Black Sand Raiders

Zeburon rules the Black Sand Raiders, quite literally, with an iron fist. He rules through power and fear, easily putting down any challengers to his rule. For the most part, as long as he continues to lead the slaves on successful raids, Zeburon will continue to command them. He claims the title of warlord, though most of his conquests seem to be over the weak and poorly defended. He has yet to take on any well-protected caravans or operate near a city-state. The raiders are organized on a strictly military rank system. However, ranks are not earned by hard workers and good leaders. Instead, the powerful move up in authority and position by eliminating those above them. If you can defeat your challenger in battle (whether it is a fair fight or not), then you can keep your rank. If not, a new officer is initiated with the blood of his predecessor. Zeburon selects his personal bodyguards from among his top officers. Rumors persist that these guards must first submit themselves to the defiler's magic before they can assume their new posts. The defiler, called Fevil in most accounts I heard, plays a major role in the life of the tribe. He is more than just chief council to Zeburon. He is the dark soul that permeates the Black Sand Raiders, conjuring visions of conquest to drive the marauders into a battle-frenzied state. His word is law in the camp, for the tribe members fear him as much as or more than they fear Zeburon. Few want to draw the dark wizard's attention, for he sometimes enlists raiders to “assist” him in foul ceremonies. The rankings determine when a raider can take his share of the spoils. Like a pride of lions after a kill, the high-ranking raiders take their fill before those below them choose. The newest or weakest among the raiders select last, which usually motivates them to work their way up as soon as possible.

The Black Sand Raiders have two methods of operation: they go on raids to acquire wealth and supplies, and they go on raids to satisfy their primal urges to cause pain and spill blood. They have a simple outlook on life. Whatever they need or want is theirs for the taking, they believe. It is theirs by right of strength, and more, by right of retribution. Zeburon speaks of what Athas owes his raiders for the years they suffered as slaves. Every raid the Black Sand tribe undertakes is an attack against the nobles and templars who once lorded over them. They do not care that innocents and other slaves suffer in their raids as well. The raiders' technique is simple. They pick a target they can overwhelm and pounce on it. The Black Sand marauders have been known to attack outposts and small villages, moderately-sized caravans, and even other raiding tribes. The raiders ride kanks and strike swiftly once they have selected a target. There is no planning or style evident in their actions. They simply attack and kill, then they take whatever they can carry and disappear back into the wilderness. They try not to leave any survivors, though in the confusion of their attacks, a few lucky individuals sometimes escape. Zeburon's raiders operate almost exclusively in the Tablelands. They have been known to hit targets as far north as the Dragon's Bowl and as far south as Siren's Song. They rarely travel into the Great Ivory Plain, but there have been tales of them striking caravans cutting across the sand wastes en route to Tyr. When not raiding for spoils, the marauders attack for the sheer pleasure of defeating and killing a weaker enemy. They have also been known to engage in hunts, where they allow those they have captured a chance to escape. As long as the captives can keep ahead of the raiders, they can stay alive. Once the raiders catch up with them, death comes slowly and with as much pain as Zeburon and his followers can coax out of the victims. Every story I have gathered speaks of Zeburon personally leading every raid. He travels with a party of 30 mounted warriors, and sometimes his defiler accompanies him. They must make a fearsome sight, riding kanks and wearing black cloaks and hoods. How they stand the heat is beyond me, but that only adds to the tribe's supernatural trappings. Zeburon and his followers fancy themselves as avenging spirits, but I see them as nothing more than murderous thugs.

