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Sorcerer-King

2023-02-24T09:16:36Z

2605:BA00:6208:64B:8975:2E52:3C8:F548: /* The Kings and Their Territories */

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The '''Sorcerer-Kings''' are the tyrannical rulers of the last known city-states in the [[Dungeons & Dragons]] setting of [[Dark Sun]]. Ancient, theoretically immortal [[multiclassing|dual-classed]] [[Wizard]]/[[Psion]]icists, the Sorcerer-Kings were the servants of [[Rajaat]] during his bloody Cleansing Wars that burned the life from Athas, only to betray their master and rule over the ashes. Thus, each of them has at least begun the process of transforming into an [[Athasian Dragon]]. Because of this, they're considered extremely powerful, pretty much the [[BBEG]]s of the setting because each one is an insufferable prick.

Infamously, most of them were wiped out in the ''[[Prism Pentad]]'' tie-in novels, starting a chain of events that ended in the setting being subjected to stasis and malign neglect for decades.

Ironically, despite being ''the'' most important NPCs of the setting, [[TSR]] largely resisted the urge to tell you about these cool bad guys, so their [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] lore and statistics are sparse and scattered like seeds throughout several [[splatbook]]s and adventure modules - it wasn't until [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] that [[Wizards of the Coast]] gave all of the Sorcerer-Kings a coherent, easily referenced statblock and lore writeup in a single splatbook, and even that was building on the efforts of the fans from the Burnt World of Athas fansite during the 3e era!

==The Kings and Their Territories==
*'''Abalach-re''' - The queen bitch of the City-State of Raam, this paranoid schizo cunt makes [[Skaven|your average Skaven]] look like Ghandi. Also universally loathed and held in contempt by both her own people and all the other Sorcerer Kings. Whether her neurotic paranoia is the result or the cause of this is a bit of a chicken-or-egg question.
*'''Andropinis''' - He had egg shaped nostrils. He wore a toga and ruled over the Greek inspired City-State of Balic. Unique for being the only Lawful Neutral sorcerer-king (All the others are listed as Lawful Evil, naturally), and for running a state that actually somewhat functions, in a democracy-turned-dictatorial-sham kind of way.
*'''Hamanu''' - Mr. Lionface. Not one of the original 13 Champions, he was the ruler of Urik and a blatant homage to Hammurabi. Evil and cruel, with his draconic transformation halted rather than reversed, but his devotion to order, justice, rationality, and his father's dream of a green and peaceful land make him one of the best of a terrible lot.
*'''Kalak''' - You know your old, shriveled, power-hungry, slave-master of a grandfather? That's this guy. Ruler of Tyr before his plan to get jacked up quick on dragonsauce was discovered and foiled by a bunch of meddling kids and one talking dog. The 4e reboot explicitly starts every game with him being overthrown and Tyr being established as a Free City, before letting the PCs see where things go from there.
*'''Kalid-Ma''' - Former Sorcerer-King of Kalidnay, currently trapped in a near-death coma in [[Ravenloft|a completely different campaign setting]] thanks to his head honchessa's cruel betrayal of everything good in her life in favor of her freaky, possessive stalker crush on him. Probably not coming back, regardless of what the deluded cultists rifling through his garbage think.
*'''Lalali-Puy''' - The hottest Sorcerer-Queen, and ruler of the barely civilized Jungle-Town of Gulg. Also one of the less-evil Sorcerer Kings by virtue of not doing much to actively hurt the people who adore her, with some liner notes specifically calling her the most likely King to make a face turn who hasn't already, though her current rule over Gulg is cemented by brutal enslavement of nature spirits, one of whom she's masquerading as.
*'''Nibenay''' - Called the Shadow King. Either he really, really hated people and being seen, or he was too stupid to cast a simple glamour to NOT MAKE HIM LOOK LIKE A DRAGON around his superstitious subjects. Ruler of the largest City-State of the same name, which was locked in a perpetual war with Gulg for some crazy strong blue balls. Or blue wood. Whatever. His templars are all female, and are forced to mate with him for the job, which is frankly par for the course for evil at this point. Even considering his hideous, part-dragon/part-man appearance.
*'''Tectuktitlay''' - He's a ladykiller, he'll rip your heart out and throw it down the fucking ziggurat. Bird like in appearance, he was the Aztec inspired ruler of Drag. Drek. Er, Draj. Smart, despite his insanity and cruelty. He indoctrinates his subjects with the idea that he was born a god and genuinely believes in his own self fabricated mythology.
*'''Oronis''' - Former Sorcerer-King of Kurn. Kinda. Oronis is a special case. He started to feel bad about... you know exterminating all the lizard-men, especially when he saw that it was all for a lie, and he and his comrades were turning the world into a ruin rather than a paradise. So, he took his vitamins, drank his milk, and managed to put the brakes on the whole "morph into a dragon through genocide" thing... and go the other direction into becoming an avangion. Kurn is dying, but it's just a facade for New Kurn now anyway, and he's withdrawn from politics to pursue further experiments into avangion-hood while leaving behind a "true" democracy. Literally the only Sorcerer-King actively trying to make his shithole of a world a better place.
*'''Daskinor''' - Kim Jong Il's Dark Sun doppelganger. Ruler of Eldaarich, this <strike>paranoid asshat</strike> omnipotent and benevolent God King keeps his city <strike>on permanent lockdown</strike> safe and protected from all the evils of Athas. Literally built massive walls to close off his city from the outside world <strike>thanks to his insanity starting to leak into the city as a whole</strike> because it is totally self-sufficient and wants for nothing the outside world has to offer. Especially not water and food.
*'''Dregoth''' - The undead dragon sorcerer-king, ruler of Giustenal. This dude got ganked by a bunch of the other Sorcerer-Kings who were tired of him bragging about the size of his <strike>cock</strike> book of spells a couple thousand years ago, but his loyal Templars brought him back as a Lich, and he's just been chilling underground unbeknownst to every else, for quite some time now. Created the [[dray]] race, which he hopes will one day completely replace humanity as the new "master race."

[[Category: Dark Sun]]

Dark Sun

2023-02-24T09:15:55Z

2605:BA00:6208:64B:8975:2E52:3C8:F548: /* Sorcerer-Kings */

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{{Grimdark}}
[[File:Dark Sun 3e PHB.png|400px|thumb|right|The cover of the 3e [[PHB]].]]
{{Topquote|For thousands of years, the Tablelands have remained untouched: its politics frozen in a delicate stalemate, its life in a balance even more delicate. It is true that the Dragon Kings amused themselves with their petty wars, rattling sabers to punctuate the passing of ages. It is true that, occasionally, another city would be swallowed by the wastes.

''But there were no surprises. The Dragon Kings steered everything from their omnipotent perches, content in their superiority, but ever thirsting for challenge. All that has changed. The Tablelands have been thrown into turmoil, the likes of which have not been seen since times forgotten. The Dragon Kings have been thrown into confusion, grasping for the tedium they so recently lamented.

''And yet I fear the worst is yet to come. Change is in the air, and change has never come gently to Athas.|[[Avangion| Oronis]], sorcerer‐king of Kurn}}

'''Dark Sun''' is a campaign setting made for AD&D 2nd edition back in '90; there are [[3e]] conversions approved by [[WotC]], but we had to wait until 2010 and [[4e]] for an updated official version. Dark Sun is essentially a playable [[grimdark]] post-apocalyptic mix of Mad Max, Edgar Rice Burrough's Mars series, Stargate (the movie), and [[Dune]]; it's pretty [[awesome]], but immediately proceeds to eschew common sense (unlike Dune).

==Setting==
[[File:Dark Sun World Map 4E.png|thumb|right|350px|Map of the Tyr Region, as depicted in [[4E|4th edition]]]]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3qHkTmJpq4 Some music to help set the mood.]

The game is set in the world of Athas, a dying planet. Once full of happiness and sunshine, the planet was drained of all resources during the long and rich history the creators came up with. All magic is parasitic and destructive. There is no water, no minerals, and no hope: only cannibal halflings, a lot of sand and a dying sun.

The world is so fucked up it makes Mad Max's setting look like a hippie paradise. Kinda looks like Barsoom on massive grimdark crack. Everyone wears [[Female Fantasy Armor]] (yes, even the dudes), and according to the developers, this was the entire reason they picked a hot climate for the setting instead of an icy one, [[Derp|despite the fact that wearing Female Fantasy Armor in the desert would result in a quick death from sunstroke and dehydration]]; if they wanted everyone to wear [[Female Fantasy Armor]] then a hot ''and humid'' environment like a jungle or a tropical place, such as the setting for the comics series [https://comicvine.gamespot.com/shanna/4005-4579/ Shanna the She-Devil], is the ideal choice (less clothes keeps you cool when it's hot and humid, means less things to get caught in foliage or get pulled by predators or rivals).

The only few realms remaining are fascist police city-states ruled by wizards (all of them varying shades of evil) whose environmentally-unfriendly magic is responsible for fucking up the planet in the first place, and who're slowly losing their humanity as they turn more and more into dragons. Beyond civilized lands everything eats everything. The best weapon you can find is the femur of your party's cleric after being eaten by something that looked like a rock and the best armor is mostly the remains of a giant cockroach. There are no gnomes, orcs, kobolds, or furries because all of them were exterminated by some jerks with psychic brains and magic hands. They were the Champions of Rajaat, and they and the Sorcerer-Kings are by-and-large one-and-the-same.

Fun fact; whilst many Dark Sun fans believe that the Tablelands region covered by the OG campaign setting is literally the last remaining bastion of life on Athas, that's actually never been explicitly stated. In fact, there are subtle hints that there ''is'' a world beyond the Tablelands, and in some places it may even be better than what's left by the Silt Sea. For starters, the Wanderer's Journal, the "worldbuilding" portion of the original campaign boxed set, describes the Ringing Mountains as a full ring around the Sea of Silt, with the ridges always running north-south. So in the Tablelands region they block trade, but at the northern and southern portions of the ring, trade is much easier, as you travel along the valleys, rather than across them. It also mentions cities to the north, and the map itself has roads leading north and south of the Tyr region. And, of course, come the Revised Edition, [[TSR]] did things like introduce the [[pterran]]s as a race from "beyond the Ringing Mountains", and did the Thri-Kreen of Athas and Mind-Lords of the Last Sea [[splatbook]]s, which explicitly are set in areas outside of the Tablelands. Still, the image persists, largely because the lands beyond the Ringing Mountains were never fleshed out in the way that [[Greyhawk]] or the [[Forgotten Realms]] or [[Mystara]] grew from their initial humble starting points.

The original ''Dark Sun'' setting got pretty harshly wrecked by advancing novel continuity. Once a buncha [[Mary Sue|tie-in protagonists]] have already killed all the iconic villains and started fixing the setting's problems, what's there left for ''you'' to do? In response, [[4e]] went full-reboot and adopted an [[Eberron]]-style anti-continuity system: every campaign begins in exactly the same time and place, and the story never advances. It was, especially for a 4e idea, incredibly well-received, and will probably carry over into any attempts to adapt the setting for [[5e]].

Thus far, the closest Wizards of the Coast has come to actually ''adapting'' the setting over to 5e is a few ideas about how to change over any adventuring paths to Athas, though the design team has repeatedly mentioned they intend to try in the future. Co-creator of 5th Edition and creative lead designer [[Mike Mearls]] has stated that he's pretty much converted Dark Sun to 5th, even if only for an office campaign.

===Races===
What really made Dark Sun stand out compared to some of TSR's other offerings was the very distinct and weird playable racial assortment on offer for prospective PCs, which made Dark Sun stand on the level with [[Planescape]] and [[Spelljammer]] as ''the'' setting to play if you wanted to get away from the bog-standard neo-Tolkien brigade. (Although the fact characters used a 4d4+4 [[Ability Scores]] system compared to the 3d6 one, meaning Athasian characters had an '''8-20''' AS range vs. the 3-18 range of regular D&D characters, didn't hurt!)

...At least, that's how it's remembered ''in hindsight''. In actual execution it's a little more... topsy-turvy than that. Let us try and break it down for you.

First and foremost, of course, we have the '''[[Human]]s''', because do you really think [[TSR]] would ever do a setting without them? Standard dominant race stuff, nothing particularly noteworthy here.

Then there's the [[Demihuman]]s of Athas. You'll notice there's no [[gnome]]s here; that's because they are one of several races officially exterminate in Athas' ancient past, which is often regarded as the first reason why this setting is full of win. Here, you get:
*'''[[Dwarf]]''' - Almost typical dorfs, except taller, waaay more muscular, bald with Klingon-like head plates and are even more fixated on their stuff than the hairier, stuntier variety. So fixated, in fact, that if they died without completing the shit they were obsessing over, they came back from the dead as banshees (sentient zombies that looked like a dwarf without skin).
*'''[[Elf]]''' - No forests for them, ha! They are desert nomads with tendencies of mental instability, thieving and grieving all the time. Finally, straight players can consider playing an elf. Again foreshadowing ''Time of the Dragon''.
*'''[[Halfling]]''' - Cannibals who live in the Ringing Mountains, one of the last remaining strips of forest. Despite [[Troy Denning]]'s initial fuckup in ''The Verdant Passage'', where he has the dragonfly riding midgets flinging spells hither and thither, no they cannot use arcane magic. Tries to retcon this in ''The Cerulean Storm'' but it doesn't quite work. MAJOR PLOT LOOPHOLE. Actually (spoilers!) the origin of all other demi-human races on Athas, as theirs was the high civilization of the Blue Age.
* '''[[Half-Elf]]''' - Basically the exact same as half-elves in every other TSR setting of the time; miserable little shits that nobody likes.
*'''[[Mul]]''' - [[Half-dwarf]]! Second reason why this setting is full of win and awesome! Bred for size and strength, but without the lack of agility of the typical stunty dorf, no slave was worth more than a Mul. Except a better Mul. Very prized as gladiators. Suck it, Russell Crowe. Unfortunately, like real-life hybrids tend to be, Muls are sterile, and they also tend to be [[Grimdark|born into slavery and kill their mums on the way out]].
*'''[[Half-Giant]]''' - Big dumb muscle, with a ''lolrandom'' alignment because they're ''so'' impressionable. Usually really fucking stupid. 3e shrank them down to "Medium-Plus" sized. 4e reinterpreted them as a local term for [[goliath]]s mechanically and made them smarter and less lolrandom in their fluff.
*'''[[Pyreen]]''' - A non-player (though 4e made them an epic destiny) race of ancient guardians from before the world was burned to shit, [[Rajaat]] was one of these guys before he went screaming off the deep end. Looks like a prettier version of how 3.5's [[Mongrelman|Mongrelfolk]] are supposed to look based on fluff; a harmonious blending of human, halfling, dwarf and elf. This mysterious & mystical mongrelfolk nature is strange, considering that halflings were the original inhabitants, and it also ignores several now-extinct but previously prominent (or at least "normal" non-monstrous) races, such as orcs. Epic-level immortal multiclassed druid/psions attempting to fix the world. Not getting very far.

Now we move on to the ''weirder'' races, which for some reason basically means [[beastfolk]]:
* '''[[Thri-Kreen]]''' - Pack-hunting giant mantis-folk. Actually debuted in the [[Forgotten Realms]] a whopping ''15 years'' before Dark Sun existed, but this was the first time they got PC stats. In the Original Boxed Set, they were the last of the playable races after the aforementioned humans and demihumans. Most known for their four arms, which gave them inherent multiple attacks in 2e, a trait that was steadily stripped from them over the edition. Also known for seeing nothing wrong with cannibalism - elf is considered a delicacy.
* '''[[Aarakocra]]''' - Tribal bird-people. Unlike their counterparts on other settings, Athasian aarakocrach look like humanoid vultures, are prone to raiding and theft, and have [[psionics]]... but then, few races ''don't'' have psionics in Athas!
* '''[[Pterran]]''' - Shamanistic flightless humanoid pterodactyls that wandered into Athas from somewhere beyond the tablelands.

The "Official" 3e update in [[Dragon Magazine]] #319 added:
*'''[[Elan]]''' - An experiment in creating human uber-psychics by a psionicist order that went wrong due to being too powerful
*'''[[Maenad]]''' - Alien berserker-psion emos that Andropinus recruited from somewhere beyond "The Black", then turned loose to die in the wasteland after they helped him get his city-state back. Rather pissed at that.

