The Branded.
“Well, so the story goes: the great, sprawling cities of the Golden Desert were all washed away. It rained so heavily and for so long that the waters rose up and covered everything. There were only certain structures, great temples built by the Desert People to honor their god, the god of the sun, he who they called Strist. These temples were so high that, by climbing them, a number of people were able to escape the evil waters of the flood. They stood on the very pinnacles of the structures and stood gazing down at the destruction below.
“On one such temple, the people became aware of a small raft coming ever closer to them. It had been sloppily constructed from what looked like an old wagon or barrow, and there were three people upon the raft: a small boy, and two very old people, his grandparents. The people on the temple yelled and waved to the boy, and he began to paddle towards them with his hands, rightly guessing that this was their only chance of survival.
“Once near enough, the people reached down and pulled the grandmother easily into the temple. But just as they reached down for the boy’s grandfather, a great wave came out of nowhere and rocked the raft so violently that the boy was thrown from it. He was almost lost - but then, with some great burst of strength, his fragile grandfather stretched out his arms and caught the boy tightly, just one hand around his small right forearm. The boy was dunked completely underwater but still his grandfather held tight, and with an effort that surely should have been beyond him, he flung the boy up onto the temple.
“The wave overtook the raft, and the grandfather was lost in the violent waters.
“So cold was the water that the boy almost died. Only by his grandmother’s care did he recover, with his skin forever lightened where the water had swallowed him. Only one mark on his right forearm - a thumbprint, where his grandfather had held him the tightest - stayed dark.
“And so it was eventually, after years and years, that every child born to the Desert People were branded with a small, dark thumbprint-sized mark on their right arm. And so they are called the Branded, because they are very proud of this mark, and they hold honor and family and loyalty above all other qualities.”
