Sarawa

Sarawa is a largely undeveloped land south of the Himvati ranges, between Dravidia and Kota; the ancient name has always covered everything from those mountains down to the southern seas. Its people are a blend of Damalawan and Meluhhan stock and vary in height and color, most living in small villages of wooden frames covered with woven grass and reeds. The largest settlement, Pandah, is really four villages clustered together, the chief trading place among the Sarawan peoples and home of the monarch, who is in fact king of the Kane.

The Kane are the most numerous tribe, fishermen of the southern coast on good terms with the other tribes and the Damalawans; their unarmored spearmen with rattan shields and throwing clubs guard the coast. The Akh of central Sarawa grow rice on the plains and hills, marking each village with a great hardwood gate carved with glyphs to bar demons and evil spirits, and their women wear colorful, elaborate headdresses while the men dress plainly. The Lahtu live in primitive high-mountain villages in the northeast, hunt with crude crossbows firing poisoned bolts, grow maize and rice, keep goats and seem to have no religion. The Lishun of the northwest mountains wear large turban-like headdresses and hang heavy silver bangles on themselves, their weapons, huts and goats. Most are addicted to an opiate from a mountain poppy, used in rituals and exported through Pandah; their holy men practice low magic, and a secret mystic cult is rumored.

The king rules his own tribe absolutely but has little sway over the others, partly because tradition forbids him ever to leave Pandah, lest a curse turn all Sarawans into hideous monsters. Much of the land is wilderness full of dangerous beasts, and ruins of unknown origin are said to lie in the empty north and northeast.