Pelegar: Rise of the Cult of Vorsag-Null

For fun, I am posting some campaign notes from my last grand Pathfinder campaign in Chirak. It didn't get too far, due largely to the severe burnout I was starting to feel with Pathfinder, but the campaign premise was great....so see below for some insight into the mad methodology of how I plot out story arcs in a sort of "open plot" format. Also, a case study in how ridiculously complicated/esoteric long running campaigns can get. Anyway, I use "plot poimt summaries" like this to keep track of the who/what/why as to what's going on.

"The Voice of Vorsag-Null"

The Fall of Pelegar campaign

Plot #1: Rise of the cult of Vorsag-Null

Vorsag-Null is an abyssal creature from Perdition itself, one of the original overlords of that ancient world, who succumbed to the temptation of power and chaos offered by Ga’Thon. Vorsag-Null was lost to time when he was supposedly slain during the Final War, but this was not actually the case.

Like many of the spirit lords and other immortals during the final era of the old gods, Vorsag-Null had been rendered all but impervious to harm through the power of his god. He was leader of an army of hundreds of thousands, slavering demons of Perdition who had crossed the bridge of time and space to assault the world of men in a bid for total dominance. He was first to set foot upon the Abyssal Rift created by Ga’Thon when he subsumed the feywild into his own mass…and first to claim one of the Abyssal layers for his own.

Vorsag-Null returned to the mortal plane to begin his siege, amassing his army through great rifts opening in the dominion of Pelegar, what was then known as Serevalis, a republic of elves who had been driven mad by the great wave of power which swept over the land; only the Elves of Taretos, who had sworn in secrecy their loyalty to Ga’Thon were spared the madness of the destruction of the Feywild. The abyssal armies descended upon the riven elven kingdom, slaughtering all they could, only to be surprised by the rise of the first elven undying. Amidst the battle Vorsag-Null and twenty other great demon lords observed from their fortress at Taretos.

Unexpectedly, Ga’Thon, who had transmogrified into a great and eclipsing mass in the sky with the intent of descending upon the westerlands to begin his geat absorption, was slain. The power of Akquinarios….or perhaps it was Pornyphiros….struck him down and the two gods in collision perished. The divine energy released at that instant swept over the land and eradicated most of the lesser demons and undying in a brief flash of destructive energy. Then the great mass of the dying god plunged to the earth and engulfed a vast swathe of land, Ga’Thon’s already moldering flesh decomposing into natural elements, forging the vast Cossarit mountains in one fell swoop. From his bowels erupted the disgorged contents of the feywild, which had been reduced to pure chaos and destruction; thus was the weeping wall formed. Amidst all this Mount Taretos, once the greatest single mountain in all the world, erupted instead from the fallen godflesh like a great pike through ga’Thon’s no longer immortal heart.

Vorsag-Null was not slain at that time as many thought, but with his brothers they forged through the arterial tunnels of the god in search of that heart, where they knew the Zodiac Stone which held his power must be located. The fight to this location was difficult, for the body of the god was already shifting to natural elements even as whole chunks of it broke off to become hideous atropal monsters, undead creatures of divine flesh seeking to carry on some sort of eviscerated half-life.

When Vorsag-Null at last arrived with his strongest brethren in the heart-chamber of the Zodiac Stone, it was to the sight of Ga’Thon’s divine spirit engaging in its last act of defiance against the Protector Gods which had laid it low. It shattered the stone even as it bound itself into the sacred artifact, and ten powerful shards pierced the chests of the ten surviving demon lords who had made it this far. The stones, driven by Ga’Thon’s will, called upon the demon Lords to each carry the stones to the four corners of the earth, where they would “hatch” into the children of Ga’Thon….the Thousandspawn.

Driven by the power of Ga’Thon’s spirit, nine of the ten demon lords found themselves driven to flee the land, to walk the four corners of the world where each in turn found that the shard within their chest, feeding upon their demonic essence, “hatched” and in turn brought forth one hundred miniscule shards, each with 1/1000^th of the spirit of Ga’Thon; each shard imbedded itself within a suitable host, and that host became one of the Thousandspawn, a monster with a purpose: to heal the sundered spirit of Ga’Thon, and to one day reunite as the god reborn, to finish the job he had started.

There was one demon lord who did not follow this path: Vorsag-Null staggered out of the heart-chamber, realizing he had been infected with a dire disease unique to chaos-kin, and that he was being used by his former master to set about a three-thousand year cycle of regeneration and revenge. Uncertain that he wanted to sacrifice himself for his dead god’s greater will, Vorsag-Null sought out the only help he could imagine: the former seraphim, the angel who had fallen in battle during the final War and been inextricably bathed in the corrupting blood of Ga’Thon called Zeraphys, but later known only as Gloom.

Vorsag-Null explained his plight. Zeraphys, driven mad by what the demons and gods had done to him, used his surgical skill to extract the shard from Vorsag-Null’s own heart, though the demon suffered terrible damage from the act and fell into torpor. Gloom could not destroy the shard, so he cast it deep into the mountains of godlfesh, and proclaimed that he would hearafter cut from the heart of any other god or lesser being the Zodiac Stones they might dare bring within his new dominion….he eschewed the gods forever after, and proclaimed only murder for their future.

In the mountains the shard rested without a host for weeks until a lone warrior of the Great War who had somehow survived, the Inadasir hero known as Caeledus, found the stone, and it force-bonded with him. Caeledus was not as resourceful as Vorsag-Null, and wandered the land for a year in search of a cure before the stone overwhelmed him and he became host to its seed. It was from Caeledus that the human-like Thousandspawn all descend.

Vorsag-Null rested in the ruinous catacombs beneath the war-torn land of the Great Pass where the city of Valen was built, a rift in the mountains which formed from the godflesh of Ga’Thon where he had been struck the mortal blow by the other gods which sought to slay him. His body, in torpor and unable to awaken, dreamed dark dreams, and learned of the ancient presence of Molabal which plagued the lands of Pelegar, an ancient word which had been used to describe the region even before humanity rose to civilization. In these dreams he learned of great power, and his astral form dwelt within the city of Nith. So did Vorsag-Null survive for centuries until a scant thirty years ago, when a man named Tenor Morain, a simple butcher and occasional grave-robber, on an excursions into the ancient catacombs beneath Valen, discovered the body of Vorsag-Null by accident.

