Unapproachable East.pdf - The Forgotten Realms

and are the face of the Rashemi people to all inside and outside
the land. Although the Witches are the real power in
Rashemen, they are wise enough to elect a berserker as leader
of the people.
The Witches test all children at a young age—less than
ten years old—for aptitude in magic. Those who pass these
tests are taken away from their parents to be trained with
the Old Ones, male Rashemi of great age and magical power.
The Witches are not cruel or secretive; the families know
what is to become of their child and that she will become a
person of power and influence. The family is
always compensated, usually with livestock,
tools, or an orphaned child of
similar age.
Both boys and girls train. The girls
are taught the deep tenets of Rashemen’s
religion in preparation for becoming
hathrans, while the boys study
only arcane magic. Upon reaching
adulthood (age twenty in Rashemen),
girls are normally ordained as
ethrans. Some choose to return to
their home villages as practicing
mages or healers, but they are
always potential recruits for a
hathran in need. The boys are
given a choice when they reach
adulthood: Join the Old Ones,
or leave Rashemen forever
under a geas to never reveal
their secrets. Most choose to
remain and may eventually
become Old Ones themselves.
Those who leave usually practice
their magic in distant lands.
An important aspect of the
Rashemi way of life is the dajemma,
a journey of self-discovery
that all young men must take
before being considered adults
(women may take this journey as well, but it
is not required). In days of old, young Rashemi
nobles made the dajemma to visit strange
lands, slaying horrible monsters and wicked warlords, but now
it is mostly an exercise in drinking and sightseeing. It also
helps Rashemen build trade contacts with the outside world.
The hathrans require all young ethrans to go on a journey
(usually in groups) to learn about the outside world and report
on current events.
Other than the dajemma, few Rashemi leave their homeland
for any length of time. Foreigners within Rashemen’s
borders are a curiosity—and not a welcome one. Visitors get
many suspicious looks, and mages and obvious spellcasters
of non-Rashemi faiths gain hostile stares, for the locals dislike
anyone other than the Witches practicing magic in
their land.
RASHEMEN
ECONOMY
Blocked in by mountains, icy lakes, and haunted forests, Rashemen
has to fend for itself in most things. Its people raise herd
beasts (cattle, sheep, and surface rothé), hunt wild game, fish,
and grow crops in the short summer. They trade with the caravans
that come through their country on the Golden Way,
offering wool, carved items, furs, firewine, and their famous
smoky cheese in exchange for cloth, wood products, and foods
they cannot find in their own land. Rashemi have
limited options: They cannot produce
enough excess to simply buy
what they wish, and they are unwilling
to trade, sell, or lend the
things that others really want (magic,
lumber, and skilled berserkers).
Rashemen could greatly benefit
from a portal to a large city outside
their homeland, but the
Witches have little interest in
that sort of magic and are unlikely
to allow another person to
create such a portal for fear of
unwanted visitors.
The most popular export of
Rashemen is jhuild—Rashemi
firewine—a powerful draught
that boosts strength and dulls
the senses. The full-strength
drink is very expensive, but
a watered-down version is
affordable to those who have
a taste for the exotic. As it is
customary to bring a bottle of
full-strength jhuild on a dajemma,
many young Rashemi
have quickly become popular and
made some coin in an emergency
just by sharing the
potent drink with their hosts.
The Great Stag lodge of Mulptan
138
LAW AND ORDER
Rashemen is governed by a simple set of laws, primarily concerned
with safeguarding people and property. The legal
system relies on common sense, which is in good supply despite
the number of hotheads in the land. The code of laws takes up
less than two written pages, which is fortunate, because a majority
of Rashemi are illiterate. The laws also exist in song,
making them easier for the common folk to remember.
Do not kill or deliberately injure another Rashemi. Save your
anger for your true enemies.
Do not steal from your fellow Rashemi or outsiders with
honor. To do so is to taint your own honor.
Illustration by Wayne England