Эренланд: Южный Эренланд

Южный Эренланд

The region that most consider southern Erenland reaches from the southern tip of the Ardune all the way to the Kasmael Sea, and from the border of Erethor in the west to the foothills of the Kaladrun Mountains in the east.
It is a dry, golden grassland divided north to south by the wide, green ribbon of the Eren River, which takes the shape of a reverse S curve on its journey to the sea. The northern terrain is rolling with deceptively deep draws and sharply cut seasonal streambeds that drain into the Eren. In the south, the plains are as flat as still water and fade into the haze at the distant edge of sight. More than a dozen species of tall sword and plains grass dominate the vegetation, while scrub oak, acacias, and other wide-branching, waxy-leafed trees form small woodlands along streambeds and where wetter soils give them life.
In the northern reaches, the plains are dry prairies that bloom bright green with spring rains but slowly turn brown and dusty by the fall. Winters are cool and bring occasional chilling rains. Massive herds of boro, once rare for having been overhunted, graze across the plains in great numbers now. There are simply too few humans left in the central plains to keep their numbers in check, and the orc legions are still too busy with their ongoing wars to dispatch many hunters. In the far south, the grasslands are hot, verdant savanna watered by frequent rains off the Kasmael. The seasons vary little, distinguishable only by the turn of the stars and the plants that are in bloom. Antelope and sedge grouse are mainstays for hunters, and the skies wheel with birds of every kind.
Where the plains meet the sea, there are vast salt marshes and great mudflats. The local ecology conspires to make these some of the richest environments in Eredane, and they crawl with life of every shape and size. Most coastal creatures are small and shy scavengers, though a few predators sustain themselves on those more harmless denizens.

История

The Sarcosan invasion in 230 SA laid the cultural and ethnic foundations of southern Erenland. The Sarcosans brought horses and the secret of steel with them, forever changing warcraft, technology, and trade across Eredane. They built massive cities that would stand for thousands of years, eventually becoming the largest settlements on the continent. They conquered the Dorns and joined with them to throw off their old masters across the eastern sea. They prospered in trade across Eredane and overseas. They intermarried with the Dorns and gave rise to the Erenlanders of the central plains. As part of the Kingdom of Erenland, they allied with the fey to defeat Izrador’s second invasion in 1948 SA.
Like the Dorns, the Sarcosans suffered from the long age of social want and political decay that followed the second war with Izrador. Though the social and economic decline in the south was not as violent or total as in the Northlands, it took a significant toll nonetheless. The civil wars among the Dorns slowly drained military resources from southern Erenland and cut off vital trade routes and markets between the north and south. The increasing isolationism of the dwarves eliminated another key market for Sarcosan goods, further fracturing the south’s weakened economy. As the political and economic situation became more unstable, the overseas trade that had long supported the southern port cities sailed elsewhere in search of more reliable markets.
This slow economic decline was insidious, creating political and social unrest that weakened the oncestrong fabric of Sarcosan culture. When the agents of the Shadow reached the southern cities, they found little resistance to their corruption and discovered a surprising number of willing allies among the destitute and disenfranchised populations.
When Izrador’s forces crushed the remaining Dornish defenders in the Last Battle and marched south, there was nothing to stop their advance across the central plains. Cambrial fell and was razed as an example to the people of southern Eredane, as if the stories of the Dornish refugees were not warning enough. As Izrador’s armies reached the westbound arm of the Eren, the sussar Jukal sat ahorse on the open plains just north of the city, lance in hand, with five thousand riders from across the Southlands at his back. For a moment hope burned in their hearts… and then the foul wave crashed over them and washed them under. The ragged remnants of that vast cavalry were forced to flee, and now their descendants fight a hopeless resistance from their tent camps on the open plains.
Though many sussars defiantly resisted the Shadow and held their lands against the final invasion far longer than might have been hoped, the seeds of corruption and the irresistible might of Izrador’s hordes eventually subjugated the south, making his victory over all of Erenland absolute.

Население

The dominant culture of southern Erenland is that of the human line descended from the Sarcosan invaders who first came from the Old Empire far across the Pale Ocean. These people have deep-brown skin, are slight of build, and they are unrivaled riders. They have a long history of which they are fiercely proud and live within a stratified caste system. There are 650,000 Sarcosans living in southern Erenland, more than 210,000 of whom reside in the large cities of Alvedara, Sharuun, and Hallisport.
As in the Miraleen region of Erethor, a scattering of foreigners have been trapped in southern Erenland by the cessation of overseas trade. Members of strange peoples from distant lands left behind by choice or abandonment, they have been forced to build lives for themselves among strangers in a land apart. Perhaps 3,500 members of other human cultures and peoples rarely seen in Eredane reside in cities like Sharuun and Hallisport. Though relatively few orc noncombatants have migrated south of the Pelluria, many priests, traders, hunters, cooks, smiths, enslavers, camp followers, and the like have followed the countless orc soldiers into southern Erenland. Including the troops, there are 200,000 orcs and perhaps half again as many goblin-kin, ogres, and other minions of Izrador on the southern plains.

Поселения

The Sarcosans were once nomadic horse riders who lived in tent villages. Long ago, they adapted to city life and permanent architecture, but they never lost their nomadic sensibilities. As a result, Sarcosan cities are open and spacious. They contain many plazas, fountains, and gardens and are surrounded by vast pasturelands. Their architecture is a durable combination of stone foundation and mud-brick construction, and most buildings are circular with domed roofs. These buildings tend to be low but spacious, with sprawling layouts, central courtyards, balconies, wide windows, and few internal walls. Every Sarcosan settlement, from the smallest village to the greatest city, has at least one structure that towers high above all other buildings. This badrua, or “star tower,” is a focus of Sarcosan religious worship and is a modern manifestation of the spirit pole, a tall religious symbol once erected in the centers of ancient tent villages.
The tradition of horsehide tent villages has never been totally lost, and Sarcosan traders, travelers, and hunters have retained the use of such temporary settlements. Now, in the time of the Shadow, many refugees and freedom fighters are forced to utilize the nomadic dwellings of their ancient forebears.
Individual tents are made from tanned horse leather on which the fur has been left. The tents are low walled, with wood-pole supports and domed roofs that have large, open smoke holes in their centers. Most tent villages consist of several smaller tents that house up to twenty individuals arrayed around a massive central tent that serves as both a common area and shelter for the camp leader and their extended family. Horses are typically staked by their leads outside the tents of their individual riders.
A typical tent village can be set up in only an hour and can be broken down in half that time. Every tent can be divided into small enough loads that the horses bearing them can still gallop under their burdens. The mobility this lends the riders is one of the reasons Izrador’s orcs have so far been unable to eliminate the last of the Sarcosan resistance fighters.

