Kaendor is a planet orbiting around a dim orange star together with a small gas planet that dominates the sky like a giant blue moon. It is a world covered in vast forests and oceans, filled with great rivers and swamps, towering mountain ranges, and numerous small islands. The endless wilderness is largely unexplored and mostly uninhabited by any people, home to large numbers of great beasts and strange spirits. There are no wolves, boars, or bears roaming the woodlands of Kaendor, or horses, pigs, or chicken to be found on the farms. Instead, the wildlife is dominated by large reptiles and huge insects, as well as many primitive birds, but also many kinds of weasels, deer, and goats.
This world is one not meant for people. No gods shaped the land to provide the people with food and resources to support their cities, or gave them the power to make it their own or shape it to their liking. To the spirits of the wilds, people are just another of the many kinds of beasts that roam the forests, and to many of those, they are just another easy prey to hunt and feed on. The weather can be devastating to the small realms of mortals, as are volcanoes and earthquakes which have no concerns about what will happen to people caught in their wakes. People have to struggle for survival just like anything else and are a long way down from the top of the hierarchy of spirits and beasts. People have tried to make themselves lords over nature many times, and some even appeared to have some degree of success at it. But in the end, they all failed. And the many overgrown ruins that cover the lands have tought people that ultimately nature always wins.
Society in Kaendor is typicaly small and scattered, and often greatly fragmented. There are few true kingdoms and no great empires. Instead, most people are ruled by local lords or the chiefs of their clans, who are allied together in more or less stable and reliable confederacies. The authority of most rulers rarely reaches more than a few day's travel from their castle, and most people see their lord or chief at least any other year. The kings of Kaendor are mostly the leaders of regional confederacies, elected by the lords and chiefs from among their own. Their authority is primarily one of a war leader and judge for disputes between lords, and they have little power over the people in the domains other than their own.
Great empires existed in the past, but those days are remembered with fear and sorrow. The Old Sorcerers and the Nage were cruel tyrants, with their subjects little better than mere slaves. They terrorized the barbarians seeking refuge high up in the mountains and deep in the forests, laying whole lands to waste with the sorcerous fire and demons they unleashed on all who opposed them. The wilds of Kaendor are filled with the ruins of many ancient civilizations and many of the small cities and castles are build on the foundations of much older structures. The magic knowledge and might of the Ancients continues to be a source of endless fascination and mystery, but the same old tales also cast a great sense of weary suspicion on any war leader who becomes too succesful or sorcerer who seems dangerously ambitious. The threat of new conquerors and fear of another empire are among the few things that can get the fiercely independent lords and clans to set their conflicts aside for a while and fight side by side to face the threat against all of them.
The people of Kaendor know and worship many gods. Some of which have great temples in most cities, while many more have merely a small shrine dedicated to them in a handful of villages in a remote valley. Religion is largely a communal affair, taking the form of public rituals, ceremonies, and festivals dedicated to one of the many local deities. Nearly every organization or formal group is similar to a cult to some degree, having a dedicated deity that is honored through simple rites to bless gatherings and undertakings, and ask for help and success in acomplishing their goals.
©2004-2023 Martin Christopher