The Sandworms of Katir

The Hidden Protectors of the Desert

It is said that the sandworms have been around for centuries, and they're here as someone angered our God Father, Katir. In revenge, Katir had released the sandworms to wreck havoc upon the land, never letting our people rest and forcing them into fear for their lives, constantly on the run.
That's what my mother had told me since I was little. The story of the angered God of Deserts was something passed down through word of mouth for generations, something I still can't find myself to believe. After all, how did my tribe survive all those centuries on the run from these monstrous creatures?
I've seen how they devour people. I've seen how they wreck havoc first-hand. I've seen... my father taken by them too.
Surely, if these were creatures created by such an enraged God, surely they would have wiped our people clean from the face of the earth, with only tattered records to announce our lives to the world, if even those were allowed to remain.
The story goes that a fair maiden of centuries past was so well known for her beauty that it captivated even the gods. One such captive had been the God of Deserts.
He courted her for months, with various offerings of flowers, jewels and exotic foods. Yet, the Rol'neta refused to look his way. Rumours were she already had a lover, yet no one had seen her with any such man or woman, so rumours they remained. Enraged with her for not even glancing his way, the God Father proclaimed as such: "Cursed may the lands you walk and tred be for the rest of your life and for many generations to come. May your people never know rest, forever running from their inevitable deaths."
With quiet terror, everyone watched as the sands grew and transformed into the towering creatures we now know as the sandworms. Over 170 abals in length, and thick enough to swallow three large tents whole, they attacked the nearest people and devoured all in their way.
Since, our people have been on the run, so I've been told.

— Tasi'nah

Summary

Sandworms aren’t really creatures that exist in the modern day but they’ve left their mark in the history of the desert. Long before people started settling, when all there was in the desert was maybe three or four tribes of nomads that travelled from place to place aimlessly, these sandworms used to wreak havoc everywhere they went.
They reshaped the landscape, created multitudes of underground labyrinthes, and destroyed any settlements of people brave enough to attempt it.
Their very existence was a source of fear for the dwellers of the sands, and the stories of their legends continue to this day. Or such is the story, anyway.

Historical Basis

While the story is know to have become hazy and known more as a legend than historical fact anymore, the truth remains that the sandworms existed.
Most attribute their existence to a particular event where Katir had gotten furious with a fair maiden that had refused his advances, with only a handful of historical scrolls hidden below the desert sands telling a story of a young godling, worried for his people, and the creatures he created to ward off any newcomers to the land. The records tell the story of misunderstanding, how the people had confused their protectors for monsters created for their ruin.
Stories of how it had taken centuries of worry, misunderstandings and intentions lost in translatation for the people to finally understand the true meaning of their existence. To carefully approach the gargantuan monsters, with care and understanding, for the beasts to understand the intention of friendship. And for the protectors to finally complete their duties of protecting the people, instead of attacking due to instinctive fear of being hunted, and guiding them to safety.
Oral stories from the original nomads, albeit mostly forgotten and only half true in modern day, speak of days when they'd ride the sandworms from place to place once they'd gotten too weary of travel, or when they were in danger of death for lack of resources. These oral traditions are some of the last that speak of the beginning of the tribes' true peaceful settlements unto the land, and how the sandworms had formed protective rings around their villages, towns and cities, protecting them from sandstorms and invading enemies, wishing to take their precious resources and land.
How the nomads had become settlers, created prosperous cities, and how rivers were carved into the land by the protectors, to assist their people with moving their expanding population further inland without worry for lack of water. 
But too many have still forgotten their true origins, and as such, very few people understand the true meaning of the towering, "natural" sand dunes and mountains, and how cities have miraculously prospered within their safety.
The only story remaining from this time is the rumour of a young God's infautated anger, and the consequences of angering the divine.

Spread

The Sandworms of Katir are well-known throughout the Salten'rol desert even to this day, with even the western most part of the Jadon Canyon and the Amayton Isles aware of their existence as well. 
Across the ocean, collectors on the eastern coast of the Grand Dutchy of Okam have found and recorded the legends, storing it in their libraries like prized posessions of a time now gone.

Variations & Mutation

There's few variations that exist, with the legend of the angered Katir being the most common. 
However, hidden below the desert sands in old tunnels dug by the sandworms for the very first settlers, ancient scrolls tell stories of the sandworm protectors. 
A handful of tribes that survived the ages and live on to this day tell oral stories of the same days, when the sandworms helped them find oases when lacking water or places with bountiful resource when they ran low.

In Literature

The legends of the deserts sandworms have become the topic of theatres in the Amayton Principality. Even with the canyon splitting the landscape, the Principality and people of the desert have always remained on friendly terms, frequently trading and visiting each other's lands. So much so that it has birthed a story of a brave hero who went on a journey to find comrades to eliminate the monsters that plagued their land. 
The story had become so popular within certain villages of the Principality, that it had reached the ears of the then Crown Princess, who'd turned it into a play so popular it's now embedded into the literature and art of the Principality, still being shown millenia later.

_{Artwork not mine. All credits to the original artist.}

Date of First Recording

27 Zuhian 1593 HY

Date of Setting

17 Maqian, 1276 HY