Qahtan

The Qahtan were a tribe of the nomadic Bedine that traveled across the Anauroch desert in the years leading up to the mid–14 century DR.

Organization
Like all of the Bedine tribes, the Qahtani people were led by a male sheikh.

Base of Operations
They preferred to make camp at the El Ma'ra oasis, but laid claim to a stretch in the north of the desert.

Relationships
The tribe enjoyed a brief friendship with the Mtair Dhafir tribe.

History
In the summer of the, the Qahtan were plagued by no water in their territory of the desert, on the northern sands of the Sword, and traveled south to the lands of the Mtair Dhafir. Sheikh Sa'ar of the Mtair Dhafir offered up an alliance between the two tribes: their people would share the region for the summer, after which the Qahtan return north to their home. The union between the tribes was bound by the marriage of Sa'ar's daughter Ruha to Ajaman, the son of the Qahtani sheikh.

That same year, the sheikh of the tribe was approached by Lord Zarud of the Zhentarim, who hoped to forge an "alliance" with the tribe. According to Zarud, the Qahtani leader chose not to enter into such an agreement.

Following the refusal, nearly every member of the Qahtan were slaughtered by a night time raid of Zhentarim warriors and their asabi mercenaries. The only known survivor was Ruha, the young Qahtani woman who was hiding the fact she had sorcerous powers, and Kadumi a young warrior who had been traveling on a lone camel ride across the desert as a rite of massage into manhood.

Members

 * Ruha, the Bedine sorceress that became an agent of the Harpers.
 * Kadumi, a young man burdened by being the last warrior of his tribe.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Parched Sea