Queers of Athas

Setting
#1

I have made some notes to give more life to npc’s. The notes may seem a little controversial, but are by no means made to offend anyone. I have made them to celebrate life and our differences.
Let’s collect our notes and make a fun little addition to the Dark Sun campaign.
I have made some headlines, and the meaning is that you can send the notes, drawings and thoughts that you have used in your campaign. I want to collect and edit the best of you and put it in a single PDF in this forum. if there are anyone who would like to edit, or make layouts please write.
let’s make npc’s, groups, maps, herbs, spells, monsters, drawings etc. under the heading “Queers of Athas”

Queer handbook

Nibanay:
The transgender wives of Nibanay - used as elite templars?

In ancient greece homosexuals was common and accepted in most part of the kingdom. Balic is inspired by this.
The harem men of Andropinis???

The Villichi´s:
Born infertile, living in a remote monastery in the Ringing mountains. Born homosexuals

The Scarlet whispers:
Slave tribe. Runaway female Concubines gathered around a charismatic leader???
Raiding??

Feopidian weed
When eaten in larger periodes, male characters begins to transform in to female. they develop breast and lose beard and most body hair. Male as well as female characters are not able to reproduce for 1-3 years after eating this root. When taken before a big gladiator game, the fighter gets + 2 in strength and constitution because the fighter gets into some kind of berserk. the blood rouse lasts for 1d6 turns. after this berserk the gladiator must rest for 2d4 hours or he or she will collapse (system shock survival)

Sexual psionic link:
http://www.geocities.ws/danach.geo/psi.htm

#2

Nibenay wouldn’t go for that in my campaign lol.

1 Like
#3

For purposes of discussion, I will assume you are using queer as in same sex. In my own campaigns it’s not really been any more of an issue. Concubines can be male or female, free folk are able to do as they please, nobles even more so.

I don’t think you will run into a many PTSD issues as you think. Slavery is common, it’s a way of life and for most, it’s all they have ever known. For those who have never known freedom it’s just the way it is. Many would like freedom, but don’t seriously think they will attain it and trying just leads to pain. Better to do as expected and make the best of it. For those who were free and have become slaves, I imagine it’s more traumatic, especially if they were a noble, but free folk deep down knew it was a possibility. PTSD comes from a traumatic experience, you don’t see as much trauma is those who’ entire life has been that way.

In general I doubt same sex issues come up all that much. Historically speaking, it’s only relatively recently that it’s become a big deal, much of it driven by those with the power to impose their beliefs on others. What you need to think of then is how to the SMs, nobles, and trade houses view it?

Concubines are well looked after, I see no reason a queer concubine would be treated differently. The sexual abuse is no more than any other concubine and the status of concubine may even be preferred over that of a common slave. The biggest worry the concubine has is not how he or she will be treated but instead have they pleased their owner. A concubine that succeeds may be lucky enough to be one of the rare freed slaves when their master grows tired of them. They can at least hope to become concubines of favored gladiators, become domestic slaves, or at least killed (or sacrificed to the dragon). Far worse to become a common slave farmer or laborer and used by your fellow slaves you were once so high above. One thing to keep in mind is how concubines would interact with marriage laws.

In my own campaigns I’d run something like this:

Tyr Region:
Balic: Male partnering are common, with nobles, templars, and even free folk “fostering” their sons with older men in order to learn a trade. Fathers spend as much time looking for a suitable man for his son as for his daughter. Unlike marriages these relationships officially end once the boy comes of age and is able to support himself. This does not always mean the two end their relationship, but it is typically frowned upon for two men with that much of an age difference to continue. The younger male is considered a something of a failure as is his sponsor. Relationships between men of a similar age is commonplace with no stigma attached and is not considered to break any marriage vows. Females are discouraged from forming intimate relationships with others until after they are married, at which time they often form these relationships with those their husband find suitable. Baltic does not recognize same gender marriages but also does not recognize same gender relationships as infidelity. Baltic slaves have no say in any “marriage” which is only for procreation as arranged by their owners, but often find comfort where they can.

Draj: Same gender pairings in Draj are illegal. Once married, infidelity is death, at any level of society Same gender relationships before marriage do occur and those Draji who are serious about each other often never marry and live with the stigma or leave the city rather then be put to death for cheating. Concubines of both genders exist, but are given up upon marriage.