Язык

When the Sarcosans first came to Eredane, their strict caste system was further divided by language. The aristocrats spoke a tongue known as Courtier, the language of the noble and ruling classes. The lower and servant classes spoke a more efficient language that shared much of its basic structure with Courtier but had significantly different vocabulary and less complex pronunciation. This more common tongue became known as Colonial to the other peoples of Eredane.
The odd thing is that both groups could speak the other’s language but by custom were not permitted to. Communication between the upper and lower classes was therefore a strange crisscross of tongues, with each group speaking to the other in its own given tongue but listening to and understanding the other’s words.
After the formation of Erenland, the traditional linguistic stratification of Sarcosan culture began to break down. Their new Dornish allies had trouble enough with the sibilant pronunciation of the Sarcosan tongues without having to learn two different languages. In a relatively short time, practical social pressures overcame traditional taboos, and Colonial became the common tongue of all Sarcosans, while Courtier remained the language of science, religion, and magic.

Правительство

In ancient times, before the colonial Sarcosans came to Eredane, they were ruled by a powerful emperor known as the kalif. The empire was large, and to facilitate its administration, was divided into districts run by sharif governors handpicked from among the kalif’s highest-ranking sussars, noble knights known literally as “sworn riders.”
When the colonial presence in Eredane was established, the kalif appointed a sharif to govern the new lands. The sharif ruled in the name of the empire, but in practice, they were a monarch in their own realm. But for the tribute they sent sailing back to the kalif, their authority within the colony was absolute. The Sarcosan lands in Eredane were vast, and to support their rule, the sharif appointed regional governors of their own from within the ranks of their sussars. As the Eredane sharifs aged or were recalled to domestic posts, the emperors appointed new colonial rulers, often the children or other protégés of the outgoing sharifs. In this way, the post of colonial sharif slowly became a hereditary one.
By 853 SA, the war with the Dorns had ended and the rule of the sharif over the human lands of Eredane was secure. Instead of subjugating the Dorns, the Sarcosans offered them alliance. The sharifs offered to accept oaths of fealty from each of the Dornish monarchs in exchange for allowing them to retain their lands. Despite initial resistance, dissension, and numerous skirmishes over the matter, the oaths were eventually made, and the human lands settled into peace under the rule of the Sarcosan sharifs.
By 1062 SA, the colony had begun to chafe under the demands of the Old Empire. The empire was weakening, and uprisings across its lands were forcing the kalif to demand even greater tribute. The cost in treasure, ships, soldiers, and other resources had simply become too great. Certain that Eredane was too distant to make quashing a revolt easy, and knowing that the empire already fought on many fronts, the ambitious young sharif, Shezen Kari, rallied her sworn warriors, Sarcosan and Dorn alike, and began attacking imperial ships bound for Eredane ports. The sharif was soon fighting a full-scale rebellion. The war was brutal and lasted almost fifty years, but in the end the Old Empire was too far away and spread too thin to maintain control over the Eredane colonies.
In 1113 SA, Prince Zefu Kari, son of Shezen, called together his Sarcosan and Dornish oathsworn to a great meet that history knows as the Conclave of Rulers. At the conclave, Kari declared the lands of Eredane free of the rule of the Old Empire and proclaimed the founding of the Kingdom of Erenland. His family would rule under the title of kalif, high ruler of Erenland. His line would be first among Erenland’s monarchs, and his sussars, Sarcosan and Dorn alike, would hold their lands as noble princes. He demanded that public oaths be sworn renewing old alliances under the banner of Erenland. Though the early times of the young kingdom would prove difficult, Erenland would ultimately stand more than 1,700 years, until the rise of Izrador in 897 TA.
Through the long centuries of the Second Age and darkening times of the Third, the high rulers maintained the rule of law in Erenland. Through times of economic crisis, civil unrest, and war, the kalifs held their lands and the loyalty of the people with enlightened leadership, political savvy, charity, and military force. The kalifs were dedicated and honorable rulers, but in the end, they would prove no match for the insidious corruption of Izrador.
Long before Izrador’s forces poured out of the north, his nefarious agents were at work in the south breeding corruption and mistrust among the kalif’s sworn riders. In the end, many were bent to Izrador’s will, and Othaeron Mortenbreth—one of the kalif’s most trusted sussars, commanders, and his own cousin by marriage—turned against the high king. In the foulest of betrayals, Othaeron became one of Izrador’s dread Night Kings and usurped the rightful Kalif Kari, bringing ruin and despair on the realm of Erenland. Now, under the reign of the Shadow, false sussars rule in the great cities of the south and Othaeron Mortenbreth claims the title of King of Erenland.
Though they have all been replaced by enemy collaborators, there are still legitimate Sarcosan royals living in the Southlands, hiding in the cities or riding free on the open plains. Most are part of the ongoing resistance and have less a desire for their birthrights than for the deliverance of their lands and people from oppression.
Historically, every Sarcosan was oath-bound to a given sworn rider, either serving in turn as an oathsworn fighter or as a member of their household. This rider in turn was bound to another of higher rank, and ultimately, through the highest order of sussars, to the kalif themself. In the days of the Last Age, most Sarcosans are forced to serve lords who claim the title of sworn rider but are little more than traitorous collaborators. The outlaw freeriders, on the other hand, loyally serve their lords by choice, regardless of their lost heritage.