4th edition added these races to the canon:
*'''[[Eladrin]]''' - The dwindling remnants of the ur-elf race that once ruled the [[Feywild]], which on Athas has literally dissolved into nothing, leaving only a scattering of extradimensional oases as a result of defiling.
*'''[[Genasi]]''' - They claim they were originally set up as rulers over Athas by the [[Archomental|Primordials]] once they killed all of the gods... but they became decadent and indolent, so the other races drove them off the thrones. And then they blew Athas all to fuck, which the genasi are still gloating about. Now they're starting to emerge from the wastes because they believe it's their job to take command again and fix this shit. Known subraces: Earth, Fire, Wind, Ember, Magma, Sand and Sun.
*'''[[Tiefling]]''' - Brutal raiders from the most hostile and barren regions of the desert, descendants of people who turned to fiend-worship for the strength to survive in the wasteland.

Now, you might think that the above list is pretty decent already, right? Well, it's technically incomplete!

First of all, the original boxed set mentions that '''[[kenku]]''' and '''[[yuan-ti]]''' both exist on Athas, though it doesn't flesh them out much - most fans even forget that Athasian yuan-ti are canon, despite their prominent role in the [[CRPG]] [[Wake of the Ravager]], a game nobody remembered until GOG.com began selling many (most?) of the SSI AD&D modules of the 80s and 90s. Now that WotR is readily available, the thing people remember most about that game is the numerous, game-breaking bugs. (But you should still buy it, as workarounds to the bugs do exist.) Anyway, since both races are playable depending on your base edition, they should be legitimate options in your Dark Sun campaigns.

Secondly, the adventure [[City by the Silt Sea]] introduced the '''[[Dray]]''', a race of dragon-men engineered by Athas' sole [[dracolich]], as both monsters and an optionally playable race. 4th edition promoted these guys to a fullly fledged mainstream race in the setting, although they did just recommend they use [[dragonborn]] stats for them.

Thirdly, the 4e Dark Sun Campaign Guide notes you could justify [[minotaur]]s as the "[[Half-Giant]]" counterpart to [[Beasthead Giant]]s.

Finally, the Monstrous Compendium Appendixes for Dark Sun, especially the second one, detailed a number of species who live on Athas who are sapient but non-playable - the "humanoids" of Athas, essentially. Since Dark Sun coincided with the release of the internet, fans took matters into their own hands and converted a good number of these races to be playable in either 2nd edition ("The Complete Book of Athasian Humanoids") or 3rd edition ("Terrors of Athas"), with the latter in particular promoting a fair number of [[giant]]s and Monstrous Humanoids. Admittedly, some of these are more likely to make you go "what the fuck were they smoking?!" than others.
* '''[[Anakore]] ''' - Sand-burrowing carnivorous predators. Basicall Athasian mole-people.
* '''[[B'rohg]]''' - Four-armed [[giant]]s who are really good at hitting stuff, but not much good at anything else.
* '''[[Baazrag]]''' - Camel-humped sloth-man with a really convoluted history.
* '''[[Belgoi]]''' - Desert-wandering cannibals who use psy-boosted bells to lure suckers into the wastes for dinner.
* '''[[Braxat]]''' - Hulking, armor-plated, acid-spitting [[lizardfolk]] with genius IQs, telepathy, psychoportation, and a sadistic streak.
* '''[[Bvanen]]''' - Armor-plated frog-people from the last surviving swamp on Athas.
* '''[[Drik|High Drik]]''' - Giant, spell-casting [[lizardfolk]] magically engineered as super-soldiers.
* '''[[Feylaar]]''' - Four-armed gorillas with genius intellects and [[psionics]].
* '''[[Giant]] ([[Beasthead Giant]], [[Crag Giant]], [[Desert Giant]], [[Plains Giant]])''' - The last surviving giant species of Athas.
* '''[[Gith|Athasian Gith]]''' - The degenerate descendants of a [[githyanki]] army which was mindblasted into madness by a [[githzerai]] psy-bomb.
* '''[[Hej-kin]]''' - Cannibalistic burrowing creatures that resemble a cross between a [[gnome]] and a mole.
* '''[[Jozhal]]''' - [[Dinosaur|Little raptors]] that have a natural affinity for preserver magic.
* '''[[Lask]]''' - A weird race of reptilian humanoids newly emergent from the spellwarped wastelands of Athas.
* '''[[Lizardfolk|Athasian Lizardfolk]]''' - The last surviving lizardfolk of Athas, who inhabit its last surviving sea.
* '''[[Magera]]''' - Literally just Athasian [[ogre]]s.
* '''[[Mindhome Folk]]''' - Telepathic, pacifist, [[Underdark]]-dwelling little humanoids.
* '''[[Nikaal]]''' - Acid-spitting reptilian humanoids who travel Athas in great trading caravans.
* '''[[Reggelid]]''' - Mad elf-like beings obsesed with defiler magic and who have a bitter enmity against Athasian halflings.
* '''[[Scrab]]''' - Hive-dwelling sapient centipedes with arms.
* '''[[Silt Runner]]''' - [[Kobold]]-like little lizard-people that inhabit the silt sea and its surrounds.
* '''[[Slig]]''' - Perpetually hungry carnivorous humanoids.
*'''[[Ssurran]]''' - 2-legged sentient komodo dragons. Lives in the desert and loves them some lava. Very resistant towards heat and the Dark Sun, these guys enjoy worshiping Fire and Magma.
*'''[[Tarek]]''' - Earth-worshipping, hulking, ape-like humanoids from the mountains. Pretty obviously an "evolved" strain of Athasian [[Orc]]s, like how Ssurrans are Athasian [[lizardfolk]]. Take obvious inspiration from the ape-men of popular pulp novels and Frazetta/Vallejo paintings the same way the rest of the setting does.
* '''[[Tari]]''' - The [[ratfolk]] of Athas. Supposedly nobody in the modern city-states knows they're sapient, despite the fact they had their own empire in the southern regions a couple centuries ago.
* '''[[Trin]]''' - The more primitive and savage cousins of the thri-kreen. Because thri-kreen aren't already mantis-y enough. Have four legs instead of four arms, so they run really, really fast.
* '''[[Tul'k]]''' - Descendants of a tribe of elfs warped into brutish giant ape-men by magic run amuck.
* '''[[Amazon|Villichi]]''' - [[Abhuman|A emergent human subspecies]] consisting of albino psychic women.

We gotta talk dragons now.

*'''[[Athasian Dragon|Athasian]]''' - Only "playable" by a very technical definition of the term, since it was an epic-level class for level 21+ characters with nastily-difficult requirements, though 4e made it an epic destiny. Not at all like the normal ''D&D'' variety, which don't exist on Athas, Athasian Dragons are horrible monsters that embody the corrupted nature of arcane magic in the setting: rapacious, violent, and filled with rage and a lust to dominate or destroy. Depending on source, there's either many or only one being that has ever successfully completed the transformation, and he's the ''other'' [[BBEG]] of the setting, as mentioned above, but almost all of the Sorcerer-Kings are at least part of the way there.
*'''[[Avangion]]''' - The opposite version of an Athasian dragon, being the life-nurturing embodiment of what arcane magic ''should'' be. Looks like a bizarre glowing manta ray-dragonfly, with a huge wingspan. Not as much balls-out murder power as a dragon, but able to no-sell many of its abilities, actually support its party, and not be an insane rage-cauldron the DM could take over whenever he felt like it. Just as hard to qualify for though, and also a 4e epic destiny. No one in the Tyr region has ever successfully become one, though one NPC as far down the process as most of the Sorcerer-Kings are to being dragons, and unlike many of them is actively trying to advance.

===Classes===
*'''[[Cleric]]s''' - There are no real gods in the setting (according to 4e, this is because the Primordials drove them off in the [[Dawn War]]), so most clerics [[elementalist|worship elements or quasi-elements]] - the game implies there ''were'' gods at one point, however, because an [[undead]] monster unique to the setting is a '''Raaig''', the pissed-off [[ghost]] of a long-dead [[cleric]] or [[paladin]], but it frankly contradicts itself a lot. In a desert world, summoning water elementals will get you pussy until you realize that if you level up to much you become a true elemental yourself too. And it is not a nice way to go when you croak after a bunch of people [[cannibalism|consumed your body]] because they were thirsty and you're a water elemental now. The way they are described, they are more "elemental shamans" than archetypical clerics. Other types are insinuated to exist, such as a 'sun cleric' featured in the novels, representing the aspect and domain of the sun as a natural force rather than a deity.
*'''[[Druid]]s''' - Druids serve spirits of the land, which are in short supply given the state of said world. They have a guarded lands that they are responsible to look after, which unfortunately could conflict with adventuring time.
*'''[[Gladiator]]s''' - You know. Like the movie. Also one of the most overpowered classes in the times of AD&D, a low level gladiator could be the personification of a certain Frank Frazzeta's illustration entitled "The Destroyer". Essentially, they were [[Barbarian]]s before Barbarians as 3e made them a thing.
*'''Dune Traders''' - lol that's actually a class? Was more on the role-playing side of things, could get loads of handy contacts and power within tradehouses. Took care of diplomacy, trading, and generally any situation that could be resolved without a weapon.
*'''[[Fighter]]s''' - Not as good as a Gladiator in personal combat, but who is? Really excelled at attracting and leading armies at higher levels.
*'''[[Bard]]s''' - Most bards sing songs and boost the other party members' rolls. Dark Sun bards will poison and kill you, and maybe fuck you. Maybe even in that order, too.
*'''<s>[[Paladin]]s</s>''' - lol nope. Honor and virtue fell by the wayside a long time ago on Athas, but what else would you expect from a planet this Darwinian?
*'''[[Templar]]s''' - Replace Paladins thematically, but more on the police side of things to the point they are essentially the Sorcerer-Kings's [[Nazi|Gestapo]]. Ability-wise, they're more like Clerics with slower spell-progression but more spellslots and the ability to use any weapon. Worship the Sorcerer King who rules their city.
*'''[[Psion]]icists''' - Psionicists are considered accepted and normal in this setting. In fact, every PC is guaranteed to have ''at least'' one psionic power! OMGWTF! (Well, this sounds nice, until you realize pretty much everyone does, especially monsters.) Think Jedis, kind of. Wanna move shit with your mind without casting a spell like some bitch ass looking wizard? Check. Mindrape? Check. ''Fucking Time Travel?'' Double Check. Unfortunately suffered from the fact that psionics in 2e were a horrible mess, and with a few notable exceptions, most of your powers are either incredibly niche or use clunky subsystems.
*'''[[Ranger]]s''' - Same old shit. Think Aragorn in the desert.
*'''[[Rogue]]s''' - Pretty similar to the non-Athasian kind. Attracted a Patron at level 10, aka you work for me now bitch.
*'''[[Wizard]]s''' - Two types exist in the setting, but everyone hates them both:
** [[Defiler]] - Evil mages, who suck out the life force of things. When they level up enough, they usually have an allergic reaction called dragon metamorphosis.
** [[Preserver]] - Mages who are not manly enough to steal huge amounts of life force, so they sacrifice efficiency to keep the stuff around them alive. Unfortunately for them, the commoners think all wizards are the same "technically true btw". Fortunately for them, most of their shit can be passed off as psionics. When they grow up enough to be considered bad ass they turn into the manta ray like aliens from ''Abyss''.
** [[Cerulean_Storm#Cerulean_Wizards|Cerulean Mages]] were added after the [[Prism Pentad]] novels caused the whole series to be rewritten, and are basically neutral mages who try to use the giant raging storm elemental now stranded on Athas as a battery.
** [[Necromancer]]s were retconned into the setting as wizards who draw power from the realm of the dead, which slowly turns them into undead beings. Ironically, they're actually neutral aligned, and technically even potentially good aligned because their powers don't require them to hurt the planet and undeath isn't hungering for life any worse than magic itself does.
** [[Shadow Magic|Shadow Mages]] are like Necromancers, but they draw from the [[Plane of Shadow]] instead of the Gray.

===Sorcerer-Kings===
The [[Sorcerer-King]]s were the jerks chosen by [[Rajaat]] with the deepest reservoirs of hatred (read:racists) for everything. Except halflings. Or was it humans. SPOILER! These were usually the big bad dudes that Dark Sun campaigns revolved around killing. Unfortunately, author Troy Denning killed off most of them in the series ''The Prism Pentad'', thus giving the campaign setting nothing left to live for. TSR brought out a small post-novel supplement entitled "Beyond the Prism Pentad", which also included references to a product called "Dark Sun: ''A New Age''" that was never released, to try and save what little scraps of the setting was left after [[skub|Denning's]] royal buttfuck of it all. It didn't work. As a result, TSR brought it out back and shot it while you cried in your mother's arms. When it came back for a 4E splat, this killing spree was effectively retconned under the same anti-continuity clause that Eberron held to.

Most/all Sorcerer-kings were/are in various stages of Dragon metamorphosis -- i.e. turning into a Dragon, you idiot -- as a result of their addiction to Defiling. "Real" dragons don't exist on Athas, and only the most powerful Wizard/Psionicists with the help of handy [[Necronomicon|forbidden lore]] could start on this journey to REAL ULTIMATE POWER. Side effects include deepening of voice, a bad case of scaly skin, and the desire to FUCKING KILL EVERYTHING. Which gave rise to the most stupid/common-sense ''Dark Sun'' rule ever, via the rulebook ''Dragonkings'', where a 25th level Dragon, if you were lucky/good enough to make it that far and survive a series of spells that ''had an outright chance to kill you'', WAS COMPLETELY TAKEN OVER BY THE DM UNTIL LEVEL 30. How fun is that shit. The reasoning being the Dragon entered a period of Animalistic Rage. And of course, only the DM could properly portray that shit, moron. Go sit on the couch and shut up. (Granted, it was better than giving players literal dragon-god-like power, given the tendencies of the sorts of player willing to commit the atrocities necessary to become a dragon to [[Murderhobo|steal, fuck and kill everything they see including their fellow PCs.]] Remember how all the other Dragon Kings were literally fueled by genocide?)

Originally, just one of the Dragon-Kings was an actual '''dragon''', formerly Borys of Ur-Draxa. PCs could confront him in '''[[DSR4: Valley of Dust and Fire]]''', which is a strong contender for the title of "hardest official module ever made," and which ''itself'' cautioned that it was meant for ''Dragon Kings'' parties over level 21. Wonder how those "[[Mary Sue|Prism Pentad]]" dipshits managed it... Especially since not a single one of them were even level 20 (their stats are given in "Beyond the Prism Pentad") , much less a full 5-man party of level 21+ characters.

To expand their use as a plot device, each Sorcerer-King/Queen ruled a City-State, up until they were slain by Denning like it was a bodily function:

*'''Abalach-re''' - The queen bitch of the City-State of Raam, this paranoid schizo cunt makes [[Skaven|your average Skaven]] look like Ghandi. Also universally loathed and held in contempt by both her own people and all the other Sorcerer Kings. Whether her neurotic paranoia is the result or the cause of this is a bit of a chicken-or-egg question.
*'''Andropinis''' - He had egg shaped nostrils. He wore a toga and ruled over the Greek inspired City-State of Balic. Unique for being the only Lawful Neutral sorcerer-king (All the others are listed as Lawful Evil, naturally), and for running a state that actually somewhat functions, in a democracy-turned-dictatorial-sham kind of way.
*'''Hamanu''' - Mr. Lionface. Not one of the original 13 Champions, he was the ruler of Urik and a blatant homage to Hammurabi. Evil and cruel, with his draconic transformation halted rather than reversed, but his devotion to order, justice, rationality, and his father's dream of a green and peaceful land make him one of the best of a terrible lot.
*'''Kalak''' - You know your old, shriveled, power-hungry, slave-master of a grandfather? That's this guy. Ruler of Tyr before his plan to get jacked up quick on dragonsauce was discovered and foiled by a bunch of meddling kids and one talking dog. The 4e reboot explicitly starts every game with him being overthrown and Tyr being established as a Free City, before letting the PCs see where things go from there.
*'''Kalid-Ma''' - Former Sorcerer-King of Kalidnay, currently trapped in a near-death coma in [[Ravenloft|a completely different campaign setting]] thanks to his head honchessa's cruel betrayal of everything good in her life in favor of her freaky, possessive stalker crush on him. Probably not coming back, regardless of what the deluded cultists rifling through his garbage think.
*'''Lalali-Puy''' - The hottest Sorcerer-Queen, and ruler of the barely civilized Jungle-Town of Gulg. Also one of the less-evil Sorcerer Kings by virtue of not doing much to actively hurt the people who adore her, with some liner notes specifically calling her the most likely King to make a face turn who hasn't already, though her current rule over Gulg is cemented by brutal enslavement of nature spirits, one of whom she's masquerading as.
*'''Nibenay''' - Called the Shadow King. Either he really, really hated people and being seen, or he was too stupid to cast a simple glamour to NOT MAKE HIM LOOK LIKE A DRAGON around his superstitious subjects. Ruler of the largest City-State of the same name, which was locked in a perpetual war with Gulg for some crazy strong blue balls. Or blue wood. Whatever. His templars are all female, and are forced to mate with him for the job, which is frankly par for the course for evil at this point. Even considering his hideous, part-dragon/part-man appearance.
*'''Tectuktitlay''' - He's a ladykiller, he'll rip your heart out and throw it down the fucking ziggurat. Bird like in appearance, he was the Aztec inspired ruler of Drag. Drek. Er, Draj. Smart, despite his insanity and cruelty. He indoctrinates his subjects with the idea that he was born a god and genuinely believes in his own self fabricated mythology.
*'''Oronis''' - Former Sorcerer-King of Kurn. Kinda. Oronis is a special case. He started to feel bad about... you know exterminating all the lizard-men, especially when he saw that it was all for a lie, and he and his comrades were turning the world into a ruin rather than a paradise. So, he took his vitamins, drank his milk, and managed to put the brakes on the whole "morph into a dragon through genocide" thing... and go the other direction into becoming an avangion. Kurn is dying, but it's just a facade for New Kurn now anyway, and he's withdrawn from politics to pursue further experiments into avangion-hood while leaving behind a "true" democracy. Literally the only Sorcerer-King actively trying to make his shithole of a world a better place.
*'''Daskinor''' - Kim Jong Il's Dark Sun doppelganger. Ruler of Eldaarich, this <strike>paranoid asshat</strike> omnipotent and benevolent God King keeps his city <strike>on permanent lockdown</strike> safe and protected from all the evils of Athas. Literally built massive walls to close off his city from the outside world <strike>thanks to his insanity starting to leak into the city as a whole</strike> because it is totally self-sufficient and wants for nothing the outside world has to offer. Especially not water and food.
*'''Dregoth''' - The undead dragon sorcerer-king, ruler of Giustenal. This dude got ganked by a bunch of the other Sorcerer-Kings who were tired of him bragging about the size of his <strike>cock</strike> book of spells a couple thousand years ago, but his loyal Templars brought him back as a Lich, and he's just been chilling underground unbeknownst to every else, for quite some time now. Created the [[dray]] race, which he hopes will one day completely replace humanity as the new "master race."

