Post by Ashurr on May 14, 2011 0:46:03 GMT -5
–11,000 YK
The Exile of the Mror Dwarves:
Twelve millennia ago, a large number of dwarven clans migrated from their ancestral home on the arctic continent of the Frostfell to the Ironroot Mountains of northeastern Khorvaire to escape the oppression of the frost giants—ancient colonists from Xen’drik—who governed much of that frigid land. Though the true origins of the dwarven kingdoms of Khorvaire are now lost to the mists of prehistory, it is known that soon after their arrival in Khorvaire a unified dwarven nation was established by the clans from the Frostfell that spread deep beneath the Ironroots. Within this kingdom, recalled in dwarven legend as the Kingdom of Stone, it
came to pass that twelve dwarven warriors were exiled to the surface for the commission of crimes that produced barbarism and unrest. These exiles were forced to leave their underground homes with their followers by Lord Kordran Mror, the ruler of the Kingdom of Stone. The gateways to the Kingdom of Stone below were closed off using powerful runic magic and the dwarven exiles were
told by Lord Mror that they would remain apart from their brethren in the deeps until they had discovered the honor that their barbaric ways had prevented them from earning. Alongside the exiles a clan of wardens was sent to the lands above to watch over these gates and reopen them when the
time came—a clan called Kundarak.
For thousands of years to come, these exile dwarven clans fought among themselves for control of the lands that they ironically named the Mror Holds, both for dominance and for the right to return to the Kingdom of Stone. The Mror dwarves also repeatedly fought the original inhabitants
of the Ironroot Mountains, the orcish clans known as the Jhorash’tar, for control over the region’s rich mineral resources of iron, copper, gems and other precious metals. Even the appearance of the Mark of Warding among the Kundarak clan did nothing to stem the inter-dwarven conflict; indeed, it
fast became a source of bitterness and distrust among the other clans, who developed no such dragonmarks. When Prince Karrn ir’Wynarn annexed the lands around the Ironroot Mountains for his father King Galifar I several years before the founding of the united Kingdom of Galifar on Khorvaire, the fractious Mror clans were easily subdued by the human armies.
As it happened, the dwarves’ subjugation by Galifar proved to be the instrument of their salvation. Forced to set aside their violent feuds by their human overlords, the dwarven exiles created a common culture and found the honor they had long sought. In the end, though, this understanding
came too late. When the heirs of Kundarak at last opened the sealed runic gates for the rest of the Holds, the Kingdom of Stone was gone, its people destroyed by the invasion of the daelkyr while the twelve Mror clans had made war on each other.
–9,000 YK
The Elven Settlement of the Valaes Tairn Colony: The warlike Valaes Tairn sect of Aereni elves established a colony on southern Khorvaire in what is now the present-day Kingdom of Valenar some nine millennia before the founding of Galifar. Peaceful coexistence between the elves and the Dhakaani goblins did not last for long and the elves eventually launched a great war with the
Dhakaani Empire that ended inconclusively for both sides. The Valaes Tairn elves abandoned their colony to the goblins when another clash with the dragons threatened Aerenal and their scimitars were needed to defend the elven homeland. The number of Valaes Tairn who were needed in Aerenal
would have left the colony all but undefended before the advance of the Dhakaani, so the elves simply abandoned it rather than make a hopeless, though glorious, last stand. But the Valaes Tairn promised one day to honor the spirits of their ancestors by returning to Khorvaire.
The Exile of the Mror Dwarves:
Twelve millennia ago, a large number of dwarven clans migrated from their ancestral home on the arctic continent of the Frostfell to the Ironroot Mountains of northeastern Khorvaire to escape the oppression of the frost giants—ancient colonists from Xen’drik—who governed much of that frigid land. Though the true origins of the dwarven kingdoms of Khorvaire are now lost to the mists of prehistory, it is known that soon after their arrival in Khorvaire a unified dwarven nation was established by the clans from the Frostfell that spread deep beneath the Ironroots. Within this kingdom, recalled in dwarven legend as the Kingdom of Stone, it
came to pass that twelve dwarven warriors were exiled to the surface for the commission of crimes that produced barbarism and unrest. These exiles were forced to leave their underground homes with their followers by Lord Kordran Mror, the ruler of the Kingdom of Stone. The gateways to the Kingdom of Stone below were closed off using powerful runic magic and the dwarven exiles were
told by Lord Mror that they would remain apart from their brethren in the deeps until they had discovered the honor that their barbaric ways had prevented them from earning. Alongside the exiles a clan of wardens was sent to the lands above to watch over these gates and reopen them when the
time came—a clan called Kundarak.
For thousands of years to come, these exile dwarven clans fought among themselves for control of the lands that they ironically named the Mror Holds, both for dominance and for the right to return to the Kingdom of Stone. The Mror dwarves also repeatedly fought the original inhabitants
of the Ironroot Mountains, the orcish clans known as the Jhorash’tar, for control over the region’s rich mineral resources of iron, copper, gems and other precious metals. Even the appearance of the Mark of Warding among the Kundarak clan did nothing to stem the inter-dwarven conflict; indeed, it
fast became a source of bitterness and distrust among the other clans, who developed no such dragonmarks. When Prince Karrn ir’Wynarn annexed the lands around the Ironroot Mountains for his father King Galifar I several years before the founding of the united Kingdom of Galifar on Khorvaire, the fractious Mror clans were easily subdued by the human armies.
As it happened, the dwarves’ subjugation by Galifar proved to be the instrument of their salvation. Forced to set aside their violent feuds by their human overlords, the dwarven exiles created a common culture and found the honor they had long sought. In the end, though, this understanding
came too late. When the heirs of Kundarak at last opened the sealed runic gates for the rest of the Holds, the Kingdom of Stone was gone, its people destroyed by the invasion of the daelkyr while the twelve Mror clans had made war on each other.
–9,000 YK
The Elven Settlement of the Valaes Tairn Colony: The warlike Valaes Tairn sect of Aereni elves established a colony on southern Khorvaire in what is now the present-day Kingdom of Valenar some nine millennia before the founding of Galifar. Peaceful coexistence between the elves and the Dhakaani goblins did not last for long and the elves eventually launched a great war with the
Dhakaani Empire that ended inconclusively for both sides. The Valaes Tairn elves abandoned their colony to the goblins when another clash with the dragons threatened Aerenal and their scimitars were needed to defend the elven homeland. The number of Valaes Tairn who were needed in Aerenal
would have left the colony all but undefended before the advance of the Dhakaani, so the elves simply abandoned it rather than make a hopeless, though glorious, last stand. But the Valaes Tairn promised one day to honor the spirits of their ancestors by returning to Khorvaire.