History of Man -- Book I: Westrun Part 2

In the Spring of 3222ey, the Urok of the Saltmarsh began attacking both cities of men, as well as raiding the tribes of the Nandi. The Urok had long demanded tribute from the humans, who chaffed under this burden and finally declined to pay. Humans responded to the resulting raids with military force and the First Urok War was joined. It lasted for three years and ended in the Winter of 3225ey with the defeat and dispossession of Edgewater Fortress. Humanity declared victory and the Urok retreated to the Saar Mountains, finding grudging hospitality among the Dwarves of Dynkyr.

Peace would last six years before the coming of the Urok Warleader Hareg Greatjaw. He promised to restore the Saltmarsh to his people and rallied a great following. In 3231ey, finding common cause with Ogurf of Graymantle Hills, he led a series of daring raids to start the Second Urok War. Within two years his forces took possession of the Saltmarsh, Treft (renaming it Ald Morin) and lay seige to the City of Wood. 

Many words have already been written about the Fraternity. Justice to their entire story cannot be done here. Nevertheless, during the Second Urok War while they were still a small team of cattle thieves and saboteurs, they were called Rodalon's Rangers. This team assailed Greatjaw and his supply lines to such an extent that the Urok host were forced to quit the City of Wood. After that success the band of cutthroats and vandals added many recruits to their numbers and their operations greatly expanded, extending even to open warfare. By 3239ey the Rangers had dislodged the Urok from Ald Morin (renaming it Treft) and skirmishers harried them along their entire retreat to the southwestern plains. Hareg Greatjaw himself was slain.

Once expelled onto the plains, the Urok took hold of the long-abandoned Ald Saloren and ended their retreat. The Rangers, far from home and on unfamiliar ground, could not prevail against the massive walls of the abandoned metropolis. After a siege of two months, Rodalon's men returned to Treft and City of Wood and eventually disbanded.

Peace returned to Westrun for nearly a decade. Greatjaw was replaced by a string of lesser leaders until Oguron son of Ogurf became the Paramount of Ald Saloren. For seven years he gathered Warleaders from across the Four Lands and became general of a mighty host of Urok. The tribes of men in the Southwest were sorely pressed. The Aras, Du and Ren were pushed farther West, while the Bal were dispossessed entirely -- its refugees seeking refuge further East.

By that time the rising tension attracted the attention of the Besnir. Many debates were held on the wisdom of their interference. Centuries of war made them reluctant to join it again. So it was that the Hierophants of the Continuum made themselves known to the tribes of men. Called the "White Robes" they encouraged humankind to reconstitute their Rangers and offered them the gift of their naturia -- secret magic held closely from the days of the First Age.

Prepared with Hierophants naturia, the Rangers rose once more to safeguard the peace. Tensions steadily grew until 3248ey when the Urok and mankind once again went to war. Despite the new powers of the Rangers, the Third Urok War saw many early gains against the humans. This continued until the pillage of Dun Dynkyr, a miscalculation by Oguron, and a watershed in the war. Thereafter mankind was steadily reinforced by angry Dwarven militias until the Ranes of Oromir and Dynkyr were forced to send regular companies to assist. 

The Urok had their first great defeat at the Maple Vale and then again at Clandbur River. From there a long string of losses saw their retreat back to Ald Saloren. Even that refuge was denied them. The armies of man rooted out their foes after a successful siege aided by Dwarven sappers. All of the captive Urok were then force-marched on the Bitter Passage, with a son of each Warleader taken as ransom. The last day of that march, when men stood on the Graymantle Hills, was the first day of Spring 3259ey.

The next decade was a period of uneasy peace. The Rangers were a standing army without loyalty outside of their brotherhood. This worried many chieftains and princes among men who called upon the Grand Hierophant to negotiate for their disarmament. The Rangers complied reluctantly with calls for them to lay down their arms and become a reserve force, calling themselves the Fraternity.

For the last twenty-five years of the 32nd century, Larec Redfist became a dominant power in Westrun. As great chief of the Rathor Confederacy, he controlled the territory between the Brownbeck and Wody Rivers. This put a vast swath of land between the City of Wood and the City of Stone (Treft) under the control of the Rathor and meant tribute could be exacted from nearly all trade, back and forth.

