Samhar Archipelago

The Samhar Archipelago was a small island chain in the Indian Ocean containing ten islands, each only about 2 kilometers square. Each island had its own ethnic group, language and culture. The people of these islands did not advance as quickly as the rest of the world because they were isolated from other places and stuck to their traditions. Many times these communities would go to war against each other, but also traded with each other to obtain natural resources only available on certain islands.

Mpongo
The Mpongo tribe lived on the island of the same name. Their island had natural resources such as some flint, spices and lots of wood. Because of this their warriors fought primarily with flint spears or, occasionally, bows and arrows, but this was harder as they could find very little sinew to make their bows. They had no animals to use as mounts, and found it hard to fight opponents with mounts. They overcame this by using their long spears to kill their opponent or knock him off his mount before he could trample them.

Pacac
The Pacac community inhabited Yahuar island. They could make use of salt, some wood and stone. Their island was the only one in the Samhar Archipelago with anything even close to a mountain, a 175 metre high stone hill called Masanco, which the Pacac carved into bricks for their buildings and small rocks which their soldiers threw at enemies. The Pacac had one animal which they could mount, a bird slightly larger than an ostrich which looked like an emu, called an Olyambo. Olyambo were easily domesticated but difficult to control in a battle.

Ko!Lo
The Ko!Lo were native to Lo island, which naturally had a few useful resources, including coral and a thick grass which could be weaved into small rafts. Somehow, two flocks of wild chickens had arrived on the island, and the Ko!Lo always kept a few for eggs and meat in case they ran out of food. Warriors of Lo fought with coral clubs or long pieces of wood which doubled as oars. Lo bay was the only place where small whales called Kele would eat, and some warriors managed to tame and ride these Kele over water during battles.

Iznir
The Iznir people from Mas island had a few resources which they found very useful. They were mud for irrigation, clay for building and gold for decoration. The clay sparked a war between the Pacac and the Iznir over who could export their building materials to other islands. Astoundingly, a small herd of Indian elephants had made its way to Mas, and they were considered gods. The Iznir always had four which were not gods, however, and these would be ridden into battle by great soldiers to trample the enemy.