more thickly-populated kingdoms. It is, above all, a tidy nation,
with neat farms and well-scrubbed cities.
The population is largely dispersed, and there are more towns
and villages in Sendaria than in the other kingdoms. The roads are
well-maintained and provide a useful network for the rapid
movement of farm produce to market.
The two major cities are Camaar, the major seaport of the north,
located on the southern border at the mouth of the Camaar River,
and Sendar, the capital, located on the coast just below the westward
jut of the Seline Peninsula. Like most seaports, Camaar is a
brawling, rowdy town, but Sendar is prim and proper and has a great
respect for the civilities.
There are fairly extensive gold deposits in the mountains which
have drawn generations of fortune-hunters who have added to the
melting-pot nature of Sendaria.
* This section is more detailed because ‘Our Hero’ is raised in Sendaria and believes that
he’s a Sendar.
THE PEOPLE
Perhaps the best way to describe a Sendar is to repeat the old joke
wherein one man asks another, ‘What is a Sendar? and the other
replies by asking, ‘Indeed, what is he not?’ In truth, Sendaria, the
crossroads of the north, is home to virtually every racial stock to be
found in the west. Because of the enormous fertility of the land,
settlers from every kingdom have found their way there. It is even
possible in certain remote villages to find certain strikingly pure
Angarak strains. The land is settled by Alorns from the northern
kingdoms, Arends and Tolnedrans from the south, and even an occasional
Nyissan. To prevent the kind of bickering and even open bloodshed
such a volatile mixture might very well engender, the Sendars have
developed an elaborate and strictly-observed etiquette. No mention is
ever made of a person’s race or religion, and the open proselytizing on
behalf of one’s God is considered the worst form of bad manners.
Sendars will discuss crops, weather, taxes and other practical matters.
but will never discuss race or religion. They are hard-headed, practical,
and their kingdom operates at a profit so that taxation (which they all
complain about) is extraordinarily light. By some happy chance, the
mingling of the peoples in Sendaria has produced a people with the
best features of all races and few of the unpleasant characteristics.
Like the Alorns, they are hardy and strong, but unlike them they are
not quarrelsome or unduly boisterous. They have the bravery of the
Arends, but not their melancholy or their touchy, stiff-necked pride.
They have the business acumen of we Tolnedrans, but not (and let us
be honest) our all-consuming urge to maximize profit which
occasionally causes some Tolnedran merchants to enter into practices which are
not – strictly speaking – ethical Sendars, like Drasnians, are
scrupulously honest, knowing that their fortuitous geographical location
gives them tremendous advantage.
THE HISTORY OF SENDARIA
Unlike the other kingdoms of the west, Sendarian history does not
begin in the dim and uncertain stretches of the distant past.
Although the region has been inhabited since time immemorial and
has been claimed at times by Arendia, Algaria, Cherek and even
Tolnedra, the modern nation was created, if you will, by Emperor
Ran Horb ii of the first Horbite Dynasty in the year 3827 as an
extension of Tolnedran policy in the north. By creating Sendaria, the
Emperor established a buffer state between Algaria and Arendia,
thus preventing the commercial advantage which would have
accrued to the burgeoning Mimbrate mercantile families following
the destruction of the Asturian Arends.
Without any genuine hereditary nobility dwelling in the area, the
Sendars were compelled to hold an election, the first ever held in
known history which involved universal suffrage. After
tremendously long and involved arguments about property qualifications
and the like for participating in the voting, the ever-practical
Sendars decided to let everyone vote. When the question of women
voting was raised, community leaders simply extended the vote to
everyone. It is generally conceded that parents cast the ballots of their
infant children, but this unique experiment appears to have come off
with a minimum of election fraud.
Unfortunately, the first ballot produced 743 viable candidates
with vote tallies ranging from eight for a northern farmer named
Olrach to several thousand for a number of the more prosperous
landholders around Lake Sulturn.
The balloting continued for six years and became a sort of
national picnic. With enormous good humor, the Sendars continued
to cast ballot after ballot until exhausted candidates began to
withdraw their names in disgust.