Hearing the dream-like call of Vorsag-Null was what brought Tenor Morain to the catacombs, and he came prepared, sacrificing his unsuspecting companions to feed the body of the demon lord. As Vorsag-Null recovered his physical abilities, he nonetheless found himself intensely weak. He needed more blood…a great deal of it, in fact, from the murder of innocents and unsuspecting. He charged Tenor Morain with the acquisition of this blood, and in exchange would make him nearly immortal. Thus did Tenor become the vile Voice of Vorsag-Null, hunting those who the demon required to sustain and recover its flesh; this process would take decades, and require the blood of 1,313 souls sacrificed and fed to the god. After thirty years, Vorsag-Null is at last awakening in flesh as well as spirit, and with the pall of Molabal lifted, he is once more able to command power in both dream and flesh…

Goals:

Vorag-Null is mobile, but to restore his full power he needs three final sacrifices, which must be three souls of great power or notability. He has decided that the three beings he must consume the souls of are as follows:

Lady Nexi Tinar, an exiled noblewoman and pure soul who has aasimar blood in her veins. She was saved some years ago by the avatar Mardieur Mardieux, and brought to her home city of Talosin. Lady Tinar is said to have the reincarnated soul of an ancient queen and wife to Pornyphiros from long ago.

Lord Alton Kandros, a chieftain of the Dalevar barbarians and rumored to be a pureblood descendant of the lost line of the Inadasir emperor. Kandros is regarded as the greatest warrior in the land.

Salin Zomastar, a human boy of 16 years who lives in Fartheren as a waif. The nature of his soul and why he is desired by Vorsag-Null remains a mystery, but the cultists are even now mounting an expedition to find the boy. Unknown to them, Salin is actually the son of the High Priest of Vagre, Gavel Zomastar, who himself is seeking the boy to finish initiating him into the fire cult. Salin has a natural talent as a pryomantic sorcerer, but rejects it for the life of a rogue.

Agents of the Cult:

Grommagon the Terrible – gnoll lord of the highmountain Giskos tribe, and firm cult dedicate to Vorsag-Null.

The Voice – once known as Tenor Morain, he is now a terrifying near-immortal killer who has spent three decades murding for his demon lord. A grotesque, fat beast of a man who’s flesh is all but impregnable, with cannibalistic appetites.

Yaros Eraskar – The drow noble of Taretos who is also an exile of his people, he has forged an alliance with the cult and offers his agents to their cause. His real motives are unclear, but some suspect he hunts for Vorsag-Null’s true name so that he may control the demon when it returns so he can exact revenge on his enemies in Taretos.

Yonadra Vespiri – Sabiri witch of the plains, she has consorted with Vorsag-Null for years and gained perpetual youth as a result, learning the secrets of murder and magic from him. She is a terrible witch who her people fear. She has allied herself with his cult and eagerly seeks to make her astral husband flesh.

Yonadra Vespiri

Death Among the Sabiri


The Sabiri regard death as part of the process. They revere their fallen dead, especially the warriors and those who perished honorably. They regard a long life as honorable, too. One who is wise or clever enough to live to an old age and pass away without a sword in the gullet deserves recognition, it is felt. Cowards, traitors, and those who exhibit utter selfishness are disdained and rarely given fair treatment when time comes for burial.

While most notable Sabiri are interred in stone-capped dolmuns (and most tribes have at least one or two such locations that they will tavel to for the burial and honoring of noteworthy personages of the tribe) the average Sabiri is buried in a small stone cairn and without too much fanfare. They revere the dead, but do not feel that the soul, once it has migrated from the body, has any use or memory of its prior life as it moves on to the next.

Chieftains and great heroes get treated a little differently. Over the last few centuries the Sabiri grew fascinated by the immense ziggurats and other burial mounds in a large region called the Necropolis, adjacent to where the city of Fartheren was established. It has long been the practice that chieftains, warlords and heroes be buried here. High priests, too, have come in to the habit of seeking interment in the Necropolis. Tribes will deviate from their routine, sending large funerary processions over hundreds of miles to reach this location, that a chieftain may be buried.

While a few especially megalomaniacal chieftains and warlords have seen fit to erect their own burial mounds at the Necropolis, just as many have seen fit to have an existing Kadelan ziggurat excavated or opened, that their body would be interred within. This practice is actually quite common.

When a wealthy Sabiri passes away, he tends to take it with him. Some chieftains will even have their favored wives and daughters (though never their sons) buried with them, and it goes without saying that all Sabiri prefer to be buried with their horse. This practice of wealthy burials has also led to a surge of interest among foreign grave robbers. A small cult of sabiri death priests called the Kad’harak tend to the Necropolis for this very reason, and will vigorously defend the hundreds of monuments and mounts at the site against possible theft.

Sabiri have a decidedly different (though not unusual) reaction to undead. The undead are regarded as abominations, and only the demon cultists of the Servants of the Shroud seem to regard the undead as anything to be valued. Most Sabiri are very superstitious about undead, for they represent a break in the cycle of reincarnation, a scar in the symmetry of the universe. Undead are reviled and hunted. Those who manufacture them, such as warlocks and necromancers, must do so in secret for fear of reprisal. Most Sabiri prefer to be buried with the Mark of Tilalk, a white runic etching placed in paint upon the foreheads of corpses, believed to grant good luck on their journey to the next life, and to protect them from unnatural reanimation.

