Origin: The Eastern Lands

Easterner is a broad term for any native of Horborixen and its subject cities as well as the various tribesmen from the arid desert lands beyond the River Tilth. Easterners are a more homogenized culture than those of the Inner Sea region, seldom intermarrying outside their own people. Easterners are therefore usually tan or ruddy in complexion and nearly always have dark hair and eyes. Their culture, customs, and architecture somewhat resembles that of the Earth’s Middle East and arabesque flourishes and motifs (pic) are prevalent in the Eastern Lands. Easterners respect both skill in battle and in trade, so it’s common to find steely-eyed assassins lounging with fat merchants in the kasbahs of Eastern cities. Easterners venerate a multitude of gods and spirts, some of whom make their way to the Street of the Gods in Lankhmar via wild-eyed desert holy men and women.

The capital of the Eastern Lands is smaller than Lankhmar but in many ways grander. Its wealth is displayed in beauteous architecture and the arts of the most skilled craftsmen and women in the wide world of Nehwon. The capital itself, sheltering the Great Golden Palace at its center, is known by the grand title of Horborixen, Citadel-City of the King of Kings.

The King of Kings has absolute and ultimate power over the people of Horborixen. The King of Kings extends his powers of life and death over his subjects to the point where none in his presence, ‘even his own vizier or most-beloved son or favouritest queen,’ are allowed to speak the name of Death’s realm, Shadowland, and escape with their lives after uttering it. Instant execution is the lot of any soul speaking the word within earshot of the ruler of the Eastern Lands.

Horborixen: The fabled Citadel of the King of Kings, Horborixen is probably the second largest city in Nehwon after Lankhmar. It is a splendid and crowded capital, sheltering the ruler of the Eastern Lands. The gulf between nobility and the poor is quite obvious; the city is surrounded by teeming slums while the rich live in golden palaces.