Introduction

Sorka is a country located in the desert belt in the very south of the continent, specifically in its western part. In the north, it is separated from the rest of Kélas by two mountain ranges: Northern Rampart and Sentian Mountains. The river Haleryat (Vran in Sentian, Àléryat in Rashari, Aitatuga in Chytari) is considered the eastern border, although it is common to encounter Sorkans beyond it. Almost the entire territory is covered by deserts, whether mountainous or open, and they partially recede only in the southwestern areas, where the sand turns into savannah. The only sources of water are the river Seqheq ("Holy River"), oases and human-dug wells. The western deserts are called The Tall Sands (Narqerriban in Sorkish) and the eastern ones are Old Land (Sor. Sarumban).

Sorka is not a centralized state and must be seen strictly as just a territory inhabited by both nomadic and sedetary Sorkish clans who answer for no one but their gods, even in cities where self-government is the only form of government. The head of the nation can be considered the so-called Eldest One - a spiritual leader chosen by the priests of the Temple of Body as someone with the authority and ability to speak directly with the gods, resolve disputes between clans and dub foreigners Sorkish (more on that below). At least once every five years, each clan undertakes a journey to Seqhanzat, the de facto capital, where the Temple of Body is located, in order to honor the Eldest One and the gods while meeting Sorkans from all corners of the desert. With all that Sorka's largest city has to offer, it's more than common for clans to head here every year.

The desert is vast, and some Sorkish clans can be separated by thousands of miles, yet they share a strong common identity; although it is not unheard of for feuds between clans to arise and result in fighting that sometimes ends in the extermination of the entire clan. Distance has also caused significant differences in language - a Sorkan from the western coast will have difficulty understanding a Sorkan living by the Haleryat River, but nomadism ensures that even relatively large areas remain linguistically homogenous and that people commonly encounter other dialects, especially in the capital. In addition, there is only one written language, originally based on the speech of Seqhanzat, therefore any Sorkan can safely communicate in writing, also thanks to very high literacy.

Sorkans tend to not be very friendly to foreigners. This is deeply rooted in history, during which the Sorkans had to defend their land against several enemies, namely the Kolgians, Alteians, Sentians and currently Lynirosans, and since these conflicts were able to drag on for several centuries, the name "thousand-year war" is commonly used to encompass all of these conflicts. In Lyniros, they found a truly strong adversary that forced them to retreat – mainly due to the coast not being crucial to the Sorkans, as only a negligible handful engages in sea fishing. Currently, there is relative peace between the Sorkans and the Lynirosan settlers, and although there can be occasionally seen a clan raiding a Lynirosan caravan or a troop of knights willing to wipe out any clan that crosses their path, the two nations mostly ignore each other and sometimes trade with each other with a certain hatred – for both know that their powers are practically equal. The Lyniros may outnumber the desert dwellers, but the Sorkans are perfectly trained in their martial arts and have known the desert for thousands of years. To openly wage war would mean to annihilate each other.

It was the thousand-year war that made the Sorkans extraordinarily trained, proud warriors, ready to defend the desert and their fellows to the last drop of blood.

Although nowadays the Sorkans are willing to trade with the neighboring Rasharis and Weslinians and to some extent with Lynirosans and Sentians in the interest of keeping peace, only the eastern clans maintain really good relations with Chytaris, another group of nomadic people staying in the eastern foothills of the Sentian Mountains, who often stray into the Sor Desert. It is therefore not surprising that the largest portion of the so-called "dubbed Sorkans" are Chytaris, most often so that they can marry their significant other, who must abide by the Sorkan law if they do not want to be exiled from the desert forever. "Dubbed Sorkans" are legally recognized as pure-blood Sorkans after undergoing a series of certain tests varying from clan to clan; most often it is a demonstration of martial arts and knowledge of the Sorkan language, culture and faith. The whole process is then concluded by the Eldest One in the Temple of Body, who will decide whether the gods have allowed the person to become a Sorkan. Not every clan recognizes dubbed Sorkans, especially in the western desert where dubbing foreigners is seen as a crime.

A Sorkish clan

Turkhan in Sorkish. It is one large family living together, which may include very distant relatives who in other cultures would meet rarely or not at all. The leader is the so-called Old One, whom the entire clan has to respect and who resolves disputes both within and outside the clan, determines the route of journeys and generally ensures that the clan prospers. Most often, it is the oldest member, but some clans prefer a democratic election of the most responsible person. The clan is further divided into "families", which consist of parents and their children who have not yet married – this means that grandparents most often make up two-member families. Each family has its own tent where they sleep, eat, cook and generally spend time together.

