Warhammer Cultures: Arabyans

"He was a curious fellow, and had I not known better, I would have sworn him my enemy. We would bicker long into the night, at every meeting, and at its end, he would kiss me on both cheeks and call me kin.

I will never forgive my countrymen for the words they cast him with. I miss him to this very day, though I pray — impious as I am — that his God spared him this end…" 

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Warhammer Cultures: Arabyans

The Warhammer World is full of diverse cultures, and their intermingling and antagonism is a core theme of the setting. Over the next while, I’m hoping to expand on the base cultures presented on Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4^th Edition, page 24, to include this diversity for your games. Today, we’re going to look at Humans (Arabyan)!

Humans (Arabyan)

Araby is a large, mostly arid land far to the south of the Old World, just north of the Southlands, and neighbouring the ancient kingdom of Nehekhara. The coasts of Araby are verdant and lush, but not far inland things become desolate, leading to a culture largely divided between these two different worlds. However, a shared religion, and rigid customs, keep these different ways of life in relative harmony. Despite this, the lands of Araby experience near-constant infighting as the divided rulers of the various coastal city-states jockey for power.

Outsiders view most Arabyans as 'tricky', but this is largely due to a miscommunication of cultures. Arabyans prize cleverness above almost all other traits, and much of their society revolves around matters of wisdom and knowledge, with vast universities and colleges that teach all those with the wit to learn, rather than the merely rich, as is done further north. The Arabyans also value family and religion very strongly, though their views on both are often very much at odds with their neighbours. Family is earned, and of constant maintanence, in Arabyan society, rather than inherent. A trusted and beloved ward would be considered closer familially than a lazy and ignoble blood relative. Further, the Arabyan's worship of a single loving, if strict, God through servitude seems strange to most northerners, who are used to begging and demanding sollace from a pantheon of uncaring Gods.

Most Arabyans that find their way to the Empire do so via the ports of Marienburg, as the Arabyans are unsurpassed as sailors — except by the High Elves — and have trade relations with every known culture around the globe. This means that, for the most part, Arabyans in the Empire tend to be more wealthy and learned than the common Imperial, giving them an air of mystery, aloofness, and casting them with the Evil Eye of jealousy (which is much feared in Arabyan culture). However, as with all folk, Arabyans come in all castes, and these outside perceptions are often ignorant at best, and downright ridiculous, at worst.

Human (Arabyan) Skills & Talents

Skills: Bribery, Cool, Entertain (Riddles), Evaluate, Gossip, Haggle, Intuition, Language (Neheshkh), Lore (Araby), Melee (Basic), Navigation, Sail

Talents: Coolheaded or Savvy, Nazar, Read/Write or Seasoned Traveller, 2 Random Talents

New Skill: Language (Neheshkh)

Often called 'Arabyan', Neheshkh is a language that shares roots with ancient Nehekharan, and is spoken all throughout Araby, much of the Southlands, and in many nations around the globe. Indeed, it is the widest spread, and most widely spoken language, given the extensive trade network of Araby.

(A note from the author: The original language of Araby is given as "Arabic", which I... don't really like, as it's so clearly just lifting real world Arabic into Warhammer. I've chosen to change it slightly to fit in with the rest of the real world but a little different aesthetic of the Warhammer World. "Neheshkh" comes from the Arabic script, "Naskh". I changed it to sound slightly closer to "Nehekhara", and to follow some of its implied syllable rules.)

New Talent: Nazar

Max: 1

The Arabyan culture holds a deep reverence and fear of the Evil Eye — of Chaos, of magic, and of negative emotions. This fear has resulted in Arabyan folks devising many and varied personal wards against magic, which are surprisingly affective.. Arabyan Characters gain the Phobia (Magic Users) Psychology (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4^th Edition, page 191) which they may lose if they gain any Talents allowing them to perform Spells; and they gain the ability to spend a Fortune Point to perform an Opposed Cool Test, instead of a Language (Magick) Test to dispell Spells targetting them (though the Spell is only dispelled against them, and still affects other Targets) even if they aren't magic users. See Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4^th Edition, page 237. A Character must be aware of the Spell being cast, and must be able to make eye-contact with the magic user, to use a Fortune Point in this way.

What Next?

Last time I wrote about Humans (Tilean) , and now Humans (Arabyan). I'm enjoying the Human kick, so I think I'll stay put, for now. But whether I'll write about the Southlanders, or the Border Princedoms, is yet to be seen! Let me know if you have a preference below!