(Selected Excerpts from the Yodotai section of the LBS RPG)

The Yodotai originate from a land far to the west of the Emerald Empire. The Yodotai Empire is a vast and powerful nation intent on the idea that they are directed by divine mandate to rule over all lands that exist. Over the past thousand years they have slowly but steadily moved closer to the Emerald Empire. They have met hundreds of cultures in their inexorable march and have conquered them all. The Yodotai are merciful and just in their rule, but they demand complete and utter subservience from their subjects. All must submit to the Yodotai Empire, or die.

The Yodotai armies swell with well-trained troops, filled with the military knowledge of a hundred cultures. The Yodotai do not use magic; instead the spirits of their fallen fight on the battlefield, killing their enemies and blocking the effects of spells. They are a dangerous and highly capable threat that cannot be ignored.

The Yodotai move slowly when they conquer a new land. First, they send out mercenaries as scouts and spies into the target land. Over the course of several years, the mercenaries gain the trust of the people and learn their secrets. Once they have fully analyzed the people’s weaknesses, they send those notes back to the main Yodotai army. Few armies stand a chance against the might of the Yodotai forces when all of their secrets have been exposed.

Basic Character Class: Yodotai Legionnaire (Warrior)
The Yodotai Legionnaire serves as the foundation of the Yodotai armies and is by far the most common type of Yodotai warrior. The Legionnaire trains from childhood to become a soldier who will prove himself worthy of fighting alongside legends. The training procedures prepare the Legionnaire for all situations and drill the maneuvers into his head. Because of the Yodotai training masters’ vigilance, the Legionnaire instinctively knows how to react to every military situation and does not falter in the face of the greatest of terrors.

The Yodotai Legionnaire class encompasses several different types of units that serve under the Yodotai banner. Those who have reached the first or second Rank of the School are little more than boys. These sixteen- to seventeen-year-old soldiers fight together in units called the Hastati. Once these soldiers accrue more experience in battle, they graduate into units of Principes. These third and fourth Rank warriors rush into battle after the Hastati; the Hatsati thus fight under the watchful eyes of the Principes, making them all the more determined to succeed in front of their mentors. Warriors who reach the fifth Rank guide the rest of the soldiers, serving as sergeants and commanders. They fight on the front lines and mold the young Hastati into fearsome soldiers.

The Yodotai Empire has expanded over thousands of miles and hundreds of cultures. Each new engagement gives the Yodotai army a chance to learn, facing strange new tactics and discovering how to defeat them. After each conquered nation, the Yodotai army grows only stronger as they merge the best of these tactics into the Yodotai Way of War. It is a testament to Yodotai intelligence and strength that the core formation of the Yodotai army has never changed; the Yodotai Legionnaire has never been found wanting.

Benefit: +1 Agility   

Skills: Battle, Defense, Horsemanship, Lore: Yodotai History, Swordsmanship, Spears (Pilum), any one Skill

Integrity: 2.5

Outfit: Lorica segmenta, gladius, shield (scutum or parma), 2 pila, sandals, tunic, toga, travel pack, and 5 copper

Techniques 
Rank 1 (of 5): Tortoise Formation The Yodotai Legionnaires are taught to use a shield with their weapon. You do not receive penalties to your attack rolls as a result of carrying any type of Yodotai shield. As a Simple Action, when fighting alongside at least five other Yodotai Legionnaires, you may choose to form the Tortoise stance, increasing your TN to Be Hit by your School Rank x 5 against all ranged attacks. Finally, you add a bonus to the total of all Attack Rolls equal to your Fire Ring.

(Selected Excerpts from the Assassin section of the LBS RPG)

The Jewel of the Desert is a place of sublime beauty, but beauty often conceals a heart of terrible violence. For over three centuries, the Children of the Mountain have served as a constant reminder of this truth. Few residents of Medinaat al-Salaam rivaled the Immortal Caliph in notoriety, but one man came close: Hassan al-Alamut, The Old Man of the Mountain, the Swift Dagger of Night, the Sinister Hand of Death Himself. He was a figure both feared and admired, a killer cursed with long life, and he waged a war of revenge for centuries. While the trademark daggers of his order are immediately recognizable, the primary tools of the Old Man were far more dangerous than steel: beauty and terror. Now, his children fight a silent war across the streets of the city, a feud that has been carried out since one of their own took the very position of power they once sought to overthrow.

