Kathuri - Cilanis
"The desert does not offer forgiveness, nor does it hold grudges. It simply is, a vast mirror of the soul, polished to cruelty by wind and heat. Among its sands move the Kathuri, those whose blood sings of balance, and whose claws etch the story of survival into stone.
We think ourselves builders of empires, shapers of futures, makers of law. The Kathuri laugh at such delusions, though seldom aloud. They know better than any that the world does not ask for monuments or memories. It demands only that you endure, and endure rightly.
Their names are weighted like coins against the scales of time, bought dearly through sweat and sacrifice, or surrendered utterly to the Cycle when the self must dissolve into the greater pattern. To encounter a Kathuri is to glimpse not another culture, but another law: a geometry of spirit drawn in sand, rewritten with every breath, and yet eternal."
Introduction
Among the speaking peoples of Arora, none are so shrouded in solemn dignity as the Kathuri of Safah. Feline in form yet austere in manner, they are heirs to a civilisation older than many empires, yet they wear their inheritance lightly, as a cloak too precious to display openly. To the outsider, they seem at once sparse and elaborate, blending the practical resilience of desert wanderers with the spiritual gravitas of ancient philosophers.
It is said by those few scholars who have survived journeys into Safah that the Kathuri do not seek to master the desert, nor to escape it. They seek to become as the desert itself: patient, enduring, implacable. This philosophy, distilled into the teachings of the Cult of the Cycle, permeates every aspect of Kathuri existence. Balance is not a metaphor to them, but a living demand, an obligation that governs invention, ambition, and even mercy. To act without weighing consequence is, among the Kathuri, a sin greater than betrayal or cowardice.
Their society is at once communal and severe. Tribes cluster around hidden oases, maintaining ancient waterworks whose designs defy understanding, while elite Orders of the Cycle weave law, faith, and governance into a seamless whole. To the Kathuri, technology is not a frontier to be pushed, but a sacred trust to be wielded only with reverence. Those who would pry open the secrets of the world without proper cause risk shattering the balance, and earning exile worse than death.
The Pilgrimage, the central rite of Kathuri adulthood, stands as a crucible by which the worthy are proven. Those who return with mighty gifts or profound knowledge do are honoured beyond reckoning, their names sung into the sands; those who fail linger beyond Safah's borders, adrift and nameless, haunting the caravanserais and shadow-markets of foreign lands. Thus, the Kathuri we encounter beyond their homeland are but echoes. The desert keeps its truest children close or calls them home in silence.
To speak of the Kathuri, then, is to speak of silence shaped into will, of lives balanced upon the razor-edge of necessity. They are not a people of monuments. They are a people of moments, fleeting, precise, and endlessly enduring.
Mechanics
Uncommon Humanoid Feline
Source: Arora Homebrew
The Kathuri are a desert-born feline species renowned for their balance of precision, endurance, and self-restraint. Slender, agile, and spiritually grounded, they have been shaped not by conquest or inheritance but by the brutal equilibrium of their homeland, the searing dunes and wind-carved cliffs of Safah. Where others build cities to tame the world, the Kathuri adapt themselves to it, seeking alignment rather than dominion.
Each Kathuri is expected to live in harmony with the teachings of the Cycle, a doctrine of balance that infuses every aspect of their culture. Their philosophy forbids excess and punishes recklessness, placing immense value on control, foresight, and intention. Even their tools, their movements, and their silences carry meaning. To be Kathuri is not simply to survive, but to do so rightly.
Those who undergo the Pilgrimage, the trial by which adulthood is earned, often leave Safah and are encountered as travellers, bodyguards, artisans, or spiritual advisors in distant lands. But most Kathuri remain within the shifting sands, preserving ancient rites and watching the world through half-lidded eyes, as though measuring whether it is worth intervening at all.
You Might...
- Live by a strict personal code rooted in balance, restraint, or spiritual clarity.
- Listen longer than you speak, and judge actions more than words.
- Pursue mastery in your craft, body, or philosophy, not for glory, but for completeness.
- Be slow to trust outsiders, but fiercely loyal once your confidence is earned.
Others Probably...
- See you as poised, inscrutable, or frustratingly reserved.