===Cosmology===
Athas is... ''different'' to the standard realm in the [[Great Wheel]]. Looking across various sources (most prominently "Defilers & Preservers" and "Earth, Air, Fire & Water" for Dark Sun itself) reveals that Athas is connected to only a small handful of planes; the Gray, the Black, and the [[Elemental Planes]]. Further differentiating its cosmology, whilst Athas retains connections to the four standard "True" Elemental Planes (Earth/Air/Water/Fire), it only has four Paraelemental Planes consisting of Magma, Rain, Silt and Sun.

The Gray is essentially the afterlife of Athas; a dreary, endless limbo realm of dismal mists, which serves to blockade Athas from both the [[Ethereal Plane]] proper and the [[Astral Plane]]. Depending on who you ask, it's either Athas's "Border Ethereal" or an analogue region for the Astral Plane.

The Black is analogous to the [[Plane of Shadow]], and mostly serves as a prison for Rajaat.

It's noted that Athas is unusually close to the [[Elemental Planes]], and this is, in part, why the world is so screwed up.

Athas can actually interact with the [[Great Wheel]], and be reached by [[Spelljammer]]s, but it's extremely difficult to do so - the whole thing is effectively a sealed zone, as if something trapped the entire pocket of reality inside a locked room.
* The [[Githyanki]] are known to have opened a portal to Athas and tried to invade... then they ran home with their tails between their legs and closed up the portal, before leaving behind the proverbial sign saying "Do not open this fucking door!" Athasian [[Gith]] are believed to be the degenerate remnants of githyanki stranded here as a result of the failed invasion.
* The Mists of [[Ravenloft]] can also reach into Athas and pluck victims into its embrace. There's even an Athasian [[Domain of Dread]] called "Kalid-Ma". It says something about life on Athas that being stuck in the [[Demiplane of Dread]] is actually perceived by most Athasians as a step up.
* The [[World Serpent Inn]] hosts at least one known two-way portal to Athas.

==Controversies==
As beloved as it is by the fandom, Dark Sun has... its share of base-breaking lore. Here's a list of a few major things that tend to be either loved or hated by fans of the game.

===The Halfling Conspiracy===
A lot of people are less than impressed with the revelation that [[halfling]]s were the precursor race and that Dark Sun became such a fucked up world because one psycho wanted to go back to the days when halflings (and technically thri-kreen) were the only extant race.

===Beyond the Prism Pentad===
As mentioned above, the changes of the Prism Pentad tie-in novels really messed up with the status quo of Dark Sun. Beyond killing off a bunch of Sorcerer-Kings, it also created the Cerulean Storm, an enormous perpetual rain storm wandering randomly across Athas, bringing water back to the planet but at the same time doing so with such violence that it's almost as bad as the original drought.

===Isolated Universe===
Players have debated whether the isolation of Athas from divine entities extends to dimensional travel. Hardcore survival GM'S like to keep Athas isolated to prevent players from scheming ways to import water or metal with magic while imaginative players like combining other universes into their gameplay. Depending on your GM and group of players will you see the full brutality of Athas with several of your mary sues dying or go on a classic d&d power trip.

===[[Mind Lords of the Last Sea]]===
This module, which reveals there is one last sea on Athas, is pretty controversial for various different reasons. Such as the existence of a place where a secretive bunch of psion-lords use telepathy to force people to comply with social standards, the existence of a large body of water on Athas, the fact that it retcons that [[lizardfolk]] aren't extinct (but then, ssurans were basically fireproof lizardfolk under a different name all along and nobody batted an eye at them), or the fact that it has actual telepathic dolphins and surfing rules in it.

On the other hand, some people like the idea of doing ''The Prisoner'' by way of ''Mad Max'', and the actual content isn't quite as stupid and poorly-written as its reputation suggests, with lots of discussion of how many Athasians would react to seeing the titular Last Sea when enough water to fill a bathtub is wealth beyond measure.

==3e Dark Sun==
While by [[Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition|third edition]] official support for non-[[Forgotten Realms]], non-[[Greyhawk]] settings had largely been dropped, two separate updates for Dark Sun material exist.

In a surprisingly cool move by Hasbro, fan groups were given official permission to update several [[Planescape|orphaned]] [[Spelljammer|settings]] to 3rd edition for free ([[Ravenloft|or one not so free in exchange for a check]]). In Dark Sun's case this spawned Athas dot org and its several PDFs updating the setting.

A separate update was published in [[Dragon Magazine]] #319. This one is far more divergent than the fan conversion, setting the timeline forward 300 years to restore the status quo after the Prism Pentad fuckup. This update uses the standard 3rd edition class lineup, making Templars just Clerics of their respective Dragon King instead of their own class and having [[Paladin]]s actually exist. Since the psioncs book was already needed for psionics, Half-Giant and Thri-Keen, the other races from that book have been thrown in for the hell of it. One unusual mechanical change is how it adapted the higher than average ability score generation Dark Sun used and that several of its races were already printed with [[Level Adjustment]]: The conversion decided to give ''everyone'' [[Level Adjustment]] +1, giving the non-LA races (like [[Human]]) extra stuff to bring them up to LA +1.

The Dragon version of Dark Sun was accompanied by two articles in [[Dungeon Magazine]] #110 and #111; the former provides the "official" 'Dark Su 3.5 DM's Guide', with a basic run down of the setting's lore as well as 20 monsters updated to 3rd edition, whilst the latter provided a second batch of monsters.

==4e Dark Sun==
Surprisingly, when Dark Sun made it into 4th edition, it was welcomed with great warmth and enthusiasm. This might be because WoTC had learned from the mistakes of Forgotten Realms and so whilst there were changes to 4e, none of them were as setting-breaking as the Spellplague, and many actually regarded these changes as being for the better.

What changed? Well...

'''Cosmology''': Athas is now a world where, during the [[Dawn War]], the [[Archomental|Primordials]] won and killed the [[God]]s. The [[Elemental Chaos]] replaces the [[Elemental Planes]]. The Gray is still around, and is the local name for the [[Shadowfell]], but the Black isn't mentioned. If one makes it through the Gray into the [[Astral Sea]], it's empty; the Gods are dead, their halls are abandoned, and there's nothing but ancient celestial ruins and cosmic battlefields to scavenge through. The [[Feywild]] exists, but has been almost completely destroyed by defiling and its remaining pockets are zealously guarded by the Eladrin. The moons of Ral and Guthay are rich, verdant worlds in their own right, according to astrologers, but beyond the rumored existence of unpredictable "moongates" that allow access to them, nothing more is mentioned.

'''Races''': [[Half-Giant]]s lost their ADHD and are now a reflavoring of [[Goliath]]s, mechanically. [[Dray]] went from an obscure race hidden in one module to being mentioned in the core, although mechanically they're just reskinned [[Dragonborn]]. [[Eladrin]] and [[Tiefling]]s are in the setting now, as the bitter survivors of the nearly-destroyed [[Feywild]] and fiend-worshipping cannibal raiders from the depths of the wastelands respectively. A [[Dragon Magazine]] article states that there are [[Genasi]] on Athas who were originally created to rule the mortal races for the Primordials after they fucked off, but they screwed up so badly they were overthrown and then Rajaat came along. Some races (and horses) previously stated to be extinct are present.

'''Classes''': All Divine classes are officially Not Present Here, although there is a sidebar for being The Last Cleric In The World if you really must. [[Shaman]]s, [[Ardent]]s, [[Bard]]s and [[Warlord]]s take up the healer's niche. A new pair of themes, the Elemental Cleric and the Primal Guardian, fill the niches of the Elemental Cleric and the Athasian Druid from AD&D. Defiling is no longer a variant [[Wizard]], but a power that any Arcane caster can risk using. [[Templar]]s went from their own class to being your choice of either a theme or a subclass for the [[Warlock]].

'''History''': The halflings as precursors is no longer explicit fact.

'''Timeline Reset''': The "default setting" in Dark Sun is now just after the Sorcerer-King of Tyr was assassinated by unknown parties. There is NO metaplot, no timeline advancements, nothing; officially, all Dark Sun 4e material is set at this starting point and it's up to the individual DM to decide what, if anything, has happened since Kalak was killed. And there was Much Rejoicing.

==Plot Holes==
Hey, you remember that bit up at the top where Elemental Shamans summon water elementals for people to drink, since there's (supposed to be) no water left on the planet? Well the thing is, assuming everyone's bladders and sweat glands are functioning properly, this by itself should logically be enough to gradually repair Athas.

That said, as bodies of water would gradually start to form and grow more accessible (and these would be bodies of actual ''water'', not urine and sweat, as there's a reason Earth's oceans are still composed of water and not prehistoric dinosaur urine), there'd be less and less reason to keep an elemental-summoning shaman around. "Why should I pay that shaman for a glass when I can walk to the lake for free?" So the rate of repair would get slower and slower as time went on, possibly completely plateauing before the job was finished.

Of course plugging this hole is as simple as positing a route for water to be lost from the environment. Maybe sandtrout are sequestering it underground. Maybe the Primordials are taking some to be dicks. Maybe water from elementals eventually drifts back to the Elemental Chaos.

A tougher plot hole to work out is, how has no one figured out that full body robes are much better protection in the desert than going borderline-naked? Do the locals all have inherited UV protection? Does the sun not shine in the UV spectrum so sunstroke isn’t a thing? <strike>Should we even care since amazon girls in bikini armor is great?</strike> {{BLAM|HERESY!'''*BLAM*'''}} <br>

==External links==
[http://darksun.wikia.com/ Darksun Wiki] - <strike>a wiki almost as empty as this one</strike> {{BLAM|HERESY!'''*BLAM*'''}} <br>
[http://athas.org Athas.org] - conversion for 3.5, <strike>scheduled to be complete just after 5e comes out.</strike> Sweet shit, it's actually finished!

{{D&D-Settings}}

[[Category:Dark Sun]]

Araby

2023-02-24T09:12:33Z

2605:BA00:6208:64B:8975:2E52:3C8:F548: /* Relations */

{{Whfb-stub}}
{{Oldschool}}
[[File:Araby Map.jpg|right|300px]]
'''Araby''' was an area in the [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Warhammer World]] based roughly on the medieval Middle East, or at least how the average brit imagines it. The Arabyans had scimitars and jezzail muskets and used them to fight back those [[Tomb Kings|Tomb King]] guys when they came about uninvited stirring shit up. Much like [[Kislev]], they had an army all the way back in [[Warmaster]], which included flying carpets and magicians who could summon [[Genie|djinni]]. Oh and they had [[Awesome|Elephant Cavalry]]. Despite having a lot of potential when it came to introducing a new and unique faction with a slightly different tone to the usual semi-european setting, GeeDubs did, their favourite past time; nothing.

In [[Total War: Warhammer II]], [[RAGE|no Arabyan faction or subfaction showed up]], leaving the empty lands of Araby to be contested between Bretonnians to the west, Dwarfs to the west and southeast, and Tomb Kings to the east. The only possible Arabyan character in the game is Khaled Al-Muntasir, who rules the Lahmian Sisterhood in the Dark Lands. He was an Arabyan Vampire in lore (heavily implied to be the original identity of Mannfred von Carstein), and even then he is represented by a typical Vampire lord.

== History ==
=== Early history ===
Two thousand years before the reign of Sigmar, Mullah Aklan'd of the island of Fyrus led a war against the High Elves, who raided his people's ports and cities. He became the founder of Araby as a nation, being its first Great Sultan. Then, Araby had to deal with later assaults by Nehekhara, [[Arkhan the Black]], and the Skaven.

Centuries later, Ibn Jellaba went south to explore the Lizardmen of Zlatan, and returned as a very wealthy man after establishing the first trade agreement with humans and Lizardmen.

Araby was later doomed to Chaos corruption, no thanks to a cultist of Tzeentch, Mahik al'Rak, who influenced Arabyan sorcerers to inadvertantly serve Tzeentch after being possessed by a Lord of Change.

=== Sultan Jaffar ===
Araby’s most prominent appearance is little lore than a sidestory in [[Bretonnia]]n history, serving as the impetus of their great crusade. Long story short, the evil sorcerer Jaffar unified Araby as one of its Great Sultans, with his pacts with the Djinn devolving into service to Kairos Fateweaver. He got tricked by the [[Skaven]] into believing that Estalia was going to invade, and he launched a “pre-emptive” attack, crushing and enslaving Estalia as its virtually powerless to stop the invaders. Bretonnia, meanwhile, is deeply concerned by the horrific injustice happening right next door, and proceeds to beat the shit out of Araby all the way back to the desert until the Vizier is killed and the once-proud nation is a shadow of its former self. Those who left home brought with them booty, others decided to vassalize some of the remaining city-states. And Araby has been the punching bag of both Bretonnia and the Tomb Kings ever since.

Essentially an easy way for Bretonnia fans to enjoy their Deus Vult without having to worry about arguably being the baddies. If this was a good idea is debatable, though it would have made a pretty cool starter set for a new edition, introducing Araby in the process. Alas it would not come to pass, for such a deed would have required a bit of imagination, never one of GeeDubs strong suits.

This very original, never before seen storyline may or may not be because GeeDubs, being Brits, are still salty at having lost the crusades. Particularly the eighth and ninth, where an English king actually participated.

=== So much lost potential ===

Araby also used to be part of the Nehekharan Empire and managed to largely avoid the Necromantic corruption that overtook the rest of the Empire, having been able to have staved off Nagash and Arkhan for nearly a 1000 years. This would arguably make them the only true successors of Nehekharan civilisation as a result. A more intelligent writer than those at GW would perhaps explore this avenue, perhaps depicting Arabyans reconquering some of the old Nehekharan cities from the Tomb Kings or dealing amicably with the more rationally minded undead, or perhaps clashing with Settra the Imperishable over who is the true inheritor of the greatness of the oldest human civilisation on the planet, but no, this apparently was too much to ask for.

=== Future ===
The northern coast of Araby was invaded by Luthor Harkon and his Vampire Coast pirates.

Araby, like Estalia, Tilea, and the other nations to the north, was ruined by the massive Skaven invasions during the End Times.

== Geography and Politics ==
Unsurprisingly, Araby is mostly a vast desert with almost no life in the interior. Most of the cities are situated in the north where rivers from the Atalan Mountains provides fertile soil and the seashores allows the Arabyans dominate trade with other countries, while desert inland territories are inhabited by nomads. Araby only borders [[Nehekhara]] to the east and [[Southlands]] to the south (duh).

