In the heights of the eastern mountains lives a small, vulpine race known as the Kumi. How long they've been there is unknown. Before the Sky Wars, no one traveled to the peaks, but when the Storm King came, he saw the Kumi's tiny villages dotting the range, and convinced them that he could help them, in exchange for their cunning in his battle plans. The Kumi helped him, and he made one of their villages - Cadence* - his central hideaway. It grew exponentially, until the majority of the Kumi lived there.
Then, one contingent of Kumi found it necessary to visit one of the Storm King's prison camps. They wished to learn about the other races in order to better predict their actions. What they found horrified them: slavery, torture, starvation. They brought their report back to their kin, but they brought back more, as well. Smuggled from the prison by the Kumi, one orc filled them in on what had happened since the Storm king's arrival, and the Kumi switched sides almost immediately. As cunning and manipulative as they were, they did these things from fun, not for gain, and the Storm King's actions horrified them. It was the Kumi that mapped out the plans leading up to the Tempest, and their plan worked like clockwork.
Now, thirty years after, many still view the Kumi with distrust, but they are working hard to make their place alongside the other races. Cadence is a center of learning, a combination monastery-university-research and development center - the first of it's kind in the Covenant lands.
* /kā' · dĕns/
Then, one contingent of Kumi found it necessary to visit one of the Storm King's prison camps. They wished to learn about the other races in order to better predict their actions. What they found horrified them: slavery, torture, starvation. They brought their report back to their kin, but they brought back more, as well. Smuggled from the prison by the Kumi, one orc filled them in on what had happened since the Storm king's arrival, and the Kumi switched sides almost immediately. As cunning and manipulative as they were, they did these things from fun, not for gain, and the Storm King's actions horrified them. It was the Kumi that mapped out the plans leading up to the Tempest, and their plan worked like clockwork.
Now, thirty years after, many still view the Kumi with distrust, but they are working hard to make their place alongside the other races. Cadence is a center of learning, a combination monastery-university-research and development center - the first of it's kind in the Covenant lands.
* /kā' · dĕns/