Ishkari
Overview
The Ishkari were the rulers of the Age Before Sand and Sun, a mighty civilization of river valleys, stone cities, and sky-reaching temples. Masters of star-magic and elemental craft, they shaped the world to their will: calling rain to fields, raising mountains as walls, and binding storms as weapons. For millennia, their empire stood unmatched, the greatest power the land has ever known.
But their pride led to ruin. In their search for greater knowledge, they uncovered the Buried One, a primordial force of hunger and fire. Their desperate war against it ended in both victory and annihilation, leaving only sand, ruin, and the spirits that still wander the desert.
Today, the Ishkari legacy endure only as half-buried ruins, fractured relics, and the whispers of the Desert Spirits — guardians of the prison they forged.
Culture and Legacy
The Ishkari’s culture was built on dominion over nature. They believed themselves heirs to the stars, chosen to order creation itself. Their society was ruled by councils of sorcerers and priest-astronomers, who blended science, magic, and faith into one pursuit: the perfection of their world.
Their temples were aligned with constellations.
Their writings were etched into stone with sigils of light, many now eroded and half-lost.
Their artistry blended practical magic with beauty — glass that glowed like stars, statues that sang with the wind, aqueducts that carried both water and enchantment.
What survives in the present are fragments: stone carvings of constellations, obsidian coins etched with sigils, and ruins buried beneath dunes.
The War of Shackling
The Ishkari’s downfall came when they sought to pierce beyond the material realm. They discovered the Buried One, also called Dazareth, the Maw Below. When it stirred, the land itself turned against them — skies blackened, rivers boiled, beasts twisted into monsters.
The Ishkari raised vast armies, but each generation was broken against the Buried One’s fury. At last, their greatest sorcerers enacted the Shackling, binding the entity beneath what is now called the Great Dune.
The victory destroyed them: their homeland was scorched, forests reduced to ash, rivers drained into sand. The Ishkari people were consumed in the final ritual, leaving behind only their wandering spirits.
The Desert Spirits
The Ishkari did not truly die. Their sorcerers’ souls fused with the desert itself, becoming incorporeal guardians tasked with ensuring the Buried One never awakens.
They appear as shadows in sandstorms, glowing eyes in mirages, or voices carried by the wind. They are not gods, nor merciful — their actions are bound by balance. When tribes take too much from the land, the spirits scatter them with storms. When poachers despoil sacred sites, they lead beasts against them. When the Buried One shifts, they rally storms and silence to suppress its stirring.
For some tribes, they are protectors. For others, they are omens of doom.
Reputation in the Present
To the peoples of today, the Ishkari are completely forgotten. Only the Desert Spirits remain, trying to ensure that the Ishkari’s final sacrifice — the shackling of the Buried One — is not undone.