History of Man -- Book 1: Westrun Part 10

In 4204ey, barely 14 years after the War of the Half-goblin Kings, the Goblins were again rallied to the cause of sacking Westrun in the Great Goblin War. Under Bariq Broketooth, the goblins pushed the cavalrymen of Balduren behind their walls and made incursions in force beyond the Saar Mountains. Not since the retaking of Ald Morin one thousand years before had the people of Westrun known such fear. A combined army of the Earls of Westrun managed to push the Goblins back onto the Southwestern Plains, where they could only prey upon the people of Balduren.

To commemorate the victory over the Goblins, Simmon the Builder, High Priest of the Decadon commissioned the expansion of the Grand Temple in Peakshadow in 4211ey, a project intended to take ten years. From the start, the expansion project would be plagued by material shortfalls, weather delays and accidents. These setbacks would continue for the next 160 years. Many in Peakshadow claimed the Dwarves of Oromir were jealous of the grand edifice that mankind was creating and sabotaged the work. No evidence for this was ever found.

In 4224ey, animated with a religious fervor, the Goblin armies returned with the so-called Chanters' War. The goblins took for their standard a crude depiction of the Collosus at Talir, believing it to be the god of their people and a marker of their rightful home. The goblins believe that a certain war chant renders them all but invulnerable. 

Their forces drove hard to retake and resettle Edgewater Fortress, which once stood within view of the great statue. They had a prophecy which said if they could retake their ancestral home, it would never again be lost to them. Once again a combined army of the Westrun Earls repelled the goblins. This time an alliance with the Marksmarshall of Balduren saw the goblins driven back behind the Graymantle Hills far in the West.

In 4236ey Fergus the Lame, youngest son of Ferag, Lord of Sudhall stood to inherit his father's house. His older brothers having been slain in the Chanters War, Fergus set out from Sudhall to see the ratification of a new pact to join all of Westrun together. He began with only one nominal supporter -- Jarl Rigus of Wanderhalt who still owed fealty by five hundred year old oath and intermarried blood. Fergus promised Rigus (his distant cousin) that the latter would be released from his oath, if the pact cannot be ratified by five others within five years.

4238ey Fergus won an official finding from the Grand Temple of Heaven that Heimos is no longer ruling the Eight Kingdoms through his vassals, the twenty-five Earls. Therefore mankind had the right to recognize mortals as Kings once more. 

In 4240ey Fergus began the Wars of Ascension. These were a series of low-level conflicts and confrontations that eliminated minor tribes and smaller kingdoms across Westrun, while ratifying and providing legitimacy to larger ones. Rather than set himself up as a conqueror, he extracted oaths of loyalty from those he defeated. They were not loyal to him nor to his line, but to a five-part pact of mutual defense. 

Within 10 years the Eight Kingdoms Pact joined the kingdoms of the Boldish, Rathors, Menes and Saks to those of Talir and Treft. It also recognized the Jarl of Wanderhalt and the Marksmarshall of Balsrest as Kings of much wider expanses called Collonia and Balduren.

In 4266ey after nearly fifteen years of negotiation and disputation, Fergus was elected as the first High King of Westrun -- a largely titular office with only theoretical power.

4272ey saw the Edict of Artifice issued by the Priesthood of the Grand Temple of Westrun and this sent shockwaves into the newly formed Eight Kingdoms Pact as the men of Balduren and Collonia did not recognize the Grand Temple, nor its Decadon.

4286ey Fergon succeeded his father as High King of Westrun -- a title still spoken with something of a smile. 

Histories of the High Kings of All Westrun: I - Era of the Sudhall Kings

Era of the Sudhall Kings

4266 Fergus the First (Bolden) Fergus the Founder, Fergus the Lame

4286 Fergon of Bolden

4326 Fergus II of Bolden

4338 Wallace I of Menea

4348 Rig of Collonia

The Books of the Archflames of the Infernari vol. 3

• 4205 Qurnath was a scholar-mage who compiled the Codex Incendius, the earliest known collection of Infernari spells, later added to by his namesakes.
  
  
• 4233 Ziren Firehair was equally known for her brilliant red hair and fierce temper. Ziren led the Infernari during a period of skirmishes with the Frost Giants of the North.

• 4260 Atavas became a conservative figure who enforced the secrecy of the order. Under his rule, flame rites were restricted to proven initiates only and many Fire Mages perished in the Purge.
  
  
• In 4292 Baalruh the Possessed rose to the position of Archflame. Though the Infernari at that time had languished to a mere half dozen members, Baalruh opened the Emberclave - a college dedicated to the advancement of his art. By the end of his tenure in 4336, the school was the largest of any kind and reportedly had one hundred students.