Lifestyle varies from clan to clan. Some are nomadic, some live in cities in one or more houses, some raise animals, and others make living only through manual labor for which they are paid in kind. Money in general is a scarce currency in Sorka. In general, it can be said that the vast majority of nomadic clans have at least one member who knows kazvarë, the Sorkish martial arts, and is therefore ready to defend their clan in battle. In the cities, the situation is somewhat different – sedetary clans usually do not practice martial arts, and therefore the protection of cities falls mainly to the passing warrior clans. Animals kept by the Sorkans include camels, horses, donkeys, sheep, goats and cows. Sorkan horses have lived in the desert for thousands of years, and their bodies are perfectly evolved for hot, dry climates as well as for riding and war. It is a species completely different from the horse breeds kept in the rest of Kélas.

Sorkish weddings tend to be one-day festivities lasting from sunset to sunrise. The betrothed are wed by the respective Old Ones of their clans. A test decides which clan the newlyweds will live in – it's a friendly duel between them, after which the winner stays in their clan and the loser leaves their clan. Among Sorkans without training, it is usually a simple agreement between the two clans instead of a friendly fight; this often involves bribes for various reasons, however since most non-fighters are sedentary and find a partner in their city, the outcome of the negotiations doesn't matter to them as much as to nomadic Sorkans.

The Sorkish Law is a set of written and unwritten rules that every Sorkan must follow. The most fundamental are the written rules coming from the Holy Book of the World, the sacred scripture of the Sorkish religion, which forbids fratricide (a general term for the murder of any member of one's own clan), romantic and sexual relations with a non-Sorkish person or a member of one's own clan (the exception is, of course, married couples, where the spouses come from different clans; consanguinity does not play a role in this law), betrayal (most often in the sense that a Sorkan's spouse falls in battle; it is a violation of the oath that one will either protect their spouse in battle, or fall with them) and questioning or opposing the holy scriptures (in the context of Sorka, it is for example declaring that there is only one god). All of these offenses are punishable by either exile or, at best, death – death is generally seen as a milder punishment than exile, as everyone knows that a lone Sorkan wandering the desert on his own is an exile, and thus someone to be avoided. Some clans even specialize in hunting down the outcasts, believing that the desert must be cleansed of the filth of heretics, infidels, murderers, and traitors.

An important part of Sorkish culture is revenge. It is the only thing that can pardon, for example, the crime of treason – if Sorkan's spouse is killed and they are subsequently exiled from their clan, they can be accepted back after they kill their spouse's murderer. However, revenge is also common between clans, which can even lead to mutual extermination.

Sorkish name

Names are an important part of identity for Sorkans and they always introduce themselves by their full name, not just their given name. Sorkan names can be quite long and it is considered a disgrace not to remember one's full name.

A child receives its given name from their parents at birth; in case of dubbed Sorkans, the person chooses it themself, or lets a Sorkan to give them a name. Given name is only one and it cannot be changed. All given names are gender neutral, so the forbidden change of it is not a problem for transgender Sorkans.

Given name is followed by a patronymic or matronymic; which one is used depends on which of the parents comes from the same clan in which the child was born. The patronymic/matronymic is formed from the parent's name followed by a hyphenated ending -yer for men, -kay for women and -ziḥi for others. In most clans, it is a rule to use the parent's patronymic/matronymic as well. In certain cases (e.g. orphanhood, being dubbed a Sorkan) it is also possible to use the name of the parent (or other person in the case of dubbing) who was not born in the child's clan; the only difference is that the name of the parent's birth clan must also be added.

The last part of the name is the clan name, which could be referred to as a surname. After wedding, the name of the clan which the newlyweds will live in is added to the very end of the name of the one who joins the clan.

Examples

Rimha Siwaq-kay Badaghqer-kay Suhaltan – Rimha, daughter of Siwaq, daughter of Badaghqer, from Suhaltan clan

Yarhaq Ikraz-yer Aytasaz-kay Gbaqafan Suhaltan – Yarhaq, son of Ikraz, daughter of Aytasaz, from Gbaqafan clan, who wed into Suhaltan clan

Tarqaz Yarhaq Gbaqafan-yer Ikraz-yer Suhaltan – Tarqaz, son of Yarhaq Gbaqafan (Suhaltan), son of Ikraz, from Suhaltan clan

Kazvarë

Literally "the art of movement", it is the cornerstone of Sorkish warfare. According to a legend, it was given to Sorkans by the gods in order to protect the desert, but under two rules: kazvarë must not be spoken about in any language other than Sorkish, and no one but Sorkans can teach it or learn it. It is martial arts focusing primarily on swordsmanship, but fistfights and the general philosophy of combat and war are also taught.

