The Lament of Ulugar

I am Ulugar Bannahr, Twenty-first Regn of Dynkyr. This is my lamentation.

The outer siege was brief. By some wicked craft, the goblins learned our Watchwords through their Vile Congress. We heard them chanting and calling into flames in the eye of night. They had broken themselves against the curtain wall, but with our Watchwords they ascended Mir Vath and poured into the outer halls. Thus the siege was ended above, and began below.

Three years have passed since then, measured not only by seasons in the upper vents but by the emptying of rationed stores and the thinning of voices. We counted grain. We counted water. We counted the living. Now there is nothing left to count.

I sent messengers. I sent them to the kings of men, for we had raised their cities and shaped their stone, and I believed memory would answer debt. I believe now that none of my messengers came through. Either they were taken upon the plains, or they were received and not believed. It matters no longer.

We have tunneled our escape from the Deepwards and today I ordered the last of my people out. It's only a matter of time before they find our escape route under their noses.

I do not name it exile. I do not name it flight. I name it life.

Relief is not coming. Our numbers are too few. The stores are spent. I sent my beloved Stoneborn out onto the plains, into the cruelty of chance. Some wept. Some would not go. I had them carried if they would not walk.

Now I sit the throne alone. I have recorded my name on the tables of our people.

This seat was not made for comfort. It was made for weight. I feel it now upon my bones. Around me are the broken seals of chambers that held for centuries. I hear the goblins hammering at the barred doors, their iron is crude but their hate is tireless. Each barrier falls in its turn. Each sound draws nearer.

I am not afraid of captivity, but I will not endure it.

Before me lies the silver blade of Clan, first husband of Mya, whose grief founded this place and whose steel has not dimmed. I took it from the vault myself. It is well-balanced. It remembers its purpose.

I think of the wall, still standing. I think of the Valkauna, unseen. I think of the Lady Mya and how desperate she must have been. I have no counselor to blame. No Caros deceives me. I commanded those who walked out into the light.

Dynkyr does not fall today. It empties.

They are breaking the last door.

I rise from the throne.

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

In the days when Haren ruled Dynkyr alone, he was the second of his name, for his twice-great grandsire was thus named and well remembered among our people. As Regn he bore that memory carefully, and from his youth he was mindful that a name may be inherited, but honor must be earned anew. He strove to do nothing that would imperil the renown of his forebear, nor stain the line from which he came.

Therefore our people were strengthened by his wisdom and led by his steadiness into long prosperity and health. He did not seek conquest, nor did he provoke the Besnir with boast or threat. Rather he turned his hand to ordering the Deepwards in the heart of the mountain. Under Haren, abundance did not lead to excess.

The bastions of Dynkyr became a shining testament to the craft of the greatest smiths and masons among the Stoneborn. No hall was raised without purpose; no pillar carved without intent. In the heart of the mountain he caused to be built the Arvanaith, which bore his name. It was not a fortress, nor a mint, nor a council chamber, but a hall of song and remembrance. There the songs of our yearning were heard and the chronicles of our people were recited without ceasing through every year and season. Hammers rang in measured cadence upon anvils set into the floor, so that craft and memory were joined. Thus it is rightly said that in Dynkyr the halls rang with the sound of hammers and hearts alike.

Haren was Regn for four, forty, and three hundreds of years before he died, having tasted both the old age of peace and the sorrow of natural passing. His death was marked by mourning in the Arvanaith for seven years, and his name was entered into the stones without reproach.

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

After the days when Therol ruled Dynkyr alone, the crowns of the Dwenir passed swiftly, and none who bore them were long at peace. The rule that followed was harsh and brief, for authority no longer rested easily upon any single head.

Egaron succeeded Therol and was Regn for seven years. Harhold followed him and held the crown for three. After him came Munn, who ruled for but a single year before the Dunic Wars were kindled. Munn was a cruel Regn and unforgiving. His tongue was sharp and his temper short, and it was said that he oft remembered slights that none knew had been made.

In those days the decrees of the Dwenir grew pointed, and punishment was favored where counsel had once prevailed. Each Regn sought to impose restraint by force, and in doing so hastened the loss of what little trust yet remained.

