Qadir: Difference between revisions

The Qadir Ailor are a Lineage of Ailor that shares a common ancestry with Ailor, but diversed at some point in history when their people moved north-west into the unforgiving deserts of Ard al-Nur. Lineages sit somewhere in between a Culture and a Subrace, meaning the Qadir are not quite as distant from Ailor so as to be a full-fledged different Race altogether, but are also not as simple as just a different culture. Being technicians, engineers, and scholars, if ever the world had a people that could be described as the world’s most technologically gifted, it would be the Qadir Ailor. The Qadir were reborn from the ruins of their [[Sariyd Empire]], still littering in the desert sands, sending echoes of past technological glories to anyone brave enough to venture deep into the drought. The Qadir are famous for their highly advanced technology, with most of the world's technological advances being generated by the studious Qadir engineers, producing clockwork devices ranging from household equipment to military technology and vehicles. There is no upper limit to the curiosity and capacity for invention among the Qadir, they are not a people beset with dreams of conquest and subjugation, but of progress and fame. When referring to Qadir Ailor, one can use either Qadir Ailor, or just Qadir, but they should never be lumped in with all Ailor, as that is offensive to their unique culture and history away from their Ailor cousins.  

Qadir are visually similar to their Ailor cousins, but different in some key ways. Skin tones for Qadir Ailor range only from Middle-Eastern, to Northern African, to Sahel-African, or Central Asia, strictly with darker to darkest skin tones (even if some white-coded people live in these regions). Qadir have a wide range of hair colors available, but also some that are unusual among Ailor: creamy beige, and crimson red. A very unique trait of the Qadir, is that they have sandstone-colored irises. Secondly, they have a curious skin-pigmentation that the Qadir Ailor call "Sirr al-Hayat" (Secret of Life), which involves a mandala-like pigmentation on the back of their hands that grows up their arms as they age, recording shapes reminiscent of important events in their lives in typical henna fashion. These pigmentations can have any color, change color part-ways, or faintly glow. Each Qadir Ailor has these Sirr al-Hayat, which usually end around their shoulders or chest when they die of old age. Qadir Ailor are a deeply intellectual and curious Race, valuing knowledge over (what their culture considers) crude pursuits of warfare and combat. While this curiosity can just as well be averted to Magic or the pursuit of a martial lifestyle, most Qadir Ailor invest their time in technological innovation and scholarly learning. Qadir Ailor tend to be introverted and book-wise rather than street-wise, with other Race sometimes accusing them of being self-absorbed or abrasive, when in reality they lack an understanding of how other societies operate.   

This section covers a brief abridged version of Qadir Ailor and extended Sariyd history. For a full understanding of [[Sariyd History]], read said page. It is however possible to roleplay a Qadir correctly without ever having read this page. The Qadir are an old Race that long pre-dates the Cataclysm, though is not older than the founding of the Allorn Empire. The Qadir were one of the first branches of the Ailor Race that civilized into formal sovereign nations, and were able to largely deter Elven interference in their development. Somewhere through history, one Qadir tribe fell in with the [[Ordial Cultism]] God the Machinist, who they eventually betrayed and "killed", making them the only Race to have killed an actual God that could be verified. However, due to infighting and politics after the fact, this God was reborn and plotted an ultimate revenge on the Qadir without them knowing. Drawing the Qadir into conflict with the Dragons, the Machinist eventually tricked the Dragons into accidentally wiping a large portion of the Qadir population out of existence with the Great Storm, leaving them greatly diminished. Through a pre-Unionist manifestation of a Unionist God, the Qadir were able to replace the corrosive death-magic fueled machines with Everwatcher-fueled machines. Over the centuries since, the Qadir have fought an unending war with the Songaskians, who walked from the Great Storm as the inheritors of the Dragons and usurped much of their once held territory. In the modern Era, the Qadir are not nearly as limited in number as the Dwarves, but are still considerably reduced in global power due to their population numbers. They are still considered the world's most gifted technicians and engineers, constantly at the forefront of technological advances, and having been formally allied (but not incorporated) to the Regalian Empire, creating a sense of security and community, with a healthy movement of ideas and people between the Al-Alus homeland and Regalia.  

