The @Khenan Raiders are a band of outcasts and renegades, forged from those whom the desert tribes would no longer tolerate. Exiles, criminals, deserters, and broken souls gather under the banner of the Khenan, bound by their rejection of the tribes that cast them out. In the eyes of most desertfolk, they are no better than vultures—but to the Raiders, survival is vengeance, and vengeance is survival.
No single tribe birthed the @Khenan Raiders. Instead, they emerged from the fragments of many. A murderer spared from execution, a cowardly soldier who abandoned his post, a thief caught too many times—each had nowhere else to go. These misfits found one another in the shifting dunes, and over time, their gatherings grew into warbands. What began as desperate survival became a way of life: to take, to raid, to plunder, and to burn the ties that once bound them.
Their name, Khenan, is said to come from an ancient word for “Ashborn” — those who rise only to consume and destroy
The @Khenan Raiders live without honor, but not without rules. Their creed is simple: the strong lead, the weak follow, and the desert takes the rest. Loyalty lasts only as long as a warband prospers. Leadership is decided by challenge—raiders may slay their own captains if they grow weak or fail.
Yet, there is one bond the Raiders share: hatred of the tribes. Each carries the scars of rejection, whether real or imagined. Their raids are not just about plunder—they are acts of revenge. A caravan stripped bare, a settlement torched, a captured warrior slain—all are messages carved into the sands: we will not be forgotten.
The Khenan Raiders move like shadows across the desert. Their hideouts—caves, abandoned ruins, and forgotten canyons—are never permanent, shifting constantly so no tribe can root them out. Mobility is survival, and secrecy is law.
They strike with ruthless speed, favoring raids under sandstorms or moonless nights. Caravans are bled of supplies, livestock, and valuables, then left in ruin as the raiders vanish before reinforcements can arrive. Some bands grow bold enough to occupy captured locations for weeks, turning them into temporary dens of terror before abandoning them once attention draws near.
Khenan society is bound by strength alone. Each band is ruled by its own leader, whose authority lasts only as long as they can enforce it. Weakness invites challenge; failure ends in death beneath the dunes. Elite warriors serve as the spearhead of major raids, leading assaults with precision and cruelty, ensuring terror spreads faster than word of warning.
New recruits, known as Outcasts, are exiles and forsaken souls seeking survival or belonging. Among the Khenan, respect is earned only through blood. Outcasts are thrown into the most dangerous roles—scouts, bait, and expendable blades. Most perish quickly; those who survive are hardened into true Khenan killers.
Dark magic festers within the raiders through the Cursers, sorcerers exiled for delving too deeply into forbidden powers. Their curses rot steel, blacken blood, and twist the desert winds themselves. To the Cursers, destruction is devotion, and every spell cast burns away another fragment of their own soul.
Common Khenan Raider Roles (examples include):
@Khenan Leader – Band chiefs ruling through strength and terror
@Khenan Elite – Veteran raiders and raid leaders
@Khenan Raider – Core ambushers and caravan predators
@Khenan Outcast – Expendable recruits, scouts, and bait
@Khenan Curser – Wielders of corrupt, ruinous magic
The @Shishan Tribe loathe the @Khenan Raiders , whose attacks disrupt trade routes and threaten caravans. Yet, in dark corners of the desert, whispers persist that some minor @Shishan Tribe chiefs secretly employ @Khenan Raiders to sabotage rivals. Publicly, relations are hostile; privately, they sometimes blur into uneasy bargains. @Khenan Raiders attacks them at any chance.
The @Khenan Raiders maintain a pragmatic partnership with Poachers. They guide them through hidden routes in exchange for coin, stolen weapons, or shares of rare remains. Poachers, in turn, rely on the @Khenan Raiders ’ knowledge of the desert’s shadows, though both sides are quick to betray one another if profit demands it. @Khenan Raiders despise the @Grassborne but collaborate with desdain, although they don't hesitate to kill them if profitable.
The @Zhainin Tribe despise the Raiders as cowards and dishonorable scavengers. The @Khenan Raiders , in turn, relish targeting @Zhainin Tribe patrols, mocking their obsession with preserving life and balance, by ambushing them from shadows and leaving their corpses as desert warnings. @Khenan Raiders attacks them at any chance.
The @Ashken Tribe view the Raiders as vermin and execute them without hesitation. The @Khenan Raiders , covet @Ashken Tribe wealth and resources, making them tempting targets for daring raids. @Khenan Raiders attacks them at any chance.
Raiders see the @Ruyen Tribe as soft targets. And some of the hidden bases of the @Khenan Raiders are near the @Endless Beach where @Ruyen Tribe live. Thats why raids and skirmishes are usual, although the @Ruyen Tribe are not the main objective of the @Khenan Raiders , as they are the least wealthy tribe. @Khenan Raiders attacks them at any chance.
