The Tusadao Isles are found between the heartlands of the Ren Shu Empire and Greater Sidon, and are widely regarded as an unpleasant, uncivilised land. Covered in thick swamps and jungles, the terrain of the isles alone would put off all but the most stubborn explorers. Yet it is not the climate that truly puts dread into the heart of wannabe adventurers, but the Sadao themselves.
The Sadao tribes are infamous for their consumption of other sapient creatures, particularly in the form of cannibalism of other Manrats. This has led to their epithet as the “Rat Eaters of Light Sidon” or often just the “Rat Eaters”. The Sadao are commonly regarded as brute barbarians by outsiders, and the average Sadao does little to dismiss the rumour. Most commonly brown Manrats, the usual Sadao is lean and muscular, standing taller than a Ren Shu citizen and clad in very little, with large protruding incisors that are often painted to reflect tribal identity or accomplishments.
Though their reputation as cannibals is not misplaced, Sadao society is significantly more sophisticated than their Lightwards cousins give them credit for. Most of the tribes work steel, with a preference for weighty kukri and falx blades, and several Ren Shu tacticians have commented on the tactical acumen of the Sadao leaders, especially in areas of scouting and guerilla warfare. Indeed, warfare between the tribes has been reduced in almost all occurrences to posturing and ritualistic battles between the warriors of given tribes, though the consumption of the losers still plays a significant part of the ceremony after the combat is over.
The vast majority of the Sadao tribes are tributaries of the Ren Shu Empire, providing tribute in the form of elite shock troops and scouts over financial or material items. The loyalty of the Sadao janissaries has often played a significant role in Ren Shu politics, especially at the advent of civil war. In the Li Uprising, Gao Li was suspected of having Sadao heritage, with his fur, a pale ginger, being darker than the usual Emperor’s pure white. Li used this to his advantaged in negotiations with the Rat Eaters, suggesting that they would be fighting for one of their own, granting him leadership over most of the Rat Eater troops. Notably, the Taoyer “Hated Children” and Yinyaa “Silver Duck” warriors were present for the sack of Rennchao, and several sources site the Taoyer as likely perpetrators of the atrocities committed there.
Those fighting age Sadao not in the imperial army often work as mercenaries, particularly in the ongoing wars between the remnant states of Greater Sidon. The Heian de Ren “Men of Darkness” have been employed by the Thirak of Paharikeht for more than a generation, and made their cost felt against Siaavas invaders more than a hundred times. The Vinging council employ the Kil Guard of elite Sadao warriors, to protect themselves from both internal and external plotting. Some Sadao mercenary groups even find employment as far as the former Magnapuri Empire, with the Khem Nethes “Salted Exiles” finding employment in the armies of Magnus the Flaccid of the Pundran Magnacy against the Weeping Rani.
Wherever they end up in the world, however, most Sadao follow the Way of the Strength Through Flesh. A few maverick scholars, largely Elfborn, have suggested that the tenets of this “Way” are not dissimilar to those of the Temple of the Hand in the Water, to the ridicule and condemnation of their peers. Both religions encourage the consumption of sapients, up to and including cannibalism, but the connotations of both are distinct. Whereas the Hand in the Water honours those that are eaten, placing the consumption as a ritual for honouring and passing on strength, the Way of Strength Through Flesh believes that the weak surrender their bodies to the strong to sustain and empower them. While the Hand in the Water would consume an enemy considered to be a worthy opponent, hoping to gain the strength of their adversary, the Way would instead consume all enemies defeated, conquering the weakness they encountered and proving themselves to be stronger. The teachings of the Way were initially spread by a figure known as “Kha”, who united the Manrats as a great conqueror and encouraged his followers to find their domain and conquer. Some historians believe that “Kha” was the first ruler of Greater Sidon, or even in outlandish hypotheses the Ren Shu, but this extent has since been lost to time. It is broadly agreed however that Kha united the Sadao tribes and waged war both Lightwards and Darkwards.
In the years since the Li Uprising, many Sadao warriors have found themselves unemployed and obsolete. Though not numerous or in communication, many of the listless soldiers have found themselves in Xujai, amassing in Kixil. Though few speak the language, they all know the bloodshed soon to come…