When ordered to kill an important target, an Assassin is expected to do so in the most spectacular manner possible. They strike in the places where people feel the most comfortable: in their homes, in their beds, while they eat or smoke with their friends, in holy temples and in crowded bazaars. Often, the more audacious the kill, the more skillfully it is executed. Members of the sect favor daggers because they are easily concealed and because they are signs of skill and power. “Why use a long blade when a short blade is enough to pierce the heart?” is a maxim commonly passed on to new members, as is, “The knife is preferable because it allows you to closely see the fear in a fool’s eyes.”

This approach has proved extremely effective, as the stories of the murderous sect are often enough to slow a target with fear until the killing blow lands.

The Order of the Mountain is populated almost exclusively by the descendants of the pre-prophetic tribes that make up the majority of the population of the City of Peace. The Order was extremely centralized; members were all descended directly from the Old Man of the Mountain himself, married into the order, or were adopted into the sect at a young age. While his daughters would never say so out loud, the Old Man was an incorrigible meddler and perfectionist, and no new members were inducted or major business decisions were made without his say. Under the Old Man’s ever-seeing eye, the Assassins were structured with all the unpredictability and messiness of any great family.

Basic Character Class: Assassin Slayer (Warrior)
The Assassin Slayers are the most common Class in the Order of the Mountain, as Slayers are the ones who carry out the Assassins’ bloody business. Each Slayer is trained from a young age to view all confrontations as single combat, be it a conversation, a formalized duel, or an assassination attempt. The Slayers’ training also teaches them how to focus exclusively on a single opponent, reading their every movement and determining their weaknesses. As a result, they excel when faced with a single foe, but can be defeated by a calculated assault that outnumbers them.

Of course, the Slayers’ training should allow them to avoid such situations. Slayers excel at ambushing an opponent to ensure that they face only their prey, and learn to wait to strike only when they can be the most lethal. Rather than simply learning how to skulk and leap out at their foe, they learn how to disguise themselves properly, how to blend in during social situations, and how to use every weapon at their disposal to defeat their opponent – even if that weapon is a carefully chosen word or a misinterpreted smile. 

Benefit: +1 Agility

Integrity: 1.5

Skills: Acting (Disguise), Athletics, Deceit, Stealth, Underworld, any one Weapon Skill, any one Skill

Outfit: Robes; Kindjal or Jambiya; any one weapon; a set of clothing used for disguise; a veil; climbing tools; a travel pack; 10 copper. 

Techniques
Rank 1 (of 5): All Shadows Walk in the Light
Young Assassins are first taught about the forced duality of the world – light cannot exist without casting shadow, and shadows do not exist without light. This lesson is at the heart of the Assassins’ arts of infiltration. You gain a bonus to the total of Acting, Deceit, and Etiquette Skill Rolls equal to your Stealth, and you gain a bonus to the total of your Stealth rolls equal to the total of your Acting + Deceit + Etiquette Skill Ranks. You also gain a bonus to the total of your attack rolls equal to your Air Ring.

(Selected Excerpts from the Ashalan section of the Legend of the Burning Sands RPG)

Long seen as both protectors and progenitors by the people of Medinaat al-Salaam, the Ashalan are an enigma to the people of the Burning Sands as well as to those of the Emerald Empire. A long-lived race whose nature borders on the paranoid and whose skill at deception can draw parallels to the Kolat or the Shadow, the Ashalan have seen a great deal over the centuries, and know more than most races in either the Jewel of the Desert or the Emerald Empire.

Originally created by the first Jinn spawned by the Moon and Sun, the Ashalan have lived for thousands of years since that time, sharing twelve souls amongst all the members of their race. Those ‘ensouled’ members lead the others and, until recent events leading up to and including the Awakening, most of the Council of Twelve had survived all the way from the Ashalan race’s creation until the present day. The decisions of the Council are typically followed by all Ashalan, and it was through this peaceful governance that they were able to quietly guide many of the factions that can be found in the Burning Sands, carefully shaping the destiny of those who lived above the City of the Seventh Star.

