D'tarig

D'tarig were a race of humans inhabiting the Anauroch desert.

Description
The average D'tarig stood little more than four feet (122 cm) tall. They had somewhat puggish noses and wrinkled brows.

D'tarig dressed in white burnooses and wore turbans. On their feet, they often wore special widened sandals designed to make walking atop sand easier. They usually covered their mouths with cloth so that only their nose and eyes were visible.

While the Bedine tribes were perhaps more (in)famous, it was actually more likely for an outsider to the great desert to encounter a D'tarig tribesman than a Bedine one.

Personality
D'tarig tended to be proud and boastful about their expertise of desert survival, making claims that were far from the truth. They were a naturally suspicious people, and because of this believed that they were immune to trickery, yet they were expert tricksters themselves. They typically had back-up plans and back-up plans for their back-up plans, so as not to be caught. They tended to selfishness, sometimes cruelty, and cowardice, but they were not without a sense of humor. They switched loyalties to whoever was willing to pay them the most.

They did not inherit any of the stonecraft of their supposed dwarven ancestors, but a rare few individuals had a superb sense of direction that was almost preternatural.

Society
The D'tarig lived primarily on the eastern and southeastern edges of the Anauroch. They were a nomadic people, but also kept several homes, usually one in one of the major trading villages of Addas Babar or Tel Badir and a protected abode for their families within mountain caves, the paths to which were often set with traps.

They survived by herding sheep and goats and would occasionally trade with the folk of Tilverton, before that town's destruction. They also traded with the Zhentarim. D'tarig who traded metal to the Bedine in exchange for resins and spices were known as "desert walkers", and the spices were in turn sold to the Zhentarim, and in turn to merchants all over Faerûn.

In general, however, they avoided contact with other humans, driven by their mistrust of others. A few of the most adventurous young folk among them would break this trend and serve as guides to outsiders to the desert, leading folk to one such places as Addas Babar or Tel Badir.

When migrating, they moved in large groups. They did not know the technology of compasses and relied on memorization of trails and stars for guidance from one oasis to another.

D'tarig were not opposed to slavery, but they generally found it not worth the effort, as it required too much oversight.

Combat
Because of their short height, D'tarig could not wield heavy weapons or swords longer than short swords. Warriors armed themselves with poisoned javelins and crossbow bolts. They had a unique poison that they employed, the preparation of which was a secret to their people. It induced sleep in humans but was fatal to orcs, goblinoids, and some other humanoids.

Language
The D'tarig spoke their own language.

Religion
The D'tarig worshiped the same gods typically worshiped in the rest of Faerûn.

History
It was considered possible that the D'tarig were descended from humans and dwarves living in the area of Tethyamar.