The Cloafly of the Goblin Kingdoms

The cloafly is flying insect about two feet long with a membranous wingspan twice that length. It has six legs, the front two are hooked. Its face ends in a toothy proboscis. The cloafly is an endoparasitoid that can use the body of another living creature to produce a litter of offspring. The cloafly survives in warm arid environments that are not exposed to direct sunlight. It is active at night coincident with the full moon, making its activity cycle approximately three nights out of every twenty-eight. During that three night period, the cloafly will emerge from its host, find a victim, impregnate it and then die.

The offspring of the cloafly is a translucent sack of worms which will slowly mature in the body they inhabit. A laying female will put between fifteen and thirty offspring into their host. The female worms are genetic clones of the mother and will grow into adult cloaflies after about 28 days of feeding. The male offspring will be a hybrid of the host and the cloafly, but will favor the characteristics of the host body. It will take about three months for the males to emerge as adult humanoids.

The cloaworm must consume about two hundred times its body weight, or more, to reach maturity. This each worm will do, provided there is enough food material in supply. If not, the male worms will be consumed by the females. Therefore the worms are most often kept in refuse pits, where they are fed animal and plant matter by the shovel-full.

The male offspring that reach maturity are capable of reproduction with the species of the host in the usual way. Though they have a tendency to create sterility in the females of the host species after contact.

Holy Symbol of Raghazgrushvrog

On the Urok and their Foul Offspring

Goblin is an appellation somewhat misapplied by the good and civilized people of Erenth. Strictly speaking, the word only belongs to a specific species of humanoid foulness -- the diminutive flat-faced, broad-nosed monster with pointed ears, wide mouths and small, sharp fangs which seem to be as abundant in some areas as the bushy-tailed squirrel. More commonly that that, however, the word is applied to all creatures of the so-called goblinkind, including bugbears, bullywugs, flinds, gnolls, hobgoblins, jermlaine, kobolds, lizard men, mongrelmen, ogres, ogrillon, orcs, orog, troglodytes, trolls, urd, and hill giants. It is true that all of them in all their monstrous varieties are descended from the same common ancestors. They are all the foul offspring of an ancient and proud people. 

The Urok were once a race closely resembling humans. They were of the same average height, but were stockier (like Dwarves) and had pointed ears like Elves. They also had ridges on their brow which narrowed to the point just above the nose. They were strong and hearty, and some might say, born for war. 

The Urok were marked by laconic speech and austere lifestyles. Long after the other races had settled into cities, they eschewed them preferring nomadic lifestyles following game. Their strongest and brightest were marked for the warrior upper class. Those who were weak remained part of the servile underclass. 

It is said that at one time the Urok were the dominant race on the planet. If that is true it occurred long before the knowledge of anyone living. What is not in doubt is that the Urok were a contentious people who were prone to raiding and war throughout all of history.

By the time that the human civilization had dawned, learned scholars among the Urok had deduced that man's greatest strength was his birth rate. In league with dark forces, their scholars undertook a fertility program that came to be called the Dread Foulness. 

An evil mage named Niktalor, introduced an extra planar creature known as the cloafly to the so-called Goblin Kingdoms. This invasive species assured the fecundity of the Urok race, but also permanently changed its nature. Over time the actual Urok were outbred by the Dread Foulness and the goblin races rose in their place. Every successive generation of them is more inbred, more mutated and more ill-tempered than the previous.

Of the original Urok, none remain. There are adult male goblinoids and their grotesque wormy breeding pits. While some lairs seem to be rife with "children" and "females" those creatures are really just the runts of their litters. Scrawny and stunted, they are relegated to domestic and servile duties... and in times of want they become food. 

While there are no female goblins, the males are capable of reproduction in the usual way, but the only race with which they seem still capable of breeding are humans. This has given rise to half-orcs and half-ogres. Such half breeds can expect to live 40 years on average and are stronger than their fully human peers, but somewhat more difficult to look at.

The goblin descendants of the Urok do believe that they should rule the world. It is almost their sole animating principle. They believe that all the world was stolen from them and handed over to "the shorts." While the rule of the world has passed from race to race since then, it has never returned to them... its rightful heirs. Their civilization has no records. It relies instead on orally transmitted "tells" of dubious accuracy.