Roll 005

3803    Odak

Then came Odak.

The Pact of the Eight Kingdoms of Westrun in the year 4266

In the name of all that is good and holy, be it made known to all who are now present, and to all who shall see or hear of this public instrument, that in the shadow of the ancient peak of Mount Oromir, in the presence of me, Firan the Dispassionate, their majesties' secretary and notary public and the undersigned witnesses, the Eight Princes here gathered, swore, by the blood of the children and their children's children and all their children after them, to bind themselves forever to the instrument foregoing in five parts.

1. Notwithstanding the realms of the fairy people and the various halfmen whose envoys are here gathered, the Land of Westrun shall be fixed forevermore as comprised of eight peoples: the Saks, the Boldish, the Menes, the Rathor, the Collors, the Talireans, the Treftans, and the Marchmen who follow Bal. Forevermore, that these eight peoples be ruled by eight reigning princes, each according to their laws and customs, and as have been found in the favor of their own gods.

2. That each Prince shall have the inviolable and hereditary right to rule his lands and be subject to none within his own borders, except his own conscience and his god.

3. That each Prince shall hold the borders of the others as sacred and inviolable, and shall keep the peace found here in perpetuity. If one of the Princes or his children afar off should violate the peace, then the other seven issue notice; and if peace be not restored within one moon, then the other seven shall ride to war against the violator until he be removed to his own borders and up to half of his wealth be taken in payment of the malefaction.

4. Further that there shall be appointed from among them, a Prince among princes, first among equals in the matter of disputes, and one with whom the other realms of the world might treat. The reign of this Prince among princes shall be decided in the congress of the sovereigns, and shall serve for a period of at least ten years; and his replacement shall not enjoy hereditary privilege to the throne, but be selected within one year of his death.

5. Moreover that the inhabitation of the Prince among princes shall be fixed here as the fortress in the shadow of the peak of Oromir. Notwithstanding its location near the lands of the Boldish and the Menes, it shall serve forever as a place of neutral assembly. Its walls shall be held as sacred and inviolable as the borders of the eight princes, and therefore subject to the same protections, save that in the case of violation the malefactor shall be deposed and his wealth be taken entire in payment.

Therefore, having seen and understood the said instrument and treaty, incorporated above, and every part and parcel of it, and being certain and assured of everything set forth therein, and desiring to observe and fulfill it, just as it stands, we commend, confirm, approve, ratify, and, so far as necessary, authorize anew and promise to observe, the said instrument and treaty to which we affix our signs and signatures.

The Fergus Codex: Law VIII -- Concerning Slavery and Labor

Vyrum Law
The Gnummorong must not be repeated. No captive may be bought or sold, no captive may ever work without compensation of silver. 

 Law of Fergus 4275

We desire that it be known that those of the goblin races cannot be considered captives, for captivity is a crime against humans and Besnir alone. 

 Law of Fergon 4301

We recognize that hereditary serfs are not slaves, but those who receive land produce and protection of their current lord in lieu of rents. In being serfs, they are kept from starvation and death. And as their state is tied to the land of their birth and cannot be transferred, they are not held by the lord, but by the land itself.

 Law of Wald 4422

We recognize that indentured servitude is a voluntary condition and not the same as slavery. It is a wise provision with which the destitute and dispossessed may use to work themselves from debt.

Law of Marten 4858

We desire that the freeborn be paid the minimum sum of 1 silver coin per week of labor and that no indentured servant be held in thrall longer than 7 harvests. 

 Law of Braolas 5193

In as much as it has fallen to me to set forth the ancient and recognized custom of apprenticeship in all trades; and desiring only to see that the good traditions that bind men continue; I hereby set forth the law and edict of apprenticeship to be observed by all peoples for all times evermore.

The Fergus Codex: Law VII -- Concerning Marriage

Vyrum Law

Only the prince may have more than one mate; and only the prince may have a mate who shares an ancestor within three generations. 

Law of Fergus 4275

We desire that the customs of marriage be preserved in each kingdom and held inviolable by the other kings and their faithful lords. Neither daughters nor wives shall be carried off, lest the offender be treated as evil. Yet a couple may enter elopement and after seven years be treated as if a valid contract were made.

Law of Fergon 4301

We desire that each woman enter marriage with the maiden fee paid to her father, and that a dower be drawn from that sum and entrusted to her, to maintain her in widowhood. To that dower the husband will add an annual stipend for seven years, and to it he shall also add again the maiden fee first paid for any infidelity.

