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  • 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.

  • Gendin’s Journal – Who Am I?

    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.

    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.

  • Gendin’s Journal

    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

  • Writings of Other Sages

    Following are other accounts written by lesser known or completely unknown sages.

    Panamon Creel

    Panamon Creel was born in the year 7866 ASNK, into a family of great prestige and hone, but little wealth remaining. Being of high nobility he spent much of his youth in the Palace of Refuge. He grew up close friends with Deley Porsupah, nephew of the king, Keken Miltoat.

    Training early together in the arts of war, they went to war against Nequat. In vicious fighting both showed great skill and courage. Each received battle field honors for their courage and skill.

    Upon completion of the war Creel returned home to find his father dead and the little remained of the estate gone to pay creditors. With no family or support he left Refuge for a life of adventure at the tender age of 22. His life away from Refuge is still largely unknown.

    Miltoat employed strict measures during the four years that the war with Nequat lasted. Becoming paranoid with age, Miltoat failed to repeal the measures imposed by war. In the following five years further measures were added to the already strict ones.

    A number of important and influential people spoke to the king, and when no results were gained, spoke openly. The most outspoken were imprisoned on trumped up charges, or no charges at all. When that did not quiet the noisy voices more arrests were made, and some executions.

    Among the arrests were his nephew Deley. Deley spent several years imprisoned when Creel returned to Refuge.

    This was not the Panamon Creel of old. He looked more worn that typically does a man of thirty, and his left had was replaced by a pike. Hearing of his friend’s plight he staged a lone assault on the castle and succeeded in releasing and escaping with Deley and other important prisoners.

    Miltoat believed the Assassins Guild was responsible and began a vicious war upon that organization. Three months later the war ended abruptly with the death of the king and his entire family. Gone also were the entire hierarchy of the Guild, a blow it never recovered from.

    His uncle dead, Deley emerged from hiding and assumed the throne. He released all surviving political prisoners and established a fair law system, repealing all the harsh measures implemented by his unlamented uncle. He has ruled since that time with Creel at his right hand.

    Author’s Note: This description was provided to the characters of my second campaign. This party included a paladin and (of course) was good aligned. They worked periodically for Creel (named for the Terry Brooks character) and became favorites of his.

    This character was an inside joke — VERY inside, known only to the DM (me)!

    After the destruction of the original assassins guild, Creel rebuilt it and became the guildmaster! Since Creel was a great actor and the paladin never thought to Detect Evil on his great friend and patron, things went on for years of game time with a paladin happily working for the Grandfather of Assassins! Most enjoyable was the look on the player’s face when I finally told him who his character’s mentor actually was! ROFL!

    DMs are the most sadistic and cruel people imaginable, aren’t we?

    Notes of the Strange Visitor

    Written by Sheen O’Fally, noted Halfling sage.

    Strange he was, though he appeared a normal human. He knew not any of the languages known to me (which are many) but learned the common trade tongue in but a week.

    He eventually managed to explain to me what he is and how he came to be here, though I was surprised at how much better I understood the latter than he. His world is a strange one, and he had to invent many words to describe things not of this world.

    After spending many months in discussions he decided to search for a way to his home. Having nothing nearly quite as interesting as this human, named Ecee, I decided to travel with him.

    We visited sages in many cities in search of a gate or other way to his home world, but success eluded us. Finally we received word of a possible nexus, or gateway to many places, and set off in search of it. Its location is reputed to be some where in the Krin-Hilmas mountains.

    I leave this journal in the case that I do not return. The trip is likely to have many dangers, and I might just go with him through the nexus, as other worlds will be far more interesting to me than this one.

    Author’s Note: This fragment of an obscure writing introduced the concept of the Nexus Portal to the first campaign I ran. It proved to be an interesting way to getting the party to hunt for the Nexus. While I didn’t do as much as I intended with the Nexus, it is proving to be an and crucial part of my current campaign in which my sons play.

  • Writings of the Archmage Kold-Robi

    Author’s Note: This pastiche was written regarding Gilmedya, one of the most powerful nycadaemons alive. I later restyled her as a shaxadaemon, as I replaced the daemons that Wizards of the Coast excluded from the Open Gaming License. While I publish under Fair Use, not the OGL, it seemed like a good idea and I produced what is, in my opinion, a better fleshed out monster.

