Kandar Keep

Kandar Keep - Named after the drink that was developed in the region, this keep was built both to protect Atgnam Pass, and as a local place to produce the drink that the keep is named after.

Originally endemic to the region, the kandalar leaves were found to make a refreshing tea, while the fruit (when strained of its inedible rindy flesh) made a tantalizing juice. An enterprising explorer decided to experiment with mixing the two drinks, and called it kandar tea.

Founder:
Founded: 4,790 ER
Main Production:
Main Garrison:

Kandalar Tree

Originally endemic to the entire continent, the advent of the Dragon Wars led to the downfall of this mighty tree, relegating it to a small forest at the Northern end of the Atgnam Pass. When originally found by the colonists of the kingdom, the trees were harvested for their exceptional wood. It was only when it was noted that horses ate the leaves and fruit that people decided to test both, finding their medicinal properties. Both the leaves and the fruit can be eaten, though it was the distillation process of turning them both into drinks that unlocked their true potential, particularly the fruit, as though very fibrous and unpalatable to most, animals seem to like them.
Their seeds inside the fruit are too large for any remaining native creatures to consume and excrete, but now that the trees are planted for their medicinal properties, they are being spread by culture rather than creatures..
Though the quality of self-harvested leaves and fruit are still effective in their uses, only the specific extraction processes, which are closely guarded secrets of the Lords/Ladies of Kandar Keep, produces the fine drinks that people love.
The processes produce fine powders that dissolve in water, and it is these products that are highly sought after, despite the tree being cultivated and grown across the continent once more.
The fruit is akin in size to an avocado, with the seed a similar size in the center, but without intervention (as its seed disperses died out / were eaten), it would have eventually gone extinct itself. It is speculated that something like a large sloth was what ate the fruit of both this and the avocado tree, and disbursed it across the lands, but it is also speculated that these large herbivores were some of the first creatures to die out due to predation by Dragons.

Kandalar Tea

Made from the leaves of the kandalar tree. The medicinal relaxant quality of the tree makes it desirable as a drink to calm the nerves, and is used to aid sleep.

Kandalar Juice

The pulped juice of the tree makes a very good stimulant drink. It is used to help people stay awake, and to give sharpness, or clarity to thought and mind.

Kandar Tea

Not to be confused with the original Kandalar Tea, this hot liquid is akin to hot chocolate in taste, and texture, but with a guarana tang and lift to it that revitalizes the mind and strengthens the body.  It is made with a combination of the leaves and the fruit of the Kandalar Tree. The leaves provide their signature relaxant quality, while the fruit provide a stimulant. Why these seemingly opposite qualities work together, no one can figure out.