Isuldians (ee-SOLD-ee-anns)

"We stood at the edge of the dunes where the dirt turns to sand and waited. After what seemed like an eternity, three shimmering figures appeared over the top of a dune, their images distorted in the heat. All three were impossibly thin and graceful and had white hair: everything I had planned on. It wasn't until they stood before me I saw their eyes. I never want to meet an Isuldian again. -unnamed merchant/captain elaborating on his trade deal with Isuldians

Isuldians, native to the desert land of Isuld, are secretive, strange, and disliked by the vast majority of the world. Isuld, situated north and west of the Isle of Mescar, is a land of sand dunes and red plateaus, out of which the Isuldians build their homes. Any average of human, elf, faun, or beast cannot stand the heat of crossing the desert which the Isuldians call their home, further isolating the Isuldian people and, in many places, reducing their existence to mere myth.
Isuldians have the same basic functions as humans, two legs, two arms, five fingers and toes to each hand or foot, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, hair, but that is where the similarities stop. Isuldians boast shock white hair which apparently grows really fast and extremely pale skin bordering on true white. Surprisingly, this paleness protects the Isuldians by reflecting the sun's harmful radiation off their bodies.
Not only are they super pale, but they are super skinny as well. Arms and legs look like twigs on them and, if they were to lift up their shirts, their ribs would look like a washboard. But by the way those who have seen Isuldians describe them, they are not malnourished at all; this is just how they are built!
The most unsettling feature of the Isuldians, however startling their build is, is their eyes. Isuldians have naturally red eyes. Most if not all people who have met Isuldians profusely proclaim to never want to "meet another red-eyed desert freak ever again!" Several strange and untrue legends of the Isuldians melting their enemies with their eyes and staring people to death have spread like wildfire.

"We climbed the carved steps leading up and around he plateau and suddenly, we were at the top. Their city lay in a basin in the plateau and their watch towers could see miles in any direction over the desert."
-overheard in a tavern in Meerenah, Mescar

A Desert Trade

As one of the only objects solidifying Isuldians as 'real' to the rest of Penthar, Isuldian glass has as many myths and stories attached to it as there are to the people themselves. Unlike other glass, made from the sand found at the bottom of river beds and near the Mith Sea, Isuldian glass is forged in the depths of the tall red plateaus deep in Isuldian territory and is made from the coarse sand of the desert.

Two examples of Isuldian landscape: a red rock plateau on top of which is built a city and common dunes

This special glass is lighter, thicker, and a thousand times more durable than regular glass and as such, is highly desired, especially by the rich. Builders desire Isuldian glass for it's durability in transport and construction (some say it never breaks even if you drop it on stone!) and artists worship it for it's fantastic ability to hold rich colors, never fade, and magnify the hue when in light (one can see it in action in the stained glass windows of Karsah-Kryzee).
Because of all this, Isuldian glass is super rare and super desirable.

Map of Isuld by --merlin--