People of the Sands

The people who make their homes throughout the Wild Winds Desert are as diverse and vibrant as the sparkling sands. Painted elves tend their now petrified great forest. Mountain and Sand dwarves harvest and work the great wealth of minerals found in the desert. Halflings walk the sand roads, keeping goods and information flowing between cities and the clans of the desert. Orcs, Lizardfolk, Gnolls, and other wild folk live by raiding settlements, as mercenaries, or by foraging what little there is to be found in the Great Sand Sea. Plane-touched folk, either the children of genies or those with some genie blood farther back in their lineage are very common. Those with the blood of the upper and lower planes, aasimar, and tieflings are very uncommon, they find the desert an uncomfortable and hostile place. The newest people to make their homes in the region are the harengon. Two large families of the hearty hare-folk have recently settled in the Four Rivers kingdom. They are quickly making names for themselves as hardworking and talented farmers and fearless and bold adventurers. Below are the most common species found in the Wild Winds Desert. Given the expensive trade, especially in the Four Rivers, most species that make their home within Ermendia can be found in small numbers somewhere in the region.

Humans:

Humans are the most common people in the region, even though they have no biological adaptations to help them survive. They usually fall into one of three social groups: settled folk, herders, or desert nomads. With how much the varied peoples of the desert mix, trade, and live together there are many whose parentage is only half human. Muls, Porterlings, Half-elves, and Half-orcs are all common and make their homes in human settlements with little to no stigma. Settled folk are widely considered the most civilized of the human people in the region, primarily because they live in permanent communities. They dwell in commercial centers varying in size from villages to cities, where merchant caravans, nomad tribes, and now trains come to buy, sell, and trade. All manner of goods pass through these settlements, from precious metals and gemstones to grains, dried fruits, and spices. Despite their enlightened views on commerce and civilization, the settled folk are not always held in high regard by their neighbors. Because these folk rely on trade and shipping to maintain (and expand) their cities, they tend to enforce their civilization on anyone within reach—and their reach extends a little farther each year. When commerce falters these cities frequently turn to war against both the tribes of the desert and their fellow cities.
Herders are tribal folk who make their homes in and among the mountains and foothills, taking advantage of the cooler air afforded by cave dwellings—even if they must create artificial caves. Frequently built around subterranean water sources, the cliff dwellings of herders are elaborate affairs, made of dried mud and connected by complicated networks of narrow stairs and wooden ladders. These cliffside domiciles are seasonal. The entire tribe makes two or three yearly migrations to similar cliff dwellings in other parts of the desert, usually following the movements of their preferred herd animals. Herders engage in frequent trade with permanent communities in the mountains and the plains, obtaining what they cannot construct themselves. While essentially peaceful people, herders are fiercely protective of their herds and their homes, and they can be intolerant of the slightest threat to either. These communities are often found alongside and intermingled with halflings and dwarves.
Desert nomads are humans who have most thoroughly adapted to the desert-dwelling life. Proud and rugged, they live in the harshest parts of the region, surviving on what they can gather and trade for. Ingenuity sees them through—desert nomads are quite adept at constructing the tools and weapons they need out of whatever is at hand. Desert nomads subsist almost entirely on hunting and gathering. They cultivate no crops. Raiding sometimes gets them what they want, and they have the safety of the vast deserts to protect them when their victims seek vengeance. Most nomads travel in small family groups and are largely disinterested in taking what doesn’t belong to them. Desert nomads can travel for weeks or even months without seeing another person, so maintaining good relations with those they encounter is often a high priority. Trade isn’t necessary for desert nomads to survive, but it does sometimes give them access to equipment. They especially prize gear that might enable them to travel a bit faster or to carry supplies they might otherwise leave behind. These tribes live very similar lives to many of the orcs and other wild folks of the Great Sand Sea.

Elves:

Painted Elves and Grey Elves both make their homes in the Wild Winds Desert. The painted elves of the Wild Wind Desert dwell in the petrified forests—which they claim was their ancestral home in the past. The painted elves take their name from the nature of the forest in which they dwell, but also from their habit of camouflaging themselves with pigments derived from the mineral deposits found in the clay of their home. Though they rarely see visitors painted elves are extremely distrustful of outsiders and can turn on guests at the slightest provocation. The painted elves make some of the most powerful and sought-after bows in all the world. Some of the tribes are rumored to be cannibalistic this is certainly a rumor and nothing else.
A few families of grey elves have recently, for elves at least, migrated to The Deserted Heights. They were guided here from farther south by a prophecy and their small community is quickly growing. They are isolated and mostly self-reliant, only coming down from the mountains a few times a year to trade for supplies and goods they can't make themselves. The few adventurers that leave their village are almost always focused on finding lost and ancient texts, especially about prophecy. A small but growing library of prophecies and foretellings is being amassed in their village.

