• Wastelanders
• The Afari
• The Wastes

Wastelanders

The wastelanders are divided into several different cultures, each with customs and lifestyles unto themselves. The most prevalent are the Afari, the Sara’cien, the Mon’ghul and the Imaskari.

The Afari are principally nomadic wanderers, traveling from oasis to oasis. The Sara’cien have built great cities in the few habitable areas in the southern wastes. The Imaskari are closely related to the Afari, but while the Afari are nomads the Imaskari build settlements and towns in the few unclaimed habitable areas left. The Mon’ghul live in the far northern wastes, Nomads all they have one permanent settlement and travel far on their few remaining horses.

The Afari

The Afari are nomadic wastelanders traveling from oasis to oasis. These desert nomads heard goats and sheep for their survival. There are six clans among the Afari. The Dai Shari, Morvan, Mosavi, Dairan, Osquai and the Hoekun. Each clan wanders set lands and territories, occasionally raiding each other for goats, water and slaves. Generally these clans do not fight among themselves, though the Hoekun and Morvan are currently engaged in a blood feud. No member of either tribe has been permitted to trade with each other, share water or even talk, except to trade insults. Raiding amongst these tribes has grown especially fierce in the last three years. Luckily their lands don’t border on each other. Except in cases such as this, hostilities are limited to raids on outsiders, Imperial caravans, settlements and the other desert tribes.

The Osquai are perhaps the least like the rest of the Afari. They travel farther into the wastes than anyone. Some say even to the other side, bringing back rare items and riches from afar. There are more spiritual people among this tribe, which is renown for it’s strange and mysterious magic’s and great secrets. Rumors suggest that they aren’t even human being instead a group of Djinn who take human form for amusement.

The Afari were lightly hit by the great plague fifty years ago. The worst off were the Darian, whose constant trading with the Tawdonian Empire opened inroads for the plague to travel. Weakened their grip on their lands faltered and the Dai Shari swept south and took Orkhon oasis. With no forces to speak of, the remaining Darian nobles sued for peace, ceding the taken lands and marrying their daughters to the Dai Shari nobles. Though they lost the Oasis, they gained protection from this larger tribe. The only threat remains from the east and south, but both the Imperials and the Imaskari are in no shape to invade.

The Wastes

• Physical features of the Wastes
• Fauna of the Wastes
• The Gods of the Wastes
• Glossary of the Northern Wastes

Physical features of the Wastes

Excerpts from an official imperial survey of the Wastes
By Imperial Surveyor: Marius Dine

The Waste is an inhospitable land that borders our western lands and blocks all attempts to explore it. Its widely varying temperatures make even the best-equipped expedition a tortuous nightmare. The sun is pitiless by day, by night a person can freeze to death. There are no great rivers that we know of and few oasis of water and plants to quench the thirst of our animals and ourselves.

The Northern wastes are a barren tundra. Short grasses cover the land. Large boulders crop up at odd intervals. The only trees we saw reached to our shoulders. There are no natural benefits to profit a long-term expedition. There must be sources of water beyond that which we found, for there were many small herds of deer running at the edges of our bow range, almost as if they knew our limits. Which is preposterous for we saw no people. Our guides say that there is a people living here and that they are strong, hardy and merciless, and move with the speed of the winds on great beasts. But I saw no such thing. How could a people live here.

The wind is cold even by day, by night it is biting and sharp, and seems to come from every direction. It never seems to stop. We were in the northern wastes during what is I am told the brief summer. There were small biting insects everywhere, offering us no respite from their attacks. We were glad for the endless winds then because it lessened the bugs’ strength in numbers. I saw no great beasts in this land, but there are rumors of furred snakes, great spiders and strange humanoids larger than, a man who attack anything that moves. The one great advantage of this land is the abundance of dwarf plants usable in many alchemical potions.

