Binders and the Concord

The shard a Shardling was born from is its bindstone. A binder carries the stone and calls the Shardling out of it. A bond cannot be forced. Academies sell registered stones, and a stone found by chance is called a wild bond.

The Concord of Binders runs the sport. A match is fought on two platforms joined by four bridges. Each binder has a ward, a shield of light. A Shardling fights only what stands on the same bridge. If the far end is empty, it runs across and strikes the opposing ward. That is exactly how the card game works: four lanes, and a lane without a defender leads to the ward.

The season runs from the thaw to the Shardmoon Festival at midwinter. It starts in the local Isle Leagues. The best binders go on to the regional Reaches and finally to the Moonfall Crown, sixteen binders in the Moonfall Arena on Highmere during festival week.

In the card game the ranks follow the same idea: from Wood through Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond up to Moonbinder.