| Kender |
Articles about Kender |
Information AboutKender |
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ORIGIN According to Dragonlance lore, the kender descend from the Gnomes . When the Greygem Of Gargath was released, the gnomes who wanted the gem for Greed were turned into Dwarves , and those who wanted it for curiosity were turned into kender. PHYSIOLOGY Kender are small, 3 to 4 Foot tall creatures which are often compared to human children, with slanted features around their Eye s and Ear s. Their ears are a mix of human and elf ears. Their eye colour ranges from green, blue and brown to any combination of those colours. Kenders grow Wrinkle s at a very young age, and these are seen as attractive by many kender (some kendermaids try to grow them through various methods, much like Human s and other races try to remove them). Kender Hair colour is usually brown or black, with occasional kenders bearing red/orange and blonde hair. Their hair is usually a lighter shade than other races because of all the time they spend outside. A generic kender hairstyle is the ''topknot'', where the hair is grown long and then tied up in a knot on the top of the head. A kender's topknot is usually a source of pride for them. Kender tend to have high pitched voices, but their body allows them to make a wide range of noises, making them apt Ventriloquist s, Animal imitators, and many other roles. When kender are excited their voice tends to revert to a normal high pitch and talk extremely fast. LIFE CYCLE All kender go through the Life Cycle , a never ending circle of life and death (some kender may argue that the circle is in fact a pentagon for the sheer reason that they like pentagons better). Birth Kender have a typical birth — the Mother has a 9 month Pregnancy and usually has one child at a time. An average kender mother will have three to five children in her lifetime. Kender names are chosen from a wide range of sources. Corruptions of other words, like Cassel from Castle, or from recent events or items in Pouch es, like Bearchase, Lockpick, Fruitthrow, etc. Kender drink their mother's Milk until around six months of age, where they can start on solids. At one year, they start to walk, talk and explore. Many kender children of that age enjoy wandering, and cannot be locked up, however they do not wander far from their parents. They come to rely on Family and Friend s for needs, and the main contributors to a young kender's growth are often called their Grandparent s, uncles and cousins. Young Childhood At around 4 or 5, ''kenderkids'' take part in their Community . But their most important role as kenderkids begins — the asking of questions. Why, how, what, when, where, who, are all the most common words heard. While others may feel this stage in a child's life is the most annoying, this is seen by kender parents to be a beautiful stage in life. Some do not give proper answers — not for the reason human parents might not give them, but because this way it will further encourage the child's curiousity. It is at this age kenderkids go to School — but not school as we know it. Kenderkids often learn because they want to, or because it is interesting. For example, when their uncle comes back from travelling and tells them about a Dragon 's Treasure horde, and how many Coin s there were, they will want to learn to count. When told about the Ruin s of Kith-Kanan 's ancient Elven Stronghold , they will want to learn History . But this doesn't just mean they will learn "standard" education. If a craze for catching pet Frog s comes up, kenderkids will learn how to Swim . When it becomes fashionable to wear Ribbon s, they will learn to Sew . They will also play imaginary games of adventure, where they may have to steal a dragon's horde, defeat the Gnoll King , or find a Magical Scroll . These will usually teach them skills like stealthy movement and "handling". Kender learn to handle items at this age, but of course they never realize it. They also learn that visitors may be offended when they return "found" items, so they decide to leave returning off for the time being, eventually developing into master handlers. Some kender volunteer themself to keep the kenderkids amused, (these people are referred to as ''Kender Wranglers''). These people have Fence s and Lock s on their House - not for security, but so that the kenderkids can climb and pick them if they want. The Wranglers tell stories and teach bits and pieces for the twin purposes of keeping the kenderkids amused/their parents free, and teaching the kenderkids. Childhood At the age of seven, kenderkids start to wander about the City . There aren't many strangers there, as they will have invariably known all of them as "cousins" or such. They start to drift from one mentor to the next and develop close friends. They learn skills like fishing, reading and writing, very basic math and life skills. They also begin to develop roles and jobs of assisting elder kender in this part of their life. The skills and lessons they learn in this part of their life usually reflect what kind of person they will be when they grow up, and that is also reflected by the people in the town. For example, a kender who grew up when the famous Kender Hero , Elderberry Thistledown lived would probably end up becoming a fighter because Thistledown was a fighter, and as such most people would have developed a fighting skill fad. Teenage Years During this time, kender start to shirk away from their duties and seek out experienced adventurers in their town to teach them skills with weapons, stealth, and other adventuring skills. This is often done in the form of games that involve physical activity. For this reason, the next levels of "Kender Wranglers" are known as "Game Masters". They teach kender the aforementioned skills. As kender reach this phase (13-19) not only do they seek out these Game Masters, but they also become more active participants in ''Kender Moots'' - social gatherings where adolescent kender can show off their newly found skills in games and demonstrations. Kender also start to experience Love in these years. They begin to flirt with other kenderkids of the opposite gender. They may coyly take a pouch off the other kender or sneak up and put something they found in an attractive kender's pouch. Eventually, Kender leave for '' {Link without Title} '' — going wherever ''the Wind whispers to them''. Adolescent kender are often the most annoying ones — adult wanderlusters have outgrown most of their childish habits. They don't experience puberty as other races would — mood swings and such are uncommon with kender. They do, however, grow more rebellious, and