Herein you will find a number of questions posed by fans to members of Illumination or to people from stories or tales. Peruse the answers and you’ll find all manner of issues discussed and cleared up. If you have your own question, write to us at illumination@caradorian.com. We'll either answer you directly or post the question and answer here!
Where did you get all your ideas for Carador?
All over. Our original idea was to create a fantasy realm which was believable. We have read too many stories where people dropped dead after being hit with a single arrow, and where the world was always in a life-or-death balance between good and evil. We wanted a world where the people were alive, where you could easily believe that this ‘imaginary’ place could be real. Where dragons existed, but they weren’t an everyday sight. Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Mists of Avalon was an inspiration, as was Jennifer Roberson’s Lady of the Forest. Here, fantasy and reality became indistinguishably intermingled. But these were set in our world, and we wanted a world where we wouldn’t be limited by the constraints of history. So Carador was born, where past, present, and future could be explored while still holding the flavour of historical fantasy.
I haven’t found any other fantasy worlds with such personal detail. How did you get it to be so real?
Mostly long walks and talks. We didn’t leave any subject alone. We’d talk about the psychology of certain classes of people, we’d talk about waste disposal, we’d talk about dragons and history and how, exactly, magic works. Our idea was that if we were intimately familiar with Carador, we could write stories without having to concentrate on making up the settings as we went along. We already knew many of the shoppes in various cities, the people who ran them, the moods of the seas, and the nature of different ecosystems all over the world. We could concentrate on the people in our tales, which, we feel, is where the heart of a story lies. The website has a lot of information, but that’s not all we know about Carador, by any means. There’s vastly more knowledge stored in our heads and in our filing cabinets, waiting to be translated from paper to the site.
Most of all, though, Carador is real because we try to stay out of its development. It really seems to be growing by itself. When we write a story, it almost writes itself; when we try to resolve an apparent paradox in the world, we don’t change the world to suit our theories, but leave it pure and try to make our theories fit it. If we can’t figure something out, there’s a mystery there.
Why don’t Caradorians use a simple dating system like we have – their years aren’t numbered, and that can be really confusing.
The Historical Markers can, indeed, be confusing, especially at first glance. They remain the established system for a number of reasons. First of all, most Caradorians are more concerned with their everyday life than with history – the need to reference specific dates of long ago isn’t very great. So the dating system evolved in the hands of scholars, who found the Marker system a great aid to memory – in order to learn the dating system, you must also learn history, unlike linear systems where anyone can name any date without knowing what happened during that time. A Caradorian, to name a date, must name a historical event. Secondly, as the system was created by the Royal Guild of Historians in Masalla (who still are the authorities on the world’s history), and the Guild was at first a divided entity with numerous factions, a beginning date for a linear historical dating system would have been difficult to agree upon. What should be the ‘first’ year? The Marker system did not show favoritism to a single year, and still gave them plenty to argue about, since an agreement had to be made each year on the most significant historical events that transpired.
Can I use Carador as a setting for my Dungeons and Dragons campaign?
Absolutely! If you choose not to use the Carador RPG system, you can substitute any other system and use Carador as a setting. The advantage of using the Carador system is that you can write to us at any time to clear up role-playing questions.
I can't find stats for many of the major cities. Is this information on the site?
Carador is a Living World. To keep the realistic feel of Carador, we've refrained from utilizing 'encyclopedic' entries that deliver raw statistics. First of all, such statistics would be changing constantly, since populations certainly don't remain stable, and even things such as exports change dramatically from year to year, depending on supply and demand, new products, and shifts of political power. Because the Known Lands are going through a Renaissance right now, such shifts are more rapid than ever. Consider Gwynned, which will see most of its initial growth in the coming year. Thousands of people will be changing their places of residence from other provinces, and the entire Caradorian economy will be affected by Gwynned's new markets.
To describe cities, we've written individual treatises. After reading about a city, you'll have a deeply personal feel for what it's like, instead of just statistics and a short description. Although this is an endless process (new cities will be created faster than we can write treatises on them), we've chosen to give personal detail instead of generic outlines. If you are interested in a specific city, feel free to write and ask us for a treatise on it -- you'll probably see one within two passages!
Can I contribute writings to the site?
Although some worlds utilize teams of creators, we've decided to keep it to the two of us and our single artist. Carador's internal consistency is due to this fact. So at this time, at least, we're not accepting writing contributions. We do, however, take suggestions, as well as requests for specific treatises. In addition, if you're role-playing in Carador, your characters can directly affect the world. Tell us about your adventures, and you might find yourself in the Oracle. Things reported in the Oracle can affect the entire course of history!
I'm used to hack-and-slash, so I was sort of amazed to find a role-playing system where I can have a girlfriend! Still, the Oracle's often talking about fashions and famous people -- stuff I'm not into.
We've had a lot of people comment on Carador's diversity. If you're a role-player, you can experience the intrigue of the courts, the life of a peasant, or the more standard type adventuring. Although people love civilization (which is why you often read about it in the Oracle), almost all of Carador's land masses are unexplored. If you browse through the treatises list, you'll find that high adventure and dangerous mysteries lie just beyond (and often within) city walls.
I can't get enough of this role-playing system! My character began as a noble girl, has been a pirate, an outlaw, a diplomat, and a twylah. It's like real life!
Most people who play the system report similar experiences -- they tend to have long-term characters who they get to know very deeply. Like real life, you're free to change what you do with yourself. While other systems restrict you to a class or certain lifeway, in Carador you're a 'real person', and we've been amazed at some of the letters we've received describing people's characters. The depth of personality and emotion that goes into them makes many of them works of art!