- Assume you follow strange rules, or speak in riddles and parables.[/li>
- Believe you are wise, or arrogant, beyond your years.[/li>
- Respect your grace and discipline, even if they do not understand them.[/li>
Physical Description
Kathuri are lithe and feline, with digitigrade legs, long tails, and fur-covered bodies adapted to intense heat and sudden movement. They stand between 1.2 and 1.6 metres tall, with narrow shoulders, powerful thighs, and exceptional agility. Their fur ranges from sandy beige and gold to deep umber and pale white, often marked with rosettes or stripes that provide natural camouflage amid dunes and stone.
Their large, slitted eyes offer low-light vision, and their sensitive ears and tails serve as both environmental sensors and tools of communication. Kathuri facial expressions are subtle, relying more on posture, stillness, and controlled gesture than on overt emotional display. The overall impression is one of fluid restraint, a creature always poised, always considering.
Society
Kathuri society is built on two interwoven foundations: clan bonds, and the spiritual doctrine of The Cycle. Each clan, whether nomadic or settled, exists in harmony with its environment and maintains strict traditions of resource sharing, ritual etiquette, and generational stewardship. Elders are respected not for their dominance, but for their balance, those who walk without disturbing the world around them.
Decisions are made communally, often in long circles of debate moderated by those trained in the teachings of the The Cult of the Cycle. Children are raised collectively, and every adult is expected to pass on a skill or story that anchors their place in the web of life. Namehood, and adulthood, is only granted upon return from one’s Pilgrimage, a solo journey into the world beyond, meant to reveal one’s purpose through trial and reflection.
Beliefs
The spiritual heart of Kathuri life is the The Cult of the Cycle, which teaches that all existence is bound by the endless interplay of Tao (order, stasis, tradition) and Khaos (change, entropy, growth). Neither force is evil; both are necessary. But imbalance, in self, in society, in the world, is dangerous and must be corrected.
Kathuri spiritual practice emphasises meditation, self-control, and attunement to patterns both visible and invisible. Shamans of the Cycle interpret dreams, resolve disputes, and guide others in realigning their path with the greater balance. Those who reject the Cycle, or violate its laws, may face ritual exile, severed from name, kin, and place, until they return to harmony or are lost to the sand.
Popular Edicts
- Act with intention and balance; do not move hastily or speak without weight.
- Master your passions before they master you.
- Preserve harmony, within your clan, your craft, and the land itself.
- Endure hardship without complaint; suffering is part of the Cycle.
Popular Anathema
- Waste water, food, or effort in the pursuit of vanity or vengeance.
- Disturb ancient places or artefacts without cause or purpose.[/li>
- Exploit others for gain without weighing spiritual cost.[/li>
- Break oaths sworn before the Cycle or one’s clan.[/li>
Names
Kathuri names often include an aspirational or symbolic element tied to a virtue, natural force, or ancestral role. Many adopt or earn titles after their Pilgrimage, names that reflect not what they are born to, but what they have chosen or overcome. Full names may include a personal name, a clan name, and a ritual honourific related to their role in the Cycle.
Sample Names: Sahir Duvan, Tavaresh, Ralun of the Burning Moon, Miraka Sand-Eater, Nasir Stone-Walker, Silha of the Broken Step]
Kathuri Mechanics
- Hit Points: 8
- Size: Medium
- Speed: 25 feet
- Lifespan: 70 years
- Available Ethnicities: Safahi, Exun
- Attribute Boosts: Dexterity, Charisma, Free
- Attribute Flaw: Wisdom
- Traits: Humanoid, Feline
Species Traits
- Low-Light Vision: You can see in dim light as though it were bright light. You ignore the concealed condition due to dim light.
- Land on Your Feet: When you fall, you take only half damage and do not land prone.
- Wall-Climber: You have a Climb Speed of 20 feet, allowing you to move up vertical surfaces with ease. This represents your natural agility and the strength of your claws, honed on canyon walls and ruined stone alike.
- Desert Endurance: You treat extreme heat as one level less severe, and gain a +1 circumstance bonus on saves to resist fatigue, dehydration, or forced marches.
"The desert sharpens what it does not shatter. Beneath the sand’s cruelty, the Kathuri were not broken, they were refined."
Biology
The Kathuri are not mere wanderers of the dunes; they are children of the desert, shaped by its brutal wisdom into beings of grace, endurance, and fierce intelligence. Where softer races might have perished, the Kathuri thrived, honing bodies and senses until every movement spoke of purpose, and every breath carried the lessons of survival. Their physiology is a testament not to conquest, but to perfect adaptation.
