Category: Campaign World

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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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Who Am I?

June, 1500 AWR

I am Gendin, son of Arissa and Temone of the dwarven Clan Gilderlo. I write this journal to record events important to myself and possibly to future generations. Some entries may be published in my lifetime, but others? None shall read them during my lifetime, but once I have passed from this world, this journal will be available.

I was known in my youth as the Assassin of Sathea, a name I earned. My father was the master of Red Owl of Sathea, an organization formed by the famed killer Gimlock after the Council of Rendelshod disappeared. Gisine, daughter of Meselda and Thorin of the Clan Gilderlo, was the first Master of Red Owl. The leadership of Red Owl has passed down through her direct descendants for over thirteen centuries until now.

Red Owl could be described as the premiere criminal enterprise in Sathea for all of its existence. In my youth I was proud of that heritage, but time and experienced have changed me.

In my eighty-eighth year I retrieved and accepted the Sword of Cieldren and in doing so accepted the mantle of Champion of the dwarven god Cieldren. I freed my god from his servitude and slew his brother Reamon, who had made him captive.

The man I had been was no more – being in the service of my god changed me profoundly. I continue to excel at the arts of combat, but no longer kill for a sack of gold and gems. I fight for the protection of the dwarven people.

With my father’s death, Red Owl disbanded. I had a new calling, and even if I did not, I had no more stomach for murder. Killing does not bother me, but I will not kill simply because someone else paid me.

I recently completed my “century of service” as the Champion of Cieldren (actually one hundred eighteen years) and passed the Sword to Lisbet, the new Champion. I kicked a lot of dragons when I chose a woman, but I have been kicking dragons since I was a child, so it should not surprise anyone who knows me.

Now in retirement, I am debating what to do with my life. I am relaxing at the Castle Rendelshod, considering what I want to do. Other than reading I have not had much in the line of hobbies, and while I have numerous basic skills, I do not have a pull towards any craft.

The surviving Council members have invited me to join them, and I am strongly considering it. I am not ready for a sedentary life, and membership in the Council of Rendelshod will ensure I am active. It may also ensure that I do not die in bed of old age, but that is not something I have considered as an ending.

updated 01/10/2025

the list of Journal entries is below, which is not guaranteed to always be up to date

February 2021

When I fleshed out my first campaign world, Trivana, in the early 1980’s, I wrote in the voice of various sages and historians to provide a high level description of some events that shaped the world. I’m doing the same thing again, using Gendin’s journal as a vehicle for comments on historical events and people, and to provide background for more recent events. This will include brief biographies of major players in the world.

Who is Gendin of the dwarven Clan Gilderlo?

Gendin, son of Arissa and Temone of the Clan Gilderlo, started adult life as an assassin in a long line of assassins. The dwarven god Cieldren saw something in the murderer that none others did, and chose him to become his champion. Gendin went on to find the fabled Sword of Cieldren, the weapon of the champions, and to free Cieldren from captivity.

He was later instrumental in bringing the Council of Rendelshod forward in time, and with their help he slew the demon lord Jxtl in his fortress in the Abyss. After passing the Sword of Cieldren to his successor Lisabet (the first female Champion), he joined the Council of Rendelshod and fought along side them for over a century, after which he retired to a quiet life in the city of Rendelshod.

Gendin is a direct descendent of Meselda and Thorin, founders of the Clan Gilderlo and founding members of the Council of Rendelshod. The Council was disappeared over 1,400 years ago and was believed killed. Actually, they were brought forward in time by Gendin’s accidental action, so he got the opportunity to interact with his oldest known ancestors. He refers to Meselda, Thorin, their son Baldor, and their daughter Gisine (whom Gendin is descended from), as his “great great and then some” grandparents or uncle (in Baldor’s case).

Years in the calendar are normally counted from the year the reformed Lords of Rendelshod defeated the demon lord Jxtl. This is referred to After the Wars of Rendelshod, abbreviated AWR. The previous calendar was counted from the ending of the original wars of Rendelshod, which was punctuated by the sack of the northern kingdoms 7,926 years prior. This calendar is abbreviated ASNK, After the Sack of the Northern Kingdoms.

Much of the above lore is mentioned in the writings of other sages, and I’ll be filling in gaps in coming months.

Note: In January 2025 I am fixing timeline problems. I spotted inconsistencies and had to adjust the timeline to fix it. I’m going through my numerous writings, adjusting dates to the revised timeline as I find them.

List of Posts

Who Am I? — June, 1500 AWR

Dwarven Families — July, 1500 AWR

Red Owl — August, 1500 AWR

Thorin of the Clan Gilderlo — September, 1500 AWR

Lords of Rendelshod — October, 1500 AWR

Knights of Polaxis — November, 1500 AWR

Carnith Stone — December, 1500 AWR

Return of the Council of Rendelshod — January, 1501 AWR

Nexus Portals — February, 1501 AWR

The Builders — March, 1501 AWR

Circle of Jocelyne — April, 1501 AWR

Acosadora Mul, the Stalkers of Dorane — May, 1501 AWR

Conflict with the Circle of Jocelyne — June, 1501 AWR

Galafid Part 1 — July, 1501 AWR