Salamandrine

The Ancient Salamandrine Race is perhaps one of the most mysterious in
all of Arestoneiam. This golden kingdom's survival in the middle of the
harsh desert through which few cross made them both nearly impossible to
 reach and strangely intriguing. They had little human interaction and
were probably unable to speak the common tongue of Arestoniam. All that
is known of them is what is written in the historian Aegrop's records: a
 primary source that sheds a dim bit of light into the strange
disappearance of an entire race or men.

Very little is know of Salamandrine history besides the handful of
pages in Aegrop's journals, which mostly consist of commentary on their
religion: Momaqui. Bht judging by what was written, most scholars
believe Salamandrine to have been semi-nomadic throughout most of
history, as agriculture in a desert is nearly impossible and livestock
cannot easily last. But Aegrop's writings suggested that, while most
tribes wandered, they had some sort of grand capital city; thus, their
history is divided into two periods: The Age of Dust and The Age of
Stone

## Description

What we know of their appearance comes solely from Aegrop, who
describes Salamandrine are relatively tall beings with a frail, but
graceful appearance. They cover most of their body with linens to
protect from the harsh winds, though their large and abnormally-knobby
hands are still noticeably different than those of most other humans.
Their faces are long and wide-nosed, crowned with beady, colorless eyes.
 They commonly paint symbols of religious significance onto their
foreheads.

## Abilities

These desert folk are not too different from other humans in the
sense that they are weak and fleshy without many abilities, except on
rare occasions. They do, however, have an uncanny ability for survival
and are known for having tamed the wild Qu'ukwa Camels, or the Windfoot
Beasts, as well as other desert creatures. Legend has it that they could
 tame the worms, but historians have unanimously credited this to be the
 work of mythology and tall-tales common sighing Aegrop's history. They
are well-suited to desert life, being able to last on very little water
for a very long time, making their disappearance an even greater
mystery.

## Creation

Salamandrine are too rare and do not interact with human enough for
an explanation of creation to occur within the Children of a New
religion. Plus, they vanished from the public eye too early for
religious officials to care. The Salamandrine believe themselves to have
 risen from the sands by the will of the Great East Winds, but many
scholars believe them to be humans, so twisted by the harsh environment
that they may survive with relative ease. Amongst those who study them,
creation is a hot topic for debate.

## Weaknesses

Salamandrine suffer from the same weaknesses as mortal men, seeing as they are human.

## Culture

Though relatively unstudied, the culture of the Salamandrine is
irrefutably colorful and rich, largely focusing on their religion. They
are rather unfestive creatures, though each tribe's medicine man
conducts frequent rain dances in colorful regalia, provides ceremonial
hallucinagens, and maintains the health of the tribe. But much of the
rest of their culture is solemn anod built on reverence to the Great
Winds and Sandworms. Each day at sunrise, the Salamandrine will pray to
the winds as Sun opens his single eye, then shall pray to the sun as it
sets below the horizon. After praying at sunrise, they retain solemn
silence until sundown, communicating though simple hand signals and
clicks of the throat. At sunset, they shall settle, perform a rain
dance, eat, and smoke the ceremonial pipe. Even solitary Salamandrine
shall partake in these rituals on his or her own accord. The symbols on
their foreheads are believed to please the Desert Worms. Weddings do not
 occur, for the tribe is seen as a family unit through which
reproduction takes place. Children are not immediately admitted; they
must first come of age at 13 (the tribe's years are based on a lunar
calendar), then tame a Windfoot beast and embark on a year-long mission
across the desert alone, where he or she must aid at least one other
creature in the process and fast for one day a weekThe child will become
 an adult and be given a sacred weapon. Death is treated with great
reverence. The tribe shall remain silent from sunrise until sunrise the
next day, praying. The body will be bathed in perfume and wine, then
left upon a sand dune, where it shall be coated by the sands of the
wind. This, and their religion, is widely covered in Aegrop's texts.