Politics & Powerful Organizations · Minor Powers
Kende
- People
- The Alium
- Location
- The far end of Zingare, on the corner of the continent
- Capital
- Besok
- Approach
- Hard. Northern storms close the coast and Garshalla blocks the land route
- Built
- Into the mountains, heated by a volcano
- Known For
- Alium art
- Population
- About 1 million
Kende is the nation of the Alium, tucked into a corner of the continent and frequently forgotten by the rest of it. That is partly a matter of distance and mostly a matter of access: northern storms guard the coast, and the land route runs through Garshalla, which is not a route anyone takes lightly.
Much of the civilisation is worked into the mountain system, heated by a volcano that has so far proved co-operative. Its art is what visitors remember.
In their own words
Bevel Dart, The Musings of a Wanderer
Tucked into the corner of our great continent lies the often forgotten nation of Kende, the nation of the Alium. At the far end of Zingare, protected by northern storms along the coast and Garshalla consuming any otherwise friendly route, Kende is confoundedly hard to quest to. But your humble wanderer made it!
Questin’ to Besok
It took a bit of wrangling and superstitioning with some Garshallans, but I secured safe passage through Garshalla to Kende. Well, as safe as safe passage gets in Garshalla. Kende is certainly not a place you want to approach without a guide. A great deal of the civilization is worked into the mountain system, heated by a not-too-curmudgeony volcano, around which wraps the Alium city of Besok.
The majority of the Alium who live in Kende make their homes in Besok. It is a great city, of the scale of any great nation’s capital. As you know, Alium do not speak audibly; they speak telepathically. As such, as you approach the mouth of the mountain under which Besok sits, you catch no sound. The opening to the city is easy to spot from a distance. My natural conclusion was Besok would be deep within the mountain, but upon reaching the mouth of Besok, I staggered under the sudden, cacophonous onslaught of mental voices.
A Fateful Encounter
An Alium youth came to my aid. They propped me up from where I found myself on the cold stone floor and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“May I enter?” They asked.
With a nod from me and a look of slight concentration from Venn (the Alium youth’s name), the voices in my mind quieted a bit to the distance. Whatever their canoodling, they managed to assist me in parsing through the barrage of mental voices.
Venn remained my companion during my wanderings of Besok and Kende. They taught me lessons that made me a better person.
A City of Alium Culture
As I mentioned, Besok is the capital city and by far the greatest concentration of Alium on the continent. The city has its upper districts and lower districts, its markets and slums, its neighborhoods and urban centers. Because their mental voices project a fair distance through walls, doors, etc, the city has “quiet” zones and times to ensure proper rest.
The Alium operate in a strange blending of independence and collectivity. Each Alium has their own mind, thoughts, beliefs, and desires, but most conversations are available for the public ear. Er, mind. And there is a collective identity and purpose.
Art
The Alium enjoy thick, colorful paints and bright fabrics, which contrast with their gray skin. But where Alium truly shine is their recited stories and poetry. Because Alium can track two, and sometimes up to four, conversations at once, they have developed an oral art form of telling two (or more) verses at the same time, intended to weave into a single narrative. The narratives can be different characters, a split between scene action and dialog, a variety of narration and song… The artistic possibilities are endless.
This is typically done with two (or more) separate narrators who speak simultaneously. The height of this ability is for a single Alium to recite both narrations at the same time.
Kende and Garshalla
The Alium and Garshallans have a curious relationship, that of a partnership. Yes, I did put “Garshallan” and “partner” in the same sentence. I can only explain that some… event… happened between the two peoples that established mutual respect.
The Garshallans are the Alium’s link to the outside world. They bring trade goods and news.
The Alium maintain several fascinating installations, and one of them is used almost exclusively by the Garshallans. The device “inks” the Garshallan’s famous tattoos, and questing to this Alium installation is rite of passage for young Garshallans.
Guilds
Most of the continent’s common guilds are missing from Kende. The Clerks maintain a presence, and that about does it. The Alium have their own Guardian-type guild for locating those gifted in congruence. They hire the Garshallans to handle the work of the Ion'cavar. And the Slaver's Syndicate is notably absent.
Religions
The Alium across Aropria follow many different religions along with the other species. Many though, especially those in Kende, follow the Religion of the Alium.