Oshahni

The Oshahni is the name given to the foreign-born pirates and slavers that rule the region of the Arak Coast and the native peoples that live there. Hailing from all over the world, these cut-throat ruffians rule the region with an iron fist and always with a focus on piracy and slavery as the primary engines of their economies. The word Oshahni is almost universally used by the native people of the Arak Coast to describe the foreigners that rule them. Meaning "of the sea" in many of the various languages and dialects of the natives, it is a word that means oppressor, slaver, master, and abuser in almost every native tongue to be found. While the Oshahni have no literal shared heritage, as they come to the region from as many as two dozen different countries or islands, they share the cultural attribute of ruling the native peoples through harsh and cruel means, treating them like slaves or chattel rather than as people. As a group, Oshahni may speak Fangorian, Arian, Colian or Thallian... but to a native of the Coast, they are foreigners, invaders, oppressors and are universally dispised and feared.