Perched just beyond the southeastern gates of Shariz, nestled between wind-worn dunes and the dusty trade roads that wind south toward The Serrakhan Scar, the Runewright Traders Camp is a nomadic market of tents, firepits, and rune-carved wagons. It is the last true remnant of the once-great Runewrights—an order of mystics, smiths, and elemental sages from The Earth Realm who etch the arcane language of the world into stone and steel.
Though their ancestral temples lie in the far distant realm of Earth, their wisdom endures beneath canvas and smoke. Here, in this humble encampment, they barter knowledge for coin, and history for silence.
History & Origins
The camp’s lineage can be traced to the early Fourth Age, following the banishment of Elder Talus after the battle at the Tomb of the Twin-Spirit. The Runewrights—those loyal to Talus but unwilling to join the Sultan’s court or kneel to Malekith’s Holy Order of the Sun—lived in relative obscurity, taking their sacred lore with them. Over generations, their numbers dwindled, their camps moved on, and their runes became rare relics.
In the early Fifth Age, a revival began under Elder Blizz, a wise Sandshifter. Said to have once served as a pupil of Talus himself, Blizz gathered the last of the Runewrights and began the slow reclamation of their scattered legacy.
A Lasting Culture
The camp is never fixed for long, but often lingers within sight of Shariz’s southern walls, where the sand meets stone and the Serrakhan Sultanate's patrols do not bother to inquire.
Its layout is a crescent of high-canvas pavilions, colored with sun-faded blues and burnt umbers. Iron braziers burn ceaselessly in the heart of the camp, used both for warmth and rune-inscription. The air is thick with the sharp scent of firestick smoke, a pungent narcotic the Runewrights burn to "see the Ether more clearly."
Stalls within the camp offer:
- Elemental-infused talismans forged with the old dialects of earth, flame, water, and wind.
- Rune-bound weapons, humming with dormant power.
- Scrolls of Stone-Script, each carrying a fragment of the Continuum’s encoded past.
The Runewrights rarely give away their secrets freely. Most trades require an equal exchange—either knowledge, gold, or service. Those who lie or cheat them are marked, never again welcomed within the ring of their firelight.
Elder Blizz
Elder Blizz is both patriarch and gatekeeper of the camp. Gruff, inscrutable, and deeply wise from age, Blizz bears the last living fragments of the old runic tongue, passed down from Talus himself.
Despite his aghast demeanor, he is known to aid The Sunsations when their causes align with the Runewrights’ oath: “Preserve your Memory. Speak your Story. Remember the Stone.”
He is said to wear a rune-braided necklace, each strand etched with a unique saga of his people/
Current Status
In the wake of the Conjunction of the Realms, the camp’s knowledge has become more sought after than ever. As the boundaries between planes weaken and elemental rifts scar the land, the Runewrights’ ancient techniques for stabilizing ley-lines and crafting protective wards are in high demand.
Still, they remain wary of the Sultanate, the Empire of Bastile, and even the Sunsations themselves, for all bear the mark of the old powers—the very forces the Runewrights once swore to resist.
Yet through all this, the Runewright Traders Camp endures: a wandering circle of flame, memory, and stone, quietly preserving the truth of the world while others scramble to rewrite it.