Kingdom of Kandar is another theoretical Web Comic idea by Axioanarchist.
As the name would suggest, the storyline centers around the Floating Continent of the Kingsland and the archipelago of Kandar beneath it. Even more directly, though, it focuses on Tyra Revail, a young girl raised by a Dwarven explorer to become an Excavator. Other than strained finances the two seem to be having a good and happy life, moving from island to island, town to town while investigating the many ruins left over from the Precursors... until trouble comes calling in the form of two "Agents" of the King of Kandar. In the ensuing skirmish her adoptive father is killed and Tyra becomes a fugitive, leaving her with only a strange item the brigands seemed interested in acquiring.
On the run and all but penniless, Tyra attempts to carve out a new life for herself, starting by seeking out the Excavators' Guild, a group of fellow Excavators who work together to unlock the secrets of Kandar's past. Perhaps by coincidence, she quickly encounters Silas Orridian, the Guildmaster, while doing mercenary work to live off of. Between encounters with a vicious wyvern with whom Silas has a grudge, a steel-cold Lieutenant of Kandar's army and her brother, a polite, respectful General who harbors some doubts as to the true intents of his king, the Bandit Queen, and an enigmatic paladin from a distant land, Tyra discovers she may have just stumbled into something a lot bigger than some ruin stash.
And that's just the first quarter of Book One of Four.
Book One Characters:
- Tyra Revail: A mysterious orphan, but NOT in your usual sense. Tyra is active, daring, and not afraid to meet challenges - and enemies - head-on. Skilled with swords and other melee weaponry, especially scimitars, but best with throwing knives and similar weapons. An apprentice Excavator.
- Silas Orridian: Loveable Rogue and Master of the Excavators' Guild. Favors crossbows, though a rapier or shortblade will do in a pinch. Wears a trenchcoat filled with oddities and knicknacks over leather and chain armor.
- Titus Draeven: One-eyed blue-haired Smug Snake of an Evil Minion. Works as an "Agent" for Kandar, collecting "debts" and doling out appropriate "justice" for crimes as he sees fit... and has a particular interest in the item Enoch left for Tyra. Smarter and more influential than he appears.
- Demas Markert: Titus's Axe-Crazy partner. Demas is less than sane but exceptionally good and enthusiastic in a fight.
- Vyper: A White Drake with a rivalry with Silas over an event in their past. She shows a particular interest in Tyra as well, for some reason. Has two fairly inneffectual followers, Snayke and Kobra.
- Ayaka Algoni: A Lieutenant in the Kandar Military, Spellsword and Half-Elven half-sister of the general, Lucas.
- Lucas Algoni: A Cultured Warrior Officer and a Gentleman, Lucas is a general in the Kandar Military. Like his half-sister he's a Spellsword, though he has more of a preference for spears in combat.
- Apollos: A mysterious Holy Knight from a land across the sea to the west. A friend of Lucas from journeys in the past.
- Raquelle Del'Ergoh: A rare female example of the Gentleman Thief (and very much NOT a Classy Cat-Burglar), Raquelle is the self-styled "Bandit Queen" of Kandar. She stands in opposition to Kandar's rulers, stealing almost exclusively from the military and the nobility.
- King Tiberius Kandar: The monarch and ruler of Kandar. Where his predecessors have allowed Excavators and other independents to search the ruins of the kingdom's past for relics, this king has taken a personal interest in the ruins... especially the Zodiac.
- Lohan Aaronsen: A librarian and scholar living on the Kingsland. Serves as a Sky Contact for La Résistance.
- Draco: The Black Dragon, the Emissary from the Stars, the Lord of the Zodiac. A powerful and ancient Dragon once sealed in the sky who has recently been released. Has some kind of arrangement with King Kandar.
- Riccard Alco: Mad Scientist in every sense of the word. Works for King Kandar... at least officially.
- Merdiciana Vyst: Alco's assistant. Has her own plans, as well as two assistants of her own who do most of the fighting when things get violent.
- Orion: Exactly What It Says on the Tin. A hunter with a bone to pick with Draco.
Kingdom of Kandar: Book One will theoretically eventually provide examples of:
- Beware the Nice Ones: Miriam. "Healers know how to put people back together. By necessity this means we also know how to take them apart."
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Tyra kills Death. Justified when Time explains that a Demigod who doesn't perform their duties properly begins to lose their powers and by extension their Immortality.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The Demigods' names are essentially nothing more than their ranks and purposes: Time, Fate, Nature, Death, etc. Subverted by Trysta, who keeps being referred to by her name even after becoming Death, and who asks Nature what her name was before she became a Demigod - turns out it was Annabella.
