Kaensada Hills

Author: Kyria d'Oreyn

General

The Kaensada Hills are a region in Seanchan and home of many tribes that are still "only half civilized, and less than half tamed," even after three hundred years under the Empire. The tribes are always feuding against each other, as are individual families within them. Despite this, they know that a Seeker's word is law (CoT, Ch. 4; KoD, Glossary).

Each tribe has its own set of customs and taboos, the latter of which no one outside can understand. In Ajimbura's case, for example, eating lizards is forbidden (CoT, Ch. 4). They generally avoid the more civilized regions and residents of Seanchan (Glossary).

Tribesmen wear their hair in a thick braid that falls to their waist and drink from silver-mounted cups made from the top of a human skull. The braids are considered trophies that tribesmen gather from their fallen enemies (CoT, Ch. 4). Men without a braid are considered a disgrace in the eyes of their tribe (KoD, Ch. 34).

Dark brown eyes cannot be found in these "near-mountains" (KoD, Ch. 34).