Bryan's Dungeons & Dragons Site

Author: Bryan Fazekas

  • Greymen

    I created the greymen as a replacement for the drow. While the drow were interesting at first, they tend to be overused in literature as the enemy. The greymen are an unknown and highly variable monster that can shake up a campaign.

    The greymen’s variability allows the monster to scale with the party’s growth, as the DM can continue increasing the power of the greymen. It also keeps the players from being complacent, as they can’t tell by looking exactly what any greyman is.

    Greymen

    Frequency very rare
    No. Appearing 3d6, 5d10, or 50d10
    Armor Class 2
    Move 120′
    Hit Dice 3 (d10)
    % in Lair 20%
    Treasure Type Individually 3d6 SP, 2d6 GP, 1d6 PP/level. In Lair B, C, D
    No. of Attacks 2
    Damage/Attack by weapon +1
    Special Attacks see below
    Special Defenses see below
    Magic Resistance 5%/level (HD)
    Intelligence Low to Exceptional
    Alignment Evil
    Size M (4′ to 7′ tall)

    published in & Magazine Issue 7, Ecology of the Greymen

    Note: This article has been heavily revised from the version originally published.

    Appearance

    Some members of nominally Good races fall in with evil forces of the Lower Outer Planes, and an unlucky few end up residing there permanently. Of this latter group, most find that whatever bargain they struck was a poor one as death comes all too quickly in this hostile environment.

    The ones that survive are typically the strongest, both physically and mentally, of their respective races – such specimens may even thrive in such conditions. Successive generations weed out the weakest as only the strong survive birth, much less childhood in such an unfriendly environment.

    These later generations are generally referred to as the greymen, a moniker gained from their appearance: they tend to be gaunt looking with grayish, ashy skin. Overall, they appear different from Prime Material Plane (PMP) races, as their ancestors may be from numerous alternate PMPs and include crossbreeds not known in the mortal planes.

    Note that appearance can differ greatly from one band to another, depending on the races of their forbears. However, all are easily identified as greymen due to their gauntness and hue of skin.

    Combat

    Greymen are human-sized and are typically stronger than an average human (hence the +1 damage), although smaller specimens may lack the damage bonus and larger ones may have a greater bonus. All are skilled fighters, attacking twice per round with their weapon of choice, typically a long sword. They always wear armor, typically a form of chainmail and shield.

    The greymen’s weapons and armor are made of a strange steel alloy whose hue matches that of their owners. The equipment possesses a demonic sort of magic that is strong anywhere in the Lower Outer Planes. Note that the items do not lose power when on the Inner Planes or PMP, as mortal items do when carried off the PMP. However, the magic does degrade with time when removed from the Outer Planes, typically losing a plus each month the item is outside the Lower Planes. It is unknown if the items regain their power if returned to the Outer Planes before all magic is lost.

    The items carried by typical greymen are of +1 quality, and radiate evil if detection magic is used. Picking up or trying to use these items causes 2d4 points of damage to good-aligned creatures, 1d4 points of damage to those Neutrally aligned, and makes even evil denizens of the PMP uncomfortable. Those not inured to demonic or diabolical forces cannot comfortably use the items.

    The average greyman can be struck by mundane weapons. However, the magical nature of the greymen increases with power – 5th and 6th level greymen require +1 weapons to hit, 7th and 8th require +2 weapons to hit, and 9th level leaders require +3 weapons to hit.

    The more powerful greymen have higher magic resistance, are more likely to have more typical powers, and will often carry better weapons and armor, up to +5 in strength. Typically, 3rd and 4th level greymen will carry +1 items, 5th and 6th will carry +2, 7th will carry +3, 8th will carry +4, and 9th level will carry +5 items. However, this is not a hard rule; lower level greymen may have acquired better armor and weapons by means typically considered foul by Goodly races. Note that the damage inflicted upon good or neutrally aligned creatures who attempt to use these items is commensurately worse, inflicting an additional 1d4 points of damage for each plus above 1.

    Generations of existence in the Lower Outer Planes has developed minor magic resistance in the greymen, and some develop powers that the lesser demons and devils manifest. Each greyman may have as many powers as he has levels, has a 5% chance per level of having each power. For instance, a typical greyman (3rd level) may have as many as 3 powers and has a 15% chance of having each power. Roll on the Typical Powers table for powers, re-rolling duplicates.

    d50 Typical Powers
    1 Blink
    2 Burning Hands
    3 Cause Fear (as wand)
    4 Charm Person or Monster
    5 Clairaudience
    6 Clairvoyance
    7 Command
    8 Comprehend Languages
    9 Continual Darkness
    10 Create Illusion (as wand)
    11 Create Water
    12 Curse (reverse of Bless)
    13 Darkness 5′ Radius
    14 Darkness 10′ Radius
    15 Darkness 15′ Radius
    16 Detect Good 30′ range
    17 Detect Illusion 30′ range
    18 Detect Invisibility 30′ range
    19 Detect Law or Chaos 30′ range
    20 Detect Magic
    21 Dispel Magic
    22 Enlarge/Shrink
    23 ESP
    24 Feather Fall
    25 Find Traps 30′ range
    26 Fly
    27 Gaseous Form
    28 Haste
    29 Hold Person
    30 Improved Sleep
    31 Invisibility
    32 Know Alignment
    33 Levitate
    34 Locate Object
    35 Mirror Image
    36 Obscurement
    37 Passwall
    38 Polymorph Self
    39 Protection from Good
    40 Pyrotechnics
    41 Read Languages
    42 Regenerate 1 hp/round
    43 Shocking Grasp
    44 Sleep
    45 Stinking Cloud
    46 Suggestion
    47 Telepathy
    48 Water Breathing
    49 Water Walk
    50 Web

    Those of 6th level or greater have a 5%/level of possessing one Special Power in addition to other powers.

    d20 Special Powers
    1 Animate Dead
    2 Cause Critical Wounds by touch
    3 Cause Serious Wounds by touch
    4 Dimension Door
    5 Magic Jar
    6 Polymorph Other
    7 Project Image
    8 Shape Change
    9 Symbol of Discord
    10 Symbol of Fear
    11 Symbol of Pain
    12 Symbol of Sleep
    13 Symbol of Stunning
    14 Telekinese 1,000-6,000 gp wt
    15 Teleport
    16 Transmute Rock to Mud
    17 Wall of Fire
    18 Wall of Force
    19 Wall of Ice
    20 Wall of Iron

    In addition, these more powerful greymen have a 2%/level chance of gating in a devil/daemon/demon (depending upon alignment) once each day. They are loath to do this as the gated being will demand a reward for its help, but in extreme cases the greymen will do so.

    Leader types also have a 3% chance/per level of being a magic user or cleric (60%/40% chance). The highest reported level magic user or cleric encountered was 9th level. Note: These special leaders always attack on the fighter table regardless of their other class.

    The strategies and tactics used by the greymen vary dramatically with alignment and intelligence. Individually the CE greymen tend to be more likely to attack without a well thought out strategy, while the LE ones will generally use a well-constructed plan. Neutral Evil greymen are potentially the most dangerous, as they are harder to predict.

    Those that rise in the ranks will always be the most intelligent, cunning, and brutal members of their race. Note that any one of these attributes will suffice to elevate an individual above their norm, but the highest levels require a combination of the traits. Competition is fierce and fatal.

    The highest level greymen are individually quite deadly. As a result, all wise devils, daemons, and demons lords watch their greymen minions with care.

    Habitat/Society

    The greymen are native to all of the Lower Outer Planes – those dwelling in the Hells tend towards Lawful Evil, those in the Abyss towards Chaotic Evil, and the remainder towards Neutral Evil. Most serve a major denizen of their home plane, living in a militaristic society. The details of each group vary dramatically, depending on the alignment of the plane and the wishes of their Lord.

    Groups vary in size, ranging from 50 to 500 adults and double that number of children. If a major Lord has more than 500 greymen in their employ, it’s normally multiple groups. Historically, larger groups of greymen have overthrown their Lord, so the wise limit group size to reduce the likelihood of a similar occurrence.

    Groups of greymen will be led by stronger specimens, as indicated below.

    # 3 HD Level
    10 4
    25 5
    50 6
    100 7
    250 8
    500 9

    For example, a group of fifty 3HD greymen will be led by a 6HD leader with two 5HD adjutants, and five 4HD sub-adjutants.

    Advancement in most of these societies is based upon ability, although among the more chaotic, treachery has its place.

    Unlike many human populations, greymen women are as capable in combat as the males. As a result, the numbers of each sex are fairly even. Fighting is taught at a very young age, so children ages 3 to 6 are armed with small knives and will attack as kobolds. Children aged 7 to 10 attack as 1st level fighters, while children aged 11 to 14 attack as 2nd level fighters. At age 15 they are considered adult and attack as 3rd level fighters.

    Encounters outside of a home area are normally fighting bands. Only 5% are a family unit of 1d10 adults and 4d6 children who are traveling.

    Some notable greymen may separate from their Lord and form mercenary bands, ranging in size from 10 to 200 individuals, with equal chances of male and female. 95% of a band will be the same alignment as the leader.

    Additionally, “feral” bands exist outside the normal structures of the Lower Planes. These groups, varying in size from 10 to 1,000 adults, avoid the forces of the major figures of their home planes. These groups will not openly aid adventurers to avoid reprisals, but if the risk is low, they may provide covert aid.