Dwarves:

The dwarves of the Wild Winds Desert are divided into two social groups. The dwarves of the mountains who make their homes in and around the great mountain cities, and the dwarves of the sands, also called Zamd Vanderez, who spend their lives crisscrossing the desert searching for and harvesting the mineral wealth of the Great Sand Sea. The dwarves of the mountains are much more diverse with lots of different families and clans living together. They also interact more with the other species of the region. Many of the technological developments including the train system and blasting powder weapons come from these cities. While mountain dwarves are generally friendly towards other species there are aspects of their culture that are kept secret to all outsiders. Artificery, Alchemy, blasting powder weapons, and runic magic are all secrets kept by the dwarves. Despite their best efforts, many of the most basic parts of these practices have been taught to non-dwarves, often by exiled dwarves themselves.
The Zamd Vanderez, or sand dwarves as they are also known, are the dwarven families that spend the majority of their lives traversing the Great Sand Sea. Some do this in the great steam-powered Shifzam that trundle across the sands skimming the surface for any valuable minerals. others travel in small fleets of sand skimmers, light and fast ships that capture the wind to zip across the sands. Either way, these clans make their living by collecting minerals and valuables from across the sand sea and trading them for goods and valuables with their mountain-dwelling kindred. They live in much smaller communities, with only a single clan or a few families together. Twice a year, during the second and fourth great moons, the clans will gather together in large groups to trade, negotiate marriages, and exchange news. Halfling caravans will often join these clan moots.

Halflings:

Halflings find it easy to adapt to life in the desert and nomadic halfling tribes wander the desert with complete aplomb. Their size makes them particularly suited to traveling light, allowing them to stretch supplies farther. Of course, with their love of luxury, halflings can’t resist using space for items other species consider superfluous or extravagant. This means halfling tents and sand-ships are some of the most comfortable places in the Great Sand Sea. As trains become more common the way of life these halflings have enjoyed is coming under threat. Much of their money, and goods came from transporting goods between the cities of the desert. Some nomadic halfling clans have turned to raiding and banditry to make up for the lost income, others have left the region entirely. Life in the cities and villages of the oases and the Four Rivers is comfortable and fulfilling for those halflings not pushed to wander. Hurarim has more halflings than anywhere else, many consider it the capital for their people.

Wild People of the Desert:

Orcs, Gnolls, Tabaxi, Lizardfolk, and Harengon all live in the Wild Winds Desert. Orcs are the most numerous of the Wild People. The cities of Ankh and Morpork are both predominantly orcish cities. For the wild peoples who don't live in the sister cities of Ankh and Morpork life is very similar, regardless of species. Their lives look much like the human nomads, hunting, gathering, trading, and raiding making up the bulk of their lives. For orcs, gnolls, and lizardfolk there is culturally more focus on raiding, banditry, and mercenary work than their human counterparts. The lizardfolk who live in the region are very different from their swamp and coastal-dwelling brethren. Their skin is colored to camouflage in the shifting sands and they are well adapted to tolerating the extreme heat and arid weather, rather than holding their breath and swimming. The gnolls of the Wild Winds Desert live in a close-knit and complicated series of clans and families, all intertwined through marriages and alliances. There is, similarly to the sand dwarves, periodic great gatherings of all the gnolls to quell grievances, reform or reaffirm alliances, and trade goods. These great gatherings are known as Gnoll Moots.
The tabaxi and the harengon have very similar lives to the halflings of the region. The tabaxi live very similarly to the nomadic halfling, traversing the Great Sand Sea mostly in sand-ships, collecting valuable resources to trade with the oasis cities. They also have a strong reputation for being exceptional mercenaries, with some clans making their entire livelihoods as warriors. Harengon on the other hand are similar to the more urban and established halfling clans. Though newer to the region than any of the other dominant species they have made quite a name for themselves as exceptional farmers and craftspeople. They are also quickly gaining a reputation for making exceptional adventurers with a tendency towards daring action and great bravery.

Plane-touched:

Thanks to the unique nature of the Wild Winds Desert there are many more plane-touched folk than almost anywhere else. Between genies and other elemental folk being a common occurrence, able to enter the region through planar rifts without needing to be summoned and the border between the prime material and both the Feawild and the Shadowfell being particularly thin, those with planar blood in their lineage are fairly common. Genasi, Eladrin, Dhampyr, and Pheadrin are all prevalent throughout the region though they are relatively rare. More common are those who have an extraplanar or magical creature farther back in their lineage. Aquanaut, Firebrand, Stoneborn, Windswept, and even Winged humanoids are not rare to see amongst their other non-altered kin. These people can be found within nearly every species that makes their home in the Wild Winds Desert. Some look at them with suspicion, worrying that they have ulterior motives or orders from the creature that has given power to their line. Others see them as no different than any other member of their species, just with a little extra spice from the extraplanar lineage.