Finally, on the twenty-third ballot in the spring of 3833
everyOne was stunned by the fact that someone had actually received a
slim majority. National leaders, election officials and a number of
people who hoped for positions in the new court donned their
finest garb and journeyed to a small farming village on the east side
of Lake Erat in northern Sendaria. There they found their elected
King, a rutabaga farmer named Fundor, vigorously fertilizing his
fields.
The troop of notables trudged across the fields toward their new
monarch, and when they reached him they greeted him with a great
cry’ ‘Hail, Fundor the Magnificent, King of Sendaria,’ and fell upon
their knees in his August presence.
History mercilessly records the first words of the new King. They
were as follows: ‘I pray you, your eminences, have a care for your
finery. I have just well-manured the bed you are kneeling in.’
The assembled notables, it is reported, rose quickly to their feet.
They discovered that Fundor’s name had been placed in
candidacy by his neighbors before the first ballot in order that they might
have some recognition of their district in the tremendous
proceedings. Fundor had believed that his name was no longer on the ballot
after the first vote and was overcome to learn of his election. To
cover his confusion, he invited the whole party into his kitchen for
cakes and ale.
History reports that Mrs Fundor (who was to ” become Queen
Anhelda) was none too gracious about a group of manure-smeared
strangers in her kitchen.
A sooth-sayer who accompanied the throng pressed the new King
for a prediction, believing as they all did that each word the King
spoke that day would be of tremendous significance.
And the King spake thusly: ‘I believe it’s going to be a good year
for rutabagas – if we don’t get too much rain.’
The King and his family were rushed to the capital at Sendar
where he was duly coronated and installed in the Royal Palace.
The rutabaga harvest that year, incidentally, failed miserably.
From that date no one has ever taken the Sendarian monarchy
seriously – least of all the Sendarian monarchs. Remarkably enough,
however, they are actually very good kings. They are just,
evenhanded and open, caring more for the welfare of the people than
they do for their own pomp and prestige. They seem to all be
possessed of a wry good humor that makes the court at Sendar a
delight to visit.
Sendaria avoided the upheaval which shook the world at the tirne
of the assassination of the Rivan King and continued her existence in
uninterrupted tranquility and prosperity until the invasion of
Kal Torak in 4865. The Sendarian monarch at that time, Ormik the
Warlike, raised an army of Sendars, a mismatched and motley
crowd, neither infantry nor cavalry’ with an odd assortment of
weapons, and joined the forces marching south under the
generalship of the Rivan Warder. They fought bravely, however, holding the
center against repeated onslaughts of Malloreans at the Battle of VO
Mimbre.
Following the defeat of the Angaraks, Sendaria suffered a
temporary economic decline as a result of the closing of the North Caravan
Route and the cessation of the cattle drives from Algaria to Muros
for the years which were required to restore the Algarian herds. The
decline of the Sendarian economy, however, was only temporary
and did not have the permanent and disastrous effects we witnessed
in Tolnedra.
The present monarch of the Sendars is Fulrach the Splendid, a
short, rather dumpy man in his mid-fifties who is, like his
predecessors, an able administrator, but who has made no truly notable
achievement in the twenty years since he ascended the throne. He is
good-natured and soft-spoken and wears a short brown beard.
Sendaria
COINAGE
Because their kingdom was established by hnperial decree at a time
when Sendaria was dominated by Tolnedra, Sendarian coins are the
same as Tolnedran except the King’s likeness is on the coins, and
Sendarian coins suffer a 5-7% discount due to impurities in the
metal. The term ‘Sendarian’ is a prefix to their coinage to distinguish
between their coins and Tolnedran.
Extensive presence of other coins in circulation.
COSTUME
Standard medieval. Jerkins, tabards, leggings, hose, caps, toques,
shoes of soft leather. Hooded jackets, etc. among commoners. Stout
capes for foul weather.
Women wear short-sleeved dresses. Headdresses for formal
occasions. Kerchiefs for informal. Broad aprons.