Next season we traveled into what is being called the “middle wastes”. Grasses a foot in height seem to blanket the entire land. There are few trees, growing in small clumps around the few collections of water that we found. There are no hills only small rises of land that seem to stretch further than can be seen. I saw no people or animals in this land, but I am told there are a great many people living here. There may be some truth to the rumor for at one small pool I found many goat tracks as well as a shoe print. One of the drovers found a length of broken rope tied to a stake such as what we use to anchor our tents. We found one river in this land hardly more than a stream. It must have flowed here for eons, wearing a track into the ground for it stood at the bottom of a deep cleft. There was no apparent way down but luckily we had ropes and buckets that we used to refill our water barrels and push on. I have marked this river on our map for future expeditions.

One of our drovers disturbed a nest of snakes and died for his troubles. One of our oxen was attacked and killed in the night by a giant cat the size of a man. It was driven off , but we could hear it roaring along with another for the rest of the night. We came across the site of an old battle, bones and rusted fragments of armor stuck from the ground. Our drovers and guides refused to stay there and indeed forced us to carry on through the night despite my judgement. As a result two of our men went missing before we departed the battle area, no doubt lost in the darkness, and unable to find their way back.

Wintering in a town called Secaucus we heard many tales of wonder and mystery concerning the wastes. Event the priests in the church of NOS seemed to concur with most of them. They also said that a people known as either the Afari or the Darian or the Imaskeri, depending on who you talked too or what tale was being told at the time, would come out of the wastes at a certain time of year and trade with the townsfolk. Indeed they had many things that did not follow the Imperial fashion, including clothes and strange foods and drinks. But I saw nothing that would denote another culture. Only odd local customs that resulted in isolation from the capitals.

That spring we departed before the towns “Feast of Flowers” when they said these strangers would appear. Running late with this expedition I could not wait as long as I would have liked to verify this story. I would perhaps suggest that a trustworthy man not given to flights of fancy be sent to investigate this rumor of another people to our west. Never the less we pushed into the southern wastes to ascertain it’s usefulness to the empire. Equipped with extra water barrels and another local guide we moved south. This guide promised to take us to a great lake and a large ruined city straddling a mighty river provided our water held out.

We found no water in this land. The ground became increasingly arid and cracked. Our Guide found what appeared to be a worn path, a road he claimed, that stretched to the southwest. Following this we came across a cluster of stone and mud houses that appear to have been abandoned for years. The Homes had no doors and were filled with sand. The bones of a few goats were found and there were a few scraps of pottery and paper inside a number of the homes. What appears to be a dried out pool lay to the south of the town next to the worn remains of a few trees. If anyone lived here they must have died out during the great plague. Moving south we saw in the distance a dark speck on the horizon. In a few days this revealed itself as a tower. A scarce day later we saw a great city overlooking a river a bowshot wide and no deeper than a man’s height at its deepest. We will spend a few days here exploring this empty city. The builders were well trained for it is beautiful even in its emptiness. I would suggest using it as an outpost to our west.

Note. Based on a report brought to the Imperial city by a man who claims it was brought to him by one of the drovers. A story told to him by this drover intimates that the expedition was wiped out in the night in a series of attacks by the undead and other monsters. This city seemed to be cursed. Two other expeditions in the direction of this city have failed. One returning without ever seeing this city, the other never returning at all.

Fauna of The Wastes

There are many animals that live in the wastes, despite what imperial explorers have reported back. While there are few of the larger animals living in the wastes there are some. The most notable of these are the many prides of lions. Smaller than their mountain cousins the desert cats are tawny in colour, lightly furred and tend to be nocturnal. In the mountainous areas there exists a larger cat, which tends to be solitary, coming together to mate and then after raising kits, move on. These animals range in colour from a light tawny colour to a darker brown. There are rumors that in the southwest a number of purplish panthers have been spotted. In the north the great cats tend to lighter colours, pale grays and in many places white. These northern cats are thickly furred, with large paws and dark eyes.

In the North wastes, there are a number of animals. The Great White Bear is the largest of the predators. It is a solitary animal that tends to live on the ice flows of the northern oceans, coming ashore only when the ice melts each summer and the floes break up. Also here are a smaller cat, the Lynx, The arctic fox and packs of wolves and the occasional solitary coyote

Also the only large herbivore of the northern wastes lives here. The great bison or yak lives here in large herds. Many of the peoples in the area live entirely on the bounty of the yak. The skins and meat keeping them alive during the long harsh night of winter. Here too live great flocks of snow geese and white swans. There are small groups of elk and wapiti that live here as well, wandering across the northern plains from the northeast.