- The Fair Folk: Satyrs - goat-legged, whip-tailed, horned humanoids; technically the females should be called Nymphs but that tendency has faded over the centuries - are the distant descendants of human and fey crossbreeds. True fey are rare and tend to stay hidden.
- Fusion Dance: Forma + Lorne = Forlorn. Unusual in that it's an extremely painful and torturous existence until healing magic intervenes.
- Gambit Roulette: The White-Haired Woman is planning something... "Come And See."
- Glass Cannon: Trysta: Powerful mage... zero stamina.
- The Grim Reaper: Death is an emaciated, ancient-looking man who vaguely resembles an elf. He wears a billowing cloak and carries a scythe. When Trysta takes his place she gets the cloak and scythe, but her appearance doesn't change other than her wings turning black.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Half-Elves are common, Half-Dwarves slightly less so.
- La Résistance: Two different kinds - Raquelle Del'Ergoh's thieves and the Knights of Orion.
- Laser Blade: The Divine Gladii (singular Gladius): Swords of pure light energy that any Angel can conjure or dismiss at will, as long as they aren't suppressing their powers - IE as long as they aren't in their human forms.
- MacGuffin Delivery Service: Destroying a Zodiac's physical body - repeatedly done since most of the Zodiac are hostile - sends its "star" back to the Zodiac Temple. Guess where Draco's headed.
- Made of Phlebotinum: Arguably, Kandar itself. Magic keeps The Kingsland airborne, imbues even common, untrained folk with enough basic magic talent to do household chores, and extends the lifespan of anyone living there by up to double or more.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Dragons proper are all but extinct, with only their weaker cousins Drakes - such as Vyper and her goons - still in any decent numbers. Draco gets a pass as he's been sealed in the sky for a few thousand years.
- People Puppets: Slain Angels leave behind "Soulstones" which contain their essence, which anyone who possesses can then manifest and control. Tyra and Trysta's parents Angaius and Lyrdreia are held by Diotrephes in this manner, and Tyra is used in this manner once - accidentally - by Silas while she's dead.
- Physical God: The Demigods. Their purposes are to run the day-to-day clockwork of the Universe, and have titles such as Time, Death, Nature, Phobia, et cetera. The Powers That Be are a little more individualistic and not always as... efficient.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Princess Summer is exceptionally active, working incognito with the Knights of Orion to undermine Draco's unwelcome activities and diminish their effects on the country; her brother Augustus is equally active both as a soldier and as a rebel later.
- Tomato in the Mirror: Tyra's an Angel!?
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: LOTS of it. Starting with Ayaka using an enchanted eyepatch to turn herself into Raquelle and ending with Diotrephes and Draco being the same being.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Fighting Phobia this comes up repeatedly.
- Wizards Live Longer: The high concentration of magical energy around the Kandar Archipelago extends the lifespan of anyone born there or living there for an extended amount of time. The average Human and Satyr lifespans are around 200, give or take a few decades, reaching adulthood around 25 or 30; Elves and Dwarves live about an extra 100 to 150 years past that, and reach adulthood around 50.
SPOILER WARNING: READING PAST THIS POINT WILL REVEAL BOOK ONE SPOILERS DUE TO THE CONTENT OF LATER BOOKS. SAME GOES WITH EACH SUBSEQUENT BOOK. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Book Two is set twenty-six years after the end of the first, and begins with the destruction of the village of Cerbolt on one of the most removed islands in the Kandar Archipelago by an army of machines. When the military go to investigate, they find the village ransacked and devoid of any survivors... save one, an infant girl Lieutenant Ayaka names Antigone.
In short order Kandar finds itself at war again, this time fighting a war of attrition against Seth, the Machine Lord and his forces. The heroes of the Draco War have either died, vanished without explanation, or dedicated themselves to their families at the expense of leaving the military or adventuring life. Combined with an evacuation of as many survivors as possible to the Kingsland and the raising of three more cities to float with it, this is the Kandar that Antigone, her cousin Selah, and others of the next generation have grown up in.
Antigone, for one, isn't going to stand for that. She wants to do something about this. Luckily she's not alone - even if her protective parents have a few complaints, there's not much they can do to stop her when she meets Daven Keinran and his father Apollos and learns of their plans to undermine Seth's war effort. With Daven and (reluctantly) Selah along for the ride, Antigone dives headfirst into a war that's more her own than she realizes.
Book Two Characters:
- Antigone Algoni: A green-haired girl from the destroyed village of Cerbolt, adopted by Lucas and Summer. She's trained herself in unarmed and quarterstaff combat, intending to get involved in some way with the war below... much against the wishes of her father.
- Daventhalas "Daven" Keinran: Son of Apollos and Salome, referred to occasionally as The Divine Seeker. Daven is friendly and witty but has little patience for fools and even less for cowards.