Gulg: Same gender pairings are common among all levels of Gulg society prior to marriage so long as it stays inside the dagada. Same gender marriages are forbidden and once married the couple is expected to be completely monogamous except during dagada celebrations and city wide festival days. Slaves are viewed as animals by all but the nobles so are never used as concubines although they are not discouraged from enjoying each other, same gender or not. Nobles occasionally grow fond enough of a specific slave to become intimate and these pairings are typically ones that span the lifetime of the noble. The noble/slave pairing is the only one that can transcend the bonds of marriage since aside from the specific noble and slave an animal can’t break a marriage vow.

Nibenay: One of the most open cities, same gender pairings are very common both inside and outside of marriage. Among the free, husbands and wives share each other as the feeling takes them. For the free, same gender matches tend to favor female, while nobles tend to favor males. Same gender marriages are scorned as much as so called “love marriages” but relationships within the confines are marriage are not leading to many same gender pairings attempting to convince the master of marriage to arrange a marriage with the other partner. Among slaves, females are discouraged from same gender relationships while males are encouraged. This is due to the children born becoming the property of the female’s owner. Among the monasteries, same gender pairings are common since they are single gender institutions. Marriages are annulled upon joining the monasteries although they may be reinstated upon leaving.

Raam: Same gender pairings are legal and somewhat common within caste bounds. They are looked upon no differently than same gender pairings. Before Abalach-Re’s death these pairings were typically as consensual as any other but with the rise of the the new power blocs people are willing to do anything for protection.

Tyr: Same gender relationships have never been an issue in the city. Nearly as open as Nibenay in this regard except traditionally a marriage is only a pair. As in Nibenay among slaves, females are discouraged from same gender relationships amongst each other while males are encouraged. This is due to the children born becoming the property of the female’s owner.

Urik: Same gender marriages are illegal in the city but relations outside of marriage are the business of only those involved so long as no laws are broken. Concubines of both genders are purchased and used as desired however female concubines are the most common. Within the bonds of marriage female intimacy is more common than male. Military regulations prohibit men from engaging in intimate acts with one another with the punishment of castration. While not every man is part of the military, they can be called on and few are willing to take the chance. Hamanu’s code also proscribes punishments for men cheating with a married woman but there is no current law against a woman and a married woman.

Outside the Tyr Region:
Eldaarich: Same gender marriages are illegal but infidelity is common. Same gender relationships are as likely as not, the people are just looking for comfort where they can find it. They are however quick to betray if they can gain advantage.

Kurn: Same gender marriages and relationships are legal. The people of Kurn do not meddle in the personal lives of others.

Kalidnay: Same gender relationships were common in Kalidnay. Kalid-Ma’s love of changing shapes and genders trickled down to all levels of society. With a strong focus on metamophs it was not uncommon for the person you were intimate with to start the night as a male and finish as female.

Yaramuke: Considered a den of depravity where anything went, same gender liaisons were common at all levels.

Saaragar: Happiness must be maintained. If same gender relations make you happy, it’s allowed, so long as no one in the relationship is unhappy.

Trade Houses: The trade houses do not involve themselves in the relationships of their people outside the highest levels. Anything is for sale, so same gender intimacy is common.

Racial Outlooks:
Aarakocra: Aarakocra are intimate with whoever they choose. They prefer to choose a single partner to spend their lives with regardless of gender.

Elves: The Elven tendency to live in the moment continues to intimate relations. Same gender pairings are as common as not.

Dwarves: Among free dwarves, same gender relationships are rare, but supported by the clan when it does occur. Among slaves it is even more rare as the slaves owner typically keeps a tight control on dwarven interactions.

Half-Elves: Half Elves tend to take intimacy where they can get it, regardless of gender. They have a strong need to belong.

Half-Giants: Half-Giants look to those around them. A Half-Giant in Nibeney can be very open to same gender intimacy but that same half giant traveling in Urik can change it’s mind. Typically only true love lasts beyond these swings.

Halflings: Halflings are promiscuous regardless of gender. Marriages are unusual but soul mates can be of any gender.

Muls: Muls tend do to as their master’s will. Free Mul’s often continue with the same mentality after they escape.

Pterrans: Pterrans are non-sexual except during mating season. At this time they mate only with the opposite gender. They can form close relationships with either gender but do not act on them the way humans do.

Thri-Kreen: The bond of clutchmate acts almost as a replacement of intimacy. To the Kreen, humanoid preoccupation with sex as strange as sleep. Kreen mate with their closest clutchmate of opposite gender. It is a purely mechanical practice.

3 Likes
#4

The scarlet whispers sounds intersting, can I expand on them?

#5

Sure you may. I hope you will share.