Law of Fergus II 4328

We desire that each man who sires a bastard must see to the upkeep of mother and child or else be fined the tenth part of his income until the bastard reaches his 18th summer. 

Law of Wald 4422

We desire that each woman put away by her husband be given her dower whole, and the same sum again in silver for her maintenance. But that her children must not become bastards thereby, nor lose their right to inherit. But a woman put away on account of infidelity shall not be entitled to the sum.

Law of Marten 4858

We recognize that the contract of marriage may not be valid without the express consent of the intended husband and wife. No man may become a husband before his 18th harvest and no maiden before her 16th with a visible flowering evidenced by blood.

Law of Gelder 5011

A contract which promised a maiden, but which was not delivered as such, shall be considered without force.

The Fergus Codex: Law VI -- Concerning Property and Commerce

Vyrum Law 

The magnates must purchase the goods of the common with silver, and the common cannot be forced to sell that which they would not. 

 Law of Fergus 4275

We desire that each King should recognize the sale and receipts of each other king and the lawful ownership of their fields and herds. 

 Law of Wald 4422

We desire that no man be forced to sell or relinquish what he will not freely contract to do, unless it be in payment of a pre-existing debt. Neither his lands can be bought, nor his livestock taken, nor his daughters carried off without his permission. 

 Law of Damon 4449

We desire that widows and orphans be held harmless against final loss due to taxation.

The Fergus Codex: Law V -- Concerning Crimes Felonious and Petty

Vyrum Law

The crimes of treason and murder are abominable and shall be avenged by the Range in which they occurred. Kinslaying is an abomination which must be punished by the faction which suffers the loss. Save that for all offenses, hallowed ground may offer safe haven to all those who seek its protection. 

Law of Fergus 4275

We desire that the crime of harboring those who have committed treason or murder shall be punished in like manner as the abominable crimes. For sanctuary can only be found on hallowed ground by a Priest. 

Law of Fergon 4301

We declare that nothing shall prevent a lord from seeking his own justice, if he is the victim of any abominable crime, regardless of where the crime occurred. Moreover, the crimes of robbery and theft shall be be worthy of maiming on the second offense, and considered abominable only upon the third offense. Moreover, no one who has stolen only food or water shall be guilty of robbery or theft if they have passed at least three towns without receiving any by begging.

Law of Etru 4376

We desire that to the abominable crimes of treason, robbery, murder and theft are to now added the crimes of counterfeiting, forgery and arson upon the second offense. For all abominable crimes a debt of silver may also attach and ransom accepted in lieu of punishment.

Law of Wald 4422

We desire to clarify that crimes can only be committed abominably when exercised against someone of equal or greater station: 

• Treason is the taking of arms by vassal against his lord, or else plotting with others to do the same. 
• Robbery is the unjust taking of property by force of arms, but shall not include the lawful spoils of war. 
• Murder is the unwarranted taking of a man’s life by a person outside of his family, except under a flag of war. 
• Theft is the unjust taking of property by deception, subterfuge or cloak of darkness, 
• Counterfeiting is the attempt to pass some material thing as an item of higher value by concealing its true nature. 
• Forgery is the attempt to pass as legitimate, the illegitimate seal or signature of a lord or noble house. 
• Arson is the burning of property belonging to another, or endangering the property of others by uncontrolled burning. 

Law of Marten 4858
We desire that the protections of forgery be extended to duly chartered companies, orders and factions which are enrolled with either the Devout Order of Clerics Regular of the Penitent Knights of Poverty, or of any of the noble banking houses. 

Law of Gelder 5011
We desire that Treason also be defined so as to include murderous threats breathed against any King, and affirmation of the same either by word or silence. 

Law of Thelstan 5108

We decide that the following offenses may only be punished as petty crimes in accordance with local customs: 

• Any abominable crime committed against someone of lesser station. 
• Assault 
• Bastardy 
• Bigamy 
• Excessive Indebtedness 
• Disturbing the Peace 
• Drunkenness 
• Riotous assembly 
• Oath-breaking 
• Poaching 
• Rape 
• Slander 
• Slave-dealing 
• Tax avoidance 
• Trafficking stolen property 
• Vagrancy 
• Witchcraft 

Law of Halinard 5285

Because Bounty Hunting is a dangerous profession, but one that is necessary for the good order of all societies and the protection of nobility everywhere, we therefore, bind ourselves to the institution and protection of the articles instituted by the Bounty Hunters Guild.

