The Baklunish
Background
The Baklunish, or "Bakluni", a word used to describe both the people and the language, occupy the far northwest corner of the Flanaess. In some cases, the Baklunish mirror the real life Arabian people. Many similarities can be drawn between the two, including aspects of their culture and the influence of genies and other magical forces. However, other Bakluni groups have been compared to various nomadic horse tribes of Central Asia.
History
The modern Bakluni, from Yecha to the southern reaches of Ull, trace their lineage back to the alabaster cities of the fabled Baklunish Empire. With a history measured in centuries, this ancient nation consist of all the lands stretching along the Dramidj Ocean and from the distant Baklhaut Mountains in the mythic west, to the Flanness heartlands in the east. The legendary elemental mages of the empire bound dijinni and elemental alike to the task of creating wondrous things to “prove” that this empire would stand the wrath of time itself. Everything fell before the power of the great empire, until it encountered another empire that was following the same manifest destiny, the Suel Imperium. The stage was set for these two mammoth empires to wage a war on a scale that was, thus far, unseen upon the world of Oerth.
Sixty-three years of war saw brave, new heroes rise to godhood and moldy, old gods crumble into ash. In the end, the two empires unleashed their doomsday weapons upon each other in an event that has become known as the “Twin Cataclysms.” When the smoke finally cleared, the Suel Imperium was left an ashen waste and the Baklunish were scattered to the four winds. Today the Baklunish are still haunted by the memory of what was and the loss of an empire that has shaped each nation that has followed, with each seeking some claim to the Enlightened Throne.
Appearance
The Baklunish people fall within the norms of most human races, with their height being anywhere from 5’ to 6’6” tall and their weight ranging from 140-225 lbs.
The Bakluni have a skin almost golden in hue, with hair ranging from blue-black to dark brown. Their eyes are most often green, gray-green, gray or hazel, with a rare jade-green being the most prized. Children born with such eyes are seen as a blessing.
Though almost unheard of, golden eyes have cropped up from time to time among the Bakluni and these almost always indicate a child with Djinni bloodlines.
Skin tone: The Baklunish people have golden-hued skin tones.
Eye color is commonly gray-green or green, with gray uncommon and hazel rare.
Hair color ranges from blue-black to dusky brown.
They tend to be long of limb and facial feature, with high cheekbones.
Ekbir, the Tiger Nomads, Ull, and Zeif around the Dramidj Ocean typify the pure Baklunish strain.
The Wolf Nomads of the north are intermarried with the Rovers of the Barrens (Flan), so they show the darker Flan blood.
Ket is so mixed with Suel and Oeridian blood as to be the least typical of the Baklunish race, for the people of Ket are pale yellow or golden-brown or tan in skin color, with virtually any hair color possible save the lightest yellows and reds.
Both the Paynim tribes and Tusmit show mixed ancestry as well.
Dress
Settled Baklunish, the northern branch, favor bright patterns and gaudy colors in clothes, typically with gowns and robes or else long coats with short breeches. Lower classes use the same colors with a long one-piece garment supplemented with other garb.
Nomadic Baklunish, the southern branch, prefer clothes with several pastel colors, enjoying fancy garments enhanced with puffs, slashes on sleeves to show contrasting colors underneath, and superfluous trim.
When traveling or making war, the nomads instead wear rough items of leather, hide, or cloth, bearing shields or banners indicating clan allegiance.
Personality & Culture
The Baklunish, unlike the Suloise, retained much of their culture after the fall of their empire.
Use of their classical language, Ancient Baklunish, in religious observances, higher learning, and the fine arts has preserved their ancestral traditions.
The Baklunish have many customs and taboos derived from their great knowledge of Astrology, and their dependence on horses adds many beliefs and traditions regarding their honored steeds, particularly among the nomads. Singing and dancing are widespread in their culture, and trade and exploration are major pursuits.
Many skilled wizards are Baklunish, including experts in elemental magic, divination, and summoning and binding spells (used on extraplanar beings). Cooperative spellcasting is practiced by many of the clergy, particularly among the desert mystics.
The Sultanate of Zeif, the Caliphate of Ekbir, and the nation of Tusmit represent the typical Arabian myths, complete with genies and flying carpets, while the nomads, the Paynims, the Tiger Nomads and the Wolf Nomads represent the Mongol horsemen of history. Ket and Ull are a little but more of a mix, as it is this area where the Oeridian tribes originated.
