The Caravan People

The majority of Quel'Ahmans live in cities that hug the fertile coastline, and follow whatever trade routes and oases cut through the deserts beyond. But they are not the only folk of Quel'Ahma. There are still those brave enough to roam the deserts, and they form an important artery of trade between the cities - and even into lands beyond. These are the Caravan People, or Vistani in their native tongue, and they have spread far and wide over the world, yet still have not forgotten their traditions.

The origins of the Caravan People are a matter of debate. Their oral history claims that they once held a great empire, but it was shattered in an ancient war and they were cast out to the roads by the victors. Some have thus identified them with the bygone Nuwapians, who held Quel'Ahma in the days before the reign of the genies. Others dismiss these claims as mere myth, and believe them to be a third, and unrelated, ethnic group apart from both modern Quel'Ahman humans and Nuwapians. Whatever the case may be, though they consider the deserts of Quel'Ahma to be their ancestral home, the Caravaneers have migrated far beyond, and now they may be found wherever there are roads.

The Caravan People are nomads - they travel typically as family groups, which can become quite large as the extended family tends to stick together, and the caravans of multiple allied clans may band together into a tribe. These caravans are often led by a sheikh - an elder or other such chieftain - who settles disputes and guides migrations, but for the most part, individual caravaneers have great independence. They travel in trains of horses, camels, and carts, herding their livestock with them, from destination to destination, often camping beside the road and setting up tents where they stop. Typically, they will stop at towns to sell their wares at markets and look for odd jobs among the locals, often as tinkers or entertainers, before they leave and move on to the next town when there is no more trading to be done.

In this way, the Caravan People are an important mechanism for the exchange of goods and ideas - because they do not stay in one place for too long, they bring news and rumors with them wherever they go, and can disseminate such ideas much farther than more sedentery folk could. When Caravaneers stop at a market, they may bring goods from far afield, carrying southern silks and exotic perfumes potentially as far as Kvesland. All they seek in return is gold to keep the flow of trade going, and the grain their nomadic lifestyle does not allow them to cultivate - in particular, they will trade for wheat, which they grind into a flour to make couscous and dine upon it with stewed meats and olives around their campfires, dancing and laughing into the night.

Also because of their itinerant lifestyle, the Caravan People tend to be perceived as outsiders wherever they go. They are not beholden to the Quel'Ahman caste system, but neither are they greeted as equals in many of the towns they stop at, and the more settled folk often look upon them with suspicion. They have a reputation, whether deserved or otherwise, as thieves and con artists, and indeed, a few notorious Caravaneers have fallen to these trades. But they have a strong tradition of honor and hospitality. They value familial bonds and are loyal to their kin to a fault, and they will accept lost travelers into their camps to treat them with meals and a place to rest - no matter how far they travel from home, they have not forgotten how harsh the desert can be, and they know that the kindness of a stranger could well be the difference between life and death. This is a philosophy they stick to even in more temperate climes. For the Caravaneers, to bring harm or misfortune upon a guest is considered one of the gravest of crimes, one that is punishable by exile - and, considering the ancestral memory of the deserts, to be condemned to exile is, to a Caravaneer, akin to being condemned to death.

The connections of a Caravaneer family run deep, and one is expected to be loyal to one's kinsmen. Many caravans in Quel'Ahma and beyond have played this to their success, making use of the loyalty between brothers and cousins to extend their patriarchs' reach. Some of these caravans form wealthy merchant dynasties that have secured control over lucrative trade routes - but among the more unscrupulous sorts, it is also a structure that has led to the rise of crime families, controling underground empires of smuggling, spying, and assassination, which they may offer for the right price. Although the Caravan People have been faced with persecution in some lands, in others, the local rulers have come to see them as useful assets indeed. They travel great distances and never stay in one place for long, which makes them useful as spies, bringing in intelligence from many corners of their masters' domain and vanishing without a trace. They guarantee the influx of wealth from other lands. And if one can enter the gratitude of a caravan, every man and woman therein will raise arms in their support if it comes to it.

Background: Vistani Caravaneer

Suggested Names: Romani, Armenian, or Berber names

Skill Proficiencies: Performance, Persuasion

Tool Proficiencies: Tinkers' tools, one instrument or gaming set of your choice

Languages: Vistani, one other language of your choice

Equipment: A set of colorful common clothes, a set of tinkers' tools, an instrument or gaming set of your choice, an abacus, a map of the surrounding region, and a pouch containing 30 GP.

Feature: Well-Traveled. The DM will give you a list of three settlements close to the starting area of the campaign that your caravan has been to. You know any important or relevant information about these places. You also have contacts (extended family members or business partners) in each settlement who will provide you information and shelter you if need be.

Note: These rules replace those given for Vistani in Curse of Strahd. As such, Vistani in the Lunar Lands do not have inherent cursing abilities (a Caravaneer might know some magic, but that's because they're a magician, not because they're Vistani). My Vistani function like actual people and not magical fairies, thank you very much.