Next: Hnaka Warrior Women

Tales of the Cannadad Dei: Warfare in Sabiri

Warfare


Sabiri avoid warfare when it is not necessary, despite their proclivity for ritualistic violence and blood sports. Though there have been as yet no anthropological studies of the Sabiri by those few who are elsewhere inventing the field (among the Preservationists), such observations would see that the nomads are prone to using violence as a means of managing overpopulation. When a tribe begins to starve or finds its herds and water sources depleted, then violence is sure to break out. On rare occasion an especially charismatic warlord, such as the revered Zvhakkatas, will rise to power and can bring the chieftains together for a specific act of war, the vanquishing of enemies, or the seizing of territory. Rogue tribes, those which have forsaken the ways of Kobal entirely, are often also targeted by other tribes for extermination.

Most traditional disputes are settled through ritual warfare, blood sports and individual contests. The Sabiri do not practice arena or gladiatorial fighting, but they have no shame in making it a sporting event. When two tribes come to conflict, be it over land, bison, women or simple honor then they will meet on the field and seek to humiliate and defeat their opposition. Though the goal is not to slaughter the rival tribe, it can often lead to such consequences, for the hot blooded warriors may lose all sense of purpose and descend in to bloody battle. This is nothing unusual, and the Sabiri do not frown on a warrior who fails to control his blood lust.

As indicated in the history, warlords have on occasion risen to power among the many tribes. Such warlords are especially charismatic and usually driven by purpose.

There is one warlord who holds power at this moment out of Zen Hettar, claiming lordship over the northern sabirath (dominion). Despite Zamad-Ruus being a warlord, he is not seen as very powerful, and serves mainly as a figurehead to speak with the Espanean governors when needed. This makes some of the chieftains restless; the populations of the tribes grow large, and many sense that a new time of bloodshed is brewing.

Recently the Ghuzdar’Shadoan orcs have become increasingly bold, striking out against the nomads and seeking to claim their own space. It is believed that for unknown reasons their ranks have swollen and the orcs, much like the Sabiri, are feeling population pressure. It is only a matter of time before a new battle rages. The orcs, in turn, are being driven in to a frothy rage, for they claim that a new avatar to Shaligon walks the land, a orcish warrior-woman named Griska Swordthane. If these stories are true, then it does not bode well; years ago the last avatar of Shaligon was reportedly slain in a great battle between the Khasdrikana tribe of Sabiri and the Wyvernclaw orc clans, which were reportedly eradicated. The avatar and high priest of Shaligon was slain that night, and it was said that the restless spirit of Shaligon trod the land, one hundred feet tall, in furious anger at the failure of her followers.

If a new avatar has indeed arisen, it will give the orcs a new focal point through which to direct their rage. Many Sabiri hope this is the case. While they have no issue with taking arms up against one another, the Sabiri find true delight in the slaughter of their inhuman neighbors on the field of battle.

Next: Death among the Sabiri

Tales of the Cannadad Dei: Life in the Sabiri Tribes

Life in the Sabiri Tribes


Sabiri are migratory, and settle in specific locations several times a year. Most tribes have a region they consider properly theirs, through which the roam. Such regions can span the length and breadth of the Sabiri lands, or only a portion of it. As a rule, the largest tribes tend to migrate over a larger range of territory out of necessity.

On the outside it appears inexplicable, patterns of nomadic movement that may at best seem to follow the waterways and paths of the great bison herds. To the insider it is a mixture of sacred determination; the waterways and bison are placed along a path preordained by ancestors long gone and the communion of venerable and helpful spirits.

Most tribal paths make at least one round a year through one of the sacred ceremonial centers that have turned in to great “tent cities.” Zen Hettar and Uvalin are two of the largest such sites, a communical gathering center where chieftains can convene to discuss news and events, games are held, the trading of brides is made, and warriors can display their prowess. Trading is very common, and though the Sabiri enjoy the commodity of coin they are as likely to barter for and with good as they are gold.

Sabiri tribes focus heavily on preparing for winter. The winters last for several months, starting early in the fall on some years and creeping in to mid spring if the season is especially bad. As hot and humid as summer gets, winter is atrociously cold and snow can blanket the land for months. Tribes prepare accordingly, insuring that thick pelts and stored food is readily on hand. In the deep south some tribes, less affected by the weather at the closest stretches of Helios, tend to be more relaxed about the seasonal changes, and these are fiercely defended territories.

Tribes are divided in to four main units. There is the individual family, which has a patriarch and his wives, as well as all relatives under his protection and dominion. A group of families (from as small as two to as large as several hundred) comprise the tribe proper. Several tribes under a charismatic warlord constitute a Kaskir, or nation. Multiple nations can assemble in a loose unity under a sabirath, or dominion. The dominions are centered around one of the chief ritual centers, which right now consist of Uvalin and Zen Hettar. Dominions rarely have a ruler, though the greatest chieftains may form a council. On rare occasion they may elect a warlord to power. Northward is Madalios, which is regarded as its own dominion, though the settled relatives of the Sabiri are regarded, like all who have given up the nomadic lifestyle, as a people of less worth.

Sabiri Merchants: The Askartin


There are a few tribes that have developed semi-sedentary or even given up the nomadic way of life. A cluster of such Sabiri dwell around the great communal centers at Uvalin and Zen Hettar, small families of Sabiri who claim the regional “city” itself as their tribal land. These Sabiri are part of a unique sect described as askartin, which literally translates in to goat merchant. The Sabiri see these specific families as providing a necessary service that benefits the more traditional Sabiri ways. The askartin are the smiths and traders who have learned to sustain themselves year round by way of trade and commerce with he nomadic tribes and the Espanean colonials. Indeed, most of the indigenous Sabiri population that has settled around Fartheren belongs to the askartin sect.

Askartin are much like their nomadic brethren, though regarded as somewhat less important in battle. The askartin see themselves as no less significant, however, and have advanced their love of horses from the nomadic way to a more sophisticated pastoral approach, raising horses in larger numbers and selling them to the nomads and Espaneans alike. The askartin skill take steeds for their own, and still train in ritual warfare, but they do not roam.

Askartin have not attempted to domesticate the bison, though they have taken to raising the butu goats in the region; thus, the name “goat merchant.”

