Sand Kingdoms Part I - The Shifting Sands

The realm of the Sand Kingdoms is composed of a dozen independent city-state provinces, traditionally referred to as nomes, scattered like jewels across the Great Desert. Each nome is ruled by its own viceroy—known as a nomarch—and a council of viziers, but all remain under the watchful eye and subtle authority of the Grand Academy.

POLITICS

Though called Kingdoms, the Sand Kingdoms have no kings. In the days before the New Dawn, when monarchs ruled the sands, the realm was a cruel and exhausting place. Under the yoke of warring kings, the desert cities stood on the brink of collapse—especially when the invaders first sailed through the mouth of the Ashara River. Their downfall would have been inevitable were it not for the intervention of the Grand Academy’s great arcanists, who united the realm and led the scorched, dust-choked settlements into an age of splendor, wisdom, and prosperity.

Since then, cities have been governed by viceroys and councils of learned viziers, under the guidance of the Academy—until such time as a ruler of worthy arcane and moral stature is found, one the Academy itself might bow to.

Seated in Men’Nefer and built around the ancient Great Library—the largest and most revered repository of knowledge in all of Calad—the Grand Academy is far more than an arcane university. It is the spiritual, intellectual, and political heart of the desert realm. From its limestone and marble halls, it governs arcane education, mediates disputes, oversees trade, and dictates the lawful use of magic throughout the region. All official laws are ratified through the High Seat of the Academy. All major conflicts—whether between noble houses, nomes, or foreign powers—are judged under its seal.

Though each province retains nominal independence, the Academy’s influence is absolute. Despite being a house of wisdom, it is within these halls that governors are shaped, alliances forged, and wars quietly weighed.

In the Sand Kingdoms, power flows through arcane mastery. The Academy’s highest-ranking officials, the Viziers, are the true leaders of the realm. These master arcanists oversee key disciplines of magic—disciplines essential to the survival of civilization amidst the ever-hungering desert. Viziers act as both educators and political authorities, appointed to oversee specific nomes and ensure the region's balanced path toward prosperity.

Though united outwardly under the Scholar’s Seal, the realm is broadly divided into three cultural and geopolitical alliances:

• The Ashan alliance, comprising cities along the upper Asha River.
• The Sharan coalition, formed around the Shara River and its neighboring oases.
• The Silver Bay confederation, which lies apart from the rivers and exhibits a culturally distinct blend of Sandlander, imperial, and Helian traditions.

Outside the Academy’s overarching authority, the loyalties and foreign relations of the three major alliances often diverge. A prime example lies in their differing stances toward the Valley of Life—a vast, verdant enclave at the source of the Asha River, home to numerous chimera tribes, sacred ruins, and tombs from a forgotten age.

The cities of the Sharan coalition and the Silver Bay confederation often maintain favorable relations with the chimeras of the Valley, engaging in exchange of goods, knowledge, and service. In contrast, the Ashan cities remain objects of lingering resentment within the Valley. This tension stems from the War of Asha, when Ashan forces sought to conquer the oasis over a century ago. Though the war has long ended, its memory continues to cast a shadow.

Likewise, while the presence of the Rin is unremarkable across most of the Sand Kingdoms, tensions toward them—the Helrin in particular—grows in the Silver Bay. This strain stems from the lingering presence of the Expeditionary Force, a self-righteous colonial power that established a foothold in the region during the Bay’s liberation from the invaders. Though centuries have passed, their continued occupation and influence are seen by many locals as an assertion of dominance, breeding resentment beneath the region’s regal surface.

SOCIETY

The Sand Kingdoms are a true meritocracy. Birth and bloodline carry little weight against raw arcane brilliance. A farmer’s daughter with a gift for magic may rise to shape the laws of a province. A noble’s son without talent may live his life in quiet obscurity, a title in name only. Status is earned through ability, study, and accomplishment. Receiving anointment from the Academy is equivalent to attaining a noble title, granting not only prestige, but also wealth and influence.