Then it was said among the Besnir that the Dwenir could no longer bear a crown—not because they were faithless, nor because they lacked wisdom, but because they had grown too many in will and too equal in wealth to suffer one voice above the rest.

From that saying the Dunic Wars took their first breath.

Oromir, Festog, and Dynkyr rose against one another, and for five long years their battles raged, until Sinovor the Hierophant was able to negotiate a peace. But the peace was troubled, and trust between the Duns did not recover.

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.

Thus the Dwenir continued to prosper, and the coigns of Dun Dynkyr became the standard of trade among all the Besnir. The mints of our people stamped without ceasing until the gold beneath Saar was exhausted, and only vast and empty caverns remained where the veins had once run.

Deep among the roots of the mountains the Durur—called by many the Underdark—was discovered, and the Gunvirega Rivers that watered those depths were explored along their courses. Dugmar hoped thereby to find a passage to Dun Usega, and so to reach the Dwenir of Mith, son of Clangeddin, who had remained beyond the Ice Reach when his father crossed the world in search of Mya.

Dun Usega was not found, but distant hearths were discovered. Following those deep courses, Neblodi was reached, a realm inhabited by Stonekin of the old world, who knew nothing of Westrun nor of the Four Lands. Emissaries were exchanged and gifts given between our peoples, and Dynkyr gained access to new gold in return for the gems the Dwenir had found in great abundance while hollowing the depths beneath Saar.

Dugmar was Regn for nine and three hundred years. In that time he expanded Dun Dynkyr across the hills and plains, founding a chain of Kerak to stretch along the peninsula, and the great road by which our people traveled between them. He died in a landslide at Kerak Thar, and his monument stands there to this day. He was succeeded by Therol the Regn.

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.

There were three hundred giants in that throng, and within their camp were the hounds of hell, a gift from the fell powers they worshipped, and from the god who dwelt in their midst, Karon. Clangeddin commanded four companies of spear and hammerhand, and he was joined by two companies from Festog and Oromir, led by his own sons. To these were added three companies of Terani archers and a company of Vyrum cavalry.

By such might the throng was destroyed.

Yrsog was not spared. His head was taken and cast into the hot springs where he had sought shelter, so that the flesh was stripped from bone. His body was burned upon the field of his defeat, and the ashes were scattered upon the waters of the Oxbow, never again to trouble the worlds of Dwenir or Besnir. The hounds of hell were likewise slain, though many fled into the mountains, and their baying was heard in the valleys for long years thereafter.

No sign was found of their evil god. Karon had no form that could be seen, though he was known to inhabit the bodies of others, as he had once inhabited Caros, the foul prophet. Against him Clangeddin swore his vengeance, though that oath went unfulfilled, even upon his deathbed.

Then all the Besnir rejoiced, but the Dwenir were heavy of heart. For though Baere had made her promise concerning their wives and daughters, the manner of its fulfillment was yet unknown to them. For this reason the Besnir called the Dwenir dour and taciturn, given to hard labor and caring little for mirth—though their fondness for strong drink was both misunderstood and, in time, appreciated.

With the enemies of all Besnir slain, the Dwenir ruled fairly and prosperously, once again sharing their tools with all people, and trading in the coigns which they minted. Clangeddin was Regn of Dynkyr for eight score years, and he died as he had lived, axe in hand. Thus Dugmar became the second Regn of the Stoneborn.

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.

And it seemed to Clangeddin that the wall was a silent witness of grief, a testament enduring long after the lives it protected were expired. So he cried out in the pain and wrath of his loss and cursed the wall and cursed Baere whose blessing had kept it.

Then she who was imprecated appeared and beheld all that was lost and saw the sorrow that lay upon the Dwenir, for none of their women remained and their race imperiled. And so she did not come with wrath for the words which Clangeddin spoke, but with pity.

Then Clangeddin sank before her and lifted his eyes saying, "If the grace of this wall had been with our wives and daughters, they would yet live. Fire and frost take this wall and cast it asunder, for it now has no purpose beneath heaven."

So moved with pity was she, that Baere removed her blessing upon the wall, and spread it instead upon the spirits of those which imbibed the poison of Caros, saying, "No more shall the Dwenir fear the depredations of their enemy. Their wives and daughters shall return to them, but from this day forth, no eye shall behold them, nor shall any hand be raised against them. Within their Deepwards they shall remain and at their head shall be Mya the Everlasting."