    The major daemons have a “use name” which is often the first syllable of their full name, which is well guarded. By this convention, Gill is Gilmedya’s use name.

    The Lord Archmage Kold-Robi is most noted for possessing the Star & Sword that still bear his name. Although he did not create that matched set of artifacts, he retrieved them from the vaults of the Demon Prince Jxtl, and later lost his life defending his people from a force of undead.

    Kold-Robi was born approximately 2,700 years after the Sack of the Northern Kingdoms. He rose to power as a soldier and wizard and led a successful incursion into the domain of Jxtl, severely weakening the demon who had supplanted Jxtl when his material form was destroyed by the Archmage Ignatz. Jxtl later destroyed his weakened rival, but in typical demon fashion felt outrage that a mortal invaded his domain. It appears that Jxtl supported the undead incursion in which Kold-Robi cost his life.

    Diary of Kold-Robi, regarding Gill

    There she stood, Gill, a nycadaemon, arguing with an ultrodaemon that my life be spared. Her stock with the other daemons was such that soon others backed him, and me.

    The ultrodaemon at last lost his patience. He ordered Gill away. The nycadaemon grudgingly turned and left. When she was forty feet away the ultrodaemon attacked she who would dispute so vigorously his rulings!

    The ultrodaemon discovered to his dismay that for the last twenty minutes he had argued with an illusion, an image. Gill struck back the way she had been attacked: from behind!

    So as not to give the Supreme a chance to further use his spell abilities, Gill struck with her great sword. The ultrodaemon was not the warrior that any nycadaemon is and quickly went down.

    This short battle spawned a riot, as Gill’s supporters quickly attacked those who had supported the ultrodaemon!

    Gill grabbed me, all trussed up, threw me over her shoulder with the bag containing my Sword, Star, and armor, and fled. She outran the outraged mob and when she had sufficient distance, shifted us to Gehenna.

    She knew of a Gate that would lead to Trivana, and while she could not use it I could. Once there I used the last of my spells to bring her to me and we traveled to my home …

  • Writings of the Archmage Ignatz

    Author’s Note: I wrote this during a fit of creativity, planning to use the Demonomicon as the focus for several adventures. I didn’t go through with that plan, although I don’t remember why not.

    The Archmage Ignatz is mostly remembered for being a fool who thought he got the better of a demon prince. To his chagrin, which was short lived, he did not succeed. Ignatz is also remembered for his writings about the use of flowers in making potions.

    Ignatz was born over 2,000 years after the Sack of the Northern Kingdoms, and was believed to be nearly 150 when Jxtl killed him. The destruction of his material body cost Jxtl his position in the Abyss, which took him nearly 800 years to recover. He has been quoted as saying that Ignatz got off FAR too easily!

    Final Diary of the Archmage Ignatz

    And so the demon, Jxtl, left himself vulnerable to my spell. He was encapsulated in the urn and I simply transported him back to my home.

    Once there I picked his brain for magically related information. I little comprehended the import of what he told me, leading to my downfall. Having intelligence near to that of a god, far greater than my own, he quickly understood the exacts of the spell I used to trap him, and set about devising a way to trick me into freeing him.

    Over a period of nearly 50 years he fed me information related to that which might release him, and my own foolish experimentation with that I did not fully understand released the bonds I had so carefully woven.

    He attacked me from surprise, I not realizing I had revoked my own magic. My servitors strove to aid me but he quickly destroyed even the most potent of them. But they did buy me enough time to kills his material body, forcing him to flee. But I overextended myself and will soon perish.

    He will suffer in torment in the Abyss for centuries to come, but will eventually regain his power. In the end he has won, for I will be dust.

    My beloved also suffers a horrid fate, but at least she will survive the centuries. I have prepared, with my last strength, a place for her to rest where she will be safe and may in turn guard my treasures though the centuries to come. Most importantly, I leave a copy of my Demonomicon for her to guard, the other five copies destroyed so they might not fall into evil hands.

    Should any find her resting place I pity them. I have also left terrible guards to end the lives of interlopers.

  • Galafid’s Writings of Rendelshod

    updated 29 October 2006

    These pastiches were intended to give our group a feeling for the history of the First War of the Gods, also called the Wars of Rendelshod and the Sack of the Northern Kingdoms. Using this form let me provide information without too much detail. And since it’s hearsay from 8,000 years ago, the writings may be less than accurate.

