8/10/2019 The Zebra Tribe

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The Zebra Tribe

There always have been zebras in Prax. On a cliff in the wastes there is a huge paintingshowing beasts paying homage to Genert; among the many species is a zebra. Most of theother animals in that painting are now unknown or known only in legen!. "ven some of the!aughters of "iritha who are picture! are not remembere! to!ay.

#hile the zebra is not the only surviving animal shown its survival is notable.

$ebras ha! serve! as game for most of the tribes in Prax an! the wastes. The species wassmall between impala% an! sable%size! an! incapable of carrying normal%size! ri!ers. Thepygmy humans all ro!e impalas an! other minor survivors like the bolo lizar!s. The zebras!rew no human protectors in the lottery of survival !uring the !arkness ages relegating themto minor status.

#hen Pavis came to Prax with his great statue he was accompanie! by many lesser allies

often only hinte! at in the histories an! legen!s. One ally was an army of lan!%hungry horse

ri!ers the followers of &oraz 'yrem.

#hen the statue an! #aha wrestle! heroically the armies of each combatant battle! as wellseeking to ai! their great allies. &oraz 'yrem(s fine cavalry were well%suite! to the task an!were helpe! by other allies from )ragon Pass. #hen #aha fell so !i! the morale of hisarmy which fle! the fiel! an! were kille! in great numbers.

Pavis entere! into a magical compact with #aha an! the city was establishe! but &oraz stillha! to !eal !irectly with the barbarians. *e knew of the antagonism the noma!s ha! forhorses for there was similar antagonism wherever he ha! gone. *e knew he coul! not!efeat their timeless ignorance so he sought to ensure continue! goo!will among thenoma!s.

&oraz was a man of the +un as were all the Pure *orse people in those !ays. ,et he was

!ifferent too change! by the mix of magics offere! by the "mpire of the #yrm(s -rien!swhere he an! Pavis ha! stu!ie! an! became frien!s. ssaries they say was a favoure! go!of his an! some claim that &oraz was favoure! by ssaries as well. n any case he well knewhow to !icker.

/0n!er what meagre con!itions woul! one allow a horse to live in one(s lan!1/ he aske! apriestess of the Paps one !ay.

/n bon!age/ she spoke /2roken from kin./ +he spoke with the wor!s of the Go!!ess.

/3ee! they he unhealthy1/ he aske!. /,ou ai! her! men an! giant lizar!s./

/Their health grant within their confines./+o &oraz sought to resolve this !ilemma an! took a cue from the go! ssaries who ha!ma!e something from nothing when he ha! mate! horse with !onkey. The mules an! hinnyswere the progeny a sterile but useful race of creatures which are allowe! by Praxians topass unharme! for they are not horses.

&oraz took his horses the finest mares an! stallions with shining gol!en eyes an! magicallybre! them with the small zebras he collecte! within the great walls of Pavis. The result was afine bree! of creatures stripe! like zebras an! with their former instincts but big like normalwarhorses. The cross%bree!s took well to frien!ship with men. The stripes symbolize! theirbon!age an! the cross%bree!ing severe! them from their kin.

These war zebras were known for fighting prowess an! loyalty to their masters. They are amiraculous bree! but rare even after generations of careful bree!ing in Pavis. t was amiracle of hero4uesting that they coul! bree! at all. Their longevity was another blessing.

The progeny was split up among several small her!s owne! by families in Pavis; in timemany of these her!s left the city. +ome inevitably went wil!. The war zebras bre! true an!coul! not pro!uce fertile offspring when mate! with true horses but mixture with wil! stockhas !ilute! some of their bloo! an! the occasional white%eye! zebra known for ability to runin the !ark reveals that wil! war zebras chase! their smaller cousins across the plains.

8/10/2019 The Zebra Tribe

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)uring the splen!our of Pavis( !omination in!ivi!uals who actually ro!e war zebras werecounte! among the rich noble an! blesse!. *owever bree!ers of the war zebras oftensupplemente! their stock by controlle! bree!ing with normal horses. The result was acreature not unlike a horsein general statistics or resembling a zebra but with greater en!urance an! less sprintingspee!. 5ike mules these cavalry zebras were sterile. They were use! by regular cavalrytroopers against the ever%skirmishing noma!s. #ar zebras were ever !ifficult to train an!skittish though once traine! they were as fearsome in war as a true warhorse. The hybri!sterile cavalry zebras were much easier to train though perhaps less mighty in battle.

#hen Pavis fell to barbarians in 678 +.T. most of the war zebras were capture! an! kille! bythe enrage! inva!ers. +ome animals escape! to the wil!. +mall ban!s survive! precarious%ly among the rough plains. They were of har!y stock an! were naturally tough. 9amouflage!in lesser zebra her!s they browse! at the e!ges of the grasslan!s.

#hen )orasar foun!e! 3ew Pavis he !i! many miraculous things. :mong them he fulfille!the !ream of a frien! an! re%establishe! the ancient $ebra tribe in Pavis. :s Pavis ha! afrien! among the horsemen )orasar ha! a frien! among the zebra men. *is name wasOlgkath an! he live! with his small clan among the Pol%&oni barbarians.

#ithin the ruins of the ubble was a fort which guar!e! a bri!ge spanning the river. :t onetime it ha! been the home of the master zebra bree!ers; the ruins themselves were sai! to

be lai! !own in ban!s of black an! white. 2ut the current inhabitants ha! no !esire to makefrien!s with outsi!ers nor to let a powerful ban! of sol!iers within their walls. They claime!ancient kinship with every powerful lor! of local legen! but pai! no hee! to heirs of greatpower.

)orasar solve! his greater problems by hero4uesting but for this minor a!ministrativeproblem he le! Olgkarth an! their housecarls over the walls of $ebra -ort one night an!change! the ruling !ynasty of that hamlet. Olgkarth became chieftain an! gave his priestsaccess to the fort an! its holy ruins. *e an! his family grew an! prospere! an! $ebra -orthel! many war zebras an! cavalry zebras. They forme! the core of the Pavis +urvivors!ecimate! !uring the 5unar invasion but $ebra ri!ers still maintain a hol!ing on the rivergiving tithes to the 5unar government an! allowing 5unar inspectors to see that they are not

re%e4uipping as the outlawe! +urvivors.Many $ebra people have even taken positions with the Pavis oyal Guar!.Olgkarth also renovate! the pens shrine an! some barns grain storage an! a fewlonghouses scattere! about the hill to the cast of 3ew Pavis at the en! of the opening fromthe Pavis temple. The grazing is better here an! the approaches are guar!e! by the $ebra-ort the /eal 9ity/ an! the wall. The main her!s browse here their presence has given thehill its current name.

3ow the garrison ri!es the sterile cavalry zebra % the e4uivalent of a common cavalry horse.The officers ri!e war zebras as !o those who 4ualify un!er the ancient formula of /richnoble or blesse!./

One of Olgkarth(s plans was to sen! ban!s of his ri!ers among the other noma!s toingratiate themselves. One way they !i! that was to act as neutral emissaries betweenantagonists. This task rapi!ly became popular an! wi!e% sprea! an! since the time of itsestablishment less than a century ago has given rise to the expression that /no message isall black or all white./