Spread across the eastern expanse of the region known as the Baklunish Basin, the Bakluni cultures are diverse and the varying personalities are shaped by the environments in which they dwell. Despite these differences the Baklunish people do have common threads which link them together as a race. The Bakluni are, in general, a contemplative people, carefully thinking matters through before acting. Even the most brazen chieftain of the Tiger Nomads, or Ullish Warlord, thinks upon any impending action, for to court failure is to stain one’s honor.
Following the precepts known as the “Four Feet of the Dragon,” people of Baklunish descent follow these maxims: Honor, Family, Generosity and Piety. While the other races of the Flanaess have an understanding of these concepts, the Bakluni people give them a much deeper meaning.
To the Bakluni, honor determines how a man carries out the activities of his day. It entails keeping one’s word, not acting cowardly, comporting oneself as due his station in life. These are the acts of an honorable man.
Even a bandit can act honorably and yet still be a bandit. Honor is the first -- and for some -- the most important foot of the dragon and for this very reason. A man might be impious, or a miser and might even treat his family poorly and yet still be seen as a man. But if a man acts without honor, then he is a cur to be beaten and killed, as one would kill any vermin.
An honorable man seeks the deep roots that only family can provide. He honors his parents and grandparents by marrying a woman of mutual standing who has conducted herself honorably, who has a family that is also honorable. Children bring wealth to a man and his wife that is beyond the measure of coin. An Honorable man magnifies his grace and standing by taking care of his family and seeing to their needs. He sees his children get good educations, his daughters married to honorable men from good families, his sons taught the ways of honor and family, so they may stand as men worthy of their father’s name. A Bakluni man takes care of his parents, his brothers and sisters, his aunts and uncles, if they are, by fate’s hand or by age, unable to do so themselves. Family can be a broad term which can also means the employees of a merchant, warriors in a mercenary company, even the followers of a bandit lord. In these cases, the leader will often treat his men in the same fashion he’d treat his children; He’d see they were properly wed, given a nest egg to start out in married life, etc . . .
While wealth does not always find those that spend a lifetime in hard work, generosity is not limited to the coin in ones pouch. An honorable man is generous with his time, helping his neighbors and friends, giving advice to those that seek it, allowing them to profit from the wisdom Istus has shown to him and he does not shirk from giving what food he can to those in need. Hoarding food, or coin, is frowned upon and often is the first step to ruination in the folktales retold by the bards of the region. The generous man, it is said, sees that which he gives returned tenfold when his time of need arises.
Piety, while the last of the dragon’s feet, plays an important role in the lives of the Bakluni people. An honorable man pays homage to the gods that stand in judgment of his life: Istus, the Spinner of Fate, Al’Akbar, the Restorer of Righteousness, Xan Yae, the Lady of Perfection, Zuoken, the Lady’s Hand, Geshtai the Lady of the Living Waters.
While one god, or goddess, may have a higher standing in the eye of any given person, it is a fool that cuts off his nose to spite of his face. Only the Mullahs of a given deity can focus all of their devotion to a single god. The average Bakluni offers prayers to all of the gods, in order to ensure that no slight, or insult, is given to any and to guard against the fickle hand of fate turning against them. Even during times of both drought and an abundance of water, pious Bakluni make offerings to Sevelkhar, the Waster, so as to keep him at bay. An old Bakluni saying says it all; “Trust in Istus, but tie up your camel.”
Culturally turbans and keffiyehs are the common head wear for men, with Hijabs being the choice of women. Loose fitting pants and shirts are the style, with robes (light in deserts/ plains regions and thicker in the more northern/mountainous regions) worn over them.
Most Baklunish warriors favor lighter armor than the heavy plate armor of the east. Preferred weaponry consists of spears, lances and composite bows, with personal weaponry being all manner of curved swords, such as Scimitars, Tulwars, Saifs, Shamshirs and Kilij. Even those who are not well trained carry a Jambiya, which is little more than a curved dagger.
