Qadir

The Qadir, worshippers of the sun and lords of the deserts of Aloria, are great rivals to the Regalian Empire and feared pirates across the seas. Qadir is a collective term used to describe the Mansuriya and Songaskia people, dark skinned humanoids living mostly on and around Farah’deen, the desert continent. Qadir are famed around the world for their piracy as well as their slavery, abled fighters with both sword and fire magic, a practice they themselves excel at better than other races. Opposite to Regalians, Qadir have a very laid back and loose attitude to life, not bogged down by swathes of bureaucracy and aristocracy.

Physical Characteristics

Qadir appear similar if not almost impossible to tell apart from Ailor in their physical proportions aside from the color of their skin and the color of their hair. The skin of the Songaskia in particular is almost dark brown enough to disappear in the darkness, while the Mansuriya share a similarly dark skin, yet lighter and more like the Daendroque. The hair of the Songaskia in particular is always snow white and their eyes always gold, unless they are mixed racial parentage, in which the instantly lose their white hair and golden eyes. The Mansuriya have either copper or black colored hair, and eye colors exclusively brown in tone. Qadir do tend to grow taller than Ailor, usually half a foot on average. Both groups of the Qadir have excellent heat resistance in their bodies, able to withstand desert heat longer than other humanoid races, as well as a tougher skin seemingly more resistant to sandstorms.

Mental Characteristics

Qadir have similar mental characteristics to the Ailor, in terms of capacity and intelligence. They do however tend to be more laid back and enjoy free living more. Qadir often do not measure the value of a person on their social status or wealth, but rather on their piety. Qadir are known as womanizers, men often having multiple wives, as well as drinking alcohol freely and in abundance. Religion is very strong in Qadir life, even more so than Unionism is to the Ailor or Regalians. Qadir are also known as such to be incredibly zealous, violently prosecuting other religions or shunning what they call mer-haaba, those who do not walk in the light of the sun. Qadir are especially adept at fire magic, able to quickly grasp its teachings and then combine it with other martial arts to form a fairly deadly combination that is not easily overcome by the other races.

History

Qadir history starts roughly 600 BC when the Mansuriya were in the majority on the supercontinent of Farra (Farahdeen split off from Faradh and New Ceardia during the Cataclysm). Their Pashah was large, but by no means able to compete with the Elves and simply existed as a very crude and inefficient state. The Mansuriya were often seen as just another branch of Humans by the Elves, yet far enough away not to suffer their slavery raids as much as the Ailor did. Around the year 500 BC, the Mansuriya Pashah collapsed in a mysterious incident involving the acute extinction of the Red Desert Dragons. The Dragons disappeared overnight and whole cities of the Pashah were swallowed by the Desert by violent storms and waves of sand.

From the uncharted heart of the continent suddenly came the Songaskia, with their dark skins, golden eyes and white hair. The majority of Mansuriya died during the calamity, causing the Songaskia to move into the cities and ruins left behind by the plummeting population, mostly on the coastlines. The two peoples largely lived together in harmony for the next 300 years as the Mansuriya slowly retreated to a nomadic form of existence in the desert while the Songaskia urbanized.

The official break came in the year 196 BC when Assur Abdurahman found something deep in the desert that suddenly turned the Mansuriya collective hostile against the Songaskia. The Mansuriya retreated further into the deserts while Songaskia often became victim of nomad raiding parties from the few mountain ranges on the southern part of Farra. The Qadir suffered greatly during the Cataclysm as their Empire was ripped apart and fractured when the ocean claimed much of the land. The resulting situation that continued for several centuries is that the Qadir formed many separate states. Presently, the Qadir both suffer Regalian naval blockade as well as Mansuriya raids from the deserts, yet they grow because of their high population growth as well as their thirst for conquest.

Society

Qadir society is very finely split between the Mansuriya and the Songaskia, but largely centered around the Songaskia. The Mansuriya live as nomads, taking pack animals with them as they trek across the deserts and stay near oases. The Mansuriya are an exceedingly rare sight due to their low numbers, but are also always very hospitable to anyone, as long as they are not Songaskia. The Songaskia live in large city centers, especially Azzul Saradiba, the capital of Qadiriyye, the Songaskia Pashah.

