The Caravans of the Shifting Desert are inseparably bound to the Shishan Tribe. While many desert peoples live nomadically and conduct local trade, only the Shishan roam the entirety of the Shifting Sands, maintaining long-distance trade routes that cross regions no other tribe dares to traverse. Through their caravans, the Shishan act as the sole true trade tribe of the desert—bearers of goods, knowledge, news, and diplomacy between otherwise isolated peoples.
More than simple trade convoys, Shishan caravans are nomadic institutions: living settlements on the move, carriers of culture, rumor, and power. Wherever a Shishan caravan passes, the desert briefly becomes connected, and isolation loosens its grip.
In a land of shifting dunes, vanishing landmarks, and migrating oases, the Shishan caravans are the only constant. They bind tribes, cities, factions, and ruins together, ensuring that no people truly stand alone against the desert.
From afar, a caravan appears like a mirage given form—long lines of beasts, wagons, banners, and walking silhouettes rippling across the dunes. Colorful pennants and sigils rise above the sands, marking ownership, alliances, or purpose. Heavy-laden pack animals carry chests, water skins, relics, and trade goods, while lighter scouts and riders fan outward like living feelers.
Caravan members wear layered desert garb suited for long travel: robes, scarves, leather armor, and sun-bleached cloaks. Practicality dominates, yet caravans often display their identity through banners, painted shields, beadwork, or carved totems tied to saddles. At night, rings of lanterns and firelight transform caravans into glowing islands amid the darkness.
Caravans are communities before they are businesses. Entire families live their lives upon the road—born under canvas, raised by shared duty, and taught early that survival depends on cooperation. Every caravan has a hierarchy shaped by necessity rather than blood alone: leaders chosen for judgment, navigators respected for memory, guards trusted for discipline, and traders valued for words sharper than steel.
Honor within caravans is measured by reliability. A broken promise can doom an entire route, while a well-kept one may sustain generations. Hospitality is a shared law among most caravans; denying water or shelter to fellow travelers is considered a crime against the desert itself.
Caravans frequently absorb outsiders—survivors, refugees, exiles, or freed captives—who prove their worth. Over time, this makes caravans melting pots of dialects, customs, and beliefs, spreading ideas as readily as goods.
No Shishan caravan follows the same path forever, yet all major trade flows are anchored around a handful of great nexus routes that bind the desert together. These routes shift subtly with the sands, but their general paths are known to veteran navigators and guarded fiercely by the Shishan Tribe.
The West Route connects the Ruyen Tribe of the Endless Beach to the heart of the desert. From the coast, caravans traverse the treacherous Moving Stones Depression, where trade is conducted with the Indaks Tribe, masters of stone and sunstone mining. From there, the route climbs onto the Spirits Plateau, home to the Shishan Tribe’s primary trading bases and long-standing encampments. The journey culminates at the Sacred Caverns city, where goods are exchanged, refined, and redistributed.
The East Route links the Blackmountains and the Tree Gardening Foothills—lands protected by the Tallesdin Tribe—to the Sacred Caverns city. Shishan caravans cross the Dark Sands and the vast Golden Sand Sea, relying on elven guidance, hidden waypoints, and careful timing to survive the shifting terrain. Timber, crafted wood, and eastern goods flow westward along this route, while finished products and supplies travel east in return.
The North Route connects the central desert—chiefly the Spirits Plateau and the Sacred Caverns city—with Greenreach, the first trading post of the Green Republic. This arduous passage cuts through the Scorched Expanse, then funnels caravans into the Caravan Corridor, a narrow valley between the Dead Spires and the Sister Peaks. Beyond lies the Green Route, where desert caravans meet the greenery and laws of northern civilization.
The South Route is a medium-to-minor artery linking the desert’s core to its most volatile regions. It connects the central territories with the Qarroshy Tribe in the Redsands Plains, supplying their war effort, and extends further toward the Bone Dunes, where the Karkrei Tribe dwells among the remains of ancient battles. Though less traveled, this route is among the most dangerous.
