Qasoinae

Qasoinae (Quwa-so-ney)

A nomadic people group made up of many different species, mainly Humans and Halflings, that live in the Endless Expanse to the south of Carthorka and north of Zilcan and Cad'Lear on Zanfear. The first Qasoinae were escaped slaves that fled into the deserts; risking death at the hands of Carthorkians and Zilians hunting them down or dying of thirst in the expanse, they formed tribes so as to protect one another and travelled often to not exhaust the resources of any one area. Many of the tribes quickly began to domesticate large lizard-like creatures, known as Orcritors, that live in the desert.

The Qasoinae move from place to place around the desert, digging into the sand to access moisture below the surface, but often return to a savanna-like area to the north west of the expanse, normally to hold festivals and gatherings of the different Qasoini tribes. There have been times when the Carthorkians have tried to attack these gatherings and they often are able to capture and enslave Qasoini, while the Qasoini occasionally raid Carthorka and free slaves. Many slaves throughout Carthorka and Zilcan tell stories to one another of the Qasoinae and dream of escaping and joining them.

The various tribes have a strong belief that they are connected, rarely fighting and working together when needed, but living disparately and moving constantly, making them hard to track by the Carthorkians. The Qasoini are avid storytellers, passing on tales from one generation to the next. The Carthokians and slavers are the villains in most stories, while unity and family is the solution. Qasoini are prone to wanderlust and desires to explore the world, while hating oppression of the weak by the strong and any form of slavery.

The Qasoinae offer protection and guidance to travelers wanting to cross the expanse, mainly from Cad'Lear or Zilcan up and back again, but some Carthorkian traders are able to convince the Qasoinae to transport them. However, most of the time this is way more expensive than just waiting for the traders from the southern countries to come north. There are, of course, a number of Carthorkian traders who simply travel south with their own guards and provisions, but they are heavily targeted, especially if they are carrying slaves.

There are around 50 different tribes within the Expanse. Most have between 30 and 70 Qasoinae members, though a few have almost 100. Population levels are kept low due to resource demands, and sometimes slaves are sent to Cad'Lear, either to live there or to travel further north to Tanalier.

The three biggest tribes within the Expanse are The True Hand Clan, The Steel Wing Tribe and Stone tooth.