Lash-ti-Nowish (The Night Wind) Overview
When the Goddess
Ssita looked upon the lonely beauty of the Dragon Sands she sighed. From the ripples in the sand came the
Lash-ti-nowish, the Night Wind, the Snakemen. Though legless and not known for
their brawn, the Lash are renowned for their indomitable personalities and the
powerful pheromones at their disposal. It is often said a Lash could convince a
stone to buy sand and sweet talk the ocean to drink a sip of water.
Since their creation by Ssita, they have spread out
across the desert and beyond, across much of the world. Though not as numerous
as other races the Lash have the most long-reaching and powerful
influence. From the Steps of the Library
to the furthest points of the Southern Islands the Lash either have direct power
or whispers in the ears of the mighty. With a few words they can tear lives
apart or sow the seeds of new nations.
All their power links back to their most important belief. In their own tongue, “Lash lok Shamshar,” or "the Wind Moves the
Sand." Empires and coinage, the life and death of man and nation, all things are ripples in sand. The
Lash-ti-nowish aspire to be the wind which creates them. They seek wealth and
power, and don't care if they have the appearance of it. They become advisers
to manipulate the powerful. They don't horde coin, they control commodities.
They let others drown in coins and claim crowns and thrones, instead moving in
small and subtle ways. They always know how to make others into the enemy. They
moved from Imperial slaves to glass and southern spices without a drop of blood
being shed - at least according to their records.
The Lash have the most complete historical records in the
known world. Stretching from almost the mythic beginnings of their race to the
present day. The Kindred, Krishtog and other barbaric races see this as
pointless, and the Dwarves, Abira and other civilized folk see this as
excessive. However the records serve an important purpose in Lash-ti-nowish
culture, keeping them informed once they awaken from the long sleep of 'Harshtar'.
Every five to ten years each snake falls into a trance like state during which
they will shed their skin. It can last for a few hours or days but grows a
little each occurrence. For older Lash, 'Harshtar' can even last for years.
This state is such a fact of their life that many plan their lives around it.
The Old Ones and wealthy even create elaborate tombs for themselves to serve as
comfortable places while they drift into the “skin sleep”. The lower castes do
as best as they can. They find trusted friends to watch over them, or at worst
bury themselves in the sand and trust to the repulsive pheromones to protect
them. This consistent loss of time drives the Lash toward their fastidious
records, thereby assuring that no matter how long the sleep, the Awoken can
know what happened while they slept.
Within the Dragon Sands there are ten Shamshars, each one
corresponding to one of the colors of dragon and having their own quirks and
local customs. The Gold are known for their immaculate diplomacy; the Silver
for their impenetrable bank vaults and overly complex laws of politeness; the
Iron for their profound secrecy and creation of miraculous works of magical
glass. Each Shamshar holds to the deep rooted caste system which controls the
lives of them all. At the top is the Congress of the Old Ones, who rule without
question and live a life of utter opulence. Below them are the Sacred Bankers
and Bureaucrats, a priest caste who live in accordance with their holy book
“The Ripples of Worth”. At the very
bottom lie the Ecdy who are given the tasks that none other are willing. They
are treated as less than slaves, as slaves at least once had economic value.
Though there is a great inequality between castes, there
is none between the sexes. There are almost no physical
differences between the two and it is immensely difficult to tell the
difference. It is considered the height of rude behavior to even speculate on
which sex a Lash is. The one exception to this is during the mating process
when it is considered a necessity to know, and is handled as quickly as
possible.
Each of the ten Shamshars has a different choice for the
order of those between the Ecdy and the Sacred Bankers. Warrior, merchant,
artisan, hunter, scholar, and laborer all vie for position within the different
sands. This arrangement causes much of the conflict between the different
Shamshars. If it weren't for the absolute authority of the Old Ones, the
Children of Ssita would have long ago torn themselves apart.
This system creates some of the most blatant inequality
across all of Desylinn. However even the lowest of the Lash endure their hard
lives because eventually they become Old Ones. At a particular age, which
varies by the individual, when they go into Harshtar they shed their skin and
turn a vibrant white which grows more translucent with age. Then all they need
to do is present themselves to the Congress and accept their new place. Though
many of the most desperate and mistreated try, it is almost impossible to fake
the transformation, and those that do tend to suffer swift and brutal
consequences.
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