#6

I forgot I’ve written this… anyway this is mostly fluff stuff, no stats or anything

Scarlet Whispers
Attacking without a sound out of the thin air, coverd in all red, wearing the painted skulls their enemies while riding huge monsters into battle, this newly formed slave tribe has already managed to carve itself a fearsome reputation, not unlike that of the legendary Black Sand Raiders, though it had not acheived the almost mythological standing the more senior tribe holds in athasian folklore, at least not yet. The members of the tribe are recognized by the scarlet war paint they and their riding beasts wear for raids, and are notorious for the silence and swiftness of their attack- the two traits for which they are named- but even more so for the gruesome remains they leave in their wake. Yet whats truely set the scarlet whispers apart from all other slave tribes is that all its members are females.

History: a recent addition to the roster of slave tribes in the Tyr region, the tribe was founded only a short time ago by a villichi named Iara. She was captured and sold to one of abalach-re’s sons, who had a taste for the exotic. He kept her locked deep within his dungeon under heavy guard and a thick web of spells designed to prevent anyone from finding her whereabouts, especialy her sisters. There he experimented on her, not only to sate his own perversions, but to try and discover the source of the villichi mutation and powers. The harrowing experiance nearly shattered her mind, but when news of abalach-re’s death reached raam and the city fell into chaos, Iara seized an oppertunity and escaped the city, killing her captor along the way.
The half mad villichi was too ashamed and mentally broken to return to her convent, so she decided to creat a new one for herself. She started attacking small parties leaving the city, killing all the men and taking all the women as her new sisters, whether they wanted to or not. Her first assault was on a small caravan scurrying a nobleman’s harem to his mansion outside the city. She took the girls under her wing, and while some of them didn’t take too well to a life in the desert, those who survived became the first members of what would soon be known as the scarlet whispers tribe.

Territory: Operating in the area east of the dragon’s bowl, the tribe raids the two trade routes leading west and south out of raam. Their base is set deep within an area of reddish colored stoney barrens choked under a blanket of fine scarlet hued sand, from which the scarlet whispers produce the war paint they are named for. The area itself is dotted with small eroded buttes characterized by worn and crumbling slopes. Towards the middle of the area the ground rise up in a slight angle and the scarlet sands gives way to a more rocky soil of deep crimson shade, covered by flaky shale resembling dried blood. At the center of the rocky stretch an isolated small hill of red sandstone jutt out of the earth. On its eastern slope a singel street flanked by a row of slender multistory buildings on either side, descends down from a point near the hill top and onto the plain. Each of the tower-like building has three to four stories and is made from a smooth white stone that has an almost ivory-like texture. All opening are shaped like elongated leering faces with gaping mouths that serve as doors and windows. Curtains of bright wool sewn with hypnotizing colors prevent the sand from filling the building, as there aren’t any true doors or shutters to be found. The structures were found by the scarlet whispers, not built by them. Whoever the original inhabitants of the place were, they left no traces other than the buildings themselves, and by the time the tribe moved in, all the rooms were already striped of anything that they might have contained. The settelment was named Fury by its new residants, a token of their haterd for the outside world. The end of the street lead to the Gardens of Thorns, a circular field of cacti of various types and kinds such as faro and red cactus, that provide Fury with most of its food supply. Its borders are encircled by more predatory types of cacti like the spider cactus, as the village first line of defence should intruders manage to circumvent the psionic protections that keep the settelment hidden. Several large caves carved into the hillside house the tribe’s war beasts when they aren’t foraging for food or out on a raid. The top of the street forks into three paths. The left and right ones leads to the hill’s vertex, where a humble fort sits like some crude crown. Originally, the fort’s wall was a stone circle of the same ivory- like stone the buildings of Fury are made of, and at its middle sat a high circular dais of unknown purpose. The scarlet whispers used red mud bricks to fill the gaps between the stones, while the dais was used as a base to build a stocky tower Reinforced with mekilot rib bones.
The tower doubles as both Iara’s dwelling and the tribe’s last refuge in case of attack. Here she and her sand brides train their students in the Way
And the arts of war under the beating reys of the crimson sun, steeling their minds and bodies to withstand the harsh conditions of their new lives.
A hole in the center of the smooth dais serve as a well.
The middle road that doesn’t lead to the hill top continue stright through a tunnel whose walls are carved into fantastic shapes. At the bottom it opens up into a great spherical cavern. In the middle of the roof a circular openning leads to the well at the hill top. When the scarlet whispers built the fort they were careful to leave a clear shaft above the well so that sunlight and moonlight could reach down whenever the celestial bodies were high in the sky. The bowl shaped floor of the cave is covered by barnacle -looking plants and a thick layer of green oozing algae. Two holes are drilled to the side of bowl that face toward the street while a larger one opens at the very bottom.
Each night, when the moons are high, water bubble up from the bigger hole and fill the bowl, flowing down through the other two holes which extend into two ducts running under the buildings outside, culminating in a large cistern at the end of the street. When water are present, the barnacle plants open up to reveal colorful feathered branches. Luminescent fish and other strange fauna from the deep also rise as the bowl is filled, and with them comes the ohym, the spirit salamander. This mysterious creature resembles a huge transparent salamander, save from its feet, face and gills, which are all inky black, as if dipped in tar. It has three eyes, the first pair are two white orbs that appear blind, while the third, opening in the middle of the forehead, ls a vibrant violet sphere dotted by a black pupil. The origins of the Ohym are unknown, but it is ancient beyond belief. Whether or not it’s a survivor of the green age or a product of an even earlier time, the Ohym does not tell.
It guards the bottom hole, preventing anyone from getting in. It is extremely poisonous, and both its skin and bite are deadly, but its greatest
Power is its psionics. Its purple eye acts as a lens, focusing and amplifying its powers. In fact, it is the Ohym powers that keep the village of Fury hidden, as there seems to be an understanding between it and Iara. By her decree no one is allowed to disturb the Ohym, or explore the hole while the waters are down. What bizarre world lies beneath is anyone’s guess, but some in Fury have speculated that the Ohym guards a secret paradise, some last remnant of a bygone age, where the ruins of ancient civilizations hides great wealth and even greater horrors.

