Southerners

As their name suggests, Southerners hail from the southmost province of the continent, The Vard Lands. Dwelling mostly in the deserts and vast savannahs of this most harsh and unforgiving environment, Southerners are actually a very diverse people, made up of several distinctly different cultures that are often lumped together by outsiders due to their lack of understanding.

Dark skin, dark hair and dark eyes define the entire race, but aside from these similarities, they vary so widely that it is often hard to believe they are of the same race. Those who dwell in the nomadic Lion and Hyena tribes of the savannah are tall, closer to seven feet than six, with powerful builds and outlandish body-piercing and scarification. They often dye their hair red using the natural pigments found in barks and insect shells, and crop it close to their heads.

However, those who dwell on the coasts in the ornately carved, sandstone trading cities of Ectos and Rande are usually shorter, nearer to five feet than six, with silky black hair and a warm, medium skintone, with beautiful almond shaped eyes. All those people in between are just as diverse, but they all feel a kinship with one-and-other.

The Southerners make great scouts and guides. Each and every one of them have an innate sense of direction that serves them well whether sailing the seas or traversing the landmark-less deserts. The more slightly built Southerners are swift and silent movers, making them excellent assassins and spies, and their larger, stronger cousins provide the muscle - it is this harmony that had perhaps led to the most intricate criminal syndicate system in all Ortosis to set itself up in the city of Rande.