- Selah Aaronsen: Daughter of Lohan and Winter. A noble by birth, she was raised to be little more than that, and has absolutely no interest in getting involved in the war. Destiny apparently had other plans.
- Ayaka Algoni: Unlike her brother, Ayaka is still in the Kandar Military after the past twenty-six years, and has ascended to rank somewhat in the process.
- Apollos and Salome Keinran: The knightly paladin and priestess from the first book are still around, and actively trying to find a way to break Seth's strength.
- Augustus and Forlorn Kandar: Augustus and Forlorn, married and ruling jointly, are primarily concerned with the war effort and Seth's conquests. Augustus, being a former soldier, is mainly focused on the straight-up military view of the situation; Forlorn, on the other hand, is actively exploring alternatives.
- Seth the Machine Lord: A powerful Artificial Intelligence once bound inside an artifact known as the Mind Shard, Seth was released by Titus Draeven after he fled Kandar following Draco's defeat. Titus's body was turned into a cyborg and his mind suppressed by Seth's intellect. He seems primarily focused on conquering as much territory as possible, but that takes a heavy back seat to his plans to "perfect" mortal races by adding his cybernetics to them.
- Argolas-01X: Seth's right-hand man, a cyborg in heavy black armor. Has immense strength and Elemental Powers.
Kingdom of Kandar: Book Two will theoretically eventually provide examples of:
- Action Girl: Antigone, as well as returning Ayaka and Tyra.
- Blue Blood: Selah by birth, Antigone by adoption though she goes out of her way to subvert most expectations of such. Selah eventually does likewise.
- Body Surf: Titus is only the most recent of Seth's hosts.
- Chekhov's Volcano
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Selah. She did NOT want to become an adventurer. AT ALL. Then Argolas kidnapped her, discovered she had psionic potential, and decided to push the "ON" button.
- The Chosen One: Older, divinely-attuned characters such as Apollos and Tyra keep referring to Daventhalas as "The (Divine) Seeker" from time to time. He admits to Antigone and Selah that he doesn't know what it means but just rolls with it. He eventually discovers that he was selected at birth by Anubis when he has to petition the God for aid against the Ur-Grue.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Subverted... IF you can break your connection to the Hive Mind.
- Demonic Possession: Titus is nothing more now than a host for Seth. Much later, while in Dark World, Antigone is possessed by the Ur-Grue and has to be rescued.
- The Dragon: Argolas and Silas.
- Elemental Powers: Antigone gets them all eventually: Kill It with Fire, Dishing Out Dirt, An Ice Person / Kill It with Water, and Blow You Away. Later she picks up Dark Is Not Evil and Holy Hand Grenade as well.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Played by Antigone and Argolas.
- Eyepatch of Power: Seth/Titus still has his. Seth one-ups this by putting a cybernetic eye with a few tricks in the empty socket.
- Fun with Acronyms: SOBEK: Surveillance Operative Ballistic Energy Kinetics drone.
- APEP: Argolas Prepared Engagement Prerogative.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: The psionic brand on Selah's head appears after Argolas forces her Psychic Powers to activate.
- Hailfire Peaks: The Ice Cave in Dark World, with its rivers of lava.
- Heel–Face Turn: Silas after he escapes the Hive Mind.
- Hive Mind: Any machine or cyborg in Seth's collective is controlled by it. Seth is the only member with actual free will.
- King Mook: Though the regular ones are hardly Mooks in the traditional sense, as they're a terror every time they're encountered... Ur-Grue.
- Knight Templar Parent: Lucas and Summer are dead-set against Antigone getting involved in any way with the war. Even after Apollos explains the good she can do they only agree reluctantly. Lohan is equally apprehensive, but lacks the stubbornness or will to stand up to Apollos... though in his case, Selah is equally unwilling to go and is only accompanying Daven and Antigone reluctantly due to some foreshadowing comments made by Tyra.
- Laser Blade: The Divine Gladius returns along with Tyra, and Silas gains an actual laser sword during his time with Seth, which he keeps when he comes back to himself.
- Last of His Kind: Antigone is the only Cerboltan who is not dead or under Seth's control.
- Lethal Lava Land: The Heart of Elin, the volcano in The Twelve Hours of Night.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Argolas is Antigone's. Her birth name is Miranda.
- Magic A Is Magic A: Subverted: Psionics operate under a different set of rules than normal magic.
- Mirror Universe: Dark World again... but this time we actually visit it.
- More Dakka: The Abomination. More Dakka with a Crossbow.
- Phlebotinum Overload: Selah after Argolas forces her Psychic Powers to manifest.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: The SOBEK models have snake and crocodalian motifs. Also Argolas's APEP mode and the Cyber Space manifestation of SET.EXE.
