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FremenThe Fremen are a group of people in the Dune series of science fiction novels by Frank Herbert. The Fremen are the inhabitants of Arrakis, also known as Dune, the desert planet that is the sole source of the spice melange in the known universe. The Fremen came to Dune thousands of years earlier as a religious sect in retreat; over time, surviving the incredibly harsh conditions of Dune bred them into the ultimate example of humans in extremis: a people bred purely to survive. Their language is based on Arabic, suggesting that they are descended from the Arabs of the forgotten planet Earth. Customs Culture The Fremen are organized into sietches. Each sietch has a naib, whose word is law unless someone is willing to challenge him for leadership. The Fremen practice polygamy, apparently as a means of pinpointing male infertility. Each sietch has a sayyadina, a wise woman who serves as the native equivalent of a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother. Justice The Fremen system of justice always relies ultimately on trial by combat. The naib of the tribe is someone who killed the previous naib in single combat. Anyone may challenge another in a duel to the death over matters of etiquette, law, or honour; the winner of the duel claims the wife, children, and possessions of the loser, as well as the right of the circumstances leading to the duel. Because a duel is often done sans water-retaining stilsuit, the victor is entitled to a percentage of the deathstil reclaimed water, to make up for the perspiration sacrifced in the fight. Combat Fremen are the best hand to hand combatants in the universe. Their difficult upbringing and spartan exsistance ensure only the strongest survive on Dune. Hand to hand combat has re-entered human conflict because of some very fundamental changes in technology. The personal body shield rendered all forms of projectile weapons obsolete. Energy weapons, "lasguns", violently react killing operator and shield wearer. Body shielding can be comprimised by moving an edged weapon at a specific speed to defeat the tuning of a shield - "the slow blade penetrates the shield". Shields also drive the fiercely territorial sandworms into a killing frenzy and are not used on Arrakis, consequently, fremen have an edge because thier instincts do not compensate for the shield. Fremen use different archaic weapons to great effect (firearms, crossbows), but the most deadly and prized possesion of a Fremen warrior is the crysknife- a personally tuned blade made from the tooth of a sandworm that dissipates if it not in the possesion of the owner. Water Conservation The most notable custom of the Fremen is their water conservation. Living in the desert with no natural sources of water has spurred the Fremen to build their society around the collection, storage, and conservative use of water. Collection Water is collected from the atmosphere in wind traps that condense the humidity and add it to the underground water store. Water can also be collected from dead animals and people (especially outside wanderers) and processed in a death still which removes the water from the carcass for addition to the sietch water store. The Fremen that caused or discovered the death of the animal or person is then given a set of water rings whose markings denote a volume of water equal to the amount of water collected. These rings are used as a form of currency (the writing device being that water is as precious, if not more so, than gold). Storage Each sietch has its own water store underground. This store can hold millions of liters of water and is accounted for literally to the last drop. This store is used as a bank for all the water owned by members of the sietch through water rings, as well as for the sietch's own store of water for the hopeful transformation of their planet into something other than desert. Conservation The Fremen spend all time out of their seitch in a stilsuit, a special skin-tight suit designed to collect and recycle all hydration the body releases, from waste and sweat to the moisture of the breath. It is then held in a catch-pocket and made available to drink. A Fremen in a well-kept suit can survive weeks in the desert as opposed to the hours of an outsider. Mythology A significant part of the Fremen mythology can be explained as caused by the Bene Gesserit's Missionaria Protectiva, manifestating a Messiah legend in a plan to support the Kwisatz Haderach, should he ever come to the planet of Arrakis. Diverse 'failsafes' and Bene Gesserit beliefs were inserted into the Fremen culture, thus allowing one knowledgeable of the Bene Gesserit's teachings to use them to his or her advantage.
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