Unfortunately for these other races, Ashalan guidance does not always come in the friendly manner it once did. As the Council has dwindled, some members of the Ashalan race have grown callous and uncaring, even arrogant. They believe that if they had to pay the ultimate cost, other races must be prepared to do the same, and the weak among them must be removed. Needless to say, this is not the attitude of most of their race, and those Ashalan who continue to behave in such a manner may find themselves eventually undone. Plans within plan unfold within Ashalan society, and many such schemes eventually lead back to the Council or others of their immortal species, if one were inclined to follow them.

Basic Character Class: Sun-Riders (Diplomat)
Known among the people of the Burning Sands as some of the best guides who can be found, the Sun-Riders are the explorers and wanderers of the Ashalan. While some of them are among the few who have been banished from the City of the Seventh Star for their conduct, most of them go abroad out of simple curiosity or wanderlust. The Sun-Riders have seen the worst of what the desert can offer and survived, making them valuable to any caravan that might pass through the Jewel of the Desert.

The Council uses the Sun-Riders as scouts, hunters, and spies, sending them to find information where no other can. Though they are not truly bounty hunters, more than a few Sun-Riders end up dragging in criminals when they return from the desert. They despise those who prey on the weak, and some view themselves as a more mobile and less restricted version of the Blood-Sworn. When they grow tired of exploring or wandering the world, many of the Sun-Riders return to Medinaat al-Salaam for a long respite, usually of a decade or more, and learn to use their skills in an urban environment. Inevitably, however, the curiosity that drove them to become an explorer in the first place compels them to return to the open desert.

Benefit: +1 Agility

Integrity: 2.0

Starting Skills: Athletics, Defense, Horsemanship, Hunting (Survival), Swordsmanship (Scimitar), Stealth (Sneaking), Traps.

Outfit: Scimitar, riding horse or camel, bow and 20 arrows (any type), tent, robe, boots, traveling pack; 8 copper. 

Techniques
Rank 1 (of 5): Show the Lady No Fear

Sun-Riders have spent so much time in the light of the desert that they eventually gain partial immunity to the harsh effects of the Sun. Your TN penalty for being in bright sunlight is reduced by your Sun-Rider School Rank. However, you also lose your Shadow Cloak ability completely, as you have essentially learned to use it to shield yourself from the sun constantly.

(Selected Excerpts from the Ra’Shari section of the Legend of the Burning Sands RPG)

Outside Medinaat al-Salaam, observers occasionally see a small parade of wagons, drawn by horse, camel, or both, seemingly poorly adapted for a nomad’s life in the desert, but still rolling in from the deep desert, narrow banners tugged by the desert wind. Sometimes, shoppers in Peddler’s Row encounter an unusually vibrant display of wares, breaking up the monotony of the gray-brown Maze. Every so often, the great thinkers of the Qabal and the theologians of the Jewel can be seen speaking to the impresario of a ring of wagons as they prepare to make a carnival for the evening. While rarely trusted, the nomads known as the Ra’Shari are always watched, because wherever they go, fortune, good or ill, follows.

For a people who do not permanently live within the Jewel, the Ra’Shari spend a curiously large amount of time there. If asked, most of the nomads will say, “It is our fate, to be tied to this place.” Some will say, “Everything worth remembering happens here. Why would we go elsewhere?” Yet they do. The Ra’Shari are a nomadic people, constantly traveling, only stopping in one place for short periods of time. Often, they stop in Medinaat al-Salaam.

Very few people can call a Ra’Shari a close friend, but many have positive relationships with them nonetheless. Once one understands their strange customs and their unusual take on truth, the Ra’Shari prove to be a steadfast and trustworthy people. Most of those in the Jewel are unwilling to take the chance, though. Everyone knows someone, or a story of someone, who trusted the nomads and wound up fleeced and frustrated.

Basic Character Class: Ra’Shari Diviner (Sahir)
Once, long ago, the Ra’Shari were the chosen people of Vishnu, and called upon the tripartite blessings of Provider, Preserver, and Pervader. Today, however, their connection to the Ivory Kingdoms deity is long gone. The task given to them by the Ashalan defeated all other concerns, and this task slowly colored all parts of their life, including their magic.

