Sithara

This name, taken from a very ancient map, is used to denote and area of wetlands, shallow waters, and salt marshes where the shoag have lived since recorded history. This is a primitive land uncluttered by large cities or vast fields, instead the shoag live in simple territories ruled by the most powerful male. Surrounding these territories are the males that have not been able to claim any territory and females past their breeding years.

Rumors persist of a legendary city that contains powerful artifacts of the Sha’rek’ta deep inside Sithara. Many expeditions have been launched to find and plunder this city, to date none have returned successfully - in fact none of the explorers have returned with their wits intact. Still the lure of vast treasure and power draw those who are willing to brave the dangers in the hopes of being the first to return successfully.

Once home to one of the most influential Sha’rek’ta before a cataclysm took its home to the bottom of the sea, this area is now a place inhabited by its descendants, the shoag. This land, like the shoag, has changed little over the centuries.

The land of Sithara extends as far north as the soft marshes and south to the end of the continental shelf, where the water depth change from a few feet to a few hundred within several meters. In the size of their territory, Sithara is one of the larger nations but it is sparsely populated as each shoag’s territory can be measured in several square miles.

The northern half of Sithara is comprised of salty marshes and pools. The pools can be anywhere from just a few inches deep to several meters. It is the deeper pools where the shoag tend to stay during the dry summer season.

The southern half of Sithara is the shallow water of the continental shelf; although Turanian merchantmen have seen the shoag in the deeper waters. It is believed that most of the shoag live in these waters; however since these can be treacherous waters few people have visited the area and returned.

The shoag society is centered around the arweinydd¹⁾ who have established tiroedd²⁾ deep inside the territory. These males are constantly fighting with their surrounding rivals to defend and expand their territory. Serving these arweinydd are bachgen³⁾ and gaethweision⁴⁾, both of whom do not challenge the arweinydd's position. If a bachgen should contest the territory they must either defeat the arweinydd, thus claiming their territory as their own, or leave the territory. Outside of the established territories are where the gwyllt⁵⁾ have been driven. They provide a strong barrier to anyone foolish enough to attack as well as strengthening themselves so they make claim their own territory.

Each of these males has a bridio⁶⁾ for both for mating and to raise any young. Young females are often traded between the ruling males as a well of bestowing gifts upon favored allies and calming fierce enemies. When a female lives past her birthing years she either serves a derwydd (shaman) or is driven out of territories into the lands of the gwyllt. Females outside of the sheltered territories rarely survive as males are attracted to them and kill them in violent mating rituals.

These are those males that have been chosen by the dreigiau to serve as their voices upon this world. They have been given the power of the dreigiau that has chosen them in order to enact their will. The derwydd do not gather a bridio about them because the power of the dreigiau render then unable to successfully mate, but many of the older females find themselves in service to the derwydd.

The derwydd are the only males that stand outside of the traditional order of society. They do not bow to the will of the arweinydd nor do the arweinydd bow to theirs, instead they serve to guide the society and teach both young and old. They are teachers, healers, lore keepers, and judges. Their word has the force of both law and tradition; however any arweinydd is free to challenge them in combat if they so desire. When this happens the derwydd may either accept the challenge themselves or select any other male to stand in their stead. A male that has been selected must accept or be driven from all shoag lands.

The derwydd often find themselves called to leave Sithara and travel to other lands. Typically this brings them to other shoag lands where they may serve until called back to their homelands. A less frequent reason is so that the derwydd can study the other races of this world. The knowledge gained is invaluable as the derwydd, unlike other shoag often gather together to pass along any lore they know to others. The derwydd are not only the lore keepers of their own lands, but keep an oral history of all that they have known or heard. The sum of knowledge known to the derwydd would rival even the largest libraries in the world.

This is the name given to a female that is born with the ability to call forth the power of the dreigiau. If they are discovered as children they are immediately driven out of the harem and left to die. The vast majority of them do die, but if some gwyllt find these babies they will often take them in and try to form their own harem around her, thus establishing their own territory. This will often end in tragedy as the same power that stops the derwydd from mating also stops the ffieidd-dra from bearing children.