Then were raised the Valkauna of our people, and the spirit-wives of our worthy folk. And this is a great mystery which the Besnir understand not, neither do we speak of it. It is the blessing of Baere and the salvation of our race.

And the spirit-wives shall ever give themselves to those Dwenir who prove worthy, and they shall rear their children in the realm beyond sight. Sons shall appear among the Dwenir full-formed when they come of age, and they shall seem as though they are born of stone itself. Thus we call ourselves the Stoneborn, and the secrets of our people are held close.

Neither shall the Stoneborn who are made worthy taste final death. For when their bodies are extinguished, their spirits shall endure as Enheri—champions and guardians in realms unseen.

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

In the days when Mya ruled Dynkyr alone, she raised to herself nine hundred and ninety spears, born behind the wall and trained to war. These she placed upon the ramparts, and they kept the safety of that place, overseeing all that came within its sight.

The weapons and armor that the Dwenir made were without peer and greatly desired. But most prized of all were their coigns. So sought were they that all the Besnir traded to obtain the gold, silver, and copper minted in Dun Dynkyr. Far and wide it became known as the center of trade, and a great market grew in the shadow of the wall, bringing grain, goods, and livestock from across Westrun and the Four Lands beyond.

Far from the wall, the wars with the giants continued, and those who sought respite from them came to Dun Dynkyr for peace and safety. Day and night they came and rested in its fastness. Then, on a morning at first light, a vagabond company appeared and stood unmoving within sight of the wall. They bore no banner and displayed no insignia that was known. Neither was their raiment recognized by any who held the watch.

The captain of that company stepped forward and fell upon his knees before the wall, and he wept openly for the relief he felt. When he was helped again to his feet, he called out in a loud voice to those who warded the wall.

They answered him, demanding to know his name and purpose, for they thought him a brigand from the North, or a deserter from Ur or Festog to the West.

Then the captain declared that he was the sharp silver blade that had slain giants beyond number. He named himself Clan, husband of Mya, who had survived the cataclysm of the Valley of Summer and fought across distant lands to be reunited with his bride. When his name was given, Mya was sent for, and she ordered the gates thrown wide. She herself went out from the wall to receive him. She who held the reign of Dun Dynkyr was once again the mother of sons, and a wife of her youth. She ran forth and embraced Clan as one long lost.

Great was the celebration of that day. The vagabond Dwenir were received into their own, and much was learned of each other and of the years that had passed. Thus Clan learned of his brother Duma, who had founded Dun Ur, and of Bathor, who had founded Dun Festog. And Mya learned of Dun Usega, Dun Balnolmar, and Dun Oromir, which had been founded by her sons Mith, Fesig, and Mireh.

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

In the days when Mya and her company came upon the Saar, they lived in peace, for their abode had not yet been discovered by the giants, and they were not harried. But the wars at Dun Ur and Dun Festog continued apace, and their fortresses were greatly contested.

Then Mya, and the Dwenir who were with her, founded a great city of stone in that place. They were guarded by the sea on three sides and bounded by the great mountains on the fourth. Because the mountains rose suddenly in their majesty, they were nearly impassable in their own right. Only a cleft between two of them allowed passage between Mir Nahr in the West and Mir Vath in the East.

So it was that Mya had the pass sealed. Stones were quarried from deep within Nahr and Vath, as if taken from their very roots, and from them she made a great curtain between the two. In the midst of the curtain she placed a gate, with a rampart above it, and on either side tall towers from which the wall might be gained and its breadth reached with arrows. Together it became a thing of beauty, for she had with her the greatest of miners and craftsmen, and they sought only to please their queen and mother. Thus they raised the wall in many courses, until it grew as tall as the mountains beside it.

They called that place—the wall and the city it protected—Dun Dynkyr, and named it for the pain of the loss of Mya’s husband Clan and the seven sons she had borne him. For though she was a great leader and wise in her years, she was also called the Mournful and the Widow. Many among the Dwenir sought her hand in marriage, but she would not take any to spouse, and poured herself instead into the defense and grandeur of her people.

