### Biome & Terrain --------------- A savanna surrounds a desert interior, where persistent sandstorms bar outsiders. Its geography is dotted by oaseses. Four major oases and two coastal rivers support most settlements. Minor oases known as 'desert fruits' sustain strange plants not seen anywhere else. Rich veins of precious metals run throughout the subterranean. The coast and its rivers are the sole non-oasis farmland and are aggressively protected from outsiders by blockade. A strange dead zone borders Sanko from the desert interior. Pockets of warped magic litter the expanse, producing phenomena that defy logic. ### Natural Resources Extraordinary amounts of gold, iron, silver, and gemstones fill the sands and mines. The Aruginah tree, beloved by the Gidians, produces a fruit that does not rot and roots stabilize the ground. Seed-coins minted from Aruginah seeds serve as the primary currency and international exchange standard. Seed-coins minted from Aruginah seeds are the primary international currency. The royal House of Adi plans to build a mint, using its national mineral wealth as backing for a single universal currency to simplify commerce, bring stability, and exert soft power. ### Oddities: Citizens consider the land the literal birthplace of the first living beings. Adults carry personal stamps using their families as foundation. Ojin, god of pacts, supernaturally enforces contracts. The souls of oathbreakers roam the dunes as cautionary spirits. The Solvina festival is the sole annual exception. Solvina: one week of sanctioned deception culminating in the summer equinox, during which Sentia's lottery randomly annuls ten oathbreaker punishments. Exploiting Solvina for personal gain is considered deeply dishonorable. Syman: Handmade by the owner or close family. The traditional outer garment of the Sandxibi. Can range from simple cape to full cloak. It is embroidered and customized with symbols of honor, oaths, proverbs, achievement, identity and family. Used to distinguish Sandxibi in sand-form, where they otherwise appear identical. Damage or staining is a grave insult. Leaders Amita Oz Adi, Right Hand of Arugin. Sandxibi. Height of a camel. Prefers female form. Also has male. Humanoid form: desert fox ears, snake-slit pupils. Sand form: golden sand form with copper sheen and canary yellow eyes. Pragmatic, & methotical, but when pushed to anger becomes a tempest. She wears a brown and red Syman robe and the Crown of Adi, containing the Jewel of Adi, her oath-bond. If and when a family-bond peerishes, the jewel turns white. Vespa Adi (Left Hand of Arugin): Vespri. Amita's adoptive sister and co-ruler. Direct, acts as the primary diplomat and filter for Amita. She manages Kuru and loves inchlings (especially a past visitor, Oyayubihime-san). Her flaw is becoming single minded on issues of inequality sometimes blinds her to the full scope of ruling. Commanders: Killian Dian (Eastern Scourge) and Elsa (Eastern Calamity). Gem-class Sandxibi and married joint-commanders of the homefront. Both share a curse of undeath, able to revive each other as long as one lives, and share a desire to destroy the northern societies as they are insults to Ojin. Two Skarn, one Gidian commander also exist. Government: Under the commanders and royal family are 64 ministers beyond that the individual houses. Major houses caretake individual territories or settlements alongside Gidians. Minor houses hold significant power but control smaller or more specialized places/operations. Sandxibi govern individual provinces and oases alongside Gidians. The royal houses ministers and smaller houses are split along factions. Some preach for deeper isolationism to focus inwards while others demand active response immediately to purge those who have forgotten the way of the first steps. That all people must walk side by side, spine unbent. Others still argue that each should be left to find their truth, and those who are wise enough to see the wisdom in Arugin's ways will join hands with them. ### Inhabitants Primary species. 1.Sandxibi: ruling class, cannot handle non-living, non-magical objects without iron gauntlets. Do not need to eat, only drink on occasion. Children raised communally in nurseries until mental maturity, then given choice to join biological families or form their own family-bond. Protective of Vespri. 2. Vespri: fennec-eared humanoids, control food production and commerce, hold significant soft power. Digitigrade. In less civilized olden times, they survived through advanced mimicry of the Sandxibi silhouette. They still hold onto this practice by disguising themselves using the Symian. Private about their true faces, wearing masks when meeting or speaking with anyone outside their inner circle. Shortest of all species. The only Arugin species that crosses the nation's borders. 3. Skorn: elephant-reptile miners and laborers, magically inert, control banking alongside Vespri. Carve oaths into their underscales permanently. In wartime, they operate as terrifying shock mercenaries. Most sociable of the major species. Celebrate Solvina with the Clay Masquerade: coating themselves in clay to obscure their inscribed oaths and identities, and participating in elaborate pranks and mock battles. 4. Gidian: Sacred water/earth spirits tending and fueling the oases, ranging from nimble sizes to 22-foot titans. Often accompanied by lamia handmaidens, they serve as local leaders. ### Capital: Kuru, The First Town A radial and vertical city. Built where the north river bisects a natural rock outcropping. Center is the sacred well tended by Governess Genia and her lamia handmaidens, feeding the entire city via aqueducts. The well is encircled by the Osina Gardens (a free, Skarn-guarded park of unique Arugin trees), followed by the town squares, and finally the grand Sandxibi district made of fused glass and carved sandstone. Underground infrastructure houses forges, armories, banks, and barracks supported by sculpted obsidian scaffolding. Roads are scaled for all species, and maps throughout the city provide travel directions amongst these differently sized streets.