Adventures occupy a unique place within the Wild Winds Desert. Though their skills aren't unique, you can find adventurers championing the lowest of people, helping them fight monsters or resist the machinations of the powerful and pursuing lost items or petty acts of vengeance for the region's most influential people. Adventures have always been an essential part of the Wild Wins Desert. Some things require a professional: remove a particularly dangerous Dune Winder from a trading route or delve into a long lost tomb and recover the ancient magic and knowledge, for example. Adventures have been such an integral part of the Wild Winds Desert that they have formed their own guilds. These adventurer leagues or guilds are powerful and influential organizations within the cities. Guild masters have even gone on to become leaders of the cities. Non-guild adventurers are wise to pay dues or seek permission before adventuring within the territory of a guild.
Blade and Fist:
Many trade their penchant and skill for violence for coin. The adventurers who do so are unique in that they have honed their skills not for military or civil service but for the terrifying and bizarre creatures and dangers found throughout the Great Sand Sea. Many warrior people start their lives as caravan guards, mercenaries, leg breakers, or soldiers. Others train from an early age to become warriors in service to someone else, but they find a new calling in an adventurer's wild and dangerous life.
Fighter:
City barracks, mercenaries companies, seedy taverns, and caravans are all breeding grounds for Fighters. What makes Fighters unique and different from those who trade martial prowess for pay is that they have trained to best the many threats that come out of the Wild Winds Desert. Monster slayers, tomb delvers, royal champions, and bounty hunters are all types of fighters in the Wild Winds Desert.
For the Clans that make their home traversing the Great Sand, there is a focus on light and ranged weapons since their lives are spent on the move. These cany fighters sometimes leave their clans to use their skills for the greater good or profit. Fighters from these clans make fearsome allies or dangerous enemies, and their skills in monster hunting are unrivaled.
The dwarves of the mountains make both the most excellent armor and the greatest armored warriors in the Wild Winds Desert. These stout and stoic warriors use the heavy armor made in their home cities to devastating effect. Their skill in arms makes them much sought after as personal guards or escorts for precious cargo. Some dwarven warriors train with firearms and can become gunslingers. With firearms becoming more common now, others have started to follow this path.
Monk:
People who know how to use their hands in a fight are a dime a dozen in the Wild Winds Desert. Less, but still not uncommon, are those formally trained to fight without weapons. Few have fully trained themselves, mind and body, to become living weapons. Those that have are feared and respected throughout the region.
The Bloodsteel Brotherhood, a newer guild in Peloch, has gained quick renown thanks partly to their Dark Executors. These Way of the Shadow Monks are feared and respected throughout Peloch for their ability to claim the lives of enemies of the Brotherhood, regardless of how well they are defended. The Dark Executors are starting to pop up in other cities as the Brotherhood gains power and influence.
The Way of the Merciful Touch is an order of monks based in Tel Khahuk. These warriors train their whole lives to act as wandering enforcers for the will of the sovereign of the Four Rivers Kingdom. They are trained to be balanced and fair in all things and can rule on disputes, decree rulings, and even grant clemency or execution to the accused throughout the kingdom. Some of these warriors chafe under the scrutiny of the crown, take their skills on the road, and become adventurers.
Several clans throughout the Great Sand Sea train their bodies and minds to pursue physical mastery and martial excellence. Halflings, Orcs, Tabaxi, and Harongen all have a strong tradition of following the Way of the Open Hand. The House of Focus in Peloch recently started training students in the Way of the Open Hand and the Way of the Kensai. These warriors are becoming well-known for their commitment to their path and martial prowess.
Samurai:
Samurai, the newest warrior tradition in the region, have only been trained in the Wild Winds Desert for the past ten years. Since training to become a samurai takes so long, very few are found outside their dojo, but more are graduating yearly. The House of Focus in Peloch is the only place currently training samurai in The Wild Winds Desert. Selenia Highelm is the dojo master, both feared and respected throughout the region.
Rogue:
Whether it is nimble fingers or a nimble tongue, there are those who survive by the quickness of their wits rather than the strength of their arm. These canny adventurers are found everywhere in the region. Some use their natural skills to help their community; others seek to enrich and empower themselves by whatever means necessary. No matter their motivation, these wily and clever adventurers are better to have on your team than working against you.
