North Africa

Caliphate of Cairo

Ruling over much of Egypt and North Africa, the Fatimid Caliphs of Cairo claim to be descended from Mohammed's wife Fatima. The real power in Egypt, however, rests in the hands of the Armenian-born vizier Malik al-Afdal Shahanshah. Al-Afdal is the regent of the boy-caliph Al-Amir Bi-Ahkamillah, as he was of the caliph's father al-Musta'li.

Al-Musta'li's much older brother Nizar disapproved of al-Afdal's scheming, but was defeated. The defeat led to Nizar's supporters fleeing to Persia where they established the Fida'in sect under the leadership of Hassan-i-Sabah. The Fida'in came to be called Hashishin by their enemies, and Hassan was dubbed "The Old man of the Mountain". Because of this struggle and the arival of Seljuk Turks in Syria, the fatimids were too busy to pay much attention on the crusaders and before they knew it, had lost most of Palestine.

Despite of the vizier's ambitious nature he is liked by the lower classes because of his generosity and fine sense of justice. However, as the caliph is getting older he is becoming more and more ambitious and is starting to lust for the power due to his position.

Mauritania

The Emirate of the Moors covers most of the northwestern coast of Africa, and in practice also the Moorish parts of the Iberian Peninsula. The Berber al-Murabit have spread like locusts from their homelands in western Sahara after converting to an orthodox and militant doctrine of Islam. Their Amir-al-Muslimin, Yusuf ibn-Tashfin, founded a new capital in Marrakech and started making the former nomads into a more urban people. After the Caliph of Cordoba asked the cunning general Yusuf to help him against the Spanish christians, the Berber lord has become the de-facto ruler of al-Andalus as well.

Barbary States

Between the Moors of Mauritania and Saracens of Egypt, and under the rule of neither, lie the harbor cities of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. These are notorious safe havens of pirates and slave traders who prey the shores of western Mediterranean. The atabeg rulers of the cities of course deny any participation in such unlaful activities, but the riches of their palaces tell a different story.

The major sea powers in western Mediterranean, Genova and Pisa wage an constant war against the pirates and currently have the upper hand after conquering Sardinia and Corsica from the Saracen raiders.

Ethiopia

A power to reckon on the Red Sea since biblical times, the Christian kingdom of Axum has lately expanded to most of the Ethiopian highlands and even across the sea to Arabian peninsula. The ruling dynasties count their lineage from Menelik, the son of King Solomon and Queen of Sheba. An important trade nexus between India and the Islamic nations in the north, Ethiopia has been able to maintain its religious independence. However, the current Negusa Nagast Gebre Lalibela has tried to us the success of the crusades to gain allies from Europe. There the African monarch is commonly mixed with Prester John, the legendary Christian priest-king of an eastern country where the Three Wise Men of the nativity story originated.