Dar Sai
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Dar Sai is a fictional planet referenced in author Jack Vance's fourth "Demon Princes" novels The Face. It is a desert planet orbiting the fictional star Cora, and it has a single large natural satellite called Mirrasou.
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[edit] Natives
Dar Sai is home to a race of humans known as Darsh, who take a stubborn pride in their ability to endure Dar Sai's inhospitable climate. Natives reside under enormous communal umbrellas called "shades", in order to escape from the planet's murderous heat and glare, which would otherwise prove fatal in short order. Darsh men are typically brave and tough - a writer asserts that "there are no Darsh cowards" - with plenty of public swagger in an attitude termed plambosh.
[edit] Food and drink
The food of Dar Sai is strongly spiced in order to make plain water seem more appealing by contrast, and off-worlders generally find the taste and smell of such food revolting. Darsh who have left Dar Sai often face prejudice on other planets due to this smell, and their residences are sometimes restricted to certain neighborhoods. Named dishes include pourrain, chatowsies and ahagaree. Darsh beer has been described as tasting as though a dog has been washed in it.
[edit] Sex and relationships
Marriages are grounded in financial interests, not mutual affection. A husband will judge a prospective wife on her domestic skills, while a wife will judge her husband by his earning potential. They often exchange disparaging remarks, and typically do not engage in sexual relations with each other, preferring to seek (often unwilling) sexual partners out on the desert sands at night under the full moon. Any party venturing into this area at that time is considered fair game (including unwary tourists). Older males travel seeking younger females, known as "kitchets", since Darsh women typically grow unattractive moustaches early in life. Older females (vulgarly known as "khoontzes"), in turn, compel kitchets under their control to wander the dunes, lying in wait and using them as a lure for unwary young males. They are typically well able to overpower such youths, which fact the male sex ruefully remark on in ribald songs.
[edit] Entertainment and culture
One of the primary entertainments of adult men is a kind of whip-dance in which a man with a whip puts a troupe of half-naked boys through a series of japes and stunts, typically striking paper targets affixed to the boys' buttocks.
Another popular sport is hadaul, a kind of all-in wrestling in which the objective is to be the last of the many contestants to occupy the centre of three concentric rings. A competitor who has been removed from one of the inner rings may not re-enter it, and one who has been removed from the outermost is eliminated from the competition. After the competition is concluded, a defeated competitor may challenge the victor to a duel if he is willing to put forward a stake equal to the winner's share of the purse. It is rare for off-worlders ("iskish") to compete, and Kirth Gersen is the only one known to have done so successfully.
[edit] Economy
Dar Sai is rich in "duodecimates", (fictional) stable transuranic elements with atomic numbers in the 120s. These are commonly found on Dar Sai as "black sand" in the deserts, and prospecting for these forms a major part of the planet's industry. Weighed quantities of duodecimates are an accepted medium of exchange, as are Standard Value Units, the common currency of the Oikumene.