Caravans of the Shishan Tribe transport everything the desert cannot provide consistently, acting as the sole arteries of large-scale exchange across the Shifting Sands. Among their most vital cargos is sunstone, mined by the Indaks Tribe and carried estward to the workshops and forges of the Sacred Caverns city, heart of the Ashken Tribe. There, sunstone is refined into tools, relics, and mechanisms essential to desert life.
From the east Shishan caravans carry precious timber harvested and shaped by the Tallesdin Tribe, the Sand Elves. This rare wood, capable of surviving the desert climate, is highly prized for construction, weapon crafting, and ritual use, especially within the Sacred Caverns and allied settlements.
The Shishan also play a critical logistical role in warfare. They provide the Qarroshy Tribe with food, water, medical supplies, and equipment necessary for their ongoing war effort against the orcish hordes. Without Shishan caravans, the Qarroshy warfront would quickly falter.
Beyond the desert itself, Shishan caravans trade with the northern neighbors of the Green Republic, exchanging desert resources, crafted goods, and rare materials for grain, metals, and knowledge from greener lands.
Every caravan enforces strict water discipline, guarded reserves, and layered contingency plans. Survival depends on redundancy: multiple scouts, backup routes, reserve beasts, and supplies sufficient to endure loss, delay, or betrayal.
Caravans are constant targets, mainly of Khenan Raiders, but also of monsters, rival factions, and the desert itself. As a result, most are heavily defended. The Shishan tribe trains its members to fight while moving, defend circular camps, and repel attacks without scattering beasts or breaking formation.
Open warfare is rare; skirmishes, ambushes, and displays of force are far more common. Caravans prefer deterrence over destruction—after all, today’s enemy may be tomorrow’s customer.
Elite caravans employ specialized units: mounted outriders, shield formations, beast-handlers, and champions sworn to defend leaders or sacred cargo. Some caravans are infamous for vanishing into the dunes when threatened, leaving nothing but false trails and abandoned fires.
Common Shishan Roles (examples include):
@Shishan Captain – Caravan commander and tactical authority
@Shishan Sunblade – Elite champions and guardians of vital caravans
@Shishan Nashik – Disciplined shieldwall warriors
@Shishan guard – Core caravan defenders
@Shishan Navigator – Desert pathfinders and scouts
@Shishan Shieldhound – Trained war-beasts and sentries
The Shishan Tribe organizes its trade operations into distinct types of caravans, each serving a specific role in sustaining desert-wide commerce.
The Great Caravan is the largest and most vital trade convoy of the Shishan Tribe, crossing the ever-shifting expanse of the Shifting Sands Desert. More than a caravan, it is the lifeline of desert commerce—a moving nexus where tribes exchange goods, news, and alliances essential for survival and prosperity in an unforgiving land.
Protected by the strongest forces of the Shishan Tribe, the Great Caravan travels under constant guard. Its escort numbers in the hundreds, composed of warriors and scouts of varying ranks, ever watchful against raiders and the desert’s many dangers. The caravan itself sprawls across the dunes: long lines of camels heavy with trade goods, traders and guards moving between them, and clusters of colorful tents and makeshift stalls. Together, they form a vibrant, mobile marketplace—an oasis of life and commerce amid the endless sands.
Shishan medium caravans consist of 10 to 25 camels, striking a balance between mobility and strength in numbers. These caravans transport valuable goods such as textiles, crafted weapons, dried meats, or medicinal herbs across established desert routes. The additional camels allow for greater supplies and guarded cargo, enabling longer journeys and improved resilience against desert hazards.
Unlike small caravans, medium caravans can afford increased comfort and security. They typically employ dedicated guards and scouts who ride ahead or scan the dunes for signs of raiders, predators, or shifting dangers. These caravans form the backbone of Shishan regional trade.
A Shishan small caravan is a humble band of travelers, usually made up of 3 to 5 camels and fewer than a dozen people. These groups are common among trading families, scouts, or messengers moving swiftly across the dunes with only the essentials.
Each camel carries a careful mix of water, food, and limited trade goods, while riders walk alongside or take turns mounted. Lacking the numbers to deter open threats, small caravans rely on stealth, speed, and caution, deliberately avoiding the most perilous routes traveled by larger companies.