    Level/XP Value

    The make-up of greymen is variable, so assigning experience point values and dungeon levels is not easily done. They may have the following Special Abilities:

    1. use of minor magic armor or weapon (+1 or +2)
    2. silver or +1 weapon to hit
    3. minor powers (for those that roll it)
    4. AC 0 or lower (have to calculate AC)

    They may have the following Exceptional Abilities:

    1. use of major armor or weapon (+3 or better) [if they have this they will not have #a]
    2. +2 weapon to hit [if they have this they will not have #b]
    3. major power (for those that roll it)
    4. magic resistance up to 25% OR magic resistance 26% to 50% [when calculating XP I award 1 Exceptional Ability for magic resistance of 1% to 25%, two for 26% to 50%, three for 51% to 75%, and four for 76% to 100%]
    5. spell use (for clerics and magic users)

    The XP calculations for each HD of greyman is:

    Hit Dice AD&D 5% Rule
    3 HD 35 + #SA*15 + #EA*55 + 3/hp 60 + #SA*25 + #EA*65 + 4/hp
    4 HD 60 + #SA*25 + #EA*65 + 4/hp 90 + #SA*40 + #EA*75 + 5/hp
    5 HD 90 + #SA*40 + #EA*75 + 5/hp 150 + #SA*75 + #EA*125 + 6/hp
    6 HD 150 + #SA*75 + #EA*125 + 6/hp 225 + #SA*125 + #EA*175 + 8/hp
    7 HD 225 + #SA*125 + #EA*175 + 8/hp 375 + #SA*175 + #EA*275 + 10/hp
    8 HD 375 + #SA*175 + #EA*275 + 10/hp 600 + #SA*300 + #EA*400 + 12/hp
    9 HD 600 + #SA*300 + #EA*400 + 12/hp 900 + #SA*450 + #EA*600 + 14/hp

    Add the Base XP, Special XP, and Exceptional XP and lookup on the table on the Dungeon/Monster Level table to determine the dungeon level of each greyman.

    Example: 3 HD soldier, 15 hp, armed with Shield +1 and Chain Mail +1 (AC2), Long Sword +1, has no Typical powers, 15% magic resistance. This one has one SA [use of minor magic armor or weapon] and one EA [magic resistance 15%], so the XP value is: 35 + 1*15 + 1*55 + 3*15 = 150 XP, which is Level III.

    Example: 7 HD leader, 42 hp, armed with Shield +3 and Chain Mail +3 (AC-2), Long Sword +3, has 3 Typical powers, 1 Special Power, requires a +2 weapon to hit, 35% magic resistance (counts as 2). This one has 2 SA [AC 0 or lower, minor power] and 5 EA [use of major magic item, special power, +2 weapon to hit, magic resistance (2)], so the XP value is: 225 + 2*125 + 5*175 + 8*42 = 1,686 XP, which is Level VII.

    Example: same 7 HD leader is a cleric or magic user, XP increases for 1 additional EA: 1,861 XP.

     

  • Gree-Kin

    The gree-kin was created by Carl, one of my first DMs. At the time, this monster scared the crap out of me, as it would bite through the victim’s skull and eat the brain.

    This version is based upon my recollection of the monster. It’s faithful to what I remember from 20+ years before.

    Gree-Kin

    Frequency rare
    No. Appearing 1 (1d6)
    Armor Class 5
    Move 210′
    Hit Dice 9 to 12
    % in Lair 70%
    Treasure Type C, R, S
    No. of Attacks 2
    Damage/Attack 2d6, 2d6
    Special Attacks bite, poison
    Special Defenses regeneration
    Magic Resistance standard
    Intelligence High
    Alignment Chaotic Neutral
    Size L (12′ tall)

    published in & Magazine Issue 6, Ecology of the Gree-Kin

    Appearance

    Gree-kin are large, hairless humanoids with greenish-grey skins, a large red spot on the forehead, and 6 clawed fingers on each hand. They are usually found near cities and along trade routes because of a strange dietary requirement – human and demi-human brains.

    Combat

    These huge predators attack twice per round, once with each six-clawed hand. Each hit inflicts 2d6 hit points of damage and may inject poison. The victim must make a saving throw vs. poison each round they are struck or suffer 1 hp/turn loss until death occurs. A new save is allowed every 4 hours, success indicating the victim’s body successfully fought off the poison. Note that the hit point loss is cumulative, e.g., if a victim is struck in three different rounds, 3 hp are lost each turn, although a single saving throw made after 4 hours ceases the loss. Slow Poison will slow the loss and Neutralize Poison will cure it.

    If both hands hit in one round, this indicates the gree-kin has latched onto its victim, and automatically scores 2d6 points of bite damage each round thereafter. The held victim may fight back, but at -2 on all attack rolls, and may not use a weapon longer than 2′.

    Gree-kin regenerate 1 hit point per round although not from death. At 12 hit points or less the creature will feign death so as to regenerate to fight another day.

    Note that gree-kin are highly intelligent – they will use good planning for their attacks, and will observe potential victims for a while to gauge how dangerous they are. While they can be impulsive gree-kin will not normally attack superior forces without surprise. They prefer hit-and-run instead of a stand-up fight, except against single characters or parties significantly weaker than they are.

    Single gree-kin typically attack in the dark, attempting to hurt or kill a victim and carry it off. As stated above, if low on hit points the gree-kin will feign death, but will usually first break off combat if it sustains the loss of half its hit points. If the gree-kin poisons one or more characters it may break off combat and shadow the group, waiting for the victims to die.

    Habitat/Society

    The majority (85%) of gree-kin encounters are with a single adult. Occasionally (10%) a pair of mated adults will be encountered, and less frequently (5%) encounters are with 1 or 2 adults with 1 to 4 adolescents.

    Although the mating is believed to be temporary, a mated pair will fight to protect each other. If encountered in their lair with young, the adult gree-kin will attack ferociously at +2 to hit, gaining double attacks for the first three rounds of combat. They will not feign death nor break off combat while their young live, but will flee if the young are killed. Note that in this case the gree-kin(s) will shadow the group seeking revenge.

    The male will typically remain with the female until the young are grown enough to take care of themselves, approximately 3 years old. At that time the family will split up completely, possibly never seeing each other again.

    Ecology

    Gree-kin are greatly feared because they eat the brains of their victims. Any character carried off will typically be killed, and their brain eaten within the hour.

    Studies indicate they are omnivorous, eating a diet consisting of primarily plant matter, with occasional insects and small creatures. While they will eat the brains of humanoids, they show a clear preference for more intelligent creatures, although they will not eat the brain of non-humanoid creatures regardless of intelligence. No one knows why they eat brain – it must satisfy a dietary need, as a mated couple with young will go on killing frenzies to bring brains back to their children.

    Sages have tried to study gree-kin, with limited success. They don’t survive well in captivity, either escaping or eventually refusing to eat and starving to death. Efforts to communicate with them typically fail –gree-kin may have a language but do not use it in front of others. Their escape ability demonstrates their intelligence, but it is clearly non-human intelligence.

    Variants

    None.

    Level/XP Value

    I use the 5% Rule Tables published by Len Lakofka in Dragon Magazine. The following provides XP values for both the AD&D and 5% Rule.

    The XP value includes three Special Abilities (bite, intelligence, regeneration) and two Exceptional Abilities (poison, damage).

    Hit Dice AD&D 5% Rule
    9 HD VII / 2,300 + 12 xp/hp VII / 3,450+ 14/hp
    10 HD VIII / 3,450 + 14 xp/hp VIII / 4,275 + 15/hp
    11 HD IX / 5,100 + 16 xp/hp VIII / 5,100 + 16/hp
    12 HD IX /5,100 + 16 xp/hp IX / 6,075 + 17/hp

     

  • Bereaver

    The bereaver was created by my brother during our first campaign as co-DMs. We had slavishly followed the Monster Manual rules regarding treasure, and the party had enough low level weapons and armor, and miscellaneous magic to equip a small army. The bereaver corrects this problem.

    This version is updated, as it can pull spells from a caster’s mind, which makes them even scarier.

    Bereaver

    Frequency very rare
    No. Appearing 1
    Armor Class 0
    Move 120′
    Hit Dice 7 to 11
    % in Lair nil
    Treasure Type nil
    No. of Attacks 2
    Damage/Attack 1d10, 1d10
    Special Attacks de-magic touch
    Special Defenses absorb magic
    Magic Resistance 170%
    Intelligence non-
    Alignment Neutral
    Size L (5′-6′ tall)

    published in & Magazine Issue 5, Ecology of the Bereaver

    Appearance

    The first sight of a bereaver typically frightens the viewer, for this man-sized humanoid creature possesses a skin of a ghastly grey hue, one not normally found on anything but a week old corpse. It appears grossly overweight, with bulbous fat sacs all over its body, including the hideous face. Most creatures’ first instinct is to run, and for spell casters or those with magic items this is good advice indeed!

    Combat

    Bereavers immediately attack spell casters and creatures carrying magic items. They always target the one with the most powerful magic and will fight through other creatures to get at the most powerful magic, although if multiple creatures have roughly the same magic it will generally choose the closest one.

    Striking with its two fists, the bereaver inflicts 1d10 points of damage per strike. Any round in which both fists hit, 1d4 randomly selected magic items or spells may be drained of magic. Items must save vs. Disintegrate or be drained of all power; spell casters must save vs. Death Magic or have the spell stripped from their mind. If multiple spells are selected the victim must save separately for each one. Magic items remain a serviceable item of their type (if appropriate) and spell casters can regain their lost spells through their normal process (studying or praying).

    Note that the strength of the bereaver affects the saving throw:

    HD Saving Throw Modifier
    7 -1
    8 -2
    9 -3
    10 -4
    11 -5

    The absorbed magic gives bereavers greater power, adding hit points that restore damage and can increase their power. Hit points are gained from the absorbing of the power, increasing the bereaver’s hit points with no known limit. Note that points above the bereaver’s maximum drain away at a rate of 1/turn until the bereaver is at the maximum value for its hit dice. As magical constructs they don’t heal normally — absorbing magic fulfills this function for them.

    The hit points gained by absorbing the power of magic items and spells is as follows:

    Item hp Gained
    Spell 1 hp/level
    weapon or armor 3 hp + 1 hp/plus
    scroll 1 hp + 1 hp/spell
    potion 1 hp
    rod, staff, or wand 3 hp
    ring 3 hp
    misc. magic item 2 to 5 hp (DM’s discretion)
    intelligent items hp for item + 8 hp

    Note that at the DM’s discretion certain more powerful objects may impart additional hp to the absorbing bereaver. Also note that artifacts, relics, and other certain powerful objects may not be subject to draining, but through prolonged contact a bereaver will absorb some magic from the item, restoring lost hit points and growing the bereaver’s strength.