Next: Warfare

Tales of the Cannadad Dei: Sabiri Tattoos

Sabiri Tattoos


Tattoos are vitally important to the Sabiri. The nomads long ago learned to imbue the inked and scarred marks with magical force, and in turn learned to attune their own bodies to these symbols etched on their own skin. Though Sabiri spell casters can and do employ written tomes, those warriors who dabble in magic prefer to use the spell tattoos, as they are easier to access in the fields of battle.

Despite the notoriety of spell tattoos, it is much more common for most members of a tribe to carry tattoos commemorating various deeds and actions, even if they do not contain magical power. A major victory (and sometimes a defeat) can be reflected within a tattoo. A marriage, alliance, a newfound brotherhood, or a symbol reflecting dedication to a specific cult or order is all celebratory with a new mark upon the flesh.

The process of making tattoos for the Sabiri who practice the art is complicated, and involves a sacred language of ideograms, in which each stroke or mark reflects a key proponent of the overall mark, but only in relation to how it is placed with the other symbols. It is a form of language, but not one that can be easily read without a trained eye.

Conventional marks are easily understood by most Sabiri; it is a special part of their greater language that they can understand. Tattoos imbued with magic are not so easy to grasp; the symbols used for magical language are a carefully guarded secret among the tattooist, and the tattoos themselves are said to reach deep in to the owner’s body, to tether to the soul, allowing the magic to flow freely between the symbol itself and its bearer.

Regardless of the nature and type of mage, most spells learned by that mage can and will ultimately end up as tattoos upon his or her body. Over time it becomes quite evident that the magic is a being of extreme power. These mages exhibit a strange sort of quintessence around others, which give away their nature as sorcerous beings. As such, these powerful tattoo mages will cover their own body from head to toe in obscuring garb, to avoid detection by simple visual observation of their many spell marks; thus the common saying among the Sabiri that “You know a warlock, for he the man who is always cold.”

Interestingly, because most older Sabiri women dress in heavy robes and dresses, the saying is a bit different. “You know a witch if you know a woman.” Sabiri are, indeed, a society divided by deep gender differences, and a male culture that has not a small amount of fear and superstition about the fairer sex.

Sabiri Tattoo Magic Feat (Pathfinder Version)


Prerequisites: Sabiri cultural background, Craft (tattoos) 4 ranks or better.

Effect: The Sabiri have learned the unique art of inscribing ritual spells on their bodies. Through the use of this feat, along with 100 GPs worth of tools and a special ink which comes from the blood of an enchanted creature (usually a gorgon), the Sabiri artist can spend one day (12 hours) placing the inscription for any spell in question upon the body of a person. All features of the ritual spell must already be in place; the recipient of the tattoo must already have learned the ritual spell, for example.

Once it is placed upon the character’s skin, then he can never lose or forget the spell; he knows it innately by virtue of the arcane or divine script tattooed upon his body. Characters can have up to eight imbued ritual tattoo on each of the following areas: head, arms, legs, neck, chest and back. A Break Enchantment spell will remove a tattoo to make room for another one.

If the tattooed character dies, it is possible to take the spell from his flesh. The character must make a Knowledge (arcana) check at a DC of 20+the spell’s level to grasp the weave of the spell tattoo. It is also possible to imbue it on one’s owns kin through the process described above if the caster also has this feat. Otherwise, the skill check allows the caster to flay the skin and convert the region of the tattoo into a scroll.

Tattoo artists among the Sabiri often charge enormous sums to foreigners for the privilege of an integrated tattoo rune. The base price is usually 1,000 GPs, plus maybe some task.


Next: Life in the Sabiri Tribes

Tales of the Cannadad Dei: Arms and Armor of the Sabiri

Arms and Armor


It is not typical for nomadic cultures to have sophisticated steel weapons, but the Sabiri are surprisingly adept at metallurgy. Certain cultural “hot spots” like Uvalin and Zen Hettar support this trade and because of this Sabiri steel is a prized commodity.

Sabiri are fascinated by the construction of long-lasting weapons that are useful in mounted combat. Sabres, falchions, scimitars and other one-handed slashing blades designed for use from horseback are regarded as favored melee weapons. The women of the Sabiri have developed sophisticated knife and dagger practices apart from the men, though women on the path of Hnaka are as proficient with sabre or scimitar as as male.

Aside from close combat weapons, charging weapons such as lances and spears are highly valued, and in ranged combat the sabiri self bows are considered beautiful works of art, crafted in secret rites from the long bones such as the ribs and femurs of the immense amasa bison.

Lances, though valuable to the horse warriors, are actually rather prized, due to the lack of useful timber in the land to generate poles of sufficient size to manufacture the weapon. Most lances come from expeditions to the Kossarit Mountains or northward toward Madalios, where certain tribes specialize in the manufacture and trade of lances made from the wood of more mountainous regions.

Short spears and javelins are also very popular, and javelin sports are a common entertainment in Sabiri tribes, even more so than ritualistic dueling. A good javelin thrower can make a reputation for himself. Some women are allowed to participate in certain tribes, but it is generally frowned upon.

Sabiri women excel instead in close-quarters combat. The Shumariin assassins are famous for their deadly knife fighting skills, and warrior sects of women have taken up the scimitar and turned to duo-wielding styles of combat that are terrifying to behold. These blade dancers are a breed of dervish known for integrating a deadly dance with swordplay, a technique that fears Sabiri men who believe the blade dancers to be witches that mesmerize them in to obedient death by blade.

Armor, in contrast to the preferred garb worn by most sabiri on a day-to-day basis, can get quite complicated and bulky. Most of the time Sabiri wear soft leather garb that offers some modest protection, but in regular skirmishes they prefer to wear lacquered armor and cuirbolli worked in to fitted plates. Such armor is impractical from day to day, but it is considered a necessary addition to the warrior’s repertoire in times of real conflict. The cuirbolli and lacquered plat armor is preferred for its light weight material and ease of use. Such armor is also relatively quick to assemble and wear. Keeping with fashion traditions, most such armor is dyed or painted blacks and dark reds, though color variations creep in from tribe to tribe. Most individual families paint their symbolic crest upon the armor, which is derived from the same sacred language used for tattoos.

