The Vistani

Without a homeland of their own, the Vistani roam the world and its reflections. They are something of a mystery, weaving enigmatic stories of their past, and their ways are inscrutable to outsiders. Vistani clans are primarily human, though on rare occasion non-Vistani (usually those people without a home or considered outsiders amongst their own kind) are accepted into their fold. Vistani rove outside the politics and concerns of most nations, reviled as theives and con-artists in some places. Their magic and guile allow them to safely travel between settled areas and even cross the walls between worlds. To sedentary people, these vagabonds bring exotic goods, news, services, and skills, while taking away new friends, orphans, and survival essentials, and sometimes more valuables than, perhaps, they honestly earned.

Although a mythic figure named Vistan appears in most of their origin stories, the Vistani claim no single origin and waffle even on Vistan's nature. They tell various tales of how they came to be eternal vagabonds and make a sport of coming up with new stories around their nightly campfires. If there exists a true story of the origins of the Vistani people, only the Vistani elders would know.

One tale suggests that the Vistani were once halflings; their way of life so similar to the nomadic halfling clans that are native to Damasia. It claims the halflings were actually the first race on Damasia, and Vistan ruled over all the other clan elders as first among equals. The stories vary wildly, but all indicate that Vistan did something to offend Reylan, and so he cursed all Halfling-kind to a nomadic existence, never finding contentment in any one place. He further punished Vistan's clan, stretching them out so that they could never find acceptance or contentment even among other halflings. In response, Vistan stole the magic of the fey, the callous world, and the winding road, and vowed that her people would make a home for outcasts and strays in need of family, never to settle and grow complacent.

Similar in mythic scope, a legend places the Vistani as pivotal in a terrible war, in which numerous mortals fought on the side of the primordials against the gods. The Vistani came from a burgeoning nation of mixed peoples, who when the majority of the folk of that land chose to serve the Primordials, the mystic Vistan stood against this, leading her people to help the gods. For her loyalty, Vistan and her followers were granted the ability to see through space, time, and fate. In the end, however, the gods feared the power they had granted Vistan and her followers. Some wanted to destroy them, and so Vistan used the powers they had been given to find and flee to hidden places to avoid the gods' wrath. The Vistani wander still, the jealous eyes of some gods still upon them.

Another inception story places the Vistani as craftsfolk and healers of an ancient human kingdom who supported the champion Vistan as he marched to war against a neighboring kingdom ruled by a man named Miran. Vistan's push into enemy territory succeeded initially, but eventually his legions met defeat. Vistan was slain and his soldiers captured and made slaves. They then marched on Vistan's kingdom and destroyed it. Modern Vistani descend from these craftsfolk who escaped death at the hands of Vistan's enemies, fleeing farther and farther away from their homeland to avoid death or slavery themselves.

A variant of this tale places the Vistani again in this conflict, but instead as brigands who harried the soldiers of a kingdom called Miran who invaded the land called Vistan. They used magic of all sorts to walk between worlds and thwart the conquerors. Eventually, Miran captured the Vistani leader and used his or her blood in a profane ritual granted him by The Burning Cloak to doom the Vistani to wander forever, unable to rebuild their civilization. Just before the Vistani elder died, he or she placed a curse back upon the Miran, predicting that a gathering of the elements would destroy their empire. As with all dire curses leveled by Vistani throughout their tales, this curse came to pass.

Around a Vistani campfire, when any one of these myths is concluded, the whole clan shouts, "Utterly true!" Of course, the Vistani shout this same cry to the very next fable, as well as the one after that. What few outsiders understand is that the Vistani place more value on the spiritual significance or essence of any story rather than its actual contents, and it is to this core meaning that they refer.

Physical Description
Vistani are unusual among the ethnic groups commonly found on the Continent of Kingdoms as they fit into neither the Austurian nor the Aquilan ethnic lines. They tend to have slightly darker skin tones than Austurians and have distinctly different facial features. There are some Vistani clans who show traits of other Damasian ethnic groups; signs of non-Vistani mixing with Vistani over the generations. While these people are generally accepted by the Vistani Clans themselves, among many outsiders Vistani who show signs of mixed birth tend to be hated or distrusted even more.

(For a Real World Comparison: Vistani are similar in appearance to Romani or Indian peoples).

Lifestyle
Vistani are a nomadic people who travel in caravans of rolling house wagons, storage wagons, people, pets, and livestock. Well known is the fact that such Vistani clans roam the world, the Feywild, and the Shadowfell. Less known is that each clan has elders that know rituals and sites to cross between these places.

A clan caravan is full of color, music, and laughter. The people are often dressed in vivid garb, and their wagons are painted to match. Unless a clan has some reason to pass unseen, Vistani travel loudly, keeping one another entertained on the road with spirited songs, dancing, and bizarre tales. They hunt and gather as they go, meandering across the wilds at a meditative pace.

At night, a clan's camp resembles a carnival that celebrates another day's survival. Members gather around fires to sing, dance, and make sport. Among the favorite pastimes is a long session of story-telling in which the clan members recite traditional tales as well as make up new ones. Invited outsiders who perform well and show proper respect in these celebratory gathering gain, in turn, the respect of their Vistani hosts. Vistani only pause regularly in their wanderings during the three days of the full moon, which they call Fulltide. During this time, they work hard to complete tasks and undertake magical rituals. Each hopes to finish so they may rest on the third day, the morning after which the clan sets off again.