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 Great Urok Wars

In 3220ey the last of the Children of he whose name is not spoken, rose to conquer Erenth and waged bloody war on the other races for the next 39 years. They are eventually pushed back into the Accursed Place.

The Great Urok Wars are divided into three periods:

The 1st Urok War is generally agreed to have lasted from 3222 to 3228ey.

The 2nd Urok War is generally agreed to have lasted from 3231 to 3239ey.

The 3rd Urok War is generally agreed to have lasted from 3248 to 3259ey.

The Dread Foulness

In 3686ey the last of the Urok make an unholy alliance with Niktalor the Archmage. Under the auspices of the Dread Foulness, they begin to give themselves over to simple, savage propogation.  This dilutes the blood of the Urok and further poisons their souls. It also gives rise to the foulest of offspring, the many races of animal-like goblins -- who still hate the banishment of their forebears (the only history they care to remember) and vow eternal war on all the other races.

The Second Urok War and the Rangers of Old

by Tandis of Peakshadow

In the year 3231 the Urok chieftain known as Greatjaw stirred in the Accursed Place. He led a great Horde out from their lands and down upon the Southern Marches. The horsemen of the Marches could not contain him. Many tribes were swept aside as the Horde pressed deeper into the Plains. The fertile fields of Westrun were his aim and he left misery in his wake.

The Westruners could not withstand the Horde. They were scattered and their fields were sown in blood. The mounds of the Uroks were raised and thousands of people were carried off as slaves. But the other races were spared this fury, for Greatjaw's command was that the Elder Races should not be harmed. So the Horde did not broach the borders of Deepwood, Mistwood, Festog, Oromir or Dynkyr. Greatjaw knew that the kings of the Elder Races had retreated from the world of men. For the Kings felt that the humans ought to prove themselves worthy of the mantle they sought to carry.

In that day there were only two great cities -- one of wood and one of stone. For Rath and Peakshadow had not yet been built by the Dwarves as gifts to the younger race. Under Greatjaw the Urok lay seige to the city of wood, Menea and to the city of stone, Treft. Round about they cowed the settlements and tribes between them. So mankind languished and knew the dread of slavery under the yoke of the Urok. This time is called the Age of Darkness, because the younger race knew the terror that came by night. To this day, the night holds special terrors in the hearts of young and old alike.

But there were some among men who would not be cowed, nor would they be shut within the safety of their walls. These men became vengeance to the Urok. They formed companies which ranged out across the plains. They found shelter among the trees, and safety upon the hills, and security behind the rocks. These men were they which wreaked havoc upon the Horde and put many of them to the sword. These men were they which brought fear to Greatjaw's heart.

Finally the Lords Continuous came -- beings of great power born of the Elder Races, dressed in robes of white and possessed of great power. They took pity upon the plight of Westrun, and pity upon the plight of mankind. Though these Lords would not directly join battle, they sought the bravest and greatest among the men and taught them many secrets forgotten since the making of the world.

The men who were taught by the Lords Continuous became heroes among men. They were called the Nightstalkers by the Elder Races, and Rangers by their own kind. Among the Horde they became the Dustrkhunbagk or "badgers with two-swords". Though they were greatly outnumbered by the Horde, they could not be defeated, for they would not stand and fight in pitched battle. Rather they hunted the goblins and visited terror upon them, appearing as if from the grass and disappearing like the dew. Their fury fell with a hail of arrows and they closed with and destroyed their foes with singing steel in each hand.

For eight years the Rangers cut to and fro across the plains and left no sign of their passage, except for the grass stained with the blood of their enemies. Their successes brought more to their side. Scattered men and freed slaves forsook their families and tribes, binding themselves one to another as Rangers first. In time, their power grew and their numbers increased. So that finally the goblin chieftain was forced to retreat. Greatjaw and his minions fled from the plains and flew back across the Southern Marches to their Accursed Place. They were all the while harried and worried by trailing Nightstalkers. The official end of the Second Urok War was 3239, when a company of Rangers slew Greatjaw and placed his head upon a pike.