Numerous small animals thrive here as well. Snow hares are common, if not seen. Mice and voles, lemmings and weasels all live and breed here. The long winters driving them beneath the snow to hibernate and hide from the elements. But the summer’s warmth and sudden blooming of the hundreds of different plants provide sustenance for the year to come. Ptarmigan and gulls, winter sparrows and the tundra thrush live here, flying over the miles of barren land searching for food. There are also a number of insects that appear with the sun each year.

In the middle wastes there are no large predators apart from the ever present great cats and the scrub wolves. Not quite coyotes, but smaller than wolves elsewhere these canines travel in small packs. As with other places there are odd exceptions. Coyotes and bears have occasionally been spotted travelling the lands. But these animals are few and far between.

There are few large herbivores living here. Boars and wild pigs live in the wilds, as do escaped goats and sheep that flock together, until they are caught by human herdsmen. Small deer called pronghorns and antelope live here as well. Herding together they travel from water hole to waterhole eating the scrub grasses that cover the landscape in clumps. Desert rabbits and small rodents also thrive here, living in the cracks of the great rocks and in the valleys that occasionally cross the land. Numerous snakes and lizards live here as well. Many of them are poisonous, enough to kill a man in a few steps.

In the southern wastes sand blows constantly. Animals who can’t cope with this life are killed by the harsh environment. As a result there are few animals here. The great cats of course live here, and in the mountains there are a few bears and wolves. The great cats live out on the dry plains, as do the small coyotes and wild dogs. These are all of the great predators hunting the plains.

Herbivores living here are the ever present wild pigs, pronghorns and antelope. Sheep and goats are tended by herdsmen and there is a large creature called a camel. Brought, as the legends go, into creation by an old man at the beginning of time itself. These ungainly beasts travel the dry lands surviving in the harshest of environments.

There are a number of creatures called monsters that live here in the wastes. In the north there are giant white bears that stands a full ten feet high at the shoulder. Giant snow geese too have been seen flying above in the dark skies. Large furred serpents also hunt the snowy north. A tall man like beast hunts along the edge of the permanent snow, feeding on whatever it can catch. White dragons have rarely been seen hunting in the crags of the ice floes and glaciers. Groups of small furry creatures like half size men occasionally steal from the settlements. Sometimes mobbing and killing lone wanderers. Packs of white wolves also hunt the lands, some lead by giant wolves smarter than mankind.

The Middle Wastes have similar monsters in its dry lands. Large eagles are often spotted flying over the mountains, dropping to the plains to steal sheep and goats, and occasionally shepherds as well. Giant snakes hide beneath the dusty surface of the grasslands. Giant wolves and huge bears lurk in the far mountains. Giant shape changing creatures called Bunyips lurk near the waterholes in the south. Small intelligent man like bears lurk in the few trees ready to drop on people, stunning then and feeding on the unlucky travelers. Vicious spirits stalk the lands, hunting the unwary lone travelers and circling villages at night. Occasionally undead attack people as well.

In the south there are a number of unique monsters roaming the wastes. Giant Scorpions and Man scorpions wander the burning sands. Snakes and lizards both giant and normal sized are everywhere. Here are the most poisonous creatures in the world. Bunyips and spirits lurk near waterholes in great abundance. Efreet and Djinn wander the wastes in search of amusement. Sentient dust clouds flood and bury travelers everywhere. Large dragon like beasts have been seen, rarely a lone straggler from a caravan returns to civilization with tales of attack and death by these huge creatures.

The Gods of the Wastes

The people of the wastes are a deeply spiritual folk, each having their own religion and customs. Among the northern tribes, the Mon’Guhl are a great many Shaman and priests. These Priests are known as Lama’s and the shamans, often bards as well, are called Kayachir. A bard who does not know of the speaking with spirits is referred to as a Kaychi. There are two types of Spirits worshipped in the northern wastes. The Lama’s tend to the Great gods. The Great Gods are the fathers and mothers of the people. They are The Blue Wolf, Mother of the People; Teylas, God of Storms; Veris, the voice on the Wind; and Catar Noyan the Khan of the Sky; the sun god. These Gods are venerated by All the Mon’Guhl regardless of their location or tribe.

