Gharu'ndim Lore

Desert-dwellers who prefer knowledge and trade to war and bloodshed, the Gharu'ndim are an eminently honorable, formal culture, but they also have a reputation for being somewhat distant and proud. Of all the peoples of Dereth, they are the most drawn to the mysteries of magic.

Preferring to talk before fighting whenever possible, they speak with great politeness and formality, peppering their speech with honorifics and references to their national hero, the poet Yasif ibn Salayyar. - Gharu'ndim Description (Character Creation)

The Gharu'ndim are one of the Isparian Cultures. Their homeland is the kingdom of Gharu'n, on Ispar. Gharu'ndim are among the human heritage groups to find themselves displaced on Dereth, along with the Aluvians, Sho, and Viamontians. Gharu'ndim were the second of the human heritage groups to begin to arrive on Dereth.

History

From the Naqut Desert, Rakhil al-Khur started his conquest of the Roulean Empire to the north, after slaying the demon Hayyaz.

Together with Yasif ibn Salayyar, he conquered a large part of the old Roulean Empire. When the raiders laid siege to Tirethas, the City of Lore, however, Rakhil made the mistake of threatening to burn the books within her walls. Yasif struck down his king in rage, and the conquest came to a sudden end.

He was succeeded by his son, Amul ibn Rakhil. Amul died heirless, poisoned at his own birthday celebration, and the former court of Amul ibn Rakhil at al-Nafalt competed fifteen years for the throne.

No fewer than twenty-five Maliks ruled over the next hundred years. The al-Nafalt was razed, and dark times fell over the land. From across the sea, the conquest-hungry kingdom of Viamont sent armies to invade.

The Viamontians succeeded in the Gharu'ndim nation because of instability in the succession of the Maliks. They set up Zahir ibn Ma'mun as a puppet while they ruled Gharu'n from afar. One by one, Zahir murdered his rivals – all save a young lord, Jawhar al-Shamshir. In the end, Jawhar defeated the puppet king and drove the Viamonters from the shores of Gharu'n. He became the new Malik, returning his kingdom to the glory it had known in Yasif's time.

Led by their queen, the Malika Qadira bint Balj, the Gharu'ndim are a proud and prosperous people. There is always the threat of war, from both Viamont and Milantos, but the desert kingdom is once again a place where the sharpness of a man's mind is far more valuable than that of his sword.

The second invasion of Gharu'n under leadership of King Varicci I initially went well for the Viamontians. Within two years, after a siege by sea and by land, they took Tirethas. The Viamontians marched to the northern edge of the Naqut Desert, driving the Gharu'n armies before them. The Gharu'n resistance solidified around the city of Shiryaz and fought to a standstill. One morning, the guards of the northern wall looked out over the battle plain and found that the Viamontians were gone. The great army that had camped there the previous evening had vanished in the night, leaving behind only their refuse and the tracks of thousands of boots, streaming north. A crisis at home compelled the recall of the Viamontian army.

Timeline

The following information has been pieced together from numerous sources. For more information, see Continuity - Gharu'ndim History.

