The Whispering Sands

Shifting Sands

The Whispering Sands, a desert that splits the continent of Xuc’Tor in half. The mostly inhospitable environment rests between the Mires of Kearmack and the Yctlan jungle. While the land can be unforgiving and cruel to the unprepared, there is much life in the desert mostly found around the U’gur Idis river. This river cuts through the Ocean’s Edge mountains flowing down from the peaks and across the lands, this bountiful source of water helps vegetation thrive nearby and spread across the harsh environment. One of the more well known parts of the Whispering Sands happens to be how it got their name, ghastly whispers and wails fill the land from sunrise far past sunfall. The voices of the long dead or forgotten seeming to echo around the desert at random intervals throughout the day seemingly carried on the gusts of wind that blow throughout the day. Locals and travelers alike all have their own theories and rumors about how such a phenomenon occurs but none have found the true and actual reason behind such a thing.

The primary languages of the sands are Primordial and Sylvan, with other major languages being Common and Elvish.

The Nomadic Tribes

Despite the harsh environment of the desert people have found a way to survive and thrive in the blistering wastelands. No one quite remembers the complete origins of the nomadic tribes of the Whispering Sands but one day they appeared, their history for the longest time only carried out through oral tradition. Over time stories changed, memories faded, and some of the history was lost to the ages and buried beneath the sands they thrived in. The three tribes each have their own unique ways of living, one devoted to survival through combat and hunting down their food and resources while aiming to better themselves as warriors. Another took a different approach and decided to value the more natural aspects of the desert and survive off the natural bounties the land provided living in a pseudo harmony with the cruel ways of the sand and sun. The last tribe figured out ways to cultivate the land in a manner that would suit their needs and help them better survive the harsh environments with their ingenuity and adaptation to their surroundings. Each figured out their own way of survival through time and eventually cemented themselves in the history of the land.

Orongur Warriors

The Orongur Warriors honor strength and martial prowess among their kind, often times the tribal members end up as hunters or protectors of their group. However, not everyone falls into those reigns and many take up things for the strong such as cooking their food or tending to their wounds after a rather tough hunt or struggle against a foe. The tribe's encampments mostly consist of leather tents and hide insulation to keep them warm in the colds of the desert nights while their clothing generally doesn’t amount to much more than animal hide and simple cloaks to keep them from burning underneath the wrathful heat of the sun. Their skin is a dark tan color, browned by the constant kiss of the sun upon their skin as they wander about the continent in search of their next quarry or even food.

Altaiba Naturalists

The Altaiba Naturalists are a shamanistic people more in tune with their natural selves and the nature of the land itself. A great many of the nomadic tribe practice a spiritual art that consists of ways to commune with the nature around them and to co-exist in the blistering sands. When travelling the lands their buildings often consist of sandstone structures that are molded from the very ground itself through their shamanistic rituals and castings while they commune with nature. Animals aren’t kept so much as pets but rather as companions that bond with them over a lifetime while also fulfilling some roles of food production with their milk, wool, or other such material to fulfill their clothing needs. Their outfits generally consist of more natural fibers whether they be crafted from the produce of another creature or some sort of natural plant found amongst the desert. Tribal tattoos line the Altaiba Naturalists' bodies with each new addition being an achievement or a coming of age symbol among each of them. The tribe values the natural ways of the desert above all else and will do what they must to protect those ways.

Khaishan Gatherers

The Khaishan gatherers are a more civilized tribe compared to the others. Through their times in the sands they learned the best way to survive isn’t through fighting or preserving nature alongside themselves, but simply adapting to one's surroundings and improvising better ways to live. They were among the first tribes that began to settle down more permanently and shy away from their nomadic heritages. The gatherers oftentimes skirt the edges of the desert in search of materials such as wood or exotic plants that didn’t grow within their lands while others would explore the ruins and abandoned homes of civilizations long since gone. Though they explore these places and adapt to their surroundings, the Khaishans are not fighters or magically inclined and are often scared off by the whisperings of the sands that are viewed by them as the wails of the dead telling them to stay away. Their structures often consist of wooden buildings, quickly put up and easily taken down without use of nails, but rather intricately carved out recesses that allow the pieces to slot together. Such advanced techniques allow the gatherers to survive comfortably in the deserts anywhere they go, and the buildings are put together so well that even the harshest of sandstorms do not leak into their temporary homes. They were the first tribe to develop a mode of transportation for their bulkier goods, using camels to haul sand skimmers along the lands and bring along their heavy wood and other such tools. The tribe consists of a slightly paler, but still bronzed group of nomads who often wear cloth clothing of some sort. Jewelry and other such decorations are seen frequently among the people who are a bit more wealthy in the ways of the world compared to their more tribal companions as they focus on the trading and acquiring of exotic goods from travelling merchants that the desert does not provide.