Yet beneath this golden ideal lies a harsher truth. Those without magic, known as Andaat—the Ungifted—have few ways to power or influence. They work as laborers, guards, scribes, porters, and servants to the arcanist elite. Their toil supports the glittering cities and vast academies, but their voices rarely shape them. Though necessary to the kingdom’s survival, the Ungifted are often regarded as lesser: essential, but expendable.

Still, being outside the Academy's focus, and protected within the secure walls of the cities, gives the Ungifted a surprising degree of personal freedom. In the absence of status, many develop remarkable craft, cunning, or enterprise.

GEOGRAPHY

The Sand Kingdoms stretch across the arid western reaches of Calad—a land of extremes where scorched dunes, wind-cut plateaus, shimmering salt flats, and ancient ruins meet fertile riverlands and enchanted oases. Though the region appears lifeless from afar, it is in truth a marvel of magical ingenuity and ancient engineering.

At the heart of the region, rivers Asha and Shara flow into the sacred Ashara River, the lifeblood of the kingdoms. Nearly every province is founded along its banks or near the canals that divert its waters—feeding lush terraces, irrigating fields, and sustaining life in defiance of the lifeless desert. Massive aqueducts and artificial waterways represent the pinnacle of arcane and architectural achievement, sustaining the desert's cities where nature alone would falter.

Each province centers around an enormous walled city, which encloses not only dense urban districts but also stretches of cultivated farmland. Beyond the walls, smaller farming settlements and rural estates dot the wetlands along the river’s path.

The cities themselves are dazzling—mirage-like bastions of life, splendor, and color. Buildings of sandstone rise in elegant tiers. Water courses through channels that run along the streets. Windtowers catch wind and funnel cool air into homes and halls. Above the bustling marketplaces and narrow alleys, vibrant canopies sway, casting shifting mosaics of light and shade. These oases in the dunes are not merely habitable, they are alive with noise, commerce, and spectacle.

Beyond the walls, the Great Desert sprawls—vast and merciless. Caravan routes thread between settlements and waystations, but the journey is fraught with peril. Sacred wells and garrisoned outposts mark the safest paths, yet travelers must still contend with sudden sandstorms, Void anomalies, and monstrous predators lurking in the dunes. River travel is safest, but limited in reach. To access more remote provinces, many still rely on the remnants of the High Way—an ancient, elevated stone road that once linked the cities of the sand, predating the present settlers. Though long decayed, scattered segments of the High Way still guide traders and pilgrims across the desert’s expanse.

MILITARY

The Sand Kingdoms do not maintain a unified army, nor do they often engage in open war. The towering walls of the cities, combined with the vast inhospitable sea of sand and the logistical nightmares it brings, deter most aggressors. The desert itself is a primary line of defense, one that punishes the unprepared and buries the ambitious.

Each province is responsible for its own defense, marshaling local forces composed of battlemages, viziers, and mercenaries. Most cities employ one or more Sand Companies—large, organized bands of mercenaries, often composed of the Ungifted. They patrol the cities, guard expeditions, enforce civil order, and in rare cases of warfare, form the backbone of military defense.

The cities, however, rely less on brute force and more on arcane dominance. At the slightest threat, the Viziers can animate entire regiments of arcane constructs—golems, gargoyles, and other statues—summoned into action by teams of conjurers. These elemental warriors of stone, sand, and metal can be unleashed en masse to repel siege or extinguish rebellion.

In addition to conventional threats, the Sand Kingdoms are very proficient with mana rifts—tears in the fabric of reality through which void-born entities and corrupted energies emerge. The Grand Academy maintains specialized divisions of battlemages trained to contain or seal these phenomena. Their work is perilous and politically divisive. Some factions within the Academy argue these rifts are opportunities—gateways to new knowledge and power. Others view them as existential threats to be sealed and destroyed without hesitation.

What the Sand Kingdoms lack in numbers and terrain, they make up for in wisdom and ingenuity. Their military might is not measured in numbers and might, but in unmatched spellwork and arcane cunning of their elite.