Portal Year	Roulean Year	Event
-552 PY	916 RC	Mansur al-Rajan is born. Mansur would later serve in the kitchen of the al-Nafalt during the reign Malik Amul ibn Rakhil, be a part of the first group of Zharalim, and become vizier to Malik Tu'azar ibn Amul. [Editor's Note: This is an approximation based on Mansur being 19 when his training is completed.]
-554 to -546 PY	915 to 920 RC	During this time, the Naqut Desert divides the Milantan lands from the decaying Roulean empire. The Naqut is the home of the Gharu'ndim people. It is during this time that the nomadic Gharu'ndim people, led by Malik Rakhil al-Khur and the warrior-poet Yasif ibn Salayyar, head north, across the Naqut, on a campaign to conquer Roulean lands. [Editor's Note: this is a rough approximation on when the campaign may have begun.]
-542 PY	923 RC	One of the five Crimson Stars, Al-Ghul, is renamed Al-Khur in honor of Rakhil al-Khur, after the great victory won at the salt mines to the east of Tirethas.
-540 PY	924 RC	Gharu'n armies seige the Roulean capital of Tirethas, the City of Lore. Rakhil makes the mistake of threatening to burn the books within her walls, and Yasif strikes him down in rage. With that, the conquest of Roulea ends and the nation of Gharu'n is born. In all, half of Roulea's lands are lost to the new nation of Gharu'n. Rakhil al-Khur's son, Amul ibn Rakhil becomes the new Malik and Yasif becomes his adviser.
		After the founding of Gharu'n many of the other realms about the Ironsea have not recognized their sovereignty, so Yasif travels to the other nations, including Aluvia, Viamont, Roulea, Silvera to win the respect of neighboring rulers - All except Milantos, who refuses again and again Yasif's petitions to travel to their nation and hold parley with Arpad, their king.
-531 PY	930 RC	King Arpad of Milantos dies. Without a son or any living male relatives, his advisor Laszko becomes king. Yasif sends another request to the new king, and to to his surprise, Laszko agrees. Yasif travels to the port of Mawwuz and sails to Milantos. Yasif has been gone for six months, two more than expected. Worry begins to grow in Gharu'n. Yasif has been gone for seven months. Soldiers begin to gather at the Malik's palace, readying for an invasion of Milantos. Malik Amul receives a letter from King Laszko, threatening to kill Yasif if Gharu'n invades. The letter contains the severed finger of the poet. Amul disbands the army. [Editor's Note: We have no clear date for when Yasif traveled to Milantos, only that it while Gharu'n was still a new nation. The placement at the year 930 is merely an approximation.]
-528 PY	932 RC	Yasif has been gone for two years. Malik Amul has sent missives to Milantos demanding King Laszko for the return of his emissary, asking what Laszko wishes as ransom, and pleading for a reason why Yasif has been taken, all without response. Finally, a second letter is sent from Milantos. It is blank, and contains a second finger of Yasif. Soon after, young men and women from the al-Nafalt begin to disappear. Mansur al-Rajan is among them. Mansur is taken to a hidden mountain fortress, where he and 49 others are held for 30 days. Malik Amul arrives and addresses them on why they have been taken. Thus marks the formation of the secret organization known as the Shagar Zharala, the Walkers in Shade.
-524 PY	935 RC	The 50 train for three years in the mountain fortess. At the end, 36 of the 50 become the first Zharalim. Twelve of the best Zharalim return with the Malik to the al-Nafalt. One week before the Zharalim are to be sent out to rescue the poet, Yasif returns to the palace. He had been freed by his jailer. During his imprisonment in Milantos, Laszko had used Yasif for dark rituals, and Yasif had lost his eyes along with all digits on his left hand. Yasif requests that Mansur remain at the al-Nafalt as his guide. The other eleven Zharalim are sent to Milantos. They kill Laszko, but all perish before they can return to Gharu'n.
-438 PY	992 RC	Ladriya bint Daum is born.
-423 PY	1002 RC	Gharu'n Yasif ibn Salayyar dies. Gharu'n mourns for one full year.
-422 PY	1003 RC	Soon after the death of Yasif ibn Salayyar, Amul ibn Rakhil also dies, heirless, poisoned at his own birthday celebration. Gharu’n falls into chaos. The Century of Storms begins. During this time of chaos in Gharu'n no fewer than twenty-five different would-be Maliks and Malikas will rule the Gharu'ndim people.
-419 PY	1005 RC	The Gharu'ndim group known as Walim, The Searchers, appear a few years after the death of Yasif, vowing to continue his explorations of the nature of truth.
		Tu'azar ibn Amul is the Malik. Mansur al-Rajan serves as his vizier.