The Kayachir speak to spirits, or “Lesser Gods” These spirits are tied to individual tribes, or places, or do specific tasks. They dwell in the streams and trees, the hills and around the Oboos. It is said that there are ten times as many Spirits as there are people. These spirits look after the livestock, guard the hearth and defend the yurt. Each has its name and a wise Kayachi learns them all as best he can.

The Afari of the south have a number of different beliefs. The most fundamental is of the basic spiritual nature of everything in the world. To them everything has a spirit, the rocks, the birds and trees all have their own spirit that grows stronger as things happen in that space. As a result there are a great many sacred spaces in the wastes that are indistinguishable from the rest of the world to non Afari.

A spire of rock or a water hole in a collection of rocks becomes a sacred place as animals die there and people and animals live there. Spirits Inhabit the lands and the plants, each taking from the world and living in it, giving back to it life. Some spirits are stronger than others are, they can speak with the wise men, bringing guidance and counsel to the peoples of the lands. Each Animal of the world has as spirit, more so is the first of them. There are spirits that are all an animal is. It’s ultimate archetype. Not called a coyote or even the coyote, it is instead Coyote. As Wolf is Wolf and Lion is Lion. Each animal has its tales, personality and history.

Many of the wise ones and shamans of the Afari have a spirit guide, one of the Animal Spirits, that takes them as a child. Each Shaman tends to mirror their Spirit guide in many respects. To them the spirit animal represents an outlook and a way of life. Each Totem animal is different, with different values and behavior. This affects the Shaman as they follow the path and guidance of these spirit guides. Lion Shamans tend to be lazy until power and strength is needed. Bear Shamans are slow and ponderous. The mystics of the tribes are not expected to follow their totem animals, this is not a rule, but it tends to happen more often than not.

Amongst the Sara’cien of the south are examples of all religions. NOSianism vies with the ancestor worship and mysticism of the north. There are even confederates preaching in the cities of stone. The people here seem open to all types of religion, regardless of doctrine. The one overwhelming belief I the cities is the religion of knowledge. Mathematics and sciences are taught to the young. Alchemy and philosophy are well practiced and more people here are literate than in any other place in the world.

Glossary of the Northern Wastes

Anda: Blood brother. Literally “brother of the Liver” the closest bond possible between two nomads.

Arban: Ten men, the smallest unit of the army.

Bagatur: the commander of an Arban

Buran: Sandstorm/Duststorm

Cham: Spirits Either good or evil

Charqui: Dried strips of meat, particularly horse and mutton

Couralitai: The Grand Council of the Khans

Del: Heavy Leather robe covered in cloth or fur, worn in the winter

Jagun: 100 men or 10 Arbans. An army unit

Jupon: A long sleeveless jacket worn over a robe or dress

Kalat: the basic dress of the Nomad, a long robe that fastens at the neck and side

Kashik: The Elite Bodyguard of a Khan

Kaychi: A bard

Kayachi: A shaman.

Khadun: The first wife of a Khan.

Khan: A Prince of an Ordu, The leading nobleman.

Kharachu: “Black Headed One” A common person, an insult among nobles

Knout: A three headed horsewhip

Kolpak: A pointed hat with flaps over the ears and neck

Kumiss: Common alcoholic drink of the nomads, made from fermented mare’s milk

La: A mountain pass

Lama: A priest

Minghan: 1000 men or 10 Jaguns

Nor: Lake

Noyan: A general term for any nobleman of the tribes

Oboo: A sacred Altar at the top of a hill

Ordu: A nomad village

Palas: A felt rug

Tuk: A Khans standard

Tumen: 10,000 men or 10 Minghans. Not seen since the great sickness

Unaghan bo’ol: “Slave of the yurt” a deadly insult to any free steppe dweller

Yasa: the law code of the steppes.

Yeke-Noyan: “Great Chieftain” honorary title given to dead nobles

Yurt: the round tent used by the nomads as their home.

Yurtchi: Official in charge of the clans scouts and camps.

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