- Shapeshifter Showdown: See Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors above.
- Town with a Dark Secret: Cerbolt, though the secret is not evil this time: The Cerboltans were divinely empowered to guard the Mind Shard to prevent Seth ever getting loose again.
- The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: A non-game example, The Twelve Hours of Night.
Book Three has the shortest gap time of the entire series - only five years pass between the end of Book Two and the beginning of Book Three. Following the defeat of the Machine Army, Kandar turned its attentions to its neighbors, many of whom saw the magic kingdom as vulnerable after their war with Seth's forces and aimed to strike while the advantage was available. A short-lived war with the east was ended in three years, mostly due to the efforts of Commander Ayaka's DIREA team; however, the second conflict with the northern lands of Naurwyn has been much more sustained. When the enemy forces begin using Lune Tribe soldiers DIREA is called in to assist, investigate, and perhaps even repeat their performance of two years prior and bring an end to the fighting.
When the team heads into Naurwyn lands to attempt diplomacy, however, the native life is less than hospitable and the native people even less so; in the ensuing chaos the team is separated. Selah Aaronsen collapses from exhaustion and injury and nearly freezes to death before she is found and saved by Kunan, a Naurwyn exiled from his clan. Kunan thinks Selah is a shaman, due to the illusions that manifested around her while she was unconscious; she tries to explain her psionic abilities with little luck but ends up travelling with the ranger anyway, as he offers to escort her to a nearby village to speak with one of the tribal shamans about diplomacy.
Along the way the pair cross a battlefield where giants are rampaging, and see a Valkyrie knocked out of the sky along with one of her Einherjar while trying to exit the battlefield on their way to Valhalla. Realizing the mortals can see them the Valkyrie determines something is greatly wrong and offers to accompany the pair to their destination, with the promise that they will attempt to gain the shamans' assistance in reaching the World Tree, Yggdrasil, where they can inquire of the gods as to what has gone wrong. When they finally do so, after a few roadblocks along the way, they discover something is going wrong: Loki the Trickster God has escaped his bonds, and Ragnarok is about to begin. All the signs are wrong, this shouldn't be happening yet, but it is.
Book Three Characters: Returning characters from Book Two excluded.
- Kunan: A hunter, falconer, and exiled Naurwyn ranger.
- Vanessa: A Valkyrie trapped on the mortal world due to the strange happenings surrounding the beginning of Ragnarok.
- Kerr: An Einherjar, a spiritual warrior of Valhalla. Except he never quite made it to Valhalla, as he was trapped on Earth with Vanessa while being escorted there.
- Loki: The Trickster, the Earthwalker, the God of Fire. An imprisoned God of Naurwyn, he aims to start Ragnarok a bit ahead of schedule.
- Fenrir: Loki's Dragon, returned from his "death" back in Book One.
- Jormungander: The World Serpent, a massive snake that encircles the globe... or at least Naurwyn. Generally appears on land as a physical manifestation of a violet-haired woman who resembles Loki.
- Queen Falbrynn: Queen of the Fire Giants and herald of Surtur, the Fire Giant god.
- Janvulf: A Frost Giant warrior, aiming to prove himself in the eyes of his god Thrym and lead the forces of the Jotun in the upcoming Ragnarok.
Kingdom of Kandar: Book Three will theoretically eventually provide examples of:
- Divine Parentage: Leckhart is distantly descended from Loki. Hence how Loki can manifest through him.
- Fun with Acronyms: Diplomacy Investigation Reconaissance Espionage Assault - listing DIREA's order of operations.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Falbrynn is... less than sane, to put it mildly.
- Laser Blade: The Soul Knife kind of looks like an energy blade.
- Loyal Animal Companion: Wild Sky, Kunan's hawk.
- Mama Bear and Papa Wolf: Tyra and Silas. Fenrir makes a big, big mistake by kidnapping their infant daughter. Though it IS part of Loki's plan...
- Our Giants Are Bigger: As per the mythology they're based on, Fire and Frost Giants both make appearances. Continuing his attempt to Screw Destiny, Loki changes a few of the things they're supposed to do, however.
- Red Right Hand: Due to transformation powers Loki, Fenrir, and Jormungander regularly look like someone else... however, Loki always has burn scars on his temples and stitching scars around his mouth, Fenrir always has thick brown hair and Glowing Eyes of Doom, and Jormun typically has red eyes with snake-slit pupils and a forked tongue.
- Screw Destiny: Loki doesn't want to die at Ragnarok. So he starts the show early, hoping to disrupt some of the prophecies and ensure himself a more complete victory.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Loki obviously, buried deep beneath the earth years ago by the other gods. Technically he's still buried there - the physical presence of Loki is only him manifesting through Leckhart. Seeing a pattern here?