The Scoured

The Scoured, so named for their frequent struggles with the brutal sandstorms that whip across the Exiled Lands, are considered cowards by the ruling faction of the Citadel. They are a quiet people overall, seeking little conflict beyond the defense of their home.

History
When Bec Sonders was left to die in the Exiled Lands, the binds that kept him strung above the sands grew loose. A great sandstorm brewed in the West as he hung there, accepting the inevitability of his death. As the harsh winds and stinging sand approached, Bec found the sun-baked rope weak enough to free himself. In a race against the storm's arrival, Bec found the barest hint of shelter in the ruins of the Broken Highway.

Surviving the storm was only the first of many hardships.

As he wandered the desert, he came across another Exile, Dariah Lennor. He freed her and together they made their way inland. Upon reaching the river, they discovered the Fiq'Danalrush. Driven sick by the sun, these creatures were hardly human. They spoke in the same tongue, walked upright, but were vicious and territorial. Bec and Dariah quickly realized that such folk were unreasonable and dangerous. They had no place among The Fiq'Danalrush.

Founding of South Haven
They found a young man on the river banks who swore to them he posed no threat. He lead them to a small encampment of those who had not been affected by whatever poison had taken the minds of Fiq'Danalrush. Phinneas had been born in the Exiled Lands, but dared not leave. The desert to the south was inhospitable and travelling too far into the land proved fatal for most.

He spoke of another faction, of people who had passed north when he was but a small child. They had spoken of visions of fortune and fertility in the heart of the wastes there. What became of them was unknown, for they swore never to return to the others they left behind. They called those who stayed weak. Cowardly. Unworthy.

Phinneas taught Bec and Dariah the ways of the Exiled Lands. How to hunt and survive on the banks of the river. In time, they learned that even the vicious Fiq'Danalrush. could be broken-- could bend that mindless rage to servitude. With this revelation, they were able to build a settlement alongside the river, in the shadow of the Broken Highway.

It was there they stayed.