WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK 0021 0021
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Chapter 2: THE STRUGGLE FOR KHITUS
least, that’s what Amdar tells the other family members,
though this truth is far from the whole story. Amdar
is not just a businessman. As a boy, he studied under
the philosopher Vralic Amodes and gained a keen appreciation of culture and history. As Khitan civilization
continues to unravel, Amdar takes it upon himself to
preserve the most valuable cultural treasures of Khitus.
Many artifacts do make it to market to cover the funding costs of these seeker expeditions. The most valuable
ones, however, never make it onto the books, let alone
the auction block. Those artifacts instead go to a secret
holding in the desert (known only to Amdar and two of
his lieutenants who do the transfers) to preserve these
artifacts against destruction by the elements and careless looters. Whether these artifacts will ever again be
appreciated by anyone other than Amdar is unknown,
but one thing is for sure. If the other Kretch family members ever found out that Amdar was secreting away the
most valuable goods, his tenure as leader of the house
would swiftly come to an inglorious end.
Qath Manhar
(The Brigands’ Guild)
As traditional occupations become unviable, new ones
emerge to take their place. The trader turns from his
shop to the black market to seek what he needs for customers. A farmer abandons blighted fields to scavenge
for survival. Left with no alternatives, honest men turn
to thievery, and even organize into marauding bands to
scrape just enough plunder from their surroundings to
survive. It is a hard life, one to which few men take easily,
their scruples gnawed away until they become numb to
the misery they inflict upon others.
Most Khitan marauders and mercenaries are independent scavengers, singularly desperate to survive,
let alone thrive. However, their numbers have grown
so vast, their profession so prevalent in every corner of
Khitus that a loose brotherhood has emerged to organize their illicit activities. The Qath Manhar derive their
name from an ancient legend, meaning one who would
sell out his own brother. If anything, the name is a misnomer; the only true honor and mercy among the marauders comes from the Qath Manhar code.
Simply put, marauders who adhere to the code steal
only what they need and no more. They never kill or take
revenge upon the innocent or unarmed, and the code
severely discourages wanton destruction and forbids acts
of terror. The Qath Manhar, like unaffiliated brigands, are
sprinkled everywhere across Khitus, though they exist in
smaller numbers where resources are the most scarce.
The Qath Manhar offer some protection, albeit uninvited,
to those who provide their food and water. Their victims
trade an emptier belly for some aid against worse wildeyed and “uncultured” plunderers and attackers. The best
folk can say of the Qath Manhar is that they eliminate (or
at least reduce in number) the worst raiders whose unchecked actions would destroy everything over time.
Raetann (The Water Guild)
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and “a
measure of water may fill the span between life and
death.” Such is the credo of the Raetann, a much-feared
organization born of necessity but bloated by self-righteous zeal and ill-earned power. The guild’s origins are
familiar history in nearly every city and village of the
fast-deteriorating southern half of Khitus. The rains
slowed and stopped; the rivers and streams dwindled and
turned to mud and clay; entire oceans and seas retreated
to bare their muddy basins to the sun. Wells failed and
cisterns echoed their emptiness loudly. Those who could
seized control of any water sources, changing a basic necessity into a rationed resource “to ensure it would not
be lost entirely.” Where people protested such strictures,
that control led to heavy-handed enforcement. Whether
benevolent or despotic in its local rise, the Raetann, or
Water Guild, was born to “protect that promise of life held
within its waters. Those who hoard water for themselves
alone doom Khitus by withholding life itself, and thus
they forfeit their own for the good of us all.”
Guild members see their roles as the guardians of all
waters, whether they guard the water skins of a caravan,
monitor the use of a village well, or oversee the nowtrickling aqueducts of a large city. Raetanni nurture
suspicion and fear in the completion of their duties, and
few dare meet their guarded eyes. They harbor suspicion
about any potential water use outside of their control and
thus have eyes everywhere. They train children to inform
on their parents or neighbors upon each other, all merely
to gain favor and a thimble-full of water for exposing
the tiniest infractions of guild water-use rules. “To have
water is to live for another day, whether plant, animal, or
man. That which deserves water is solely the judgment of
a Raetann.” Guild members have a mixed view of the socalled water spice, or hesheyel, which can reduce a person’s need for water; such a thing can be a blessing, but
might also partially undermine their authority.
As the crises have expanded beyond droughts to persistent famine and marauding death, so have the Water
Guild’s areas of authority. In many cities, guild officers
advise the true, legitimate rulers with a heavy hand. In
other places where they choose, the Raetanni supplant ex19