The country is nominally ruled by Great Sultan from the city Al-Haikk, but he really only controls the capital (so, like in real life, or the Empire [[Elector Count|further in the north]]), with other Sheikhs, Emirs and Princes being pretty independent. Same goes for nomadic tribes. Here is the list of notable cities:

* '''Al-Haikk''' - as it was said earlier, the nominal capital of Araby, where Great Sultan resides.
* '''Copher''' - the most independent city, known for its wizards and pirates that are pain in the ass for the Old Worlders.
* '''Djambiya''' - only notable for being the closest one to the realm of undead Egyptians.
* '''Sorcerer's Islands''' - not a city, but an archipelago that resembles Azores, which is situated to the west of Araby. Here be College of Sorcerers.
* '''Lashiek''' - Arabyan fleet is located here.
* '''Sanaá''' - is only interesting as a birthplace of Abdul Alhazred aka [[Games Workshop|GW's]] most shameless [[Lovecraft]] rip-off.
* '''Teshert''' - Arabyan colony in [[Badlands]] that guards the only passable road between the Sultanate and [[Border Princes]].
* '''Bel-Aliad''' - previous capital that was completely destroyed by [[Arkhan the Black]] more than three thousand years ago.
* '''Sudenburg''' - An Imperial Colony in the Southwest.
*'''Ka-Sabar''' - The southernmost city in Araby, once Nehekharan. Is occasionally attacked by angry Tomb Kings or suffers raids by Forest Goblins and Apemen from the Southlands directly to the south. The inhabitants are mostly black Southlanders, who adopted Arabyan culture.

== Religion==
Arabyan religion has generally been left vague. (Thankfully) Nothing at all to do with contemporary Islamic Extremism, since their beliefs and culture were vaguely described in the 90s when they were first introduced. It should be noted that Araby's inclusion in Bretonnian lore at that point was more due to a desire to satirise the then ongoing First Gulf War, meaning that they were intended as a parody of Saddam Hussein's secular Iraqi government, which at the time was attempting to invade Kuwait, rather than a typical West-vs-Islam screed (yes, this would essentially make Bretonnia George H.W. Bush's America). This has not stopped fans from theorising that they are a society of strict monotheists, however, based off of a line from the Old World Bestiary.

Given the fact that they are descended from the Nehekharans, it's probably more logical to assume that they worship those gods.

Another belief in Araby is a sect formed by Mullah Aklan'd, who claimed to venerate deities older than the Nehekharan gods. He led an army of Arabyans against the High Elves, being his people's first Great Sultan. Among his followers were the "Death Commandos", who guard the Great Sacred Books of Mullah Aklan'd, which describe his accounts about Araby's history, society, government, and warfare, and the secrets of St'oec.

=== Djinn-worship and the risk of Chaos ===
Nathan Long implies in ''The Two Crowns of Ras Karim'' that Arabyans worship Djinns as their gods, by going to temples to leave offerings to them at sunset. In the lore, Djinns are described as some sort of [[Daemons of Chaos|Chaos Daemons]] ... which would make Araby a Chaos-aligned nation, in spite of the prohibition of ''direct'' worship of the Chaos Gods.

Even worse was that all this Chaos corruption was stuck by Mahik al'Rak, an insane sorcerer who built the Portal of Twilight in the ruins of Bel Aliad. His influence of other Arabyan sorcerers into the service of Tzeentch made sure that the land will never be free from Chaos corruption.

One tragic result of Arabyan obsession of Djinn was Jaffar, a sorcerer who united Araby as its Sultan to wage war on the Old World, up to the point that he even made a pact with [[Kairos Fateweaver]], a Daemon of Tzeentch!

In a Gotrek & Felix novel, it was written by good ol' Bill King that a 'Prophet of Law' had arisen in Araby who was dedicated to destroying all influences of Chaos, and this entailed genociding all non-human races. The Prophet of Law emerged long after Sultan Jaffar's misrule and dark pacts, but not even his attempted purge of Araby would stop the inevitable [[The End Times|ruin of it and the Warhammer world]]. Not that it would have, anyways, as that would have been just as evil, slaying all nonhumans would include the Dwarfs, Halflings, and Elves, and would have made the Arabyans just as evil as the Imperium of Man is when it destroys a non-Chaos Abhuman or Xenos civilization which means no harm to it.

== Society ==
Insofar as culture and society goes, Araby has been fairly indecisively written. The only thing that's completely clear regarding them is their consummate professionalism in matters of trade and economics. They vie with Cathay for overland spice trade routes that go through the Southlands, and have generally emerged better off from those confrontations than the Cathayans have. Some writers, like the great Rick Priestley, when he made an Arabyan armylist for Warmaster, described the Arabyans much akin to the Islamic World from the 8th - 16th centuries, i.e.: significantly ahead of the Old World insofar as medicine in particular and other scientific disciplines in general were concerned. Though they typically were behind insofar as adopting gunpowder was concerned however, but if you know anything about the efficacy of gunpowder in the middle ages, you'd also realise that this isn't particularly a mark of backwardness. On the other hand, Arabyans were also described as notorious slavers, who had contacts with Norscans (but then again, the Norscans sell slaves to the Kislevites also) and also had decadent, opulent courts.

This disconnect was later justified by writers stating that the Arabyans were a disaggregated society ruled by many Emirs, Sheikhs, and Sultans, with some of them being Orientalist nightmares, while others were more or less competent rulers who governed their domains justly and with respect for the Arts and Sciences. So in a way, Araby is like the decentralised Empire of Man and Kislev to the north: like its real-life development, its potential as a great civilisation to rival its northern counterparts was hampered and stifled by corrupt rulers who limited their more-advanced neighbours from improving their whole nation and its peoples.

Because both GW designers and independent fan-writers are both neither as well-informed on historical matters as either thinks to be, most Arabyan armylists and lore, although ostensibly written to evoke the Arabs of the 7-9th centuries, actually ends up invoking the Ottoman Empire, which was Turkic (Warhammer already HAVING analogs for the Turks and Tatars). The actual armies of the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphates still had had a lot of Greek and Roman influence in their equipment, with a preference for spear formations supported by archer auxiliaries, although with more mail armor.

Along the southern borders, the local Southlanders were influenced by Arabyan culture, and they also intermarried with local Arabyans, resulting in a large mixed population.

== Relations ==
* ''' The Empire''' - While the empires knightly orders are wary of arabyan traders the imperial colony of Sudenburg inside the Gulf of Medes has become a very important enclave for business dealing with the rest of the Old World.

* '''Bretonnia''' - Some Bretonnian Nobles chose to remain in Araby as lords of newly conquered lands their usual treatment of peasants led to distrust and hatred between them and their arabyan vassals. However Warriors such as [[Repanse de Lyonesse|Repanse]] & [[The Red Duke|el Syf]] have earned the respect of arabyans.

* '''Estalia''' - Most Estalians remember the arabyan invasion of their lands with dread but they have undeniably been influenced by Araby leading to mixed heritage families.

* ''' Tilea''' - While at the time of invasion Tileans fought against araby the city states are an important trade partner of Araby and have friendly relations with modern arabyans. The Arabyans love to trade with the Tilean merchants, with whom they have an excellent relationship. In Copher, the City of Spices, there is now a Tilean neighborhood.

* '''Marienburg''' - They do not dominate trade in Araby mostly because of the emirs, sheikhs and caliphs distrust of Marienburg's "government by usury". In contrast adventurous Arabyan traders use Marienburg as a place to sell rare spices and develop their careers thus over the centuries a small but thriving Arabyan community has grown in Marienburg.

* '''Vampires''' - While [[Abhorash|Abhorash]] trained arabyan tribes to defend against desert raiders his heroic efforts are sadly surpassed by [[Mannfred von Carstein|Khaled al-Muntasir]] being a traitorous wretch and reviving [[Neferata|neferata]] causing a long civil war that plagued the nation. In Araby, knowledge of necromancy is not suppressed, and so they do not suffer from the ignorance that allows Vampires to gain footholds amongst them as in the Empire. Only the Blood Dragons have a presence there, and that is in the western desert.

* ''' The Southlands ''' - The Southlanders who live along the border of Araby were influenced by Arabyan culture, and they also intermarried with Arabyans. Aside from these, much of their cultures were unknown, but presumably primitive due to their isolation these tribes suffered raids by slavers. In contrast the Apemen are mentioned to occasionally go north into the savannahs surrounding the southernmost city of Araby, Ka-Sabar, to make raids.

* '''Nehekhara''' - Most arabyans are terrified of the undead some venture into the land of the dead to seek the knowledge of their ancestors former masters but few return alive.

== Notable Characters ==

* '''Abdul Ben Raschid''' - Arabyan Prince of the Ka-Sabar Sultanate. Famous for capturing some Nagash manuscripts.
* '''Al Muktar''' - Born Werner Glook of Marienburg he became the leader of a band of [[Dogs of War|Dogs of War mercenaries]].
* '''Fatandira''' - She served as a soldier and mercenary, eventually becoming one of the many [[Border Princes|border princes]].
* '''Golden Magus''' - Calls himself the "Sultan of the Seas", due to his absurd wealth he is also secretly a tzeentchian sorcerer.
* '''Ibn Jellaba''' - Trader of Araby he tried opening a trade route into the Southlands and met the lizardmen of Zlatlan.
* '''[[Mannfred von Carstein|Khaled al-Muntasir]]''' - A traitor even before becoming a vampire, the worst thing to come from Araby.
* '''Khar-mel the Djinn''' - A female genie armed with a scimitar, her apparitions are usually a cloud of dust or fire.
* '''Mehmed-bey''' - One of Jaffar's top generals, he is widely believed to have been slain in combat by the Red Duke.
* '''Suliman the Saracen''' - Friend of Baron Odo of Outremer they fought in opposite sides but became best bro's later.
* '''Sultan Jaffar''' - The tyrant king of Araby, a sorcerer & a slaver still less evil than Khaled for [[End Times|obvious reasons]].
* '''Shihab Ibn Alim''' - Arabyan sorcerer in the service of the Sultan of Copher he can control genies.

== Local Flora and Fauna ==
Older lore stated a Minor Chaos God named Atagro's rise to godhood involved having to slay a Sandworm like something out of Frank Herbert's "Dune" within the depths of the deserts of Araby at the behest of another Minor Chaos God named Shagraunt. Arabyan Horses are a native breed, and ostriches may be found here, presumably in the savannah closer to the jungles of the Southlands. Panthers apparently live in the area near the Southlands, too. Camels and War Elephants have been mentioned, too.

== Collecting Araby ==
While interest in Araby as a faction is sadly middeling, there are some fan-made codexes out there, most of them centered around the expected middle eastern/north African fare. Historical miniatures like Victrix African War Elephant and Numidian Cavalry aswell as GBPs Arab cavalry sets should prove treasure troves for the aspiring collector of Araby. In the future there may be some hope for GeeDubs to revive Araby in their upcoming Warhammer: The Old World game, <s>though such a thing remains doubtful as [[ChapterHouse Studios|they're not exactly easy to trademark]]</s> Recently there was apparently a tweet by a Creative Assembly designer where he posted some Arabyan artwork ostensibly developed in-house by the Old World team which he promptly deleted. Given recent developments that Cathay will be a launch race both in Total War: Warhammer III and in Warhammer: The Old World, the possibility that Araby will once again see the light of the day has become more significant.

== "Controversy" ==

The fantastic portrayal of Arabyans is theorized as one of the reasons for the lack of more recent araby related content but in a setting where [[Sylvania|"totally not romanians"]] are literal vampires and the [[Norsca|Norse]] are demon worshipping, mass murdering, backwards cavemen, and [[Brettonia|Frangland has a 90% tax rate]], subtlety is a rare thing to ask for.

==The Death(?) of Araby==
In 2021, it was officially stated by Creative Assembly designers that there were no plans to add Araby to Total Warhammer, nor were there ever likely to be plans to do so. It was even stated that Games Workshop itself wanted to stay as far away from Araby as possible with its new tabletop game releases, meaning that the faction has effectively come as close as you can get to being [[squatted]] without actively being killed off in the lore. With how [[Skub|contentious]] discussions about the Middle East and Islam have been these past two decades, GW is probably trying their best to sidestep the issues presented with the old lore short of retconning it altogether. In order to prevent offending their audience they threw Araby into the closet [[Derp|making southern realms fans even more pissed off]].

Fans immediately erupted in protest at this news, and the [[skub]] about why Games Workshop would do this to one of the more requested and actually fleshed-out human factions...

Which turned out to be (only partially) bullshit.

New WFRP book, which mainly deals with knightly orders, adds a little bit more information about Araby. First of all, it mentions enigmatic Black Scimitar Guard as a thing that existed at least during the Crusades, which may be a new Tzar Guard-ish type of unit in... something. While the references are quite small, and Roleplay is known to be essentially a lore dump to which GW writers add some ideas that can be potentially brought to Old World or TWW3, it is still some glimmer of hope.

Now, we can only wait...

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Arabyan People.png|Arabyans.
Orfeo and Alkadi Nasreen.jpg
</gallery>

==Links==
* [[Warhammer_Army_Project/Araby|Arabyan fandex]]

{{Regions and areas of the Old World}}

Araby

2023-02-24T09:11:46Z

2605:BA00:6208:64B:8975:2E52:3C8:F548: /* Relations */

{{Whfb-stub}}
{{Oldschool}}
[[File:Araby Map.jpg|right|300px]]
'''Araby''' was an area in the [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Warhammer World]] based roughly on the medieval Middle East, or at least how the average brit imagines it. The Arabyans had scimitars and jezzail muskets and used them to fight back those [[Tomb Kings|Tomb King]] guys when they came about uninvited stirring shit up. Much like [[Kislev]], they had an army all the way back in [[Warmaster]], which included flying carpets and magicians who could summon [[Genie|djinni]]. Oh and they had [[Awesome|Elephant Cavalry]]. Despite having a lot of potential when it came to introducing a new and unique faction with a slightly different tone to the usual semi-european setting, GeeDubs did, their favourite past time; nothing.

In [[Total War: Warhammer II]], [[RAGE|no Arabyan faction or subfaction showed up]], leaving the empty lands of Araby to be contested between Bretonnians to the west, Dwarfs to the west and southeast, and Tomb Kings to the east. The only possible Arabyan character in the game is Khaled Al-Muntasir, who rules the Lahmian Sisterhood in the Dark Lands. He was an Arabyan Vampire in lore (heavily implied to be the original identity of Mannfred von Carstein), and even then he is represented by a typical Vampire lord.

== History ==
=== Early history ===
Two thousand years before the reign of Sigmar, Mullah Aklan'd of the island of Fyrus led a war against the High Elves, who raided his people's ports and cities. He became the founder of Araby as a nation, being its first Great Sultan. Then, Araby had to deal with later assaults by Nehekhara, [[Arkhan the Black]], and the Skaven.

Centuries later, Ibn Jellaba went south to explore the Lizardmen of Zlatan, and returned as a very wealthy man after establishing the first trade agreement with humans and Lizardmen.

Araby was later doomed to Chaos corruption, no thanks to a cultist of Tzeentch, Mahik al'Rak, who influenced Arabyan sorcerers to inadvertantly serve Tzeentch after being possessed by a Lord of Change.

=== Sultan Jaffar ===
Araby’s most prominent appearance is little lore than a sidestory in [[Bretonnia]]n history, serving as the impetus of their great crusade. Long story short, the evil sorcerer Jaffar unified Araby as one of its Great Sultans, with his pacts with the Djinn devolving into service to Kairos Fateweaver. He got tricked by the [[Skaven]] into believing that Estalia was going to invade, and he launched a “pre-emptive” attack, crushing and enslaving Estalia as its virtually powerless to stop the invaders. Bretonnia, meanwhile, is deeply concerned by the horrific injustice happening right next door, and proceeds to beat the shit out of Araby all the way back to the desert until the Vizier is killed and the once-proud nation is a shadow of its former self. Those who left home brought with them booty, others decided to vassalize some of the remaining city-states. And Araby has been the punching bag of both Bretonnia and the Tomb Kings ever since.

Essentially an easy way for Bretonnia fans to enjoy their Deus Vult without having to worry about arguably being the baddies. If this was a good idea is debatable, though it would have made a pretty cool starter set for a new edition, introducing Araby in the process. Alas it would not come to pass, for such a deed would have required a bit of imagination, never one of GeeDubs strong suits.

This very original, never before seen storyline may or may not be because GeeDubs, being Brits, are still salty at having lost the crusades. Particularly the eighth and ninth, where an English king actually participated.

=== So much lost potential ===

Araby also used to be part of the Nehekharan Empire and managed to largely avoid the Necromantic corruption that overtook the rest of the Empire, having been able to have staved off Nagash and Arkhan for nearly a 1000 years. This would arguably make them the only true successors of Nehekharan civilisation as a result. A more intelligent writer than those at GW would perhaps explore this avenue, perhaps depicting Arabyans reconquering some of the old Nehekharan cities from the Tomb Kings or dealing amicably with the more rationally minded undead, or perhaps clashing with Settra the Imperishable over who is the true inheritor of the greatness of the oldest human civilisation on the planet, but no, this apparently was too much to ask for.