At Dynkyr they built furnaces anew and began the smelting of many metals. With kohl stone in the heart of their fires, they softened even iron and worked it into steel. For a time iron was thought to be the Promise of Numli, a treasure long sought since before the cataclysm. Because iron was both superior and more plentiful than copper, they became masters of steel and made great strides in its craft.

Though iron was prized, the softer metals were not despised. Gold, silver, and copper were also melted, from which they minted coigns and began the custom of money. Thereafter the Dwenir feared neither mice nor rot, for their vaults were not filled with grain as those of the Stonekin had been. Neither was labor exchanged unevenly among them, for all worked and bought with the minted metals they had made. In time the other Besnir prized the coigns of Dynkyr, and for want of them brought trade and commerce to market before the wall.

Then Baere herself came round to the wall of Dynkyr and marveled. For though she had seen many bulwarks in her course, there were none to compare with the curtain that stretched between Mir Nahr and Mir Vath. Not only was it unsurpassed in height and depth, but it was to her an object of great beauty.

And since the stone blocks of Dynkyr were quarried from the heart of the mountains, the shafts and cuts made by the Dwenir were hidden from sight. For this Baere was grateful, for she hated the scars of mining and the splintering of rock as other Besnir had done. So she blessed the wall, saying it should never be broken by the craft of any born on Erenth. Thus, behind that wall the Dwenir prospered, and among all the peoples of Erenth, Dynkyr was counted the greatest and the envy of many.

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

In days of old, the Dwenir lived in the Valley of Summer, as did all the Besnir. They lived by the laws of Morad and under the blessings of Baere. All was right, for it was as if Summer never ended and Winter never came. The crops were thick at harvest. Plentiful and fat was the game.

The Stonekin, who some call gnomes, had charge of Erenth in those days. Though they were small and ill-suited to war, they were masters of craft, having invented the great furnaces by which metals could be smelted. But the Stonekin were cruel taskmasters, and they brought the Gnummorong upon the Besnir. Under this rule the Hoflin suffered the lash and were treated as beasts.

Then the Ere All was wroth for the cause of the Hoflin. With a stroke of his hammer, he broke the Surround that held back the waters of Erenth from the Valley of Summer, and thus it was flooded in a great cataclysm. Great was the loss of that day. Many Besnir were taken by the waves, and many Dwenir among them. Even Harus, who was Paramount of them in those days, was taken by the waters and did not return.

But some of the Dwenir survived and made their way to the tops of the Surround, which had once held back the waters. There they found the Four Lands, as they are known today. The Four Lands were a place of great peril, for they were ruled by the giants, children of the Yotinir, who bore a great hatred for all the Besnir.

The Days of Halinard

On the occasion of his royal wedding 5280ey

These are the days of Halinard, the High King of all Westrun and the Free Provinces.

Halinard was born in 5212 the least-favored son of his father, Aleranus II of Bolden. Though he was born into humble circumstances, and not the heir of his house, he quickly made a name for himself as an able administrator and a cunning warrior. When his half-brother was made the King-steward of Bolden Halinard distinguished himself as a soldier and rose quickly from Baron to Count to Duke.

After winning any engagements with the Northruners, "Iron Duke" Halinard caught the eye of Dane II the Learned who had succeeded Aleranus II on the Platinum Throne. When Dane prosecuted a war against the Berserkers of Northrun, he took Halinard as his military advisor, eventually promoting him to Chancellor General.

Dane served his sentence as High King of Westrun for 11 years before he came to an untimely end. In 5261 he choked on his supper after a hunt and he died in the sight of many witnesses.

Then "Iron Duke" Halinard was entrusted with the Stewardship of the High Throne for the Winter of 5261 was particularly harsh and precluded travel from the far corners of the Eight Kingdoms. When the Summer came, the conflict between Saklan and Rath prevented many from travel. These delays continued until early Winter of 5263. During which time it was revealed that Halinard was the rightful monarch of Bolden, though he grasped not at the seat of power.

When justice was served, Halinard was elected unanimously to the High Throne in 5264. 

