Kender are a type of fantasy race first developed for the Dragonlance campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role playing game published by TSR, Inc. in 1984. The first kender character was created by Harold Johnson as a player character in a series of role-playing adventures co-authored by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. Weis and Hickman's Dragonlance shared world novels introduced the kender to readers and players alike, largely through the character Tasslehoff Burrfoot, who became one of the main protagonists in the series.

Tasslehoff first appeared in the Dragonlance adventure module DL1 Dragons of Despair, published in March 1984; later that year, the kender's first literary appearance was in the novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight, published in November 1984. The kender are often compared to notable diminutive humanoid peoples in other fantasy fiction, such as the hobbits of Middle-earth or halflings featured in Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings.

Conception and development

In preparation for the Dragonlance setting, Tracy Hickman ran a series of Dungeons & Dragons adventures. Harold Johnson, one of those involved in the games, chose to play a halfling thief character whom he called Almar Tann. When Hickman, Johnson and others moved to the Dragonlance setting for their games, the character of Almar Tann went with them. It soon became clear to those involved, however, that halflings were unsuitable to the Dragonlance world. with mixed success: While Matt Barton and Shane Stacks assessed kender to be similar to Tolkien's hobbits, Daisy De Palmas Jauze considered them a novelty.

Roger E. Moore introduced the kender, and Tasslehoff Burrfoot, to the wider community through his short story A Stone's Throw Away, published in April 1984 in Dragon.

The original concept of the kender held that they were "savage, warrior children, ever curious, ever alert." Hickman was uncomfortable with the notion of a "race of thieves" in his games, but still wanted the skills typically associated with thieves, so he added their "innocent tendency to 'borrow' things for indeterminate periods of time."

Description

Fictional origin

The Dragonlance books present three conflicting accounts of how the kender were created. In Dragons of Summer Flame, the Irda state that kender descend from the gnomes. When the Greygem of Gargath was released, the gnomes present who desired the gem for greed were turned into dwarves, and those who wanted it for curiosity were turned into kender. In the Tales trilogy, however, the dwarves state that when the Greygem came to Krynn, its chaotic magic transformed a group of gnomes into both the first kender and the first dwarves. Still again, it has been stated that in the final battle for control of the Greygem at Gargath's tower, the chaotic power of the gem transformed part of the dwarven army into gnomes, and part of the elven army into kender.

Alternatively, in the novel The Forest King the Longwalker tells the story of his arrival in Krynn through a great cleft in the ground. The Longwalker states that a very clever girl named Fina decided to make a lodestone so powerful it would draw the gods down. All the people helped her until it was the size of a mountain. This drew down The Eye, which burned with such anger it melted the lodestone, and killed many of the people. They found a cleft and squeezed inside, going down through the earth to escape The Eye, traveling down for many generations. When they emerged on the other side they were smaller, and filled with wanderlust; they had become the kender. When asked if the story were true he replies, "How could it be?" This tale, however, is almost certainly the equivalent of a Krynnish folktale.

Appearance and traits

thumb|right|Illustration of a Kender from DL5 Dragons of Mystery, art by [[Larry Elmore (1985)]]

The kender are described in a review of DL1 Dragons of Despair, the adventure module where they first appeared, as: "wizened 14-year-olds and, unlike halflings, they wear shoes."

In Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Kender are described as "small boned" and rarely growing over more than 4 feet tall. Grubb adds to this, stating that the original intention was to depict them as being "wilder than halflings, fearless, sometimes cruel as only children can be".

When kender appeared in the computer game Champions of Krynn, released in 1990, they were described as "ever mirthful" and "a diminutive and highly playful race that resembles Tolkien's hobbit".

Kender are described as not believing that there is anything morally wrong with handling others' items, although the habit may land them in considerable trouble with the owner of an object. In addition, they do not tend to pocket things like money, gems, and the like, as they are depicted as having little concept of monetary value.

As a side effect of these characteristics, kender can be difficult to play within the role-playing game, as their lack of interest in monetary gain is "a virtual anathema" to the manner in which characters of many other races are typically portrayed. It was recommended in The Mists of Krynn that kender be employed as non-player characters, with their kleptomania providing a convenient means for those running the game to introduce objects at critical times.

Taunting

In Dragonlance Adventures, kender are described as masters at the art of insulting people, using a wide repertoire of taunts, sarcasm, rudeness, and insults. This is made possible due to the shocking insights into an individual's character flaws that a kender can gain through his or her intense curiosity. Kender are also described in Dragonlance Adventures as using this ability to taunt creatures, causing them to become irrational and attack wildly or fall into some kind of trap. The Annotated Chronicles cites the Dragonlance Adventures, which states, "Most Kender are encountered during wanderlust, a particular phase in a kender's life that occurs for most kender during their early 20s. Wanderlust may happen for many years ... and is responsible for spreading kender communities across the continent of Ansalon." They age slowly, remaining childlike in comparison to other races even when their bodies slow down. Kender view death as the next great adventure, and do not linger long in sadness after the passing of a loved one.

Notable kender

Notable kender characters appearing in the Dragonlance novels include:

  • Tasslehoff Burrfoot, one of the series' primary characters and one of the Heroes of the Lance. Tasslehoff first appears in a short story in Dragon before appearing in the novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight.
  • Uncle Trapspringer, a legendary hero to whom every other kender claims he or she is related. He appears in Kendermore and Tales of Uncle Trapspringer.
  • Kronin Thistleknot, who defeated the white Dragonarmy Highlord Toede during the War of the Lance. Kronin is first mentioned in Dragons of Winter Night.
  • Earwig Lockpicker, Tasslehoff's cousin and a brief companion of Caramon and Raistlin. He appears in Brothers Majere.
  • Damaris Metwinger, Tasslehoff's onetime fiancée, is featured in Kendermore.
  • Sindri Suncatcher, the only known kender wizard, is featured in Dragonlance: The New Adventures.
  • Koi Fearbreaker, who desires to learn to be afraid, is featured in Dragonlance: The New Adventures.
  • Nightshade Pricklypear, a kender nightstalker and companion to the monk Rhys, is featured in Amber and Ashes.
  • Chestal Thicketsway, is featured in Dragonlance: The Gates of Thorbardin.
  • Emilo Haversack, is featured in Fistandantilus Reborn. He also appears in a crossover novel with Forgotten Realms, in which he aids the Forgotten Realms priest Joel of Finder in a quest, as told in the novel Tymora's Luck by Jeff Grubb and Kate Novak.
  • Gaeadrelle Goldring, a spacefaring kender is featured in the Spelljammer novel The Maelstrom's Eye by Roger E. Moore.
  • Razmous Pinchpocket, a seafaring kender is featured in the Age of Mortals novel Conundrum by Jeff Crook.
  • Raf Tanglemop, the first of the new heroes to die in the aftermath of the Chaos War is featured in The Dawning of a New Age by Jean Rabe.

References

Bibliography

  • The Kencyclopedia - Unofficial information and embellishments about kender prior to 3.5 rules.
  • Coleção Dragão Brasil