Wide open plains of sand - a rolling desert of ivory grains that looks like a motionless sea - waves, undulating as if a tide. These sands burn with the intense heat of the sun - for the climate zones of Erna are not North to South, but lie at a 34 degree axis across it - and Dacia is in the ‘Desert’ climate zone.
Very little grows in the Dacia desert, and the people of Dacia - whether the more modern Khandish or the Rishidhun, which keep to the old ways, the Law of the Sands - still live a nomadic existence, moving from place to place during the night and resting during the day. They collect water where they can - but where once Dacia was part of Thracia and Macedonia many millennia ago, much of the water lays in underground streams and rivers - far deeper than any person or even tribe could dig. The lack of water has lead to water being a form of currency for many Dacians, and the phrase ‘a man lost in the desert must accept any water given, regardless of its source’ is well used. Despite this, the north and south of the Dacian continent are actually grasslands - though very little grows even here. To the north is the Green Hills - rolling grasslands which many Dacians consider to be sacred grounds. Many Dacian emperors were once buried here - the kings that once ruled all the Dacian tribes at once. Even in these modern times, few Dacians journey to the northern hills. The south grasslands are another matter entirely. Only during the spring and summer months does anything grow here, and during the winter months nothing but dust blows around the clefts and pillars of red and ivory stone. Instead, the natural bowls of earth and stone about the southern areas accumulate Fae - and more Fae is present in these bowls than most ritual sites elsewhere in the world. It is no wonder that the Rishidhun tribes developed Alchemy far before any other civilised race.
Once upon a time, many Dacians lived by the Laws of the Sands. These guiding rules were held as absolutes - there was no arguing with the Laws. The Laws themselves were not for questioning, and all tribes tried to uphold them as they could. One might expect the Laws to be quite civilised - but this is not so. The Laws were based on the idea that the desert rules all - that the need for life was greater than the need for any single life. A Dacian was required to give their life for a tribe if they could. It governed rights of territory - such as a tribe not being able to hold any oasis for more than 14 moons. If a tribe could not collect enough from an oasis that was their due - they must move to find another or fight off a rival tribe.
Dacians still live in tribes and the Laws of the Sands are still respected by the peoples of Dacia. But now, many Laws, whilst respected, are not kept. Dacian culture of late has split into three distinct parts: the Dacians, the Khandish and the Rishidhun.
Dacians are the common people that still live in tribes. Tribes consist of groups of families which come together and a protected by their wealthiest tribe, abiding by their rules and laws of trade. One tribe might deal in herbs, for example, and another in smith-work. Each tribe tries to find a foothold and families within a tribe give a small percentage to their tribal leaders - who then use some of that money to help pay for defences and equipment the tribe might lack. This means that families within a tribe can come and go, and each tribe is of varying size. As the year waxes and wanes, a family might move in an opposite rotation to their tribe, whereupon the tribe might gain or lose members, as well as ability within a given foothold. Dacians generally respect the Laws of the Sands, but are not entirely beholden to them. This has lead to a breakdown in societies in ever more increasing frequency of late. Dacians do not hold to any given gods, and a mixture of faiths might exist peacefully within a tribe, though few have ever turned to the worship of the Six.
The Rishidhun take their name from the Dacian tribes of old. These Dacians still follow the Laws of the Sands, and still follow Asa and Ada - ceremonies such as the old horse-rites and blood-giving rituals are common practice amongst the Rishidhun. To the Rishidhun the old ways are always better and technology is distrusted. Despite this, the practice of Alchemy is quite common amongst the Rishidhun, being considered a gift from the gods, and magery is considered heretical to the point of execution. The Rishidhun are fascinated by death and the earliest writings speak of mummification, a practice still used today by the Rishidhun. Like the Dacians, Rishidhun live in tribes, though tribes never inter-mix or mingle, though daughters are sometimes sold for marriage to other tribes and sons are sent off as slaves. This has lead to other Dacians having a joke that many Rishidhun are inbred, twisted and ugly. This is not true, though it is easy to see how such a view came about.
The last set are the Khandish. Viewed as weak by the Rishidhun, and with apprehension by the Dacians, the Khandish have returned the ways of the Old Religion. The Cult of S’kor is quickly once again taking a firm hold of the Dacian people, despite the last open practice of the Cult being more than two thousand years ago. Unlike the others Khandish do not live in tribes and are not nomads - though bands of ‘Lightbearers’ do journey out into the sands. The Khandish are a kind of clergy, and they live almost exclusively in cities across the inner Dacian desert. The growing capital of this fast-growing cult is Khand, meaning ‘spirit’ or ‘voice’ in the old tongue, and it is here that seat of the clergy lies. Many that follow the Cult of S’kor are fervent believers, and they wear the red robes of priests, the red sash of the warrior or the red tabard or a serf. The Khandish consider it an honour to serve and many work tirelessly within a city walls. The Cult tries to be open to all (despite being openly hostile towards the Hob, Sithi and Beastmen races - though Dwarrow are accepted easily) and many cities are massively beyond their requirements so that tribes can camp within the walls. It is this way that the Khandish are winning the hearts of many tribes - though rumours about their practices speak ill of the Khandish. ‘Lightbearers’ for example, are the lower ranked Khandish who go out into the world to spread the word of S’kor - though the rumours say they also go to kill in the dark of the night, dispatching tribes that openly speak out against the Cult. Other rumours point out the decreasing water supply from oases near to the Khandish cities and that the Khandish horde the water for themselves. Whatever the others say, the Khandish are gaining more and more worshippers to S’Kor’s cause everyday and their chants around the camp-fire when the night draws in have been heard across all the continent: “...for the night is dark, and full of terrors...”
