Burning Sands
From L5r: Legend of the Five Rings
The Burning Sands, also known as the Yakeru yoni Atsui, is the area to the North and West of Rokugan. The Unicorn Clan originally set out to explore this region. It is a merciless and lethal place, unlike anything in Rokugan. It is said to have been once a lush land, until it was cursed by Shilah, Lady Sun, during the Day of Wrath. To that cataclismic event, only the Nahr'umar river survived.
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[edit] Societies
There are many factions, cultures, and other groups of interest within the Burning Sands, such as the Senpet, Yodotai, Khadi, Ashalan, Qabal, Ra'Shari, Assassins, Jackals, Ebonites, Qolat, and the Caliphate of Medinaat Al-Salaam.
[edit] Medinat al-Salaam
The largest city in the Burning Sands is Medinaat al-Salaam, the City of Peace. It was for centuries controlled by an extremely powerful Caliph named Hanan Talibah, who possessed great magical powers and near-immortality. Her will was enforced by the Khadi, heartless sorcerers. Medinat al-Salaam is a centre of intrigue and warfare, and a crossroads of cultures. With the death of Hanan Talibah, political rule has once again returned to a balance that the city had not known in centuries- a Sultan that writes the laws, and a Caliph that enforces the laws.
[edit] The Qolat
The Qolat in particular are very powerful in the Burning Sands, mostly through the merchant Houses of Dahab.
[edit] The Qabal
The Qabal is a society of sorcerers that has existed in Medinaat al-Salaam since before the rise of the Immortal Caliph, Hanan Talibah. The Qabal opposed Hanan Talibah and tried to lift sanctions imposed on the practice of magic, as well as led the only substantial rebellion to her power. During this rebellion the Qabal suffered substantial defeat, driving the organization underground for hundreds of years. Since the death of the Caliph Hanan, The Qabal has once again opened their doors to any who would wish to learn the magic of the sahir. The Qabal is suffering from internal division; The traditionalists who still wish to operate secretly (having experienced the dangers of operating openly under the Immortal Caliph), and those who wish to operate openly in the new climate of Medinaat al-Salaam[1]
[edit] The Senpet
The Senpet were a powerful and rigidly organised empire, with strong trade and political links with Medinat al-Salaam. The Senpet army was remarkably well-trained, aligning powerful war chariot. Another such powerful empire, and a newcomer to the region, is the Yodotai empire, which crushed the Senpet in a lengthy and bloody 20 years war, from 1130 to 1150. The Senpet has now been absorbed by the Yodotai Empire, but about half of its most elite forces went into hiding and lead a guerrilla war against the Yodotai. In the Medinaat Al-Salaam, surviving Senpet leaders such as Kesseth, plot against the invaders, hiding within the local Senpet population, a mixed of refugees, Yodotai collaborators and families settled from the time of Caliph Hanan.
[edit] The Moto
A Moto Clan, whose ancestors are a group similar to the original Unicorn Clan Moto family known as the Ujik-hai, also roams the Burning Sands. Recent contact between the two Moto groups following the release of Lady Shinjo from her imprisonment led to the Moto taking leadership of the Unicorn Clan.
[edit] The Yodotai
The Yodotai have been busy digesting their conquest of the Senpet, but they are fascinated by Medinaat Al-Salaam. They have an embassy in the city, which is the most impressive building after the palace of the Sultan and the Caliph. They also took over the Senpet garrison buildings in the city and have a significant force of legionnaire stationed there. At the moment, their forces are not ready to make a move towards taking control of the Burning Sands, but it is only a matter of time before they turn their attention to Medinaat Al-Salaam and ultimately to the Emerald Empire of Rokugan itself.
[edit] The Assassins
A sect of killers dedicated to fighting Caliph Hanan's hated Khadis, the Assassins were led by the Old Man of the Mountain, the son of the murdered Sultan. He had been the lover of Hanan and was manipulated into killing his own father. The only witness was his father's mistress, the Ra'Shari often called the Grey Woman. She cursed him with immortality, condemning him to have only sound daughters and surviving his handicapped and short lived sons. He took the curse as a way of fighting his former lover and avenging his father. His daughters (and some of his least handicapped sons) were trained as ruthless killers, dedicated to undermining the Caliphate. This ended in 1130 with the death of the Immortal Caliph and of the Old Man himself, assassinated by his eldest daughter. His adoptive daughter and heir, Adira, became Caliph. This led to a split of the Assassins. A third followed Adira and became the master spies and executioners of the new dynasty. A third remained with another sister and kept fighting the Caliphate. The last third, mainly males, followed the only sound son of the Old Man. This son is now a Qolat master and uses them as killers against other Qolats.
[edit] Other
Religious groups and secret societies are also very active and independent, ranging from the necromantic Jackal cult to the Ebon Hand sect. Nomads other than the Moto include the Ra'Shari gypsies.
[edit] Rokugani
On occasion Rokugani have entered the Burning Sands. The first time was when the Ki-Rin set out to explore the lands around Rokugan. For almost eight hundred years they were gone, returning later as the Unicorn Clan. In more recent times the Scorpion Clan were banished here by the Emerald Champion Kakita Toshimoko when it was believed that they had kidnapped Emperor Toturi I. Even though the exile was short-lived, many Scorpion lost their lives.