He was married in 5265 to Brianna of House Fieldstone and produced five daughters. His wife perished in 5273 while giving birth. In 5274 he was married again, this time to Tirese of House Waldron who produced three daughters -- the last one being a simpleton. Her physicians say that Tirese despaired of the love that Halinard still kept for her deceased cousin Brianna, and in a fit of jealous melancholy threw herself from the balcony of her drawing room. Halinard was thus able to be married a third time and did so in 5280. This time to Joana Tarnblen, a lass whose youth was hoped would produce an heir.  He produced both a daughter and a son.  

Halinard came to a mysterious and untimely end in 5289.

History of Man in Four Books: Introduction

By 3000ey the mighty Vyrum Empire had come to end. It’s last ruler, Io the Great, went into exile. The remaining Princes were pried out from behind their impregnable walls of stone and were led way in chains. The great alds were left abandoned and ripe for the taking.

The vassal rulers among the five races were left in uneasy peace. For 150 years they had known only war – first against the rise of the Old Ones and then, beginning even at the Battle of the Dry Rift, against each other. The eventual end of their conflicts is fixed as 2991ey. They did not end by treaty, but instead from a general unwillingness to fight any longer. Constant struggle had depleted the treasuries and armies of the Besnir. Their mighty Cavaliers -- guardians of peace and justice for seven centuries, were no more. Into this whimpering peace the human race came to the fore.

The rise of man was noted first by the Hierophants of the Continuum. They sent emissaries to each of the remaining Ranes reporting that the wild primitives who had long been in the shadows were now coalescing into bonafide tribes and putting down roots in permanent settlements. The humans were observed having ceremonies for their dead and though they had an unknown tongue, it was nonetheless language. At the Peace of Dovaris in 3024ey, the Grand Hierophant declared to all the assembled Besnir that the 7^th Age had begun. This was not a popular finding among them, and least of all the Urok – for they had long anticipated their own return to power.

In the Four Lands of Northrun, Southrun, Eastrun and Westrun the tribes of man slowly ascended.

History of Man -- Book I: Westrun Part 1

In Westrun the nomadic tribes of men spread out across the land. These were collectively called the Nandi and each tribe had its own law and own ruler. Before them retreated the Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings, but the Urok of the Saltmarsh (what would later be called Talir) had a fortress remaining in the place they called Edgewater and from there they staged frequent raids against the humans, all but daring the Continuum to act.

By 3100ey, the human tribes of Sak and Tari had given up their wandering for fishing and raising crops on the Eastern slopes of the Grene Mountains. Far to the south and west, the Bal had done the same near the Cape of Salorgard. Their chieftains and kings were as common as copper nails. But, they were not the only humans of Westrun, for some had been tamed and kept as servants by the Vyrum, and some of them remained in the Alds – the abandoned metropolises of the previous age.

Little is known of Ald Biye. Some of the humans who once lived there are said to have taken shelter among the High Elves of the Mistwood and even intermarried, giving rise to Panamir – the so-called half-elven people. Some from Ald Biye joined the Nandi tribes -- their offspring became men of note among them. Many heroes and princes would come from that line. The Ald itself remained vacant and the elves permitted none to enter that pace. In time, even the stones would be plucked up and put to better use.

Ald Saloren had been the home of Vyrum heroes, where cavaliers on horseback once raised and trained their steeds. The walls and architecture of that city showed the great respect the empire held for horses. The towers were built in the semblance of equines and the Ald boasted two colossals -- a stallion and a mare which still flank the main gates of that metropolis. But by 3000ey the city was empty and its gates were left wide. The men of the plains foreswore its walls, as they were superstitious and believed a great curse would befall any who tried to live as the Vyrum had.

Ald Morin, however, was still home to the Tren. When the Vyrum empire fell into ruin, the Tren remained and lived off its former glory. They only sallied forth to trade with their wild brethren the Nandi who migrated back and forth across Westrun. The Tren had secrets in weapon smithing and great foundries with which to work their metals. This made them valued trading partners and they were careful to guard their secrets closely. They had one king in those years – a man chosen among them who had been high in the counsel of the Vyrum and was called Etru the Wise. Under his rule, they traded weapons and tools for the goods which the Nandi carried. They relied on the height of their ancient walls to keep their rivals at bay. For this reason, Ald Morin would also be called The City of Stone and would eventually lose its Vyrum appellation to the one the Nandi preferred -- Treft.