    In addition to absorbing the power of magic items and spells in memory, bereavers can also absorb the energy of cast spells. This includes individual spells such as Magic Missile and Charm Monster, as well as area effect spells such as Fireball or Flame Strike. In the case of an area effect spell the spell will execute as expected but the bereaver will “suck in” the power and the effect will disappear. In the case of damaging spells such as Fireball other creatures in the area of effect will suffer minimal damage, e.g., 1 hp/die or no damage if a saving throw is made.

    Any spell cast within 30′ of a bereaver or which include the bereaver in the area of effect may be absorbed. Check the bereaver’s magic resistance against the spell — a successful resistance check indicates that the spell has been absorbed. If not, the spell will function normally.

    Note: Being mindless these creatures are immune to charm, possession, or illusion spells, or any that affect the mind. However, they are subject to the effects of all other spells that successfully execute.

    Also note that bereavers possess an unprecedented resistance to magic. Their 170% resistance means their resistance is based upon 18th level magic, not the typical 11th level. Spells cast by any spell caster below 19th level automatically fail and are absorbed by the creature.

    These magical constructs gain hit points from cast spells the same as they do spells drained from a spell caster’s mind.

    Magic weapons do not function properly against these terrible monsters. Instead of adding the plus of the weapon to the “to hit” and damage rolls, the value is subtracted from it. Thus when using a +3 weapon a fighter subtracts 3 from each attack roll rather than adding it. If using a cursed weapon the minus value of the weapon applies to both the “to hit” and damage rolls. In any case a minimum of 1 hp of damage will be inflicted by a successful hit.

    Note that any magical weapon or other item striking a bereaver must save against the absorption (see above) or have its magic drained. This is in addition to the possible 1d4 items that may be drained each round.

    Habitat/Society

    As non-intelligent magical constructs, bereavers have no society. They do not eat, sleep, or breathe. They may be found in any environment, including under water or in a vacuum. They otherwise conform to the normal of humanoid life, e.g., excessively high or low temperatures will burn or freeze them. In the case of burning they are destroyed; for cold they freeze until defrosted.

    Note that strong magical locations will attract a bereaver, and it will not leave the vicinity, apparently absorbing background magic while not being capable of draining the magic.

    Ecology

    The origins of the bereaver are unknown, as is the motivation of any intelligent creature for creating such a monstrosity. No tome or treatise for creating a bereaver is known to exist.

    Bereavers do not eat or breathe, but apparently absorb magic to maintain themselves. The least powerful known is 7 HD, while the most powerful is 11 HD.

    They can increase in strength — should a bereaver absorb enough magic to increase its hp total to more than 24 points above its normal maximum its HD will increase by 1, e.g., a 7 HD bereaver normally has a maximum hit point total of 56. Should one increase its total to 80 or more it will become a 8 HD monster with corresponding maximum hit points. 11 hit dice is the known maximum.

    When destroyed (reduced to 0 hp or less) the monster immediately breaks down into a grey mush, which stinks terribly (treat as Stinking Cloud) and turns to dust in 1 turn. No known use for the remains has been discovered, and all means to preserve it fail.
    It has been reported that a spell caster whose spells were all absorbed but wasn’t killed by the physical damage transformed into a bereaver, but this is hearsay and considered unreliable.

    Variants

    Bereavers are all within the Medium size range (5′ to 6′), and while ghastly looking, certainly do not look exactly alike. Those of greater than 11 HD and/or capable of absorbing more than 4 items/spells per round have been reported, but such reports have not been substantiated.

    Level/XP Value

    I use the 5% Rule Tables published by Len Lakofka in Dragon Magazine. The following provides XP values for both the AD&D and 5% Rule.

    The XP value includes three Special Abilities (de-magic touch, non-magical weapon to hit, absorb magic) and five Exceptional Abilities (extreme high magic resistance).

    Hit Dice AD&D 5% Rule
    7 HD VII / 1,475 + 8/hp VII / 2,275 + 10/hp
    8 HD VII / 2,275 + 10/hp VII / 3,500 + 12/hp
    9 HD VIII / 3,500 + 12/hp VIII / 5,250 + 14/hp
    10 HD VIII / 5,250 + 14/hp VIII / 6,450 + 15/hp
    11 HD IX / 7,650 + 16/hp IX / 7,650 + 16/hp

  • Gendin’s Journal – Return of the Council of Rendelshod

    updated 01/10/2025

    a page from the journal of Gendin,
    son of Arissa and Temone
    of the dwarven Clan Gilderlo

    Author’s note: Continents such as Trivana are considered “worlds” by their inhabitants, while the entire world is referred to simply as GeKeb. The point of view of Gendin is limited by his people’s concept of the term “world”, and his understanding of what GeKeb is.

    Return of the Council of Rendelshod

    January, 1501 AWR

    In the short span of time since the Council of Rendelshod returned from the depths of history, I have heard at least a dozen fantastic tales that speak of who they were, who they are, and how they got here. I write this entry to record the facts while it is fresh in my mind.

    Before the year zero AWR, there was a loose confederation of individuals who adventured together. While history often calls them heroes, the reality is they were a bunch of misfits, oddballs, and criminals who managed to form a common cause.

    Initially, that cause was adventuring for fun and profit. Assuming you do not get killed, adventuring can be “fun” (depending on how one defines “fun”), and can pay extremely well. This loose group, that numbered roughly fifteen to eighteen people, did well. A few died in the course of events, but, well, adventuring can be very dangerous. If there is a large chunk of coin and valuable objects laying around, it stands to reason that something nasty owns or guards it. Overall, this group did well enough.

    In 7918 ASNK (After the Sack of the Northern Kingdoms, the calendar in use before AWR), the mage Susafras was tasked by his god, Patah, to find and retrieve the Rod of Seven Parts. A war between the gods was brewing and Patah needed the Rod to control and limit the damage. In the original wars of Rendelshod, roughly half the gods were slain.

    So Susafras and Company, including my great great and then some grandparents Thorin and Meselda (of no clan at that time) and their son Baldor, fought their way across seven worlds in the multiverse, finding each segment of the Rod and collecting them. Their final stop, after two years of travel, was the Castle Rendelshod, located in the northern part of the Grav-Lach Mountains. The castle had been abandoned since (literally) the year zero ASNK, a bit short of eight thousand years. From the day the Lords of Rendelshod faced the demon lord Jxtl and lost, no one had held the castle for more than two years, often much less.

    This oddly matched company collected all the pieces of the Rod, and Susafras turned it over to Patah, who used the Rod to knock heads, kill a few gods who refused to stop, and squashed the war. Then Patah broke the Rod into its components and scattered it back across the multiverse. The artifact was too dangerous even for a god to keep.

    Some items are like that, and Patah was wise to recognize that.

    In the aftermath, Susafras and his friends decided they liked the Castle Rendelshod, so they killed or drove out all the monsters inside. THAT tale is a story for another day.

    Thorin located clanless dwarves to do repair work on the castle, although for a edifice that had stood vacant for nearly eight thousand years, it was in amazingly great condition. The group named themselves the Council of Rendelshod, in honor of the Lords who had led Trivana so many millennia ago, and continued their work of protecting Trivana from external enemies.

    From a bunch of misfits, oddballs, and criminals they forged themselves into the most prominent fighting force in Trivana. They found a purpose to believe in, and became the protectors of Trivana.

    Finding the Cleaver

    A few years later, an exploring group from the Council found Teroip Stemtarp’s Cleaver in a crypt beneath a neighboring peak, within ten miles of the castle. A skeleton warrior appeared, wanting the blade. For reasons no one mentions, Susafras gave it the sword, and the creature promptly vanished, apparently teleporting.

    A few weeks later they checked the crypt deep beneath Rendelshod, and found the skeleton warrior on one of eighteen stone biers, the sword held to his chest. It was protected by magical forces, so none could touch it.

    The Council had explored the caverns beneath their castle and had found the crypt, but at that time had no idea regarding their origin. The fact that there were eighteen led to speculation regarding the Lords of Rendelshod, but they could discover no historical documents that described the biers.

    During the following two months, more and more skeleton warriors appeared on the remaining seventeen biers, until all eighteen were assembled. When the last appeared, they arose and traveled via gate to Jxtl’s demesne. The skeleton warriors, the cursed revenants that had been the Lords of Rendelshod, completed the task that led to their curse.

    Jxtl made a fatal mistake – he produced an enemy his forces could not withstand. In his effort to ensure the Lords suffered for eternity, he made them incredibly powerful and all but impossible to destroy. He counted on his curse, that Stemtarp’s blade must be found first, to protect him, as he kept that blade when he scattered the others. He did not count on an adventuring thief stealing the blade from his treasure room, just a few short centuries later. Still, his curse was strong enough that it took Stemtarp eight thousand years to find his Cleaver. Long, but not eternal.

    The Lords slaughtered Jxtl’s forces and destroyed his mortal form. The surviving thirteen Lords collected the Cleavers of their fallen comrades, and traveled back to the crypt below the Castle Rendelshod. With Jxtl dead, at least temporarily, his curse ended and they re-attained their mortal bodies.

    The Lords deeded the Castle to the Council, although some did so grudgingly. They moved west, earning lands in Pahkia on the west coast. After Stemtarp was killed in battle, relations between the Lords, now called the Knights of Polaxis, and the Council deteriorated. This is detailed in other journal entries and I will not expand upon it here.

    Disappearance of the Council

    During the following sixty years, the Council continued to expand their name with deed after deed. They made enemies in the process, and were constantly on guard against attack.

    Thorin was, oddly, in the habit of sometimes traveling on his own. Regardless of his tight connections to his family and comrades within the Council, he maintained a sense of being a loner, something established in his childhood and one that diminished but never left him.

    In 60 AWR Thorin disappeared and could not be found. No form of scrying magic could locate him, nor did contact with higher forces reveal anything regarding his whereabouts or condition. Most believed him dead.

    In 62 AWR, Thorin’s Horn rang in the Castle Rendelshod.

