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Desert Nomads: Humans or Elves?


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For purposes of the Wiki we're trying to clear this up: are the Desert Folk humans or elves?

 

Book 5 - Bengaresh says they're elves:

"Only a few beings are dumb enough or proud enough to challenge the desert. No one knows why the descendants of Elves are among them. They roam the land as nomads, traveling from one oasis to the next and live off goat meat, dates, cacti, and milk. With Elf merchants who come on ships they trade gems and salt from the mountains and get food, clothing and weapons in return. The desert tribes are no seamen and tend to remain near the coast when they go fishing in their longboats. They almost never stay at sea during the night. The tough desert life has changed the Elves' appearance over the long centuries. Most are thin, with dark leathery skin. Their eyes are slitted as if from staring too long at the sun. In contrast to their ancestors they only pray to one God: Testa, the God of science. Every tribe follows their own interpretation of the holy scriptures. During large gatherings this can lead to heated theological debates, but these rarely turn violent."

 

On the other hand, when you have to fight them as enemies, they're listed as human in the enemy info. Also, they don't have pointy elf ears (although neither does the Dragon Mage and he's supposed to be an elf).

 

So is there some magic puzzle piece of lore that resolves this? Or did Ascaron just make a mix-up that we'll have to note on the Wiki?

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hmmm

this is pretty good puzzle

This topic can draw in our members, see if anyone knows some info or lore than can help us with the decision.

Schot says we can also perhaps see if German speakers can help us, as game was originally published in German, maybe this is translation issue that can give us hints?

I've pmed Chattius and Sneakor and hagrock, maybe they can help us with this solution finding, and any other german speakers here as well?

 

:)

 

gogo

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I really haven't got much of a clue actually. It's hard to say as most of the dwellers of Bengaresh appear to have headgear that makes inspecting their ears difficult...

 

That said.. My story - Sophia's Choice - has that territory owned by Elves. Given Elven tendencies, it is entirely probable they had humans working there as slaves. During the era of the story, the Bengaresh region is a huge agricultural paradise instead of the desert it is in Sacred 2. It has been called (during Sophia's Choice) the "Breadbasket of Ancaria"... So it's entirely possible that the people living in "modern" Bengaresh (Sacred 2 era) are both of Human and Elf descent - possibly even hybrids.

 

It's entirely possible that the Sand People aren't either. Mutations after the cataclysm that engulfed the region and turned the lush fields into desert. In fact, this cataclysm will also have an effect on the lizardmen's region as well.

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The high elf, when fighting them, refers to the sand people as 'humans' (complaining along the lines of humans needing to learn some manners). The models themselves look like humans in cloaks or turbans given their shorter height and rounder heads.

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Just to be clear, when we're saying "Sand People" are we still talking about the people of the Bengaresh Desert or do you mean the Du'Rach? Whatever they are, it's got to be some kind of mutation.

 

EDIT: Another piece of info in favor of "humans" - in the game folders the model and texture files for the Desert Folk are classified under "human."

Edited by Flix
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There is also the "Redemption" chain quest in Thylisium, where a desert woman asks you to save her husband , who was enslaved and sold as a gladiator. This woman is described in the log entry as human.

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Complex, there's a lot of info re this on that area, What we can do is just add that humans live in that area as well, to make the information becvome inclusive. Schot and I like this because we don't try to say that one source is a mistake or another by trying to envision a world where both can happen, this way we make room for all. By doing this we get to reconcile both kinds of info we're getting from dif sources on the Wiki by saying" humans live in this area" and then pix to images of humans that live in that area can be linked to or included in page. Much as Knuckles has envisioned earlier, a note.

This extra info can explain that, as well as elves as noted in the lore book, there are also humans.

 

:)

 

gogo

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OK, I put notes on the places where the lore says the Desert Folk are elves:

 

Book 5 - Bengaresh Page:

'While this book describes the Desert Inhabitants as descendants of Elves, most of the the inhabitants the player encounters in Bengaresh are from a race of humans, although distinct from both the High Elves and the Humans of the North."

 

Elf Race Page:

Note: While Geography of Ancaria, Book 5 - Bengaresh describes the Desert Inhabitants as descendants of Elves, most of them in the game are humans, although a distinct race from both the High Elves and the Humans of the North.

 

No need to say there's some giant error when it's just kinda fuzzy, but I'm not gonna bend the truth and say it's all crystal clear either.

 

When I get around to working on the Bengaresh Region page, I'll go into a little more detail about how there are human Desert Folk. I guess I could do so on the Human Race page as well.

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Exxactly

We don't really have to go black and white on all issues, but we do have to document them.

The note is good, and it's a kind of reconcile on points of view.

lol, seems ilke Ascaron's Sacred 2 is just as difficult to map/document as real life map/politics in our world

:4rofl:

 

gogo

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