Религия

The Sarcosans were one of the only cultures in Eredane that continued to worship divine gods and, through that worship, to support the trappings of a spiritual religion and its priesthood. The basic tenets of the Sarcosan faith centered around the lessons of the Sorshef, or “Riding Host,” and are taught by priests called the Sahi. The countless members of the Riding Host are gods unto themselves and continually ride across the heavens on enigmatic quests reflected in the paths of the constellations. Their adventures are recorded in the Sorshef Sahi, an endless series of parables from which the Sahi Priesthood garner lessons of wisdom and codes of behavior for the Sarcosan faithful.
The Sarcosan gods have never been beneficent entities from which their worshippers expected boons in exchange for prayers and offerings. They have instead always been considered strict teachers, concerned only with providing their faithful harsh lessons that serve to cull the unworthy. Therefore, the Sarcosan faith was perfectly suited to a mortal realm severed from the heavens, as it had never promised the favor of its gods.

Parables of the Sorshef

Dal Sahaad is one of the most familiar Sarcosan deities, and his name is invoked often. He is attributed with having tamed the first wild horse and is therefore one of the only gods to have ever offered the Sarcosans anything other than lessons. Riders and horse trainers call on him when dealing with particularly stubborn animals, and horses of exceptional quality are often called Sahaad Bedin, or “children of Sahaad.” Sahaad is a bright constellation low in the southern sky and often seems like an outrider to the moon itself.
Dal Hali is the evening star and has the endless, exhausting task of dragging the sun from the sky each night. She is therefore most often called upon when people must accomplish physically difficult tasks or survive circumstances that challenge their endurance.
Dal Pashva is forever a young colt that has just taken to hoof and runs endlessly across the night sky. Dal Pashva is the avatar of fortune, luck, and coincidence and is only seen in the light of falling stars. The Sarcosans believe that whatever challenges and troubles they face in their mortal lives are only tests by which their worth is judged. When they die and take their hashu, or “heaven ride,” Sarcosans believe they will be challenged by the god riders of the Sorshef. If they are found wanting, they will be thrown from their mounts and forced to walk forever in the dark spaces between the stars, horseless and dishonored. If they find favor, they will ride as part of the starry host of the Sorshef and shine as examples of virtue and honor to mortal Sarcosans.
There are hundreds of individual deities in the Riding Host, and most are believed to be both human and horse, able to assume either shape or any combination of the forms. Each deity is attributed with specific domains of knowledge, skill, and virtue, but only the priests seem able to keep all of them straight. In their daily lives, faithful Sarcosans often call on those whose abilities they most need in a given task, not in hopes of gaining some advantage but with the aim of impressing the specific god with their own qualities.
The stars of the nighttime sky are believed to be the Sorshef and their hosts, and most of the Sahi parables identify the constellations as specific gods. As a result, almost every Sarcosan can name most of the constellations visible in the southern sky and can recount various exciting or moralistic fables explaining their shapes and paths.
Of course, none of these parables or practices is approved of by Izrador’s minions. The fallen god is the only true god, they believe, and praying, even to gods the Sarcosans know can’t answer them, still angers his legates. While Izrador’s takeover in the south has been just as complete as in the north, however, the occupation of the Sarcosans’ land and the punishments delivered upon them have been far less brutal. Therefore, the Sarcosan faith, revering the Shorsef, and ordaining new Sahi continues, albeit in a barely concealed underground manner. The daily cultural habits of a deeply religious people, whether offering prayers under their breath or telling parables of their gods thinly disguised as heroes, remain. As long as they do not gather in organized groups to worship or make use of their star towers, they are not punished.

Торговля и ремесло

The Sarcosans were once almost as accomplished in their own way as the gnomes in the art of trade. Before the rise of Izrador, they had long been trading partners with the dwarf clans of the southern Kaladruns. They traded the bounty of their rich farmlands for dwarven tools, blades, and fine golden jewelry. They traded with the halflings and eventually grew to depend on the superior skills of their leather workers for saddles, tack, and light armor. They traded horses with the elves for magic, arrows, and medicine. The elves preferred the smaller Sarcosan mounts to the larger Dornish breeds, and the Sarcosans have never been known for their magic. They served as middlemen between the Dorns and halfling weavers, spice growers, and tobacco farmers. They made huge profits from exotic goods that came to Sharuun and Hallisport aboard foreign ships and were passed on to the rest of Eredane. This diverse flow of trade made southern Erenland an economic power and gave the region significant influence across the continent.
During the Third Age, as the dwarves became more isolated and untrusting and as the monarchs of northern Erenland fell to fighting among themselves, the Sarcosan economy began to fail. Sarcosan dependence on the dwarves for metalwork had quietly robbed the Sarcosans of their own skills with steel, and as trade with the mountain fey trickled away, the humans were left with too few able crafters. The civil war in the Northlands meant the markets vital to the southern traders had little gold for foreign goods, and the flow of northern coin all but stopped. The final blow came with the rise of Izrador and the accompanying end of overseas trade. The Sarcosans were prohibited from piloting and crewing ships, and foreign vessels refused to land in Eredane ports for fear of Izrador.
The far-ranging and diverse economy of the Sarcosans was broken, and what has come to replace it over the past century is a far smaller collection of regional cottage industries and local farms that support only the people of southern Erenland. Restrictions on travel mean that each settlement or small region now must support itself, depending upon its own crafters and its own—typically rare—raw materials. Though food is more plentiful than in many other lands of Eredane, there are no local sources of raw ore, so all metalwork has to be done with recycled stock, making iron and steel scraps more precious than the realm’s decreasingly valuable gold coins.

Coin of the Realm

Southern Erenland, and more specifically the regions around Alvedara, Sharuun, and Hallisport, are the only places in Eredane where gold and silver still hold some value. The local economy and social order in the southernmost regions have not yet forced people into a barter system. The false sussars bolster the use of currency by insisting that all is well and demanding that trade therefore be conducted in coin of the realm. These edicts encourage inhabitants to continue using gold and silver in their minor purchases, such as for mugs of ale, boot repairs, or horse feed. Most people have read the direction of the wind, however, and barter for more valuable goods and services. Though coins are often exchanged in such deals, they are used only as show to satisfy Izrador’s enforcers and fool human informants. Even when coinage is used, prices have slowly increased over the past decades, and now inflation means things cost three to five times what they once did.

Пути и традиции

The culture of the Sarcosans has not suffered under the same crushing occupation that the Dorns have experienced, but even in the south, one can see the Shadow’s influence at work.

