Stories from the Golden Age Blog

In the story, Destiny's Drum, the action takes place on the island of Kamling, nestled in the Banda Sea.

Digging deeper, one finds a rather interesting history to the islands in the Banda Sea, also known as the Spice Islands. These islands are quite famous for their production of spices. In fact, Christopher Columbus was actually searching for the Spice Islands when he discovered America.

Prior to 1500, no European had ever set foot on the Banda Islands, although Asian traders had been aware of them at least 1500 years earlier.

The most valuable commodities traded on the islands were (and still are) nutmeg and cloves, which were in such high demand at the time that the Banda Islands became the most valuable fragments of land in the world.

At different times in their histories, the islands were claimed by the Portugese, the Dutch, and the English, now resting in Indonesian hands. To this day, the primary exports of the Banda Islands are spices.