The following entries detail the fundamental traits that distinguish the Kathuri, revealing how they have been sculpted by the endless pressures of sand, heat, and hunger into one of Arora’s most resilient peoples.
Kathuri anatomy is a study in precision. Slender yet muscular, their frames are built for both swift endurance and explosive agility, equally adept at scaling rocky crags or vanishing across the open dunes. Their limbs are long and powerful, ending in paws equipped with retractable claws sharp enough to serve both in the hunt and in combat. They stand digitigrade, their stance lending them a predatory grace unfamiliar to plantigrade species.
Their tails are long, flexible, and highly expressive, aiding in balance during rapid manoeuvres and serving as a critical tool for non-verbal communication. Sensory adaptations abound: their nostrils can close against wind-driven sand, and a fine membrane can shield their slit-pupiled eyes from the blinding glare of midday sun. Sharp hearing, acute olfaction, and an innate sense of spatial orientation render the Kathuri virtually unmatchable in their native terrain.
Kathuri reproduction is relatively slow and deliberate compared to other sentient species. Gestation typically spans seven to eight months, and births are usually singular, with twins being rare and culturally significant. Infancy is marked by extreme dependency, and parental bonds are profoundly strong, a natural consequence of the high mortality risk inherent in desert life.
Crossbreeding with other races is biologically impossible. Genetic variation among Kathuri is high, however, particularly regarding fur patterns and coloration, reflecting both adaptation and the ancient divergences between clans. Inheritance is matrilineal in many tribes, with the mother's lineage determining certain ritual and spiritual affiliations.
Kathuri progress through four main life stages: cubhood (birth to roughly 14 years), adolescence (14–25 years), adulthood (25–70 years), and elderhood (70+ years). Unlike many species, mere physical maturity is insufficient for full societal standing; the successful completion of one's Pilgrimage marks true entry into adulthood.
A Kathuri who has not yet returned from pilgrimage, regardless of physical age, is still considered a "wanderer", a status accorded both respect and wary pity. Elders, especially those who have served within the Cult of the Cycle, are revered not simply for longevity, but for accumulated wisdom and balance.
Kathuri do not undergo dramatic seasonal shifts, but their bodies adapt subtly to environmental extremes. Fur becomes thicker and slightly paler during the brief Safahi winters, while in the searing summer months, their internal water retention increases, and their activity patterns shift toward nocturnality.
During extreme drought or famine, some Kathuri enter a state of reduced metabolic activity, a semi-torpor marked by slowed pulse and reduced need for water. While risky, this adaptation has saved entire clans during catastrophic seasons when lesser peoples would have perished.
Cognitively, the Kathuri are remarkable for their blend of instinctual precision and reflective depth. Their memories are prodigious, particularly regarding spatial information and interpersonal dynamics. While they are capable of abstract thought and innovation, cultural values often favour applied wisdom over idle theorisation.
A Kathuri mind prizes equilibrium: emotional self-mastery, tactical foresight, and measured ambition. Intelligence is respected, but it is the fusion of intellect with self-discipline that defines true greatness among their people.
"To walk the dunes and see a Kathuri in their element is to glimpse a creature shaped not by whim nor mercy, but by the stern, ancient will of the desert itself."
Appearance and Adaptation
Kathuri appearance is a mirror held up to the harsh landscape of Safah: every line of their bodies, every hue of their pelts, speaks of adaptation honed by necessity. They are not statues wrought in marble nor paintings of idealised beauty; they are living instruments, tuned to survival, grace, and equilibrium amid an indifferent world.
Their aesthetic diversity is less a matter of regional difference than of lineage and clan tradition, with certain traits prized for the advantages they confer in specific terrains, paler coats in the deep dunes, heavier builds among the stony uplands, sharper claws in the labyrinthine canyon regions.
The following entries detail the principal physical characteristics and environmental adaptations that distinguish the Kathuri among Arora's sapient peoples.
The average Kathuri stands between 1.2 and 1.6 metres in height, though their lithe frames often make them appear taller at a distance. Their musculature is lean but dense, optimised for sudden bursts of movement rather than brute strength. Shoulders are narrow but powerful; hips flexible; digits elongated and tipped with retractable claws.
The Kathuri move with a fluidity that borders on the unnatural to untrained eyes: a ceaseless balancing of tension and release. Their tails, long and sinuous, act as dynamic counterweights, enabling feats of acrobatic agility that few others could replicate. When at rest, they exude a stillness so profound that they seem more sculpture than creature, a testament to their control of body and breath alike.
