# The Oasis People

Scattered throughout Prax and the Wastes are small oases, tranquil spots where the fertility of Prax remain. These oases often surround a pool, lake, well or other place of sacred water and provide enough food to support a population of Oasis People, or Oasis Folk. These Oasis Folk are unusual in nature. They all appear similar, in a way, and are different to the nomads of Prax, although the people of one oasis will differ from the people in another oasis. Each Oasis has its own language, unrelated to any other except Earthtongue, but related to all the other Oasis languages. Most Oasis Folk speak some Praxian and some even speak Tradetalk or other languages.

The Oasis Folk are the descendants of Tada and are the remnants of those who lived in Genert's Garden and Prax in the Golden Age, before the Devil killed Genert. As Tada is the ancestor of the Praxian Nomads, through his son, the Good Shepherd, and his children, the Protectresses, so the Oasis Folk are mythical cousins of the Praxian Nomads, but neither side will publicly acknowledge the fact. Whereas the Animal Nomads are descended through Eirithia, the Oasis Folk are descended through Tada and Ernalda and are true children of the earth.

During the Golden Age, Genert ruled a paradise where the Garden was fertile and anything that was planted grew immediately and bore fruit. The descendants of Tada were happy and content. Then came the Darkness and the Chaos Gods who slew Genert and left the Garden a wasteland. Tada buried Eirithia beneath the ground, in the Eirithian Hills, to hide her from Death. The people of Prax called upon Oakfed to give them light and fed him the lush and verdant forests. Storm Bull fought the Devil and buried him beneath The Block. Waha taught the Praxians how to survive and separated the Beasts and Men with the Survival Covenant. Tada and Waha both defeated Basmol and drove him into the wastes. Tada died and was buried beneath his High Tumulus. In the Oases, the people managed to survive until the Dawn.

During the Golden Age, the people of Genert's Garden and Prax had a combined religion, based on the worship of the Earth Deities, particularly Genert and his Daughters. Ernalda and Eirithia were honoured together with their husbands and children. There were many Holy Places where the Earth was strong and the people were happy and united. Then something happened. Something broke the Unity. Maybe it happened when Genert was slain. Maybe when Tada died. Maybe when Eirithia was buried beneath the earth. Maybe when the Spike exploded. Maybe it happened again and again at each of these points and at other points. In any case, the Unity was broken and the Earth Religion was smashed into smithereens. Many of the Earth Gods and Goddesses were slain. Many of the myths and HeroPaths were broken and forgotten. The people forgot there past and their gods. Those people descended from Eirithia followed Waha and gained new myths. Those descended from Tada forgot who they had been and simply survived.

Each Oasis has a patron deity or spirit, normally a spirit of water or fertility, who has helped the Oasis Folk survive. This spirit or deity keeps the Oasis fertile and keeps the people alive and together. The Elders of the Oasis know the Old Tales and recite them on Holy Days, they tell of how the world used to be and how the Darkness came and destroyed the world. Some of the tales tell of other people and other deities, but they are merely incidental. Some of the Oasis Folk worship other deities, for instance Ronance or Golden Girl, but they worship them as gods of their Oasis only. So, the Oasis Folk of Weis Cut know of the Golden Girl who protected the Weis Women from attack and know of Ronance who went away in his chariot, but they have no idea that Ronance is worshipped at other Oases. In fact, this is a common trait amongst the Oasis Folk, they do not recognise that their modes of worship, their deities and their culture is similar to those of other Oasis Folk. So, even though the Priestesses of the Paps know that the Charioteers of Ronance travel to the other Oases, they do not realise that Ronance is worshipped there in any real form. This spiritual blindness means that the Oasis Folk are separated from each other and have no sense of unity. Quite often, each individual Oasis will have certain ritual roles that are taken by groups of people, but these people do not know what the roles mean and do not know that the roles are shared by other Oasis Folk. So, each Oasis will have a Golden Warrior (Tada), a Horny Father (Genert), a Loving Mother (Ernalda), a Beast Daughter (Eiritha) and so on. Many of these roles have different stories and different abilities in different Oases and it would take an Oasis Folk hero to combine them into proper cults. Even the followers of Getanak amongst Mani's Clan do not realise that his could be a pan-Oasis organisation.

The Oasis Folk themselves are insular in nature. They take their wives from their own Oasis, only rarely will one of the Oasis Folk take a wife or husband from another Oasis. Normally, this would result in chronic inbreeding, except for two important facts. Firstly, the Oasis women are often taken as mates by visiting Animal Nomads, so this introduces new blood. Secondly, the Oasis Folk have a high tolerance of inbreeding, perhaps because of the protection given to them by their own deities. Oasis Folk seem to outsiders to be slow and slovenly, lazy and stupid. They are normally described as dumpy, small, plain or plump. Most of the Oasis Folk from a particular Oasis look similar and share common features. One Oasis may have brown eyes and brown hair, another green eyes and fair hair, another dark eyes and black hair. In fact, a well travelled Praxian may be able to tell which Oasis one of the Oasis Folk comes from, simply by his appearance. Each of the Oases has a particular style of dress, clearly influenced by the earth, with certtain types of clothing, ornamentation, jewellry, tattooing or body painting. An outsider might comment that the styles seem to be a common style fragmented, so two Oases may have the same types of beads, but one wears them as a necklace and another as bangles, however the Oasis Folk do not recognise this. In fact, the Oasis Folk rarely ever travel beyond their own Oasis, relying on Praxians and other invaders for trade and communication. It is very rare that folk from several Oases meet together, unless they have been taken as slaves by Animal Nomads or by the Lunars. Possible exceptions to this may include the peopls of the Indagos family who can be found at Indagos Oasis and in Mani's Fort.