Kingdom of Erenland

The Kingdom of Erenland was initially a political construct created by the savvy Kalif Kari to solidify his power after winning the independence of the Eredane colonies from the Sarcosan Empire in 1112 SA. It was a formal recognition of his rule as high king and a renewal of the fealty that the Dornish monarchs had given the Sarcosan sharif upon their defeat in 853 SA. At the Conclave of Kings, sworn treaties ensured that both the Sarcosan sussars and the monarchs of the Dornish Great Houses would serve as noble princes under the Erenlander high king and kalif, retaining rights and privileges as the kalif’s vassals.
In the early years, the political concept of Erenland had little meaning beyond the words of the treaties that had created it. There was no sense of unity between the Dorns and the Sarcosans, and the political relations between the sussars and the Dornish royals were rife with tension and uncertainty. The first decades were hard ones, and more than a few rebellions by Dornish royals and conflicts with splinter groups of Sarcosan nobles tested the both the north and the south’s fealty to the young kingdom.
As time went on, trade and the inevitable cultural exchange that went with it helped to form the kinds of bonds that political treaties could not, and the Dorns and Sarcosans began the journey toward cultural unification. Political marriages between the noble families as well as relationships between commoners also went a long way toward creating social unity.
As decades became centuries, continued trade, intermarriage, and shared enmity toward Izrador led to a social unification that slowly made a true kingdom out of what had begun as a contentious political convenience. Though regional geography, Dornish house loyalties, and the Sarcosan class system have conspired to maintain significant cultural differences between the north and south, the Erenlanders of central Erenland long ago stopped thinking of themselves as anything else and now feel a strong sense of loyalty to the kingdom and each other, regardless of their heritage.

Sarcosan Castes

When the Sarcosans first came to Eredane, they brought with them a rigid and highly stratified class structure that had been established in the ancient days of their greatest conquests. Long ago, the lowest levels of this social structure were left to foreigners, criminals, and any peoples subjugated by recent conquests. The highest were reserved only for those of royal blood, priests, political appointees, and horse breeders. The layers in between were for peasants, craftspeople, merchants, soldiers, and the like. The system was strict and harsh, with different laws, social restrictions, and privileges for each caste.
Over the centuries, social unrest and political pressures eventually forced a revolution in this structure. Over time, the system became one based less on station of birth and more on individual reputation, honor, and personal accomplishment. This merit-based system in its own way remained as rigid and strict as its predecessor but was one in which even the lowliest serf could rise to greatness.
By the time the Sarcosans came to Eredane, the merit-based social structure had been entrenched in their culture for hundreds of years and was one of the reasons the culture had become so successful. Its inherent structure made certain that people of exceptional character and worth rose to power and influence. The system gave subjugated peoples the chance for prosperity and even greatness within the conquering Sarcosan culture. This relatively enlightened social order is what motivated the colonial Sarcosans to unite with the Dornish monarchs rather than crush them. It is doubtless one of the reasons the Sarcosans have become the most widespread and dominant human culture on Aryth.
Though royal heritage and wealth still provide a significant head start within Sarcosan social structure, anyone can rise to superior station based on their accomplishments, service, and reputation. Status within the class system can only be awarded by sussars or the kalif. Though corruption and favoritism might seem a concern, much social value is placed not only a person’s reputation but also on the reputations of those upon whom that person bestows status, meaning that unscrupulous promotions are rare.
The lowest tier of the Sarcosan system is that of shol and typically includes criminals, beggars, the unsworn, and foreigners who have done nothing to improve their lot. This tier is never awarded horse rights.
The next highest level is that of asara and typically includes farmers, herders, fishers, peasants, and Erenlanders of Sarcosan descent. Asara may not yet have been awarded horse rights but can typically count on rising higher in the social order.
The third caste is that of beeshi, and membership is readily bestowed on merchants, horse traders, soldiers, and craftspeople. Nearly any Sarcosan of worth will eventually rise to the station of beeshi, though they may be old when the status is bestowed.
The next level is that of uruush and is typically only obtained by priests and those of noble birth who provide long or exceptional service to a sussar.
The sharu is the second-highest rank and is reserved for those being groomed as sworn riders.
Sussar, or “sworn rider,” is the highest rank but includes several levels of responsibility and authority. The sussars answer only to the kalif, and it is from their ranks that generals, governors, and other powerful leaders are appointed. Upon reaching adulthood, every Sarcosan once swore an oath to serve a given sussar and, in turn, was considered a member of that liege lord’s extended household. Therefore, each Sarcosan had clearly defined loyalties and responsibilities and worked or fought to support the rights, holdings, and obligations of their sussar. Unlike the Dorns, the members of a Sarcosan lord’s household were not necessarily related and became oathsworn usually through the vagaries of history and geography. Though most met with their sussar only when being raised to a new rank, they were always well aware of their sussar’s rank, reputation, and obligations. Most interacted more frequently with lower-ranking sworn riders and sharu who served their sussars as regional governors.
In its own way, the class system of the Sarcosans is actually more egalitarian than the social classes typical of most other cultures. Though it is a strict system, and ascension to higher station is not assured, everyone at least has the opportunity to better their station. Poor and rich, young and old alike may share a given status and are obliged to follow the same customs. Every Sarcosan is free to aspire to any status, though in reality there are often many blatant and subtle obstacles standing in the way to advancement.
Children are essentially without station until they break their first horse to saddle. This ritual is full of ceremony and marks a Sarcosan child’s transition to limited adulthood, usually between the ages of twelve and fourteen years. If, as sometimes happens, a child is thrown during the ritual, by tradition they must wait a year until they can try again. When a child breaks their first horse, they have taken their first step toward becoming an adult in the eyes of society. Their remaining teenage years are spent learning trades or skills until they become full adults on their twentieth birthday.
Promotions of status can only be awarded by the sussar to which a person is sworn. On rare occasions, other sussars can request that a promotion be given to a person sworn to a different lord, either for service rendered or exceptional heroism. Sussars do not make such requests of their fellow sworn riders lightly, so they are almost always honored.
Promotions from one rank to the next are made for a variety of reasons. The cultural context and how personal accomplishment is assessed are governed by old and complex traditions. Military or public service, acquisition of wealth, scholarly achievement, artistic talent, and learned skills are each means by which higher rank can be earned. Other considerations, such as personal sacrifice, heroism, and special service to a sussar can also earn advances in status. In these grim days, resistance against the forces of Izrador is a primary mark of worth, and many rise in rank battling the forces of the Shadow. Though noble lineage and family wealth may be sufficient to carry even a person of questionable worth to the status of beeshi, that person’s reputation and proven ability is all that can earn them higher ranks.
There are many customary laws, restrictions, and privileges associated with the Sarcosan caste system that are deeply ingrained in everyday life. A person may not qualify for horse rights until they rise above the status of shol. A person may not marry outside their caste, and only those of the beeshi rank or higher may breed and trade horses.
Status could traditionally be lost, sometimes more easily than it was gained. Lying, cheating, horse-killing, or conviction of criminal acts typically meant that the transgressor lost one or more ranks, depending upon the offense. In the most serious instances, not only was a criminal permanently stripped of any and all status, but they were also forever banished from Sarcosan lands on pain of death.
Status within this system is a touchstone of Sarcosan culture. Even now under the reign of the Shadow, when so many other social institutions have lost their meaning and when there are few sworn riders left alive to bestow rank, this system remains a powerful social force. As unlikely as it may at first seem, the custom lends society a stability and comfort that gives Sarcosans a sense of meaning, pride, and hope in these desperate times. A person’s status is one of the few things of value to both individuals and the culture as a whole that neither Izrador nor his minions can take away. Lacking a true system of government and needing leadership and guidance, the free Sarcosans look with increasing deference and respect to those of higher rank in all social situations (and many legal ones).