=== Future ===
The northern coast of Araby was invaded by Luthor Harkon and his Vampire Coast pirates.

Araby, like Estalia, Tilea, and the other nations to the north, was ruined by the massive Skaven invasions during the End Times.

== Geography and Politics ==
Unsurprisingly, Araby is mostly a vast desert with almost no life in the interior. Most of the cities are situated in the north where rivers from the Atalan Mountains provides fertile soil and the seashores allows the Arabyans dominate trade with other countries, while desert inland territories are inhabited by nomads. Araby only borders [[Nehekhara]] to the east and [[Southlands]] to the south (duh).

The country is nominally ruled by Great Sultan from the city Al-Haikk, but he really only controls the capital (so, like in real life, or the Empire [[Elector Count|further in the north]]), with other Sheikhs, Emirs and Princes being pretty independent. Same goes for nomadic tribes. Here is the list of notable cities:

* '''Al-Haikk''' - as it was said earlier, the nominal capital of Araby, where Great Sultan resides.
* '''Copher''' - the most independent city, known for its wizards and pirates that are pain in the ass for the Old Worlders.
* '''Djambiya''' - only notable for being the closest one to the realm of undead Egyptians.
* '''Sorcerer's Islands''' - not a city, but an archipelago that resembles Azores, which is situated to the west of Araby. Here be College of Sorcerers.
* '''Lashiek''' - Arabyan fleet is located here.
* '''Sanaá''' - is only interesting as a birthplace of Abdul Alhazred aka [[Games Workshop|GW's]] most shameless [[Lovecraft]] rip-off.
* '''Teshert''' - Arabyan colony in [[Badlands]] that guards the only passable road between the Sultanate and [[Border Princes]].
* '''Bel-Aliad''' - previous capital that was completely destroyed by [[Arkhan the Black]] more than three thousand years ago.
* '''Sudenburg''' - An Imperial Colony in the Southwest.
*'''Ka-Sabar''' - The southernmost city in Araby, once Nehekharan. Is occasionally attacked by angry Tomb Kings or suffers raids by Forest Goblins and Apemen from the Southlands directly to the south. The inhabitants are mostly black Southlanders, who adopted Arabyan culture.

== Religion==
Arabyan religion has generally been left vague. (Thankfully) Nothing at all to do with contemporary Islamic Extremism, since their beliefs and culture were vaguely described in the 90s when they were first introduced. It should be noted that Araby's inclusion in Bretonnian lore at that point was more due to a desire to satirise the then ongoing First Gulf War, meaning that they were intended as a parody of Saddam Hussein's secular Iraqi government, which at the time was attempting to invade Kuwait, rather than a typical West-vs-Islam screed (yes, this would essentially make Bretonnia George H.W. Bush's America). This has not stopped fans from theorising that they are a society of strict monotheists, however, based off of a line from the Old World Bestiary.

Given the fact that they are descended from the Nehekharans, it's probably more logical to assume that they worship those gods.

Another belief in Araby is a sect formed by Mullah Aklan'd, who claimed to venerate deities older than the Nehekharan gods. He led an army of Arabyans against the High Elves, being his people's first Great Sultan. Among his followers were the "Death Commandos", who guard the Great Sacred Books of Mullah Aklan'd, which describe his accounts about Araby's history, society, government, and warfare, and the secrets of St'oec.

=== Djinn-worship and the risk of Chaos ===
Nathan Long implies in ''The Two Crowns of Ras Karim'' that Arabyans worship Djinns as their gods, by going to temples to leave offerings to them at sunset. In the lore, Djinns are described as some sort of [[Daemons of Chaos|Chaos Daemons]] ... which would make Araby a Chaos-aligned nation, in spite of the prohibition of ''direct'' worship of the Chaos Gods.

Even worse was that all this Chaos corruption was stuck by Mahik al'Rak, an insane sorcerer who built the Portal of Twilight in the ruins of Bel Aliad. His influence of other Arabyan sorcerers into the service of Tzeentch made sure that the land will never be free from Chaos corruption.

One tragic result of Arabyan obsession of Djinn was Jaffar, a sorcerer who united Araby as its Sultan to wage war on the Old World, up to the point that he even made a pact with [[Kairos Fateweaver]], a Daemon of Tzeentch!

In a Gotrek & Felix novel, it was written by good ol' Bill King that a 'Prophet of Law' had arisen in Araby who was dedicated to destroying all influences of Chaos, and this entailed genociding all non-human races. The Prophet of Law emerged long after Sultan Jaffar's misrule and dark pacts, but not even his attempted purge of Araby would stop the inevitable [[The End Times|ruin of it and the Warhammer world]]. Not that it would have, anyways, as that would have been just as evil, slaying all nonhumans would include the Dwarfs, Halflings, and Elves, and would have made the Arabyans just as evil as the Imperium of Man is when it destroys a non-Chaos Abhuman or Xenos civilization which means no harm to it.

== Society ==
Insofar as culture and society goes, Araby has been fairly indecisively written. The only thing that's completely clear regarding them is their consummate professionalism in matters of trade and economics. They vie with Cathay for overland spice trade routes that go through the Southlands, and have generally emerged better off from those confrontations than the Cathayans have. Some writers, like the great Rick Priestley, when he made an Arabyan armylist for Warmaster, described the Arabyans much akin to the Islamic World from the 8th - 16th centuries, i.e.: significantly ahead of the Old World insofar as medicine in particular and other scientific disciplines in general were concerned. Though they typically were behind insofar as adopting gunpowder was concerned however, but if you know anything about the efficacy of gunpowder in the middle ages, you'd also realise that this isn't particularly a mark of backwardness. On the other hand, Arabyans were also described as notorious slavers, who had contacts with Norscans (but then again, the Norscans sell slaves to the Kislevites also) and also had decadent, opulent courts.

This disconnect was later justified by writers stating that the Arabyans were a disaggregated society ruled by many Emirs, Sheikhs, and Sultans, with some of them being Orientalist nightmares, while others were more or less competent rulers who governed their domains justly and with respect for the Arts and Sciences. So in a way, Araby is like the decentralised Empire of Man and Kislev to the north: like its real-life development, its potential as a great civilisation to rival its northern counterparts was hampered and stifled by corrupt rulers who limited their more-advanced neighbours from improving their whole nation and its peoples.

Because both GW designers and independent fan-writers are both neither as well-informed on historical matters as either thinks to be, most Arabyan armylists and lore, although ostensibly written to evoke the Arabs of the 7-9th centuries, actually ends up invoking the Ottoman Empire, which was Turkic (Warhammer already HAVING analogs for the Turks and Tatars). The actual armies of the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphates still had had a lot of Greek and Roman influence in their equipment, with a preference for spear formations supported by archer auxiliaries, although with more mail armor.

Along the southern borders, the local Southlanders were influenced by Arabyan culture, and they also intermarried with local Arabyans, resulting in a large mixed population.

== Relations ==
* ''' The Empire''' - While the empires knightly orders are wary of arabyan traders the imperial colony of Sudenburg inside the Gulf of Medes has become a very important enclave for business dealing with the rest of the Old World.

* '''Bretonnia''' - Some Bretonnian Nobles chose to remain in Araby as lords of newly conquered lands their usual treatment of peasants led to distrust and hatred between them and their arabyan vassals. However Warriors such as [[Repanse de Lyonesse|Repanse]] & [[The Red Duke|el Syf]] have earned the respect of arabyans.

* '''Estalia''' - Most Estalians remember the arabyan invasion of their lands with dread but they have undeniably been influenced by Araby leading to mixed heritage families.

* ''' Tilea''' - While at the time of invasion Tileans fought against araby the city states are an important trade partner of Araby and have friendly relations with modern arabyans. The Arabyans love to trade with the Tilean merchants, with whom they have an excellent relationship. In Copher, the City of Spices, there is now a Tilean neighborhood.

* '''Marienburg''' - They do not dominate trade in Araby mostly because of the emirs, sheikhs and caliphs distrust of Marienburg's "government by usury". In contrast adventurous Arabyan traders use Marienburg as a place to sell rare spices and develop their careers thus over the centuries a small but thriving Arabyan community has grown in Marienburg.

* '''Vampires''' - While [[Abhorash|Abhorash]] trained arabyan tribes to defend against desert raiders his heroic efforts are sadly surpassed by [[Mannfred von Carstein|Khaled al-Muntasir]] being a traitorous wretch and reviving [[Neferata|neferata]] causing a long civil war that plagued the nation. In Araby, knowledge of necromancy is not suppressed, and so they do not suffer from the ignorance that allows Vampires to gain footholds amongst them as in the Empire. Only the Blood Dragons have a presence there, and that is in the western desert.

* ''' The Southlands ''' - The Southlanders who live along the border of Araby were influenced by Arabyan culture, and they also intermarried with Arabyans. Aside from these, much of their cultures were unknown, but presumably primitive due to their isolation these tribes suffered raids by slavers in contrast the Apemen are mentioned as occasionally going north into the savannahs surrounding the southernmost city of Araby, Ka-Sabar, to make raids.

* '''Nehekhara''' - Most arabyans are terrified of the undead some venture into the land of the dead to seek the knowledge of their ancestors former masters but few return alive.

== Notable Characters ==

* '''Abdul Ben Raschid''' - Arabyan Prince of the Ka-Sabar Sultanate. Famous for capturing some Nagash manuscripts.
* '''Al Muktar''' - Born Werner Glook of Marienburg he became the leader of a band of [[Dogs of War|Dogs of War mercenaries]].
* '''Fatandira''' - She served as a soldier and mercenary, eventually becoming one of the many [[Border Princes|border princes]].
* '''Golden Magus''' - Calls himself the "Sultan of the Seas", due to his absurd wealth he is also secretly a tzeentchian sorcerer.
* '''Ibn Jellaba''' - Trader of Araby he tried opening a trade route into the Southlands and met the lizardmen of Zlatlan.
* '''[[Mannfred von Carstein|Khaled al-Muntasir]]''' - A traitor even before becoming a vampire, the worst thing to come from Araby.
* '''Khar-mel the Djinn''' - A female genie armed with a scimitar, her apparitions are usually a cloud of dust or fire.
* '''Mehmed-bey''' - One of Jaffar's top generals, he is widely believed to have been slain in combat by the Red Duke.
* '''Suliman the Saracen''' - Friend of Baron Odo of Outremer they fought in opposite sides but became best bro's later.
* '''Sultan Jaffar''' - The tyrant king of Araby, a sorcerer & a slaver still less evil than Khaled for [[End Times|obvious reasons]].
* '''Shihab Ibn Alim''' - Arabyan sorcerer in the service of the Sultan of Copher he can control genies.

== Local Flora and Fauna ==
Older lore stated a Minor Chaos God named Atagro's rise to godhood involved having to slay a Sandworm like something out of Frank Herbert's "Dune" within the depths of the deserts of Araby at the behest of another Minor Chaos God named Shagraunt. Arabyan Horses are a native breed, and ostriches may be found here, presumably in the savannah closer to the jungles of the Southlands. Panthers apparently live in the area near the Southlands, too. Camels and War Elephants have been mentioned, too.

== Collecting Araby ==
While interest in Araby as a faction is sadly middeling, there are some fan-made codexes out there, most of them centered around the expected middle eastern/north African fare. Historical miniatures like Victrix African War Elephant and Numidian Cavalry aswell as GBPs Arab cavalry sets should prove treasure troves for the aspiring collector of Araby. In the future there may be some hope for GeeDubs to revive Araby in their upcoming Warhammer: The Old World game, <s>though such a thing remains doubtful as [[ChapterHouse Studios|they're not exactly easy to trademark]]</s> Recently there was apparently a tweet by a Creative Assembly designer where he posted some Arabyan artwork ostensibly developed in-house by the Old World team which he promptly deleted. Given recent developments that Cathay will be a launch race both in Total War: Warhammer III and in Warhammer: The Old World, the possibility that Araby will once again see the light of the day has become more significant.

== "Controversy" ==

The fantastic portrayal of Arabyans is theorized as one of the reasons for the lack of more recent araby related content but in a setting where [[Sylvania|"totally not romanians"]] are literal vampires and the [[Norsca|Norse]] are demon worshipping, mass murdering, backwards cavemen, and [[Brettonia|Frangland has a 90% tax rate]], subtlety is a rare thing to ask for.

==The Death(?) of Araby==
In 2021, it was officially stated by Creative Assembly designers that there were no plans to add Araby to Total Warhammer, nor were there ever likely to be plans to do so. It was even stated that Games Workshop itself wanted to stay as far away from Araby as possible with its new tabletop game releases, meaning that the faction has effectively come as close as you can get to being [[squatted]] without actively being killed off in the lore. With how [[Skub|contentious]] discussions about the Middle East and Islam have been these past two decades, GW is probably trying their best to sidestep the issues presented with the old lore short of retconning it altogether. In order to prevent offending their audience they threw Araby into the closet [[Derp|making southern realms fans even more pissed off]].

Fans immediately erupted in protest at this news, and the [[skub]] about why Games Workshop would do this to one of the more requested and actually fleshed-out human factions...

Which turned out to be (only partially) bullshit.

New WFRP book, which mainly deals with knightly orders, adds a little bit more information about Araby. First of all, it mentions enigmatic Black Scimitar Guard as a thing that existed at least during the Crusades, which may be a new Tzar Guard-ish type of unit in... something. While the references are quite small, and Roleplay is known to be essentially a lore dump to which GW writers add some ideas that can be potentially brought to Old World or TWW3, it is still some glimmer of hope.

Now, we can only wait...

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Arabyan People.png|Arabyans.
Orfeo and Alkadi Nasreen.jpg
</gallery>

==Links==
* [[Warhammer_Army_Project/Araby|Arabyan fandex]]

{{Regions and areas of the Old World}}

Araby

2023-02-24T09:11:17Z

2605:BA00:6208:64B:8975:2E52:3C8:F548: /* Relations */

{{Whfb-stub}}
{{Oldschool}}
[[File:Araby Map.jpg|right|300px]]
'''Araby''' was an area in the [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Warhammer World]] based roughly on the medieval Middle East, or at least how the average brit imagines it. The Arabyans had scimitars and jezzail muskets and used them to fight back those [[Tomb Kings|Tomb King]] guys when they came about uninvited stirring shit up. Much like [[Kislev]], they had an army all the way back in [[Warmaster]], which included flying carpets and magicians who could summon [[Genie|djinni]]. Oh and they had [[Awesome|Elephant Cavalry]]. Despite having a lot of potential when it came to introducing a new and unique faction with a slightly different tone to the usual semi-european setting, GeeDubs did, their favourite past time; nothing.

In [[Total War: Warhammer II]], [[RAGE|no Arabyan faction or subfaction showed up]], leaving the empty lands of Araby to be contested between Bretonnians to the west, Dwarfs to the west and southeast, and Tomb Kings to the east. The only possible Arabyan character in the game is Khaled Al-Muntasir, who rules the Lahmian Sisterhood in the Dark Lands. He was an Arabyan Vampire in lore (heavily implied to be the original identity of Mannfred von Carstein), and even then he is represented by a typical Vampire lord.

== History ==
=== Early history ===
Two thousand years before the reign of Sigmar, Mullah Aklan'd of the island of Fyrus led a war against the High Elves, who raided his people's ports and cities. He became the founder of Araby as a nation, being its first Great Sultan. Then, Araby had to deal with later assaults by Nehekhara, [[Arkhan the Black]], and the Skaven.

Centuries later, Ibn Jellaba went south to explore the Lizardmen of Zlatan, and returned as a very wealthy man after establishing the first trade agreement with humans and Lizardmen.

Araby was later doomed to Chaos corruption, no thanks to a cultist of Tzeentch, Mahik al'Rak, who influenced Arabyan sorcerers to inadvertantly serve Tzeentch after being possessed by a Lord of Change.

=== Sultan Jaffar ===
Araby’s most prominent appearance is little lore than a sidestory in [[Bretonnia]]n history, serving as the impetus of their great crusade. Long story short, the evil sorcerer Jaffar unified Araby as one of its Great Sultans, with his pacts with the Djinn devolving into service to Kairos Fateweaver. He got tricked by the [[Skaven]] into believing that Estalia was going to invade, and he launched a “pre-emptive” attack, crushing and enslaving Estalia as its virtually powerless to stop the invaders. Bretonnia, meanwhile, is deeply concerned by the horrific injustice happening right next door, and proceeds to beat the shit out of Araby all the way back to the desert until the Vizier is killed and the once-proud nation is a shadow of its former self. Those who left home brought with them booty, others decided to vassalize some of the remaining city-states. And Araby has been the punching bag of both Bretonnia and the Tomb Kings ever since.