(left) A Sabiri woman in the markets of Fartheren

Next: Sabiri Tattoos

Tales of the Cannadad Dei: Dress and Garb of the Sabiri

Everyday Garb


The Sabiri dress with an economy of design; short vests, breeches and laced boots and moccasins are common, and garb is designed to be comfortable and not to chafe. The wilderlands of their domain are a warm region in the spring and summer months, followed by bitterly chill winters. The entire region is humid almost year round. This tends to promote garb that breathes freely, though tempered with garb which is functional.

Most Sabiri prefer the soft worked leather that comes from the local amasa bison which roam the region. This supple leather is naturally dark, due to the ebony pelts of the bison, and has the accidental side effect of looking rather ominous from an eastern viewpoint. Nonetheless, sales of amasa hides with the east is fairly brisk. The amasa are principally saved by the fact that the Sabiri rely on them and covet their herds. If the Espanean traders had their way, these beasts would have been driven to extinction by now, no doubt.

Espanean men tend to wear leather breeches and a harness for their tools and weapons. They sometimes wear a variant of chaps while diring, providing leather protection on their legs in combat; these same chaps are often worn at other times, designed for comfort first. In the winter they tend to wear heavier fur coats and hoods, stitched together by the women.

Many tribes enjoy unusual head dresses made of woven horse hair from the trimmed manes of their steeds. These head-dresses can get quite elaborate, and some of the men in the tribe will weave the horse hair with their own for unusual extended braids. Although the women fo the tribe (especially elders) are master weavers of the horse hair, the women themselves do not decorate themselves with the braided horse hair; it is another custom reserved for men. Women in Sabiri have instead adopted complicated lapidary designs for themselves.

Espanean women disdain long dresses and garb more common in the east except in the winter or as a sign of age. Elder matrons often settle with long fur skirts and coats, often worn year-round, and will wear decorative garb that stands out with evocative lapidary work. The younger women favor vests, light blouses, short skirts and breeches, sometimes with the utilitarian harnesses for equipment and weapons like the men do.

The Sabiri are a modest people, and it is considered taboo to appear overly “sexual” in Sabiri society. This manifests in the form of a disdain for eastern makeup and a preference for useful clothes over garb that accentuates the female form. Curiously, women who have adopted the warrior’s focus (the hnaka, below) tend also to eschew restrictive garb that doesn’t breathe well, so they are often dressed as lightly as the men save for their bustiere-like vests. Sabiri women dressed as warriors do not appear sexualized, however, despite showing off their extra skin, as they tend to emphasize their capabilities by additional tattoos and a plethora of visible armaments. This is how the women say, “do not touch, or you may die.” It works well.

Ritual Dress

Ritual dress is always more stylistic and designed for beauty and grace. Dance is a preferred social medium among tribes, and when two or more tribes come together they always throw a party. Ritual forms of dress are often quite elaborate; during such conflagrations the women of both tribes will exhibit atypical garb designed to show off the wealth of their immediate family and the tribe as a whole. Men will anoint themselves with artifacts of victory and war, and wear revealing garb to show off tattoos earned in battle. The most frightening members of a tribe are the ones who show no tattoos at all; the truly powerful shamans and sorcerers of the Sabiri prefer not to advertise their sacred tattoos at this time, lest they be compromised by an observant enemy.

Some Sabiri, especially around Fartheren and along the coast near Westgate among the Sendenar have taken to Espanean garb during these meets. It is at least partially due to acculturation from the foreign groups these Sabiri regularly interact with, and also due to the fact that the standard garb of the east is seen as so outwardly flamboyant that while it is scoffed at as a form of conventional wear, these Sabiri have accepted Espanean dress as suitable for gatherings and events.

Next: Arms and Armor of Sabiri

Tales of the Cannaded Dei: Recent History of Sabiri

Recent History: From 200 years ago to the present


When Espaneans arrived in the West, the Sabiri had settled comfortably into their roles as nomadic masters of the great lands they had conquered. The only true rivals to Sabiri dominion were nonhumans such as the orcs and centaurs, and the greatest threat the Sabiri faced daily was one of internal conflict and the appeasement of Kobal. The Sabiri had divided in to roughly fifty prominent tribes, each one several thousand strong, and united under a collection of charismatic warlords. This was not a people accustomed to subjugation.

Antonio Fartheren was an aspiring noble in Capitol Barcen, which had recently undergone a coup against the throne. Fartheren was a supporter of the old guard, King Demetrio who was assassinated by his cousin, Androsos Aguirre. This was followed by a bloody but brief civil conflict in which the streets of the Capitol ran red with blood. When all had settled, Aguirre had established himself on the throne (for a few years, until his own execution at a later date) and supporters of the old king that had survived the coup were now out of favor. Fartheren, concerned for the life of his family and himself, settled on a plan: he vacated the city entirely, placing his estates in the hands of his younger brother and seeking out eager volunteers to set sail westward, to find new and unclaimed coastland. While he seemed mad to some, the truth was he had already discovered the pleasant bay where Westgate would be founded in his younger years, and had long aspired to make use of the unclaimed coastland.

Fartheren arrived at the western shored along the Sabiri coast with four ships of eager colonists and his own extended clan. They found the beautiful unnamed bay where Westgate was soon to be built. Ancient ruins that stretched along the shoreline were surprisingly intact, and over the next decade many of Westgate’s buildings would integrate the remnants of the original ruins in to their own architecture.

The first decade of the new colony was fairly smooth. The colony established trade lines with the southern provinces of Grelmaine to the north, but rarely had any conflicts with the rather suspicious people of that land, who were themselves mostly uninterested in expanding in the the Sabiri lands. Only the Gordoska would come to follow the lure of colonial expansion in to the region, and then mostly as an effort in conjunction with Espanea. The Grelmanics had many superstitious beliefs, and felt that the entire land and its chalk-skinned people were bewitched and spawned from demons.