Sworn to the Shadow

The false sussars and their citizens, meanwhile, live under a very different set of rules. In the occupied cities, the higher ranks have been polluted by the arbitrary and self-serving promotions of the false sussars, leading the honorable citizens of the lower ranks to look instead to their own peers for consensus and support in social and legal matters. Some false sussars even offer promotion to new ranks as rewards or temptations for services rendered, meaning that a wily enough Sarcosan could gain several different ranks under several different sussars. A rare few city dwellers have even made contact with the freeriders of the open plains, and have for their support been granted higher status. This has created a mind-boggling overlay of ranks, with various hierarchies appointed by Shadow-corrupted false sussars and others by true sworn riders.
Therefore, many of the traditional oathsworn relationships have broken down. Many Sarcosans have no recognized sussar to follow, while others are forced to swear allegiance to self-proclaimed sussars and other collaborator-princes. Some follow traitor lords out of choice, while others do so out of fear. Still others seek the lost descendants of the Sarcosan princes in hopes of becoming their sworn riders and serving in their outlaw cavalries.

Masters of Intrigue

As ennobling as advancement within the Sarcosan castes may have often been, the dark side of the system is that members of the higher castes become masters of social intrigue and manipulation. Long ago, Sarcosan nobility learned that social scheming and subtle plotting were often the best ways to protect one’s reputation and advance one’s rank. Even the worthiest had to learn the nuances of courtly intrigue if they hoped to attain higher rank, and there were many of dubious nature who gained rank above their worth simply because they played the game very well.
When the Kingdom of Erenland was founded, the Dorns were completely unprepared for the rampant intrigue of the kalif’s court, and in the early years they found themselves politically outmaneuvered at every turn. In addition, the courts of the Dornish monarchs themselves began to suffer an infection of subtle plotting as intermarriage and alliance brought Sarcosan nobles into their houses.
When the agents of Izrador began planting their seeds of corruption across Erenland, equal effort was distributed toward both the Dorns and the Sarcosans. While the Dorns were gullible enough to be taken in by the agents’ whispers, the soil for intrigue there was shallow. The Sarcosans, on the other hand, while more difficult to deceive, could slowly be tangled up in so many plots that they became unable to tell which were theirs and which were those of others. By the time the Shadow descended from the north, many were unwitting servants without even knowing it, and when the time came to suffer punishment at the hands of their peers for their unintentional treachery or to take the rewards that the fallen god offered, the choice for some was simple. Ironically, it was Sarcosan leaders’ instinctual behavior of securing power and influence, which had granted them such honor and power, that caused some of them to defy their own loyalties.

Horse Lords

Above all else, the Sarcosans are a people of the horse. Their long history is one intertwined with and dependent on horses, and it was the Sarcosans who introduced the creatures to Eredane. It was from horseback that the Sarcosans built their great empire, it was from horseback that they ruled Erenland, and it is from horseback that many now resist the reign of the Shadow. The Sarcosans are master horse trainers and breeders, and their culture is ingrained with equine mythology, spiritualism, traditions, and practices. Most learn to care for horses and to ride as small children, and in fact a key ritual in their youth involves ceremony centered around the breaking of a horse. Killing a healthy horse is a serious crime, and there are many rules and restrictions regarding their use and treatment.
In Sarcosan cultural traditions, the horse is the highest form of property and wealth, and only the kalif and their sussars are allowed to actually own them. Sarcosans of lower ranks are only allowed to ride and work their horses at the discretion of their sussars. In practice, it is members of the beeshi who handle most of a sworn rider’s horse stock, breeding and trading animals in their lords’ names.
The bestowing of horse rights is a key component of a sussar’s power, and having them is a defining feature of the rights of the lower ranks. Horse rights give a Sarcosan the legal and cultural right to care for, train, work, and ride horses and are a vital part of a Sarcosan’s pride and status. The lowest class can never be awarded horse rights, and one must leave the rank of shol before it is even possible. The asara can eventually earn their horse rights, but they are not an automatic privilege of the rank. Having one’s horse rights is a prerequisite for promotion to beeshi, and as a form of legal punishment, horse rights can be revoked temporarily or permanently depending upon the offense.
A Sarcosan with horse rights has the authority to trade for a horse or earn one in service to their sussar. Though it is understood that only the sussar can own horses, for all practical purposes, once a person acquires a horse it remains theirs until they lose their horse rights or the horse dies.
The horses of the Sarcosans are of a breed small, lean, and swift. Though not as rugged as the larger stock of Dornish breeders, they can run all day and are able to carry and pull loads that belie their smaller size. They range in color from glossy black to dark bays, have thick manes, and are without exception well cared for and trained. Many are experienced in combat, though most Sarcosan horse soldiers disdain heavy armor for their mounts; they claim that the animals’ speed and instincts are protection enough in battle.