Their faces are elongated and sharply elegant: narrow muzzles, pronounced cheekbones, and high, tapering brows form the foundation of Kathuri countenance. Their ears, sharply pointed and finely muscled, can swivel independently to track the slightest sounds, while their nostrils are capable of contracting against the assault of sand-laden winds.
The eyes are perhaps their most arresting feature, large, almond-shaped, and brilliant in hue, often shades of green, gold, or amber. Their pupils slit vertically, capable of contracting to needlepoints in fierce sun or dilating to near-circles in the twilight, affording them superior night vision that borders on the uncanny.
Fur covers the Kathuri body from the crown of the head to the tip of the tail, with the notable exception of their palms, soles, and most of the face, where short velvet-like fuzz gives way to exposed skin. This fur is both armour and shroud, soft to the touch yet dense enough to shield against the searing sun and abrasive sands.
Colouration varies by lineage and regional adaptation. Most Kathuri sport coats in shades of sandy beige, ochre, tawny gold, or deep umber. Markings such as rosettes, stripes, or faint dapples are common, blending them seamlessly into the dun-coloured wastes of Safah. In rare instances, individuals born under auspicious omens may display near-white or near-black coats, traits regarded with reverent superstition among many clans.
Camouflage is not merely a survival trait; it is a cultural hallmark. To the Kathuri, to vanish into the land is to honour the land, and those whose coats most perfectly mimic Safah’s hues are often afforded quiet prestige.
While Kathuri are largely independent creatures in biological terms, they share a complex relationship with several species native to Safah. Chief among these are the sand gliders, nimble lizards semi-domesticated for pest control and navigation aid within the deeper dunes. A symbiotic, if informal, bond exists between nomadic Kathuri clans and these creatures.
Parasitic threats are few, thanks to rigorous grooming rituals and natural defences provided by their fur oils. However, fungal infections and desert-borne skin parasites occasionally pose threats during particularly humid seasons near Safah’s rare oases, necessitating vigilant communal hygiene traditions.
"One does not conquer the desert. One learns its silences, suffers its tempers, and becomes part of its endless forgetting."
Habitat and Lifestyle
Among the myriad peoples of Arora, few live in closer conversation with their land than the Kathuri. Safah, with its breath of fire and bone, does not nurture the weak nor forgive the unwary. In its crucible, the Kathuri have fashioned lives not in defiance of the desert, but in step with its implacable rhythms. Their settlements, their diets, even their philosophies are braided inseparably into the landscape, harsh, austere, and full of fierce beauty.
Though diaspora and pilgrimage have seeded Kathuri footprints across distant lands, the soul of their people remains anchored in Safah’s dunes, wadis, and crumbling cliffs. Here, survival is not merely a challenge, but a sacred discipline.
Safah, the great desert subcontinent, is both cradle and crucible to the Kathuri. They inhabit its dunes, rocky plateaus, salt flats, and rare oasis chains with unparalleled intimacy. Permanent settlements are few, clustered around natural springs or hidden within shaded cavern systems that preserve moisture and shelter from the worst sandstorms.
Nomadism remains a central mode of life, especially among those not tied directly to the Cult of the Cycle’s ancient enclaves. Nomadic Kathuri move along ancestral migration routes, following seasonal water sources, ancient waystones, and celestial navigation markers known only to their kin-groups. Even among "settled" communities, transience is respected, no place, however rich, is held in arrogance against the shifting desert.
Outside of Safah, scattered enclaves exist, often in port cities, border markets, or forgotten ruins. These expatriate Kathuri often live as mercenaries, traders, or scholars, their presence a faint echo of the Pilgrimage tradition writ into their flesh and spirit.
The Kathuri diet is necessarily pragmatic, woven from scarcity and invention. In Safah, meat is rare and prized; small game, reptiles, and fish from desert springs form vital protein sources. Grains and legumes are painstakingly cultivated in terraced oasis gardens, often supplemented with foraged roots, desert berries, and cactus pulp.
Water is the true currency of life, and elaborate systems of cisterns, underground reservoirs, and dew traps ensure that none of it is wasted. Communal water sharing rituals govern distribution, with strict taboos against waste. It is said that "no theft cuts deeper than water stolen," and such crimes are punished with exile or death.
Outside Safah, Kathuri adapt swiftly to foreign cuisines, though many retain personal rites of fasting or selective eating to honour their desert-born discipline.