Westgate’s first encounter with Sabiri came from small coastal tribes that migrated along the coast engaging in vigorous fishing and hunting. These coastal dwellers called themselves the Sendenar, and bore the same chalk-white skin as their nomadic inland kin. Unlike the Sabiri, the Sendenar were friendly and not at all territorial. They enjoyed these new neighbors and quickly adopted the tools of trade and commerce that the Espanean merchants introduced to them.

A few expeditions inland led to some terse and unfriendly encounters with Sabiri nomads. It was the adventurer Galston Drotheros who forged all the way to the Kossarit Mountains and found the passage to the mysterious Pelegar city of Valen. His journey took him as far as Abraheil, and he returned six years later with amazing tales of what lay in the distant West.

Drotheros returned and reported word of the distant Western kingdoms. This was the first official contact between the lands of the West and East. Drotheros was more impressed with the ancient antiquity and clear wealth of the West; his journals preserved from the period in a travelogue still printed to this day mostly described the Sabiri as uncouth barbarians who appeared more interested in ritual sparring than communication and trade.

Westgate itself was a successful colony, initially. Lord Fartheren later petitioned the successor to Aguirre after word of the usurper’s execution had reached Westgate for recognition as a formal colony of Espanea, and he was granted full recognition. Moreover, his colony was recognized as an important bridge to the West and further colonization efforts by the new ambitious King Satero. Within months Satero declared that any commoners and freemen who wished to stake out land on the unclaimed western shores were encouraged to do so, and subsidies were offered to merchants who wished to explore the west for trade and profit.

The second decade of Westgate was a period of rapid, uncontrolled expansion. Before the decade was over two dozen colonies stretched out along the coast and inland, settlements picking choice locations along the inland rivers and lakes, favoring an arc along the path that the explorer Drotheros had charted out to mark the western passage to Valen. Explorers were everywhere, forging inland and uncovering evidence of the ruins of a lost civilization while having periodic skirmishes with the locals.

The Sabiri began to take notice of the Espaneans when they realized that the newcomers were now setting up shop along all the known lakes and rivers that were the lifeblood of their people. When the new colony of Fartheren was settled near the legendary Necropolis, it was an affront to the Sabiri, who could not believe the audacity of these foreigners to set up shop in land that was both the sacred burial site of their chieftains and the central grounds where annual rituals and events would be staged by the nomads.

The governor of Fartheren in those first years was the ambitious youngest son of the King, Gavin Satero. Gavin had a plan to forge a small empire for himself out in this remote land, and he set about trying to integrate the nomads in to his scheme. First he tried to make the area of Fartheren tempting to the Sabiri, inviting them to continue holding their rituals and celebrations in the area, and encouraging them to continue using the Necropolis for the burial of their chieftains. Then he began an aggressive campaign of mercantile exploitation, in which he attempted to expose the nomads to a sedentary way of life in the pursuit of fine goods and creature comforts. Few of the nomads took him up on this offer.

The Espaneans eventually reached a period of colonization in which thousands of new colonials were pouring in to the region every few months. The prospect of becoming land owners was too much to pass up for many, and records from this period suggest as many as one hundred thousand commoners, criminals, landless freemen and other hopefuls arrived in Westgate, eager to stake out their claim.

The Sabiri as a whole became nervous as the chieftains of the many tribes gathered at the sacred site of Zen Hettar to discuss what to do about this unexpected invasion. In the end, a new warlord stepped forth named Khaddaram. Under his unifying rule Khaddaram was the first of the Sabiri warlords to strike against the foreign invasion.

From 170 years ago right up until a 130 years ago the nature of the colonial holdings changed from one of bountiful opportunity to perpetual conflict. At various times the colonists would sue for peace and perhaps establish friendly relations for a time, but inevitably an ambitious governor would come to power and seek to expand once more, to subjugate the nomads, sometimes even trying to force them to settle and pay taxes. About 130 years ago, however, things got much worse when Marcus Escobado took power in Fartheren.

Escobado was exiled to Fartheren, granted control of the colonies at that time because he was seen as a dangerous threat to the throne, a potential urusper, back in Barcen. The plan worked, for Escobado was thoroughly enchanted with the defiant locals and the hardy colonials he now had been given dominion over. He set about his own plans for conquest and domination, at first by wedding the daughter of the warlord Hrados. Hrados became a strong ally of Escobado’s, who enticed the warlord with gold, Espanean women and plans for power. Under Escobado’s plans, Hrados would help unite the Sabiri in to a force strong enough to conquer all the lands, and perhaps even take the great city of Valen in the mountains.

The Sabiri trusted one of their own, and so Hrados was elevated by unanimous agreement of the chieftains to supreme warlord. Hrados then assembled the nomads in to an army, which joined with Escobado’s own forces to forge westward, to the very gates of Valen, where a protracted siege eventually led to invasion. The city, seemingly impregnable, surrendered to the invading army after only a week. Though it should have seemed suspicious to the attackers that such an impregnable fortress should have relented so quickly, Escobado and Hrados were too elated with their victory to be concerned.

The invaders entered the city to accept its surrender, but to their surprise they were greeted by only one being, a penumbral entity called Gloom. “This is my city,” Gloom intoned, and the being, truly some demon from the outer darkness, tore in to the warlord, general and their men, committing to a slaughter of the invaders that to this day is remarked as one of the most terrifying events in recent military history.

Later scholars would identify this Gloom as one of the last great immortal soldiers of the Last War to survive the Apocalypse, and surmised that this entity chose to settle and protect the city of Valen for unknown reasons. Nonetheless, the damage was done, and the Espanean and Sabiri forces were routed.

The defeat at Valen had a long term resonance with the Sabiri, who blamed the misguided trust of their defeated warlord on the silver tongues of the Espaneans. They would never have had such hubris and impudence as to invade their mysterious Pelegar neighbors, the Sabiri contended, if the Espaneans had not tricked them in to visions of power. Some warriors also felt Kobal had abandoned them, and this led to enough doubt that the emergent demon cults gained a foothold. The Espaneans in turn blamed the Sabiri on their defeat, if only for the need to make someone a scapegoat.

