Faris Outrider

Some arcanists abandon their academic studies before completion, forsaking their titles, duties, and the many comforts their education might have afforded them. Though many are of noble birth and, by custom, should be treated as such, these wayward mages are often viewed as arrogant eccentrics—or worse, as delinquents. Known for their rowdy behavior, defiance of law, and disregard for scholarly protocols, some have even turned to tomb raiding, hauling ancient relics and manuscripts from sacred sites—treasures meant for preservation and study—only for them to surface on the black markets of Calad.

Among these wayward few, a distinct group has come to be known as the Faris. Unlike the fully fallen, many Faris seek to maintain a semblance of prestige, traversing the sands not in rebellion, but in service to the Grand Academy. Tasked with locating and retrieving young arcane talents from the hinterlands, they act as both scouts and agents of the old order.

Their hard-earned experience makes them well-suited for other tasks as well. Faris are often commissioned to hunt rogue mages with bounties on their heads, or hired to escort caravans and prominent spellcasters through the perilous desert paths. Along the way, they shield their wards from dangers such as errant sand writhes—terrible, burrowing beasts that devour unwary travelers—and worse things that stir beneath the dunes.

Though they may lack the formal education and refined arcane skill of Academy-trained mages, the Faris compensate with practical knowledge, battlefield wit, and a variety of self-applied enchantments that enhance their physical and magical capabilities. What they lack in theory, they make up for in survival instinct and grit—traits forged under the open sun and shifting sands of the desert frontier.

Sand writhe: A fearsome, serpentine creature that burrows beneath the dunes of the Great Desert. Often mistaken for a mirage until it strikes, it consumes its prey whole and vanishes beneath the sands.