest you without a damn good reason anyway."  Though somewhat crude, the method is effective, with the Constabulary making regular criminal sweeps of all major cities, picking up all suspected gang members, prostitutes, drug addicts, thieves, conspirators, etc.  The Constabulary is well funded in all respects, with lower titles of nobility granted to loyal Constables who retire at a reasonable age.
     Crime in Tìr Oltairg, though far from non-existent, is even farther from out-of-control.  Because of the "shoot first, ask questions later" policy of the Constabulary, many would-be criminals are kept in fear, while the others are picked up, prosecuted and then executed.  Organized crime does exist, and does so with a vengeance.  What has been jokingly referred to as the "Meccan Mafia," is the most powerful organized crime syndicate in Tìr Oltairg.  Though its leaders are periodically picked up and convicted, it has established a dynastic system of leadership, its throne inheirited by the successor with the arrest (not the conviction, the arrest) of the previous leader.  Petty crime, though subdued by Western standards, is prevalent in the larger cities, though it mostly manifests as drug addict-beggars and prostitutes.  However, the organized crime is much more serious, dealing in everything from illegal gambling establishments to conspiracy.  Nevertheless, these syndicates are like cancers — despite removal, they grow back again and again, each time more dangerous than the last.

<<DATA CORRUPT: 5.8 Mp LOST>>

>>>>>[We're very disappointed at the above data corruption.  First of all, we recognize how important that information would have been to all the runners planning on going in there, but also, we couldn't even manage to get the headers out of the file before the virus just ripped it clean out.  We believe that this was sort of the insertion point for the code, too, since we had an easier time "unripping" EVERYTHING ELSE in the file.  But anyway...]<<<<< ---Commander Zippo, SysOp <02:17:05 / 10-17-56>

MAGIC
A unique form of religious magic has grown up in Tìr Oltairg. Centered around the teachings of the prophets (primarily Mohammed and Qu'al'dina), the magic seems to stem out of only certain members of the vast variation of Islam the permeates the Tìr.  Such magically active members of the denomination are given special distinction within the sect, given priestly authority in terms of interpreting scripture and governing special enclaves assigned to them.  These individuals are neither truly mages or shamans, though these magicians have characteristics of both.
     These clerics, though they are not rulers outright, carry a lot of clout through the society of Tìr Oltairg.  They have much influence over government policy decisions and have been known to threaten the governing council on many occasions.  They are the primary threat to the established government, though the interpretation is that the clerics merely do not want the tedious duty of actually ruling the petty details of the country.  They would much rather be left to their magic.
     Though Islamic "mages" and "shamans" do exist, they are counted separately from the clerics who are quite unique to the post-Qu'al'dina elven neo-Islam.  These clerics are quite reclusive and extremely steeped in their religion.  They spend much of their time in intense meditation and painstakingly hand-copying the Qu'ran.  Not much is known about the meditations, though it is thought that it combines prayer with astral projection.  Skeptics argue that no one can remain astrally projecting for the periods of time the clerics are known to enter these trance-like states of meditation.  Nevertheless, assensing a meditating cleric reveals an empty shell of a body but powerful traces of magical energy around it.  The hand-copied Qu'rans are "magically inspired" after they are completed, making them what is known as a "dynamic Qu'ran."  These dynamic Qu'rans are a sort of magical focus, aiding in spell casting, and absolutely essential for the conjuration of djinn (spirits unique to this practice of magic).
     It is suspected that because of their reclusive nature, these clerics prefer ritual sorcery and conjuration as opposed to "on the fly" spell casting and conjuring, though they are known to be capable of both.  The clerics are rarely seen publically and even when they are, they are treated reverently and with the utmost respect.  From the few eyewitness accounts of the magical activities of these clerics, it is known that their "on the fly" spell casting is noticeably weaker than those spells cast ritually.  The spells are known to be weaker still when they are cast without a dynamic Qu'ran present.  Concerning conjuration, the same generally applies.  Djinn conjured ritually are more powerful and more reliable than those conjured "on the fly."  Nevertheless, this is an edge the clerics have over mages, who are incapable of summoning elementals in the midst of battle.

<<DATA CORRUPT: 0.7 Mp LOST>>

MAGICAL SITES
Please note that getting into Tìr Oltairg itself is a hard enough task.  So, consider all Accessibility ratings as though you had already gotten into the country.

The Holy City of Mecca
Location: Mecca
Accessiblity: C
Magic: (1) for conjuring djinn(a special, inherently Islamic spirit), (2) for healing spells
Background Count: 5+ (a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of years, among its other innate magic).
     No place in Tìr Oltairg is quite as magically powerful as the Holy City of Mecca (though this is arguable).  The city has a rich history going back to the days of Mohammed and, in fact, back even further.  The background count is astronomically high because it lies on the Mid-East's primus ley line, meaning that it is one of the world's central points of magical energy to begin with.  The fact that it has been the focus of Islamic religious pilgrimage for hundreds of years has only boosted this.
     The elves of Tìr Oltairg guard their borders carefully, though they do respect the sanctity of the land to the Moslem world and open their borders once a year to the pilgrims.  Nevertheless, all those who are to enter for the pilgrimage are to enter at the border, on foot, and proceed, on foot, to the city, closely guarded by soldiers of the Tìr.  The soldeirs keep a close watch over the train of pilgrims to be sure that none of them slip away.  Once the holy month is over, all adherents must be across the border.  Remarkably, no one has ever managed to sneak past the Tìr security once inside the borders.

The Holy City of Medina
Location: Medina
Accessibility: A
Magic: (1) for conjuring djinn.
Background Count: 4 (Sight of "lesser" Islamic pilgrimage; channeled magical energy through a minor ley line originating in Mecca.)

Qu'al'dina University of the Thaumaturgical Arts
Location: Mecca
Accessibility: CC
Magic: Hermetic Library (8), various shamanic Medicine Lodges of varying degrees, "dynamic" Qu'ran (12) with the additional revelations of Qu'al'dina.
Background Count: Undetermined (the University is within the borders of Mecca, which already has an astronomical Background Count)

Sea of Dunes
Location: Southern Tìr Oltairg
Accessibility: A
Magic: (2) for conjuring djinn, (4) for conjuring desert spirits.
Background Count: 2
     Believed to be powered by one of the major secondus class ley lines which branches off from Mecca, the Sea of Dunes has become a very magically active place.  Encompassing about eighty square miles of desert, the Sea of Dunes, when observed astrally, is a roaring, rippling, bubbling sea of mana.  Its astral space is plagued by mana storms and other mysterious astral occurrences.

Qu'alapot's Lair
Location: 90 miles east of Medina
Accessibility: CC
Magic: (2) for ritual sorcery
Background Count: 2
     This is the lair of one of the great dragons who assisted in Qu'al'dina's revolution.  Though it is guarded closely by his warden creatures, Qu'alapot himself is rarely there, having developed a taste for travel and activity.

Dezhouin Woods
Location: 80 miles east of Mecca
Accessibility: A
Magic: (1) for ritual health sorcery, (2) for summoning Forest spirits
Background Count: 2
     The Dezhouin Woods is an "overnight forest" the elves grew in 2048.  It took several magicians of several different disciplines to finally get the trees to take and grow.  The original intention had been to create a lumber industry, but after the trees were in place, the forest became such a national symbol of power that the Taami'rae refused to let the trees be felled.