Kenda Otany

My hero and predecessor! Without her curiosity and tenacity to travel to lands unknown and bring back knowledge and wisdom, I would never have been able to become a realm guide.

— Ordal Marvo Nisent, realm guide

The most famous scholastic wayfarer in Garyialan history is most definitely Kenda Otany. Her many travels and manuscripts on these travels painted a bigger picture of the world Garyialans lived in. It prevented cultural and scientific stagnation and provided the basis for many developments during the eight century.

Early Life

Born in the Relyria dynasty (1 - 760), education and knowledge was easily accessible to Kenda, for it was free to anybody willing to learn, discover and invent. Initially, Kenda went to the Realin Scholastic Sanctum to study philosophy. After only two years, she had read most books and manuscripts present at the sanctum, and reviewed at least half of them. In a few of her own manuscripts, Kenda describes how the most exciting thing during her studies was visiting sanctums in other parts of the empire, not only because they had hundreds of other books to study, but also because she loved to visit new places.
It was during one of these visits that she met a man, Davon Parlo, a scholastic wayfarer. He had just returned from his travels and was working on his manuscripts. Davon was an odd scholastic wayfarer for he not only travelled across the empire to gather and share knowledge, but also travelled into the mountains and up the rivers and past the borders of the empire. Instantly, Kenda befriended him, read all of his work on countries beyond the borders and places yet to be visited, and eventually begged him to take her with even though she had not finished her studies yet. Davon conceded.

Travels

Kenda’s first journey was to the Reva river basin, at that time not yet part of the Garyialan Empire. Upon her return, after a year of travelling, she wrote three manuscripts on various topics. All three were well-received and Kenda was granted the title scholastic wayfarer. After that, she rarely returned to Garyiala for more than a year. She travelled her whole life, often writing manuscripts while on the road and sending them home by means of a stray apprentice or companion she once in a while picked up.
Kenda visited many places that are currently within the Garyialan borders, but also places much further away. For example, she crossed the Rurzun Mountains into Oandeon, witnessed eternal snow in the frozen north, and she was even one of the few outsiders who was allowed access to Csalnia, capital to Alreia, at the time even more hidden and secluded than nowadays.

Legacy

In total, 134 written works by Kenda have been preserved. Of these, eighty-eight still exist in their original form and forty-six exist as copies. Throughout history, many scholars have written essays on Kenda’s work, and much of her research was, and still is, used in schools to educate the next generation.