Master Astrologers

The Sahi Priests are expert stargazers. For thousands of years, they have tracked the movements of the stars, reading portents and meaning in their paths. They believe that every event can be predicted by the patterns of the night sky and that the positions of the stars determine fate and fortune. The birth of a baby, the breaking of a horse, the marriage of a couple, or the fighting of a battle—all suffer the enigmatic influence of the Sorshef as it wheels through the heavens. The common belief in the influence of the stars is widespread and strong among those of Sarcosan descent. As a result, deference to the favor of the stars is given whenever possible. Crops are harvested, horses bred, marriages consummated, and even raids made when the stars are, if not right, then at least not wholly unfavorable.
The sky of the Sorshef is divided into ten Great Arcs. Each arc represents the realm of a different god-rider kalif and includes a specific host of constellations. The boundaries of the arcs are cryptic and confusing, known in their entirety only to the priesthood. The positions of the arcs slowly progress through an annual cycle during which each arc in turn holds a position of dominant influence called the helia. Each helia is approximately thirty-four days long and is believed to be the time of greatest scrutiny by the god-riders of that arc’s host. Each arc is further divided into increasingly irregular lesser helia that mark the attentions of specific host riders within a given arc. Not only do the passing of arcs and helias mark significant annual dates within the Sarcosan religious calendar, but they have also come to mark the passing of time in the secular world.
Though the elves have the most complete historical records in Eredane, and it is their historical calendar of ages by which history is described, it is the Sarcosan priesthood that provides the most accurate and detailed annual calendar. Since the Sarcosan invasion, the system of arcs and helias have infiltrated all the cultures of Eredane and is now used everywhere, in one form or another, to mark the passage of days and months within a year.

Sarcosan Sahi Calendar

Each day on Aryth is about 26 hours long, and each year is approximately 337 days. Adjusting for the vagaries of Sarcosan religious portents, each Great Arc is therefore about 34 days long. Each arc is further divided into lesser helias that vary in length between 2 and 17 days. Because of their inconsistency, and because only Sarcosan priests seem able to keep track of them all, the lesser helias are seldom used to mark time. There is one day during each helia, however, that is often used to measure time, and it is called the helial zenith. The zenith is the midpoint of each arc and marks the day on which the ascending arc transitions to the descending one.
For ease of comparison to known constants, note that because of the longer day length in Aryth, a character who has lived a given number of the shorter Aryth years is still just as old in game-world time as a person who has lived the same number of years in the real world.

Против Тени

In the south, the war against the Shadow involves intrigue and deception as much as brutal conflict. Even as the horse lords of the plains ride against the Shadow’s legions, spies and assassins grapple in the back alleys of the bustling cities.

Deceiving Appearances

Southern Erenland has not suffered nearly the destruction, death, and oppression that the Shadow’s legions have heaped on the Northlands. Though the people still live under the rule of Izrador’s minions, the conditions in the south are far better than those in the old Dornish kingdoms. Most cities still stand and have large populations. The weather is warm the year round, so winter snows do not threaten lives. There has been enough food so far, though shortages are common and becoming more so. For the greater part, the settlements are still governed by Sarcosans—puppets of Izrador, to be sure, but Sarcosan nonetheless. Though betrayers, and often brutal, they are more predictable and comprehensible than the orc warlords who oversee the occupation of most northern towns. The guards and city watches are also typically humans mustered from the local population, and unlike legion soldiers, they are more likely to be sympathetic, are easier to bribe, and are more open to infiltration.
These conditions conspire to create the false appearance of normal life in southern Erenland. On the surface, daily existence goes on with few external clues to the real changes, conflicts, and dangers that the Shadow’s conquest has created. A look beneath the surface, however, exposes the constant tension, distrust, and violence that haunt the people of the region.
Izrador’s reach is long, but his armies are not infinite, and the majority of their strength is now spent occupying the north and warring with the fey in the east and west. There are not yet enough orc legions garrisoned across the south, so the false sussars rely in part on collaborationist soldiers to police their lands. With sibling lording over sibling, there is a deeper sense of betrayal that tears communities apart and makes the violence all the more personal and painful. Punishment and reprisal follow each other in an endless cycle that ultimately plays out in the tragedy of Erenlander killing Erenlander.
It is not only the overt collaborators who feed the distrust and malice that characterize southern life under the Shadow. Hidden among the people are countless human agents and informers working for the enemy. Most are honorless opportunists who are concerned only for their own place in the new order. Others are desperate souls simply trying to protect their families or communities. Regardless, betrayal is rampant as peasants and nobles alike sell out both the guilty and the innocent in acts of vile self-interest.

The Freeriders

The nomadic and warlike history of the Sarcosans allowed the survivors of Izrador’s onslaught to take naturally to the lives of insurgent raiders, called freeriders. Their horsemanship, swordsmanship, camp-life expertise, and savanna survival skills give these bandit raiders significant advantage over the occupying forces of the Shadow.
The combination of their regional knowledge and horsemanship means the freeriders can come and go like plains mirages, and their mobile camps are almost impossible to find or catch. They make raids to disrupt enemy operations, to kill orc troops, and for weapons and other supplies. Their strikes are quick and deadly and infuriate the Shadow’s legions.
To fight fire with fire, the false sussars have long recruited local sellouts willing to hunt the freeriders using their own tricks against them. The tactic always meets with initial success until loyal Erenlanders infiltrate the traitor ranks, assassinating their leaders or betraying them to freerider ambushes. The families of such sellouts are ultimately identified, and in the dirty tactics of this kind of war, the threat of reprisal is often sufficient to deter the collaborators’ zeal. There are even stories of stalwart freerider bands that pass themselves off as mercenaries willing to hunt insurgents and sign on with the false sussars’ forces. They use the resources with which they are paid to support their own plans, and when the time is perfect, they turn on their employers, usually in some destructive act of sabotage and slaughter. The risks in such a double-crossing life are obvious and lethal.