From 130 to 110 years ago this ill will between both parties led to constant minor conflict and warfare. The trade routes had dried up as the city of Valen locked out the easterners entirely, and the colonies suffered for it. The final telling blow to the colonies came when the new, young warlord Zvhakkatas rose to power.

Zvhakkatas was the first warlord since the failed Hrados to be placed in power by agreement of the chieftains at Zen Hettar. His vision was simple: drive the foreigners from the land. His approach was direct: attack and slay them until they fled or they had fallen in battle.

Zvhakkatas’ unrelenting assaults lasted for twelve years, during which time over two dozen towns and small cities were sacked, pillaged and burned to the ground. The Espaneans were unprepared and under-manned for the attacks, so it was often more of a slaughter than a proper fight. The unrelenting attacks by the warlord and his followers led to tens of thousands of deaths and left the land dotted with burnt ruins.

Zvhakkatas was never able to destroy the two largest cities of the colonies, however. He met his fate sieging the walled city of Fartheren, which managed to hold against the Sabiri horde, at last turning the tide of battle. This victory was made possibly only because the governor of that time, Darton Calidos, had withdrawn most troops from the smaller towns and cities to consolidate his fighting force in Fartheren. This had insured that Fartheren survived, but at the cost of all the outliers.

Zvhakkatas was slain in battle by a renegade Sabiri, one of the few who had chosen the sedentary civilized life the Espaneans had to offer named Midragas. Midragas was a paladin of the fiery demon god Vargre, whom he had taken up the worship of. Vargre’s cult was small at this time, but it had gained a footing some years ago after the defeat at Valen, for many Sabiri had been shaken in their beliefs by the defeat, and some who blamed Kobal turned to other venues of worship. The cult of Vargre had been rediscovered by explorers who had begun to plumb the depths of the ruins of the Kadelans, and a young Masirian Arcanist named Arathys had uncovered a mysterious temple to this demon god. Within the temple he had a vision, and with that vision he was compelled to begin a new cult.

When Midragas slew Zvhakkatas, it was at once seen as an affront to his own people, but it also quietly garnered more support for Vargre, as some disillusioned warriors turned to the mysteries of the fire cult and soon became immersed in it. The recognition of the cult subsequently gave Fartheren a holy prominence in the eyes of many Sabiri, which in turn gave the city a meaningful quality to the nomads that insured the city would stand. Hostilities were eventually ceased entirely, and both Fartheren and Westgate remained viable cities as a result.

The last century has remained peaceful. Fartheren is ostensibly still an Espanean territory, but most visitors who travel here find that the city has become quite removed from its colonial origins, as many Sabiri have settled in the region year round, and several cults have now risen to prominence. The followers of Kobal insist that one day the demiurge will come to obliterate the city from the face of the earth, but for unknown reasons he has not yet chosen to do so. In the meantime, more demon cults sprang up as more Sabiri have been lured to the mysterious religions of the Old Empire revealed by the Arcanists who studied Kadela. Boolion, Colobon, Vargre and others have all gained prominence here.

Westgate remains a viable port city, and within the last three decades negotiations with the council of Valen have reopened trade between the West and Espanea. Caravans now ply their trade across the Sabiri lands and in to Pelegar. Additional trade routes have since been opened to Helios, Madalios and even Zann.

For the Sabiri, the traditionalists continue to congregate annually and await a time when a new warlord of sufficient charisma will appear once again to unite the tribes. The Espaneans are not seen as a threat at this time by most of the tribes, but they remain suspect. The tribes of the eastern lands near Fartheren are also looked upon with suspicion, for they continue to congregate at Fartheren, and are also more receptive to these curious demon gods, a heresy among the Kobal traditionalists.

Next: Culture of the Sabiri

Tales of the Cannaded Dei: History in Antiquity of Sabiri

History in Antiquity: 700 to 200 years ago


Sometime around the fall of the Kadelans, the Sabiri arrived on scene. They may have been conquerors or opportunists, but it is certain that they were migratory folk even then, and may have come from a region near the Everdread Desert. It is possible that the Everdread may have been somewhat inhabitable at some time in the past, but that as the climate changed the natives were forced to move on, and they migrated northward until they came to a vast region freshly vacated by the Kadelans. The Huron minotaurs just north of the Everdread have stories of chalk-skinned folk in some of their old folklore, which suggest that this may be true. There are also splinter populations, such as the sedentary folk in the remote city of Eredar along the Jagged Coast who are clearly related to the Sabiri.

Sabiri do not write, except on rare occasion to commemorate a great event or victory. The learned men and women of their tribes keep language a carefully guarded secret, so few outsiders can learn it first-hand, and even fewer commoners in the tribes can understand it. To the Sabiri language is a powerful device for magic, not unlike their unique magic tattoos.

Because of their habit of making monuments to commemorate victories, scholars have noted that there appear to be no such monuments declaring a victory of the Sabiri over the Kadelans, nor do the Sabiri themselves tell any stories about such an event. It seems that when they arrived in the land, the Kadelans had been gone for decades.

Until about four centuries ago the Sabiri did have to contend with the Auman minotaurs. The minotaurs roved the land in small, militant bands, sometimes squatting in old ruins and occupying them, and at other times roving about looking for conflict with nomads, orcs, or anything else they could find.

Kobal was already present when the Sabiri arrived on-scene. This enigmatic demiurge was already quite powerful, but appeared to be utterly disconnected from reality. It is believed that his body and some primal level of consciousness wandered the land, radiating so much power that he generated a perpetual storm wherever he traveled. His consciousness, meanwhile, roamed the astral realms of the planes seeking cosmic truths.

The minotaurs revered Kobal as their own god, and made sacrifices, including virginal females, to appease him and keep his wrath from their own communities. The Sabiri picked up this same practice of worship soon after occupying the land, realizing it was the only way to keep Kobal at bay. In time the warrior caste of the Sabiri adopted similar teachings to the Auman, including a reverence for martial prowess and strict codes of honor. Such beliefs stemmed from the cultists of Kobal, who said these beliefs were dictated in dreams and visions sent to them by the demiurge himself.