The @Sand Elf of @Tallesdin Tribe regard the @Khenan Raiders with silent hatred. @Khenan Raiders who stumble into their lands vanish, never returning to tell what fate befell them. Among the @Khenan Raiders , stories circulate of ghost-eyed elves who curse with nightmares and madness. @Khenan Raiders attacks them at any chance.
The @Indaks Tribe despise the @Khenan Raiders for stealing dwarven wares and desecrating trade routes. The @Khenan Raiders see them as rich prey. And the demand for their artifacts is high among @Grassborne merchants, so @Khenan Raiders usually target the @Indaks Tribe . @Khenan Raiders attacks them at any chance.
The @Qarroshy Tribe despise the @Khenan Raiders as dishonorable parasites who strike from shadows instead of facing foes openly. The @Khenan Raiders , thrive on harassing @Qarroshy Tribe patrols and stealing from their supply trains, mocking their so-called honor. @Khenan Raiders attacks them at any chance.
The @Karkrei Tribe execute @Khenan Raiders on sight, viewing them as spiritual blights and desecrators of the dead. The @Khenan Raiders , in turn, find amusement in provoking them, desecrating bones and mocking their rituals when possible. @Khenan Raiders attacks them at any chance.
A wary kinship exists between the @Khenan Raiders and the @Khazk Horde , forged by shared exile and hatred of the tribes. @Khenan Raiders sometimes serve as mercenaries for @Khazk Horde warbands, though trust remains thin. Alliances last only until one side feels cheated. @Khenan Raiders try to use the @Khazk Horde , and treats them with limited disdain.
The @Khenan Raiders fear the @Scorvian and avoid provoking them. Tales of entire warbands swallowed by the @Scorpion Hills keep them from straying too close. Even the most reckless captains warn their men not to tempt the wrath of the @Scorvian Queendom . @Khenan Raiders feel terror to the @Scorvians.
The @Sandspring Lizardfolk Village view the @Khenan Raiders as thieves and pests. The @Khenan Raiders , for their part, avoid large clashes with the @Sszarath Sandscale Dominion , though they occasionally strike isolated hunting bands or steal from border settlements. @Khenan Raiders attacks them at any profitable chance they see as secure enough.
The @Khenan Raiders maintain their strongest external ties with smugglers from the @Green Republic . Through them, they fence stolen goods, acquire weapons, and keep a thin lifeline of survival. These relations are transactional and secretive, never based on trust.
Althought some @Grassborne merchants that the @Khenan Raiders have deals pertain to it, the @Khenan Raiders know nothing of the @Brackish Consortium existence.
The Khenan Raiders view the Tahziri Tribe as infuriating prey—rich in valuables but maddeningly hard to catch. Their underground tactics inspire both hatred and fear. They are targeted relentlessly as hated enemies.
The @Khenan Raiders wear whatever they can steal: mismatched armor, scavenged weapons, desert rags dyed to blend with sand and shadow. Many Raiders cover their faces with scarves or bone masks, both to hide their identities and to mock the tribes that cast them out. Their weapons are rarely elegant but always practical—short bows, spears, scavenged blades, and cruelly barbed daggers.
A drawing of a bloody dagger is their emblem, and they always visibly wear it and have tatoos with it.
The @Khenan Raiders are not united under a single leader. Instead, they are divided into loosely connected warbands, each led by a ruthless captain. The most feared of these captains are whispered of across the desert, their names spoken in curses or warnings. The largest gatherings of Raiders occur only rarely, when multiple bands unite under a charismatic warlord to launch grand raids—events that can change the balance of power in the desert for years. One of the most infamous bandid leaders is @Vorlag 'The Butcher'
Among desertfolk, the @Khenan Raiders are more than bandits—they are bogeymen, invoked to scare children into obedience. Caravans pray to the sands that no bloody dagger-bannered riders descend upon them. Yet for all their savagery, the Khenan remain an unavoidable truth of the desert: the forgotten will always find a way to be remembered.
Water:
The @Khenan Raiders survive by briefly visiting scattered oases across the desert, never staying long enough to be caught. They also maintain secret water caches in hidden caves and ravines, known only to their band.
Primary Resources:
For food, they rely on small-scale hunting of desert creatures, but their true livelihood comes from raiding and theft, striking caravans and tribes to seize supplies.
Trade & Smuggling:
Though shunned by most, the @Khenan Raiderskeep a lifeline through smuggling and illicit trade with unscrupulous merchants and poachers of the Green Republic, exchanging stolen goods for weapons, information, and survival tools.