Harssafs

Harssafs are a race of red-skinned desert-dwelling nomads and raiders, originating in the Mahnen Desert in Equis.

Description
The harssafs are humanoid in form, with long-figured hands and vaguely reptilian faces. Their eyes are slitted and slightly luminescent, usually glowing red. Their skin ranges from muddy brown to vibrant crimson. They have pointed ears and natural spiky growths on their heads and jaws.

Personality
Most harssafs are harsh and stoic. Tribes are typically insular and are often aggressive towards outsiders. Though they are known as raiders and warriors, they generally take no particular pride in killing, and instead view it as a necessity.

Combat
As desert raiders, harssafs tend to favour ambush over direct confrontation. Most members of the scout case use weapons, and usually prefer ones made of metal. The scout caste also includes a small number of elite monks, who are trained in one of a few different schools, and are very skilled in hand-to-hand combat.

Harssafs are capable of assuming the form of a pile of mobile sand, which slithers along the ground. Some are also capable of generating an intense, fiery heat, which can be conducted through metallic weapons.

Society
Harssafs form clans and tribes which are very structured, based on a caste system with two castes: scouts and tenders.

Tenders are mostly those too old or infirm to be scouts, pregnant women, young children, and a few craftsmen. They are considered to be far below the scout caste, which is made up of males and females of fighting age and condition.

Camps are nomadic, and made up of several small tents shared by tenders, with a few larger pavilions occupied by the scouts. They are not known to build permanent settlements, but it is said that ancient permanent structures built by harssafs still exist deep in the Mahnen Desert. These, it is said, hold the ancient history of their people, and the monasteries where their monks are trained.

The harssafs are not religious, but they do offer a form of worship to the desert itself, which they believe spawned them and will one day rise up to swallow all of Equis.

History
Not yet known. The harssafs keep their history secret, if they know it at all. It is rumoured that their ancient history is hidden within permanent strongholds hidden deep within the vast Mahnen Desert.

Notable Harssafs

 * Rakid

Appearances

 * Genesis