Social cohesion among the Kathuri is as vital as water, and as precarious. Fierce independence runs alongside profound communal loyalty, each balancing the other in a delicate, ever-negotiated dance. Respect is granted through deeds rather than birthright, and hierarchy is fluid, often tested and reshaped by trial or Pilgrimage.
Emotional restraint is valued highly. Outbursts, whether of joy, rage, or grief, are seen as dangerously wasteful acts, akin to spilling water upon barren stone. Instead, Kathuri cultivate poise, measured words, and eloquent body language where tails, ears, and subtle posture shifts often speak louder than tongues.
Ritual forms the bedrock of daily life. From communal meals to burial rites to the quiet prayers said before setting out across open sand, tradition is not mere habit but armour against the chaos of an uncaring world.
At the heart of Kathuri society lies the twin pillars of Clan and Tribe. Clans, tight kinship groups defined by blood, adoption, or shared Pilgrimage, form the primary social unit. Several Clans often band together into Tribes, presided over by councils of Elders and spiritual leaders from the Cult of the Cycle.
Authority is consultative rather than absolute. Decisions are reached through patient deliberation, with dissent considered a vital, even sacred, component of wisdom. Those who prove themselves, by survival, contribution, or spiritual insight, rise to positions of influence regardless of age or origin.
Ties between Clans are often reinforced through solemn oaths, marriages, and ritualised contests of skill. Betrayal of such ties is a grave transgression, echoing the natural cycles of trust and betrayal found in the harsh realities of Safah’s life-and-death economy.
"To craft beauty in the desert is not vanity; it is rebellion against oblivion."
Culture and Civilisation
Among the Kathuri, culture is not ornament, but survival itself. Each dance, each woven thread, each whispered prayer is a bulwark against the erasure promised by the sands of Safah. Their way of life is founded upon a reverence for balance: between self and clan, chaos and order, ambition and duty. They do not build monuments to endure eternity; they weave traditions meant to ripple across generations like water across stone.
In the inhospitable cradle of their homeland, the Kathuri have refined social arts to a level unseen among more comfortable peoples. Their customs, though alien to many outsiders, reveal a profound understanding of life's impermanence, and a stubborn refusal to meet it with despair.
Kathuri culture prizes subtlety, endurance, and mastery of one's passions. Creativity is expressed through discipline rather than reckless innovation. Artisans perfect techniques over lifetimes; storytellers weave histories with layers of meaning understood only by the attentive. Great value is placed on personal restraint, humility before the forces of nature, and harmonious coexistence within the clan and tribe.
Conflict, when it arises, is ritualised: disputes are settled through contests of agility, wit, or endurance rather than wanton violence. Honour is a fluid, living thing, a measure not of rigid status but of one's ongoing contributions to balance and survival.
The Cult of the Cycle weaves through every layer of Kathuri existence, teaching that all things move in an endless dance of Tao (Order) and Khaos (Chaos). True wisdom lies not in defying either force, but in recognising when to yield and when to resist.
The Kathuri language family is bifurcated into two primary branches:
- Old Safahian: The ancient, ritualistic tongue of the Cult of the Cycle. It is poetic, layered in symbolism, and often reserved for ceremony, diplomacy, and philosophical discourse.
- Low Kathuri Dialects: Everyday tongues that vary by region and clan, encompassing dozens of sub-dialects. These dialects are practical, terse, and deeply tied to the needs of desert life, with rich vocabularies for describing terrain, weather, and survival tactics.
Mutual intelligibility exists across Low Kathuri dialects, though misunderstandings are common between distant clans. Those versed in Old Safahian command great respect, for they are seen as stewards of cultural memory.
The Cult of the Cycle is the cornerstone of Kathuri spirituality. Its teachings hold that all existence is governed by the interplay of Tao (the force of structure, permanence, and tradition) and Khaos (the force of change, entropy, and renewal). Neither is inherently good or evil; imbalance is the true enemy.
Practices include seasonal rituals tied to the stars, rites of passage marking life’s great transitions, and daily meditations on personal duty and humility. Servants of the Cycle, those who renounce their personal names to embody the balance, serve as spiritual guides and mediators within Kathuri society.
Outside the Cult, folk beliefs persist: minor spirit cults, ancestor veneration, and omens read in shifting sands or the flights of desert birds. These traditions, though diverse, ultimately reinforce the central tenet: that nothing is permanent, and wisdom lies in navigating the currents of change.
