The Tribes of Korash

(by Floom - aka. Tom Mulray)

History has forgotten the mistakes of the past. The Magi built their empire wide and greedy, their technology vastly affecting the planet of Korash, changing weather, moving earth, with enormous production lines powered by mega factories.

Then one day, an explosion on the scale of which shall seldom, if ever, be seen again across all of creation happened on the very surface of Korash, the force of which spiralled Korash out of celestial alignment by a fraction, just enough to change the distance between the planet Korash and the sun, causing the planet to grow hot.

It is said that the Magi, foreseeing this catastrophe, created an equal and opposite explosion on the other end of the planet to stop Korash’s momentum through celestial space, saving the planet from it’s fiery fate.

It is here that all written knowledge of the Magi and their culture end. The Spark Speakers tell of theories: that the destruction on the Planet was calamitous. Mountains crumbled, seas boiled, the very tectonics of Korash buckled under the new heat of the sun.

What emerged from the destruction was a damaged land and a scattered people. Over time, these peoples would form the various tribes that now roam the lonely and treacherous Korashi desert.

Soon, five great tribes would unite throughout the coming centuries. They maneuver and plot for control of what was left on the scarred planet.

The tribe called “The Thousand Spears” had great warlords emerge, riding horse-sized lizards into battle, crashing into all opposition like lightning with hardened steel and sharpened claws, wanting nothing more than the glory of combat and the honour of death to a worthy foe.

For an age, they ruled over the smaller, more nomadic tribes, before “The Iron Sun” sailed in from across the sea in great city-boats from a distant land. These transports were soon destroyed as the Thousand Spears rode to the coast in the east to fight the newcomers.

The Thousand Spears had experience fighting displaced peoples and marauding raiders, but the sheer military discipline and acumen of the Iron Sun had waves and waves of their frontline warriors crash into the fierce lizard cavalry of the thousand spears and break their offensive, claiming the east coast for The Iron Sun.

Seeing this opportunity to break from the control of their oppressors, a unified council of elders, representing many different larger tribes under Thousand Spear rule, rose their own banner - “the Dust Flag” - for the oppressed peoples to flock behind.

Knowing that the new tribal collective couldn’t hide or run from the lizard cavalry of the Thousand Spears, or indeed the marauding raiders that ride hot metal machines across the sands in search of plunder, so the tribal collective dug under the sands, using the tunnels made by the great wurms that live deep beneath Korash as they hunt for movement on the surface.

It would be an age before the peoples united under “The Dust Flag” would be seen in the Deserts of Korash again.

Not all of the lower tribes fled into the wurm tunnels. One particularly large tribe left for the forbidden ant mounds of the south, hoping the dangers there would deter their oppressors from pursuit.

They themselves felt confident that they had developed an understanding over the years of the ants, and for many years lived alongside them. It is said that they eventually grew powerful enough to assault the queen's hive in a lightning strike made possible only by the zealous fervour and dedication of the tribal warriors. Ants and men alike were massacred that day as they took the ant queen’s chamber.

The now-called “Hive Kin” perform dangerous and abhorrent experiments deep in their newly acquired mound-hill kingdom, genetically changing  themselves to be more ant-like, lusting after their strength and efficiency.

With far fewer of the lesser tribes to pillage, the marauders of the desert banded together under a great Khan who rode under a banner of Rust. It is he who promises his warriors the glory of combat with any and all comers as they now roam the desert as a warband, no longer motley. Under the vision of the great Khan, they strike at any and all they find with speed and great violence.

All the tribes emerge into the deserts of Korash in this glorious age. The Dust Flag has returned to the surface in great city sized sand walkers, using forerunner technology found deep under the sands or in the bellies of the Wurms. They claimed the great peak of Mount Germantia as a religious centre and roamed the lands, searching for more displaced peoples and crushing any opposition that stands in the way of the tribal collective.

The Hive Kin have left their mounds in force to build new mounds, slowly edging their territory closer and closer to other civilizations.

Iron Sun has established a successful foothold on the coast, even managing to establish successful tea farms in the otherwise harsh soil of the land. They seek to rebuild their ships so that they may contact the homeland they left behind for military aid. They hold the line for now through sheer numbers and discipline.

Finally, the Thousand Spears are fighting skirmishes on all fronts. The “Rust banner” marauders strike hard at their supply lines, Iron Sun pushes at them from the east, the Hive Kin are massing to the south and the Dust Flag collective are gaining more ground on the surface with each passing month.

It is a time of chaos. It is a time of war.

(image by Eskalat; composite using Creative Commons media)