The Fergus Codex: Law III -- Concerning Titles and Coat of Arms

 Vyrum Law
The Prince is the lord paramount and known by his title of property and by the coat of arms which he bears. These he shall have the right to pass to whomsoever of his faction can properly inherit them.

Law of Fergus 4275
We desire that Princes should pass their worldly titles and goods according to custom. That sons should inherit in the order of their birth, but if no sons be found, then the sons of the sons, in the order of their birth. But if neither sons nor sons of sons be found, then the sons of the son's sons.  If none be found in that line, then brothers of the Prince in the order of their birth, but if no brothers be found, then the nephews of the Prince in the order of their birth, then the uncle and male cousins and male distal cousins. Yet we will not prohibit the curious customs of Saklan, nor that of the Kings of Balduren, Treft and Talir, which shall be in force in their kingdoms.

Law of Wald 4422
We desire that men of noble bearing have the same protection of title and arms that are due the Kings of the realms. That those which are land lords and who have kept their domains current with respect to taxes will not be dispossessed of title, arms and lands upon the death of their leige.

Law of Damon 4449
We declare that in cases among kings, where no heir can be found, it shall fall to the High King to determine who shall ascend to their vacant throne.

Law of Marten 4858
We desire that men of gentle bearing have the same protection of title and arms that are due the noble men of the realms. That they are likewise unharmed as land lords over any estates they hold, upon the death of noble men. We find also that the Captain's privilege as understood by the Vicenary Ports is incorporated into these laws.

Law of Gelder 5011
We decide that in cases among noble men, where no heir can be found, it shall fall to the king of the realm to determine who shall inherit the vacant manor and titles.

The Fergus Codex: Law II -- Concerning Principalities

Vyrum Law
The Prince occupies the place of honor and has no rival to his authority. He acts to shelter and support, serving as both father and mother to the masses. As his children the masses must be loyal and filial. Should they cherish wickedness and have rebellious hearts, they will offend the order established by heaven itself. 

Law of Fergus 4275

We desire that the Prince of Peakshadow shall only be seen as the first among princes. As the first among equals, he is able to judge among them for any disputes he shall be invited to hear. 

Law of Fergon 4301
We declare that whenever matters are in dispute among princes that only one party to the dispute must request a hearing for the Prince of Peakshadow to hold court. 

Law of Wald 4422

We acknowledge that the masses have no champion greater than the Prince of Peakshadow, and their mistreatment shall be as an affront to his throne. 

Law of Damon  4449

We recognize that the right to rule proceeds from heaven and to those princes who bear that divine right, and whom we now name Kings. We now name the Prince of Peakshadow as the High King. Beneath us are other noble classes, owners of estate and means, who along with kings rule the masses, but only when invested by kings with the divine right to do so. 

Law of Marten 4858

We specify that precedence shall be given to Kings and then Princes and all manner of royalty which are descended from them as custom shall allow. Next in precedence are the noble classes which rule over duchies and counties and baronies who shall in no way be denied the right of their stations and names. 

Law of Gelder 5011

We declare that inasmuch as the Patriarch has given places of honor above what is common to members of his ignoble clergy, we also deem that by acts of valor and other greatness, Princes may likewise elevate certain men to this gentle station. Such men shall in no way be denied the right of their stations and names. 

Law of Thelstan 5108

We recognize that when men of noble station are not on hand to make knights of the valorous and great, that other knights shall not be forbidden from doing so, as they are often the only witnesses to such acts as are deserving, and that this is in keeping with the most ancient of customs. In any case, we declare that it shall fall to men of nobility to ratify that which is recognized on the fields of glory.

The Fergus Codex: Law I -- Concerning Religions

Vyrum Law

That which is sacred belongs to the Priests and not to the Princes, for the latter have no power in the matters of the former.

Law of Fergus 4275

We desire that all peoples shall be subject only to their own gods as befits each man according to his tribe and custom.

Law of Fergon 4301

We desire that all peoples who live under our benign reign shall live under the same religion that is taught by the Temple that the Priest Theokron gave to the Boldish and which it is well known that the Priest Damathius, a man of divine sanctity, has embraced. We believe that there is one faith, if many divinities; and many shrines kept forever by them as whole and incorrupt.

Law of Howerd 4388

We desire that the Edict of Artifice become the Supreme Law of the Land.

Law of Wald  4422

We desire that all those who live under our benign reign shall live under the faith  kept by the Grand Temple of Heaven and invested in accordance with discipline and doctrine. If a controversy concerning things of the gods should arise between laymen, or between laymen and nobles, or between nobles, it shall be treated of and terminated in the court of the High Priest. Likewise, that all vacancies in the priesthood shall be filled at the pleasure of the High Priest, of which the Princes shall have no recourse.