    Meselda had enchanted a horn for Thorin, one tied to his blood. Only he could invoke the magic of the horn and he could not be coerced or charmed into blowing it.

    The horn opened a gate between Thorin’s location and the courtyard of the Castle, and sounded an alarm.

    The available Council members quickly assembled and went to Thorin’s aid, stepping through the gate, which vanished after the last passed through.

    Hours, days, weeks, and eventually months passed. The Council did not return. Eventually, they too were believed dead.

    The Knights of Polaxis grew bold and approached the Castle with a large force. The remaining Council members, including the wizards Muur and Jed Vorta, realized they could not hold the Castle, so they evacuated their people though the caverns beneath the castle.

    The Knights found a fully populated Castle and immediately laid siege. After two weeks and the loss of hundreds of men, they successfully scaled the outer wall and entered the courtyard.

    They found nothing. The Castle was deserted. The fights to scale the wall had been against very clever, very powerful illusions, augmented with equally powerful magical traps. The attackers scaled the walls only when the magic powering those traps was expended.

    Searching the Castle proved equally dangerous – magical traps abounded, and the caverns beneath the castle were filled with hostile life. A message sent back to Pahkia stated they lost five hundred men scaling the walls, and another two hundred searching the castle, and that the passage to the caverns was now blocked and guarded.

    The Knights in charge chose to keep the Castle, installing one of their number as the baron. However, this effort was abandoned less than two years later, as the inhabitants were too terrified to stay.

    Terrified of what? Accidents. Any time an action might result in an accident, it did result in an accident. Ladders slipped while being climbed, walkers got clumsy and fell down steps – unnecessary and unlikely accidents happened, regardless of precautions taken. Spell casters scanned the castle – there were no curses of any sort in place. No hidden creatures were found. Nothing. All appeared normal, except the frequency of accidents.

    After a year of this, the craftsmen and servants started deserting, too terrified of the “cursed” castle to stay. Six months later the baron gave up as he had too few servants remaining, and no craftsmen at all.

    Cementing the belief in the curse of the castle – while exiting the gate the last time the baron’s well trained warhorse threw him, breaking his back and leaving him crippled.

    Over the centuries, other groups tried to inhabit the castle, and all fell prey to “the curse”.

    The journals of Muur and Jed Vorta say nothing of any cursing they may have done. Jed Vorta specifically noted that he heard of the curse and had no idea where it came from, as neither he nor Muur did anything. He suspected there was no curse, just a few coincidences built up in the minds of the inhabitants.

    The current Council is positive their members who remained behind when Thorin’s horn blew did nothing. There is no evidence of any curse.

    I write this in my room at the Castle Rendelshod, my home the last four years. We have suffered no such problems or dangers. It may be that the Castle was waiting for its rightful inhabitants to return.

    Aftermath

    Who blew the horn that caused the Council to disappear?

    That would be me, although at the time I had no expectation that I would summon the Council, nor that I could summon the Council.

    In 1439 AWR, I led the companions who sought the Carnith Stone. During that quest, we passed by a Tower of Filhaze. These towers were created by the Archmage Filhaze to collect adventurers to clean up his worst mess. He was a tinkerer, always trying to create new and better life forms. Unfortunately, “new and better” rarely meant “peaceful” or “benign”.

    In his home world, he created a terrible beast called The Ribine. This huge beast, supposedly over one hundred feet tall, ravaged the land, slept for centuries, then awoke to do it again. He could not destroy it. So he created towers in many worlds as tests to weed out the unfit. Reaching the top level of the tower took determination, brawn, magic, and intelligence. Most failed, either dying or leaving before reaching the goal.

    The prize for reaching the top level of a tower? The surviving adventurers were catapulted through space to Filhaze’s homeland and forward in time to the next awakening of The Ribine. An untold number of would-be heroes died trying to defeat the Ribine.

    However, when the beast was finally slain by the levente Avatar, the magic of the towers faded, and they became normal structures.

    During his travels, Thorin took refuge in one of Filhaze’s towers to escape a superior enemy force, and was sent forward in time nearly fourteen hundred years. We found no explanation for this, as the magic of the towers sent the “victims” forward to the next awakening of The Ribine, which was less than a few centuries, and always to Filhaze’s homeland. Thorin remained in the same tower, and had no idea he had traveled in time until he exited to find himself in a pitched battle.

    A Knight of Polaxis learned from an augury that an enemy would appear from that tower, and he had a company ready to destroy whatever came out of the tower. Assuming we were part of whatever enemy was going to appear, he attacked us.

    The battle did not go the way the Knight envisioned. Thorin appeared from the Tower shortly after fighting commenced. Recognizing the standard of a Knight of Polaxis, he joined our side as it was against the Knight’s forces. The result was that he killed another Knight, broke another Cleaver, and joined our company. He was a great addition to our quest and his presence helped ensure our success.

    At the conclusion of our quest, Thorin was believed killed when the Carnith Stone was “bounced” to a new location.

    Prior to that, Thorin gave me his horn, which he had never used. With the Council long dead, he did not know what it would do if I blew it. We could not be certain it would do anything for anyone except him, although his wife was unsure if their son could invoke the magic. In any case, he told me to use it as a symbol to rebuild a new Council.

    I later did exactly that – form a new Council. We cleared the Castle Rendelshod of monsters, and shortly thereafter were besieged by a goblinoid army. It was clear the castle would fall – we had taken ugly casualties and had too few numbers to hold the goblinoids off indefinitely. At that time I doubted any of the defenders would be alive by nightfall.

    Being desperate with nothing to lose, I blew the horn. I am Thorin’s descendent along several bloodlines, so I hoped that it would raise the alarm that it was supposed to do. Our defenders were warned and I had hopes that the noise would at least delay the attackers while we evacuated our people into the caverns below the castle. Optimistically I hoped the alarm would scare them off long enough for us to escape.

    So I blew the horn.

    Nothing happened. No alarm was raised.

    However, within a minute a light appeared on the bridge between the central and north towers – in that light appeared a small group of people – dwarves, humans, elves, half-elves, and a halfling. Initially they looked surprised, but recovered and set upon our attackers with more destructive magic than I thought possible. The invaders were swept from the walls and in the course of another minute, twenty percent of the entire goblinoid army was dead or dying. The routed remnants fled in panic, killing more of their own numbers in their stampede.

    Our saviors? The Council of Rendelshod.

    When I blew the horn, it sounded the alarm – in the distant past. The gate opened not between places, but between times.

    Meselda, Susafras, Paprazzi, and Edine conducted many tests, but could find no reason the horn functioned as it did. Enchantment of an item that could open a gate between times was beyond Meselda’s abilities when she enchanted it. She and Susafras are unsure if either could successfully impose such an enchantment today.

    Six months later Thorin was reunited with his family and companions, as he and Bel the woolabu escaped the explosion surrounding the Carnith Stone by traveling to another plane. It took him several years to make his way back to Trivana.

    We have discussed it numerous times, and the one possibility is that passage through the Tower of Filhaze altered the horn. We do not expect we will ever determine an exact answer.

  • Gendin’s Journal – The Carnith Stone

    updated 01/10/2025

    a page from the journal of Gendin,
    son of Arissa and Temone
    of the dwarven Clan Gilderlo

    Author’s note: Continents such as Trivana are considered “worlds” by their inhabitants, while the entire world is referred to simply as GeKeb. The point of view of Gendin is limited by his people’s concept of the term “world”, and his understanding of what GeKeb is.

    The Carnith Stone

    December, 1500 AWR

    Several times in my journal I have mentioned the Carnith Stone and my quest to find it. This is a good time to explain what this is.

    The Carnith Stone is an entity of Elemental Chaos. Various legends claim the Stone either existed before the creation of the multiverse or was created at the same time. Either or neither may be correct.

    The Stone is a block of unique, variegated green mineral about seven feet long, three feet wide, and three feet high. It is not a true rectangle, having wavy edges that are somehow disturbing to the eye, although those who have viewed the Stone cannot explain why. It glows with a randomly pulsing inner light that sheds no illumination and is equally disturbing to those who view it.

    Elemental Chaos

    Before continuing, I must comment on Elemental Chaos. Among the ethos of our world are Law, Neutrality, and Chaos. Intentionally or not, all intelligent creatures subscribe to one of these.

    Elemental Law and Chaos are beyond mere ethos – sages theorize that when the multiverse was formed, regardless of its origin, the first two forces were in opposition: Creation and Entropy. Creation’s focus was the building of things, of growth and expansion. Entropy’s focus was the return of the multiverse to a static, unmoving state. In direct conflict with each other’s fundamental goal, these two powers have battled since the very beginning of time. Possibly even before then.

    Our name for creation is Elemental Law and our name for entropy is Elemental Chaos. The Carnith Stone is entropy, destruction.

    Commanding the Stone

    Any intelligent being possessing sufficient force of will can attempt to command the Stone.

    Those who try to command the Stone and fail? The fortunate ones die in the attempt. The less fortunate are driven mad by the Stone, and exhibit any of a wide variety of symptoms ranging from feeblemind to homicidal rage.

    Those that succeed may cause the Stone to manifest various abilities – the most famous is the ability to create a barrier between the plane it is on and all other planes. This greatly reduces available magical energy that is produced by the friction between planes.

    Clerics within the field, which may cover tens of thousands of square miles, discover they have no contact with their deities. Spells beyond the 2nd rank may not be regained. Wizards discover that spells memorized before the shield is exacted work as expected, but all spells memorized while within the shield function at half their normal efficacy.

    The shield also prevents the spirits of the dead from moving on and empowers malevolent spirits greater facility to possess dead bodies and animate them. The recent dead often rise with a malevolent spirit animating them. These animated corpses will be under the control of the one commanding the Stone – if he/she/it has sufficient will power to command it, otherwise they are uncontrolled and uninhibited in their actions. The only safe way to deal with the dead is to burn or otherwise destroy the body, although that is a common practice in most cultures, anyway. If the shield is enacted when the commanding creature dies, the shield ceases to exist.