Tactics:
While the tribe itself isn’t too big, its members specialize in hit and run attacks as well as incorporating psionicly controlled desert monsters in their raids. The tribe’s Modus operandi is to brutally kill every male they come across, and leave their remains displayed in various grusome ways as a testimony of the scarlet whispers passing.
On the other hand, every woman they can find is immediately taken in as a new recruite, just like Iara did in her first raid. Only two kinds of women cannot be accepted into the tribe- defilers and slave owners. The first are immediately executed, while the latter are psionicly enslaved by the tribe as a sort of poetic justice, and worked to death. Children are spared, but boys are left to fend for themselves, which usually just means a slower death, so this can hardly be seen as an act of mercy. Women who refuse to join the suffer the same fate as the boys, for the Scarlet Whispers deem those who lacked the courage to grasp true freedom when offerd to them worthy only of serving as some desert creature’s meal.
The tribe relies heavily on psionics, both to attack and defend itself. Most members has at least some levels in a psionic class, and the tribe spends considerable effort to track and then take over the minds of the biggest and most ferocious creatures they can find in order to bolster their attacks. These usually include mekillots, megapedes, fire lizards and sink worms, though other, even more exotic creatures are sometimes used.

Tribe structure:
At the top of the tribe’s hierarchy stands Iara herself, with the title of “sand mother”. Under her are her six lieutenants and disciples in the Way, called the “sand brides”, who handle most of the day to day affairs of the tribe. Under them are senior members who stayed with the tribe for more than three years, or were premoted to that position by Iara herself after proving themselves valuable to the tribe’s wellfare. Under the seniors are the regular members, which includes most of the tribe, consisting of those who have been in the tribe for less than three years. The lowest rank in the clan is the ward. The wards are newly “liberated” women that just joined the tribe, where they are treated fairly well, though they are expected to prove they can carry their own weight, as the scarlet whispers firmly believe that a woman must depend first and foremost on herself, as neither the desert nor the tribe are very forgiving of weakness.
Each of ward is assigned to a senior member, who is responsible to teach her the ways of the tribe. The senior member oversees every aspect of their ward’s life, and more often than not takes her as his lover or decide who she can couple with. In case of the latter, any potential suiter must prove her worth or present gifts to the girl’s guardian in order to recieve permission to be with her. During this initiation period, which last for about three months, the guardian has to asses whether his ward is worthy of joinning the tribe as a full member, as well as her range of skills, so as to determind how she may serve the tribe beast as either a raider, a farmer or a craftswomen.

1 Like
#7

What a great job about The Scarlet Whispers. Ouroboros
Did you by any chance paint a map of the territory and the growe they roam in?
I love the idea of Lara the villichi.

#8

I didn’t, but I can if you are interested

1 Like
#9

It would be a great apendix to Slave tribes - please make the map, this is awesome