scholarship of erenth
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table XVII
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table XVI
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table XV
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table XIV
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table XIII
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table XII
And Haren was Regn for four, forty and three hundreds of years before he died. He was succeeded by Urlem the Regn
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table XI
In the days when Uloin ruled Dynkyr alone, the Dwenir learned the bitterness of natural death. Before that time our fathers lived until war or labor took them, but they did not perish of age or infirmity. After the Peace of Sinowar, this was no longer so. Long years passed without battle, and life, unharried, came at last to an appointed end.
In those days the Dwenir and the Besnir drew apart.
The Peace of Sinowar brought greater order among the Duns, but those who were not Stoneborn were set ever farther from the counsels of the Dwenir. The market at the gate of Dynkyr remained open, yet gone were the days when the Besnir might seek refuge behind the curtain; and gone also were the days when the Dwenir would have permitted it.
The years of war had taught our people the measure of privation. We learned that metal, no matter how precious nor how deeply piled, cannot sustain the body. From our kin of Neblodi we learned the doctrine of the five brothers: palefish, sweet root, skinwings, vampa and threadgrass. For the Stoneborn were resolved that they would never again lack for stores, even should their mints fail them utterly.
In that time the Deepwards became bastions.
No longer did our forebears build where the inevitabilities and temptations of war might reach. Instead they filled the mines and shafts once cut for gold and silver with halls, dwellings, and store-vaults set far beyond the grasp of siege or flame. By means of sun-wells and draftways, light and breath were brought downward, and life itself was drawn into the deep. Thus Dynkyr was turned inward, and the heart of the mountain became the shelter of our people.
More and more we left the plains and drew away, seeking places where strife could not readily follow. Yet upon the surface there were those who were not content to see us depart. The Terani, whom some call fairy, had grown in power during the years when the Regns withdrew, and they misread our silence as intent. Silk-clad lords came into our lands, demanding obeisance and seeking to compel our attendance at their courts, as though the Stoneborn were vassals to be summoned.
And from their inexhaustable pride a seed of bitterness was planted in our hearts. That bitterness endured long beyond the death of Uloin, who was the first Regn among us to taste natural death. After nine, eighty and two hundreds of years, his passing was mourned. Not as the fall of a warrior, was he mourned, but as the setting of a sun.
He was succeeded upon the throne by Haren the Regn.
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table X
When Munn was slain after five years at Golin's Ridge he was succeeded by Uloin the Regn and a time of peace dawned.
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table IX
In the days when Therol ruled Dynkyr alone, the relationships between the Duns grew uneasy. For though they were founded by the sons of Clangeddin, only Fesig remained from that first generation.
Dun Usega was cut off from the others by the vast Ice Reach. Dun Ur had neither sent nor received word since before the time of Clangeddin and the victory over Yrsog Firemane. Dun Balnolmar sat near the top of the world, eschewing the prosperity of coigns and thus remaining apart. While Festog, Oromir, and Dynkyr spoke to each other as kin, they came to plot against one another in the manner of those who fear want.
In those days the coigns of Dynkyr were of true gold, silver, and copper, and none could say otherwise. They bore their full weight, rang true upon the stone, and were trusted by all who took them. Yet it was not the coin that failed the Dwenir, but the manner in which it was held.
For prosperity had grown so great that every Dwenir lived as once only a Regn had lived, and each was determined to leave his mark upon Erenth. Great works were commissioned not for need, but for remembrance. Roads were laid where none were required, halls raised where no people dwelt, and habitations multiplied beyond their purpose. Stone was shaped faster than it could be filled with life.
The forges were busy, the roads secure, the Kerak well kept, and coigns flowed freely. Wages rose, and with them expectation. What had once been counted carefully was now spent readily, and what had once been saved was now displayed.
Grain, timber, and fresh water did not answer to gold. When wagons failed or seasons turned, no weight of coin could summon what the land had not given. Thus so many coigns were set in motion that the metals lost their voice. Merchants no longer measured worth by what coins could buy, but by the measure of labor and goods alone. Prices climbed not because coin was false, but because it was everywhere. What could be had by all was prized by none.
In time, the Besnir would not accept the coigns of the Dwenir for payment, and in time all the peoples of Erenth had weapons to spare. For there had been a great peace in the Four Lands since the defeat of the giants, and the Dwenir had nothing to offer that others might seek.
When the want could no longer be hidden, and when the coigns no longer quieted hunger, the name of Therol began to be spoken without honor in the halls of Dynkyr. The Regn did not deny the failure of his rule. He called upon his magnates, seeking remedy through oath and decree, but no word he spoke could restore restraint where it had been forgotten. The counting houses defied the forges, the Kerak answered only to their own stores, and the people no longer believed that the throne could measure their need.
