Caindos Fables & Folklore

Recurring Theme, Lore, or Symbolism

• Caindos is a land of stubborn clansmen who wish to be left in peace. Or peace as they think of it. In northern Caindos, people still remember the Others, and Fae Culture still is a concern.

• The Caindosian Separatist Church is an ongoing movement to practice the Faith as the Caindosians wish it, without all the high ceremony and outrageous pomp of lowlanders. This separate church is not real yet, but the idea hangs heavy in the minds of Caindosian thinkers.

Local Creatures

• Murtras—These creatures are well known to have sea-bed communities or pods in the Sea of Silence. They are rare enough that most locals live their lives without ever encountering any. Even then, few sailors will venture onto the Sea of Silence at night.

Heroes & Monsters of Myth and Folklore

• Brynn the Wolf, one of King Kelthan’s Paladins, is considered Caindos’ national hero. He and his family’s house are considered as the folk founders of the Caindosian way of life.

• Ssith and Ironscale—These are two mythological dragonesses that once laired in caves along the shores of Glimmerstan. Unless proven otherwise, they exist in fable only. These dragons argue with each other at ends, but made a united front versus enemies.

• Caindos is the source country for all the fables and high tales of Tobias Todwick the Sly, the talking fox. Tobias is now is known throughout Aorlisian literature.

Historical Sites

• Ruislan Basilica—Covered in more detail under Great Pilgrimages, the basilica is a great draw for pilgrims and is active around the year.

• Brynn’s Run Hills—Found in Ultimo, Caindos, these hills’ association with Brynn have been obscured by time.

• Mausoleum—This is the ruins of a Karmithian mortuary temple, devoted to a dead general and his legion, on the Oellstand coast. Its location has been lost for centuries.

• Thlos—This is an aboriginal coastal hill fort in Gilder, overlooking the Sea of Silence. Said to be haunted by green-haired hags and their pacts of spectral hounds. This likely is myth, because locals pick berries here seasonally.

Magic on the Landscape

• Faerie Rings—These occur where enormous trees have uprooted, and mushrooms grow around its old perimeter. They are hazardous, because they can serve as gates for marauding Others, or they can sometimes even make people who wander into them disappear forever. These are most common in Oellstand and Glimmerstan. Humans still guard against Others with cold iron in their thresholds and window casements, and leave offerings of milk and honey for them.

• Hauntings in Caindos are loud, direct, and terrifying. Every castle and house has its unquiet spirits, and that is simply a fact of life here.

• Mist that rolls in off the Sea of Silence is treacherous and people sometimes have disappeared in it. It is unknown whether they were snatched into another realm or taken by Murtras.

• Sailors who venture onto this sea alone and lose sight of land sometimes disappear, and never are seen again. Most sailors will avoid being on these waters at night.

Odd Competitions or Traditions

• Highland Games—This is a common, annual tradition throughout Caindos, and it sometimes is used by local lairds to choose the strongest soldiers.- Lumberjack Games—An eastern variant of highland games, and more common in Gnilder and Glumn, these are focused on lumberjack skills like the ax toss, tree scaling, and the log balance.