    Those who successfully command the Stone eventually succumb to madness, becoming paranoid and suffering from delusions of grandeur. They become more and more suspicious of everyone around them and react wildly to any suggestion that the Stone is a danger. Eventually they destroy all around them, friend and foe alike. Some have killed or driven away all others, then died of starvation as they would not leave the Stone, not even to preserve their own life.

    The Carnith Stone is inimical to all living beings. Lawful creatures coming within a hundred feet or so of the Stone are driven insane, often in a matter of minutes, and flee until collapsing in exhaustion. Neutral beings suffer an identical fate, although it may take hours of exposure instead of minutes. Chaotic beings may be driven insane, much as Neutral beings are. The only way to prevent the madness is to move away from the Stone.

    Chaotic and some Neutral beings that remain in proximity to the Stone become attracted to it. The longer they remain near it, the harder it is to break free. Eventually they attempt to command it. If they have sufficient force of will, they succeed and gain tremendous power until it demolishes them. Those that command the Stone must constantly maintain their will, else the Stone consumes them with madness. Each time they command it, it fights back, seeking to consume them. History indicates that all are eventually ruined by the Stone.

    If it seems I repeat myself too much with that last statement, believe me, I have not. None who have even attempted to command the Stone have fared well.

    Legend says the Stone cannot be destroyed. When a tremendous force is inflicted upon it, the Stone “explodes” with tremendous force, destroying everything within a mile, leaving a deep crater in the earth. Debris rains down in the surrounding area, inflicting horrendous damage to all creatures within as much as a mile of the crater.

    Centuries or eons later the Stone reforms in a different place and waits until some unfortunate being finds it and tries to command it. Records indicate that the Stone has never formed on any of the Outer Planes, not even the chaotic ones. It typically forms on a Prime Material Plane and has been reported to have formed on an Elemental Plane.

    Is the Stone intelligent? This is unknown. Some victims have acted as if they were controlled by a foreign intelligence, but this may simply be a symptom of their madness.

    The Last Sighting of the Carnith Stone

    In the year 1439 AWR, the exiled demon lordling Orusula found the Carnith Stone in a cavern deep under Mount Raimei in Trivana as he sought to escape pursuers sent by the demon lord Jxtl. [Orusula had instigated ill-advised movements against Jxtl and was forced to flee for his life.]

    Orusula successfully commanded the Stone and used its powers to destroy his pursuers. Over the following year he attracted diverse followers and at last succeeded in blocking the world of Trivana from the multiverse.

    A band led by myself successfully fought their way through the tunnels to the Carnith Stone. Three members of the band – the Archmage Livianus, my grandfather Thorin, and the woolabu Bel – held the cavern while the others, including the elven queen Leannah, escaped. They felt they could prevent the demon from re-taking possession of the Stone for a while, and there was no need for all to die. They made no promises regarding how long they could hold, and told us to run.

    When overwhelming demonic reinforcements including Orusula arrived to re-take control of the Stone, Livianus screamed out the Word of Unbinding and sundered his staff across the Stone. The resulting explosion blew the top off the third highest peak of Mount Raimei and devastated an area ten miles in diameter. [Scrying by the Archmage Susafras revealed the end of that tale. At the time we knew they succeeded but knew no details.]

    Livianus and the demonic forces were killed in the blast. Bel, whose mental powers exceed those of the strongest illithids, channeled power from the blast to escape across the planes, carrying Thorin with him. Their unexpected survival was unknown for several years until the duo made their way back to Trivana.

    The Carnith Chalice

    This object of Elemental Chaos appears to be made of the same material as the Carnith Stone – it is an unknown, variegated green mineral that pulses sickly with an inner light. The Chalice stands about a foot tall, and its globular bowl holds about a pint of liquid.

    [While I viewed the Carnith Stone for a few minutes, at a distance, I have not seen the Chalice myself and am using descriptions from those that have.]

    This artifact is believed to be carved from a fragment of the legendary Carnith Stone, a relic of Elemental Chaos. How this is so remains open to conjecture as the Carnith Stone is believed to be indestructible, and the history of the Chalice indicates it also is indestructible. Others believe that the Chalice was carved from a larger piece from which the Carnith Stone was formed.

    The material of the Chalice pulses irregularly with an inner light which creatures of normal (human) vision perceive as a sickly green. The pulsations make mortal creatures nauseous. Mortal creatures within thirty feet of the chalice often feel sickly, an effect that may last more than ten minutes after leaving the vicinity of the Chalice. Prolonged exposure eventually sickens all creatures, and Lawful creatures succumb much quicker than Chaotic.

    Touching the Chalice has its dangers. Chaotic creatures find it uncomfortably hot the first time they touch it; apparently subsequent handling does not affect them as much. Neutral creatures suffer mind burns with each touch, while Lawful beings suffer severe burns.

    Any beverage poured into the Chalice and then drunk alters the imbiber, imbuing them with facets of Elemental Chaos. Imbibers may grow physically stronger and larger, may become quicker in reaction, and may grow additional limbs including tentacles. Or it may kill them, their guts devoured by the altered beverage.

    Subsequent drinks from the Chalice change the imbiber more and more radically. After three or four drinks, arms and legs transform into tentacles, all of which may be used for movement or attack. Small tentacles grow from the face, and these are horrible, as the transformed creature will use them to bore into a victim’s head, pulling their brain out to be consumed.

    Possession of Chalice eventually destroys the holder. As with all objects of Elemental Chaos, mortal creatures are eventually driven insane.

    It is believed the Chalice is like its namesake and cannot be destroyed.

    Update AWR 1499

    The adventuring band known variously as “The Company from Kerr” and “The Reavers”, encountered the Carnith Chalice in a world call Shahrivar. Jake, grandson of Marissa and Trajan, of the Clan Gilderlo, hit it with the second Sword of Cieldren. The event occurred deep below the last bastion of the clerics of the Nameless one, and the resulting explosion blew upwards. The keep was completely shattered, and the debris rained down upon a nearby goblinoid city, inflicting massive damage and casualties.

    The Reavers were shielded from the explosion and were unharmed, although this cemented their place in the folklore of all goblinoid tribes of Shahrivar. Goblinoid mothers will use the name “Reavers” to threaten their children into obedience for centuries to come.

    It is not known if the Sword of Cieldren destroyed the Chalice completely, or if it will reform as the Carnith Stone does.

  • Gendin’s Journal – Knights of Polaxis

    updated 01/10/2025

    a page from the journal of Gendin,
    son of Arissa and Temone
    of the dwarven Clan Gilderlo

    Author’s note: Continents such as Trivana are considered “worlds” by their inhabitants, while the entire world is referred to simply as GeKeb. The point of view of Gendin is limited by his people’s concept of the term “world”, and his understanding of what GeKeb is.

    The Knights of Polaxis

    November, 1500 AWR

    While the history of the Lords of Rendelshod is muddled and convoluted, the history of the Knights of Polaxis is very well defined.

    Note that while I verified using other sources, the majority of my information comes directly from Thorin, husband of Meselda of the Clan Gilderlo, Meselda herself, the Archmage Susafras, his wife the High Cleric Paprazzi, and the Masterbard Edine. All have different points of view, but all experienced the fighting between the Council of Rendelshod and the Knights of Polaxis, and the accounts are quite similar when allowing for the different viewpoints.

    The short tale:

    The demon Lord Jxtl had the Lords’ goddess Epixenie killed, sparking the first Wars of Rendelshod. Nineteen years later the Lords of Rendelshod assembled and traveled to Jxtl’s home to kill him. They lost, were transformed into undead warriors, and scattered across Trivana as were their fabled weapons, the greatswords called Cleavers. Eight thousand years later the Council of Rendelshod recovered Teroip Stemtarp’s Cleaver and gave it to him (it?), and shortly thereafter the other Lords recovered their weapons. The Lords assembled in a crypt beneath the Castle Rendelshod, traveled to Jxtl’s home, and killed him. [Unfortunately they killed his mortal form, so he reformed a new body a century later.]

    The surviving thirteen Lords traveled back to the crypt where they regained their mortal bodies. They ceded the Castle to the Council of Rendelshod and acquired castles in the Pahkian lands along the west coast. During this time they found a new god, the demi-god Polaxis, and renamed themselves the Knights of Polaxis.

    A few years later they opened a feud with the Council, which lasted until the Council disappeared nearly sixty years later.

    When the Council reappeared nearly fourteen hundred years later, the current Knights re-ignited the ancient feud, which is continuing to this day.

    The long story is a bit more confusing because of all the details.

    When the thirteen surviving Lords of Rendelshod returned to Trivana from defeating the demon lord Jxtl, they regained their mortal form. Their torment of existing for eons as undead warriors was ended.

    In hindsight, it appears that few learned anything from their torment. Epixenie died because of her arrogance and overconfidence – Jxtl’s tricks caused her to put herself in a position where his forces killed her. Jxtl defeated the Lords for the same exact reason – their arrogance and overconfidence in attacking him in his demesne.

    Sadly, their eight millennia spent as undead did not cured them of that affliction.

    Teroip Stemtarp, the senior lord at the conclusion of the original Wars of Rendelshod, was out of step with his peers. He was more introspective and lacked the arrogance that marred his fellow lords. Yet he gave in to pressure and led them on their ill-fated attack upon Jxtl, an event that ended the first wars of Rendelshod.

    A point of interest is that Teroip was the only Lord who was in position prior to the war. All seventeen of his peers were killed in combat and replaced. Of the initial replacements, only two survived to join the ill-fated assault upon Jxtl. Teroip was thirty years older than the eldest of these Lords, and had known peace, whereas his fellows had not.

    Side note: with the Lords’ defeat and cursing at Jxtl’s hands, it is reasonable to expect that Jxtl’s side would go on the offensive. However, something happened and hostilities ended with a whimper, not a bang. I can find no answer to why the wars ended as they did. The following centuries were a dark time for mortal creature in Trivana and records are incomplete. None of the gods speak of it.