Ra’Shari magic still comes in three parts, but the new aspects reflect their long duty in the Burning Sands. The first kind is Dawn Magic, cast at the rising of the sun, when camp is broken and the Ra’shari begin their journey again. All blessings and curses are born at dawn, with the approval of the Bright-Eyed Mother Sun Shilah, and so all magic that concerns luck is Dawn Magic.

The second is the magic of words and illusions, the magic cast at dusk, as others begin to cluster around Ra’Shari wagons, either to pay or harm the nomads. Dusk Magic can fool and deceive anyone who cannot understand the Ra’Shari’s words.

Finally, there is Night Magic, cast in the quiet and safety of the Ra’Shari’s encampments. All life yet endures because the Pale-Eyed God Kaleel stemmed his wife’s wrath. All life moves to the rhythm of Night Magic, permitting wounds to knit and animals to understand humans.

Ra’Shari sahir learn these three kinds of magic, and may learn them in any order.  They do so through the Ra’Shari Diviner Character Class.

Benefit: +1 Perception
Integrity: 2.5
Skills: Deceit, Divination, Medicine (Herbalism), Performance, Spellcraft, Theology, any one Skill
Outfit: Knife, staff, clothes, cloak, shoes, 5 copper

Technique: Dawn, Dusk and Night
A Ra’Shari Diviner learns three kinds of magic, and may learn them in any order. The specific powers of the Diviners are referred to as Cokaloi, or ‘Bones’ in their language, because of the deep, fundamental need for each of the three types of magic. Without them, the Ra’Shari would be as a man without bones. As a Rank 1 character, a Diviner may choose any 6 Cokaloi to be known to him. Every time a Diviner gains an Insight Rank, he may learn 3 more Cokaloi.  Additional Cokaloi may be purchased with experience points for 6 x the lowest Insight Rank at which a Diviner may learn it. For example, a Cokalos that may only be learned at Insight Rank 4 and higher would cost 24 experience points. A Diviner may only use as many Cokaloi in a day as the sum of his Rings.

More on Cokaloi, including the various Blessings and Curses, can be found in the Legend of the Burning Sands Role-Playing Game.

(Selected Excerpt from the Ashalan chapter of the Legend of the Burning Sands RolePlaying Game)

Item: Khadja

Traditionally, only the ruling Council of Twelve used khadja, but over the last century many of the Ashalan warriors have taken to using the weapon. Like many uniquely Ashalan weapons, the khadja is named for the first wielder. Khadja was the leader of the Council of Twelve on the ancient Day of Wrath, and crafted the first khadja from the sand that was originally scorched by the Sun. He was revered by many Ashalan and is considered one of the first sandsmiths. His secrets have been passed on for thousands of years and expanded upon by his progeny and apprentices.

The khadja is an exquisitely crafted polearm the length of a bo staff, with flat, curved blades on both ends. It is the preferred weapon of the elite Ashalan warrior caste known as the Blood-Sworn. Khadja are frequently changed and can be customized to fit the needs of individual warriors. Typical modifications include changing the weapon’s length to match the reach of a warrior’s arms, or adding an additional blade along the weapon’s middle.

The original Khadja is still in use, a thousand years later, and is always held by the current Captain of the Blood-Sworn. It has a DR of 4k4, is formed entirely of crysteel (and thus unable to be modified) and is of Masterwork quality. Any Ashalan who carries The Khadja may use Void Points as normal, and once per day as a Simple Action may gain an additional attack every round for the next 4 rounds.

Treat a khadja as a weapon that falls under the Polearm Skill.

 DR: 1k3

 Notes: Wielder receives a Free Raise on all attack rolls.

 Price: Khadja are unique to the Ashalan. The only way to get one is to persuade an Ashalan to part with it, or to steal or loot it from an Ashalan.

(Selected Excerpts from the Jackals section of the Legend of the Burning Sands RPG)

Until the Awakening and their ill-fated alliance with the jinn Kaleel, the Jackals relished their reputation as the terror of Medinaat al-Salaam. A cult originally formed from would-be members of the Order of the Ebon Hand who had failed the Test of the Stone, the Jackals called the sewers of Medinaat al-Salaam their home, emerging to strike at the world above in pursuit of a dark and brooding agenda. The Ebon Stone of the Ebonites was in some ways the center of their existence, for they worshipped the god they believed resided in the Stone, yet also feared it for the horrors it would bring about if it were ever released.

