The World of Barend

Sovereign Nation

(Mostly because no one else wanted it.)

Barend could be described as a quaint, out-of-the-way kingdom with cozy cottages and impressive antique architecture. But that’s only if the person describing it was being paid by a travel agency really intent on going bankrupt after a class action lawsuit over misleading advertising.

What Barend really is has to be considered closely. To the people who live there, eeking out an existence, or trodding upon the eekers to create a much more fabulous existence, Barend is home. And home, no matter how horrid, holds a certain place in a person’s heart. Many of the citizens of Barend are fiercely loyal to it. Many of the citizens of Barend have never been anywhere else and cannot even read.

Barend has a king, a queen, various nobles, a religious organization, a sort-of military, a merchant class and a peasant class. Pretty much any type of humanoid and creature you can think of lives there. It is a popular place for exiles.

The world at large has little to do with Barend anymore. Occasionally, a wayward pigeon flies in with a cryptic note or a baby in a basket floats down the river to the castle doorstep, but, other than that, it is pretty much cut off. Inter-species breeding has done some interesting things. Inbreeding has done some interesting things, but they usually get drowned before they cause too much trouble.

It’s not all bad though. The citizens of Barend still dream, still hope, still fall in love and still experience joy. The fools.