The Kathuri hold certain taboos with a fervour rarely matched among other peoples. Chief among them is the waste of vital resources, particularly water, which is seen as both a practical and spiritual crime. Theft of water is punished with exile, if not death.
Disrupting the sacred balance between individual and community is likewise condemned. Deeds that elevate personal ambition above tribal survival, betrayal, abandonment, or reckless violence, are met with ritual shaming or formal duels of expiation.
Names carry immense weight among the Kathuri. To take or misuse another’s name without permission is considered a grievous insult, for names are seen as repositories of spirit and destiny. Hence, the renunciation of names by Servants of the Cycle is regarded as the ultimate act of humility and devotion.
"Safah is not a desert of sand and sun alone. It is a desert of memory, where even the dead must walk long before they are allowed to sleep."
History and Relations
The history of the Kathuri is written not in sprawling empires or towering monuments, but in the whispered paths of the dunes, the stars traced by pilgrim eyes, and the bones buried beneath the sands. To outsiders, their past appears elusive, fragmented, and steeped in allegory. Yet to the Kathuri themselves, history is a living current, a thread of survival and spiritual striving woven through the endless cycles of change.
While the grand chronicles of human kingdoms and Mni realms often overlook the Kathuri, it would be a grave error to mistake their modest footprint for insignificance. Their influence is quiet but deep, like an underground river shaping unseen caverns across ages. Their customs, rites, and very bodies bear witness to a story of resilience unmatched by any other people of Arora.
According to Kathuri tradition, their ancestors emerged not from conquest or exodus, but from an ancient covenant with the desert itself. Early myths speak of the First Cycle, a primordial age when all beings walked in balance, and the sands were not yet cruel. As imbalance grew, the desert hardened, and the ancestors who adapted to its trials were granted the legacy of the Kathuri form.
Scholars from beyond Safah speculate that the Kathuri may have arisen from a now-extinct progenitor race, adapting swiftly through natural pressures and perhaps guided cultural selection. Yet archaeological traces are rare, half-buried beneath moving dunes and veiled by Kathuri secrecy.
Migration beyond Safah was never a mass movement but a ritualised scattering: the Pilgrimage. Individual Kathuri, upon reaching adulthood, set forth into the wider world, not as colonisers, but as seekers. Through these countless personal journeys, fragments of Kathuri presence touch many distant lands, though few outsiders ever glimpse their true heart.
Unlike the empires of Erothi or the Directorate of Valenfar, Kathuri civilisational trends are cyclical rather than linear. Tribes rise in prominence through charismatic leaders, discovery of hidden wells, or prophetic visions, only to decline and fragment as resources shift or leadership fails. Such cycles are accepted, even expected: permanence is seen as both unnatural and dangerous.
Great gathering sites, oasis cities like Sahmir, or hidden subterranean enclaves such as Lujan's Refuge, have risen and fallen over the centuries, each leaving behind myths, relics, and occasional ruins swallowed by the sands.
Throughout all these cycles, the Cult of the Cycle has endured, not as a ruling empire but as a resilient thread binding Kathuri identity across generations and collapses. Through feast, rite, and story, they weave memory into the fabric of survival itself.
To most other peoples of Arora, the Kathuri remain an enigma: a whisper in caravanserai tales, a fleeting glimpse of a cloaked figure in a border market. Their insularity breeds myths, many contradictory: to some they are cunning merchants, to others fanatical zealots, to yet others, wise navigators of secrets lost to time.
Relations with humans are shaped largely by context. In trade hubs, Kathuri are respected, albeit cautiously, for their sharp negotiation skills and rare desert goods. In frontier regions, they are sometimes mistrusted as spies or relic hunters.
Among the Mni-descended peoples, the Kathuri evoke a curious mixture of admiration and pity: admiration for their survival against hostile lands, pity for their self-imposed distance from the grand interwoven histories of Valenfar and Erothi.
With the Urman tribes, especially those of arid and semi-arid regions, the Kathuri occasionally find camaraderie, a shared respect for hardship, kin-loyalty, and the bitter humour of those who live at the mercy of indifferent skies.
Seishi and Paokus interactions are rare but marked by mutual pragmatism: the Kathuri offer survival knowledge or scarce desert goods in exchange for passage or resources, but rarely seek deeper entanglements. The amphibious Seishi in particular regard the Kathuri’s desert-bound life with a mixture of fascination and bafflement.
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