Essentially an easy way for Bretonnia fans to enjoy their Deus Vult without having to worry about arguably being the baddies. If this was a good idea is debatable, though it would have made a pretty cool starter set for a new edition, introducing Araby in the process. Alas it would not come to pass, for such a deed would have required a bit of imagination, never one of GeeDubs strong suits.

This very original, never before seen storyline may or may not be because GeeDubs, being Brits, are still salty at having lost the crusades. Particularly the eighth and ninth, where an English king actually participated.

=== So much lost potential ===

Araby also used to be part of the Nehekharan Empire and managed to largely avoid the Necromantic corruption that overtook the rest of the Empire, having been able to have staved off Nagash and Arkhan for nearly a 1000 years. This would arguably make them the only true successors of Nehekharan civilisation as a result. A more intelligent writer than those at GW would perhaps explore this avenue, perhaps depicting Arabyans reconquering some of the old Nehekharan cities from the Tomb Kings or dealing amicably with the more rationally minded undead, or perhaps clashing with Settra the Imperishable over who is the true inheritor of the greatness of the oldest human civilisation on the planet, but no, this apparently was too much to ask for.

=== Future ===
The northern coast of Araby was invaded by Luthor Harkon and his Vampire Coast pirates.

Araby, like Estalia, Tilea, and the other nations to the north, was ruined by the massive Skaven invasions during the End Times.

== Geography and Politics ==
Unsurprisingly, Araby is mostly a vast desert with almost no life in the interior. Most of the cities are situated in the north where rivers from the Atalan Mountains provides fertile soil and the seashores allows the Arabyans dominate trade with other countries, while desert inland territories are inhabited by nomads. Araby only borders [[Nehekhara]] to the east and [[Southlands]] to the south (duh).

The country is nominally ruled by Great Sultan from the city Al-Haikk, but he really only controls the capital (so, like in real life, or the Empire [[Elector Count|further in the north]]), with other Sheikhs, Emirs and Princes being pretty independent. Same goes for nomadic tribes. Here is the list of notable cities:

* '''Al-Haikk''' - as it was said earlier, the nominal capital of Araby, where Great Sultan resides.
* '''Copher''' - the most independent city, known for its wizards and pirates that are pain in the ass for the Old Worlders.
* '''Djambiya''' - only notable for being the closest one to the realm of undead Egyptians.
* '''Sorcerer's Islands''' - not a city, but an archipelago that resembles Azores, which is situated to the west of Araby. Here be College of Sorcerers.
* '''Lashiek''' - Arabyan fleet is located here.
* '''Sanaá''' - is only interesting as a birthplace of Abdul Alhazred aka [[Games Workshop|GW's]] most shameless [[Lovecraft]] rip-off.
* '''Teshert''' - Arabyan colony in [[Badlands]] that guards the only passable road between the Sultanate and [[Border Princes]].
* '''Bel-Aliad''' - previous capital that was completely destroyed by [[Arkhan the Black]] more than three thousand years ago.
* '''Sudenburg''' - An Imperial Colony in the Southwest.
*'''Ka-Sabar''' - The southernmost city in Araby, once Nehekharan. Is occasionally attacked by angry Tomb Kings or suffers raids by Forest Goblins and Apemen from the Southlands directly to the south. The inhabitants are mostly black Southlanders, who adopted Arabyan culture.

== Religion==
Arabyan religion has generally been left vague. (Thankfully) Nothing at all to do with contemporary Islamic Extremism, since their beliefs and culture were vaguely described in the 90s when they were first introduced. It should be noted that Araby's inclusion in Bretonnian lore at that point was more due to a desire to satirise the then ongoing First Gulf War, meaning that they were intended as a parody of Saddam Hussein's secular Iraqi government, which at the time was attempting to invade Kuwait, rather than a typical West-vs-Islam screed (yes, this would essentially make Bretonnia George H.W. Bush's America). This has not stopped fans from theorising that they are a society of strict monotheists, however, based off of a line from the Old World Bestiary.

Given the fact that they are descended from the Nehekharans, it's probably more logical to assume that they worship those gods.

Another belief in Araby is a sect formed by Mullah Aklan'd, who claimed to venerate deities older than the Nehekharan gods. He led an army of Arabyans against the High Elves, being his people's first Great Sultan. Among his followers were the "Death Commandos", who guard the Great Sacred Books of Mullah Aklan'd, which describe his accounts about Araby's history, society, government, and warfare, and the secrets of St'oec.

=== Djinn-worship and the risk of Chaos ===
Nathan Long implies in ''The Two Crowns of Ras Karim'' that Arabyans worship Djinns as their gods, by going to temples to leave offerings to them at sunset. In the lore, Djinns are described as some sort of [[Daemons of Chaos|Chaos Daemons]] ... which would make Araby a Chaos-aligned nation, in spite of the prohibition of ''direct'' worship of the Chaos Gods.

Even worse was that all this Chaos corruption was stuck by Mahik al'Rak, an insane sorcerer who built the Portal of Twilight in the ruins of Bel Aliad. His influence of other Arabyan sorcerers into the service of Tzeentch made sure that the land will never be free from Chaos corruption.

One tragic result of Arabyan obsession of Djinn was Jaffar, a sorcerer who united Araby as its Sultan to wage war on the Old World, up to the point that he even made a pact with [[Kairos Fateweaver]], a Daemon of Tzeentch!

In a Gotrek & Felix novel, it was written by good ol' Bill King that a 'Prophet of Law' had arisen in Araby who was dedicated to destroying all influences of Chaos, and this entailed genociding all non-human races. The Prophet of Law emerged long after Sultan Jaffar's misrule and dark pacts, but not even his attempted purge of Araby would stop the inevitable [[The End Times|ruin of it and the Warhammer world]]. Not that it would have, anyways, as that would have been just as evil, slaying all nonhumans would include the Dwarfs, Halflings, and Elves, and would have made the Arabyans just as evil as the Imperium of Man is when it destroys a non-Chaos Abhuman or Xenos civilization which means no harm to it.

== Society ==
Insofar as culture and society goes, Araby has been fairly indecisively written. The only thing that's completely clear regarding them is their consummate professionalism in matters of trade and economics. They vie with Cathay for overland spice trade routes that go through the Southlands, and have generally emerged better off from those confrontations than the Cathayans have. Some writers, like the great Rick Priestley, when he made an Arabyan armylist for Warmaster, described the Arabyans much akin to the Islamic World from the 8th - 16th centuries, i.e.: significantly ahead of the Old World insofar as medicine in particular and other scientific disciplines in general were concerned. Though they typically were behind insofar as adopting gunpowder was concerned however, but if you know anything about the efficacy of gunpowder in the middle ages, you'd also realise that this isn't particularly a mark of backwardness. On the other hand, Arabyans were also described as notorious slavers, who had contacts with Norscans (but then again, the Norscans sell slaves to the Kislevites also) and also had decadent, opulent courts.

This disconnect was later justified by writers stating that the Arabyans were a disaggregated society ruled by many Emirs, Sheikhs, and Sultans, with some of them being Orientalist nightmares, while others were more or less competent rulers who governed their domains justly and with respect for the Arts and Sciences. So in a way, Araby is like the decentralised Empire of Man and Kislev to the north: like its real-life development, its potential as a great civilisation to rival its northern counterparts was hampered and stifled by corrupt rulers who limited their more-advanced neighbours from improving their whole nation and its peoples.

Because both GW designers and independent fan-writers are both neither as well-informed on historical matters as either thinks to be, most Arabyan armylists and lore, although ostensibly written to evoke the Arabs of the 7-9th centuries, actually ends up invoking the Ottoman Empire, which was Turkic (Warhammer already HAVING analogs for the Turks and Tatars). The actual armies of the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphates still had had a lot of Greek and Roman influence in their equipment, with a preference for spear formations supported by archer auxiliaries, although with more mail armor.

Along the southern borders, the local Southlanders were influenced by Arabyan culture, and they also intermarried with local Arabyans, resulting in a large mixed population.

== Relations ==
* ''' The Empire''' - While the empires knightly orders are wary of arabyan traders the imperial colony of Sudenburg inside the Gulf of Medes has become a very important enclave for business dealing with the rest of the Old World.

* ''' The Southlands ''' - The Southlanders who live along the border of Araby were influenced by Arabyan culture, and they also intermarried with Arabyans. Aside from these, much of their cultures were unknown, but presumably primitive due to their isolation these tribes suffered raids by slavers in contrast the Apemen are mentioned as occasionally going north into the savannahs surrounding the southernmost city of Araby, Ka-Sabar, to make raids.

* '''Bretonnia''' - Some Bretonnian Nobles chose to remain in Araby as lords of newly conquered lands their usual treatment of peasants led to distrust and hatred between them and their arabyan vassals. However Warriors such as [[Repanse de Lyonesse|Repanse]] & [[The Red Duke|el Syf]] have earned the respect of arabyans.

* '''Estalia''' - Most Estalians remember the arabyan invasion of their lands with dread but they have undeniably been influenced by Araby leading to mixed heritage families.

* ''' Tilea''' - While at the time of invasion Tileans fought against araby the city states are an important trade partner of Araby and have friendly relations with modern arabyans. The Arabyans love to trade with the Tilean merchants, with whom they have an excellent relationship. In Copher, the City of Spices, there is now a Tilean neighborhood.

* '''Marienburg''' - They do not dominate trade in Araby mostly because of the emirs, sheikhs and caliphs distrust of Marienburg's "government by usury". In contrast adventurous Arabyan traders use Marienburg as a place to sell rare spices and develop their careers thus over the centuries a small but thriving Arabyan community has grown in Marienburg.

* '''Vampires''' - While [[Abhorash|Abhorash]] trained arabyan tribes to defend against desert raiders his heroic efforts are sadly surpassed by [[Mannfred von Carstein|Khaled al-Muntasir]] being a traitorous wretch and reviving [[Neferata|neferata]] causing a long civil war that plagued the nation. In Araby, knowledge of necromancy is not suppressed, and so they do not suffer from the ignorance that allows Vampires to gain footholds amongst them as in the Empire. Only the Blood Dragons have a presence there, and that is in the western desert.

* '''Nehekhara''' - Most arabyans are terrified of the undead some venture into the land of the dead to seek the knowledge of their ancestors former masters but few return alive.

== Notable Characters ==

* '''Abdul Ben Raschid''' - Arabyan Prince of the Ka-Sabar Sultanate. Famous for capturing some Nagash manuscripts.
* '''Al Muktar''' - Born Werner Glook of Marienburg he became the leader of a band of [[Dogs of War|Dogs of War mercenaries]].
* '''Fatandira''' - She served as a soldier and mercenary, eventually becoming one of the many [[Border Princes|border princes]].
* '''Golden Magus''' - Calls himself the "Sultan of the Seas", due to his absurd wealth he is also secretly a tzeentchian sorcerer.
* '''Ibn Jellaba''' - Trader of Araby he tried opening a trade route into the Southlands and met the lizardmen of Zlatlan.
* '''[[Mannfred von Carstein|Khaled al-Muntasir]]''' - A traitor even before becoming a vampire, the worst thing to come from Araby.
* '''Khar-mel the Djinn''' - A female genie armed with a scimitar, her apparitions are usually a cloud of dust or fire.
* '''Mehmed-bey''' - One of Jaffar's top generals, he is widely believed to have been slain in combat by the Red Duke.
* '''Suliman the Saracen''' - Friend of Baron Odo of Outremer they fought in opposite sides but became best bro's later.
* '''Sultan Jaffar''' - The tyrant king of Araby, a sorcerer & a slaver still less evil than Khaled for [[End Times|obvious reasons]].
* '''Shihab Ibn Alim''' - Arabyan sorcerer in the service of the Sultan of Copher he can control genies.

== Local Flora and Fauna ==
Older lore stated a Minor Chaos God named Atagro's rise to godhood involved having to slay a Sandworm like something out of Frank Herbert's "Dune" within the depths of the deserts of Araby at the behest of another Minor Chaos God named Shagraunt. Arabyan Horses are a native breed, and ostriches may be found here, presumably in the savannah closer to the jungles of the Southlands. Panthers apparently live in the area near the Southlands, too. Camels and War Elephants have been mentioned, too.

== Collecting Araby ==
While interest in Araby as a faction is sadly middeling, there are some fan-made codexes out there, most of them centered around the expected middle eastern/north African fare. Historical miniatures like Victrix African War Elephant and Numidian Cavalry aswell as GBPs Arab cavalry sets should prove treasure troves for the aspiring collector of Araby. In the future there may be some hope for GeeDubs to revive Araby in their upcoming Warhammer: The Old World game, <s>though such a thing remains doubtful as [[ChapterHouse Studios|they're not exactly easy to trademark]]</s> Recently there was apparently a tweet by a Creative Assembly designer where he posted some Arabyan artwork ostensibly developed in-house by the Old World team which he promptly deleted. Given recent developments that Cathay will be a launch race both in Total War: Warhammer III and in Warhammer: The Old World, the possibility that Araby will once again see the light of the day has become more significant.

== "Controversy" ==

The fantastic portrayal of Arabyans is theorized as one of the reasons for the lack of more recent araby related content but in a setting where [[Sylvania|"totally not romanians"]] are literal vampires and the [[Norsca|Norse]] are demon worshipping, mass murdering, backwards cavemen, and [[Brettonia|Frangland has a 90% tax rate]], subtlety is a rare thing to ask for.

==The Death(?) of Araby==
In 2021, it was officially stated by Creative Assembly designers that there were no plans to add Araby to Total Warhammer, nor were there ever likely to be plans to do so. It was even stated that Games Workshop itself wanted to stay as far away from Araby as possible with its new tabletop game releases, meaning that the faction has effectively come as close as you can get to being [[squatted]] without actively being killed off in the lore. With how [[Skub|contentious]] discussions about the Middle East and Islam have been these past two decades, GW is probably trying their best to sidestep the issues presented with the old lore short of retconning it altogether. In order to prevent offending their audience they threw Araby into the closet [[Derp|making southern realms fans even more pissed off]].

Fans immediately erupted in protest at this news, and the [[skub]] about why Games Workshop would do this to one of the more requested and actually fleshed-out human factions...

Which turned out to be (only partially) bullshit.

New WFRP book, which mainly deals with knightly orders, adds a little bit more information about Araby. First of all, it mentions enigmatic Black Scimitar Guard as a thing that existed at least during the Crusades, which may be a new Tzar Guard-ish type of unit in... something. While the references are quite small, and Roleplay is known to be essentially a lore dump to which GW writers add some ideas that can be potentially brought to Old World or TWW3, it is still some glimmer of hope.

Now, we can only wait...

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Arabyan People.png|Arabyans.
Orfeo and Alkadi Nasreen.jpg
</gallery>

==Links==
* [[Warhammer_Army_Project/Araby|Arabyan fandex]]

{{Regions and areas of the Old World}}

Araby

2023-02-24T09:10:33Z

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{{Whfb-stub}}
{{Oldschool}}
[[File:Araby Map.jpg|right|300px]]
'''Araby''' was an area in the [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Warhammer World]] based roughly on the medieval Middle East, or at least how the average brit imagines it. The Arabyans had scimitars and jezzail muskets and used them to fight back those [[Tomb Kings|Tomb King]] guys when they came about uninvited stirring shit up. Much like [[Kislev]], they had an army all the way back in [[Warmaster]], which included flying carpets and magicians who could summon [[Genie|djinni]]. Oh and they had [[Awesome|Elephant Cavalry]]. Despite having a lot of potential when it came to introducing a new and unique faction with a slightly different tone to the usual semi-european setting, GeeDubs did, their favourite past time; nothing.

In [[Total War: Warhammer II]], [[RAGE|no Arabyan faction or subfaction showed up]], leaving the empty lands of Araby to be contested between Bretonnians to the west, Dwarfs to the west and southeast, and Tomb Kings to the east. The only possible Arabyan character in the game is Khaled Al-Muntasir, who rules the Lahmian Sisterhood in the Dark Lands. He was an Arabyan Vampire in lore (heavily implied to be the original identity of Mannfred von Carstein), and even then he is represented by a typical Vampire lord.

== History ==
=== Early history ===
Two thousand years before the reign of Sigmar, Mullah Aklan'd of the island of Fyrus led a war against the High Elves, who raided his people's ports and cities. He became the founder of Araby as a nation, being its first Great Sultan. Then, Araby had to deal with later assaults by Nehekhara, [[Arkhan the Black]], and the Skaven.

Centuries later, Ibn Jellaba went south to explore the Lizardmen of Zlatan, and returned as a very wealthy man after establishing the first trade agreement with humans and Lizardmen.