Law of Thelstan 5108

We order that all those who follow this law recognize the divine faith of the one true God -- the Church of Westrun. We further grant in perpetuity the nobility due its High Priest, the Patriarch, together with his holy orders, and to afford them the rights and privileges of their estate in all matters and before all men.

Law of Aleranus I the Pious 5130

We recognize that those who do not follow the divine faith be considered demented and insane. We order that they shall bear the infamy of heresy; but that nothing we do can hasten or forbid the Divine vengeance which they merit. We delight that they shall be punished hereafter by God himself in accordance with holy resentment. We have reserved the right, which we have acquired from the judgment of Heaven, to punish those who make converts to their false religions and who spread their heresies by the public expression of their insanity. Let no place be afforded to heretics for the conduct of their ceremonies, and let no occasion be offered for them to display the insanity of their obstinate minds. Let all persons know that if any privilege has been fraudulently obtained by persons of this kind, it will not be valid. Let all bodies of heretics be prevented from holding unlawful assemblies, and let the only and the greatest God be celebrated everywhere. 

The Tandis Lists: List XI

The Tandis Lists are the compiled lists of all of the Old Bears since the First Gathering of Rangers in 3278ey. They are kept by Tandis of Peakshadow -- a well-respected historian of the Fraternity.

In the 41st and 42nd century there was:

4148 Erolith the Hunter who prosecuted both the Great Goblin War of 4208 as well as the Chanter's War of 4224 against the Goblins of Westrun.

Battle Song of the Fell

The Urgamesh were a tribe who apparently worshipped the elemental powers of one they called Mother Earth, along with her sons, Wind and Fire. Their unnerving repetitious chant was heard by all at the Battle of the Black Princes in 3012ey. However, it was preserved as nothing more than a beat or cadence with nonsensical grunts by the Northruner skalds who were there. Those skalds passed it down in their oral histories -- mostly to bring color and fear to their audiences at the appropriate time.

Apparently the Urok had a greater audience than anyone suspected. The song was also adapted by several goblin hordes. In 4224ey, animated with a religious fervor, goblin armies returned with the so-called Chanters' War. They believed that the endless repetition of the chant rendered them all but invulnerable. 

Again at the Battle of Wanderhalt 5284ey, Northruners fought alongside of Westruners against goblins. Over a period of six days, this song was heard time and again. The skalds were dumbfounded to hear the same battle cadence they had preserved, and when it was over, had the lyrics translated. Learned Westrun sages gave them the true words and their meaning from the Fell Speech.

In practice, the first two verses are sung by lonely voices in their vast horde. Perhaps one in one hundred are singing, while the rest are quiet. The third verse is joined by all and at the conclusion of it, the horde surges forward attacking. The final chants are made until the battle is won or they are beaten off.

A Song of Urgamesh: a chant of Earth, Wind and Fire.

Behold the battle before us
Behold the mighty wind
Behold the raging fire
They will be with us bringing death
Returning ash and blood to earth

See how the gods will fight with us?
See how we win the spoils of kings?
Ride all the wind and fire
True warriors bring earth its due
Leave all the ash and blood behind us

We attack screaming like true heroes
We fight the foes who stand before us
Ride all the wind and fire
The gods go with us and are pleased
Feel their power of blade and brand

Ride all the wind and fire
Ride all the wind and fire
Ride all the wind and fire
Ride all the wind and fire

The Arcade

Peakshadow is sometimes called the Gift of the Dwarven Lord, and with good reason. Long before the metropolis expanded out to its fourth walls, there was only the innermost surround and, of course, the Sudhall Keep within. That keep and its surround, was a gift given to Feron the Seventh on the occasion of his investiture as Earl of Bolden. 

Using the craft known only to their kind, the Dwarves cut a notch in the face of the mountain's East slope. Upon this notch, they built Sudhall and its surround. But the discarded stone of their quarrying and excavation formed the Haliron -- a small hill and the second highest point on the plain. It was upon Haliron Hill that that the priests sought to raise their Grand Temple of Heaven.

The Grand Temple was built to face Sudhall, for in 4170ey High Priest Simmon believed it would remind a pompous earl (and the earl's young wife) to keep himself humble in the face of the god Heimos. But it is said that the architect of that structure had a critical shortage of humility himself. He had more vision than space with which to work. For that reason, the south cella of the Temple protruded off the back of the artificial hill and thus had to be supported by large quarried-stone arches. The builders did not have the skill of the Dwarves and it was only completed in 4371ey.

