Shaaryan
History
The history of the nomadic tribes of the Shaar region is old and unwavering. Clans of people have wandered the plains for as long as history recalls, and the lifestyle of these nomads has changed little in that time. Though other cultures have periodically attempted to assimilate the Shaarans, the tribesfolk have resisted
such efforts. The truth is, these people survive the only way they can, and they would rather die than be transplanted.
The single biggest incursion into the Shaar came from the Shoon, but that did not last either. In the fifth century DR, Shaarans rebelled against their Shoon masters. Despite bloody reprisals, the Imperium was forced to withdraw from the region, and the nomads quietly returned to their previous way of life.
Outlook
Shaarans have a simple view on life that places little value on the long term. The most critical decisions are those revolving around survival, and to do that, the tribes must follow the herds. Everything else is secondary, and this intrinsic understanding of the laws of the plains is what helps the typical Shaaran get by.
For the most part, Shaarans are fiercely loyal, relentlessly vengeful, and respect anyone who has the ability to survive the harsh rigors of the grasslands. The nomads revere horses, the herds, other native animals of the plains, and a worthy adversary. They also value the foreigner who comes to trade. A Shaaryan tribesman doesn't look down on such strangers, but he and his comrades know that an outsider can never truly understand what it means to be Shaaran.
Shaaryan Society
Shaaryan culture is built around the concept of the extended family, or clan. Several clans form a tribe, and the tribe lives, moves, and hunts together across a portion of the Shaar. At different times, various tribes might ally or go to war with one another (over water rights, hunting territory, or historic bad blood), but they spend most of their time hunting and ignoring others. The nomads hunt antelope, bison, boar, and elephant, all of which provide them sustenance, food, shelter, and tools.
A tribe pools its shrewdest, most trustworthy adults into a council of wise persons known as elders, and it is from this pool that the tribe selects a chieftain, by secret vote. The chieftain decides when it is time to relocate to keep up with a herd, when to switch to a new herd to avoid over-hunting one, what to do with criminals, and so forth. Everyone else is expected to obey the chieftain and the elders. Those who cannot abide by these directives are exiled, for the tribe has no time or energy to reform miscreants.
Tribes don't give a second thought to raiding one another and don't, if the raiding party has fewer than twenty warriors, consider such attacks to be warfare. The stealing of food, horses, equipment, and even women and children is an expected part of life on the plains. Raids with larger forces are considered outright acts of war, and such conflicts continue until the two tribes meet to discuss peace terms. Warring tribes are barred from the semiannual intertribal gatherings at the Council Hills.
Language and Literacy
Shaarans speak Shaaran, a language that has no connection with any other language family in Faerûn. The language has adopted some words from other cultures over the centuries, particularly with the coming of traders to the region. Few Shaarans can read or write because the culture relies on oral history. Those who have learned to scribe the Shaaran language employ the Dethek alphabet, learned from the gold dwarves in the Great Rift.
