The Dons

The Dons are a clan of Nomads. They wander the desert, live off the land, trade what and when they need to, and generally keep to themselves. Despite this, they can be regarded as one of the more friendly clans. Their main holding are the Crawlers they travel within and upon. Ancient vehicles, once upon a time they served as rugged bulk transport for both goods and people. These machines make up the heart of the Dons, but a sizeable heard of Upu enable the Dons move to a place, linger for anywhere between a couple of days to a month, then pack up and leave for someplace else. Sometimes they will stop at a local settlement for trade purposes, turning in things they have found or salvaged from the desert as payment for supplies they need that can't be found easily.

Mistaking their non-aggressive ways for pacifism, however, would be a fatal mistake. The Dons are a militaristic society, with each member holding rank and being trained for combat. It is their belief system that prevents them from becoming a raiding force. These beliefs encompass many things, but essentially boil down to the worship of a creator God. This God, or Maker/Creator, made all things in this universe, including forces which most cannot see, like karma. Worship can be of the more traditional variety, meaning a mental or verbal praise of the Makers gifts, or of a slightly more progressive bent through action. Karma itself is a retributive force. If you do good, then good tends to come to you. If you do evil, it's more likely that evil things will happen to you. This leads to the close-knit family of the Dons, which is built upon the idea of karma. It was discovered long ago that people acted best when their self-interest was on the line, and so by making it the clans self-interest to be charitable and kind, the clan essentially tricked itself into the ideology they hold now.

Don military prowess, when called to question, lends itself to rapid attack, or ambush. All Dons are trained to at least be proficiant with firearms, and the traditional sword of their people. Many also learn to ride Upu, not just as transport but as mounts of war as well, making the Dons an effective cavelry force. Their military lifestyle also leads to a unit cohesion not usually found in the tribes, a fact that potential agressors forget at their own peril.

Most of the clan simply is, and sees no issue with their life. Others, usually of the younger generations but not always, seek to improve the clan's life. This ends up with the younger members going off on quests, or self-imposed wanderings. In a general sense, of course. It isn't too hard to guess that their main source of "income" is salvage of old mining or habitation centers, even the occasional Dominion outpost when they can be found, and enough brave souls are gathered to delve into those depths. They don't really farm, but occasionally will sell off desert fruits or vegetables if they stumble upon a rich field and have excess.

Their language is obviously a derivitive of the slavic base. Years of existance upon Sutekh, however, have corrupted it to the point where it no longer resembles whatever its origins may have been. Few outside of the Dons speak the language, and so many of the reptilian nomads are bi-lingual to some extent. All of them speak their own tongue, and the vast majority know "trade" (their term for the common language) at least brokenly. However, if their garb was not enough, their accent usually gives them away when entering civilization.

Don apparel is as hardy and toughened as the desert itself. Primarily leathers and rough cloths, the Dons cover themselves in their entirety. General attire tends towards loose clothing, however usually cinched at the waist, wrists, and ankles. The only other common clothing of note is the scarf they use to protect from heat and blowing sand. Some even go so far as to integrate an actual mask or even respirator into the cloth. Their armor, a lightweight metal the Dons forge as materials arrise, is primarily a breastplate, usually passed down from one warrior to another. Their shoulder pads denote the rank of the Don, using a number of small metal strips.

For the past few years, the Dons have been waging a small war with desert raiders and slavers. No friend of either, any combat tends towards lighting attacks with the Don "cavelry", or valley ambushes and harassment as mentioned before. The Dons, while militaristic, rarely engage in a full-on fight, preferring to use their mobility to their advantage. Should their home encampment be threatened, however, the Dons will fight furiously to defend it. Dangerous under normal circumstances, they become even more so when given a real cause to fight for.

The Dons wander the desert rather much at will, and so could be seen just about anywhere. However, they do not stay too long anywhere near the Dominion spaceport. Ancient tales of their clan about the Dominion keep most of the "modern" Dons well away from the spaceport. It is likely that the original Dons, whoever they were, had been uprooted and planted here by the Dominion, probably during the early days of the prison planet. The wandering most likely came from a search for something, but over the generations has turned into a ceaseless roam across Sutekh's surface.