    Another side note: at the time the Lords regained their mortal form, they had to learn modern languages, as their language, Cantonnar, had been dead for millennia. During their time, all humans in Trivana spoke a single language. In the millennia since then, the language morphed in multiple directions, so there are at least five main human languages with which I am familiar, and several dozen dialects.

    In Cantonnar, a “p” at the end of a name is silent, so Stemtarp’s name is pronounced “tear-roy stem-tar”. Apparently scholars who studied what for them was a dead language had not known this. At least one scholar took Stemtarp to task for not speaking Cantonnar correctly. Thorin very much enjoyed repeating this story to me.

    Back to the main account:

    Following their defeat of Jxtl, when the Lords re-assembled in the crypt beneath the Castle Rendelshod, most wanted to oust the Council of Rendelshod. Some wanted to punish the Council for daring to use the name Rendelshod.

    Stemtarp’s force of will was strong. At age seventy-one, he had been the senior lord for over forty years. He gained that position through charisma, force of will, intelligence, and solid judgment. At his advanced age, he still held the respect of his nominal peers, and persuaded them that the Council was their ally, not their enemy or rival, and that the Council had honored the name and made it something proud again. There were a few holdouts, but he ground them under his boot by reminding all that they had not done their best by their own illustrious name.

    A year later the Lords assumed control of numerous keeps in the Pahkian lands – nothing all that surprising given the fractious nature of Pahkians. Relations with the Council were sporadic, but cordial.

    Oddly enough, Thorin and Stemtarp became friends. Thorin and other Council members visited Stemtarp’s new home several time. Distances that most would consider daunting are not for those mounted on hippogriffs. During long conversations Thorin learned much of the history of the Lords in general, and Stemtarp specifically. They also discussed the formation of the Knights under the demi-god Polaxis.

    Two years later Stemtarp was killed in battle. Years later, evidence pieced together indicated it was a setup. Stemtarp was ambushed and murdered by his own companions, the other Knights.

    Gravon Mendor became the senior lord. He was the eldest behind Stemtarp, and even then was forty years younger. The Wars of Rendelshod had taken a hard toll on the Lords. Far too many died and in some years a Cleaver (their famous weapon) was carried by three different men in turn.

    With Mendor’s ascension to leadership, the cordial relations with the Council ended abruptly. He wanted the Castle Rendelshod for himself and had been the chief holdout against peaceful relations with the Council. The Council’s position was the castle had been abandoned for 8,000 years, they had retaken it and cleared all monsters out, and besides – the Knights had agreed to the Council keeping it.

    Mendor started with subtle attacks, then went full frontal when his forces captured Baerden, Thorin’s brother. They tortured him to death and arrogantly dumped his body in front of Rendelshod.

    Mendor himself led a force of five hundred experienced soldiers to the gates of the Castle Rendelshod. They rudely dumped Baerden’s body in front of the gate, turned, and rode away.

    Susafras told me they had to magically stun Thorin. In his enraged state he would have taken on the entire enemy force.

    When we awoke and calmed down, the Council planned their retaliation and coldly executed the plan.

    The Knights had faced hordes of demons – it did not prepare their force of over five hundred soldiers to face retaliation from the Council. Fourteen members of the Council killed all but one of the Knights’ force. Mendor, who had faced hordes of demons both in Trivana and in the Abyss, fell before Thorin’s enchanted blade. In his rage he shattered Mendor’s Cleaver, a sword that had been held by more then 5,000 years of Lords.

    Yet another side note: Thorin carries a weapon called the “Force Weapon”. Deactivated, it is a hollow tube of light but incredibly hard metal, one inch in diameter by a foot long. When activated the tube becomes a hilt and a three foot long blade of black energy extends from one end. The black is so black it glows, giving an unwholesome appearance. This is not like a Rod of Force, where the blade is magical energy. This blade is solid and can be touched, like it was steel. But it is cold, enough to burn fingers, and it is magically sharp. Ancient fragmented legends mention such a weapon, but no origin is known. It predates dwarven history, which is the oldest known history. Regardless of its origin, the force weapon was constructed of sterner material than the Cleaver.

    Exactly one survivor, a junior officer, was allowed to live. He carried the shards of Mendor’s Cleaver and a message to the remaining Knights – the Council considered the matter closed. Mendor died for his sin, and the Council would take no further revenge.

    But the Knights wore arrogance as if it was their birthright. They declared war on the Council.

    During the following fifty-plus years, Thorin personally killed seventeen Knights, and destroyed six more Cleavers. The other Council members killed another nine Knights. But the line of replacement Knights was long. There were always more arrogant men willing to risk death to attain such a notable title.

    Thorin disappeared and two years later the majority of the Council did as well. All assumed them dead.

    The few remaining Council members abandoned the castle, and the Knights took it. They held it less than a year before abandoning it when several goblinoid bands settled in the area and made it too difficult to keep. In the succeeding fourteen hundred years, no one held the castle for more than two years. The reasons are legion, but the end result was that no one could keep the Castle Rendelshod. That, too, is a topic for another day.

    Eventually the Knights retreated to the Pahkian kingdoms, where to this day they hold sway over nearly half of the land. Pahkia is a land of conflict, and it seems to suit the Knights.

    When Thorin re-appeared from the past during my quest to find the Carnith Stone, his passage was blocked by a Knight of Polaxis and his forces. My esteemed grandfather (and then some) was in our time less than five minutes before he slew another Knight and destroyed an eighth Cleaver.

    When the remaining Knights learned of the Council’s return, they re-ignited a feud that should have ended fourteen hundred years ago. They immediately sent an expeditionary force to take the Castle Rendelshod. The Council met that force two days ride from the castle and inflicted heavy casualties, including the death of two more Knights. Thorin increased his tally to nine Cleavers destroyed.

    I try to remain outside of the conflict, but in this case it is all but impossible. The Knights are fools who re-ignited a dead feud and took on a war they cannot win. Of the eighteen Knights, nine carry the Cleavers created by Epixenie, and nine carry inferior blades produced by Polaxis.

    They remind me of a dog that tangles with a porcupine this week, a skunk the next, and another porcupine the third week – never learning anything from his experiences.

    As Ron of the House of White is fond of saying, “Stupidity cannot be fixed.” The Knights are living proof of this truism. In the four years since Thorin came to our time, he has broken two Cleavers. The Knights continue the fight, and at this point Thorin’s opinion is “nine down, nine to go”. My great great and then some grandfather sometimes seems like a force of nature. The Knights will not win.

  • Gendin’s Journal – The Lords of Rendelshod

    updated 01/10/2025

    a page from the journal of Gendin,
    son of Arissa and Temone
    of the dwarven Clan Gilderlo

    Author’s note: Continents such as Trivana are considered “worlds” by their inhabitants, while the entire world is referred to simply as GeKeb. The point of view of Gendin is limited by his people’s concept of the term “world”, and his understanding of what GeKeb is.

    The Lords of Rendelshod

    October, 1500 AWR

    The Lords of Rendelshod are difficult to discuss.

    Not from an emotional point of view – from a factual point of view.

    I have located dozens of records that were supposedly written by Galafid, the advisor to Teroip Stemtarp, who was the last senior Lord of Rendelshod. Galafid survived the Wars of Rendelshod, but reportedly died less than year later.

    At best half of the accounts I located were written by Galafid, the remainder by pretenders. A careful examination of the writing style identified the real from the fake. In addition, I have located over a dozen records attributed to other scholars where it appears that Galafid was the author. Most of these were dated between 200 AWR and 800 AWR.

    Which begs the question: who – or what – was Galafid?

    I am not going into this now, as Galafid is a topic all of his own. Regardless, my research has taken several decades of research. Making it more difficult, the events described occurred more than 9,000 years before my birth.

    The Lords of Rendelshod ruled Trivana for nearly 5,000 years – that is 100 dwarven generations, and over 250 human generations. At the time the Lords were destroyed, no race could claim knowledge of a time before the Lords ruled Trivana, not my own nor the elves.

    I am getting ahead of myself. The Lords were not the day-to-day rulers of Trivana. There were dozens, maybe hundreds of kingdoms across the world, each that ruled itself. But the Lords protected Trivana from exterior threats, and in subtle (and not so subtle) ways exerted their influence. When a Lord made a pronouncement, the most powerful kings listened and usually obeyed.

    Initially the Lords were representatives of many races, some of which no longer exist. As eons passed, races were excluded and in the final few centuries, the Lords were all human. As their goddess Epixenie became more rigid, the Lords followed suit.

    There is no clear picture of what conditions were during the last centuries of their rule. So much was written for and against them, it is impossible to resolve. What is clear is that Epixenie grew arrogant and prideful, and the Lords followed her in that respect.

    The demon lord Jxtl used her arrogance and pride. He tricked her into a weakened position, and killed her. Demon lords are powerful, but killing a goddess? It is almost unthinkable. That is probably why it worked.

    Her murder initiated the Wars of Rendelshod, which enflamed the multiverse. Nearly half the existing gods were slain, as well as swathes of lords of the Outer Planes.

    Note: Teroip commented once to me that he suspected that some of the senior gods of Epixenie’s pantheon were jealous of her power. He believes that one or more conspired with Jxtl to destroy her. He finds it just that each of the gods he suspects died during the war, some at the hands (or claws) of demon lords and their ilk.

    The post-war Trivana was badly battered. The Kirik Mountains that run the full length of the northern shore of Trivana have no peaks higher than 1,700 meters. Formerly, a few peaks were over 7,000 meters. The ancestral home of the dwarves and gnomes were crushed. The forests of Lepadillia, the heart of the Elves as Galafid called it, was flattened and burned. Less than thirty percent of the dwarves or elves survived the war to move on and find new homes.

    Saracind, a nest of demon worshipers, was also destroyed. It is well fortified location is now known as the Plateau of Death. None who venture there return. That is not just tales – I have researched it for nearly three decades, and no expedition that made its way onto the plateau has returned.

    A tidal wave of sand buried the cities of Rharhiky. From all accounts, they died too easily. Regardless, the Great Sandy Waste as that desert is named, still exists. Periodically stories surface of travelers finding ancient cities uncovered by the winds, then later recovered.

    I claimed I would not be sidetracked, yet I was.

