El'hiim

El'hiim, born 174 BG, was the son of the legendary Selim Wormrider and his wife Marha. His father suggested his name shortly before his death, and the boy grew up under his foster father Ishmael. In time El'hiim became Naib of the Free Men tribe of the deep desert, but where his father and Ishmael shunned outsiders, he embraced trade with offworlders, a divergence that drove the two men apart.

Childhood#

El'hiim was named by his father Selim Wormrider shortly before Selim's death, after which he was raised by his foster father Ishmael. In his childhood El'hiim became trapped in a crevice with a group of scorpions. Ishmael saw the danger in a spice vision and rushed to find the boy, and in saving him was stung several times and thought near death. He recovered, but over the years that followed he and El'hiim only grew further apart.

Rise to leadership#

When El'hiim came of age, his mother Marha died, having first made Ishmael swear to shelter and advise her son. Ishmael may have pressed him too hard, unwittingly driving him in another direction. El'hiim stowed away aboard a VenKee ship that carried him to distant worlds, among them Poritrin, and returned forever changed, radically different from his father. As Naib he trusted offworlders and insisted that they buy commodities by trading spice, offering his tribe's services as desert guides, while Ishmael continued to shun all outsiders.

The village was later assaulted by slavers who had posed as spice merchants in their dealings with El'hiim. Under Ishmael's leadership the Free Men repelled and killed the invaders. El'hiim wished to seize the slavers' ships, but Ishmael was incensed that his foster son would consider any dealing with outsiders.

The break with Ishmael#

In an effort to teach El'hiim the ways of Selim, Ishmael took him on a pilgrimage across the Tanzerouft desert by sandworm. Returning home, they found the village raided and several young men and women carried off. From a scrap of fabric El'hiim recognized the raiders as slavers from Zanbar. He travelled to Arrakis City to petition for justice, and the security force there promised to enforce its regulations against kidnapping more firmly. Distrusting the authorities, Ishmael instead organized a kanla raid, which a reluctant El'hiim joined. The Zensunnis caught the slavers by surprise, and despite El'hiim's pleas that they be taken to Arrakis City for justice, Ishmael ordered the slavers killed and their blood drained for water.

At the meeting that followed, the two debated the tribe's future. El'hiim, horrified by the slaughter, feared the authorities would no longer take their side, while Ishmael argued for a return to the ways of Selim and a retreat into the deepest desert. Unable to reconcile, Ishmael challenged El'hiim to a duel and renounced him as his adopted son, striking him twice across the face to invoke insult by Zensunni custom. When El'hiim refused to fight, Ishmael instead challenged him to a sandworm duel under Zensunni law.

In the duel the two rode their sandworms against each other. El'hiim gained the advantage when Ishmael fell from his mount, and his sandworm drove Ishmael's beast off into the desert. The victory gave El'hiim leadership of the Free Men tribe. Some of the villagers moved closer to Arrakis City and others established second homes within the VenKee settlements. Unwilling to see the tribe abandon Selim's ways, Ishmael and his supporters set out on a trek into the Tanzerouft. Before they left, El'hiim tried once more to reason with his former foster father, but Ishmael was resolved to avoid the corruption of outsiders and to preserve the Free Men ways.