Kalif Saida

Zari Mansoor is a charismatic and graying horse soldier of sharu rank and the leader of the largest band of freeriders on the open plains. His many devoted followers and sworn riders call him Kalif Saida, or “free person’s kalif.” In truth, Mansoor is of noble blood, but most of his family became enemy collaborators. Denouncing them all, he took to the plains where he wages a brutal resistance war, attacking orc caravans, raiding orc camps, and torching collaborationist holdings.
The Saida is also a very devout man and has gathered a group of warrior-priests around him as close advisors and personal guards. He calls them his Cedeku, named for the small, curved swords free Sarcosans always carry at their sides, and has made them all sworn riders. Their allegiance to him is unwavering, and each would gladly die in his defense. Mansoor’s success in resisting and evading the Shadow is renowned, and some have begun to whisper that he is not a man at all, but the mortal incarnation of Roheem, the Sarcosan god best known for his cleverness in battle and his ability to outwit his enemies. Though most believe this is highly unlikely, there are others, even among his personal guard, who are not so sure.

Samsi the Wanderer

Samsi seems almost a mythical figure among the outlying towns and villages of southern Erenland. She is a healer of great skill and a channeler of significant power. Despite the edicts against the use of magic and against travel, Samsi wanders the plains from town to hamlet, ministering to the sick and using her magic to help improve the lives of those she meets.
Though Samsi risks certain death by using her arcane powers, she seems to do so with the faith and impunity of the charmed. There are informants everywhere and fell minions of Izrador sensitive to the flow of magic, and yet Samsi wanders free. Many of the stories about her claim she charms all she meets to hide her passing. Others say she walks invisible in the high grass, allowing those who hunt her to pass harmlessly by.
Some say she is an old woman, bent and halfblind, who rides a pale mule. Others claim she is a young sussar woman of noble birth. In truth, Samsi is middle-aged, and though she is an orphan who has never been awarded higher caste, her good heart and bravery shame many of the highest rank.

Southern Insurgency

The southern Erenlanders had much longer to steel themselves against Izrador’s invasion than their northern compatriots. Many realized from the first that military resistance would be futile and instead chose to wage a covert insurgency against the Shadow’s minions. From the earliest days of the occupation, Sarcosans have fought an effective campaign of resistance that has not only cost the Shadow hordes dearly in lives and resources but has also served to give southern Erenlanders a measure of hope.
The Sarcosan resistance has been well organized from the start, led by experienced soldiers and supported by skilled and dedicated people. One of the reasons for its success is that its efforts have not all been military in nature. Instead, most have been clandestine actions intended to undermine the authority and erode the strength of the false sussars and their enforcers. Such actions include stealing weapon shipments, sinking naval ships at anchor, poisoning legions’ drinking water and food, and leading patrols on carefully choreographed wild goose chases. These and efforts like them have served to drain Izrador’s resources while keeping the insurgents themselves mostly out of harm’s way.
The fighters of this war are not only soldiers and warriors. Children, elders, farmers, taverners, craftspeople—people of all ranks and occupations are involved in the fight against the Shadow, and their everyday lives and commonplace appearances make each a uniquely effective agent of the resistance.
The insurgents are also clever in that they intentionally plan long periods of inactivity to lull the false sussars’ forces into complacency, then act suddenly on several fronts. This unpredictable pattern of action and dormancy has served to protect resistance fighters from the reprisals and periodic sweeps of the false sussars’ forces.
Perhaps most critical to the success of the insurgency is the social honor that southlanders have come to place on fighting in the resistance. Many have earned higher rank through service to the insurgency, and there is a collective pride that the people take in the insurgency’s accomplishments. This has greatly improved the general morale of the Southlands, offering dignity and hope in a world sorely lacking these things.
Unfortunately, the resistance has been too successful, and the Night Kings have taken notice. Unsatisfied with the false sussars’ ineffectual efforts to deal with the continued uprisings, they are sending more legions into the south to bolster the regional garrisons. They are also sending more legates to the courts of the false sussars, ostensibly as advisors but in reality as handlers to better control the actions of the Southland’s puppet rulers. The insurgency will soon find itself arrayed against still greater numbers controlled by far more ruthless and determined agents of the Shadow. It is also certain that this increased pressure will drive even more people to sell out their neighbors to protect themselves.

Места и особенности

The cities of the south have mostly remained intact under the Shadow’s occupation. However, some have been fully destroyed, and others are shattered remnants of their former selves.

Alvedara

Alvedara, or “the city of the monarch,” is a relatively young settlement but stood as the capital of Erenland and the pinnacle of southern culture. It straddles the Eren and was an important river port—the last major city on the voyage north until Erenhead. It was built in the traditional Sarcosan style but with a grandeur and beauty in its architecture far greater than that of other southern cities. High-spired, whitewashed towers, hammered gold domes, dazzling mosaics, the glittering ribbon of the river, and the rich green of the surrounding fields made Alvedara one of the most impressive and stunning cityscapes in all of Eredane.
The most fantastic features of all this glory were the twin Bridge Towers of the Kalif. These massive structures spanned the width of the Eren, arcing from one shore to the other. Each wide causeway supported a pair of tall, white towers in which the kalif and their family made their home and held court. The bridges were not only architectural wonders but were also the only non-ferry river crossing south of the Ardune, making Alvedara an important stop along most southern caravan routes.
The city’s fall stands as one of the bleakest events in the history of Erenland, and in the minds of most marks the day the Kingdom of Erenland was defeated. The betrayal of the kalif by the Night King Othaeron left the city all but undefended, and the Shadow army flooded into the town, pillaging and destroying. The horde tore down the city’s defenses and even managed to sunder one Bridge Tower. Today, Alvedara stands as a tragic reminder of Erenland’s past greatness, a once-beautiful city overrun with the Shadow’s armies and home to the court of Othaeron the Usurper.

