I didn't get much feed back on this in the original thread, and I'd kind of like some sense I'm going to be writing up some stuff on the other local Arabic kingdoms built on fertile ground.

This is for my E6 Pathfinder game.

   The land known as Hezzesheol is one of the harshest places in the world. Its deserts, sparsely dotted with water, are ruled by a nomadic people. The “Shoels“ as they are known, live in small groups of usually 3 or 4 families which travel the land in search of scarce resources for their herds of goats, sheep, dromedaries and camels.

   There are twelve major tribes of Hezzesheol: Kilab, Murad, Banu, Judham, Numayr, Mahrah, Ghatafan, Sulaym, Hanifah, Tamin, Hawazan and Bahila. Each tribe is ruled by a sheikh and lead by a council of elders. The council of elders appoints the sheikh and informally determines its own membership accepting them if their age and prestige are sufficient.

It is a rare day when all of the elders of the land are able to meet. In fact, it happens just once a year. Every year on the Autumnal Equinox, thousands of men gather at the Silver Plateau for a moot. During this moot, tribal business is handled, religious rituals are carried out, and a feast is held.

   The need to remain in small groups due to the lack of concentrated resources prevents the tribes from assembling in larger numbers except where permanent settlements have been established at scattered oases. These settlements were almost always established through force of arms and are always under threat by nomads of other tribes that want the resources for themselves.

   The nomads of Hezzesheol are ancestor and spirit worshippers. They believe that the sun god has left men to fend for themselves, but through righteousness can find their way into the fields of plenty. Those who follow their path practice religious ritual, prayer to the spirits and meditation to prepare their souls to find the light that leads to the fields. Should they succeed, they will become spirits capable to interceding on the behalf of the tribe and family they had in life. Through this arrangement, the dead can provide spells to the living.

   The members of each tribe have a powerful oral tradition. Most members can recite the names, deeds, and stories of a thousand righteous men that came before, and the stories of virtually every man they directly descended from. The assumption that the elders of the tribe have a greater mastery over the oral tradition, and are themselves soon to become honored spirits, gives them authority over the tribe.

   The moot at the Silver Plateau is the greatest festival of the year, lasting for two weeks. The celebration gives the tribes time to finish any local business before traveling north for the season. Large decisions, such as the decision to go to war, are discussed at the moot. Sheikhs, while doubling as political and religious leaders, commune with the spirit world to seek answers and assistance for their people. Silver Plateau has an enormous permanent stone floor on its center. The center dais has a collection of idols from every tribe, each one beautifully painted. It is this dais that serves as the focus for all of the ceremonies.


   Along the southern border of the desert there is a great deal of pasture land which is technically under the influence of the three kingdoms. Many of the people who live there consider themselves nomads. At any given point, whole families will settle down to farm or get up and leave into the desert. This situation makes the Sheol very difficult to tax, threaten or control.

   Animal husbandry is the principal means of subsistence for the Sheol. Dromedaries, camels, sheep and goats provide wool, meat, blood, work and wealth for the people of the desert. That said, the Sheol are not completely self sufficient. They trade substantially with settled communities for any number of goods they can’t provide themselves. The nomads and the settled communities are completely bound together both through culture and economics.

   The Sheol consider themselves more righteous than settled people. They believe that the desert lets them see clearly into the spirit world and that their unchanging way of life lets them have a direct connection to their ancestors. They believe that they are healthier and cleaner that settled peoples (which is true). They also believe that they are braver in battle and have a more generous and egalitarian society (which may also be true).

   Their culture is very concerned with honor and shame. Like the Zathum, the nomads of Hezzesheol treat so called, “lie-followers,” with distain. Anyone the acts against the community, tells a lie or fails to uphold tradition can be ostracized, which has dire consequences under the desert sun. Both crime and sin are rare, for their lives are usually good but the ability to punish a criminal with anything other than exile or death is limited.

   All justice is handled by the tribal system. No one has an intrinsic right to life or possessions on their own. It is only though their tribal association that they can expect to receive justice or fair treatment by the men of their own land. The famous saying goes, “me against my brother; me and my brother against my cousin; me, my brother and my cousin against the stranger.” In this harsh climate where there is little to go around, it is important to understand the fact that everyone has to make sure that they survive themselves, and then their family and then their tribe. In harsh times, this attitude can lead to very natural and bloody conflicts over the oases.