As the years passed, men raised more cities on the example of Treft, but the Rangers would not rejoin their tribes and families. For the lives of these Nightstalkers had been bound in blood and they preferred the company of their own brotherhood. Among themselves they shared the secret knowledge of the Lords Continuous. Their loyalty was to their fraternity, first and foremost. Regardless of their name and nation, they made their own orders of precedence and knew a freedom that came from the absence of station.

The Rangers strode across all the Four Lands, bringing Urok low wherever they could be found, and living as free men upon the spoils of their campaigns. But in time, the Lords and Kings which had been saved by these men grew suspicious. They feared the secret power that had been the gift of the Lords Continuous, they feared the binds of brotherhood that knew not national bounds. So important men everywhere opposed the Rangers at every turn. These men of wealth would not brook the Nightstalkers passage through, nor quartering upon, their lands.

So the companies were disbanded and the men kept to their own counsel and each returned by and by to the countries of their origin. The Rangers are little remembered now, though some calling themselves by that name still travel, thither and yon, trading on the name of those heroes of old.

On the Convention of Urkish Names

On the Convention of Urkish Names
a brief list by Tobor Walenrut, Sage of Treft and environs

The following list of words shows the word roots and their meanings that are most often used as names in the Urkish language. While it is true that the goblinoid races took many of their grammatical structures from the Fell Speech, the vocabulary is unique to their  races.