Thus, after not quite five and seventy years, Therol laid aside his crown. When word of this reached the other Duns, the effect was swift and bitter. The Regns of Festog and Oromir saw in Therol’s fall not warning, but inevitability. Each in turn was pressed by their own magnates, accused not of cruelty or treason, but of insufficiency. For the age demanded answers that no single crown could give.
Therol was succeeded by Egaron the Regn.
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr -- Table VIII
In the days when Dugmar ruled Dynkyr alone, the world was at peace, and among all the Regns he was held in the greatest esteem. His counsel was sought even above that of Fesig, who in Dun Balnolmar was the eldest among them.
Our people still lived on the surface at that time, but they did not sow nor reap, for the smiths of our settlements made tools and weapons which were highly demanded by the Besnir who were willing to trade grains and fruits for them.
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table VII
In the days when Clangeddin ruled Dynkyr alone, he sent scouts into every land to espy his enemy. And when the storjarl was at last found, Clangeddin rose up and went forth to meet Yrsog Firemane and all his throng, as they lay encamped near the Oxbow of Sakar.
The Lament of Clangeddin
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table VI
When Clangeddin had sallied forth from Dun Dynkyr he sought the storjarl of the giants in vain, for Yrsog Firemane was not where the prophet Caros had foretold. But rather than returning home, he marched next at Oromir and then to Balnolmar to defeat the enemies of his sons. And when their battles were ended, he returned home at the head of a great host and found Dun Dynkyr in ruin and the Deepward of Mir Vath a tomb of women and children. Only the curtain wall remained intact for it was knit of finest craftsmanship and blessed by Baere herself.
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table V
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table IV
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table III
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table II
When the Dwenir had escaped the deluge of the cataclysm, they came to the Four Lands. Among those who came to Westrun was Duma. He was a great warrior, brave and accomplished, and greatly esteemed among our people. He made a refuge and named it Baldardin, and it withstood many attempts by the giants to unmake it.
Now the brother of Duma was Bathor. After many battles he desired not to remain behind the walls of Baldardin, for he said that it was a place of death, cursed ever to be. He named Baldardin Dun Ur and spoke a prophecy that was known in all generations thereafter. “This is the hearth of blackness,” said he, “and the dead alone shall own it.”
So Duma bid his brother to leave, but would not join him, for he ever believed that Baldardin was one battle from victory. Yet he prevailed upon Bathor to take the women and children with him. Then Bathor took such warriors as would come, and also the women and children, and together they left that place. They came upon a rich sea of green grass that had no end in sight.
Among those he took was Mya, the wife of his brother Clan, for she was comely, and it was believed that Clan had not survived the deluge. For her part, Mya also desired to depart Dun Ur, but she would not consent to become the wife of Bathor—not even after many days.
She said, “If my husband is dead, then I shall marry not again. For I have borne him seven sons and shall never bear another.”
But Bathor would not relent and said to her, “Look now, my scouts have found mountains to the North. Let us go and see if they possess the ore necessary to raise a Dun. Over such a Dun, I swear by my life, that I will make you a queen.”
But Mya replied, “This place we have found is safe and fertile for now. From here we can see enemies from afar off. We shall remain. If it seems right to you, you may go and make a place for us. Then, if it be sweeter than these fields of green, we shall accompany you there. As for becoming your wife, it shall not come to pass.”
So Bathor left able warriors to defend the women and children, and he went into the mountains that lay to the North. There he encountered giants and was engaged in many battles. In time he founded Dun Festog, for the winds of that place blew without ceasing. Against the giants he erected a wall, and behind it raised a great fortress that rivaled any that had been raised before.
When word came to the Dwenir who remained with Mya that Bathor had encountered giants, they grew fearful, for the plain was not as safe as it had first seemed. So the women and children, and the warriors who remained with them, continued into the East until they came to the Saar Mountains. These overlook the great sea that had once been the Valley of Summer. In the midst of them was a cleft through which the waters could be seen, and the Sun danced upon the waves and made glad the hearts of all who beheld it.
The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table I
The Mountain that Does Not Move
To the Last Coin
"To the Last Coin" was painted by the Vyrum artist Duris in the Sixth Age. It is a famous work of art considered near priceless.
Its subject and style have been imitated many times over and the value of its reproductions is based on how true they are to the original.
Salt, Oil and the Widow's Cup
"Salt, Oil and the Widow's Cup" was painted by the Vyrum artist Duris in the Sixth Age. It is a famous work of art considered near priceless.
Apples at the Dawn Watch
"Apples at the Dawn Watch" was painted by the Vyrum artist Alorin in the Sixth Age.
The original is in the Library of Lyosha in Peakshadow, behind glass.
Of Bread and Bronze
"Of Bread and Bronze" was painted by the Vyrum artist Alorin in the Sixth Age.
Worthy Vyrion
Dancing Woman of Fah Tawaj
"Dancing Woman of Fah Tawaj" was painted by Soran Haber and is a famous work of art.