   Like so many others, the Nomads of Hezzesheol have a warrior culture. There isn’t a professional military but when the elders call for battle, their ranks fill with the common people of the Sheol, all of which are capable warriors. It can take a season for the word for an army to assemble, often requiring the elders to wait for a spring or fall moot to send out the call to arms.

   The nomadic tribes often provide support for the four kingdoms as mercenaries. In fact, their numbers and prowess are so great that they have the capacity to make or break kingdoms. The people that have ruled the three southern kingdoms for so long were originally a nomadic tribe. It is only their connection to the elders that has allowed them to stay in power for so long.

   While there may be some differences in equipment due to the wealth of the individual, the Sheol army is usually composed of a single type of soldier – the mounted warrior.

[/B]

For Mount – See Herd Animal – Camel on pg 154 of Bestiary 2

STR 12
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 10
CHA 10

HP 12 /
AC 17 Base 10, Armored Coat +4, Dex +2, Light Wooden Shield +1 (May Substitute Scale +5 or Chain Shirt +4 for Armored Coat)

BAB +1
CMB +4
CMD 14

Melee Attack (w/o mounted or power attacking modifiers): Straight Long Sword +3 Strike, Damage 1d8+1, Crit 19+
Ranged Attack: Short Bow +3 Strike, 1d6+1 Damage

Feats and Abilities

Mounted Combat
Mounted Archery
Power Attack
Weapon Focus – Long Sword

Size:            390,000 Square Miles
Total Population:      1,170,000
Population Density:      3 people / square mile
Greatest City:         Tardor
City Population:      22,000
Number of Towns       20
Town Population      1d4x1000

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Left Blank for Now


Tardor is the shining jewel of the deserts of Hezzesheol. It is situated just a few miles west of the Silver Plateau on a massive, underground spring. The Kilab tribe has prospered as since they founded the city 300 years ago by controlling the water, the Silver Plateau, and the extension of the Royal Road which heads through the desert to the kingdoms north and west. Today, the city is the center of trade and culture for the whole desert.

Tardor is an absolute monarchy ruled by King Sahir and his wife Queen Layla. Queen Layla is a proud descendant of the former rulers of Niber and has in her possession the ancient artifacts of Niber. As a Niberian woman of royal blood, she has been blessed with the ability to operate the ancient devices with the skill of a sorceress. Her grace and power has helped the people of the city prosper.

The city of Tardor has a respectable tract of farmland, though its citizens think of themselves as nomads and the line between grazing pastures and cropland waxes and wanes. Those who live in the heart of the city make their living as merchants, selling and trading wares with the caravans traveling to the far north.

While the city is of a powerful and respectable size, it triples in population during the autumn festival at the Silver Plateau and continues to receive people for two to three weeks after as the nomads migrate north. While twenty thousand is small compared to greater cities such as Ashlam, Tardor maintains a powerful military presence thanks to the loyalty of the entire Kilab clan.

The Kilab were not the first to build on this site. Countless civilizations sense the dawn of time, not all of them human, have made their home on the well spring near the silvery tabletop. Underneath the city and in the sands around are the signs of previous peoples. The city itself is surrounded by 12 obelisks of ancient origin which correspond to the constellations in the night sky and are used to sorcerers to predict the future.

Awesome stuff...


In my head I've a vision of a colorful tent in an oasis with a semi-permanent population. In that tent is a small demon squid in a glass bowl, quietly plotting and smoking from  hookah.

Quote from: Silverlion;463116Awesome stuff...


In my head I've a vision of a colorful tent in an oasis with a semi-permanent population. In that tent is a small demon squid in a glass bowl, quietly plotting and smoking from  hookah.

Holy fuck. That just made this setting way better.

Don't suppose you two would like to get together and do this as a setting for High Valor instead of PF ?

I just looked up High Valor. Looks pretty sweet.

I haven't run an end of the world scenario in a long time. I bet my players would dig it.

One thing you might want to consider, is that if you have desert dwellers like the tribes of Hezzesheol, then not only is fresh water vital for life, but also a way of replacing salt lost through sweating. For example, the trans-Saharan nomads where reliant on salt gathered from the evaporating salt pans at the mouth of the Senegal River.

Quote from: Derabar;463158Don't suppose you two would like to get together and do this as a setting for High Valor instead of PF ?

Not a bad idea, although I might like a different map (Hehe) if I did that. Something more unique than the original...

Especially fitting for a more Sword and Sorcery variant.