Ad         Curse

Agal Jagged

Agh         Spirit

Am         Beasts

Amba Slithering Beasts

Amg Insects And Creeping Beasts

Amn Two Legged Beasts

Amrd Flying Beasts

Amrr Four Legged Beasts

Amsh Swimming Beasts
Arak        Maker of

Azhak Offering

Bak         Ripped

Borg Swamp

Brahl Night

Brogg Sea

Brug Lake

Burg Desert

Burz Darkness

Chor Claw

Chos Bone

Dith     Scar

Drumz Music

Druul Witch

Dug         Day

Dum Trap

Duuk Death

Eg         Small, Short, Tiny

Fek         Broken

Gaash Wound

Garz Attack

Gath Littermate

Ghank Steal

Ghaz Gift

Ghruz Lust

Ghurn Totem

Glog Fur

Golug Slave, young

Gorth Strength

Gri         Sharp

Gro         Every, All

Grod Flame

Grol         Wind

Gru         Eye

Grum Eat

Grush Summon

Gtuk Possessions, Items, Things

Gul         Follower

Gum Food

Gurz Raider

Hnas Stab

Hoo Soft

Hrek Ear

Hruk Tribe

Huk         Herd

Iqa         Slave, breeder

Irk         Us

Isk         Group

Jajal Dripping

Jakjak Bent

Ka         Winnings, Plunder Treasure

Kal         Inside

Kalyes Viscera

Karag Overwhelming Victory

Kark Red

Karth Fang

Kich Animal Maw

Kragh War

Kraghnar Warrior

Krol Hooked

Krosh Slave, worker

Krul         Anger

Kum Home

Kurn Hunter

Kutt Blade, Knife

Lag         Long

Lid          Poisonous Plants

Lin         Edible Plants

Lip         Inedible Plants

Lug         Cave

Lugh Ghost

Lurg Greed

Mak Scar

Mar         Hide

Mauk Defeat

Min People

Mog Commander

Morg Sleep

Mugrak Druid

Mulk Black

Murg Go

Muuk Victory, Win, Success

Nagush King

Nub         Night

Nurz Hate

Olbg Large, Tall

Piz         Drink And Urine

Prk         Spear

Rag         Powerful, Large, Many

Rang Blood

Raug Shaman

Rog         Armor

Rokh Pig

Ruk         Forest

Rukmar Forest Hider, Sylvan Creatures

Rul         Mountain

Sek         Foul

Shar     Ash

Shat         Axe

Shirrt Others, Any Non-Elven Race

Skal         Clan

Skargh Shield

Skarn Rock

Skarzul Scout

Skaum Ice

Skor Banish

Skul         Want

Snuk Snout

Strk Sword
Sul           First or Primary

Tharn Hunger

Thorn Tree

Thrag River

Thrak Battle

ThrakmarHonor

Throgh To

Thrum Thunder

Thrungh Pain

Thrunz Rage,

Thug Chain

Thul Trophy

Thum Doom

Turuk Shaman

Tuun Tongue

Tzaal Kill

Ulf         Elf

Ulg         Wolf

Umsh Fight

Urthak Land

Uru         Fear

Uruz Demon

Uzg         World

Vark Hard

Vragh Chief

Vrog Magic

Vrok Joy

Wajk Flat Tooth

Yes         Warm

Zargh Opening

Zhak Grass

Zhakmar Grass Hider, Small Prey

Zugor Enemy

Zul         Elder

Zûr         Wizard

Anger         Krul

Animal Maw Kich 

Armor         Rog

Ash                 Shar

Attack         Garz

Axe                 Shat

Battle         Thrak

Beasts         Am 

Bent         Jakjak 

Black         Mulk 

Blade, Knife Kutt 

Blood         Rang

Bone         Chos 

Broken         Fek 

Cave         Lug

Chain         Thug

Chief         Vragh

Clan         Skal

Claw         Chor 

Commander Mog

Banish         Skor

Curse         Ad 

Darkness         Burz

Day                 Dug    

Death         Duuk 

Defeat         Mauk

Demon         Uruz

Desert         Burg

Doom         Thum

Drink & Urine Piz 

Dripping         Jajal 

Druid         Mugrak

Ear                 Hrek 

Eat                 Grum

Edible Plants Lin 

Elder         Zul

Elf                 Ulf 

Enemy         Zugor

Every, All Gro 

Eye                 Gru 

Fang         Karth 

Fear                 Uru

Fight         Umsh 
First                 Sul

Flame         Grod

Flat Tooth Wajk 

Flying Beasts Amrd 

Follower         Gul

Food         Gum

Forest         Ruk

Sylvan      Rukmar

Foul                 Sek 

Four legs     Amrr 

Fur                 Glog 

Ghost         Lugh

Gift                 Ghaz

Go                 Murg

Grass         Zhak

Small Prey Zhakmar

Greed         Lurg

Group         Isk

Hard         Vark 

Hate         Nurz

Herd         Huk

Hide         Mar

Home         Kum

Honor         Thrakmar

Hooked         Krol 

Hunger         Tharn

Hunter         Kurn

Ice                 Skaum

Inedible PlantsLip 

Insects             Amg 

Inside         Kal 

Jagged         Agal 

Joy                 Vrok

Kill                 Tzaal 

King         Nagush

Lake          Brug

Land         Urthak

Large, Tall Olbg 

Littermate Gath

Long         Lag 

Lust                 Ghruz
Maker              Arak

Magic         Vrog

Mountain Rul

Music         Drumz

Night         Brahl 

Night               Nub

Offering         Azhak

Opening         Zargh

Others             Shirrt 

Victory         Karag 

Pain                 Thrungh

People         Min 

Poison Plants Lid 

Possessions Gtuk 

Powerful  Rag 

Rage         Thrunz

Raider         Gurz

Red                 Kark 

Ripped         Bak 

River         Thrag

Rock         Skarn

Pig             Rokh

Wound             Dith 

Scar                 Mak 

Scout         Skarzul

Sea                 Brogg

Shaman         Raug

Sharp         Gri 

Shield         Skargh

Slave, young   Golug

Slave, worker  Krosh

Slave, breeder  Iqa 

Sleep         Morg

Slithering Amba 

Small, Short Eg 

Snout         Snuk 

Soft                 Hoo 

Spear         Prk 

Shaman         Turuk

Spirit         Agh

Stab                 Hnas 

Steal         Ghank 

Strength         Gorth

Summon         Grush

Swamp         Bor

Fish             Amsh 

Sword         Strk 

Thunder         Thrum

To                 Throgh

Tongue         Tuun 

Totem         Ghurn

Trap                 Dum

Tree                 Thorn

Tribe         Hruk

Trophy         Thul

Two Legged Amn 

Us                 Irk 

Victory, Win Muuk 

Viscera         Kalyes 

Want         Skul

War                 Kragh

Warm         Yes 

Warrior         Kraghnar

Win, Plunder Ka 

Wind         Grol

Witch         Druul

Wizard         Zûr

Wolf         Ulg

World         Uzg

Wound         Gaash