The Tables of the Histories of the Stoneborn of Dynkyr - Table XX

In the days when Fyveld ruled Dynkyr alone, the Humans were freed from the restraints of the Vyrum and began to make themselves heard in all the open places of Erenth. No longer bound to the strictures of imperial order, they gathered into tribes and banners, raising their own lords and laws.

Then the Hierophant Vetran spoke from Dovaris and declared that the Seventh Age had begun.

This pronouncement stirred great controversy among the Stoneborn and the Regns of the Seven Duns. No agreement could be reached in council. For until the Edict of Vetran, many had believed that the time of our people would rise once more—that the glory of Dynkyr and the strength of the Deepwards would yet set the measure for all Erenth.

But if a new Age had begun, then it was not named for us.

Thus the Seven Duns withdrew from one another. Councils grew infrequent, and envoys returned unanswered. Each Dun followed the counsel of its own Regn and looked first to its own walls. The fellowship of the Stoneborn endured in name, but not in common purpose.

In those same years Dun Duergar made war upon the Fairies, and the conflict spread until Festog, Oromir, and Balnolmar were drawn into strife. Fyveld kept Dynkyr from that war and would not commit his spears to quarrels that did not threaten his own halls. When at last an armistice was made, he set his name upon it and pledged to renew the peace in due time.

More than Stoneborn or Fairy, it was the Urok who were most angered by the pronouncement of Vetran. For they were an older race, ill-used by time and happenstance, and they took the naming of a new Age as an affront. When the Urok marched against the young race, they came with rage and vengeance, and the Humans were sorely pressed.

Thus it was Fyveld who granted them gifts of Mithril long kept since the Wars of the Deep, that their blades might stand against the rising might of their foes. For the Urok, once roused to anger, were the match of any among the Besnir—save that they knew not immortality, having lost it in the First Age by the pronouncement of Baere.

Yet the gifts did not take root as they once had.

For Humans live but a short span before death claims them, and what one learns is often forgotten by the next. Their kingdoms shift as swiftly as their seasons, and their memory does not endure in stone as ours does.

Fyveld was Regn for thirty and two hundreds of years before he died. He was succeeded by Keldor the Regn.

Mane

Mane is a titan, the son of the Aenirede the son of Uler and Tera.

He is said to have dominion over felines, and the ability to change into a giant form of any cat. When he transforms, he is instantly cured of all wounds, poisons, and diseases. Unlike his contemporaries, Mane does not wield a maul, but an enchanted cudgel made of Ironwood, which he calls "Clawbreaker." 

It carries an enchantment that allows it to extend or compress in length to match the size required. When swung, it strikes with a weight capable of smashing stone or scattering armies, yet it carries a subtle grace that mirrors the quiet precision of a stalking panther.

Mane also wears an enchanted girdle, which becomes telltale collar when he takes the form of a cat. The girdle was a gift of the Grand Druid Vetran and is allegedly the source of his shapeshifting power.

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.

Roll 003

3010    Vetran

Then came Vetran.

The Rolls of the Lords Continuous