    One of my tenets of world building is to not flesh out details until they are needed, as ideas can morph with experience. Plus, anything the PCs have not directly experienced is hearsay and may be wrong. This allows for fixing and molding things as we go.

    It also let me exercise creative writing, which was fun.

    Note: These pastiches are displayed in what is believed to be chronological order. All are attributed to Galafid; yet he supposedly died during the year that followed the Lords of Rendelshod’s defeat at the demon lord Jxtl’s hands.

    Aftermath of the Great Storm

    The Southern Seas are roiled and the corpse of many a creature, both of land and sea, lie dead on the beaches or lost forever in the depths. Our party came near such a fate but a friendly bit of land interposed itself between our ship and the deeps, and we are wrecked but alive on a fruitful shore. Where we be now I know not but those of us knowledgeable of such things believe our position to be the Island of Korpu, somewhere on a northern shore.

    Reaching Rary, northern most of the island of the Southern Kingdoms, I no longer believe possible. Whether they exist any longer, or no, I cannot say. Travel we did, not four hundred miles due south of the point south of Jakith, and there, where two hundred miles travel should have brought us to Rary, we found no land. As noted before the seas were rough, but a ship of our size, while not equal to a dromond, was still able to laugh at such waves.

    I take this time to now record and preserve my account, that such might outlast my pitiful self and be of value to some future generation. I am old and may not survive the coming rainy season, this spring of 6847, nineteen years after the beginning of the Great Wars of Destruction.

    On our eighty-first day out from the point south of Jakith the storm sprang up and put to an end our search for a place of refuge. The winds and high seas pushed us north at an incredible rate. From the First Mate’s calculations of our present location we traveled eleven hundred miles in a day and a half.

    Lost at sea are seventeen of our twenty-nine crew, including our Captain. Out of one hundred twelve passengers seventy-two remain, but seven are expected to die within the week from injuries sustained during our rapid travel. We no longer have a cleric of power to save them, even if our patron gods were accessible to us. Too, if permanent shelters cannot be erected and sufficient quantities of good gathered before Fall, many more shall perish.

    We have food enough to sustain our reduced numbers for three weeks, double that if strict rationing is imposed. Fortunately, fresh water is plentiful for there are three springs in the area. The rainy season will be bad, but some will survive and will be able to raise crops to prevent a second happening of famine. I despair I will not be among them.

    Of the Lords I cannot say. They sent myself and all other servants away some four months past. I speculate that the Great Storm sprang up at the time of a terrible battle between the Lords and the enemies of the Lands of Men. The result I may never know.

    The Doom of the Lords of Rendelshod

    Two centuries past the Lords of Rendelshod still held sway over many a desolate and formerly evil place. Many a king or prince felt envy, but no kingdom had the power to challenge the great Lords. Many a Lord died in the service of his Goddess, Epixenie, but always came another to replace his great predecessor.

    A tragedy it was that their greatness extended itself to their minds, for the truly great have no need of arrogance. Even more unfortunate it was that Epixenie herself drank of the deadly pride that infected us all.

    They battled devils, Greater and Princes, and a many it was they slew. But their short sightedness was their downfall, for they looked not at the dangers of the Abyss. So it was that Jxtl, Demon Prince of Deception, intervened on the behalf of the devils and struck the Goddess down through trickery. And So It Was Her End!

    Now demons, devils, and many evil creatures aligned themselves with the evil kingdoms and the Sack of the Northern Kingdoms began.

    For twenty years the Wars continued, and in that time the Keeps of the Lords of Rendelshod fell, one by one. In the year their last Keep stood unsacked the Lords made their decision. Sending away their lesser members and servants to help the remaining good forces, they left their Keep undefended and traveled to Jxtl to face their doom and avenge the death of their Goddess. Revenge they found not! Only unending doom!

    Defeated they were and doomed to un-Life everlasting. Their Blades were taken ‘way and left with false hope they returned to their homelands and dispersed.

    Jxtl spoke: “Your Blades I return to the land of men. When all are recovered you may try again your luck and then be doomed to an unending fate worse than that has already overtaken you. But before you leave on your separate ways I say this to you (as he held one Blade high): Until this very Blade is found none of the others will reach your hands!”