The space beneath the arches was called the arcade. It was a natural place for the priests and penitents to keep their sheep and goats -- animals destined for ritual slaughter. It also became the place to which the once-ridiculed priest, Gamasiel, was banished when he was expelled from his order for teaching the truth.

Gamasiel credited the Arcade for giving him his priestly formation. He spent a year with the sheep and goats and claimed that by observing and caring for them, he learned to teach men. For this reason, the place where the Church of Westrun now trains all of its priests is still called the Arcade -- though it is not in Peakshadow any longer.

While the original location is now little more than a forgotten slum that still exists in the Second Circle of Peakshadow, the name was given, in the centuries that followed, to the palatial house deeded to the Church of Westrun by the devout citizens of Watersedge of Talir. So while the Arcade boasts arches no longer, it is still known by that name. Every priest who wishes to become a Shepherd in the Church of Westrun, must attend the Arcade and there receive ordination.

The Edict of Artifice

In 4272ey the High Priests of the Ten Divines pronounced an injunction against the use of contraptions and artifice.

The High Priests determined that the Gods would punish those who sought to reduce their labor or improve their lot through the use of machinery. According to his edict, making any device which relied on more than three interlocking wheels or more three toothed gears was a matter of the gravest blasphemy, and punishable by death.

In cities and towns across the Eight Kingdoms, devices and inventions (along with those suspected of building them) were piled and burned as an offering to the gods. Not a few contraptionist guilds were disbanded and their members hunted down.

The Ingenium was one such guild specifically targeted. The largest and most successful of the contraptionists, it was made up almost entirely of gnomes who had slowly settled in an among the human Big Folk. After the Edict, they were persecuted terribly and turned into objects of hate and ridicule. Many of them were enslaved and became little more than beasts of burden. Others were taken as tutors by noble houses, but never again allowed to practice their crafts.

Despite the fact that the Edict itself was suppressed after the War of the Gods, the damage to modern society has been done. Most humans look askance at any sort of contraption and are often unduly superstitious about its function.

The Eight Kingdoms Pact

In 4266ey, the Lord of Sudhall, Fergus the First, finally unites 26 warring tribes and states into the single purpose of driving the Goblins onto the far reaches of Westrun. To those lords and people which agreed to lend him aid he promised land, spoils and recognition. From such spoils came the Kingdom of Balduren.




So was born the Eight Kingdoms, as enumerated: Collonia, Bolden, Menea, Talir, Saklan, Rath, Treft and Balduren.

A History of the Tribes of Man in Westrun

At the dawn of the 7th Age in the 30th Century, Westrun was home to two distinct subgroups of humans, the Nandi and the Tren. By the end of the 40th Century they had been joined by the Meni and the Fahr. Together these four people groups and their struggles create the Eight Kingdoms of Man in Westrun.

NANDI
The Nandi roamed from the Silverlodes Mountains to the Dagger Sea in tribes. Most of their names are lost to history. Those names that are still familiar -- such as the Nadi, Sahna, Numin, Shina, Anis, Duvi -- come to us as place names. Sak and Rath now give their names to whole kingdoms in the modern era. There are many, many more which have been lost to antiquity.

All of the Nandi were hunters and gatherers who made war with one another continuously. Tribes rose and fell, splintered and merged. Life among them was an ongoing struggle for survival against the unyielding land, the elements, and especially the elder races which still tarried from the previous ages. It was not until the common threat of the Goblinkind, that the Nandi were able to unite and eventually coalesce into states under the Eight Kingdom's Pact.

TREN
While the Nandi were roaming in hundreds of nomadic tribes, the Tren, were another race of so-called civilized men. Once held captive by the Dragon Prince of old, they were eventually entrusted with the matters of their captors and in due time inherited the entire Principality of Treft from its exiled ruler. Though they could not maintain the height of Treft's former glory, they were able to hold the walls of its capital city against those slavering Hordes who would rise against it.

After the Dragon Prince was exiled, the Tren lived under the rule of a long succession of their own unpopular monarchs. A rebellion saw to the death of their last king, Etru III, and the Nine Elders who remained banished the monarchy. In its place they created a system of government in which each property owning inhabitant would be permitted to cast votes in a general assembly. Thus the strange democratic government of that city/state was born. The date of that government's founding is commonly given as 3600EY.