-399 PY	1018 RC	After some 15 years of chaos in Gharu'n, Ladriya bint Daum decides to leave Tirethas and return to her home in Taban. Halfway through her journey, Ladriya's caravan is attacked at night by band of nomads sent by the renegade Shayk Ridqidh. Ladriya is wounded badly but is saved by Tamsah ibn Jaidah, who carries her away on his stallion. After riding for six days, Tamsah and Ladriya the oasis of Shiryaz. They stay there for almost two months while Ladriya recovers. On 6th of Solclaim, 1018 RC, Tamsah and Ladriya return to the court of Taban at Nishadina. Ladriya orders the forging of the Silifi of Crimson Stars, to be wielded by Tamsah. Ladriya goes on to be become Malika.
-393 PY	1022 RC	20 years after the death of Yasif ibn Salayyar, Mansur al-Rajan recounts his experiences which are recorded in the historical text The Nights of al-Nafalt.
		Near the end of the Century of Storms, Viamont sends armies to Gharu'n to invade. The Viamontians install Zahir ibn Ma'mun as a puppet leader, while they rule Gharu'n from afar.
		During his rule, Zahir ibn Ma'mun murdered all his rivals, except for a young lord named Jawhar al-Shamshir. Seeing what has become of his homeland, Jawhar travels the desert in secret, banding together the people.
-272 PY	1103 RC	Jawhar defeats Zahir ibn Ma'mun and drives the Viamontians from the shores of Gharu'n. He becomes the new Malik, and returns Gharu'n to the glory it had known in Yasif's time. Century of Storms ends.
-15 PY	1274 RC	The Malika Qadira bint Balj reigns in Gharu'n. There is always the threat of war, from both Viamont and Milantos, but the desert kingdom is once again a place where the sharpness of a man's mind is far more valuable than that of his sword.
-15 PY	1274 RC	The appearance of the portals in Aluvia has disrupted all of Ispar. No one knows what they are or why they have appeared. The people of Ispar are afraid, and the Viamontians take advantage of this situation.
-15 PY	1274 RC	Viamont invades Aluvia and Roulea. After early victories in Aluvia, the Aluvians put up a resistance, and the war falls into a stalemate. The Duke Bellenesse leads the invasion of Roulea. The Roulean Empire collapses, its imperial army annihilated and its Emperor killed in his palace by Bellenesse. The Viamontian army presses on to Gharu'n.
-12 PY	1276 RC	Within two years, after a siege by sea and by land, the Viamontians take Tirethas. Viamontian army marches east along the northern edge of the Naqut pushing back the Gharu'ndim army. Gharu'ndim resistance solidifies around the city of Shiryaz. Viamontians are fought to a standstill there, and Shiryaz remains free.
-2 PY	1283 RC	Talal ibn Qamuz of Nishadina is caught smuggling Old Roulean texts, saved from Tirethas, to sell to the Viamontians. The Malika of Gharu'n uses this situation to her advantage, and orders Talal to Viamont, with 1000 copies of the the Roulean text The Treatise of the Individual. He is sent to Viamont to peddle these copies to his Viamontian clients of nobility, including Countess Lotila, Count Renari, and Duke Bellenesse. As punishment for his crime, he is forever banished from Gharu'n.
0 PY	1284 RC	Portals to Dereth begin to appear in Gharu'n and Sho.
3 PY	1286 RC	The Viamontian army camped outside Shiryaz is recalled back to Viamont, to deal with a crisis in their homeland.
16 PY	1295 RC	The last remnants of Bellenesse's rebellion have been all but eradicated. The followers of Bellenesse had distracted King Varicci from his campaigns elsewhere on Ispar, but with the rebellion defeated, Varicci once again turns his attention to the other lands of Ispar. The war between Aluvia and Viamont continues. Aluvia holds their western borders, and both sides have taken heavy losses, but the tides seem to be turning in favor of Viamont. The war between Gharu'n and Viamont continues as well. The Gharu'ndim believe their nation only continues to exist because King Varicci has not yet chosen to press his attack. The Sho worry what will happen to them should the Viamontians conquer Gharu'n completely.

References

Lore
Characters	Major Characters, Minor Characters, Isparian Characters, Empyrean Characters, Creature Characters, Deity Characters
Cultures	Isparian: Aluvian, Gharu'ndim, Kael Arran, Milantean, Roulean, Sho, Silveran, Souia-Vey, Viamontian. Empyrean: Dericostian, Falatacot, Haebrean, High Desert Nomad, Yalaini. Other: Banderling, Burun, Drudge, Gearknight, Lugian, Mosswart, Shadow, Tumerok, Virindi
Worlds	Auberean, Bur, Gearknight Homeworld, Ezheret-Hazahtu, Ispar, Olthoi Homeworld, Tuu
Historical Records	Texts, Internet Lore Articles, Event Announcements, Utterances, AC:DM CD Lore, A Brief History for Travelers, The History of Auberean, Stormwaltz Quotes
Historical Summaries	Prehistoric Auberean, Arelis Eipoth, Dericoi Eipoth, Vacari Eipoth, Rhethis Eipoth, Torethis Eipoth, Hyrethis Eipoth, Moriqui Eipoth, Portal Year Era
Miscellaneous Lore	Lore Database, Continuity, Factions, Historical Sites