Sorry for the belated reply! But right on the money with Algeria—empires always fall, because they're unnatural and take constant force to keep propped up. And yes, hope is always important! Because at the end of the day, it's not just "land" to us, but the clay and soil our identity is made from since our ancestors.
And I did NOT, but looking up the Persian epic, I feel so silly for not seeing it. Def on my to-read list and makes me love this game even more! I'd tease how dare this not be based on the Story of Layla and Majnun, but that's an Arab tale originally—Persians just made it super popular that they get credited for it, haha. To be fair, this is probably "payback" for Arabs taking credit for "One Thousand and One Nights" 😂. Our region is honestly so funny, but lovely. Love how our stories overlap and leave such a huge impact on us, culturally. We've always been each other's biggest fans when it comes to our stories 🩷.