Ithru Athra Township

Ithru Athra, the settlement along the U’Gur Idis river came about after a great many generations of nomadic travellers growing old. In the beginning the tribes would travel from birth until death in the lands of the Whispering Sands, honoring their ways and the ways of their ancestors by following eternally in their footsteps. As time went on, ways changed, some began to settle down, either when they grew old or when they were sick and wounded or carrying children. At first the township was nothing more but temporary camps with a few members staying behind to protect or care for the ones that could not do such a thing on their own. As years passed and more people would come the three tribes would eventually get closer to one another, their differences that once caused them to be at each other's throats mellowing out, forging powerful bonds between the tribes. Their differences still cause frustrations that lead to fights, but rarely do those conflicts last very long. On average the tribes were accepting of each other's differences and were respecting the others' traditions. Over time they began to work together in making a settlement where others would not have to travel their entire lives.

Each tribe made their own district to live in, not exclusive to one tribe or another but simply reflecting their own cultures. The warrior’s tents and hide homes littered the area with many places to buy or trade for their leftover meats and pelts while trophies were displayed here and there. The Orongur were often viewed as the guardians of the settlement, always ready to protect the township from threats.

The naturalists and their sandstone structures blossomed through their territory as they would often be carved out with depictions of natural splendors or other such reflections. Their expertise in medicine and other such ways being used to aid others in recovery or to help those that were in times of despair or grief recover with spiritual aid.

The Khaishan gatherers settled and began their work turning the wastes around the rivers into a hospitable oasis. Through their ingenuity and techniques passed down through the generations they were able to create a thriving farm with irrigation through their crops thanks to the blessings of the river. Their wooden structures spanned the southern side of the river while the other two bordered on the northern end. Oftentimes the Khaishan would deal with travelers and traders and act as tour guides to their visitors. Thanks to their more civilized ways the groups were often met with kindness which always helped the settlement thrive.

Though the township isn't a prosperous city it enjoys a degree of peace and quiet for the ones who live in the settlement with the nomadic traditions becoming an optional, or coming of age tradition rather than their permanent way of life. Members from each tribe spend their youth in the settlement and decide by the age of thirteen whether they will take up their nomadic ways or stay and live in the township and take up a trade amongst their kind. Though most look to honor their ancestors and follow in their elders' footsteps, some were not so inclined and felt more accustomed to the ways of a peaceful and stationary life. None saw this decision as a weakness or a dishonor but simply as a shifting of the sands, changing the way they lived as nature did so frequently. A majority of the township consists of both youth and elderly as well as the sick or injured and maimed, with only a select portion of each tribe left behind to defend those that would not be able to defend themselves.

Superstitions and Myths

As with any people who live in the world, the tribes also developed their own myths and superstitious stories through the ages, and with such a strange phenomenon as the whispering sands there were a great many stories that thrived and were passed down from generation to generation. One such myth was that the desert is inhabited by a slew of invisible creatures, tricksters who sought only to bring about pranks among the people who travelled and would whisper almost incoherently into the nomads’ ears. Another theory was that of the long dead and lost wandering nomads who were unable to be recovered and properly buried amongst their kin, or who had died on their own after being separated from their groups, the spirit of their ancestors forever wandering the deserts and imparting knowledge or regrets to any who would listen while close by. There are also those that have claim a god is pranking the nomads, attempting to drive them either to insanity or just enjoying a laugh at their fright whenever the whispers would haunt and scare some of them.

Shifting Sands

The sands of the Whispering Desert have been slowly encroaching upon the southern edges of the Yctan jungle ever since the Primordial Coalescence, little by little threatening the life and blood of its people. The exact reason for these unprecedented expansions is unknown, but the many druids of Genush’k have been hard at work halting the desertification of their beloved jungle.