    In the nineteenth year of the war, the Lords assembled at the Castle Rendelshod, the last keep of the Lords of Rendelshod still standing. From there they traveled through a gate to Jxtl’s domain. Their intention was to slay him, so that no matter what happened, Jxtl would not profit.

    Remember that I said the Lords were arrogant? My realization from all my research is they define the word.

    Regardless of Galafid’s lofty prose, the Lords lost. Jxtl killed all eighteen, then cursed them to undeath. He took their Cleavers, the greatswords each carried, and scattered all but one across Trivana. His doom stated that they would not recover their blades until Teroip Stemtarp’s blade was recovered. He kept Stemtarp’s so they would suffer an unending doom.

    Jxtl was, at best, a fool. His own arrogance defined his doom, much as Epixenie’s arrogance led to her own. A mere few centuries later a half-elven thief dared to raid Jxtl’s treasure room and stole that fateful blade. He managed to lose it before demons caught him and meted their version of justice on him. But the die was cast – 8,000 years later Stemtarp recovered his blade, and in short order the other seventeen recovered theirs. Once all were assembled, they set out to destroy Jxtl.

    It is possible that Jxtl was the greatest (if that is the correct adjective) idiot in the history of GeKeb. First, he transformed the Lords into the most powerful undead warriors in existence. He planned for them to survive for eternity to suffer their fate, so he could revel in it for eons.

    Lesson 1? Never create anything so powerful that you cannot defeat it.

    Lesson 2? Never spend time gloating when that time could be used to eliminate your enemies. Gloating over an enemy’s grave is far wiser than gloating over their living (or undead) body.

    Lesson 3? Never believe that you are infallible. Jxtl firmly believed that Stemtarp’s blade would remain in his possession and their doom was without end.

    The Lords slew Jxtl’s mortal form, and the thirteen survivors returned to Trivana and were made mortal again.

    Some of the Lords wanted to wage war on the Council of Rendelshod, as the Council used the Lord’s name. Rendelshod was their name, and no upstarts should use it.

    Stemtarp still led, and he stopped them. The Council had aided the Lords and redeemed the name, so he let them have it. Besides, the Lords had not used it in 8,000 years.

    The Lords became the Knights of Polaxis, finding a new demi-god and intending to continue their work.

    Sadly, Stemtarp fell in battle three years after defeating Jxtl. When returning to mortal form he was at the age he was when made undead, in his early 70’s. Instead of retiring, he worked to keep the Knights on the path he had established. There is strong evidence that his fall was murder, as the younger knights wanted him out of the way. Without Stemtarp in the way, the Knights tried to make war on the Council of Rendelshod. That, too, is a story for another day.

    Permanently killing a demon lord is far from easy. To do that, the creature must die at their place of power (which will be described in the future). Otherwise the creature’s essence returns to their place of power, and reconstitutes itself.

    Nearly 1,400 years later Jxtl had rebuilt his power and was up to his old tricks. He failed to learn important lessons from his losses, so he not only repeated them, he made worse mistakes. I traveled with the Council of Rendelshod to face Jxtl again, and this time my blade killed him permanently.

    Other gods fear Cieldren, my god, but not because of his strength. He is often called “the defenseless one” as he has no martial skills. He is feared because his Champions are all potential god slayers. In that respect, most gods are wiser than Jxtl was.

    Note: In the language of the Lords of Rendelshod, the letter p at the end of a word is silent. Teroip Stemtarp is pronounced “tear roy stem tar”. For all their wonders, humans make some amazingly strange choices.

  • Gendin’s Journal – Thorin of the Clan Gilderlo

    updated 01/10/2025

    a page from the journal of Gendin,
    son of Arissa and Temone
    of the dwarven Clan Gilderlo

    Author’s note: Continents such as Trivana are considered “worlds” by their inhabitants, while the entire world is referred to simply as GeKeb. The point of view of Gendin is limited by his people’s concept of the term “world”, and his understanding of what GeKeb is.

    Thorin of the Clan Gilderlo

    September, 1500 AWR

    Explaining who my great great and then some grandfather was – this is extremely difficult. Some say I am complicated and difficult to understand. If that is so, Thorin, husband of Meselda, founder of the Clan Gilderlo, founding member of the Council of Rendelshod, was so much more. His childhood and young adult life explain much, although most cannot comprehend, any more than most can understand my upbringing.

    Thorin was born in the city of Agodendron on the world Trent Armon. He and his younger brother were abandoned on the streets by their parents, who were petty criminals. The parents had run afoul of a local gang lord and left their children on the street as a distraction while they fled. Assassins who watched the children play assumed the parents were inside the boarding house. As evening approached, the children looked for their parents and could not find them, as they had fled the city.

    Obviously, the parents were not clan dwarves, as it is absolutely impossible for a clan dwarf to give up their children.

    Thorin and Baerden, aged 10 and 6, survived on the charity of neighbors for a number of weeks. For humans reading this, understand that the equivalent human ages are 5 and 3. These were babes.

    Baerden was taken in by the temple of Dionysus, where he grew up to become a cleric. Yes, it is odd for a dwarf to become cleric to a human god, but the situation was unusual.

    Thorin was taken in by Gimlock, the Assassin of Agodendron. Independent of any of the crime lords, none invoked that butchering dwarf’s ire, as those who did died shortly thereafter. I, called the Assassin of Sathea, can say with full sincerity that Gimlock was almost certainly the worst possible adult model for any child. I have not been told a reason why Gimlock took in a small child, and I doubt he ever told Thorin why.

    Regardless, Thorin grew up as Gimlock’s understudy. As a tween he was trained in the arts of direct combat and assassination, and as a young adult he eclipsed Gimlock as terms of skill and ferocity. The pairing made them even more feared.

    Note: dwarves are considered adult at age forty-three. Their twenties and thirties are referred to as tweens. For humans reading this, remember that until adulthood, dwarves (like elves) age at roughly half the rate of humans.

    As he approached adulthood, Thorin reunited with his brother Baerden, now a junior cleric of Dionysus.

    A series of high-profile assassinations made Agodendron too risky for even Thorin, so he and Baerden joined an adventuring band to get out of the city for a year or three. During this time they had numerous adventures, performing many amazing deeds. One item of note was that Thorin drank from an enchanted pool that caused him to sprout wings. His black wings fold tightly to his back and enable him to fly – not swift like a hawk, but with agility and stamina. To my knowledge he is the only known winged dwarf.

    At the end of this period his adventuring group destroyed a slaver band and freed the slaves. One slave was Meselda, whose race is an off-shoot of the dwarves. Her people strongly resemble dwarves but unlike their cousins, have the ability to wield magic and become wizards. Thorin was very taken with her; his feelings were reciprocated and they married shortly later and had a son, Baldor.

    Needing to support his family, he continued to adventure as it paid well. But it was risky – during a raid on a wizard’s stronghold they encountered a time gateway that flung them twenty years into the future. Thorin returned home to find his son half grown, taken care of by a mother who believed herself widowed, and by his doting brother. Following a joyful reunion, Thorin resolved to not leave his wife again.

    Note: Baerden never married, but that is normal. Humans may not know that only one quarter of all births are female, so only one-third of male dwarves marry. The remainder build fulfilling careers and are often the doting uncle of many of their sisters’, brothers’, and close friends’ children. Humans find this strange, but the fact is that dwarves are very different from the other intelligent races.

    Meselda was apprenticed to a wizard, as she demonstrated an affinity for the arcane arts. She found success in learning wizardry, although after twenty years of training a number of fell things happened at once.

    Meselda’s master attempted to have his way with her by force. However, a well-placed knife cooled his ardor, and shortly after that his corpse cooled as well. The master was well connected in the local wizards council and several of his fellows felt the need to punish his killer. It did not matter to them that he was a letch who was long overdue for what he received. Oddly enough, in twenty years of association he had never approached Meselda before, and none know why he made that fatal mistake.

    At the same time, Baerden ran afoul of the murky politics of his temple, and needed to flee the city. All temples have their politics, and those of chaotics like Dionysus are incomprehensible.

    Gimlock took an ill-advised contract, and after he slew his target, the victim’s family sought retribution. Gimlock had enjoyed far too many years of immunity, had grown arrogant, and had failed to take necessary precautions. He fell to the blades of his victim’s family. The family was dissatisfied with just one death, and extended their retribution to all who regarded Gimlock as a friend. This plunged the underbelly of Agodendron into a hidden war.

    Looking analytically at the entire situation, Thorin called in a favor with a friendly cleric, who opened a gate to Trivana. Thorin took his wife, son, and brother with the intention that none other than the cleric would know where they had gone.

    The story of Thorin forming the Council of Rendelshod with his close friend Susafras (who later became the Archmage of Rendelshod), the famed bard Edine, and various others is a separate story – a long story. The story of Thorin forming the Clan Gilderlo from outcast and clanless dwarves is another, as is the Council of Rendelshod’s quest for the fabled Rod of Seven Parts.

    As I stated, Thorin is difficult to comprehend. At once he is a conscienceless killer, a master of the hand-and-a-half bastard sword along with virtually all hand and missile weapons known, and the deadliest soldier I know. He is also a dedicated leader of his clan, a stateman capable to negotiating critical treaties, and a man of untouchable honor. And he is a family man, a dedicated father to his children, his wife, and his extended family.

    Side Note: In a previous entry, I described how Gimlock took Gisine to Sathea following the disappearance of the Council of Rendelshod.

    Thorin acquired a wizard scroll containing Time Teleport. Of all the things he could have chosen to use it for, he had Susafras use the scroll to go back in time to prevent Gimlock’s death, bringing him forward in time when the duo returned to their home time. If Gimlock was loyal to Thorin prior to this, the act of saving his life cemented the bond, which paid off fully as Gimlock protected Gisine the best way he knew how.

  • Gendin’s Journal – Red Owl

    updated 01/10/2025

    a page from the journal of Gendin,
    son of Arissa and Temone
    of the dwarven Clan Gilderlo

    Author’s note: Continents such as Trivana are considered “worlds” by their inhabitants, while the entire world is referred to simply as GeKeb. The point of view of Gendin is limited by his people’s concept of the term “world”, and his understanding of what GeKeb is.

