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

In the days when Thorlin ruled Dynkyr alone, there was plenty and quiet within the Bastions.

The Primum of the Alds had been set aside, and in his place the power and glory of the Vyrum rested in the Senex, one hundred in number, who held sway across the face of Erenth. Their dominion they named the Republic, and it spread throughout the Four Lands bringing order and prosperity. The Cavaliers of the Vyrum were counted guardians of peace and justice, and few evils could withstand them.

Under the Senex, gold and silver once more flowed to the mints of Dynkyr. The Stoneborn were invited to strike coigns anew, and the sound of hammer upon die was heard again in the lower halls. What had once been a memory of wealth became present coin.

The Vyrum also sought our counsel in the laying and carving of stone. At Ald Ciula they had raised a great center of learning, and not a few of the Grandmaster masons and smiths of Dynkyr now sojourned there. Now their names were recorded with honor beyond the Deepwards. In those years the craft of the Stoneborn was esteemed in lands where once we had been regarded only as recluses of the mountain.

There was talk among some that the Deepwards might be abandoned and that the Stoneborn could once again dwell upon the surface as did other nations. Yet such voices were few. For Dynkyr had grown fair beyond measure. The sun-wells poured golden light into the depths, and the draftways carried air as cool and clean as any highland breeze. The Five Brothers were abundant. The halls rang not with alarm but with industry.

Few believed the world without to be greater than the world within.

The Deepwards had become at once museum and workshop, chronicle and cathedral. Every family could trace its lineage upon the stone, and the deeds of fathers were carved beside the names of sons. To walk the halls was to walk the memory of the Stoneborn themselves.

Thus prosperity returned, yet the mountain was not forsaken.

Thorlin was Regn for three and forty and two hundreds of years before he died, having ruled in years of peace and esteem. He was succeeded by Durek the Regn.

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

In the days when Kranig ruled Dynkyr alone, the Vyrum Alds became the greatest powers in all the world. For the strength of the Fairies had been broken, and in their place the Alds rose in might. The Primum and Alternum of those dominions grew wealthy beyond compare, and the tread of their armies was said to shake Erenth itself.

Kranig did not trust that even the Bastions of Dynkyr would stand secure against such strength.

So it was that when Larifon Emeratus was Primum of Ald Saloren, he rode at the head of a great host and came before the Curtain set between Mir Vath and Mir Nahr. His banners were many, and his ranks stood in ordered silence upon the plain. There he called for Kranig and demanded his obeisance, declaring that by just tribute the Stoneborn of Dynkyr would know safety and prosperity beneath the protection of his Ald.

Larifon was known to be as measured as he was powerful, and his word, once given, was seldom broken.

Kranig weighed the matter long within the Deepwards. At last he walked forth from the Bastions and passed through the gate in full sight of both hosts. Before the Curtain, and before his own people upon the ramparts, he bent the knee to the Primum of Ald Saloren.

Thus tribute was agreed, and peace secured.

Under Larifon’s protection Westrun knew long quiet, and Dynkyr did not suffer want in those years. Trade flowed freely. The Deepwards remained inviolate. No army laid siege to the Curtain.

Yet the Stoneborn did not look kindly upon the memory of that day. Though they did not want, they did not forget. In the Arvanaith the tale was recited without ornament, and the bending of the knee was counted as necessity, not honor.

Kranig the Kneeler was Regn for four and two hundreds of years before he died. He was succeeded by Thorlin the Regn.