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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.