No outsider is welcome in Sithara and those who live there have little desire to have any contact with their neighbors outside of some very simple trade. All contact with Sithara is with the derwydd, often accompanied by lesser males if the derwydd is serving as emissary for one of the arweinydd⁷⁾.

Each arweinydd⁸⁾ will defend their tiroedd⁹⁾ against all aggressors, both foreign and domestic. A more rare occurrence is when the arweinydd must leave their tiroedd to kill someone that has insulted him. Any arweinydd that allows an insult to stand has shown himself to be weak and open to challenge by any male. Given that the arweinydd are the largest, strongest, and most capable shoag they can be nearly unstoppable in single combat - especially when they are supported by one or more of the derwydd.

Any attacker must first get through the large number of gwyllt¹⁰⁾ who gather outside of the tiroedd. Once inside of Sithara they will find a land that is inhospitable to most and fighting an enemy used to hide and fade attacks. When Sithara is attack the derwydd will command the arweinydd into battle, which is the only time that the shoag will work together for a common purpose. Once the attacker has been driven out any semblance of unity quickly fades.

In large combat outside of Sithara the shoag are very much at a disadvantage. The shoag fight as individuals, with each male more interested in displaying their own strength rather than the whole. The exception to this are the gaethweision¹¹⁾ who will fight with their arweinydd until they are killed. Any gaethweision that would flee from battle while their arweinydd still fights would forever be an outcast.

Among themselves the shoag of Sithara trade females for various goods and services. Those females early in their birthing years or have given birth to large numbers of females are the most valuable. Large trades often also involve foreign goods, especially those made of steel as Sithara lacks iron ore and the shaog themselves have only the most primitive metal smithing capabilities. Wood, cloths, and spices are not valued unlike steel, dyes, and unusual meat.

Trade with the outside world is difficult because of the dangers posed by the gwyllt¹²⁾. In most cases the arweinydd¹³⁾ use the derwydd¹⁴⁾ to assist in trade with outsiders often sending along his lesser males to assist. This is what most merchantmen see of sithara, an elder and several subservient males conduct all trade. The trade always takes place outside of Sithara, typically just beyond the shoreline.

See also: Shoag

The lack of any central rule makes even rough numbers very difficult to gather, but there are approximately 800,000 shoag living within Sithara. Approximately 65% of the population are males due to the more difficult life of a female within Sithara. the Total Fertility Rate of the population is 6.02 but given the high mortality rate means that the replacement rate for each woman is about 2.1 so the population is growing very slowly.

The largest tiroedd¹⁵⁾ in Sithara are Tân mynydd (25,000), Dwr dwfn (22,000), and Tir ffrwythlon (34,000). The total number of tiroedds changes as arweinydd¹⁶⁾ are defeated and their spoils divided among the conquerors, but the total number remains around 37 tiroedd with most of them sparsely populated. About 40% of the total population live within a tiroedd, while the rest live with in the gwyllt¹⁷⁾.

The only language spoken in Sithara is Shogar, the language used by the shoag. Many of the derwydd¹⁸⁾ speak several other tongues, but it is very difficult for them as their vocal chords and tongue are very different from other sentient races upon Miranda

Main Article: Shoaggar

The only religion within Sithara is the practice of Shoaggar. It is far too dangerous in Sithara for any missionaries from other religions to come and proselytize among the natives. The shoag themselves tend to be accepting of the lesser beliefs of other cultures although they would never tolerate converts within their lands. Any shoag that is discovered to have converted to another belief would be blinded and cast out from the society.

The derwydd¹⁹⁾ are the only ones that can command the power of the dreigiau, any non-shoag displaying such power within Sithara would be considered an abomination and killed on sight. Any shoag female (see ffieidd-dra) displaying such power would be driven from society and forever an outcast. Those touched by the dreigiau are held above all others and treated with deference and respect.

Among most of the derwydd it is understood that the magic of other people are not drawn from the dreigiau, but instead from other forces in the world. They have occasional contact with many other people, through both trade and travel, and have come into contact with others that can control magic.