Legend of the Burning Sands RPG - Kaze no Shiro

Legend of the Burning Sands RPG Campaign SettingGhuls are the worst of the undead. Intelligentones and not the mindless horrors left by theJackals and other necromancers that haunt theundercity of Medinat al-Salaam.The Ghuls are largely an mystery to all learnedmen. It is impossible to infiltrate them, as theyare all dead so any information is gathered fromtales, legends, hearsay and rumour. Mostcontradicts themselves, citing cities, hovels, cultsand similar such things as the organisation of theGhuls.What is known is that the Ghuls eat flesh, aliveor dead. They will attack small animals andchildren as well as the helpless, wounded andsick or infirm.Houses of Dahab - QolatWhen the Jinn were finally beaten back at theend of the 1st Age, many decided that manshould not be ruled by the deific powers that be.They decided that man should rule his owndestiny and future. Man should not be dictated toby the immortal ancients and should be able todecide its own fate.To this end, they formed a secret group known asthe Qolat. The meaning of the name has beenlost in the centuries since the founding of theorganisation, but the intent and purpose is stillthere.Qolat are staunch supporters of anything thatwill free man from the chains of in-equality andthe might of the celestial powers, such as Jinn,sahir and even the Ashalan.As time passed, the Qolat soon released thatmoney and water controlled man, thus if theycontrolled that, what better way to steer manaway from the celestial and back to the mortal.Sadly this thinking created one of the mostpowerful factions of the Burning Sands. TheHouses of Dahab.Each house is run by a merchant prince, all ofwhich can trace their lineage back to the originalfounders.It is rumoured that the Houses support Moto andRa'Shari efforts in the Burning Sands, sendingthem water, food and equipment.JackalsThey are perhaps the direst thing to arise in thedepths of the great city since the arrival of theCaliph and her Khadi.No one is sure when the first of these strangepeople first arrived in Medinat al-Salaam, allthey do know is that the Jackals feed on the soulsof the living, sucking them out of their victimslike a man would sip on a glass of water.Jackals are the men and women who fail theRitual of the Black Stone, the Ebonite ritual ofpurification and dedication. For some reasonthey are found wanting and the Dark God takes apart of their very soul as his own. The creaturebecomes dependent on the essence of the soul,needing it to live. Most also become servants ofthe Dark God, carrying out its orders.RakshasaFleeing persecution and possibly extinction intheir homelands of the Ivory Kingdoms, thesebeings have taken up residence in a small sectionof the city.There are few of the Rakshasa left today, perhapsten in all. They are solitary unless mating andtend to like to manipulate things to theiradvantage whenever possible.Rakshasa are evil and highly intelligent beings,part demon, part angel and part fate all rolledinto one.In the Ivory Kingdoms they were worships asgods and hunted to almost extinction as demons.QabalWhen the Caliph took over and began herdynasty of power and tyranny, she unfortunatelyalso created her worst nemesis. The Qabal.Comprised of renegade men and women oflearned quality as well as a great amount ofsahirs, the Qabal seeks to destroy the Caliphshold over the people of the Sultanate.The Qabal are secretly funded by the Houses ofDahab, who seek to have the two groups destroyeach other by playing them off against eachother.The Qabal's goals are rather simple. To have theshelves of the libraries restocked with the scrolls,and books of knowledge taken from them. To14Legend of the Five Rings Fan Book