In a bend of the Red River on the Ascari Plain, another settlement out of the Nandi was taking shape. By 3190ey it was encircled by a wooden palisade. The City of Wood was a contrast to its rival a fortnight away -- the City of Stone. It's people also traded with the Nandi.

The Nandi were in conflict with one another as they competed for hunting ground. Of perhaps fifty tribes, only the names of the Nadi, Sahna, Numin, Shina, Anis, Duvi, and Rathor come to us from the northeast; while the three tribes of Aras, Du and Ren roamed the grasslands to the southwest. Of the other elder races, little was heard, save the Urok, who pressed their claim to Westrun and especially Ald Morin repeatedly. While mankind had the numbers to bolster their claim, the Urok had many long millennia of stratagem and war to enforce theirs.

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.

History of Man -- Book I: Westrun Part 3

The 33rd century saw the arrival of the Fahr humans in Westrun. The Fahr were a great stock of Northruners with fair hair and great stature. Their own legends said that they were the bastard children of giants who generations earlier were pushed out of the artic snows. Those who settled in Westrun were pushed South by competition among their clans, or were perhaps drawn by the lure of agriculture over hunting and raiding. Whatever the case, there were two main settlements straddling the Silverlode Mountains: Wanderhalt and Sudland.

Wanderhalt was encircled with great timbers hewn from evergreen forests and under the control of a single Jarl. Sudland was a loose collection of farming freeholders who went as far South as the City of Wood permitted -- generally the north banks of Red River. Wanderhalt was entirely too remote to be of concern to the Nandi of Westrun, and because the men of Sudland were content with living peaceably in their new homes on what was considered only seasonally viable farmland, they were allowed to thrive on the north fringes of Westrun.

Over the course of the next century, the Jarl of Wanderhalt established himself as credible Westrun nobility, even if foreign born. The men of Sudland struggled among themselves to establish what might be considered a permanent noble house.

The fishing villages of the Bal consolidated and finally put aside decades of superstition to occupy Ald Saloren, renaming the city Balsrest and slowly becoming the preeminent power in the Southwest. 

History of Man -- Book I: Westrun Part 4

For the eight or nine generations spanning two centuries, the Tren had established themselves as the pinnacle of civilized men among the Nandi. At Treft, the City of Stone (formerly Ald Morin) the ways of the Vyrum were slowly disintegrating along with the architecture and wonders of the world they had built. The first generation of men who inherited from their masters were the best educated, but with each passing generation something more was lost. 

Within the first decade of inheriting the ald, as the Tren took over administrative and governing functions, they needed laborers and workers to assume their menial tasks. This fell to the more "savage" and uneducated Nandi that were allowed to become residents. A stratification occurred in society between those who could speak Vyrum and those who could not; with the former being seen as occupying a higher class of society.

Even this language skill was losing steam. New writing was very rare; understanding older writing was rarer. The Tren, as mere servants, had already spoken a low version of the language -- the words they used for communicating with their masters while serving was mixed with that of their native tongues and this pidgin was spoken in the kitchens and smithies and stables of the ald. The syntax and grammar of their low Vyrum already differed significantly from the original "high" Vyrum, but even as the purebred Tren proved reluctant to intermarry with their incoming Nandi population, the bloodlines were invariably mixed and so was the language.

Outside of Treft, in the City of Wood and along the plains, none of the ways of the Vyrum were known, let alone preserved. All that the Nandi had of "higher" culture was what came from emigres from Treft -- some of whom came as wealthy traders and others as the sons of daughters of Tren given to cement alliances with various tribal chieftains. 

Such had been Larec Redfist of the Rathor Confederation. His father was a Nandi warlord (perhaps descended from servants of Ald Biye -- the record is unclear) but his mother was the youngest daughter of a Tren merchant of Treft. With such "noble" blood in his veins, Larec was destined to become the sire of kings. Even Eiter, King of Treft in those years, was not pureblood Tren, for his grandmother was a Nandi "princess" whose father and tribe had been accreted into the city to patrol its walls and keep its peace.

In 3413ey refugees from across the Dagger Sea entered the social milieu of Westrun. Like the Tren, the Meni were the tamed human servants of the Vyrum Empire. They too had inherited alds and assumed the mantle of civilization. Unlike their Westrun counterparts however, the Meni of the Principalities were right at Ald Dovaris -- the center of what had been the Vyrum Empire. As a consequence of better education and perhaps great wealth, they almost seamlessly continued the governance and institutions of the previous age, albeit with shorter reach. 

