The Land
The Tharici are a people without a home. They claim that the land now known as Tarsikka was theirs once, and that they now live in exile. Tarsikkans tolerate them, but no more than that, and occasionally drive them off with force. Yet this is a warmer reception than they find in any other land. In some lands, laws prohibit the Tharici from entering a city’s walls, or from staying in one place for more than three nights. The only place any of the Tharici have as a permanent home is the Rat’s Castle, where a few have pledged themselves.
For all that people distrust Tharici, they are not infrequently considered acceptable trade partners, and it is sometimes preferable to trade with them than directly with another nation. No one has a proud national heritage of hating the Tharici the way the Athrals have for the Gauntish, for example. In the Principalities, regional laws prohibit the Tharici from entering a city’s walls, or from staying in one place for more than three nights. The scribes, alchemists, and smiths of the Tharici caravans often rouse the ire of the guilds, as they know many of the same secrets and compete for the same customers. At the same time, once the guilds have refused to do business with someone, that person might look to the Tharici for what they seek.
The Gauntish have customs protecting skalds from punishment for their words, and the Tharici have successfully invoked these protections in the past. The customs of hospitality are less reliable; some Gauntishmen claim that, for virtue of being mobile, tents and caravans are not dwelling-places, and food taken there does not bind host and guest. The head of House Risten has declared this viewpoint officially acceptable within their lands; their traditional enemies, House Hybbert, instantly declared the opposite.
The people of Oresund have little contact with the warm southern lands, so they welcome the Tharici more than they otherwise might. Tharici ritualists travel with the caravans, however, and many cabals of Oresund distrust them or plot against them for their secrets. It is said that Oresunders are happy to see a caravan arrive, and happy to see it leave.
Tharici traveling on Athral Isle must do so with great caution. Athrals once welcomed them, but the Tharici practice the art of the Displaced Hand just as rebellious Athrals do, and King Sigmar fears they will find aid or common cause. The increased presence of the Redwood Throne and the Left Hand also threatens traveling caravans. At the Throne’s encouragement, Sigmar has issued many of the same laws against the Tharici that the Principalities have.
Even the people of the Caliphate have many reasons to distrust the Tharici. They fear that the caravans pass information on to their kinsmen in the Rat’s Castle. The Caliph’s law does not bind the Tharici, and they are often accused of swindling honest tradesmen. As the homeless Tharici must surely envy Akathian homes, many make the sign warding off the Evil Eye when they see these travelers. Despite all of this, the worst the Tharici usually face in the Caliphate is transportation to the country’s borders. If it is proven that they serve the Rat’s Castle, however, the penalty is death by hanging.