Continents are major landmasses on the worlds across the multiverse.
Background[]
Graham journeyed over continents laced with crystal caves, forbidden forests, bandit hideouts and treacherous seas filled with mystery to find his loved ones and save his castle.[1]
Daventry is the name of the continent in which the Kingdom of Daventry is part of (though this usually refers to the period of the world's history when the majority of Serenia had been divided into The North by Harlin the Malevolent).[2] But all maps also list combined continent as Daventry. At one point great walls were built throughout daventry to contain the Three-headed Dragon so it would not maraud the entire continent. These walls succeeded but they also magnified the damage done within the kingdom.[3] At the time Alexander crossed the sea, the pirates landed at the foot of a mountain range on the northern coast of what at the time was a small continent.[4]
Though at times the continent may also be known as Serenia (though the name is often used interchangeably with Daventry still). The continents name appears to differ based on the perspective of two major cultures on the continent. People influenced by Serenia are more likely to call the continent Serenia, while those living in or influenced Daventry are more apt to call it the continent of Daventry (this was especially true when majority of Serenia went missing under Harlin’s spells.)
Serenia can refer to three distinct places. The largest of these is the continent of Serenia, a vast land of towering mountains, deep forests, and endless deserts.[5] The continent is broken up into many kingdoms, with two of the most significant being the Kingdom of Daventry, and the Sovereignty of Serenia. WHile much of the world has not been explored (at the time KQ takes place in Earth history), it seems the combined continent of Serenia is the largest landmass there. While most maps list the continent as Daventry, written articles tend to use the term Serenia for the continent instead. Serenia, the continent, is divided into many kingdoms, most of them small and only a day or three's journey by foot in extent.[6] The continent itself takes its name from the Sovereignty of Serenia.[7]
To the south and east of the continent of Serenia, there is also the tropical land of Kolyma.[8] the geographers discovered that a magical law of "containment" operated in the western part of the continent.[9]
Strangely though, Kolyma and sometimes even Serenia/Daventry are described as islands. Perhaps they are micro-continents.
To the north and west of Daventry, across the western sea, lies the great continent of Tanalore. An eernal city of the same name is said to exist somewhere there, touching all the realities of creation; but none has ever found it--or returned after having done so. The great middle of this continent is covered deserts, swamps, and mountains taller and steeper than those of Daventry.[10]
Complete sets of maps are useful for adventures, to show a person where they are in relationship to all the other locations of the land. Maps can be especially helpful if an adventurer is lost in a maze-either underground, or in a desert, or drifting on the waves. They are invaluable too in the lands where the geography "wraps around" upon itself, and where explorers find themselves going from the northernmost edge of a continent to the southernmost in one short step.[11]
Continents[]
- Other
- The North (northern Serenia)
- Eastern continent
- The eastern continent is the location of many Faery woods.[12] The continent may be a reference to Serenia (sometimes referred to as the continent of Daventry), where Daventry is located. Though the continent of Kolyma is also directly south of Daventry and also lies in the east (and is home to fairies). There are other potential continents on the other side Of the world beyond the Unknown, and the Edge of the World, before it loops back to the west. There are also vague references to Europe, Africa and North America. The place Graham transports to on edge of the Enchanted Isles appears to be a small continent, there is also cold northern land near the Sea of Barnacles, a jungle land where lion and Tarzan lived, and land of the cowboys whose locations are unknown..
Behind the scenes[]
The term continent is not mentioned in the games or the manuals when discussing the lands. It term is briefly mentioned in the King's Quest Companion first and second edition: In which "Daventry" and "Serenia" are both described as being the names for a continent (or variations of said continent) where the Kingdom of Daventry and later Serenia is located. It does get used on the blurb on the back of the box of KQ5 for the NES.
While the companion certainly refers to Daventry, Serenia, and Tanalore as continents in the The World of Daventry article, the article only describes Kolyma as a land within Daventry, however Kolyma is referred to as a continent in the Romancing the Throne: From the Chronicles of Daventry, Part II novel chapter. Maps also indicate that its about as physically as large as Tanalore and Daventyr appears to list it as a continent . Though some sources do call it an island.
There is some confusion as some sources may also refer to these continents as 'islands', assuming they are much smaller than an actual continent. This may suggest that they are more accurately a micro-continent.
Serenia is apparently referred to as an island in The Official Book of King's Quest (2nd and 3rd volumes), or at least it implies that the hermit lives on an island off the coast of Serenia beyond the mountains, see The Coast. Kolyma is referred to as a tropical island in The Royal Family: A Celebration.
The novels also make a few references to the term continent in different contexts.