A bit of an unusual topic for Race Pages, but relevant in the context of Qadir. Many would wonder, where does much of the Tech Qadir produce come from? Originally, this technology was all fueled by the Machinist. Power was directly drawn from the Beyond and Ordial Magics, meaning all Qadir technology was in essence fueled by Death Magic. This choice obviously became their downfall, but with the arrival of Al-Asir, their power source changed. While the original Qadir were covered in Death-Script Sirr al-Hayat (tattoos) which were used as a conduit to funnel Death Magic into the power sources of their machines, when Al-Asir was adopted by the Qadir people, their Sirr al-Hayat changed to what they are in the modern era, cleansed of the influences of the Beyond. In essence, the Sirr al-Hayat are a method for the Qadir to manifest the power of their Gods into the work that they do, even for those who do not believe in Al-Asir as a Unionist deiety and rejection Unionism as a whole, their spiritual connection still moves their machines. As such, Qadir machines (Clockwork largely by extension) in the modern era is fueled by Unionism or more specifically the endless power of the Everwatcher, which is invested in Al-Asir, who shares it among his people through the Sirr al-Hayat. There exists however Ordial powered Clockwork as well, particularly that made by the Rishiq, and in theory any other power source can be used to substitute (Leylines/Dragon power, Estelley power, Arken power, etc.).

Qadir Religion is both a matter of faith and civics, because the line between them is fairly blurry, at least in Al-Alus. Most of the Qadir are Unionist, observing primarily Al-Asir as machine-hand of the Everwatcher, and by extension many of the other Unionist Gods under either [[Guided Unionism]] or Dogmatic [[Unionism]]. Most Qadir profess a preference for Guided Unionism, because of its inherent mixing of intellectualism with faith, though a sizable dogmatic community does exist. Below that in number are Al-Asir Unitarians, which means they acknowledge Al-Asir as their God, the Everwatcher as the greater entity that Al-Asir represents, but reject the divinity of the other Unionist Gods and the Emperor of Regalia (though still acknowledging his secular power). Below that in number are the agnostics, those who acknowledge the existence of gods, but prefer to see Al-Asir more as a civic secular figure than a figure in needing of worship. This is both acceptable to Qadir society at large and very viable, Al-Asir never forces faith in him, and treats everyone fairly, even those who do not observe the Everwatcher because of his intense generosity, kindness, and curiosity to all visitors in Al-Alus. Much the same are the anti-theists, those who are forcefully against the concept of religion as a whole and blame spirituality for much of the ails of Qadir history. And finally, there are the Ordial Cultists, either those in Al-Alus who hide their old loyalties, or the Rishiq who openly still worship the Machinist, believing his technological promise of power to be more true than Al-Asir's promise of unity.  

Qadir fashion is varied, ranging from what we IRL would consider fantasy arabic, to the traditional wear of the Rajput or Omani people. A very common fabric choice for the Qadir is silk because of its breathing and light yet strong properties, especially with shades of blue, brown, and orange or copper. Gold is a color frequently avoided in traditional Qadir clothing, preferring brass or bronze for jewelry, while the color green as a strong accent or dominating color is avoided because of the inherent associations with the Beyond. Qadir Fashion tends to be fairly fluid because many of them do not spend a second thought on clothing expressions, preferring the merit of their mind and words to do the talking than impressions of their dressing style. Additionally, many Qadir live in foreign lands where it often pays off to adopt local customs, so truly traditional Qadir clothing is often only worn in Al-Asir, while Qadir living abroad (and particularly Regalia) experiment a lot with styles and clothing types of foreign cultures. The Qadir do not formally have a dress-code, they can wear as much or as little as they like, and have no real distinction between female or male styled clothing either.