Qul - The Land of the Five Deserts
   
   
   Introduction:
     
Gather here, my friends, and hear the story of my journey to the faraway land of Qul.
Wonders over wonders have I seen there, and many a strange creature too.
Yes, you can all see that the skin in my face has turned to a bright red color. The sand of the Red Desert does 
that to the human skin.

And have you seen my mount? It is out there in the stables, a wonderful
beast. It is an Eyran Pony, given to me by the Principal of Wadi Orun-Kat,
the Valley of the Great Shard. It lies in a land where you won't believe
your eyes if you first see it. Because there the earth is covered by the
remains of a gigantic hollow mountain, that one day has fallen from the
sky. 

The oldest Legends of Qul speak of the day when the sky itself was
set aflame. and a burning mountain fell from the sky, turning the earth of
Amon Taraq to black glass, before it shattered and strew rocks all over
the land of Kat Eyran, which means Pieces of a Star.  And the sand of the
Araq Qul became red from the fire, and the air in all the lands is still
hot fom the impact.

That was a thousand years ago.
At that time, no-one lived in those parts of the world because nothing
would grow there, for it was an empty plane of rock. But somewhere else,
in a place long forgotten lived a proud and wise people in their cities of
marble and gold. They had many wise men looking at the stars in that time,
so one day one of the wise men discovered that one star they called Eyran
was missing. That was because he hat left his seat in the sky and began to
fall down to earth. The wise men held a long council, and decided that
this was a sign to give up their wonderful cities and follow the star, and
to build new cities where the star would fall. 
So for one-hundred and seventy-seven years the people wandered the face of
the earth, trying to figure out where Eyran would fall. And when he did,
they were too far away to see him fall. Which was good because he would
have killed them all with his heat.  No, the people could only watch his
fiery trail go down behind the horizon. But they were happy, because soon
their journey would come to an end.

When they came to the place where Eyran had fallen, they held a council on
how to deal with the heat and aridness of Qul. The council took place at
the place where now is the city of Qulber, which means Council of Qul. And
they decided that their people split up into the different areas, and each
try to make a living as good as possible, and when they had found a place
and a way to live, they should all come back here to Qulber and see what
the others had discovered, and then they would decide which was the best
way to live and all together go there. And so they did.

In the first years. But over time, they all became used to the beautiful
but cruel land, and they become to love it. When they all gathered again
for the first time at Qulber, they had a great quarrel on their different
ways to live, because every one said that theirs was the way to go, and
their leaders left angry, and many shouted war. 

Two-hundred years of fighting followed, but no one side could gain much,
because they were not used to the other terrains. In that time, many other
peeople had heard of the conquering of the land of Qul, and came to live
in the cities the tribes had build, and in Qulber. And one people emerged
from the south of the hills of Nas Taraq, who began to wander the war-lain
borders fo trade with the armies, carry secret messages and aid the
wounded. They called themselves the Kahaara, or road people. Their chief
then, a woman called Wydera, was the one who managed to call them to the
third summit at Qulber six-hundred years ago.

At that summit, the people of the five deserts laid out their borders, and
agreed that no-one ever challenge them again, for enough blood had flown.
For two-hundred thousand had arrived after the star had fallen and had
held the First Summit. One-hundred and fity thousand had gone to expolre
the deserts with fity-thosand remaining to build the city of Qulber. Fifty
thousand had returned and held the Second Summit.  At the time of the
Third Summit, there were no more than two-thosand people left of each
tribe.

Geography:
The Land of Qul consists of roughly fice different kinds of desert land
(though they tend to overlap):

The Scrorching Plains (Dur Qul):
"Dur Qul" means "empty desert", and this is true. A vast flat land full of
small rocks and little flora. Home of the Durqulbeast, a rhinocerus-like
creature with great strength.

The Red Desert (Araq Qul):
The name, which can either mean red land or murderous desert, indicates
two things: the dominant color of the sand (although there areareas of
dark brown and black sand), and that it will kill you if you are not
familiar with it. People who live in the area are famous for their red
skin color, and travellers will get it too, if they are in the area long
enough.

Strange magic creatures and spirits reportedly roam the desert trying to
confuse travellers unsing mirror images and illusions of oases or large
cities. Also, Djinn are encountered sometimes.

The Shards of Eyran (Kat Eyran)
Rocky mountains in a very dry, but colder climate than the surrounding
areas. The "Shards of Eyran" are large flat curved boulders of huse sizes,
that are strewn throughout the mountains, and are of an unknown rock
material clearly not of this earth. Home of the infamous Qul-Worm, and
other oversized insects like the peaceful Qulbug which can sometimes be
seen as tamed work animal or mount.

The Glass Ocean (Amon Taraq)

The impact of the star has melted the once sandy area to a glass-like
surface, where nothing grows and no living creature can survive. The road
north is seldomly travelled, and can only be used in the "colder" times of
year, and during night. During day, the glass reflects the sun in cruel
brightness and with confiusingly beautiful colors which can blind the
unprotected eye.

Although the tribe of Amon Taraq regularly sends its ambassadors to
Qulber, nothing is known of its whereabouts inside the area, for they are
never spotted by the scarce caravans.

The Sea Of Grass (Nas Taraq)
Even if it is a lovely sight for the weary wanderer coming from the west
or north, the sea of grass is a desert nonetheless. The plants are very
hard and durable and likely to injure unprotected feet causing serious cut
wounds. In the marsh parts large mosquito swarms and snakes are a plague,
and should be avoided. The northern parts are home to the Eyran ponys, one
of the best mounts known to mankind. They are tamed and trained just
outside Ber Nas.

Qulber A melting pot of many cultures, and refuge for the tired traveller.
Here you can find all the good and finer parts of Qul. Fine artwork,
reckless assassins, swords-for-hire, all kinds of trade and amusement.

Qulber is also the place of the Summits, taking place every five years.
Also, all major legal conflicts in the area are dealt with at those
Summits, in courts of five judges, one of each tribe. Thus, one Summit
usually takes ten to fifteen months until all matters are solved.

Language:
a short description of the meanings of the locations on the map:

Araq: red, blood, murder (so Araq Qul means "Red Land" as well as "Murderous Desert")
Ber: fireplace, tent, shelter, house, city, capital, gathering place, council
Dur: emptyness
Eyran: The name of the star that fell down and shaped the lands of Qul
Kat: piece, shard, small part
Nas: plant
Odur: "o-" means "in" "within", so Odur is "within the emptiness"
Qul: Sand, Land, Flatland, Desert. Pronounciation varies throughout the clan dialects. Ranges from [dju:l] to [kshu:l] to [ku:l].
Raq: water
Taraq: "ta"- means much, a lot, so Taraq="muchwater", ocean, sea


People:
Dominated by the 5 tribes of proud and impetuous Humans.

The Tribes have divided the desert among themselves, and permit members of
other races in their area, but no momber of an other tribe should dare to
enter their realm. They are still very suspicious of the other tribes.
Ususally they live a nomadic lifestyle, with only one or two cities. 

The Kahaara or Road people travel in huge caravans along the borderlines,
providing trade and eschange of news. They never enter the territory of
the tribes more than a few miles though, and remain a very secretive and
mysterious people. They are almost human in appearance, but smaller and
stout like goblins or orks, with yellowish skin and a lot of wrinkles even
if still young.