Because I'm toying with another fantasy novel idea, but, just like my first one, it features a peoples of the desert that develops a barbaric culture to match the unforgiving nature of their environment. There's a small but really cool twist reliant on that culture, but the orcs in my main fantasy saga are sadistic carnivores originally from the desert too.
Probably won't find any help here, but I'm just outlouding.
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Culture can be sourced from how much extra time does a community have to invest in extra-survival activities. More access to easier food, either through more bountiful soil or more widespread tool use, is a large driver, and geography can lead to that.