GameLore Wiki
Advertisement

This article is about A race of humanoids from Zendikar. For other uses, see Kor (disambiguation).

The kor are a race of nomadic humanoids that have light blue or pale white skin. Male kor have chin barbels (sensory organs that look like short, catfish-like tendrils).

One group of Kor dwelled on Rath, where they, alongside the human Dal and Vec, had to choose between evading the ruthless evincar or allying with him. Two groups of Kor include the noble en-Kor and the sneakier il-Kor. The kor are native residents of Zendikar, and Zendikar may well be the origin world of Dominaria's kor.

The kor follow a nomadic lifestyle, chasing the winds across Zendikar, hunting the mikunga - a leathery, vicious species of flying eel that soars on the Roil-churned air currents. Hunting the windrider eel is tricky business for people who don't themselves fly, but the kor have a secret advantage. They believe deeply in the importance of connection: connection between the individual and community, between the spirit and the unknown, between the self and the land, and between hunter and prey. The kor rely on their gear to extend this idea of connection into the physical realm; they use lines, ropes, and hooks to literally connect themselves to their surroundings. As any skyfisher knows, a good line isn't just a symbol of a spiritual bond, but the perfect thing to snare an enemy or to hook a two-ton flying eel behind the gills.

This reliance on gear fits hand-in-glove with the kor's nomadic nature. They travel light, taking with them only what they need, so they need their equipment to be tough, well-designed, and multipurpose. From their kitesails to their quickly-struck canvas tents to their trusty grappling hooks, kor gear sets the standard for explorers' essentials. Kor weaponry and equipment is very distinctive and highly practical. Kor won't carry a sword when a climbing tool can serve just as effectively as a weapon.

The kor live a spare and nomadic existence. They travel mercilessly light, carrying with them only the essentials, valuing the portability of individual skill and strength of character over more "static" virtues. "We were not meant to put down roots," they say. "The heart is a moving organ." Despite their constant motion, the kor revere locations in a deep sense. They travel in small bands along one of several pilgrimage routes, visiting dozens of sacred sites across Zendikar. Each pilgrimage circuit takes decades, and many are lost to Zendikar's dangers along the way.

The kor are masters of ropes and hooks, using them to travel and to hunt, and incorporating them into their spirituality. They rarely use unreliable devices such as crossbows to propel their grappling hooks onto cliff faces or into flying game, relying instead on simple, sturdy rope and the skill of the arm. A hooked line is also a social and sacred symbol for the kor, representing their connection to each other and to the world around them.

The kor are known for their gear-savvy; for them, practical preparedness is a spiritual duty. Their entire culture is founded on the principles of interconnectedness and nomadism, symbolized and enabled by their reliance on hooks, ropes, and lines. Kor arms and armor tend to be rather lighter than human warriors', a requirement of their eternally traveling nature, but almost no kor is found without his or her trusty hook. The grappling hook is the perfect blend of weapon and tool, an ally of rope and iron in a world where it can be hard to find those of flesh and blood.

Every kor family on Zendikar elects a child, typically the second-born, to abandon to the wilderness as a sacrifice to pacify the natural forces of Zendikar. Some of the abandoned children, called world-gifts, die quickly, but many of them manage to survive long enough to new lives outside the kor nomadic families. A world-gift kor typically adopts the language and customs of the culture with whom he or she matures. Tragically, most never feel at home among the "static" races; driven by wanderlust, many world-gift kor end up venturing back out into the wilds at some point in their lives, but are never welcomed back into kor society.

The kor of Zendikar worship a small, simple pantheon of deities, each one based on an aspect of nature. Kamsa, the goddess of the wind, called "the breath of the world," fills the kitesails of the kor and fills the skies with game such as windrider eels. Mangeni, god of the sea, "blood of the world," fills the canyons and streams with pure, rushing water, but also punishes the stagnation of misguided builders who attempt to set down overly permanent roots in one place. Talib, the god of the earth, "body of the world," crushes the unworthy in rockslides and gravity wells but also provides herbs and fungi to forage along the kor pilgrimage routes.

The kor are nomads not because they despise locations, but because they revere too many to stay in any one place. They travel in small bands along one of several pilgrimage routes, visiting dozens of sacred sites across Zendikar. Each pilgrimage circuit takes decades, and many are lost along the way to Zendikar's dangers.

The Kor forsake roots for the winding of the path; forsake voices for the silence of the mind; forsake all else for the poverty of isolation. -Nomads en-Kor

The kor of Zendikar are known for quiet determination in the face of overwhelming odds.


Armament Master, Knight of Cliffhaven, Kor Aeronaut, Kor Cartographer, Kor Duelist, Kor Firewalker, Kor Hookmaster, Kor Outfitter, Kor Sanctifiers, Kor Skyfisher, Kor Spiritdancer, Stoneforge Mystic

Advertisement