Gendin’s Journal – Company From Kerr Part 1
updated 01/15/2025
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 Company from Kerr
August, 1501 AWR
This is another journal entry that will have continuations in the future. I have taken the opportunity to interact with all six people, although I have spoken the most with Jake, as he is a new Champion of Cieldren and he is a scholar of Galafid. In this entry I will briefly describe their exploits.
Jake, David, and Bisonbit were all born in Kerr around 755 AWR. Yes, that year is correct.
They first met when Bisonbit was eleven. He was a novice cleric in Demeter’s temple, and he was assigned as primary tutor for David, and later Jake. David (aged six) was an orphan and Jake (also age six) was being raised by his grandparents. As such, the trio grew up together.
Jake’s grandparents sort of adopted Bisonbit and David, as both men refer to Marissa and Trajan (grandparents) as their grandparents.
The grandparents died within a day of each other when Jake was seventeen, at which point he and David joined the militia to fulfill their commitment. Then, as now, Kerr requires all adults to serve the city for a three year period, commonly the militia for men.
They fulfilled their duty in the Kerrean militia, and later became treasure hunters. At some point they met Milo, son of Leannah and Baldor of the Clan Gilderlo, who had been kidnapped by the Knights of Polaxis, and taken back in time. They befriended him, and when the Council of Rendelshod located Milo (783 AWR) the trio opted to travel into the future with the Council, to the year 1495 AWR.
After spending a few months in Rendelshod, the trio returned to modern Kerr, and later traveled down to the coast with a dwarven cleric, Gilden. Threatened by an overwhelming force of goblinoids, they took ship with some type of sea-faring giants, and chose to stay in Shahrivar, where Cieldren tasked them to help his people. Shahrivar is the world directly to the east of Trivana, across fifteen thousand miles of rough ocean.
Roughly a thousand years earlier a civil war within the human empire that controlled the center of that world left the humans open to takeover by the united goblinoid forces. The goblinoids were worshipers of an ancient entity so old that only fragmented legends of it exist. The long forgotten gods of some previous era imprisoned this entity, where is remains to this day. Cieldren said that this entity was but a legend in his mortal days, some forty thousand years ago.
Every few eons this entity gains enough strength to marshal weak-minded forces to try to release it. It took control of the humans, and set the goal among its clergy to release it from its bonds. When this failed to accomplish anything (over a period of centuries), it lost patience and used goblinoids to reduce the humans to slavery. It is an entity of Elemental Chaos, and such entities have absolutely no loyalty to those who worship them. Such entities have enemies and they have slaves. Believing otherwise consistently proves fatal to those who do.
Note: I refer to this unnamed thing as an “entity” and as “it”. Research has indicated that this thing is not necessarily a creature that we can comprehend. This is difficult to explain, as I do not truly understand it myself. It is so different from us (mortal creatures) that we may not comprehend it as a living being. I suspect that even infernal creatures would view it as we do – incomprehensible.
Back to the narrative.
Within the last twenty years the two dwarven kingdoms, two elven kingdoms, and one free human kingdom in Trivana, all realized that they were losing the long war. These five did not band together as they should have, until it was too late. Leadership of all understand they would inevitably lose and be slain or subjugated. The human kingdom is on a large island off the southern coast of Shahrivar mainland, and while they would be the last to lose, lose they would.
Enter the Company From Kerr, also called The Reavers.
Together with two natives of Trivana, thera Trilla and druid Faraz, over the course of four years this group turned the tide of the war, leaving the dwarves, elves, and humans victorious. The goblinoid coalition is in shambles.
Note: I refer to this group as The Reavers as it is more indicative of their role in numerous conflicts.
Destroying Elemental Chaos
How could six people do what the combined forces of five nations could not?
I agree that it seems fantastic, utterly impossible. Complete fantasy.
While the final victory belongs to the dwarven, elven, and human soldiers to Shahrivar, the stage for their victory was built by six individuals, working as a team.
They attacked strongholds in guerilla warfare fashion, killing leaders and most importantly – instilling fear. While the dwarven, elven, and humans refer to the group as The Company from Kerr, the goblinoids quickly began calling them The Reavers.
The Reavers attacked targets the goblinoids thought safe. They killed the leaders, especially the clerics of the Nameless One.
Note: The name of the entity of Elemental Chaos mentioned above is not spoken. There is a belief that speaking its name attracts its attention, which is to be avoided. I have seen the name in writing, but will not speak the word. More about that in a later journal entry.
The clerics ruled by fear, so seeing them suffer death under the blades of The Reavers weakened that fear.
The Oni quit the coalition first. Most clans were not enthusiastic members to begin with, and harsh treatment by the clerics of the Nameless One gave stronger clans impetus to separate. Following their example, some of the Orc and Goblin tribes separated as well.
It is believed that the Nameless One’s power was waning, reducing its ability to exert dominance and control on those outside its prison. Some quality of its prison limits its power, both the ability to acquire it and the ability to use it. Before anyone asks, no one knows what this entity is, nor any details of its prison. Just that it does exist and it is imprisoned. Something we should all be thankful for.
In the final battle The Reavers drove giantish forces from their largest fortress through fear. This small force killed powerful goblinoid leaders, making them more afraid of The Reavers than they were of the Nameless One’s clerics. Then they slaughtered the most senior clerics, and destroyed an icon of the entity – the Carnith Chalice which I described in the December, 1500 AWR entry.
The loss of significant clergy eroded the Nameless One’s power faster, and without that overarching control, Evil did what Evil does best – it destroyed itself. The more chaotic tribes turned on other tribes, both of their own kind and of other races. In a matter of a few months, forces that had dominated 75% of the world were reduced to less than half their numbers, and pulled in their borders in survival mode.
It is not safe to travel in the central part of the world except in large force, but the dwarven and elven kingdom in the southwest and southeast sections are goblinoid free. The destructive war is over.
Pasheha
In the last several years of the war in Shahrivar, diverse creatures of Elemental Chaos appeared. The Reavers fought different types, each of which was different. Perhaps this was a final blow by the Nameless One, releasing various creatures to wreak havoc. It is its way to destroy everything that is not of immediate use to it.
Or perhaps the appearance of these creatures was coincidental. We will never know for sure.
By far the worst danger was the Pasheha (pash-EE-ha), a mass of very organized semi-insect-like creatures who overran and destroyed everything they encountered. There were numerous types (that I will not describe now), and they numbered in (at least) tens of thousands.
It may be noted that the words “Elemental Chaos” and “organized” do not fit together. At all.
That is true. However, David postulated that the Pasheha had a “group mind”, and were essentially a single creature with thousands of bodies. What one learned, all seemed to learn at the same time. Individuals sacrificed themselves without concern, which makes sense – after all, mortal creatures will sacrifice a single hair, since it is one of thousands and it will grow back.
The Reavers fought the Pasheha several times in Shahrivar, before they stood with the dwarves of Vigerfast along with elves, Oni, and humans. They defended the city from a vast army of Pasheha, driving them off with the assistance of a squadron of the Gilderlo Air Corp.
Wizards employed by the Clan Gilderlo destroyed the local Pasheha “nest”, ending that threat.
A similar nest was destroyed near Rendelshod, costing the lives of P’przai and Meselda of the Council of Rendelshod.
With conflict in Shahrivar over, The Reavers returned to Kerr, where they have gained fame through new exploits. I will detail what I know of these in future posts.