A special part of kazvarë is the so-called ḥanarvarë – "the art of death". It is a ritual of revenge, where a Sorkan kills their victim in the slowest possible way, giving them a taste of the pain of losing a loved one and the pain that the loved one felt just before death. The process ends with a thank you, "parzerak" in Sorkish. It is a secret art that should only be passed on to those on the path of vengeance, however in reality it is widespread outside of the path due to ḥanarvarë's unusually violent nature that fascinates many, but also because there is no exact punishment for misuse and unauthorized knowledge of this ritual.

Religion

The Sorkish religion is generally called "The Sorkish Dualism". As the name suggests, Sorka is watched over by two gods – the god of bone, Rayerenaz, and the god of blood, Raqaghdaz. In the Holy Book of the World (sor. Seqhaner abven suyafuq) they are viewed as half male and half female, with one half of the body male and the other female. Their relationship is not precisely defined and so they can therefore be interpreted as being siblings, lovers or close friends. Rayerenaz is associated with death, the material and the real world, while Raqaghdaz is associated with life, the spiritual and the supernatural. These gods are connected on all levels possible, as blood exists in death and bone in life, but to claim that only one two-faced god watches over Sorka is strictly forbidden under penalty of death or exile. It is a similar offense to deny that the gods are genderless and bigender at the same time. Likewise, they may not be spoken of in any language other than Sorkish.

A less serious offense is insulting the gods. This includes the use of certain words – for example, the word for bone, "yeren", must never be pronounced on its own abbreviated as "yen", even though it occurs in this form in some compounds (e.g. yenkereq "bone marrow"). Another example is the the word for vulture, “nezar”, being used for the bearded vulture; only the word "yenqataz" (lit. "bone warden") may be used for them, as mere "nezar" is perceived as an insult.

About the gods

According to the legend about the creation of the world and the gods, Raqaghdaz longed for absolute power – after all, life and death cannot be separated, so why not combine them in their body and become the most powerful in the entire world? As honor dictated them, they challenged their comrade Rayerenaz to a duel, but they did not give them the chance to refuse and engaged them in a fight that lasted for long days and nights, during which blood rained and sowed the desert oases and underground water reservoirs for future wells. In the end, Rayerenaz emerged victorious from the divine battle and, in a fit of rage, used ḥanarvarë on their comrade as punishment for their selfishness. However, Rayerenaz could not live with the weight of killing the person closest to them and left the desert forever. After their death, the bearded vultures found their body, swallowed their bones, blood, and soul and returned to Sorka, where Raqaghdaz's soul similarly returned from the dead in the stomachs of the oxpeckers. So the gods finally found equality – because the oxpeckers couldn't exterminate all the bearded vultures, and the bearded vultures couldn't exterminate all the oxpeckers, divine peace was largely established.

Sorkish cities

Seqhanzat

Literally "Holy City". Legend has it that this first Sorkish city was founded on a river springing from the corpse of the god Raqaghdaz, slain by their brother Rayerenaz. It is the de facto capital of the entire Sor Desert and home to thousands of people, capable of accommodating thousands more visitors. As a center of both trade and religion, one can find here both huge marketplaces with everything a Sorkan needs in their life, as well as the holiest place of the Sorkan faith.

A huge sandstone building rises to the heavens in the center of the city – the Temple of Body (sor. Borantogba). It is a place for prayers and the home of the Oldest One, priests and dozens of bearded vultures who roam semi-wildly around the temple and around the city as sacred birds whose body, according to the Holy Book of the World, is inhabited by the soul of Rayerenaz, the god of bones. People feed them bones and leave bowls of blood on their windows for certain other avian inhabitants – the oxpeckers inhabited by the soul of Raqaghdaz, the god of blood.

Dezerfrizat

The westernmost large Sorkan city. It is located below the peaks of the Northern Rampart on the edge of The Tall Sands plateau at an altitude of almost 2,000 meters, which reflects in its name - "The Foothill City". It is home to some of the more radical clans that revel in hunting foreigners, heretics and exiles.

Nuqalur

Translated as "White Well", apparently because of the color of the stone while the city's well was being dug. One of the largest cities in the Old Land along with Yederkhaban. It also represents the first line of defense against attack from the Sentian Mountains, near which the city is located.

Yederkhaban

Translated as "Hidden Land/Place". It is a slightly smaller settlement than Nuqalur, located even further east in the Old Land in a maze of sandstone cliffs and canyons probably carved out by a long-dried river.