    And so he dispersed them, but his doom was the trickery that all else about him is, for the Blade remained with him in the Abyss so that the Lords’ torment would never end.

    The ruin of our world is complete. Gone forever is Caradin, the bright kingdom adorning Mount Thunder. Gone is Lepadillia, heart of the Elves, its great forests blasted to splinters and burned. Gone are the warrens of the Dwarves and Gnomes, the Kirik Mountains, shaken and crumbled by Hell. Sunk is the bright land of the Halflings, changed now to a deadly marsh.

    But, too, is destroyed Saracind, the heart of evil, shattered by its own greed, its mountain fastness now known as the Plateau of Death. Where lay horrid Jkith is now the Mithril Mountains, their evil cities shattered and buried. The cities of Rharhiky died in the creation of the Great Sandy Waste, consumption by sand a most proper fate.

    Only untouched are the Valley Elves, denizens of the Valley of the Mystical Mage. In the far frozen north, in a land of steam, this magical place remains as it was. To reach it one must travel past the Shattered Hills, once the Kariks, and travel to the gate …

    Fate of the Lords of Rendelshod

    This I write in the four hundred seventy-first year after the end of the Wars of Rendelshod. I am at the last castle of Rendelshod that still stands. The other seventeen are scattered in pieces or crumbled by ill-used forces of nature. Druids still curse those who would do such.

    My investigation of the burial crypt far below the castle first discovered strong enchantments upon it. I was able to discover that more than one spell has been cast. Good has protected the burial chamber for the former Lords with creatures of the Positive Plane. Evil has protected the eighteen biers of stone.

    The Lords never added those biers, so I know not why, for sure, the reason for their placement. I suspect, but may never prove, that when each Lord recovers his Cleaver he will be forced to rest upon one. Also, when each Cleaver has been found all the Lords are assembled a shift will take place — to the realm of Jxtl.

    Of course, this may never take place, as the Prince of Deception kept the Cleaver that is fated to be the first found. But I know a brave fool stole that fated Blade and escaped Jxtl’s realm. He later lost that Blade but told me the story afore demons caught and punished him.

    Think, I do, that Jxtl prepared for the possibility that the Lords might recover their Cleavers. Even with that Blade upon our Plane the eventuality of retribution is small.

    Searched I have for the other seventeen blades, but none could I find. I hoped that such help might gain the reprieve that the Lords desire and deserve, whether it would or not I shall probably never know. In the past four hundred and seventy-one years I have seen four of the eighteen Lords, and if they are rare, their Cleavers are rarer.

    Teroba Tur, Half-Elven Fighter & Thief

    Recorded by Galafid

    This is a brief account as told by Teroba Tur, a half-elven fighter and thief who raided the demon prince Jxtl’s treasure room. Tur did not survive much past telling this story to Galafid.

    Having cast a Change Self spell I simply walked through the palace of Jxtl, looking like a Type VII demon. I used a quick mind and found his treasure room, which was completely unguarded as no thing would DARE to enter it for fear of his wrath. HA!

    I had an idea of what I wanted, mostly jewelry and gems, things easy to carry. I knew magic deteriorated in that hellish place, so I planned on little, having gone for fame and wealth anyway.

    I changed my mind once inside. I saw the broadsword hanging on the wall, all silvery and gleaming. I HAD to have it!

    That idea changed when I pulled it of the wall. The shock nearly fried me clappers! I still wanted it so I wrapped it in cloth to shield me, grabbed a few items that appeared the most valuable, and lit out of there.

    I was almost back to the gate when the alarm sounded. I made it through by the skin ‘o me teeth. Once back I faded through the city and listened to a thousand people get croaked as a horde of demons poured through the gate. As soon as the coast was clear I got clean out of the city and came here …

    Teroba Tur’s Fate

    This short note was found with other writings attributed to Galafid. However, this one is clearly not one of his — the unidentified author’s writing does not match Galafid’s style of writing, although the piece is believed to have been written between 470 and 480 After the Sack of the Northern Kingdoms (ASNK).

    The thief Teroba Tur rambled an unbelievable tale in a drunken rant. He had much clinkers and was free with drinks, so like the other gats, I slurped free ale.

    But I’s smarter than the other gats — wanting some of that clinkers, I drank little while the others passed out, one by one. It was just Tur and me at the end. He told be a tale that sounded like the boasts of a soused idiot. Anyone with that much clinkers in his pockets had to be stupid to get drunk, especially after flashing it around.

