Editing Other kingdoms (section)

===The Nethsras, nomadic barbarian tribe===

The Nethsras are one of the nomadic barbarian tribes of the western Steppe Wastes. They range further west and south than many other tribes, and so while only rumors to the Twin Cities, are better known in the Spice Kingdoms. They specialize in hunting [[Megafauna|hornbeasts]] with bolas from ambush. Their clans roam following the hornbeast herds, living in well-hidden temporary camps. Although they have joined barbarian hordes in times past, they are generally peaceful and not warlike, and usually maintain good relations with neighboring tribes.

It is an oddity that the Nethsras have no shamans among them, and claim they are never troubled by ghosts. This is because, they say, all Nethsras are the same souls of all the Nethsras who ever were, and those souls reincarnate as Nethsras after their death. They know exactly how many Nethsras souls there are, and each clan tells the others of deaths so that they know which souls to look for when new children are born. In times when their birthrates fall below deathrates, though, they must send scouts to nearby tribes, and even into civilized lands, seeking the newborn children that have souls from their tribe. Once identified, the scouts either buy (from other barbarian tribes) or steal (from civilized lands) these newborns and return them to their true people. The worst thing for Nethsras is when their birthrates rise above deathrates – for children born then will be born soulless. In such times it is traditional for the Nethsras to seek some pretext to go to war, so that there will be souls for the newborns.

Some Nethsras do seem able to recover fragments of past lives – although most never progress beyond achieving strong paramnesia sensations. These hints of past lives are usually cherished and encouraged, so Nethsras may seem erratic and mercurial to outsiders. The few who do manage to recover memories of past lives are the Awakened Ones. They are capable of astounding skills, but must struggle with sorting through a confusing mix of memories and personalities that have no context in their present life. Scouts sent to find wayward reborn souls are always young Awakened Ones.

Occupations: Gleaner, Hunter, Scout, Awakened One
Suggested Skills: Area Knowledge (steppes), Autohypnosis, Bolas, Camouflage, Stealth, Survival, Forbidden Lore (soul recognition)
Social Background: Low TL, Nethsric (native language), Illiteracy
Suggested Quirks: Delusions (past lives), Likes, Personality Change
Sample Contact Groups: Clan, Past Life
Suggested Advantages: Reawakened (10 pts) (note: may use to learn Blind Fighting, Body Control, Breath Control, Invisibility Art, Light Walk), Split Personality (-15 pts)
Rumor: “Most of the Awakened Ones of the Nethsras are aware that their numbers are slowly dwindling, as each generation a few reborn souls are never recovered. They believe that someone has stolen their secrets of soul rebirth, and so polluted the way to rebirth such that some souls simply become lost in being reborn. They have heard of the distant Twin Cities, and plan to send scouts there to search for reborn Nethsras souls, to bring back, or to kill if they are too old to bring back.” 

-- by Kakita Kojiro