Y'kàndrà Nùor ([ika:ndra:])
Y'kàndrà Nùor (a.k.a. Kanda-Nor)
This write-up is a complete spoiler of Fallen Down of Nectar Glen.
The Meaning of His Name
Oftentimes we can translate a name and discover a link to their parentage, or the aspirations of said parents when naming their child, or the plans of the person if they have self-assigned their identity. Y'kàndrà, as with much about that period of time, is unusual and uncertain. It is Foyiitùn in form, as follows:- Y: translating as "here" or "there" depending on the context.
- kàn: translates as "many years" or "century"
- rà: means "or"
Chronicler's Notes:
This does leave out one letter, but ancient Foyiitùn may have had rules that even the Foyii themselves have forgotten. But even in this form it could be a question "Many years here, or?" Perhaps he was adopted and his parents did not know his age. The word kantà means "fourth" or "four" in modern Foyiitùn, which could have evolved from kandà, though this does little to clear the waters of confusion. "The Fourth here?", "Or Four There?" are other translations, or mis-translations, and these only raise more unanswerable questions. Maybe his parent or parents just decided to invent a name and let the man himself choose what it meant.
Personal Details
Home Town
There is no formal record of where Y'kàndrà originated from. However, his family name of Nùor is almost certainly a shortened form of Nùormà (North) or Anùorma (northern). Thus, tracing the path of Qal'ath's descent into the Erdàn Savànii, he may well have hailed from around the now-ruined villages North of Frostplain.Faith
While he was formally linked with the Followers of Fyr, his proactive worship of that Elemental was lacking, per his own admissions in later writings recovered. He preferred to assume the power behind his magicks was lent rather than granted and was the first within his Academy to suggest that mages who drew on nature must take time to replenish their reserves for their own good and for the preservation of the natural order.The Battle of An'béz'el
Recruited for Conquest
Of Parànti descent, it is estimated he was in his late 30s or early 40s at the time he was recruited by Senzàn-Fai to help him conquer the centre habitation of the Aevyormii. An'béz'el was situated where various fresh water sources convened before rejoining the Grànousii-an-Ormàszil Ocean. While Senzàn-Fai's force had superior physical weaponry, he lacked any knowledge or capability in his squad against any magical attacks.
Lured by the promise of land and the establishment of a mage training camp in the new realm, Y'kàndrà joined them on the conquest of The Nectar Glen. Being focussed as he was on the Element of Flame, and feeling most alive in Its presence, his home town in the frozen North (somewhere) left him restless. So, despite holding a position of responsibility in the Mages' Academy, he set forth with Senzàn-Fai in the hope of a better - and warmer - future.
Disillusionment
Although his involvement proved not only pivotal, but mission-critical, Y'kàndrà became disillusioned with not only Sènzan-Fai, but how the majority of those under him had undertaken the invasion. Peaceful delegates were killed on-sights, unnecessary killing was everywhere and structures that could have served Senzàn's settlement were senselessly razed. As the battle to take the very centre of An'béz'el reached its height, the mage decided the only way to stop the senseless slaughter was to defeat their leader - She of the Few - as slowly as possible to allow others to flee.
Using a combination of Erdé (ground/rock) and Lightning attacks, he eroded her essence in fragments, while fighting back tears of anger and regret at the pain he was causing Her.
As the Crystal Tree of An'béz'el shattered, that relic of symbolic importance for the Aevyormii signalled their necessary withdrawal from their ancestral home via teleportation magicks.
Thus the land was conquered but a permanent rift between the mage and the "new realm" had opened.
Reconciliation
After a final altercation with the would-be king, declaring he wanted no part in the "Qal'ath" he was going to build, Y'kàndrà use a Stone of Passage left by the Aevyomii to discover their withdrawal location.
He arrived to what he thought was a ceremony of parting (the Aevyormii leave no physical presence upon death) when what he wanted was to see he had narrowly avoided causing She of the Few's demise. As the remnant of Nectar Glen's people placed Lunarblooms on Her body, it was to Y'kàndrà that She first properly addressed upon reawakening.
While the mage would not call it a reconciliation, She declared that, while the Aevyormii had the right of revenge, they should not take it. Thus was Y'kàndrà spared their wrath before they flew East.
Resolution
The Mage was left broken, bereft and with no direction until one of Her feathers landed on him. He resolved there and then that Senzàn-Fai's new kingdom would not grow unchecked. Detecting the faint ethereal trail left by She of the Few, he allowed the Elements to carry him until the trail ran out.
After the Battle
Writings recovered from Zykyrn Pilkarrz are still being deciphered, but it is believed Y'kàndrà initially settled in a camp between Pilkarrz and Béjaiber'ghas (Grànath Rensédaii), which gave him a view of both that town and the walled city-state of Shevezz.A New Name, after a Fashion
Records in Shevezz (thank the Elements for obsessive record-keeping in the Queendom!) acknowledge the existence of a personage named as Y'kàndrà Nùor and another naming himself Kanda-Nor with no overlap. As "Kanda-Nor" features in Pilkarrzian history as the founder of their post-cleansing order, and the recorded intention of Y'kàndrà to inhabit that place, we have assumed he took on the name of Kanda-Nor. Whether he entered the city with one and agreed to be known as the other from a certain point in time, or whether the Queendom realised a likely translation of his name when he first arrived, we will never know for certain. One possible reason for a change of name, was a simple case of pronunciation, especially with the Shevezzi, whose native language is harsher and less undulating than that of Foyiitùn. But this is pure conjecture.Chronicler's Note:
From what we can gather, Senzàn-Fai was openly derisory about mages and sorcery. While Y'kàndrà should have taken that as a warning, he instead assumed it was a lack of education and exposure on Senzàn's part and had hoped that, by winning the battle, it could steer the new king's logic. Unfortunately, that is not the only king to not change their mind when presented with objective facts. I doubt we will ever see the end of such flawed thinking either. But it is a reminder of the "Iron Minds" of people are not always ours to change.
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