Shard Hunters

On the finges of The Gleaming City live a minority peoples who try to avoid the attentions of the authorities while making their living across the harsh plains of the Shatterbright. Known coloquially as 'Shard Hunters' because the most visible among them to outsiders spend most of their time upon the surface hunting for the remnants of Uhd that the forces of the Lords of Fire discard. It is meant as a disparaging term by many, but the Shardhunters themeselves do not mind and see it as a useful reference. Among themselves, they rarely need to refer to themselves as a group, so 'Shardhunter' is as useful a term as any for outsiders. They are a people primarily consisting of Devilkin and other heavily Firetouched denizons of the sunside lands. Unlike the majority who live under the rule of the Lords of Fire, they do not worship them as deities. Instead, they see them as petulent and spoiled aristocrats, and while powerful, they are definitely not gods. This lack of subservience is seen as disrespect, and even blasphemy, by many among the Gleaming City, and as a result, Shard Hunters are often shunned, and treated as second class citizens by others. The Shard hunters are related ethnically to the monks in the far distant settlement of Xiramond, and while their practices have diverged, they also follow the religion of Bilish. Truth seeking is for them the holiest of activities, but they are not as focussed on the paradoxes and hubris of actually finding truths like their distant cousins. Many Shard Hunters work upon the surface of the Shatterbright, seeking remnant shards of crystalline Uhd to sell upon the black market. Others will hire themselves as guides to explorers of truth across Mortugurra. Others seek employment with archaelogists at the Kyroshi Pit. Even rarer, are the Shard Hunters who act as spies and informants for outside forces against the interests of the Lords of Fire themselves. Most live in enclaves within the Warrens of the Gleaming City, or in small settlements within the Stonesky. They tend to keep to themselves, but are warm and welcoming hosts to any that pay them respect, or bring new truths and knowledge from across Shadowfire. Their knowledge is shared primarily through oral story telling, and they have a wealth of it, collected and passed through generations. Their leaders are known as oracles or 'Mouths of Bilish', and many will seek them out to discover lost knowedge hidden from other sources.

Parent ethnicities