Grave robber, thief, assassin, dungeon delver, con artist, duelist, and scout are all jobs for which rogues are well suited. The dangers of the Wild Winds Desert make it a great place for rogues to flourish. From the cutthroat world of the great merchant guilds to the musty, dark halls of lost ruins and forgotten tombs, there is no end of work that rogues are well suited for. Great scouts are invaluable to wandering tribes. Rogue scouts are highly prized in these tribes for their keen senses and ability to travel quickly and quietly. These scouts also often lead raids and ambushes when the clan is at war or act as guides for hunting parties. Many of the region's most deadly slingers learn their skills as scouts in the Great Sand Sea.
The cities of the Wild Winds Desert are breeding grounds for all sorts of rogues. In most cities, these rogues and other scoundrels band together to form guilds. Some of these guilds wield far-reaching and significant power. Trying anything illegal in these guilds' territory can be dangerous without first getting permission. In larger cities like Peloch, An Naysan, or Fayer Shtot, several guilds operate and vie to control all the illegal activity.
Tome, Pact, and Blood:
Magic is essential to nearly every aspect of life in the Wild Winds Desert. Those who can manipulate Asimati, the name the locals call the wild magic of the desert, are sought after by everyone from the lowest farmer to the wealthiest merchant. Due to the region's particularities, there are more warlocks, witches, and sorcerers per capita than almost anywhere else. The ease with which genies, fea, elementals, and others from the inner planes can enter the desert means there are always those around ready and willing to interfere with the lives of the mortals. Peloch, Tel Karbadu, Manitrah, Hildakoen Hiria, and Merb Vakh have highly regarded wizard schools, drawing students from all over Ermendia.
Wizard:
The training to become a wizard is long and grueling. If one is lucky enough, wealthy enough, or talented enough, then training in one of the many illustrious academies spread out throughout the region is a great way to get a well-rounded wizardly education. For the wanderers of the Great Sand Sea, the path to arcane mastery is much more commonly an apprentice/master relationship with a clan mage taking on a few talented apprentices at a time to teach. This doesn't mean that gifted members of the desert peoples haven't been known to leave the tribe to learn at one of the established wizard academies. Divination, Weather, and Fire magics are the most studied kinds of magic in the region, and the fire wizards who come out of the Wild Winds Desert are unmatched in their affinity for the element. Talented diviners are invaluable to the people who make their living chasing the mineral and gem blooms that appear in the desert.
Sorcerer:
There are many powerful entities whose bloodlines are capable of great and terrible magics. While dragons are rare since few have the power or desire to challenge the Sovereign of the Sands, many other powerful entities in the region are all too eager to sire a line of sorcerers. Some of these magical families stay in the service of the being that gave them magic. Others never know how far back their family inherited the knack for magic; sometimes, the talent can lie dormant for generations. Sorcerers are more common than wizards amongst the nomadic clans. Many adventuring sorcerers are questing on behalf of the founder of their bloodline or in order to gain enough power to free themselves from them.
Witches and Warlocks:
There seems to be no end to the creatures eagerly waiting to make deals with desperate or foolish mortals. Genies and other powerful elementals, powerful fea, ancient undead, and other even less savory entities can all be found in the Wild Winds Desert. Sometimes whole families pledge their service to an entity, entering the service of one of these powers for generations. Lately, it has become more and more common for demons to be found in the region. Some of these denizens of the lower planes have even been powerful enough to make pacts with mortals. These demon-bound pact mages are vessels for chaos and destruction and are often hunted by paladins and martyrs seeking their destruction. The motivations of all pact mages are always questioned. Trusting someone with such direct ties to a powerful and often meddlesome being can be hard for other adventures.
Artificers and Alchemist:
Thanks to the unique magic of the region, the range of materials found in the Wild Winds Desert is greater than nearly anywhere else. Many of these materials are dangerous, and those who work with them are equal parts bold, wily, and mad. Most commonly found among the dwarves of the three sisters, Artificers and Alchemists are bent on blending magic and industry to their wills. They create amazing items and innovations. Blasting powder, steam-pushing engines, windblowers, and many of the other inventions that have made the region famous were all started as sketches in alchemists' or artificers' notebooks.