For two centuries, while the men of Westrun were engaged in war with Urok and each other, these civilized men of the Principalities were developing noble Houses and contending with one another for control of the Empire. When the pretensions of one House proved unsuccessful, a lesser son led some 700 people in exile including a company of trained warriors, plus five score of the best trained and most capable administrators, artisans, architects and sages. Coming over the sea in a flotilla of makeshift vessels, Tal the Just made landfall at the charred ruin of Edgewater Fortress - the former Urok home in the Saltmarsh. 

The only rivals for their new land were a minor fishing tribe of the Rathor Confederation. At first the Meni named their settlement for Ald Casera, but the name among the Nandi would not take and slowly became known as Watersedge. The people which lived there were the Talir. A new fortress was built, the marshes were drained and agriculture to rival that in the Principalities was started.

The Rathor were unhappy with a new walled settlement between the Wody and the Brownbeck, but lacked the ability to assail it through miles of barely accessible marshland. Moreover the protected harbor of the Meni meant any siege was unlikely to cut off food and water. Westrun was astonished to discover humans who spoke High Vyrum and who were self-evidently of noble blood on their very doorstep. The Meni flourished and spread along the coast, actively avoiding conflict with the tribes they encountered.  

History of Man -- Book 1: Westrun Part 6

In the 600 years since the proclamation of the Grand Hierophant at Dovaris, mankind had indeed proved himself to be the obvious successor to the Vyrum. While they lacked the sophistication and learning of the previous age, they had an obvious gift for fertility. Three times, the more experienced and more tactically sound Urok had been repelled by the men of Westrun. Those victories were based on attrition as much as on any other factor. While the Urok had fought themselves to near extinction after three conflicts, the armies of man were able to completely rebound within twenty years.

Not only did they have numbers on their side, but the human capacity for death and loss proved to be greater than any the Besnir had ever seen. The Urok were by no means alone in this observation. Factions of the Dwarves and Elves were horrified by the way in which many humans abandoned their dead and even failed to mourn them for the decades required in Besnir society. Among the Besnir it was not uncommon for a mother who lost a child to forego the rest of her years of fertility. 

Most frustrating to the Realms was that within a decade, mankind could forget alliances and treaties and even a state of war. Agreements made between a Rane and a human king might not survive the birth of the king's first heir, let alone his coming to power. Treaties between the Mistwood and Sak were in a state of continual reinforcement, with the elder race providing reminders by way of gifts. In this way, their borders were made sacrosanct. The Dwarf of Oromir and the Lord of Sudhall memorialized their treaty with a construction of a massive keep using the artistry and craft of the Dwarves, which no man could gainsay. 

Rath too was beneficiary of such an arrangement. When the King's men uncovered a centuries old well-intended, but sacrilegious burial of Dwarves, he returned those remains to Dynkyr. This single act was well-received for there were many still alive who missed their kin and wondered about their final rest. In this way, the King of Rath earned great respect and gratitude from the Dwarves though there were few enough humans who even remembered that Dwarven militias had helped at the Third Urok War. The prevailing opinion that mankind had no memory, compounded the generosity of this gesture rather than diminish it.

All was not peace in Westrun during the 36th century. Small scale war continued between what few Urok remained and the tribes of the Balduren Confederacy.

3600ey the monarchy of Treft was toppled after the assassination of its king who did not leave a clear heir. Various pretenders to the throne rise and fall before the city declares itself a democracy and the light of the world.

In 3605ey the Jarls of Northrun cast a jealous eye on the growing prosperity of Wanderhalt and Sudland. A decade of raids and war followed. During the height of these conflicts, the timber fort at Wanderhalt was taken and its lord was sent into exile, not to return on pain of death. The Lord of Wanderhalt went through the Silverlode Mountains into Sudland and appealed to the Lord of Sudhall for assistance. 

