History[]
The Zaharan race originated in the fertile southlands that today are called the Waste. The Zaharans learned black arts of sorcery in countless centuries of foul service to the reptilian Thrassians. But as evil breeds evil, in time the Zaharans turned their sorcery against their inhuman masters. The Zaharan sorcerer Uragasi, calling himself the savior of men, led an uprising against the Thrassians and toppled the reptilian empire. Victorious over the reptile race, the Zaharans claimed the ancient capital of the Thrassians as their own, beginning an imperial era of all-toohuman cruelty and rapaciousness. At their height, the Zaharans became the uncontested rulers of everything from the Pillars of Dawn to the Endless Steppe. Like the Thrassians before them, the Zaharans worshipped the Chthonic powers, and they created sub-human creatures to serve as slaves and soldiers. After four centuries of tyrannical dominance, the kingdom of Zahar fell to the wrath of Empyrean crusaders. In the aftermath, the Zaharan people were scattered and their civilization left in ruins. Only in Kemesh, Zahar’s most far-flung province, did Zaharan society survive the fall of their empire intact.
Appearance and Culture[]
Zaharans are tall-statured (men averaging 5’9”) with slender body builds characterized by narrow shoulders and hips, long limbs, and slim digits. They have very long heads, sometimes lengthened further by ritual cranial elongation. Their long oval- or diamond-shaped faces have slanted ears, prominent cheekbones, narrow jaws, strong chins, and full lips. Their noses are long, high rooted, and straight. Zaharan eyes are large and almond-shaped, and colored amber, green-brown, gray-brown, or dark brown. Their skin color is reddishbrown, copper, or olive sienna. Their hair can be curly, straight, or wavy, either black or blue-black in color. Their eyebrows are thin and dark, while body and beard hair is scant. Albino Zaharans, with white skin and flaxen hair, are not uncommon and are viewed with even more fear than usual.
As Zaharans are looked on with revulsion and fear by their former subjects, most adopt a public name from a local dialect for everyday use. The ancient Zaharan language is always used for a Zaharan’s true, secret name, however. Zaharans indicate descent by attaching the patronymic prefix Bet-, meaning “of the house of”, to their father’s name. Zaharans of the ancient families might bear names with generations worth of patronyms (e.g. “Ashurdan Bet-Izdubar Bet-Merodach Bet-Zikarsin” would be “Ashurdan, of the house of Izdubar, of the house of Merodach, of the house of Zikarsin,” thus tracing the line back to the bearer’s great-grand-father), or simply use the most ancient known ancestor. A Zaharan who can claim descent from one of the ancient sorcerer-kings is held in the highest esteem.