Xe'cur

## Tribal confederacy of Xe'cur

### Information and location

The Xe'Cur is not a nation, such as the faraway Halendi or Yurk. Instead, it is a loose alliance of different tribes of many cultures, primarily the Xe'tok, who all nominally swear alliegance to the Xe'Nyat, or "The lord" as it is called. Autonomy always lays with the tribal leaders however, and the Xe'Nyat has at many times been deposed.

It is located on the southern continent of Oz'aal, where the great plateau sharply descends. The main settlements are built on the narrow coastal plain, due to its fertile land and abundance in fish. Its location northeast of the plateau slightly disconnects it from the south. While it conducts trade with the south, Xe'cur tribesmen are often seen as barbaric by the southerners, and as such larger agreements are never reached between the two. The most prominent relationship is the Steel road, which begins in the north, in the Xe'cur coastal city of Xe'co'taw, and ends in the southern deserts near the lost city of Sakhra. Food flows south, and steel and other resources flow north along the road.

### Cultures and Tribes

#### Xe'tok

##### Tok'xok

The main tribe of the Xe'cur, they are specialized in farming, raising livestock, fishing, foraging, and, most famously, their cave paintings. Nobody really knows when the tradition began, but, Tok'xok artist will frequently aquire "Cave pigment", which is a bright red mineral found in caves, and then chisel it into dust. The dust is then blown around the outline of hands, or into shapes of animals and people. These are sold, but are quite valuable, and are usually sent west on the "Water Way" to the western kingdoms and dwarven holds.

#### Tok'xat

A very small offshoot of the Tok'xok, the Tok'xat easily blend in with their cousins, but instead specialize in trade. They usually man the trading expeditions southwards and westwards.

#### Drak'haan

Drak'haan are the most distinct of the Xe'tok group, being made up of those who, in the early days of the tribes, settled on the rivers and seas to live off of fishing, and shark-hunting. This later evolved further, with them inventing the first Xe'tok vessel to be able to go further than fishing grounds right outside a dock. These are now used by the Tok'xat to trade and explore new lands.

### Lo'chitek

#### Lo'chotak

As all the rest of the Lo'chitek family tree, the Lo'chotak are steeped in magic. They are usually given a wide berth by the rest of the tribes, and are sometimes persecuted due to practicing what is seen as heretical magic. During the tribes migration northwards from the southern deserts eons ago, these came from the west, and as such are very distinct from other tribes.

#### Lo'chat

The Lo'chat are generally regarded as holy men and women. They are the religious priests of the tribes. Most interestingly, they seem to have been accepted more readily than their Lo'chotak cousins, and have at times become part of the shamans of the river goddess.

### Steppe cultures

These cultures vary wildly from the others, and are not even related most of the time. Steppe culture is merely the term used to group together the disparate tribes and people that populate the steppes south of where most tribes live on the coast.

#### Kherat

The Kherat's are incredibly different from any other tribe. Many years ago, on the continent of Bo’Saai, there lived a young, yet powerful nation populated by the Sparin people. This kingdom, located the temperate climates, was ruled by three wealthy individuals, dubbed “The Merchant Kings.” For years, this small kingdom prospered, carefully secluding themselves from the prying eyes of fledgling nations unless trade was on the table.
One day, however, The ‘Kingdom of Sparins” came into conflict with the Kherat people, those who lived not by the rules of borders, but by the rule of nomads, and who lived by rules of wealth through violence. These people, lead by a Great Khan, warred with the Sparins known as the “Age of Storms,” named such due to the massive dust/sand clouds left in the wake of the thousands of Kherats horse archers. In the last battle, The Kherat outnumbered Sparin forces, sending a fear so powerful that the greed and disloyalty of the Three Merchant Kings reared its head. The kings gathered their wealth and families and ran, without warning. Upon discovering their “fearless” and “beloved” leaders abandoned their kingdom, the Sparin army fell astray, many deserting. Those who stayed forced the remaining populace to arms. The end of the war saw both the Kingdom of Sparins and the Khanate collapse, with the death toll on boths sides being the largest the war either side had ever seen. The remnants of the Kherat people, seeing this destruction and the near death of their people, began to reorganize their nomadic lifestyle and the rules of their people. In doing so, they saw a chance for both sides at redemption. Their new leader, The Khagan “Temur Ortagai,” approached the leader of the Sparin deserters and remnants, Trinidad Del Mores, with an offer: Both their lands and people were nearly destroyed, both equally disgraced by their old leaders. Together, they can rebuild their reputation, wealth, and prosperity.