    He bragged he breached the demon lord’s castle — I fears to even write the name, as names have power. Once inside, he stole a great sword and a bunch of easy to carry loot, like the gems he flashed around. Some demon worshiper had opened a gate in one of the Pahkian cities, and Tur snuck through to get to the castle.

    He was so full of it, the whites of his eyes were brown. Ain’t no one gonna do that, go to the Abyss! I didn’t call him a liar and he was drunk enough he didn’t know what I were thinking.

    He crowed that the alarm was sounded just before he got back to the gate, it sounded like bedlam. A horde of demons boiled through the gate. Not slowing down, he stole a horse and rode out of the city like his ass was on fire.

    Maybe he wasn’t so full of it. A gat like him ain’t gonna admit to running. But still?

    As much as he wanted to keep the sword, it was enchanted and didn’t like him. If he touched it without a pad, he got shocked hard. He showed me the scars on his left hand and arm where it looked like he was burned badly. Whatever happened, the wound was fresh, less than two weeks old. Something happened and it didn’t look like fire. Not that I’m an expert or nothing.

    Anyway, he sold the sword and kept riding south, intending to take passage to the Southern Islands. Said he was knew the demons was tracking him.

    Huh! The dumbass spent clinkers like it was water, leaving a trail a blind badger could follow.

    That said, he plunked face down on the table. I grabbed a handful of smaller stones and silver clinkers and took my leave. Enough to stead me for a year or two if I was smart, but not enough that he’d track me down. Figured he’d not wake up for hours and probably wouldn’t know he was short, any how. Not that I was counting on that.

    Months later I heared someone caught up with him early that following morning. The other fellows we drank with were torn apart like sabre cats got ’em, and Tur was shredded from the bottom up. Someone wanted to know something, I thinks. Sure, the guy that told the tale pulled it a bit, but I heared from another guy another story so I believe Tur died hard.

    As much as I thought he was full of crap, I heard that the Pahkian city Dar-El-Kas was sacked about the time Tur said. Word is demons slaughtered all’uns, but ya can’t believe that hooey.

    Also heard some ugly gat was asking about me, a guy that made people scared just to be near him. I thinks I’ll be booking passage to the Southern Islands quick like.

    Copyright Bryan Fazekas 2021

  • Writings of Galafid

    Author’s Note: The writing of Galafid were originally conceived for the background for my series of adventures involving the search for the Rod of Seven Parts. I scrapped the original background and used a mandate from a god to find the Rod so he could use it to avert a war between the gods.

    However, the Lords of Rendelshod proved too interesting to let die, so I used it to flesh out the back history of the World. This led to a non-party adventure in which our group played the eighteen Lords of Rendelshod after they reclaimed their Cleavers and hunted the demon lord Jxtl down. It was an interesting adventure for the party as they got to play the Lords, condemned to Skeleton Warrior existence by Jxtl, while letting me avoid the pitfall of letting players play regular characters that are undead. Given the ease with which eighteen Skeleton Warriors went through armies of demons, it reinforces the idea that undead are NOT player characters!

    I decided afterward that Jxtl was only slightly dead and he later recovered and rebuilt his power, although that took another 600 years of game time. While he was no longer a factor in that campaign or the two that followed it (nor my brother’s two campaigns), Jxtl is is a factor in the current campaign.

    Most surviving accounts of the Wars of Rendelshod, sometimes called the Sack of the Northern Kingdoms, were recorded by Galafid, the noted sage and adviser to Teroip Stemtarp *, the last Senior Lord of Rendelshod. This noted sage was believed to have been in Stemtarp’s service prior to the beginning of the Wars, stayed with him during the 20 years the Wars lasted, and was finally sent away with the other servitors just before the Lords of Rendelshod faced the Demon Prince Jxtl and lost.

    It was believed that Galafid, a human, died shortly after the Wars ended. Every evidence from that time, fragmentary as it is, points to this as a fact. However, accounts supposedly written by Galafid turn up, dated centuries later. An analysis of the age of the documents and the handwriting, as well as the writing style lead most authorities to believe that they are authentic. How this is so is unknown.

    Note:

    * In the language of that time, the “p” silent so the name Teroip Temtarp is pronounced tear-roy stem-tar.