The Gnummoren Epic Part I

as set forth in the Caver Enscriptions 
and translated by Proval Gemglitter

The Great Unknown and the Making of Grimgoren the Engineer

Before the world as we know it was fashioned, there existed only the Unknown and his several servants. The greatest of all these servants was Grimgoren the Engineer. So skilled was he in the making of great things that the other servants sought him out for the advice he might offer. It was Grimgoren who first made fire and water, air and earth. Each of these things is held together by straps and buckles which are hidden from the eye and so the genius of Grimgoren is plain for their invisibility. Some have said that even the Great Unknown asked Grimgoren how things might best be made, and so with his consult was Erenth established.

Now, eventually, the superiority of Grimgoren was acknowledged by all, and the Great Unknown begged him to fashion a people unique and supreme for the task of ruling all Erenth. So Grimgoren obliged and his Children were called the Lod. They were a small people and lacking in strength, but were the cleverest of all which had been made. They came with the finery of their character and they in all ways emulated Grimgoren with their craft. So it was that their Hearths were constructed and filled with great beauty.

There were others then, too. All were large and strong, but slow of mind. The Gonom who were servants of the Unknown had long ago come into Erenth to dwell. But these were then joined by the Farmers of Old which are called Hobbits; the Laborers which are called Dwarves; the Hunters which are now called Elves, and the other two peoples who have long passed -- called Wurem and Urmen. All of these peoples had their own natures to delight in, but often tried to be more than they were and this was their folly. Chief among these fools were the Urmen, against whose eventual treachery and evil the First of Wars was fought.

The Vale of Plenty
At that time, the Lod and the large races lived together in the Vale of Plenty. It was a green place and comfortable for all. Located in the center of Erenth, it was ringed about with a giant wall which kept back the power of the seas. For the Vale had been scooped out by the tools of the Great Unknown himself.

The First of Wars and the Coming of Wrath

The First of Wars was long and bitter and the Children of Grimgoren were introduced to violent death because of it. Other peoples perished, as well. The wickedness of the Urmen was like a great threshing wheel turning and many were crushed by it. When peace could not be found, the Great Unknown was filled with wrath for the Urmen and especially for their violence against the Lod. So he sent judgement to the Vale of Plenty.

In his wrath more servants of the Unknown came from their distant hearth and strode to and fro among the peoples. They were called Furies in those days, for their footsteps were thunderous with anger and their gaze was like lightning. They had great weapons which they asked the Lod to design. These, their mauls, smote the backs and shut the jaws of those who withstood them. Especially the Urmen. Under the Furies, peace dawned at last and the Urmen were sent to exile. For many centuries they did not return, and to many it seemed as if they had finally learned their own nature.