Politics

The Mansuriya seem to have no stable government, instead simply relying on tribe elders to establish plans and future goals for their nomadic tribes. The Songaskia on the other hand have a complex political system rivalling the Regalian Empire. At the top of the Pashah, or the Qadir Empire, exists the Pashtalla, an Emperor of sorts. The Pashtalla controls several Sultans; kings that rule provinces of the Qadir Pashah. The Sultans have Emirs underneath them, Qadir varieties of Dukes, who largely govern a large number of Al-Aqta’s. Al-Aqta’s are usually castles or walled cities that form a single urban entity ruled by a city council that owes responsibility to the Emir of the region. All positions within the Pashah are hereditary, passing from father to eldest son. Succession wars are frequent however, especially because high placed individuals tend to have many children due to multiple marriages, some of whom start a civil war on the death of their father to claim power.

Culture

Qadir culture is strongly inspired by their worship of the sun, known as Shammar-al-Shambala. The Qadir clothe themselves in vibrant colored silks, often in the shape of Togas or more popularly among men, a simple wrap skirt called a Shyaat. Both genders often have geometric patterns on their clothing, as well as various symbols of the sun on the fabric. Qadir enjoy alcoholic drinks, often more so than just water made from anis and other seeds. Qadir are fond of womanizing as well as music and Fersibah, a Qadir form of afternoon celebration that involves dance, music and games of chess at a local square. Qadir despise art however. It is in fact illegal to make images of people and depictions of scenes; Qadir strongly believing it will bring misfortune onto those depicted. They believe the soul is absorbed by the false creation, thus bringing ruin on the original. Qadir diet is mostly based on fruits and bread. Their meat intake is very small, and they barely eat fish.

Religion

Shammar-al-Shambala, or generally shortened as just Shambala, is the Qadir faith of worshipping the sun and its blessings. The faith originated from roughly 200 BC by the prophet Isa Musnaddi Rasul. She spoke of the burning and blinding light of the sun, searing any who opposed it and had a large following of fire mages that put action behind her words. The conversion of the Songaskia was not peaceful and long, but violent and short. Despite the fact that the religion was forced, it is seen as a very benevolent religion to those who are born pure Qadir and worship the sun with offerings of fruit and animals. The religion does not really ban any behavior or life choices, as long as proper worship is given to the sun and the priests. This causes the priests to have a very strong position in Qadir society, but more prevalently paints a good light on the religion. Perhaps most curiously so, magic is seen a blessing and a touch by the Shambala faith. Mages are praised and often become priests and famed warriors.

Economy and Technology

Qadir economy is completely dependent on piracy preying on Regalian shipping. Farahdeen is not fertile enough to sustain large scale food production, and many commodities cannot be obtained in the hot desert sands. Due to this, despite being strongly anti-Regalia, the Qadir Pashah actually uses the Regalian coin and tries to trade through smugglers and intermediates with fringe Regalian states where the Navy cannot tightly control what comes in and goes out. Qadir don’t have much technology, but the technology they do have is quite ingenious. Qadir houses lack large windows, instead having complex systems of mirrors that light up different rooms at different times of the day, causing the inhabitants to go through a daily cycle of using rooms in a certain order. Another large device called the Shaftunna, is used to dig deep into the desert sand to expose ruins and water sources without damaging anything that is underground. This is done by funneling wind currents steered by wind mages into increasingly narrow tubes to create highly pressurized air. Obviously, most of the technology in the Qadir society is driven by magic.

Combat and Warfare

Qadir combat is performed by the Al-Mukhari, a large standing army of well trained swordsman with a preference for curved swords and leather armor. In general, the Qadir army is seen as the most professional standing army in the world, and also the largest, far exceeding the Regalian levies. The Qadir generally do not formally commit women into the army, but there are women only army sections dedicated to specific purposes. Their usual tactic for warfare is tight formations of well trained troops, the only thing Qadir truly lack in that regard for land combat is trained officers. Additionally, the Qadir naval capacity is very weak beyond troop transport.

Trivia

• Qadir army sections often defy popular social beliefs in other countries, especially on the subject of brotherlove. Some women or men only battalions encourage romance between the soldiers, believing it strengthens their bond.
• It is unknown why the Mansuriya suddenly turned hostile to the Songaskia over a seemingly insignificant discovery, though it is assumed to be related to the cause of the sudden appearance of the Songaskia and the sudden disappearance of the Black Desert Dragons.
• The Black Desert Dragons were not the last Dragons in Farahdeen. The Songaskia hunted the Red Desert Dragons and the few Barbiya Mountain Dragons that existed to extinction several years before the Cataclysm.