Leorus Argens

Before he was exiled and before the ruin of the Vyrum Republic, Leorus was considered the perfect embodiment of the Cavalier ideal. He eschewed the struggles at the end of the 6th Age and became an itinerant swordsman for hire well into the rise of the kings of men. 

He was tall even for a Vyrum, and possessed of uncanny balance which allowed him to recover almost effortlessly from lunges that many contemporaries would find unwise. 

His duel against Prince Caladros on the Steps of Ald Veyr remains mandatory study in several surviving fencing traditions. Chroniclers claim that Leorus had struck Caladros four times before the prince realized he had even been wounded. His final stroke, an act of mercy to a dying man, left his blade buried to its hilt in the prince's abdomen. As Leorus' lunge had carried him past his opponent, he turned to catch the stouter man as he swooned, so he would not fall ungracefully to the ground in front of his bride and courtiers.

Leorus is consistently ranked in the top ten swordsmen of all time. 

Elathir Valorun

Elathir Valorun, also known as Valorun the Dancer, was not nobly born, but earned more renown than  dozens of kings born since his time. He was said to have fought in over 100 disputes of honor, and never once struck at an opponent before being attacked himself. An elf of the 6th Age, Elathir was no mere tourney swordsman. He ultimately gave his life at the Battle of the Dry Rift, but not before slaying many who opposed his lord. 

Before the great war of that age, his reputation had already earned him several powerful rivals, almost all of whom spoke in terms of respect, if not admiration. However, he also suffered the enmity of dishonorable men, including the White Prince of Wosonia who hired assassins to end his life at Darrow Hall. He is said to have faced the three of them of them at once, and after giving them many opportunities to depart in peace, dispatched them from oldest to youngest, and without spilling his wine goblet. 

The instructional tome which bears his name, "The Form of Valorun" was written by his apprentice, Talethir, who carried his sword out from the Dry Rift and wrote his treatise just into the dawn of the 7th Age. According to the Form, Valorun espoused a narrow stance, economy of movement and timing over strength. From him, comes the maxim, "He wins who strikes fast slowly."

Among modern swordsmen, Elathir is considered to be a grandmaster and in the top ten of those who have ever held a blade. Several schools bear his name, but few if any can claim direct lineage to the elf or his students.

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

In the days when Gorhald ruled Dynkyr alone, the Old Ones rose from the deep and made war upon all Erenth.

They came from rifts long sealed and waters long undisturbed. Their forms were not wholly known, nor their speech understood, but their intent was plain: the dominion of the younger peoples was to be broken and cast aside.

It was Gorhald who answered the call of the Vyrum and marched to war against those ancient powers. Twenty and one hundred companies of spears and hammerhands he commanded, and they stood firm against a fury that did not tire and a malice that remembered ages before stone was shaped by craft.

When the struggle deepened and the hosts of Erenth faltered, Gorhald sent word across the Four Lands and called for the return of the gifts of Mithril once given in peace. What had been ornament and honor was gathered again into his hands. These he caused to be melted and reforged into axe-blades, sword-edges, spearheads, and arrow-tips. The Fairy-witches of the Terani laid enchantments upon them, and the majk of their craft bound keen edge to ancient bane. Thus were wrought weapons that could wound those which common steel could not slay.

Long and terrible was that war. The last battle at Dry Rift became a grave for many nations. Upon Gorhald’s right and left the rulers of the Besnir fell, and the banners of their peoples were trampled into ash and salt. Yet the Stoneborn did not break.

When at last the Old Ones were cast down and their rising quelled, it was Gorhald who remained standing among the ruin of princes.

And it was there, upon the broken edge of the Dry Rift, that he found Enya of the Terani, a Witch of great renown. She had lost he who had stood beside her in battle and was filled with despair. At war’s end she would have cast herself into the waves rather than endure the silence that follows glory. But Gorhald bore her up and forbade it, speaking not of triumph but of endurance.

Thus was peace purchased, not by pride, but by the refusal to yield to ending.

Gorhald lived for seventy years as Regn after the Battle of the Dry Rift. In those years he watched the Vyrum Republic change in temper and in governance. The Senex gave way to factions, and old forms were recast in ways that troubled many among the Besnir. He saw the rise of new orders and the profaning of old rites. When the War of Four Nations broke upon Erenth, Gorhald closed Dynkyr once more and waited upon the justice of the Ere All rather than cast his people into another ruin.

He lived to see the Vyrum cast down and the dim years that followed.

Gorhald was Regn for five and ninety and one hundred years before he died, beloved among many nations. He was mourned by Dwarves and Besnir alike, and at his passing a feast was held in Dynkyr to which rulers of many peoples came. It was the last time any who were not Stoneborn entered those halls in fellowship.

He was succeeded by Fyveld the Regn.