Araby was later doomed to Chaos corruption, no thanks to a cultist of Tzeentch, Mahik al'Rak, who influenced Arabyan sorcerers to inadvertantly serve Tzeentch after being possessed by a Lord of Change.

=== Sultan Jaffar ===
Araby’s most prominent appearance is little lore than a sidestory in [[Bretonnia]]n history, serving as the impetus of their great crusade. Long story short, the evil sorcerer Jaffar unified Araby as one of its Great Sultans, with his pacts with the Djinn devolving into service to Kairos Fateweaver. He got tricked by the [[Skaven]] into believing that Estalia was going to invade, and he launched a “pre-emptive” attack, crushing and enslaving Estalia as its virtually powerless to stop the invaders. Bretonnia, meanwhile, is deeply concerned by the horrific injustice happening right next door, and proceeds to beat the shit out of Araby all the way back to the desert until the Vizier is killed and the once-proud nation is a shadow of its former self. Those who left home brought with them booty, others decided to vassalize some of the remaining city-states. And Araby has been the punching bag of both Bretonnia and the Tomb Kings ever since.

Essentially an easy way for Bretonnia fans to enjoy their Deus Vult without having to worry about arguably being the baddies. If this was a good idea is debatable, though it would have made a pretty cool starter set for a new edition, introducing Araby in the process. Alas it would not come to pass, for such a deed would have required a bit of imagination, never one of GeeDubs strong suits.

This very original, never before seen storyline may or may not be because GeeDubs, being Brits, are still salty at having lost the crusades. Particularly the eighth and ninth, where an English king actually participated.

=== So much lost potential ===

Araby also used to be part of the Nehekharan Empire and managed to largely avoid the Necromantic corruption that overtook the rest of the Empire, having been able to have staved off Nagash and Arkhan for nearly a 1000 years. This would arguably make them the only true successors of Nehekharan civilisation as a result. A more intelligent writer than those at GW would perhaps explore this avenue, perhaps depicting Arabyans reconquering some of the old Nehekharan cities from the Tomb Kings or dealing amicably with the more rationally minded undead, or perhaps clashing with Settra the Imperishable over who is the true inheritor of the greatness of the oldest human civilisation on the planet, but no, this apparently was too much to ask for.

=== Future ===
The northern coast of Araby was invaded by Luthor Harkon and his Vampire Coast pirates.

Araby, like Estalia, Tilea, and the other nations to the north, was ruined by the massive Skaven invasions during the End Times.

== Geography and Politics ==
Unsurprisingly, Araby is mostly a vast desert with almost no life in the interior. Most of the cities are situated in the north where rivers from the Atalan Mountains provides fertile soil and the seashores allows the Arabyans dominate trade with other countries, while desert inland territories are inhabited by nomads. Araby only borders [[Nehekhara]] to the east and [[Southlands]] to the south (duh).

The country is nominally ruled by Great Sultan from the city Al-Haikk, but he really only controls the capital (so, like in real life, or the Empire [[Elector Count|further in the north]]), with other Sheikhs, Emirs and Princes being pretty independent. Same goes for nomadic tribes. Here is the list of notable cities:

* '''Al-Haikk''' - as it was said earlier, the nominal capital of Araby, where Great Sultan resides.
* '''Copher''' - the most independent city, known for its wizards and pirates that are pain in the ass for the Old Worlders.
* '''Djambiya''' - only notable for being the closest one to the realm of undead Egyptians.
* '''Sorcerer's Islands''' - not a city, but an archipelago that resembles Azores, which is situated to the west of Araby. Here be College of Sorcerers.
* '''Lashiek''' - Arabyan fleet is located here.
* '''Sanaá''' - is only interesting as a birthplace of Abdul Alhazred aka [[Games Workshop|GW's]] most shameless [[Lovecraft]] rip-off.
* '''Teshert''' - Arabyan colony in [[Badlands]] that guards the only passable road between the Sultanate and [[Border Princes]].
* '''Bel-Aliad''' - previous capital that was completely destroyed by [[Arkhan the Black]] more than three thousand years ago.
* '''Sudenburg''' - An Imperial Colony in the Southwest.
*'''Ka-Sabar''' - The southernmost city in Araby, once Nehekharan. Is occasionally attacked by angry Tomb Kings or suffers raids by Forest Goblins and Apemen from the Southlands directly to the south. The inhabitants are mostly black Southlanders, who adopted Arabyan culture.

== Religion==
Arabyan religion has generally been left vague. (Thankfully) Nothing at all to do with contemporary Islamic Extremism, since their beliefs and culture were vaguely described in the 90s when they were first introduced. It should be noted that Araby's inclusion in Bretonnian lore at that point was more due to a desire to satirise the then ongoing First Gulf War, meaning that they were intended as a parody of Saddam Hussein's secular Iraqi government, which at the time was attempting to invade Kuwait, rather than a typical West-vs-Islam screed (yes, this would essentially make Bretonnia George H.W. Bush's America). This has not stopped fans from theorising that they are a society of strict monotheists, however, based off of a line from the Old World Bestiary.

Given the fact that they are descended from the Nehekharans, it's probably more logical to assume that they worship those gods.

Another belief in Araby is a sect formed by Mullah Aklan'd, who claimed to venerate deities older than the Nehekharan gods. He led an army of Arabyans against the High Elves, being his people's first Great Sultan. Among his followers were the "Death Commandos", who guard the Great Sacred Books of Mullah Aklan'd, which describe his accounts about Araby's history, society, government, and warfare, and the secrets of St'oec.

=== Djinn-worship and the risk of Chaos ===
Nathan Long implies in ''The Two Crowns of Ras Karim'' that Arabyans worship Djinns as their gods, by going to temples to leave offerings to them at sunset. In the lore, Djinns are described as some sort of [[Daemons of Chaos|Chaos Daemons]] ... which would make Araby a Chaos-aligned nation, in spite of the prohibition of ''direct'' worship of the Chaos Gods.

Even worse was that all this Chaos corruption was stuck by Mahik al'Rak, an insane sorcerer who built the Portal of Twilight in the ruins of Bel Aliad. His influence of other Arabyan sorcerers into the service of Tzeentch made sure that the land will never be free from Chaos corruption.

One tragic result of Arabyan obsession of Djinn was Jaffar, a sorcerer who united Araby as its Sultan to wage war on the Old World, up to the point that he even made a pact with [[Kairos Fateweaver]], a Daemon of Tzeentch!

In a Gotrek & Felix novel, it was written by good ol' Bill King that a 'Prophet of Law' had arisen in Araby who was dedicated to destroying all influences of Chaos, and this entailed genociding all non-human races. The Prophet of Law emerged long after Sultan Jaffar's misrule and dark pacts, but not even his attempted purge of Araby would stop the inevitable [[The End Times|ruin of it and the Warhammer world]]. Not that it would have, anyways, as that would have been just as evil, slaying all nonhumans would include the Dwarfs, Halflings, and Elves, and would have made the Arabyans just as evil as the Imperium of Man is when it destroys a non-Chaos Abhuman or Xenos civilization which means no harm to it.

== Society ==
Insofar as culture and society goes, Araby has been fairly indecisively written. The only thing that's completely clear regarding them is their consummate professionalism in matters of trade and economics. They vie with Cathay for overland spice trade routes that go through the Southlands, and have generally emerged better off from those confrontations than the Cathayans have. Some writers, like the great Rick Priestley, when he made an Arabyan armylist for Warmaster, described the Arabyans much akin to the Islamic World from the 8th - 16th centuries, i.e.: significantly ahead of the Old World insofar as medicine in particular and other scientific disciplines in general were concerned. Though they typically were behind insofar as adopting gunpowder was concerned however, but if you know anything about the efficacy of gunpowder in the middle ages, you'd also realise that this isn't particularly a mark of backwardness. On the other hand, Arabyans were also described as notorious slavers, who had contacts with Norscans (but then again, the Norscans sell slaves to the Kislevites also) and also had decadent, opulent courts.

This disconnect was later justified by writers stating that the Arabyans were a disaggregated society ruled by many Emirs, Sheikhs, and Sultans, with some of them being Orientalist nightmares, while others were more or less competent rulers who governed their domains justly and with respect for the Arts and Sciences. So in a way, Araby is like the decentralised Empire of Man and Kislev to the north: like its real-life development, its potential as a great civilisation to rival its northern counterparts was hampered and stifled by corrupt rulers who limited their more-advanced neighbours from improving their whole nation and its peoples.

Because both GW designers and independent fan-writers are both neither as well-informed on historical matters as either thinks to be, most Arabyan armylists and lore, although ostensibly written to evoke the Arabs of the 7-9th centuries, actually ends up invoking the Ottoman Empire, which was Turkic (Warhammer already HAVING analogs for the Turks and Tatars). The actual armies of the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphates still had had a lot of Greek and Roman influence in their equipment, with a preference for spear formations supported by archer auxiliaries, although with more mail armor.

Along the southern borders, the local Southlanders were influenced by Arabyan culture, and they also intermarried with local Arabyans, resulting in a large mixed population.

== Relations ==
* ''' The Empire''' - While the empires knightly orders are wary of arabyan traders the imperial colony of Sudenburg inside the Gulf of Medes has become a very important enclave for business dealing with the rest of the Old World.

* ''' The Southlands ''' - The Southlanders who live along the border of Araby were influenced by Arabyan culture, and they also intermarried with Arabyans. Aside from these, much of their cultures were unknown, but presumably primitive due to their isolation these more primitive tribes suffered raids by slavers. The Apemen are mentioned as occasionally going north into the savannahs surrounding the southernmost city of Araby, Ka-Sabar, to make raids.

* '''Bretonnia''' - Some Bretonnian Nobles chose to remain in Araby as lords of newly conquered lands their usual treatment of peasants led to distrust and hatred between them and their arabyan vassals. However Warriors such as [[Repanse de Lyonesse|Repanse]] & [[The Red Duke|el Syf]] have earned the respect of arabyans.

* '''Estalia''' - Most Estalians remember the arabyan invasion of their lands with dread but they have undeniably been influenced by Araby leading to mixed heritage families.

* ''' Tilea''' - While at the time of invasion Tileans fought against araby the city states are an important trade partner of Araby and have friendly relations with modern arabyans. The Arabyans love to trade with the Tilean merchants, with whom they have an excellent relationship. In Copher, the City of Spices, there is now a Tilean neighborhood.

* '''Marienburg''' - They do not dominate trade in Araby mostly because of the emirs, sheikhs and caliphs distrust of Marienburg's "government by usury". In contrast adventurous Arabyan traders use Marienburg as a place to sell rare spices and develop their careers thus over the centuries a small but thriving Arabyan community has grown in Marienburg.

* '''Vampires''' - While [[Abhorash|Abhorash]] trained arabyan tribes to defend against desert raiders his heroic efforts are sadly surpassed by [[Mannfred von Carstein|Khaled al-Muntasir]] being a traitorous wretch and reviving [[Neferata|neferata]] causing a long civil war that plagued the nation. In Araby, knowledge of necromancy is not suppressed, and so they do not suffer from the ignorance that allows Vampires to gain footholds amongst them as in the Empire. Only the Blood Dragons have a presence there, and that is in the western desert.

* '''Nehekhara''' - Most arabyans are terrified of the undead some venture into the land of the dead to seek the knowledge of their ancestors former masters but few return alive.

== Notable Characters ==

* '''Abdul Ben Raschid''' - Arabyan Prince of the Ka-Sabar Sultanate. Famous for capturing some Nagash manuscripts.
* '''Al Muktar''' - Born Werner Glook of Marienburg he became the leader of a band of [[Dogs of War|Dogs of War mercenaries]].
* '''Fatandira''' - She served as a soldier and mercenary, eventually becoming one of the many [[Border Princes|border princes]].
* '''Golden Magus''' - Calls himself the "Sultan of the Seas", due to his absurd wealth he is also secretly a tzeentchian sorcerer.
* '''Ibn Jellaba''' - Trader of Araby he tried opening a trade route into the Southlands and met the lizardmen of Zlatlan.
* '''[[Mannfred von Carstein|Khaled al-Muntasir]]''' - A traitor even before becoming a vampire, the worst thing to come from Araby.
* '''Khar-mel the Djinn''' - A female genie armed with a scimitar, her apparitions are usually a cloud of dust or fire.
* '''Mehmed-bey''' - One of Jaffar's top generals, he is widely believed to have been slain in combat by the Red Duke.
* '''Suliman the Saracen''' - Friend of Baron Odo of Outremer they fought in opposite sides but became best bro's later.
* '''Sultan Jaffar''' - The tyrant king of Araby, a sorcerer & a slaver still less evil than Khaled for [[End Times|obvious reasons]].
* '''Shihab Ibn Alim''' - Arabyan sorcerer in the service of the Sultan of Copher he can control genies.

== Local Flora and Fauna ==
Older lore stated a Minor Chaos God named Atagro's rise to godhood involved having to slay a Sandworm like something out of Frank Herbert's "Dune" within the depths of the deserts of Araby at the behest of another Minor Chaos God named Shagraunt. Arabyan Horses are a native breed, and ostriches may be found here, presumably in the savannah closer to the jungles of the Southlands. Panthers apparently live in the area near the Southlands, too. Camels and War Elephants have been mentioned, too.

== Collecting Araby ==
While interest in Araby as a faction is sadly middeling, there are some fan-made codexes out there, most of them centered around the expected middle eastern/north African fare. Historical miniatures like Victrix African War Elephant and Numidian Cavalry aswell as GBPs Arab cavalry sets should prove treasure troves for the aspiring collector of Araby. In the future there may be some hope for GeeDubs to revive Araby in their upcoming Warhammer: The Old World game, <s>though such a thing remains doubtful as [[ChapterHouse Studios|they're not exactly easy to trademark]]</s> Recently there was apparently a tweet by a Creative Assembly designer where he posted some Arabyan artwork ostensibly developed in-house by the Old World team which he promptly deleted. Given recent developments that Cathay will be a launch race both in Total War: Warhammer III and in Warhammer: The Old World, the possibility that Araby will once again see the light of the day has become more significant.

== "Controversy" ==

The fantastic portrayal of Arabyans is theorized as one of the reasons for the lack of more recent araby related content but in a setting where [[Sylvania|"totally not romanians"]] are literal vampires and the [[Norsca|Norse]] are demon worshipping, mass murdering, backwards cavemen, and [[Brettonia|Frangland has a 90% tax rate]], subtlety is a rare thing to ask for.

==The Death(?) of Araby==
In 2021, it was officially stated by Creative Assembly designers that there were no plans to add Araby to Total Warhammer, nor were there ever likely to be plans to do so. It was even stated that Games Workshop itself wanted to stay as far away from Araby as possible with its new tabletop game releases, meaning that the faction has effectively come as close as you can get to being [[squatted]] without actively being killed off in the lore. With how [[Skub|contentious]] discussions about the Middle East and Islam have been these past two decades, GW is probably trying their best to sidestep the issues presented with the old lore short of retconning it altogether. In order to prevent offending their audience they threw Araby into the closet [[Derp|making southern realms fans even more pissed off]].

Fans immediately erupted in protest at this news, and the [[skub]] about why Games Workshop would do this to one of the more requested and actually fleshed-out human factions...

Which turned out to be (only partially) bullshit.

New WFRP book, which mainly deals with knightly orders, adds a little bit more information about Araby. First of all, it mentions enigmatic Black Scimitar Guard as a thing that existed at least during the Crusades, which may be a new Tzar Guard-ish type of unit in... something. While the references are quite small, and Roleplay is known to be essentially a lore dump to which GW writers add some ideas that can be potentially brought to Old World or TWW3, it is still some glimmer of hope.

Now, we can only wait...

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Arabyan People.png|Arabyans.
Orfeo and Alkadi Nasreen.jpg
</gallery>

==Links==
* [[Warhammer_Army_Project/Araby|Arabyan fandex]]

{{Regions and areas of the Old World}}

Araby

2023-02-24T09:09:23Z

2605:BA00:6208:64B:8975:2E52:3C8:F548: /* Relations */

{{Whfb-stub}}
{{Oldschool}}
[[File:Araby Map.jpg|right|300px]]
'''Araby''' was an area in the [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Warhammer World]] based roughly on the medieval Middle East, or at least how the average brit imagines it. The Arabyans had scimitars and jezzail muskets and used them to fight back those [[Tomb Kings|Tomb King]] guys when they came about uninvited stirring shit up. Much like [[Kislev]], they had an army all the way back in [[Warmaster]], which included flying carpets and magicians who could summon [[Genie|djinni]]. Oh and they had [[Awesome|Elephant Cavalry]]. Despite having a lot of potential when it came to introducing a new and unique faction with a slightly different tone to the usual semi-european setting, GeeDubs did, their favourite past time; nothing.

