View source for Al-Ybi

{{Nation Data
|title= Al-Ybi
|geographical features=Empty desert
|population=Bored
|size=Small
|books={{WA}}
}}
'''Al-Ybi''' is a mostly unremarkable desert city in [[Klatch]]. Al-Ybi's reputation for boringness has entered it in folklore as the place where Klatchians invented the concept of zero. This makes sense to noted [[Fred Colon|Ankh-Morporkian scholars]], who reason that since empty desert is basically nothing, nothing is a ready natural resource to Klatchians.

Since nothing happens in Al-Ybi, it is also a safe place for criminals to claim to have been whenever they stand accused of a crime. 

The only excitement in Al-Ybi occurred when the greedy [[Seriph]] of the city was cursed by a [[Gods|dyslexic deity]] so that everything he touched turned into "glod". [[Glod]] was a blameless dwarf in a far off mountain community who found herself being dragged to Al-Ybi and relentlessly duplicated. Over two thousand Glods later, the curse wore off. To this day, the people of Al-Ybi have a reputation for being both bad-tempered and short in stature.

== Annotation ==
Al-Ybi's name is a play on ''alibi'', a person's claim to have been elsewhere when a crime has taken place. This fits with Fred Colon's assertion that Klatchians invented everything with al- in the name, including al-gebra, al-cohol, and al-stronomy.

Needing a ready target to shift blame transcends cultures—see also the Dwarf entity [[Agi Hammerthief]] or the Ankh-Morporkian expression {{wp|Fanny_Adams|"sweet Fanny Adams"}}.

The cursed Seriph of Al-Ybi is a twist on the myth of {{wp|Midas|King Midas}}. Turning everything into gold is bad, but turning everything into a furious Dwarf is possibly even worse.

[[Category:Discworld geography]]
[[Category:Locations]]