Carja
Centuries ago, a faction split from the Nora to become the people now known as the Carja. Led by an explorer named Araman, who had discovered texts of the Old Ones, the Carja challenged the conservative world view of the Nora, and fled or were exiled to the west. Finding their way to the Spire, they followed its shadow to a mesa not patrolled by Glinthawks and founded what would become the Carja capital: Meridian.
The texts of the Old Ones contained astronomical and astrological guidance, leading the Carja to adopt a religious monarchy based on Sun worship, simply called Sun-Faith. Araman became the first Sun-King, the leader of the people who would later gain the name Carja in most aspects of daily life. The title would be passed down through the years to the current and fourteenth Sun-King: Avad.
Avad’s ascendancy marked another split for the Carja. A faction who believed Avad’s killing of his predecessor and father, Jiran, to be unjust left in protest to become the Shadow Carja.
Culture
Compared to the Nora, Carja are less fearful of technology and the Old Ones, and do not place as many harsh restrictions on the independence of their people. That lack of fear does not translate to a love of it, however, as is shown by their Oseram neighbors. Carja tend to view machines in the same neutral way — they do not revere them as do the Banuk, but nor do they work to scour them from their lands, as do the Nora.
The Carja have something of a theocracy-driven class system, with the affluent and land-owning among them getting preferential access to and treatment by the Sun-King. Beneath that were artisans, and then commoners. Avad only recently abolished slavery, which had been in practice for most of the Carja’s history, going back at least as far as the construction of Meridian.
Leaders of the sun worship religion of the Carja are referred to as Sun-Priests. Canonically in Horizon, they are only male.
Moral Decay
HZD uses the Carja to show how a society of fiercely independent people can be led astray by demagogues and the promise of “freedom”. In combination with their class system, the nobles and theocrats see this freedom as only being relevant to those worthy — land-owners, artisans, and men. Carja interactions include no small amount of problematic views, including slavery, sexism, and aristocratic indifference. Attempts to undo some of these systemic prejudices lead to a conservative faction, the Shadow Carja, splitting off and eventually returning to assault Meridian itself.
While Skyline shies away from using sexism as a storytelling device, and will not touch on slavery, it maintains the theme of using the Carja as a dark reflection of an “enlightened” society. Politics and intrigue are the coin of the realm, far more than Shards and machine parts.
One last note on slavery: while character backstories like “freed former slave” are common in fantasy RPG, players are encouraged to have an open discussion about whether all at the table are comfortable with slavery playing a part. For some players it may give catharsis to play someone rising from bondage to become a hero, but for others it may only serve as a constant reminder of real-world events they’d rather not deal with at the table. Talk through it early to avoid alienating the people working to build a story with you.
Additional Timeline
There is no canon estimation for the year Araman’s group founded Meridian or the Carja tribe. Given the history of the Sun-Kings, where even a despot like Jiran lasted 21 years in the position, and none of them are described as having sudden ends, we might safely presume each Sun-King probably ruled for 20-30 years. Avad is the fourteenth, meaning the time of Araman is likely between 260 and 390 years back — in the range of 2650 to 2780 CE. As ELEUTHIA-9 opened in 2326 CE, that would give the Carja and Nora approximately four centuries of shared history before the split.
Carja in Skyline
Skyline does not make any significant changes to the lore of the Carja. Story modules such as Connection will refer to the Sun-King instead of using Avad by name, and will include additional conjecture and narrative flavor.
One small alteration: Skyline relaxes the HZD restriction of the Sun-Priests being only male. It does this by asserting that Avad, in an attempt to shake up their stuffy and self-important attitudes, orders that women shall be not just allowed, but required. More about this can be found in the Connection story module.