In [[Total War: Warhammer II]], [[RAGE|no Arabyan faction or subfaction showed up]], leaving the empty lands of Araby to be contested between Bretonnians to the west, Dwarfs to the west and southeast, and Tomb Kings to the east. The only possible Arabyan character in the game is Khaled Al-Muntasir, who rules the Lahmian Sisterhood in the Dark Lands. He was an Arabyan Vampire in lore (heavily implied to be the original identity of Mannfred von Carstein), and even then he is represented by a typical Vampire lord.

== History ==
=== Early history ===
Two thousand years before the reign of Sigmar, Mullah Aklan'd of the island of Fyrus led a war against the High Elves, who raided his people's ports and cities. He became the founder of Araby as a nation, being its first Great Sultan. Then, Araby had to deal with later assaults by Nehekhara, [[Arkhan the Black]], and the Skaven.

Centuries later, Ibn Jellaba went south to explore the Lizardmen of Zlatan, and returned as a very wealthy man after establishing the first trade agreement with humans and Lizardmen.

Araby was later doomed to Chaos corruption, no thanks to a cultist of Tzeentch, Mahik al'Rak, who influenced Arabyan sorcerers to inadvertantly serve Tzeentch after being possessed by a Lord of Change.

=== Sultan Jaffar ===
Araby’s most prominent appearance is little lore than a sidestory in [[Bretonnia]]n history, serving as the impetus of their great crusade. Long story short, the evil sorcerer Jaffar unified Araby as one of its Great Sultans, with his pacts with the Djinn devolving into service to Kairos Fateweaver. He got tricked by the [[Skaven]] into believing that Estalia was going to invade, and he launched a “pre-emptive” attack, crushing and enslaving Estalia as its virtually powerless to stop the invaders. Bretonnia, meanwhile, is deeply concerned by the horrific injustice happening right next door, and proceeds to beat the shit out of Araby all the way back to the desert until the Vizier is killed and the once-proud nation is a shadow of its former self. Those who left home brought with them booty, others decided to vassalize some of the remaining city-states. And Araby has been the punching bag of both Bretonnia and the Tomb Kings ever since.

Essentially an easy way for Bretonnia fans to enjoy their Deus Vult without having to worry about arguably being the baddies. If this was a good idea is debatable, though it would have made a pretty cool starter set for a new edition, introducing Araby in the process. Alas it would not come to pass, for such a deed would have required a bit of imagination, never one of GeeDubs strong suits.

This very original, never before seen storyline may or may not be because GeeDubs, being Brits, are still salty at having lost the crusades. Particularly the eighth and ninth, where an English king actually participated.

=== So much lost potential ===

Araby also used to be part of the Nehekharan Empire and managed to largely avoid the Necromantic corruption that overtook the rest of the Empire, having been able to have staved off Nagash and Arkhan for nearly a 1000 years. This would arguably make them the only true successors of Nehekharan civilisation as a result. A more intelligent writer than those at GW would perhaps explore this avenue, perhaps depicting Arabyans reconquering some of the old Nehekharan cities from the Tomb Kings or dealing amicably with the more rationally minded undead, or perhaps clashing with Settra the Imperishable over who is the true inheritor of the greatness of the oldest human civilisation on the planet, but no, this apparently was too much to ask for.

=== Future ===
The northern coast of Araby was invaded by Luthor Harkon and his Vampire Coast pirates.

Araby, like Estalia, Tilea, and the other nations to the north, was ruined by the massive Skaven invasions during the End Times.

== Geography and Politics ==
Unsurprisingly, Araby is mostly a vast desert with almost no life in the interior. Most of the cities are situated in the north where rivers from the Atalan Mountains provides fertile soil and the seashores allows the Arabyans dominate trade with other countries, while desert inland territories are inhabited by nomads. Araby only borders [[Nehekhara]] to the east and [[Southlands]] to the south (duh).

The country is nominally ruled by Great Sultan from the city Al-Haikk, but he really only controls the capital (so, like in real life, or the Empire [[Elector Count|further in the north]]), with other Sheikhs, Emirs and Princes being pretty independent. Same goes for nomadic tribes. Here is the list of notable cities:

* '''Al-Haikk''' - as it was said earlier, the nominal capital of Araby, where Great Sultan resides.
* '''Copher''' - the most independent city, known for its wizards and pirates that are pain in the ass for the Old Worlders.
* '''Djambiya''' - only notable for being the closest one to the realm of undead Egyptians.
* '''Sorcerer's Islands''' - not a city, but an archipelago that resembles Azores, which is situated to the west of Araby. Here be College of Sorcerers.
* '''Lashiek''' - Arabyan fleet is located here.
* '''Sanaá''' - is only interesting as a birthplace of Abdul Alhazred aka [[Games Workshop|GW's]] most shameless [[Lovecraft]] rip-off.
* '''Teshert''' - Arabyan colony in [[Badlands]] that guards the only passable road between the Sultanate and [[Border Princes]].
* '''Bel-Aliad''' - previous capital that was completely destroyed by [[Arkhan the Black]] more than three thousand years ago.
* '''Sudenburg''' - An Imperial Colony in the Southwest.
*'''Ka-Sabar''' - The southernmost city in Araby, once Nehekharan. Is occasionally attacked by angry Tomb Kings or suffers raids by Forest Goblins and Apemen from the Southlands directly to the south. The inhabitants are mostly black Southlanders, who adopted Arabyan culture.

== Religion==
Arabyan religion has generally been left vague. (Thankfully) Nothing at all to do with contemporary Islamic Extremism, since their beliefs and culture were vaguely described in the 90s when they were first introduced. It should be noted that Araby's inclusion in Bretonnian lore at that point was more due to a desire to satirise the then ongoing First Gulf War, meaning that they were intended as a parody of Saddam Hussein's secular Iraqi government, which at the time was attempting to invade Kuwait, rather than a typical West-vs-Islam screed (yes, this would essentially make Bretonnia George H.W. Bush's America). This has not stopped fans from theorising that they are a society of strict monotheists, however, based off of a line from the Old World Bestiary.

Given the fact that they are descended from the Nehekharans, it's probably more logical to assume that they worship those gods.

Another belief in Araby is a sect formed by Mullah Aklan'd, who claimed to venerate deities older than the Nehekharan gods. He led an army of Arabyans against the High Elves, being his people's first Great Sultan. Among his followers were the "Death Commandos", who guard the Great Sacred Books of Mullah Aklan'd, which describe his accounts about Araby's history, society, government, and warfare, and the secrets of St'oec.

=== Djinn-worship and the risk of Chaos ===
Nathan Long implies in ''The Two Crowns of Ras Karim'' that Arabyans worship Djinns as their gods, by going to temples to leave offerings to them at sunset. In the lore, Djinns are described as some sort of [[Daemons of Chaos|Chaos Daemons]] ... which would make Araby a Chaos-aligned nation, in spite of the prohibition of ''direct'' worship of the Chaos Gods.

Even worse was that all this Chaos corruption was stuck by Mahik al'Rak, an insane sorcerer who built the Portal of Twilight in the ruins of Bel Aliad. His influence of other Arabyan sorcerers into the service of Tzeentch made sure that the land will never be free from Chaos corruption.

One tragic result of Arabyan obsession of Djinn was Jaffar, a sorcerer who united Araby as its Sultan to wage war on the Old World, up to the point that he even made a pact with [[Kairos Fateweaver]], a Daemon of Tzeentch!

In a Gotrek & Felix novel, it was written by good ol' Bill King that a 'Prophet of Law' had arisen in Araby who was dedicated to destroying all influences of Chaos, and this entailed genociding all non-human races. The Prophet of Law emerged long after Sultan Jaffar's misrule and dark pacts, but not even his attempted purge of Araby would stop the inevitable [[The End Times|ruin of it and the Warhammer world]]. Not that it would have, anyways, as that would have been just as evil, slaying all nonhumans would include the Dwarfs, Halflings, and Elves, and would have made the Arabyans just as evil as the Imperium of Man is when it destroys a non-Chaos Abhuman or Xenos civilization which means no harm to it.

== Society ==
Insofar as culture and society goes, Araby has been fairly indecisively written. The only thing that's completely clear regarding them is their consummate professionalism in matters of trade and economics. They vie with Cathay for overland spice trade routes that go through the Southlands, and have generally emerged better off from those confrontations than the Cathayans have. Some writers, like the great Rick Priestley, when he made an Arabyan armylist for Warmaster, described the Arabyans much akin to the Islamic World from the 8th - 16th centuries, i.e.: significantly ahead of the Old World insofar as medicine in particular and other scientific disciplines in general were concerned. Though they typically were behind insofar as adopting gunpowder was concerned however, but if you know anything about the efficacy of gunpowder in the middle ages, you'd also realise that this isn't particularly a mark of backwardness. On the other hand, Arabyans were also described as notorious slavers, who had contacts with Norscans (but then again, the Norscans sell slaves to the Kislevites also) and also had decadent, opulent courts.

This disconnect was later justified by writers stating that the Arabyans were a disaggregated society ruled by many Emirs, Sheikhs, and Sultans, with some of them being Orientalist nightmares, while others were more or less competent rulers who governed their domains justly and with respect for the Arts and Sciences. So in a way, Araby is like the decentralised Empire of Man and Kislev to the north: like its real-life development, its potential as a great civilisation to rival its northern counterparts was hampered and stifled by corrupt rulers who limited their more-advanced neighbours from improving their whole nation and its peoples.

Because both GW designers and independent fan-writers are both neither as well-informed on historical matters as either thinks to be, most Arabyan armylists and lore, although ostensibly written to evoke the Arabs of the 7-9th centuries, actually ends up invoking the Ottoman Empire, which was Turkic (Warhammer already HAVING analogs for the Turks and Tatars). The actual armies of the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphates still had had a lot of Greek and Roman influence in their equipment, with a preference for spear formations supported by archer auxiliaries, although with more mail armor.

Along the southern borders, the local Southlanders were influenced by Arabyan culture, and they also intermarried with local Arabyans, resulting in a large mixed population.

== Relations ==
* ''' The Empire''' - While the empires knightly orders are wary of arabyan traders the imperial colony of Sudenburg inside the Gulf of Medes has become a very important enclave for business dealing with the rest of the Old World.

* ''' The Southlands ''' - The Southlanders who live along the border of Araby were influenced by Arabyan culture, and they also intermarried with Arabyans. Aside from these, much of their cultures were unknown, but presumably primitive due to their isolation these more primitive tribes suffered raids by slavers.

* '''Bretonnia''' - Some Bretonnian Nobles chose to remain in Araby as lords of newly conquered lands their usual treatment of peasants led to distrust and hatred between them and their arabyan vassals. However Warriors such as [[Repanse de Lyonesse|Repanse]] & [[The Red Duke|el Syf]] have earned the respect of arabyans.

* '''Estalia''' - Most Estalians remember the arabyan invasion of their lands with dread but they have undeniably been influenced by Araby leading to mixed heritage families.

* ''' Tilea''' - While at the time of invasion Tileans fought against araby the city states are an important trade partner of Araby and have friendly relations with modern arabyans. The Arabyans love to trade with the Tilean merchants, with whom they have an excellent relationship. In Copher, the City of Spices, there is now a Tilean neighborhood.

* '''Marienburg''' - They do not dominate trade in Araby mostly because of the emirs, sheikhs and caliphs distrust of Marienburg's "government by usury". In contrast adventurous Arabyan traders use Marienburg as a place to sell rare spices and develop their careers thus over the centuries a small but thriving Arabyan community has grown in Marienburg.

* '''Vampires''' - While [[Abhorash|Abhorash]] trained arabyan tribes to defend against desert raiders his heroic efforts are sadly surpassed by [[Mannfred von Carstein|Khaled al-Muntasir]] being a traitorous wretch and reviving [[Neferata|neferata]] causing a long civil war that plagued the nation. In Araby, knowledge of necromancy is not suppressed, and so they do not suffer from the ignorance that allows Vampires to gain footholds amongst them as in the Empire. Only the Blood Dragons have a presence there, and that is in the western desert.

* '''Nehekhara''' - Most arabyans are terrified of the undead some venture into the land of the dead to seek the knowledge of their ancestors former masters but few return alive.

== Notable Characters ==

* '''Abdul Ben Raschid''' - Arabyan Prince of the Ka-Sabar Sultanate. Famous for capturing some Nagash manuscripts.
* '''Al Muktar''' - Born Werner Glook of Marienburg he became the leader of a band of [[Dogs of War|Dogs of War mercenaries]].
* '''Fatandira''' - She served as a soldier and mercenary, eventually becoming one of the many [[Border Princes|border princes]].
* '''Golden Magus''' - Calls himself the "Sultan of the Seas", due to his absurd wealth he is also secretly a tzeentchian sorcerer.
* '''Ibn Jellaba''' - Trader of Araby he tried opening a trade route into the Southlands and met the lizardmen of Zlatlan.
* '''[[Mannfred von Carstein|Khaled al-Muntasir]]''' - A traitor even before becoming a vampire, the worst thing to come from Araby.
* '''Khar-mel the Djinn''' - A female genie armed with a scimitar, her apparitions are usually a cloud of dust or fire.
* '''Mehmed-bey''' - One of Jaffar's top generals, he is widely believed to have been slain in combat by the Red Duke.
* '''Suliman the Saracen''' - Friend of Baron Odo of Outremer they fought in opposite sides but became best bro's later.
* '''Sultan Jaffar''' - The tyrant king of Araby, a sorcerer & a slaver still less evil than Khaled for [[End Times|obvious reasons]].
* '''Shihab Ibn Alim''' - Arabyan sorcerer in the service of the Sultan of Copher he can control genies.

== Local Flora and Fauna ==
Older lore stated a Minor Chaos God named Atagro's rise to godhood involved having to slay a Sandworm like something out of Frank Herbert's "Dune" within the depths of the deserts of Araby at the behest of another Minor Chaos God named Shagraunt. Arabyan Horses are a native breed, and ostriches may be found here, presumably in the savannah closer to the jungles of the Southlands. Panthers apparently live in the area near the Southlands, too. Camels and War Elephants have been mentioned, too.

== Collecting Araby ==
While interest in Araby as a faction is sadly middeling, there are some fan-made codexes out there, most of them centered around the expected middle eastern/north African fare. Historical miniatures like Victrix African War Elephant and Numidian Cavalry aswell as GBPs Arab cavalry sets should prove treasure troves for the aspiring collector of Araby. In the future there may be some hope for GeeDubs to revive Araby in their upcoming Warhammer: The Old World game, <s>though such a thing remains doubtful as [[ChapterHouse Studios|they're not exactly easy to trademark]]</s> Recently there was apparently a tweet by a Creative Assembly designer where he posted some Arabyan artwork ostensibly developed in-house by the Old World team which he promptly deleted. Given recent developments that Cathay will be a launch race both in Total War: Warhammer III and in Warhammer: The Old World, the possibility that Araby will once again see the light of the day has become more significant.

== "Controversy" ==

The fantastic portrayal of Arabyans is theorized as one of the reasons for the lack of more recent araby related content but in a setting where [[Sylvania|"totally not romanians"]] are literal vampires and the [[Norsca|Norse]] are demon worshipping, mass murdering, backwards cavemen, and [[Brettonia|Frangland has a 90% tax rate]], subtlety is a rare thing to ask for.

==The Death(?) of Araby==
In 2021, it was officially stated by Creative Assembly designers that there were no plans to add Araby to Total Warhammer, nor were there ever likely to be plans to do so. It was even stated that Games Workshop itself wanted to stay as far away from Araby as possible with its new tabletop game releases, meaning that the faction has effectively come as close as you can get to being [[squatted]] without actively being killed off in the lore. With how [[Skub|contentious]] discussions about the Middle East and Islam have been these past two decades, GW is probably trying their best to sidestep the issues presented with the old lore short of retconning it altogether. In order to prevent offending their audience they threw Araby into the closet [[Derp|making southern realms fans even more pissed off]].

Fans immediately erupted in protest at this news, and the [[skub]] about why Games Workshop would do this to one of the more requested and actually fleshed-out human factions...

Which turned out to be (only partially) bullshit.

New WFRP book, which mainly deals with knightly orders, adds a little bit more information about Araby. First of all, it mentions enigmatic Black Scimitar Guard as a thing that existed at least during the Crusades, which may be a new Tzar Guard-ish type of unit in... something. While the references are quite small, and Roleplay is known to be essentially a lore dump to which GW writers add some ideas that can be potentially brought to Old World or TWW3, it is still some glimmer of hope.

Now, we can only wait...

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Arabyan People.png|Arabyans.
Orfeo and Alkadi Nasreen.jpg
</gallery>

==Links==
* [[Warhammer_Army_Project/Araby|Arabyan fandex]]

{{Regions and areas of the Old World}}