Since the Awakening, the Jackals have fallen into a deep and extended period of decline, crushed by the Celestial Alliance along with the jinn Kaleel during the Awakening, followed by persecution from the Ebonites afterward. With most of their best leaders dead and their followers destroyed or scattered, the Jackals no longer exert the influence they once had. Their name no longer elicits the jump of the heart and the lump in the throat that it once did, except among those who are old enough to remember their heyday, and they are fewer and fewer every year. Their longtime foes the Ebonites still remember them, but the Order of the Ebon Hand has for the most part moved on to other concerns. Even so, the remnant of the Jackals in Medinaat al-Salaam still raises havoc when it can, under the leadership of the legendary Monkey Man. The cult has also begun to look south to revive its fortunes, seeking the favor of Daigotsu, the Champion of The Emerald Empire’s sinister Spider Clan, by offering him intelligence and advice.

Basic Character Class: Necromancer (Sahir)
The practice of magic, at least as it is understood by the other factions of the Burning Sands, has never been a strong suit of the Jackals. However, they do possess dark and powerful knowledge of how to manipulate life and death that is unmatched by anyone except the Qabal. They know how to store life energy captured by the Soul of the Slayer in soul jars, and they know how to create ghuls even without the use of that powerful artifact. Only a few Jackals possess the will and the talent to become Necromancers, but those who do so learn their craft to the utmost, and they are among the cult’s most formidable operatives.

However, Necromancers are unusual among sahir, in that their supernatural abilities are so narrowly focused that their spell mastery might as well be described as School Techniques rather than a list of spells that are available to them. Hence, Jackal Necromancers do not have access to the normal sahir spell list.

In spite of their limitations, the Necromancers hold positions of respect within the cult. They serve as a sort of priestly caste, creating and tending to the soul jars, and attending the Monkey Man and other important Jackal leaders when the occasion dictates. Their presence strikes everyone – even other Jackals – as eerily intimidating, and is useful when Jackal leaders wish to make a point. Even if there is nothing else for them to do except stand and look creepy, their knack at that alone makes them useful to have them around.

Benefit: +1 Intelligence
Integrity: 1.0
Skills: Anatomy, Knives, Lore: Jackal Code, Lore: Undead, Medicine, Poison, Staves
Outfit: Knife, staff, robe and sandals, traveling pack, 2 copper

Techniques

Rank 1 (of 5): Initiate of Undeath
Even as novices, Jackal Necromancers know how to manipulate life and death to achieve that soulless state between the two. You gain the ability to create soul jars by draining life energy from the Soul of the Slayer and depositing it into containers. When you use the Soul of the Slayer, your target suffers a TN penalty equal to your Willpower to his Raw Willpower Roll to resist the item’s effects. If you attempt to consume the contents of a soul jar, you receive a bonus to the total of your Raw Willpower Roll to resist its negative effect equal to your Stamina + your Necromancer Class Rank.

In addition, you may drain the strength from a single enemy who is no more than ten feet away from you, inflicting a -1 Rank penalty to his Stamina (to a minimum of 1 Rank) for a period of 5 minutes. This requires spending a Complex Action, and you must make a successful roll of Earth/Necromancer Class Rank against a TN of 15. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to your Earth Ring, and you may use it more than once to stack its effect. A failed attempt still counts against this limit.

Among the people of the desert, Curses can be as fearsome as warrior with a scimitar. Beware the old Ra’shari woman giving you the “evil eye”, as it may cost you your life in the time to come!

(Excerpt from the Medinaat al-Salaam section of the LBS RPG)

Curses
The opposite of Blessings, Curses draws forth the potential any being carries within it to fail, stumble, or lose its stride. Typically cast upon ones enemies, Curses are the most common offensive magic used in the Jewel. A specific task can only suffer from a single Curse at a time, but a Skill can be the target of any number of Curses.

Mastery Level 1.The first Curse a sahir can lay upon a target reduces their chances of success, as they make poor decisions and constantly fail to remember their training. You select a single task, usually tied to a Skill, when you cast this spell. For each Roll of the chosen Skill involved in accomplishing the chosen task for the next hour, the target of the curse suffers a -2k0 penalty (to a minimum of 1 rolled die).