In 3618ey at the Gathering of the Fraternity, the Lord of Sudhall petitioned the Rangers to retake Wanderhalt for its exiled lord. In stirring them to action, he also extracted an oath of everlasting fealty from its lord. Two years later, Wanderhalt was retaken and the daughter of the Lord of Sudhall was married to the son of the Lord of Wanderhalt -- linking the two nobles thereafter.

3622ey Arepos, the former court magician of the King of Treft resided in the Mistwood since the king's death and ingratiated himself to the ancient Llormaster and librarian there. After stealing the ancient Scrolls of Alobal and taking them back to the kingdoms of men, he ignites a war between Treft and the Elves which leads to a one year siege of the ancient ald. To resolve the siege, the City of Treft consents to surrender every scroll and slip of paper in the city, loading them on carts and sending them out to the waiting Elves. The scrolls are not recovered.

3627ey The Dweomersecte is founded with a tower in Talir. Within weeks of completion, this tower is burned by what some say are Elvish saboteurs. In 3647ey the second tower of the Dweomersecte is completed in Menea. This tower is also burned within weeks. A third tower is located near Sudhall and comes under the protection of Oromir, after negotiation between Elves and Dwarves, this tower escapes damage, but Arepos himself is found dead (believed assassinated) in 3651ey. Sarseer is declared the new Archmage of Westrun.

In 3686ey the Urok make an unholy alliance with the Dweomersecte. Under the Dread Foulness, they begin to give themselves over to simple, savage propagation -- hoping to beat humanity at their own game. This magical reproduction gives rise to animalistic goblins who hate the banishment of their forebears and eventually vow eternal war on all the other races. In one hundred years, no Urok will remain and all will have been replaced by their goblinoid descendants.

History of Man -- Book 1: Westrun Part 8

Sometimes called the Lost Centuries, the years between 3800ey and 4100ey are filled with fantastical tales of the works of Heimos and his offspring. There are records of battles but the casus belli for each amounts to the offense of one god or goddess against another. There are also strange inversions of cause and effect in which certain of the line of Heimos are claimed to be the parents of ancient tribal heroes of the Nandi, now divinized.

Einil and Ninlee became associated with the men of Sudhall. Einik with Watersedge. Inossa with Rath. Kinurea with Watersedge. Noilo and Ninurto with Menea. Ningula with Balsrest. Utuno with Treft.

Some of the more familiar, and undated, tales from the Lost Centuries include the following:

• Einik, son of Heimos and his brother Utunos fishing in the Inner Sea for a Kraken using the head of a Gorgon as bait. Having hooked the Kraken the two brothers squabbled over who would claim the catch, and coming to blows, lost their catch and net to the sea. 
• Kinurea engaging in a contest of poetry to the death with two ancient dragons.
• Noilos overhearing a prophesy that the gods would be slain and agreeing with Utunos to fight against his wife Ningula, whom they hold responsible. 
• Morven, the granddaughter of Heimos, leading an army of the dead against the Decadon while Heimos himself is swallowed by the earth and must battle six titans to escape. 
• Bolid the Brave, (he reimagined as a grandson of Heimos) riding a pegasus into battle against the trio of medusae and tricking Utunos into blinding them so that they turn each other to stone.
• Ren of the Plains (here reimagined as the grandson of Heimos through Ningula) and as penance for the death of his death of his father must race six creatures of fantastic speed. From each of these races he takes a prize and uses them to effect his escape from his other mother's prison.
• When Beddas the diseased kidnaps his grandfather, his own sister tricks Anora (a mortal woman) into seducing him and securing the release of Heimos.

Not all of the three centuries is completely lost to fantasy, however.

Dated at 3990ey, then Archmage Nizarys is said to have impressed the five dragon princes with his command of arcane knowledge, and extracted a promise from them which some call the Accords. Whether this happened or not is still a matter of some debate, but it is far more likely than the tales of the twins Noilo and Ninurto wrestling with a hydra.

Dated at 4004ey, the scrolls of the Belasarian Reforms to the Balduren army were recorded in some detail. The men of that city reorganized themselves from foot soldiers to light cavalry, and tipped the balance of power across the plains from the Goblin Hordes back to humankind. 

Also in 4018ey at the 74th Forgathering of the Fraternity, the Rangers reconstituted some of their numbers and detailed them to the Northern Marches of Wanderhalt, where the goblins were seeking new access to Westrun.