Around four hundred years ago the Sabiri believe the Auman minotaurs met their final fate. The nomads have a number of folktales which revolve around the Auman, who they claim revolted against Kobal, and attempted to overthrow the demiurge before he grew too powerful. Some of the stories suggest that this was hubris on the part of the Auman, but the most commonly known tale speaks of an Auman prince named Holorash, who grew discontent with Kobal’s dominance after the demiurge chose Holorash’s wife as his own consort. Holorash rose up and seized control of the Auman tribes, and set out to destroy Kobal and claim the demiurge’s Zodiac Stone for himself. The story, of course, ends with the massacre of the Auman at the hands of Kobal, who after all was clearly powerful enough to have taken down the Old Empire, if some accounts are believed to be true. In turn, Kobal spent several decades eradicating the Auman. In the end, as all Sabiri tales say, Kobal came to the Sabiri and declared them his flock. A flock which would behave, and offer supplication and sacrifice, lest it fall like the Auman did. Kobal had truly become the last of his kind.

The cult of Amorgas began sometime after this event, possibly around 300 years ago. Amorgas was a strong woman, and she was chosen for sacrifice to Kobal, to be taken as one of his many short-lived wives. The story tells of how Amorgas was so captivating that Kobal let her live, and she grew close enough to him that she was able to steal a shard of his divine Zodiac Stone. In turn Amorgas fled, and survived in the northlands of Sabiri, evading Kobal in his wrath. She was at last found by the demigod, who locked her away in his subterranean realm, so that she could not flee again. He let her keep the shard of stone that in turn granted her the power of an Avatar. From this spark of the divine did her cult begin, and it grew to be a strong secret society to which only Sabiri women may belong.

Sabiri life continued from this time, an uneventful period until about two centuries ago, with the arrival of the Espaneans.

Next: Recent History

Tales of the Cannaded Dei: the Prehistory of Sabiri

The Prehistory of the Land: 700 years ago and beyond


Sabiri’s history is murky after around seven centuries ago, due in no small part to the absence of written records from that time. It is known that there was a large kingdom that ruled the entire region for several centuries that fell about six hundred years ago. The name of this empire is lost to history, but most locals call the people who built its ruins the Kadelans, after the most famous of its ruined cities, believed by some to have been the capitol of this lost kingdom. The word itself, Kadela, is Sabiri for “Those who Came Before.”

Exactly how long the Kadelans ruled this region is unknown. Arcanists have recorded over one hundred ruins and sites throughout the land, and suggest that they were driven people, for many of the monuments and structures they built are fairly impressive, but most of the stone used to build these structures came from quarries two hundred and more miles distant in the Kossarit Mountains. There are few consistent rivers in Sabiri, so building in a location to rely on local rivers for the easy passage of cut stone was unreliable at best. There is plenty of evidence that the Kadelans used slaves, however. All in all, it is suspected that the Kadelans may have ruled for at least seven to ten centuries, as such a range of time would help to explain how they built so many fantastic monuments.

One of the most famous Kadelan sites is right next to the city of Fartheren, where the infamous Necropolis can be found. It has been very popular in recent centuries for Sabiri warlords to seek out the Necropolis as a place of burial. Although most of these warlords like to suggest they will build their own monuments, the truth is that almost all of the ziggurats in the Necropolis were there long before the fall of the Kadelans. Most of the monumants are large ziggurats, the largest of which is nearly 300 feet high, though most are only 20-30 feet in height. The oldest monuments exhibit very detailed, sophisticated architecture and design. The newer monuments, including the impressive mound that belongs to the famous warlord Zvhakkatas, are much simpler and are often created by heaping earth over a barrow and then hauling in stone plates to give the exterior a pyramidical shape. The last such tomb to be made was Zvhakkatas’s tomb, a century ago.

Although the Kadelans wrote in an ancient script derived from the lost Inadasir language, they were prone to offering little detail in their writings. Almost all translated script, stelae and remnant scrolls found among Kadelan ruins amount to business records, proper names, and occasional land deeds. They appeared to have little or no interest in recording details of their culture, history, or deeds. Although they left no sacred monuments behind (other than to their buried rulers), some take the absence of any idols to Kobal and other demiurges as a sign that they revered no gods. This is at least partially true, as the only temples found to date are dedicated to entities best described as demon gods, not unlike the one hundred and thirteen entities worshiped in distant Xoxtocharit. Boolion, Colobon the Asp, and Vargre of the fire are three of these beings worshiped by the Kadelans that have recently seen their cults restored after being rediscovered by the Arcanists.

No one can really say why the Kadelans perished six centuries ago when warfare quickly destroyed their many cities and drove their people to extinction. Some speculate that the Sabiri, believed to be migrants at the time, arrived in the land, perhaps driven by a very charismatic warlord, and that they eradicated the Kadelans. Others point to the many remains of the old minotaurs in the land, called the Auman, of which tens of thousands of skeletons have been unearthed in the ruins of the city of Kadela alone. It is clear that the minotaurs were far from extinct in that lost age, though perhaps whatever killed them also killed the Kadelans; perhaps they killed one another.

There is one more link to the mystery of Sabiri’s prehistory. The port of Westgate is built on the ruins of an older city, founded by Masirians and abandoned six centuries ago. Many feel it was abandoned in the wake of whatever terrible war destroyed the Auman and the Kadelans. Unfortunately, the Arcanists who have such a keen interest in the region are barred from activites in Westgate, and so little formal research has been done. Although a few Preservationists have been interested in investigating, a treaty between Espanea and Masiria prohibits tomb robbing in Masirian ruins, as there are miles of crypts and catacombs beneath Westgate. For this reason many possible questions about what happened six centuries ago remain unanswered. Even descendants from that time in Masiria (some of whom may have been children at the time, Masirians being so long lived) have been silent on whatever transpired so long ago.

Next: History in Antiquity