Mahdek

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Jan'Tep belief=

> "*Who among you would fight the ancient enemy? Which of you would face the Mahdek wizard wearing his ritual death mask?*"
> ― Master Osia'phest
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The Mahdek were an invading culture of demon-worshiping magic-users that attempted to steal the use of the Jan'Tep Oases, before being defeated by the Jan'Tep clan prince in a war. The remaining Mahdek survivors went into hiding and vowed to kill any Jan'Tep they found.

The Mahdek trained their nekhek familiars to chew Weakweed and bite their enemies to weaken their magical abilities, and wore Mahdek ritual masks while summoning demons to use for their dark magic.

## History

> "*We had nearly been wiped out in that conflict. The Mahdek had used the magic of shadow - of the void - to unleash demons, attacking Jan'Tep children in their sleep so as to distract even our most powerful mages. My ancestors had fought back, drawing on the other six fundamental forms of magic: iron and ember, sand and silk, breath and blood.*"
> ― Kellen
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The Mahdek had grown jealous of the Jan'Tep cities and their magical Oases, so use Shadow magic in order to summon demons that could attack the Jan'Tep children while they slept, distracting the Jan'Tep mages, to give them the upper hand during the war.

Despite this, the Jan'Tep mages were victorious and managed to defeat the Mahdek attackers, but not before the Mahdek cursed the Jan'Tep with the Shadowblack, a disease that fed off magical power and drove mages insane.

Mahdek truth=

> "*Oh, they got rid of us all right. There ain't enough Mahdek blood in the world to bring my people back. What's left are just...ghosts, I guess you could say.*"
> ― Ferius Parfax
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The Mahdek are a scattered people of former magic users who were hunted to near-extinction by the Jan'Tep. While pureblooded Mahdek may retain the latent ability to use magic, centuries spent away from the magical Oases of the Jan'Tep cities is believed to have rendered them unable to effectively use their magical ability.

The Mahdek were the original indigenous magic users on the continent, and were a peace-loving people who built cities. They are noted as having had a greater natural affinity to magic than the Jan'Tep, and may not have needed the bandings that the Jan'Tep use. The Mahdek understanding of magic was also more thorough than the Jan'Tep, as their arcanum had dozens of breath glyphs, as opposed to the nine that the Jan'Tep used. The Mahdek also had the ability to create magical oases, which both strengthened their spells and allowed their children to learn magic easily. They buried their dead in mausoleums, deep in what would later become the Jan'Tep ore mines, which at leasts one clan designed as an arcanum, covering the walls in complex magical sigils. The Mahdek dead were embalmed and placed in mausoleums wearing black lacquer burial masks that depicted demons.

The Mahdek are said to have had a strong affinity with the nekhek, or squirrel cats, with similar relationships to the partnership between Reichis and Kellen.

The Mahdek culture was extremely superstitious, and the tribes feared demons, which led to their use of Mahdek burial masks, intended to scare away demons from possessing corpses.

## History

> "*When our ancestors found they didn't have the power to defeat the Mahdek, they... we... called forth demons to destroy them. First we attacked their families to break their spirits, then we killed their mages.*"
> ― Kellen
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Three hundred years before Kellen's adventures began, the Jan'Tep, led by the clan prince, came together as a 'melting-pot' of magic users from other cultures. They considered the Mahdek, who had more magical ability, a potential threat, and so they tried to take control of the oases in a war. They quickly discovered that they were unable to defeat the Mahdek in open combat, with many of their mages being defeated, so the Jan'Tep used shadow magic in order to summon demons to kill Mahdek children so as to break the morale of the Mahdek shamans before duels. Having defeated the Mahdek clans, the Jan'Tep clan prince claimed the oases, and the cities they rested in, for the Jan'Tep.

The crown prince then placed a mind chain on his wife in order to conceal the truth, collapsed the entrance to the Mahdek mausoleum, and the victorious Jan'Tep hid the truth of their atrocity, teaching their children that the Mahdek had been demon-summoners who attempted to steal the Jan'Tep cities.

## The Remaining Mahdek

> "*Once a game like this is begun, it is never ended.*"
> ― Mer'esan
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After the thorough destruction of the Mahdek in their cities, there are very few remaining people of Mahdek ancestry, and even fewer full-blooded Mahdek, with individual families often living in hiding. Mahdek children are often raised being taught of the Jan'Tep war on the Mahdek, and are expected to swear an oath of vengeance against the Jan'Tep, which appears to involve killing any that they come across.

### Known Post-War Mahdek

* Ferius Parfax
* Ferius Parfax's mother †
* Ferius Parfax's father †
* Ferius Parfax's grandmother †
* Ferius Parfax's grandfather †
* Diadera †

## Appearance

While the Mahdek naturally tended to either have black or red hair, many chose to dye it with a colour-changing substance that adapted depending on the environment they spent time in (rather like the fur of squirrel cats). For instance, someone spending time in the sun may end up with blond or sandy hair, while someone near water may have pale blue hair.

## Hierarchy

Very little is known of the structure of Mahdek society, other than the titles of certain positions within the hierarchy, as depicted on one of Ferius Parfax's card decks. Here they are represented by the suit of Leaves, and drawn as skeletons for their lost culture.

## Trivia

* The Mahdek are represented by the suit of Leaves in Ferius' deck of cards.
* Some features of Mahdek society, such as the embalming of the dead, and the use of death-masks, may be drawn from Ancient Egyptian practices.