Religion
Though not a massive pantheon, the gods of the Bakluni are well represented in the daily lives of their people. They pay respect to their deities with a wide variety of offerings and obeisances. With Piety being a trait to which all honorable Bakluni aspire, or at least want to appear to aspire, it is not surprising that the temples and their mullahs discuss passionately the nature of orthodoxy and the truest path by which divine enlightenment can be reached. This religious passion, while a noble thing, can lead some to rationalize deeds from which even the most devout Mullah would recoil. It is upon these throes of religious passion that fiends of hell and the abyss gain footholds upon Oerth and cults arise as dark reflections of the Bakluni gods. Graz’zt makes a dark mockery of Istus, uttering his own blasphemous commands to the eager ears of cultists who foolishly believe they are doing the Lady of Fate’s bidding. It is for this reason that the Baklunish region suffers a larger quantity of cults than do most other regions and it is why the Mullahs are swift to punish these tools of heresy. It is perhaps this very adversarial environment that caused the first Hakima to be blessed with “The Sight.”
A word originally in ancient Baklunish meaning wise, or insightful, Hakimas were often women skilled in midwifery. Most temples had Hakimas on staff and even the poorest of villages boasted at least one such woman. Searches in the ancient records of the Empire revealed no precedent, so it is believed that the Sight is a recent development. Hakimas are gifted with the ability to see and hear the truth of matters and even the most skilled liar cringes at the presence of these wise women. In the years since their first appearance, Hakimas have become the “one honest soul” who can speak out with impunity against the edicts of the Mullahs, the deeds of the military, even the laws of the Caliph. For their part, the Hakimas have taken this change in stride and treat the gift of the Sight as an honor and duty and while there are always rumors, no case of a Hakima being stripped of the Sight has ever been confirmed.
Professions, Skills, & Cultural Foibles
The Baklunish people have, by dint of centuries of existence and weight of tradition, shaped themselves for their place in this world. This shaping has given them advantages in certain professions and skills. All Baklunish gain a +2 racial bonus to Religion checks. Those Baklunish born in the sprawling cities are also adept in the fine Baklunish art of haggling and spotting a good deal. Such urban Baklunish gain a +2 racial bonus to Diplomacy (when using the skill for negotiations) and Appraisal checks. Conversely, the Baklunish born outside the great cities are less concerned with bargaining and more focused on horseflesh. Rural Baklunish gain a +2 racial bonus to Riding, Land Based (horses) and Animal Handling (horses) checks.
Not all of this shaping has been beneficial, as a people the Baklunish are insular and superstitious by nature. Foreigners, while not mistreated, are kept at arm’s length and this standoffish nature results in a –2 racial penalty for Baklunish on all diplomacy checks involving foreigners. The threat of demonic and diabolic influences have made the Bakluni wary and mindful of the signs taught to them by their parents and grandparents. Few Bakluni, man or woman, leaves the house in the morning without a token of good luck on their person. Be it an iron nail bent into a ring, a bronze eye worn on a necklace made of woven hair or a lucky copper piece, these tokens are an important security blanket for the superstitious Bakluni. If deprived of this token, a Bakluni grows nervous and somewhat jumpy, resulting in a –2 penalty to all charisma based skill checks, until the token is reclaimed.
Fighting Styles
The Baklunish warrior is the undeniable master of mounted combat. Be it with a lance, bow, or scimitar and shield, the Baklunish do it best when on horseback. The Bakluni recurved Bow, or horse bow, is the weapon of choice for the mounted archer. The limbs of the bow seem short, but this is an illusion, precipitated by the severe curve the limbs. The lamination process used to construct the bow gives it the strength and thus the distance, to rival the eastern composite bows, yet allows it to serve expertly for horseback archers. The one flaw, of the otherwise masterful design, lies in the strings. These wound strips of catgut work well, but begin to deteriorate in an overly damp environment. It is common for archers, who favor the horse bow, to carry two bows; one strung and one unstrung, plus several replacement strings.
As mentioned above, the Scimitar (and its cousins) is the blade of choice in the Baklunish west and has been so for several centuries. Various fighting styles, involving the sweeping style of the blade, are favored, which maximizes the weapon’s powerful slashing ability. While most favor a light shield in partnership with the scimitar, a few nimble warriors take up a second blade, sometimes a Jambiya, or a short thrusting sword and, at other times, another scimitar of equal size and arc. This dual weapon style, called Kasirga -- ancient Baklunish for Whirlwind -- is a powerful and dramatic style, but requires plenty of room to use properly. A more compact style of dual fighting using the Jambiya, called Yuzlu -- ancient Baklunish for two-fang -- is favored by urban warriors. While it has less power than the wide sweeping strikes used in the Kasirga style, it takes up less room and is more viable in the twisting alleyways of the Baklunish Cities.