MENI
The year 3413EY saw the settlement of the Meni in Westrun under the leadership of Tal the Just. The Meni were refugees from the principalities that lay across the Dagger Sea. A one hundred year long struggle between two of the more powerful city/states had come to its end with the total defeat of Lanaria. Thousands of Lanarians were slaughtered. Many more were evicted and forced to live as wanderers -- their fields were salted, their noble city destroyed. To this day, many Lanarians still wander the Provinces in caravans with a reputation not altogether wholesome. Others made their way East and South by ship.

Several hundreds of Lanarians heeded the call of Tal -- a lesser son of the old ruling house. Together they migrated across the Dagger Sea and settled on Westrun's shores. Once landfall was made they intermingled with the Nandi they encountered. Their descendants were less nomadic, preferring to settle up and down the coast before eventually spreading inland on the plains. The inland group of Meni founded the kingdom which still bears their name: Menea. Those who spread Southward along the coast eventually divinized Tal their founder. They grew from a monarchy into a theocracy.

FAHR
Many long decades after the settlement of the Nandi, in the year 3300EY the first of the Fahr from Northrun came down and founded Wanderhalt and began to settle on the Southern slopes of Mount Oromir. By 3400ey, Sudhall would be raised and this settlement would eventually grow to become Peakshadow. The Fahr of Sudhall and the Meni moving north from Menea intermingled and eventually give seed to Bolden. The people of Sudhall intermarry with the Nandi of the plains and in time came to see themselves as a different from the Fahr of Northrun. Under the Eight Kingdom's Pact, the massive Northrun holdings of the Jarls of Wanderhalt swear fealty to the Lord of Sudhall and become the Kingdom of Colonia.

The Many Gods of Southrun

The pious pagans of Southrun maintain that two brother gods, Amir and Bhamut, once ruled over Southrun. For six centuries the Brothers held sway over all the Land.

The day came when the Brothers became rivals. For they had a sister named Sekhat, who was greatly desired as a consort by each of them. And the two of them came to blows over which of them would be able to wed her. And the fury of their rivalry caused great tribes and nations to go to war. And it came to pass that Sekhat, who tried to preserve the peace of her brothers, was slain in their conflict. So each looked to the creatures of their domain for wives.

For his part Bhamut took many creatures of the animal world and had his offspring by them. These became beasts of great cunning and strange power. While Amir took mortal women and slew many of them with his seed. But some of his wives survived and produced many offspring for him. All of these offspring were immortal and extremely powerful -- gifted with many of the powers of their sires, but also given to all the failings and passions of their mothers.

Eventually, both Amir and Bhamut grew tired of war (some say they were slain by the machinations of the Dark Elves). They have left the temporal world in the hands of their volatile children and can be seldom bothered to pay attention to the affairs of Erenth, let alone interfere in them. 

The sheer number of their offspring means that every tribe and family has its own preferred god or goddess, with most of the rest being benignly neglected. While they will not sacrifice to the other deities, the Southruner is careful not to blaspheme or disparage them -- for he believes (under the Law Which Cannot Change) that any one who does so will suffer curses for seven generations.

The lists below are far from complete. These are the well-known offspring of the brother gods. In addition to a great number of siblings unrecorded, each of these demigods have further bred with other creatures and mortals, and with each other, giving rise to lesser and least categories of beings with divine blood.

The Lineage of Al Amir

• Djazzar -- The butcher is a particularly bloody and violent culler of life.
• Hadeeqah -- The gardener is known for his love of plant life and green areas.
• Bohairah -- The god of lakes and water. He is responsible for the rise of the oasis and all well-watered areas.
• Jabal -- The master of the mountains is considered to be the keeper of the borders between the Khard and the coastal Sultanates.
• A'lana -- This goddess is considered the messenger of the various gods.
• Naqaasha -- This goddess is capricious and given to strife, anger and conflict.
• Hajaam -- He is a warrior god given to attacking first and maintaining a good offense as the best defense.
• Haraqah -- The burning-one is the keeper and originator of fire.
• Raqasa -- Depicted as a young belly dancer, she is a goddess of fertility, allure and desire.
• Halama -- This goddess is the master of dreams, hope and vision. He is called the Dreamer.
• La'eba -- This god is depicted as a small, naked, and often dirty child. He is the god of merriment.
• Wa'ada -- This goddess is a matronly and wizened woman, austere and grim. She is invoked to bear witness to contracts and agreements.
• Abhara -- The patron of sailors and travelers across the sea.
• Kataba -- The patron of scholars and learned men, Kataba is faceless and usually depicted with ink-stained fingers.
• Rahabba -- The goddess of hospitality and the protector of travelers, pilgrims and nomads.