Cambrial

Cambrial was once one of the largest cities in southern Erenland and home to a vibrant and cosmopolitan population. Among the Sarcosan majority lived Erenlanders, Dorns, elven traders, and even a few city-dwelling halflings. Even in the grim days at the end of the Third Age, the city remained a center for intercultural trade and was known throughout the southlands as the home of Sarcosan wizardry.
When the Shadow’s forces took southern Erenland, they attacked and razed Cambrial as a demonstration of their power and ruthlessness. They killed all who did not flee, filling the city’s streets with blood. At the command of the Night Kings, the bodies were purposely left untended, and soon, every last one rose as Fell. Neither time nor decay seemed to diminish the undead horde’s numbers, and many believe it is the infernal magic of Izrador that maintains them. Perhaps charmed by their tenacity, the Night King known as the Priest of Shadow has made Cambrial his most common lair, within which new undead monstrosities are constantly being born.
In the century since its fall, so many of the foul creatures have continued to haunt the place that the ruins of Cambrial have come to be known as the City of the Dead. The settlement and its environs have become so dangerous that even orc legions stay well clear of the region, if they can. Unfortunately, the Priest of Shadow and his legate servants require guards, servants, supplies, and all the other trappings of a community, so Sarcosans and Erenlanders are commonly rounded up and replanted in the various keeps and secured buildings of Cambrial. There, they are forced to do their best to raise food and meet their enslavers’ needs while avoiding the often uncontrolled Fell and other, more powerful undead that roam the ruined sections of the city and its outskirts. No more than a thousand humans and halflings live there at any given time… though that number begins dropping from the moment a “fresh” shipment of transplants arrives, and it must be supplemented every few years. No one knows how many undead roam the city and its environs, but those few who have escaped the place alive say that they must outnumber the living by a ratio of ten to one, at least.

Farodun

Farodun was once a tiny, insignificant village of which few in the city of Sharuun had ever heard. When the Shadow’s puppet rulers took over the great city, thousands fled to the countryside. Over a thousand of these refugees eventually found their way to Farodun, and now, almost a hundred years later, the refugee-camp history of the town is still evident. There is little order to the streets, the fields, or the government. There is constant contention between the inhabitants, petty crime is rampant, and there is seldom enough of anything to go around. Word has spread of the degenerate refuge, and insurgents, thieves, murderers, and worse now drift into the town looking for a temporary hideout. The original populace is as powerless against these brutes and bandits as it would be against raiding orcs.

Paol

Paol is a small fishing town in an almost forgotten corner of the Sarcosan south. The village survived on fishing and smuggling during the Third Age and was a resistance base until 84 LA, when it was overrun by a Shadow legion. Still, the enemy’s control is minimal. It is only because the freeriders have other concerns and the Danisil do not venture onto the plains that the Shadow retains control of this area.
Paol’s true life is in its harbor and the ships that dock there. It is hard to tell the privateers from the freebooters, but almost everyone in Paol makes their livelihood as sea raiders of one kind or another. Many are secretly resistance fighters, targeting the Shadow’s vessels and then hiding under the enemy’s very nose in Paol, while others prey on anything that floats.
There are always numerous ships at anchor in the large bay and more coming and going all the time. The town itself is a raucous and dangerous place, as drunken sea dogs and knife-toting sailors spend their shore leave, conscript new hands, fight over booty, and spy for both sides of the war.

Sharuun

Sharuun was once a great seaport and is still the biggest city in Eredane. If not for the occupation, the city would be much like any other large port town around the world. It is a mix of architectural styles from across Aryth and home to more cultures than any other city on the continent. Humans of Sarcosan heritage dominate the population, but even one hundred years after the fall of Erenland there are still descendants of foreigners who are forced to make the place their home. The city was once the center of overseas trade in Eredane and stood as the gateway to the Eren River. This generated huge profits for the trading companies and local sussars and gave the city significant influence across the continent. Today, Sharuun is a shadow of its former greatness, and its influence barely reaches the people of its own region.
Sharuun sits on the coast just east of the Eren River delta and was built on the ruins of the first human settlement on the continent. Some of the larger village mounds of the first Dornish settlers now support younger, Sarcosan-built structures near the town center. The settlement is sprawling and shows the sometimes-random layout of old cities, where new construction mixes with old and choices made centuries ago affect the lay of things today.
The waterfront is enormous, with a dozen massive stone quays and countless decayed, wooden docks. Large stone and wood warehouses mostly lie empty, and the great boat-building yards have not launched a ship in living memory. Where countless vessels from far-off lands once moored and offloaded goods, now only a few fishing boats dump their daily catches. The last remnants of a few burned and rotted ships lie mired in the bottom next to the unused docks, and the only large vessels that still sail the bay are patrol craft and war galleons crewed by the Shadow’s sailors.
Between the waterfront and the city center once stood the dense warren of shops, booths, and carts that made up the Far Lands Market. The market was a huge bazaar that featured wares from every corner of Eredane and every known land beyond. If it could be found for sale anywhere, it was once found in this bazaar. Now the Far Lands Market is a decrepit collection of decaying buildings and empty lots, home to beggars, thieves, and other shol. Only a small corner of the original bazaar remains active, and that only as a fish and farmers’ market.
The massive Plaza of the Sorshef occupies the center of the city and is paved with huge mosaics depicting scenes from classic parables of the Sahi. At the western end stands the enormous Palace of the Stars. Tall whitewashed towers, domes covered in hammered gold, sprawling gardens, and a dozen glittering fountains make the palace a beautiful and impressive place. Its glory is now marred by an ugly gray wall that the first of the city’s false sussars built to protect himself from his own subjects.
At the eastern end of the plaza stands the Great Badrua—a tall star tower built of red stone cut and shipped from the shores of the island of Asmadar. The tower once held the fabled Book of the Sahi and the army of acolytes and priests who studied its teachings. The star tower now stands empty and sealed by order of the false sussars. Under the dominion of the Shadow, worship of any god but Izrador is punishable by death, and the priests have long fled with the holy artifact. The priests have taken up working roles among the common people, and no one knows where the Book of the Sahi is hidden.
The western, upwind end of the city once held the large, walled estates of the sussars, rich nobles, merchants, and politicians. Now, these manors are occupied by the petty lords who serve the false sussars. Just north of the plaza is the craftspeople’s quarter, which fronts a residential district occupied by merchants, traders, alchemists, healers, and others of the middle castes. The eastern end of the city is a packed maze of warehouses, stockyards, tanneries, and shacks where the poorest members of the lowest ranks make their homes. Beyond in every direction lie farms, large and small, and the vast pasturelands that support the great southlander horse herds.

Zorgetch

Clerks swarm over this tent city, sorting mountains of materials into useable supplies. Flotillas of gnomish ships carry the sorted supplies from their artificial mountains to the front lines, while enslaved halflings haul caravans to garrisons throughout southern Erenland. In the meantime, orc recruits muster on fields large enough to contain all of the free people’s remaining hosts. Goblinoid armies guard the camp itself, for its loss would inconvenience Izrador’s armies in the south.