    Red Owl

    August, 1500 AWR

    The line of Gisine, daughter of Meselda and Thorin of the Clan Gilderlo, led Red Owl for thirteen hundred and twenty years.

    The Council of Rendelshod disappeared in 62 AWR. Thorin had gone missing two years prior, and was presumed dead. Then the alarm produced by his horn rang!

    His wife Meselda had enchanted a horn that only he could use. When he blew it, it would create a gate between his location and the courtyard of the Castle Rendelshod. Most of the Council members assembled and went through the gate to Thorin’s aid. The gate closed, and they did not return.

    Within three months the Knights of Polaxis were at the Castle, promising no quarter to all within. Muur, the one remaining mage, triggered defenses to keep the Knights out, while the entire complement of the Castle escaped through the caverns beneath the Castle. Thorin’s henchman Gimlock took young Gisine to Sathea to avoid the Knights.

    There he brutally took over a criminal organization, training Gisine to be the leader when she reached adulthood.

    Baldor, son of Meselda and Thorin, is the deadliest swordsman I have met, surpassing my own considerable skills It is not a surprise that their daughter proved equally deadly. She ruled intelligently through reason, but had a powerful blade and dagger with which to convince those that could not see reason.

    Red Owl prospered, especially during the five hundred years the five wars with the Empire of Mathailda took place. In 1139 AWR when Mathaildan forces burned half of Sathea, Red Owl used guerilla tactics to hamper the Mathaildan army enough to make them withdraw, which encouraged the leaders of the Empire to allow Red Owl to operate unhampered by official forces.

    Generally the mantle of Master passed gracefully from one generation to the next, although occasionally one seized power through coercion and violence. At other times a Master was removed by a relative because of incompetence. The fragment of the Clan Gilderlo that lived in Sathea prospered.

    In modern times, the twenty years of war with the bandit who styled himself Talon took a heavy toll on Red Owl. As a child he was called Gimper, a name he hated. This drove him to succeed, destroying his detractors and forming the Black Eagles to rival Red Owl. As an adult I called him Fundament, a name he hated more than Gimper, possibly because I called him that. I was the Assassin of Sathea, and Fundament envied me and hated me beyond the point of madness.

    Tactically, the man was genius. In the short term he out-thought most of his enemies, which made him victorious. In a matter of five years he had destroyed or ingested every criminal organization in Sathea – except Red Owl. This was no small feat, as Red Owl had been adversaries with some organizations, especially the gold elves, for centuries.

    Strategically? Fundament’s successes made him arrogant and he failed to capitalize on those successes. His arrogance and self-delusion, bolstered by lieutenants who flattered him, caused him to make grandiose plans that had no chance of succeeding. He repeatedly over-extended his forces and got too many killed. But the dead were all peons and the slums were filled with replacements who firmly believed they could succeed and survive where their brothers and cousins did not.

    All other groups gone, Fundament started the war on Red Owl in earnest. He lost greater numbers than we did, but humans are ready to fight at age thirteen; dwarves are capable but not really ready at forty. Our numbers were not replaced as quickly, and through mere attrition he was winning. During this period he managed to kill all my brothers and sisters except Milo. When he killed Arissa, my mother, I thought my father would snap a twig. I countered that with an offensive that drove Fundament out of Sathea, along with most of his forces. I followed him and allowed all to believe I had been killed, so that fool would not realize it was I who was after his blood.

    Two years later I returned to Sathea, chasing Fundament who had acquired an item of foul, eldritch power. He killed my father and very nearly my brother, but I drove him out of Sathea and slaughtered the forces he had brought with him. I chased him out of Sathea and gave him the death he earned, but that is a tale for another day.

    Milo was too young and I had no interest in assuming the mantle of Master of Red Owl. All the senior members were dead or crippled, so none were alive to vie for the position. A succession of the unworthy grasped the mantle and died for their efforts. Open fighting in the streets invoked the city guard and the local militia, and the remnants of Red Owl were killed or scattered. So ended my great great and then some grandmother’s crowning glory.

    Milo was sheltered by the Clan and later grew to become Clan Chief. That, too, is a story for another day.

  • Gendin’s Journal – Dwarven Families

    updated 01/10/2025

    a page from the journal of Gendin,
    son of Arissa and Temone
    of the dwarven Clan Gilderlo

    Author’s note: Continents such as Trivana are considered “worlds” by their inhabitants, while the entire world is referred to simply as GeKeb. The point of view of Gendin is limited by his people’s concept of the term “world”, and his understanding of what GeKeb is.

    Dwarven Families

    July, 1500 AWR

    I cannot count the number of times a non-dwarf asked me if dwarves are really sexless drones who are born fully adult emerging from certain stones. A few have told me it was a fact, and one storyteller claimed he had seen a dwarf being born in such a fashion. Once I heard that new dwarves are carved out of stone by existing ones. Even my hard, taciturn nature had to battle hard to keep me from laughing out loud.

    This page of my journal may be published in the near future, unlike the remaining pages that will not be public until after my passing.

    Dwarves have two sexes, male and female, like all other mammalian and reptilian sentient bipeds. We reproduce and raise our children in the same fashion as mammalian races.

    The stories arise from the fact that very, very few non-dwarves see our women or children. They are kept carefully sheltered and protected – hidden.

    Why? This arises from dwarven biology. Virtually all dwarves are fraternal twins. A dwarven woman produces two eggs in each cycle, and in the normal course of things, bears the twins. Half of the births are both male, the other half are a male and a female.

    Only one quarter of all births is female.

    And no, there are no documented cases when the twins were both female. Why? You will have to ask the dwarven gods, as no mortal has a rational explanation.

    As a result, only one-third of the males marry, and roughly half the population must produce enough children to fill the next generation. This is different from every other known race.

    Additionally, other than elves, dwarves have the longest time to maturity, forty-three years. Even then, few marry before fifty and many do not have children until sixty.

    In comparison humans are capable of reproducing at age thirteen, although in most of the human societies I am familiar with, a more typical age for marriage is fifteen or eighteen. I have little interest in human customs, as there are so many, so I have no idea why those ages are typical. Some goblinoids start reproducing at age eight. In the competition for land and resources, dwarves cannot easily replace our people the way these races can.

    For all these reasons, married dwarves and children are kept protected inside a clan’s city. This is true even when the dwarves live within a human city. Married dwarves may never come within a hundred yards of a non-dwarf.

    I am told this is harsh and sexist. [I had to ask a scholar to explain that to me. It is a foreign concept.]

    Our leading councils are weighted heavily in the favor of our women. Each council has representatives that speak for:

    • Children under forty-three
    • Unmarried men
    • Unmarried women
    • Married couples of child bearing age
    • Post-child bearing couples and singles

    One-eight of our population is children. Of the remaining seven-eighths, one-half (married men) have one representative. Unmarried women, child bearing couples, and post-child bearing couples have a total of three.

    Unmarried men are represented by a man. Of the other four representatives, typically three are women. Why? Until this moment it did not occur to me to ask that question, as the answer does not matter. It is the dwarven mindset to work together for the common good. Our system of government works for us.

    Non-clan dwarves do not necessarily have this mindset, but that is often the reason they are clanless.

    The aforementioned is our ruling council, which chooses a clan patriarch as the visible leader of the clan. All dwarves that interact with outsiders are unmarried men, so obviously the patriarch is an unmarried man.

    It is often believed the patriarch is like a human king, as one will remain in power for decades, even centuries. This is incorrect, as the patriarch does not make laws, he carries them out, and if he is doing a good job there is no need to replace him.

    Back to why women and children are hidden:

    The simple reason for this is that the clan always comes first. The married dwarves and the children are the most important thing, they are the future of the clan. We unmarried men protect that future, even if it means sacrificing our lives to ensure that future. No, none of us wants to die, but death in defense of the clan is acceptable if it is necessary.

    Married dwarves’ first responsibility is raising their children. A woman is often fertile from the age of forty to the age of two hundred fifty, and bears children every ten or fifteen years. It is common for a woman to be pregnant along with her daughter and granddaughter.

    Beyond raising families, married dwarves have skills and jobs fill their time and give them extra purpose in life. Those skills and jobs consume more of their time when the child rearing years have passed and it is time for a new phase of life.

    Unmarried males? One concept non-dwarves find impossible to comprehend is that we have no sex drive. It is foreign to us, and we do not truly understand the sex drive that married dwarves and other races have. We have no frame of reference to understand.

    Obviously, we do not miss it. We devote our lives to our careers and our extended families. All dwarves are taught fighting skills as tweens, although only non-married men will use those skills in the outside world. Yet professional soldiers such as myself, have skills and interests beyond the martial skills. We have very full lives, full of love and joy.

    We also have our nieces and nephews. I have dozens of nieces and nephews, with some of whom I have a close blood relationship. Most are more distant relatives, and some may have no blood connection as far back as we can trace. But they are my family, regardless of bloodlines. Given that dwarves often live for more than four hundred years, it is common for an elderly dwarf to have seven generations of nieces and nephews. These tight, interwoven bonds make the clan strong.

    How do married dwarves get married if there is no sex drive? When a man and a woman make a connection – and no, I have no words to describe this as I have never felt it – they develop sexual urges and act much like lovers of every other species. I am sure our gods understand why this is so, but then again, they made us so they should.

    If it is going to happen, it typically occurs between the ages of forty-five and sixty-five. I reach two hundred seven years next month, so it is highly unlikely that I will ever experience it. But that has happened before, so it is unlikely but not impossible. I do not expect it to happen to me as my duties as Champion of Cieldren are the highest priority, but it if does? I will accept it as my god decrees.

    My great great and then some uncle Baldor, son of Meselda and Thorin of the Clan Gilderlo, married the Elven Queen Leannah when he about one hundred fifty. Yes, it is bizarre that a dwarf and elf formed a connection, but it happened.

    Dwarven society is a complex thing, far more intricate than non-dwarves understand.