[BSE - House Konstar Lore]

by Baal Sun Jul 05, 2015 9:32 pm

"... One of the central regions of the Black Sun Empire, the desert-dwelling Konstari territory is a harsh and unforgiving environment, populated by fierce, resilient predators. Ask any silk merchant what he has seen in the red desert, and he'll look at you with a perturbed and worried silence. It is no wonder then, that the chief Konstari export is so sought after, when one considers the life-threatening journey these merchants must make to acquire and trade it.

It is the general consensus that the Konstari's self-proclaimed royal family has made many past attempts to secede from the rest of the empire, and in doing so have repeatedly earned the ire of many of the other houses; including House Maur.

Beyond these scraps of information, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to ascertain what is fact and what is fiction when referring to House Konstar. The regions leader, Baal Konstar, has kept a tight grip around his seat of power, and tighter still around the goings on within his lands; entrance into the region without the expressed permission of the seat of power is prohibited, and those that acquire such permissions do so seemingly under oath of silence.

However, what IS known about the Konstari is that they predominantly worship the ancient god Bahst, a deity whose namesake is shared by the Konstari capital. It is also known (as previously mentioned in this book) that Konstari silk is amongst the finest cloth material in the empire, and is harvested from what is rumoured to be a gargantuan breed of spider that lives only in the caves of the Konstari desert. The hazardous task of acquiring the material in it's raw form could explain it's immense value.

House Konstar is also one of the only contemporary Houses that still uses an archaic language. Although dialects reportedly vary from town to town, the language - referred to as "Fouksi" (F-OHk-shee), or simply "Konstari" to the layman - is not known outside the Red Desert except by some learned scholars and diplomats. It is a somewhat gutteral language characterized by the use of many conflicting consonants and vocal ululations.

[The author wishes to note at this point that information garnered in regards to the Konstari people, the Red Desert, the City of Bahst, and the Konstari Family is often contradictory in nature, as such it did not seem pertinent to add it to this book.

The author also cannot recommend the region as a tourist destination, due to the hazardous nature of the environment and its denizens.]

-- Igni Dervish, from her book "The Black Sun: A Tourist's Guide"