Here the legend really takes a bizarre turn. The origin of the Black Sand Raiders traces back many years to when a gladiator named Zeburon escaped from Urik. In the arena, Zeburon learned to kill in order to survive. He took that lesson to the extreme while wandering the Tablelands, killing everyone he came upon. His bloodstained trail finally led him to an island of black sand in the middle of otherwise barren terrain. The black sand shimmered evilly in the morning sun, beckoning the onetime slave forward. He accepted the invitation. Zeburon found that the black sand surrounded the ruins of an ancient city. Some buildings jutted from the sand, exposing partially intact structures of strange design and unfathomable purpose. A pool of water lay hidden amid the ruins, and Zeburon drank deeply to quench his thirst. When he stood up, he noticed a figure watching him from the shadowed opening of a crumbled tower. The gladiator moved to deal with this intruder as he had dealt with the others he had met in his travels, but he was stopped in his tracks by arcane words and the tingle of magic. Zeburon could do nothing but listen to the figure that stepped out to greet him. “I am Fevil,” the defiler said with an evil grimace. “I have been waiting for you to arrive.” Zeburon listened as the defiler told him of his visions of power and conquest. With Zeburon to command their army and Fevil to commune with the ancient undead of the ruined city, there was nothing they could not accomplish. After a time, Zeburon became intrigued by the wizard's words. He accepted the proposal. To prove his worth, however, Fevil demanded that Zeburon survive a simple test. The defiler explained that if the gladiator could enter the chambers below the crumbled tower and emerge alive, then he was worthy to lead the soon-to-be born Black Sand Raiders. What Zeburon encountered beneath the tower, no one knows. According to the story I was told, he was down there for a full day and a full night while Fevil waited above. When he finally emerged from the shadow-filled doorway, Zeburon was wearing the iron helm and gauntlets that have become his trademark. It was only a matter of time before Zeburon attracted a group of followers. He appealed to the barbaric and unscrupulous elements, cajoling them with promises of unlimited wealth and unending excitement. Thus was the tribe of the Black Sand Raiders born. 

Zeburon considers everyone who is not a part of his tribe to be an enemy. He conducts his affairs as though he was still fighting in the gladiatorial arenas, following the law of kill or be killed. Every other tribe exists for only one purpose – to provide for the needs of Zeburon and the Black Sand Raiders. For this reason, few settlements have any formal agreements with the raiders. Instead, most simply hope that the Black Sand tribe never comes to call on them. The Black Sand tribe's nearest neighbors keep a watchful eye for signs of the marauders. Altaruk, for example, has not been directly attacked by the raiders, but a few of their caravans have fallen. Altaruk is a powerful deterrent to the marauders, and Zeburon hates the client village with all his dark heart. On more than one occasion, Zeburon has had to call off his raiders because of the appearance of a heavily armed escort from Altaruk. Despite the size of its army and the strength of its walls, Altaruk is regularly destroyed by giants from the Forked Tongue Estuary. Zeburon watches for these attacks, for while the village is being rebuilt his raiders have free reign over the area. Silver Springs, on the other hand, cannot hope to hold back Zeburon's raiders (or at least the elven chief whose tribe settled here believes this to be the case). He opens his oasis to the raiders whenever they wish to use it, suffering under the humiliation and pain they cause in return for his life. One day Zeburon may kill the elves and loot the storehouse of silver that supposedly lies hidden here. Until then, he and his followers will continue to use it as a resting stop.

Zeburon constantly seeks new members for the Black Sand Raiders. The lifestyle they lead and the methods used for determining the tribe's hierarchy make life among the lower ranks exceedingly short. However, the fact that they instantly attack anyone who wanders into their domain makes finding new members rather difficult. Zeburon leaves the recruitment of new members to Fevil. The defiler has an uncanny knack for knowing when the tribe will need new blood, and he magically searches for suitable prospects. Sometimes the defiler even leads a raid on slave market caravans for the express purpose of acquiring fresh slaves. When the defiler extends an invitation to a slave, the slave must agree to join the tribe on the spot. Even a moment's hesitation brings swift death from the defiler or his raiders. There have been rare instances of slaves actually coming to the raiders in order to join them. At least one small slave tribe merged with the Black Sand camp in order to survive, but mostly the defiler goes out to find his own recruits. Of course, certain prisoners are sometimes brought back to the camp for entertainment purposes or to give to the undead in the caverns below the ruins. Once in a great while a recruit is found among these wretches. Only slaves may join the Black Sand tribe, and only warriors usually survive the rigors of testing. Tests of loyalty, courage, and strength vary, but usually include a trip into the caverns beneath the Black Sand ruins. If the potential recruit can make it out of the depths alive, he is granted full status as a member of the raiding tribe. If he manages to emerge with some bit of treasure from the past, he may be offered a position of power in the camp's hierarchy. If he does not emerge, then the defiler wishes the denizens of the deep a happy meal and sends in the next potential member.