Mastery Level 2. As with the second Blessing, the effect intensifies. For each Roll of the chosen Skill involved in accomplishing the chosen task for the next hour, the target of the curse suffers a -2k1 penalty (to a minimum of 1k1).

Mastery Level 3. The third Curse is amongst the most feared, because it can sap the competence of a being with only a barked command. You may now cast the Mastery Level 1 and Mastery Level 2 spells as a Simple Action.

(Selected Excerpts from the Medinaat al Salaam section of the Legend of the Burning Sands RPG)

Learning again flourishes in Medinaat al-Salaam, with the doors of the Qabal Stronghold open to all who wish to learn. Even the Ashalan sometimes visit the Stronghold to share their esoteric knowledge. Most members of the Qabal enjoy their positions as the venerable scholars and wits in demand in the courts of the Sultan and Caliph. Others prefer to continue independent study, refining their art in solitude. Either way, it is a good time to be a member of the Qabal.

The hierarchy of the Qabal is that of an academic institution. At the lower level are the students, who range in age from children as young as ten to adults as old as 30. These members of the Qabal have lives filled with work and little else, as the discipline needed to learn the Qabal’s style of magic is formidable indeed. Qabal instruction styles are rigid and very unforgiving of failure, and almost a third of the Qabal’s students leave in their first year, unable to stand the seemingly nonsensical lessons in how to draw a perfect circle freehand or how to sign their name 70 times without variation. As their instruction continues, students are astonished to learn that they have been learning spells the entire time – they were simply not told how to assemble and perform the components properly.

The only conflict on the horizon for the Qabal is a generational one. Many of the younger generation of sahirs in the Qabal never knew what it was like to practice magic with the threat of the Khadi’s axes hovering over their wrists, and in the eyes of their elders they seem to take many of their freedoms for granted. The older generation, on the other hand, is seen by the younger graduates of the Stronghold as needlessly paranoid and hidebound. While this conflict is a long time from coming to real blows, tension is rising faster than the older generation is retiring, and the conflict is almost certain to come to a head unless something happens to unite the Qabal once more.

Basic Character Class: Qabal Summoner
So named because the discipline of Summoning magic is the most impressive and easily identified magic that the Qabal practice, the summoner is potentially the most powerful of sahir in the Burning Sands, the result of centuries of refinements in magical technique followed by centuries of persecution heaped on the sloppy or incompetent. The tradition of the Qabal sahir stretches almost all the way back to the Ashalan and the Day of Wrath, and the impressive body of knowledge the Qabal has collected shows it. Dozens of other magical methodologies are based on Qabal techniques, including the Dahabi Bargainers and the later initiates of the Khadi.

The Qabal summoner is quite literally free in whatever route he wishes to undertake in his study of magic. Some choose to be specialists in one discipline; others prefer a more balanced approach. The only standard amongst all is that a properly trained summoner is immensely powerful. Such is their reputation that they can even make a living as magical mercenaries if they so desire.

Benefit: +1 to any Trait
Integrity: 2.0
Skills: Calligraphy, Divination, Spellcraft, Theology, any two Skills
Outfit: Staff, knife, clothes, cloak, traveling pack, sandals, 5 copper

Technique: The Five Disciplines
As the most talented sahir in the Burning Sands, and owners of the greatest libraries of magical knowledge, there is little that is not within the reach of the Qabal. At character creation and at each Insight Rank achieved thereafter, you may choose one of the five Disciplines of magic available to you. You receive a Free Raise for casting spells of that Discipline. The Free Raises granted by this ability may be stacked on the same Discipline, or spread out across any number of them.

For example, you may choose to receive a Free Raise on each Black Magic spell at character creation, and at Insight Rank 2 you may choose to start receiving 2 Free Raises on each Black Magic spell, or 1 Free Raise on Black Magic and 1 Free Raise on each Summoning spell.

There are five Disciplines, which are groupings of similar powers. If any other requirements beyond invoking Hakhim’s Seal are necessary, the spell will mention it.

Each Discipline has three types of spell, and each of those types has three levels of power. At character creation and each Rank gained in this Class thereafter, you choose to either learn the first level of power in a type of spell, or increase the level of power in a type of spell you already possess. You can do this three times for each Insight Rank.