The Oasis Folk have survived for so long because of the support they get from their Oasis Spirits or Oasis Deity who provides them with everything they need. They have clean, fresh water, nuts and berries, fruits and grains, animals come to the water to drink, the nomads bring their herds to drink and they leave their wool on the surrounding bushes and traders come around every so often with produce the Oasis Folk cannot make. This is one of the reasons people think of them as lazy. They have no idea that they could do better by working when all they need to do is pick some fruit to eat. People also think of them as stupid because they do not seem to be able to grasp simple concepts like "outside the Oasis", "money" or "other gods". They do not seem to react to nomadic predation, to Lunar occupation or to other types of abuse. They have always been here and they will always be here. This is one of the reasons the Oasis Folk are rarely taken as slaves, they do not seem to know what work is and are too stupid to learn new things. The morocanth will not take them as they are not members of the Covenant, Lunars will not take them as there are better slaves amongst the Praxians and Pavisites will not take them as it offends the people of Mani's Clan.

Oasis Folk are normally peaceful and do not bear weapons or have weapon training. However, they do have ritual weapons that are used in certain ceremonies. Normally, each Oasis uses a different type of ritual weapon, so one has obsidian knives, another stone axes, another bendy swords and so on. Many of the Oases have dances or poems that hold within themselves secret fighting techniques that could be reawakened at some point.

What is the future for the Oasis Folk? Well, the Hero Wars are coming and they must change as part of that. The Nomad Gods game has the potential to resurrect Tada, the father of the Oasis Folk, and I can believe that the Oasis Folk will be the ones to bring him back. I would expect them to be awakened in some way, perhaps by Pavis, perhaps by the worshippers of Getanak, perhaps by Mani himself. Some Oasis Folk will travel to other Oases and will take part in their ceremonies, learning of the similar spirits worshipped. Some will encounter people such as Argrath and will learn how to make new Sacred Societies and Herobands. They will return and will try to reunite the Oases. The Paps will awaken from its slumber and will begin to act in Prax. Old cults will be restored and will gain adherents in all the Oases. The Oasis Folk will throw off their chains and will be free to try and reawaken Prax and the Wastes.

## The Oasis Folk

Several supplements have described some of the Oasis Folk and their Oases. Most of them are a bit sketchy, but the do give a flavour of what the individual Oases are like. Here follows a quick summary of the Oases that I know of.

Dakanji Green
A few huts and date palms surrounding a small lake.

Far End
Contains a Lunar Fort and is where nomads, farmers and Oasis Folk traded together.

Indagos
Well built town with merchants, farmers, traders and craftsmen, led by Sir Indagos. Has shrines to Pavis, Ernalda, Zola Fel and local earth spirits.

Horn Gate
Situated in the Eiritha Hills, Horn Gate is a large town surrounding a lake. Nearby is Mt Yiskoz and beneath that is an entrance into the Underworld, guarded by a Horned Gate. There are temples to several gods here, a Lunar Fort, several taverns and a market. The Oasis Folk here are blue-eyed, pale skinned and short, they wear white and blue clothing, wide circular hats and often wear rabbit skin shoes and ornaments. They raise rabbits for food and secretly worship Jackrabbit and an Earth Guardian.

Weis
Oasis in the Rone Grantland, its inhabitants are a mixture of Oasis Folk who wear furs and rough leather and fishermen who take fish from the river.

Dwarf Knoll
A small Oasis with only three huts and seven Oasis Folk, all male. A stone statue of a dwarf stands on a low hill near the Oasis and there are doors leading below ground. The seven Oasis Folk have been living here since the First Age, when an eruption of creatures came from beneath the ground and devoured the rest of the Oasis Folk. The survivors were taken below ground and reappeared years later, tatooed and seemingly immortal. They are expert metalsmiths and will accept tasks on certain days in return for a reward, normally a woman to live with them for a year. The Oasis Folk here worship a lizard spirit and Mostal.

Mani's Fort
Within the Big Rubble is a fort peopled by the Dylfing Clan, of Oasis Folk stock. They keep zebras and are able warriors, unusual for the Oasis Folk. They follow Getanak, a son of Genert who was not slain, but worship him in secret. Their leader, Mani, reincarnates amongst the clan and is one of the reasons for its success. Another reason is that these Oasis Folk know of an Otherworld Garden that they can access and hide in when they are in trouble. Mani's Fort has temples to Ernalda, Pavis and several Pavic Heroes. The Oasis Folk have olive-brown skin and fair hair.