Tribal Lands
Tribes of nomads wander throughout the Eastern Erg, their camels or horses transporting them from oasis to oasis, or on the hunt, in an ongoing endeavor to provide for their people and maintain their independence. These are primarily of the same ethnicity as the more settled people of the caliphate to the west but they do not care to settle down as farmers or take to city living. A few wanderers are bandits and prey on the caravans traveling the trade road, although both the caravans and the Grand Army patrols make that an uncertain method of profit. Most tribes are content to lay claim to an oasis for a few years or carry on in a routine of visiting specific oases at certain seasons. Each tribe is ruled by a hereditary leader or “sheikh.” In some cases, several tribes with ties of blood are under the control of a “malik” or king.
Some of the nomads worship one or more of the deities of Assuria, but the tribes in general worship Mah-Barek and so honor Caliph Rayan bin Azhar Al Ammu as the secular leader of that religion. The people themselves almost never visit the cities of the western caliphate to pay their respects to their ruler in person, but the sheikhs are expected to pay a certain amount of tribute each year. This is usually handled by paying it to one of the emirs or the military pashas who are easily located along the Great Caravan Road. The wandering tribes prefer to visit at Tarasunah, where the caravans often stop for a few days and lay out their wares, and the Amira’s people treat them with respect.
Once in a while, one of the desert tribes happens across ancient ruins temporarily uncovered by the wind, and those who are brave enough enter the structures and return with stories of what they have seen, or even samples of stones with unknown carvings. The caravan merchants always pay a good price for those, as do the wealthy city-dwellers in the west. No one has yet had any luck in getting the nomads to find the ruins again, though, because the wind brings back the dunes as fast as it swept them away in the first place.
Region
Tribal Lands
Parent Organization
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