The Vhoros

Deep within the vast Ikros Desert, there’s an area of labyrinthian canyons that covers a surface of thousands of kilometers. Within it this network of canyons dwell the Vhoros, a nomadic people that have carved out an existence in perpetual twilight. The tall canyon walls rarely allow for the sun to reach the bottom, creating a varied ecosystem, with even some areas being completely underwater, an extremely rare sight in the harsh desert weather. Unlike the settled kingdoms of Iskandria, the Vhoros claim no fixed cities, their communities shifting with the pseudo-seasons and the subtle movements of the canyon floor. Their very survival hinges on an intimate understanding of the canyons, an art they perfected centuries ago.

Vhoros society is centered around shared knowledge and communal survival. Their leaders are not kings or chieftains, but elders whose ears are keenest, capable to discern the often treacherous sounds, distorted by the canyon, and whose voices can carry the furthest through the echoing depths. Aside from regular speech, the Vhoros have developed a complex language of clicks, hums, and modulated whispers, capable of conveying intricate messages across vast distances or remaining utterly silent when danger lurks. Their magic is a rare and potent art that allows them to manipulate sound itself: crafting illusions from reverberations, creating concussive blasts from focused whispers, or even sensing the presence of unseen foes through the slightest tremor in the air. This mastery of sound is their primary defense against the monstrous, blind predators that stalk the sunless depths of the canyon floor.

The Vhoros rarely venture beyond the canyons, and outsiders seldom brave their treacherous domain, mostly due to the fact that one must traverse hundreds of kilometers of hellish desert, partially fused with different fire planes. Those few merchants or desperate adventurers who have encountered them, speak of a people both wary and intensely curious, their faces often obscured by hoods and their eyes unnervingly accustomed to the gloom. They are known to trade rare, bioluminescent fungi and crystalline minerals found deep within the canyons for surface goods, but their society remains incredibly isolationist. Scholars suggest that the ancient carvings found in the deepest parts of the canyons imply that the Vhoros may be the last remnants of an ancient civilization, driven into the depths by a forgotten cataclysm and forever bound to the echoes of their lost world.