A Chi drake carrying a week old chick under his robes. He wears typical robes and headgear that supplement feathers for sun and heat protection, and shoes that protect against hot sands. His legs are almost entirely bare of feathers, a trait common only in the most genetically isolated desert qilik populations of the contemporary.
They are one of the many peoples of the region collectively known as the Deadlands, a massive area of desert stretching beneath the equator and trailing out into grassland and savannah in tropical latitudes of a southern continental mass. In the distant past, this region itself held grassland and open savannah and was predominantly inhabited by humans. It experienced rapid desertification over a couple thousand years due to a changing climate, and now vast swaths of the region are completely uninhabitable to large vertebrates. In the contemporary, the only sophont peoples to permanently dwell within its interior are qilik and some nomadically flying caelin.
The Chi are based around a settlement built upon the remains of an ancient human city and around its lake (once potable, now far too salty to drink or for agricultural uses). This salt lake, while not drinkable, supports the basis of the Chi's survival. They feed primarily on the massive swarms of brine flies that dominate the lakeshores, as well as brine shrimp. Parties of foragers venture beyond their home territory in search of other desert insects and reptiles, and forage the coasts and a few scattered oases. Of particular significance is the seasonal appearance of small, migratory wading birds that stop over at the lake to feed on flies and shrimp. This temporary abundance supplies the majority of their meat intake and is of great cultural significance.
They are in closest contact with the Sisisistse people, a collection of semi-nomadic qilik clans who establish themselves around the region's scattered oases and desert springs. A few Sisisistse clans are allies and trade partners to the Chi, but the majority are hostile due to a long history of territorial conflict and the brutal destruction of one clan by the Chi. The closest desert spring to Chi territory was once home to a Sisisistse clan, who, after trade relations decayed, were driven out by Chi warriors, with many of their number slaughtered. This spring is now a permanently occupied Chi outpost and frequently skirmished over.
They are one of few peoples of the vast Deadlands that have sustained and regular contact with the outside world via a few small coastal ports, where salts and a few rare dyes are traded with seafaring qilik peoples from outside the deserts (primarily for textiles- native textile sources are scarce).
Somewhat rarely among qilik people, the Chi place limited significance on gender roles, with drakes, hens, and faeder all performing most of the same tasks and living fully co-mingled lives. The sexual dimorphism of this population is substantially less dramatic than most qilik, to the point that they are imagined as a race of androgynes by many foreigners. Most individuals have bright red-orange plumage (derived from brine shrimp), which drakes emphasize via contrast with predominantly monochromatic garb. Drakes are still tasked with the majority of childrearing (as is nearly ubiquitous among qilik.)