For example, a Rank 1 sahir could choose to know all 3 levels of the Influence spells in the Control Discipline, or to know the first level of Influence, Illusions, and Alchemy, or he could choose to know the first level of Influence, the first level of Fortunes in Blessings & Curses, and the first level of Life & Death in Black Magic, or he could choose to know the first level of Jinn in Summoning and the first 2 levels of Astrology in Celestial magic.

Releases August 2008
(304 pages, hardbound)

To the north of the Emerald Empire, there lies a mysterious land called the Burning Sands. In an extraordinary city known as the Jewel of the Desert, great empires clash and deadly intrigues abound.

To the rest of the Empire the Burning Sands are a gaijin enigma, but as the exile of the Unicorn, and later the Scorpion have proven the destinies of these two lands are intertwined. Little do they realize that soon the dangers facing the people of the desert will also face the Clans of the Emerald Empire.

The Burning Sands setting has exerted a powerful pull on the imagination of gamers since the 1998 debut of the Legend of the Burning Sands Collectible Card Game. As in the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game, this book allows you the chance to live out all-new adventures in a land of mystery and magic.

Legend of the Burning Sands Roleplaying Game features:

• Descriptions and new mechanics for all the major factions of the Burning Sands; from the warlike Yodotai, to the mystical Ashalan, to the scholars of the Qabal.
• New rules covering the flavors of magic unique to the Burning Sands, as well as the ta-haddi dueling rite. 
• Detailed treatment of the jinn, including rules for summoning and creating these legendary characters.
• Continuation of the history of the Burning Sands from the end of the Legend of the Burning Sands CCG story arc.
• A condensed version of the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game Third Edition rules for those who wish to use this as a standalone roleplaying game product, and conversion rules for those who are already familiar with the system.

The Legend continues inside the pages of the next great AEG Epic.

(Selected Excerpts from the Ebonite section of the Legend of the Burning Sands RPG)

The Order of the Ebon Hand, more commonly called the Ebonites by most denizens of Medinaat al-Salaam, are something of an oddity even among the wildly varied cultures of the Burning Sands. They are an exceptionally diverse organization that holds allegiance to no particular nation, although they do have strong historical ties to the Ivory Kingdoms, a region of the world located far southwest of the Jewel of the Desert. After centuries of struggle and of being drawn into the conflicts of other groups, both martial and political, the Ebonites have settled into a comfortable role within the city, as protectors and defenders of the downtrodden. While this is a great task for the order, and one that garners them tremendous appreciation from those whom they protect, it is secondary to their primary concern: protecting the broken shards of the Ebon Stone that they revere and hold sacred.

It is believed that emissaries of the aforementioned distant countries who had traveled to the Ivory Kingdoms founded the order. There, under unknown circumstances, they inadvertently released a terrible evil into the world. A prophet aided the warriors in entrapping the evil within a large stone, which turned black from its influence. He then charged them to protect the stone and ensure that the evil was never again released. Each man placed his hand upon the stone, for in doing so they would determine who among them was strong enough to resist the sinister temptations that issued forth from it. Those who possessed the strength necessary for the task discovered that the palm of their hand had turned black. Those who did not have the strength took their own lives rather than risk revealing the secrets of the newly created Order of the Ebon Hand.

Basic Character Class: Ebonite Templars (Warrior)
The Templars are the basic soldiers of the Order of the Ebon Hand. The order is not particularly large, so its leaders make certain that every warrior among their ranks is well trained and prepared to face almost any challenge that might present itself. The basic Templar has had several years of training, and has passed the Test of the Ebon Stone.

Benefit: +1 Agility
Integrity: 3.5
Skills: Defense, Investigation, Swordsmanship, Lore: Law, Lore (choose one), Theology, any one Skill
Outfit: Sturdy clothing, traveling pack, Ebonite armor, Ebonite longsword, knife, 10 copper

Techniques
Rank 1 (of 5): Tapping the Inner Strength
Years of training preface mastery of the first form of the Ebonite fighting style. During those years, templars are taught to call upon their own devotion and inner resolve, and to harness that strength in combat as well as in everyday situations. When facing an opponent with a lower Integrity than yours, you gain a bonus equal to your Integrity to the total of all attack, damage, and Social Skill Rolls.