sometimes downright rude. Adulthood These kender are on Wanderlust and spend their entire adult life wandering around the World . Be it on Boat , Foot , or dragon to an Ocean , friend's house, or headquarters of the Dragon Highlord s, the kender have been there and done it. Most of the population of Krynn has been exposed to the adult variety of kender, and as such have adapted the word kender to mean Thief , Rogue , or fake. This is very inaccurate, and kender will get offended if the word is used like that. Kender often build up good Friendship s during this stage of their life, at least with people that can understand and cope with them. They try to build up networks of friends to stay with if times get bad. Settling Down Most kender settle down between the age of 30 and 50 years old. This is a gradual process, however. It often involves the kender wondering what's happening back home, and deciding to go there, or unconsciously wandering back. They may stay for a bit and then go back wanderlusting. Eventually the travelling will get shorter and the visits home longer until they return to their city. Kender may build a house, but this is hard because of the rarity of a good kender Carpenter . They may hire a carpenter of another race to do this. But if they do find a kender carpenter, the carpenter usually gets paid in non-financial form. It is said that the kender who tell the tallest tales have the tallest houses, because the builders enjoy working on it and with the family so much. The kender may move in with relatives, which is considered more polite than moving in with a friend. While kender are generally generous, moving in with any kender or just another friend is considered bad form and may be unsuccessful. Most kender find a mate during this stage and live together. Kender also start to informally choose a profession like Tailor ing, Soldier ing, Baking , Fishing , and all the other roles towns need. They also pass on their talents to the next generation, possibly becoming "Game Masters" or "Kender Wranglers". Kender age slowly, but they don't realize it. They just start thinking that "My back gets a bit worse after playing King of the Hill ," or "That Mud isn't doing good things to my back" and slowly settle down compared to other kender, but can still be seen running through the Street s with glee and are much more youthful than other members of a race of their age. Death When kender die they have a Funeral in which the people who knew them express their grief. Even though kender view Death as the next great adventure, it doesn't come without a price. However, kender are quick to understand that for every death there is a new life, and don't linger too long on it. It is Traditional to give something meaningful to the spirit of a dead kender — a Quill , Parchment and pouch, for example — so that the deceased can record his next journey and so that he has a spare pouch to start off with. There aren't many kender Graveyard s — many kender cities have different traditions. In Hylo , for example, the kender's body is set sail on a burning Raft . With most kender cities, however, the deceased is buried somewhere that was meaningful to them in life or as they died, or a particularly nice spot. TRAITS Handling Kender have an odd trait that is rather like Kleptomania , where they unwillingly or unconsciously pick up objects. Kender see this as the uncanny habit of finding things that ''have dropped into their pouches by accident'', picking things up in the streets, finding " Junk ", and generally getting things that belong to other people. This art is known as "Handling" for them, and is one of the reasons they are very unpopular among the other races of Krynn. Kender don't seem to think there is anything wrong with this, and get genuinely surprised when they see the things that have fallen into their pouches. Kender oppose thieving vehemently, and thus consider being called a thief or cutpurse a great insult to their Dignity , ironic given that Kender are inborn with every natural skill that is ideal for a thief. The small race, however, do not tend to "find" things like money, gems, etc. A really interesting shaped Leaf will hold more value than a steel coin, because steel coins are everywhere, whereas that interesting shaped leaf hasn't been seen before. Another aspect of Kender Handling, is their enormous natural curiosity. It's said that the worst thing you can do to a Kender, is isolate it. Trained and otherwise brave warriors have degenerated into a state of sheer panic when hearing a nearby Kender say, "I'm bored". Kender also have uncanny Lockpicking skills, which is a favorite past time of theirs, and almost every Kender carries a locki picking kit with them. The only reason a lock is ever on the door to a Kender home is to amuse any guests who might stop by. Kender Taunts Kender have a very sharp wit and tongue, and as such, are masters at the art of Insult ing people. Kender see great flaws with most of the insults directed at them ("Thief" and "Cutpurse" aside) and take delight in showing people what a real insult is like. Kender seem to have a wide repertoire of insults for any race and any occasion, and have no clue when is the right time to stop insulting someone. Kender Fearlessness Many speculate that the two above traits are byproducts of the kender's odd fearlessness. This is a physical trait of kender — they cannot feel fear. There have been incidences where kender have stood near huge Monster s and wondered if they could say hello. Kender can only really feel fear through Magical means. For example, one of the most famous kender, Tasslehoff Burrfoot , has felt fear through magical means — at Shoikan Grove , after being subject to Dragonfear . This fearlessness results in an almost permanent optimistic attitude and smile. Because literally feeling no fear means not being restricted very much, kender are always willing to try new things, whether that means travelling to a different place, playing a new game, learning to ride a dragon, or even dying an interesting way. WEAPONS Hoopak A kender weapon, the hoopak resembles a cross between a slingshot and a Spear . The hoopak is a long wooden Staff with two prongs and elastic at one end and a sharp metal point at the other. The hoopak can be used as a spear, quarterstaff, or sling. It produces a distinctive whirring, buzzing noise when whirled. Chapak Another kender weapon only it is an axe (made for kender). The head may be taken off and swung making a long ranged weapon. FAMOUS KENDER
SUBRACES OF KENDER Over the years, a few kender subraces have been introduced.
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