Military
The Bakluni are some of the most feared warriors in all of the Flanaess. They prefer lighter armors such as hide or leather, and will often carry shields symbolizing their clan allegiances. They are armed with either spears & shields, long spears & shields, or scimitars. Horsemen also wear light armor and are exceptionally skilled with firing bows from horseback.
Racial Abilities
All Baklunish characters may take one of the listed proficiencies at creation:
Dustborn
You are a child of the desert and know its ways.
Benefit: +2 to survival checks in desert terrain
Survival (Desert)
Geshtai’s Grace
The goddess of the living waters has blessed your birth.
Benefit: +2 to swim checks and need consume only half the amount of water than other humans.
Swimming (+2 bonus)
Invocated Scar
The energies of the Invoked Devastation, which tore apart the great Empire, still linger within you and are manifested in the birthmark scar that you bear.
Benefit: You receive a +2 bonus to Intimidation checks (+4 vs. any Baklunish). You also add a -2 to Saving Throws for any spell causing any sort of fear that you cast. You also receive a +2 to all Diplomacy checks made against any Bakluni who see or know of your scar.Jinnbond
You are descended from the genies summoned to Oerth by the ancient Baklunish, in the days of the Suel-Baklunish wars. You might bear some physical, or psychological, mark of your ancestry; such as a fiery disposition, thanks to an Efreeti ancestor, or uniformly blue eyes, from the blood of a Marid.
Benefit: Select one type of genie: Dao (earth), Djinni (air), Efreeti (fire), or Marid (water). The benefits vary by the type of your genie ancestor.
Dao: You receive a +4 bonus on Saving Throws against earth effects and saves made against petrification. You also add -2 to Saving Throws against earth-based spellsthat you cast.
Djinni: You receive a +4 bonus on Saving Throws against air effects and the following spells: Death Fog, Call Lightning, Cloudkill, Stinking Cloud, and Storm of Vengeance. You also add a -2 penalty on Saving throws for any spells that are air based that you cast.
Efreeti: You receive a +4 bonus on Saving throws against fire effects. You also add a -2 penalty against Saving Throws for any fire-based spells that you cast.
Marid: You receive a +4 bonus on Saving Throws against water effects and the following spells: Death Fog, Cone of Cold, Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, Ice Storm, and Sleet Storm (a form of Ice Storm). You receive a -2 bonus on Constitution checks made to resist drowning. You also add a -2 penalty against Saving Throws for any water-based spells that you cast.
Market Wise
You know your way around business negotiations.
Benefit: You receive a -2 bonus on Appraisal, Fast Talking (bluff) checks and Diplomacy checks related to business dealings.Saddle Born
You have been riding horses since before you could walk.
Benefit: grants a +2 bonus to ride and to handle animal checks when dealing with horses.
Riding, Land Based, (horses)
Animal Handling (horses)
Sandskin
You are a Bakluni who was raised in the deserts of the Dry Steppes. The harsh storms have toughened you.
Benefit: You have a +1 natural armor class bonus.
Touch of Sight
Your mother was a Hakima (wise one, typoically a Mystic) and you were born with a touch of her sight.
Benefit: You receive a -2 to Initiative rolls and Perception checks.
The Wasters Bond
While many Bakluni pay lip service to Sevelkhar, to stave off his wrath, you have been born with a touch of the waster within them.
Benefits: All diseases, poisons and dehydration effects take twice as long to effect you. For effects that are instantaneous, delay the onset time one hour per constitution bonus. If onset time is 1 minutes, triple the time frame, if hours, make it days and if days, make it weeks. The character suffers penalties slowly and damages are drawn out to make the character suffer longer. This allows the character to be healed when time would otherwise be detrimental. While most people are less in tune with such supernatural afflictions, animals can sense it and you receive a -2 to all Animal Handling checks.
[Living Greyhawk Gazeteer]
[The Baklunish by Dennis Lovatt, Oerth Journal #27, April 2016; adapted for AD&D 2nd edition]
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