1591. The Songhai empire, the Niger bend, and the desert road north to the salt pans.

• Battle violence, graphic; an execution; a killing at a well
• Slavery and the slave trade shown as the period's ordinary commerce, without euphemism and without spectacle
• Thirst, dehydration and death by exposure
• Occupation, confiscation of libraries, deportation of scholars
• Desire and marriage between adults; sex cuts away at the door
• Grief; a child's death on the road, offscreen
• No slurs written out; contempt between Sahelian, Saharan and Andalusian characters shows in prices and hospitality

Text-first draft: backgrounds and character art are generated placeholders and there is no audio yet.