The Lineage of Al Bhamut

• Asad -- The Lion, god of war, power and savagery.
• Samak -- The Fish, god of contemplation, silence, sea voyagers and armorers.
• Qett -- The Cat, mother goddess and patron of defenders and of children, enemy to Af'aa. She is invoked as a surety for hospitality.
• Dob -- The Bear, god of wrathful vengeance and righteous anger.
• Hesaan -- The Horse, god of strength and nobility
• Af'aa -- The Snake is a being of unparalleled cunning, he is the god of liars and assassins.
• Ta'lab -- The Fox is a creature of great mischief, he is the patron of gamblers and actors.
• Gazal -- The Antelope is the patron of generals and the brave. He is the rival of Asad for the affections of Qett.
• Qerd -- The Monkey is often seen as another incarnation of La'eba and is the god of merriment and of debauchery.
• Kalb -- The Dog is the god of servants and soldiers. He is fiercely loyal and a protector of the weak.

The Fourth Book of Bao Dan: The Dawning of Jen Shu

Before the coming of the Way of Order, the People continued on the Wide Land as they had before the Sea of Grass had risen. Instead of following the Margon, though, they rode the horse and they took the horse to war. They strove continually against each other and for the supremacy of the Tribes which they made. For the Tribes took it in turns to lord over one another. They waxed and they waned with the might of their Warlords, but no Tribe's glory lasted longer than the life of their Warlords. One after another, mighty men of old rose up from the Sea of Grass and eventually diminished upon it. So many have risen and fallen, that no history knows their names.

It was into this Way of the Horse that Jen Shu was born in the year of the Ch' i lin. His father was said to be a Huang Spirit of Ti'en. This Spirit is presumed to have carried off Hana, the mother of Jen Shu, from the Gergs of her people and to the peaks of the Pillars of Heaven. For she was missing for the space of ten years. Now the father of Hana was a minor Warlord who lived the Way of the Horse. They traveled with the herds, near and on the rivers that flow past the Pillars and many other tribes avoided them for the sake of the Buso and the savage Kala and the cruel Oni that lived there.

In the Year of the Dragon, Hana returned to the Ordaru of her people, with a child in hand. She stopped by the Lake of the Clouds which is on the plain above the Wide Land and there surveyed all that she could see of Eastrun. This, she promised to Jen Shu, would be an inheritance to him. As far as his eye could see, and as far as his feet could carry him, would belong to him. Then, descending to the Gergs of her father's people she was welcomed home with her child, and died. So the Uncle of Jen Shu buried her near the Lake of the Clouds and put a Stela in that place to mark it and the young Jen Shu climbed it often before he became a man to visit the grave of his mother.

When he came of age, Jen Shu left the Ordaru and joined his Uncles Bataro and there he learned the Way of the Horse. He learned to hunt and to war from horseback. He learned with the horn bow and the lance and the sword. He excelled in it and brought pride to his tribe until his Uncle passed, slain by an Oni. Then his cousin was acclaimed to be Warlord of the tribe and Jen Shu served him as he had the Uncle until his cousin's death. Then his nephew was acclaimed to be Warlord of the tribe and Jen Shu served him as well, though there were none so able as Jen Shu in the Way of the Horse.

In all, Jen Shu served other men for the space of twenty-five years and the acclaim of his tribe was eventually that he should be Warlord of the tribe. It was fitting for he was the most accomplished and the survivor of many battles. He had outlived even younger men and it appeared to many that he was but a week past his youth in his visage.

Jen Shu brought the Ordaru and Bataro of the tribe to the Lake of the Clouds and there he had them survey all that his mother had shown him, from the foot of the Pillars to the distant bamboo forests of Chiro. "This will be my inheritance," he said. "I mean to take all that we see according to the Way of the Horse. This and all that is beyond, even to the Shores of the Great Eastern Sea. I will slay all who resist me, but those who assist me will find wealth and many rewards."

Then the night came and all the tribe slept in their Gergs on the shores of the lake and by morning, many had slipped away, thinking Jen Shu mad. To those who remained, however, Jen Shu offered membership in the Golden Tribe. The Bataro he abluted in the waters of the Lake of the Clouds, but the Ordaru he had swear and oath with one hand raised to Heaven and other upon the Stela of his mother. So from that day forth, all who entered the Golden Tribe did the same and were counted worthy of sharing his spoils and his fame.

Now a census was taken in that Year of the Monkey and when the Golden Tribe descended from Pillars they numbered only 22 warriors and 20 horses in the Bataro and 9 women and children in the Ordaru. As yet they had no heads which would become the banner of his tribe.