The World of San'Dora

Var
History	Tribes	Kor Characters	Kor

Kor

Kor are short but very sturdily built humanoids descended from the Var. They typically stand between four and five feet tall but are very dense and weigh in between 250 and 400 pounds. There is some variation in appearance among Kor of different tribes, but as a general rule the Kor have leathery brown skin, black hair, blue eyes, and teeth yellowed heavily by a drink made from the fermented milk of the Rocai herd animal that forms the basis of Kor substinance.

Some Kor are more civilized, but the majority typically wear shaggy hide vests and trousers made from the hides of the Rocai and use weapons made from the bones of the Rocai. They take most of their other equipment on raids as loot, though individuals sometimes purchase or trade for things if it isn't feasible to simply take it.

ORIGIN

A fallen sub-race of the mighty Var, some Var of the Trinoedd Clan turned to the worship of an enigmatic "God" they called Kor-vash (CORE-vosh) during the Age of Legend. Those who were faithful in this worship were fundamentally altered for reasons unknown. Among other things, the innate connection of Kor to the power of the world itself was sundered, and also removed was the inability to work Arcane Magic designed into the Var by their Haelfinan creators millenia prior.

Eventually the Cult of Kor-vash tried to sieze control of the Varholds from within.

FAILURE

The true Var expelled the dark cults from their Varholds, and they subsequently took up residence in the hill lands nearby and eventually started fighting with the true Var for control of the Varholds. After the Caul was raised by the Haelfinan to shield the world from the meddling of extradimensional entities the Kor-vash priests could no longer commune with their "god" and their power was broken.

CYSGODION

The Kor fell into scattered groups which eventually became tribes. They died off or were killed in most areas but were able to survive in the shelter of the subcontinent now known as the Vold for almost 5000 years. The Kor called this land Cysgodion (kiz-gohd-EE-on), which roughly translates as "land of safety".

The Kor further split into sub tribes as time passed, and made war upon the Var of the Lungorat mountains (which are now known as the Wundvolding mountains), a community of Haelfinan also residing in Cysgodion (which the Haelfinan call Alaendar), several Hurgur communities, a large pack of Wyrdynion that had resided in the area since the Varic Wars, neighboring states as appropriate to a given millieu, and themselves for millenia.

EXODUS

Then came the Machtig a little over two thousand years ago, and the Kor-voshi's little world came crashing to an end. The mighty Volkeralten warriors of the Machtig proved to be able opponents for the Kor, and their druidic priests worked mighty Magics on their behalf as well.

The war was hard fought, but the deteremined Human warriors inexorably drove the large majority of Kor from the subcontient in a mass exodus. Spilling out onto the western portion of the Undari Plain, the Kor were initially pushed up and over the Dregga Mountains by the still functioning remnants of the Undari Empire.

Once in the Vorgaanese Basin the Kor-voshi discovered the large abandoned swath of Blasted Land, caused by the then recent destruction of the Witchlords of Vorgaa.

The Kor settled in, greatly reduced in number, and soon learned that they could survive by following herds of large four-legged herbivores called Rocai that roam freely on both sides of the Dregga Mountains.

NOMADS

Without planning to do so, the Kor became nomadic. With the Undari Empire collapsing faster every day, and the northeast stretches of Vorgaa blasted, the Rocai herds were actually doing quite well as the hardy beasts are able to graze on the desolate scrublands surrounding the Blasted Lands, and with the Undari population dipping there was more herdland available in the Undari Basin as well.

Eventually after a couple centuries the Kor had recovered sufficiently to push back into the Undari Plain and slowly crept out to control most of it's western portion.

VARIC CONFLICT

These Kor have been a constant thorn in the side of the Var of the southern Dregga range and Visar for the past two millenia. Parties of Tanllwyth and Trinoedd particularly will often go forth into the Kor-infested lands to wage war, while the Marchog labor to ensure that the Varholds in the area are safe from Kor incursions.

For their part the Kor generally just wish the Var would piss off and leave them alone; they dont want to live underground any more anyway, having adapted to their lot in the many millenia since the Age of Opposition ended and saw them driven from the Varholds. However the constant harrassment by the Var ensures that the Kor bear great ill-will towards them and often will stage retributive attacks after a particularly bad assault form the Var.

WORSHIP

Worship of the dark powers that lead them astray in the past has pretty much passed in the ensuing seven thousand plus years since the Age of Opposition, but a tradition of tribal witchery persists which owes it's roots to the dark cultists of old.

However, in recent years the cult of Kor-vosh has started to reemerge. This could bode very ill for all the neighbors of the Kor, as anything able to band the Kor into a unified force would be a dire threat.

MODERN LIFE

The modern Kor live via a combination of being nomadic hunter / gatherers, by raiding their neighbors, interdicting trade near their territory, and generally preying upon anyone weaker than themselves.

WARLIKE

Since being cast out by the Var, the Kor have aggressively fought every one of their neighbors for territory and plunder, and since being driven from Cysgodion this has only escalated. They have usually been beaten back more often than not, but their nomadic lifestyle makes them very difficult to deal with even when an opponent is victorious. They simply wander off, wait a while, and come back when their opponents have returned to business as normal.

Kor are dangerously hardy warriors, hardened by their difficult lifestyle and typically very skilled in battle individually. However their inability to work together in a disciplined and focused manner has always been the downfall of the Kor. They are simply too chaotic and savage to mount a creditable threat versus an organized opposition unless they simply have overwhelming numbers.

BANDITRY

They are a definite and constant hazard to trade along the Daelanthanor trade route, and a an entire industry and sub-culture of caravan guards exists in the communities along its route south of the Therakk mountains.

MACHTIG WARS

The Kor tribes still hold the Vold, or Cysgodion as they call it, to be their homeland, and several tribes and warleaders have lead what amount to nearly holy crusades against the Machtig to retake it. However they have always been summarily crushed and pushed back out onto the plains. Herodi-led hordes have also forayed deeply into Kor lands on reprisals, and just for the sheer bloody-minded fun of doing war with the hardy Kor on many occasions as well.

The Kor also have staged numerous raids upon the lands of the Wundvolding Clan, but they are routinely rebuffed by the Wundvolding, often by the Steinwach.

In general the Kor, who typically have no respect for non-Kor, have a certain grudging hate-respect-fear feeling about the Machtig. On the one hand the Machtig took their land and drove them ruthlessly before them and for this the Kor hate them.

However, they did not kill them all out of hand, and have permitted some Kor to continue to live in their lands, and have always been honorable opponents and for this the Kor respect them. Finally, the Kor have never done well in any engagement against the Machtig, and for this they fear them, though they would never openly admit it.

KOR-DAEN

Some Kor were never driven from the Vold and have managed to survive therein for the last 2000 years, primarily due to the insistance of the Machtig Druids to allow them to abide in manageable numbers.

These Kor are different from their Plainsland cousins, having never become nomadic herders and they try to hold true to the old traditions. Being much less savage and living in small but well defended highland warrens they have much better armor and equipment than their nomadic kin, with a proclivity towards plate and axes.

They have more in common with the Var than other Kor at this remove, but the irony is generally lost upon them. These Kor have merged together into the Kor-daen tribe over the past two millennia and primarily reside in the northern stretches of the Wundvolding Clan Hold. Other Kor tribes revere but also resent them.