Vessels for the Divine:
The gods' presence in the Wild Winds Desert is stronger than in most other places. For reasons lost to the sands of time, the gods' influence and power ring louder across the Great Sand Sea than nearly anywhere else. Because of this, those who have devoted themselves to or are empowered by the gods are revered, feared, and courted by people throughout the region.
Cleric:
Clerics' roles in the lives of the people of the Wild Winds Desert are similar to clerics everywhere. They lead churches, offer advice to the faithful, perform healings and other rituals, and maintain the church's bureaucracy so that it can continue to guide the devout. There are many cleric adventurers; these wandering divine heroes are generally either spreading the word and power of their chosen god or seeking powerful artifacts and resources for their church. For some, though, the call to adventure leads them to break from their church and instead pursue a path to divinity without the church's guidance. Due to the unique magic of the region, there are many lesser, nearly forgotten, or lost gods who still have just enough power to imbue, sometimes just a single cleric with power. This means some clerics are the sole chosen of their god.
Paladins and Martyrs:
Warriors guided by fate or faith are revered or feared, but they are always respected throughout the Wild Winds Desert. With so many gods, great and small, calling the region their home, it is more common to find a divinely empowered warrior than it is in the rest of the world. Many Martyrs make their way to the region from outside it. There are many great destinies to be had within the Great Sand Sea.
Binder:
Binders are rare nearly everywhere in Ermendia, except for the Wild Winds Desert. It is not known why but great and powerful souls from all across the world linger in the region. These lingering vestiges are often all too eager to lend some power to a willing mortal in exchange for the chance to feel alive once again. Spirit hosts, Wraith Whisperers, Soul Breakers, or simply Binders. No matter what you call these adventurers, few are as resourceful or adaptable as a good Binder. Many of these unique adventurers wander deep into the Great Sand Sea, seeking knowledge of powerful vestiges and lost spirits, waiting for a willing vessel.
Warriors of the Wastes:
For some, the harsh and unforgiving wilds of the Great Sand Sea are not just a hazard to be overcome but a land of stark beauty, primal power, and limitless potential. These adventurers much prefer the rolling sands and trackless dunes of the desert to the city's dark streets and loud bazaars. All of these adventurers are sought after for their ability to live in the wilds of the desert and thrive there.
Barbarian:
Warriors of the nomadic tribes of the Great Sand Sea often favor the barbarian's wild fighting style rather than the fighter's focused skills. Barbarians, with their connection to the wild world around them, are a natural fit among the wandering people of the Great Sand Sea. For some, like the Orcs, Harongen, and Gnolls, barbarians are often leaders of whole tribes. Proving themselves through marital skill and ferocity. Barbarian adventurers are often driven by an insatiable desire to test themselves against the many great and terrible dangers to be found in the wild desert.
Ranger:
There is no end to the need for warriors able to easily navigate and traverse the trackless desert. Rangers are nearly a necessity for any caravan, adventuring party, or prospecting operation that wants to cross the wilds of the Great Sand Sea safely. Because of the high demand for their skills, some rangers have formed their own guilds. These navigators' guilds can be found in several of the major cities in the region. Not all rangers are navigators or guides; some devote their lives to hunting the many dangerous beasts that make the desert their home. These expert monster hunters are well regarded by both the nomadic clans and urban merchants, who both have an unending appetite for monster components. Adventuring rangers can be found leading parties that regularly venture deep into the desert or helping their allies keep the monsters of the sands at bay.
Druid:
Druids lead many of the wandering tribes, particularly among the orcs, gnolls, and tabaxi. Their connection with the magic of the desert and the monsters and beasts that live in it is unmatched. Oracular druids, guided by portents and prophecies seen in the natural world, are particularly revered. While few druids come out of the cities, they are always welcomed, and several of the cities support small druid groves that watch over the farmland around the oases. There are many unique magical and mundane species in the desert, and some druids take it upon themselves to protect these rare creatures. This can bring these druids into conflict with prospectors when a mineral bloom happens in the territory of one of these creatures. Adventuring druids are rare but always a great asset to their party. Some druids adventure in order to gain enough power to take control of their grove or to deepen their connection with the Desert.
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