orcs

Oringard part 1

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On the eastern fringe of Damir is the vast forestland of Oringard.  Named by the dwarven immigrants who fled the kingdom of Paia, it means “Natural Fortress.”  Although it lies within Damir’s borders, it is a realm all to itself.  It is almost two hundred leagues long and just shy of a hundred leagues deep.  It stops up against the Golden Mountains in the north, and trails off into the barren land of Basmah in the southeast.  Oringard touches five different lands: Damir, Gronde, Kasmoon, Nubrince, and Basmah.  Running through the forest is the curvy Paia River in the south, and the much shorter Mourning River in the north.   

Legend has it that the forest is the creation of Hovaia, a dryad queen, who planted the many trees and shrubbery to shield the land from mortal invaders.  Despite her best laid plans, the forest was inhabited for several hundred years by the wood elves, a nomadic people who built tree houses and lived off the forest.  It is rumored the wood elves knew Hovaia and worked with the dryad queen to keep other mortals out.

Of course this did not work.  After the kingdom of Paia (a dwarven kingdom) collapsed during the Chaos War, thousands of dwarves ventured north to discover the vast forestland which they would so aptly name.  They began to settle the forest, burrowing into the hillsides, chopping trees down to lay foundations for small communities.  The dwarves had a network of villages spread about Oringard but they did not occupy all of it.  They left Hovaia and the wood elves to their own realm and interests.

For two hundred years the dwarves controlled much of Oringard, dedicating most of their time to mapping the forestland.  The maze-like paths of the forestland can be deadly to any person who isn’t familiar with them or doesn’t have a map.  The trees are thick and some areas look similar to the next.  Getting lost in Oringard is easy and a common occurrence; trails become overgrown with foliage, creeks dry up, trees fall over and block paths. 

There are plenty of creatures in the woods, but a lot of the big predators have been driven out or killed by the orcs.  Bears, wolves, and wild cats are still common, but the forest used to feature sasquatch and hippogryphs.  It was also home to a nest of gryphons.  The gryphons kept to themselves for several hundred years, even after the high elves invaded the forestland and drove out the dwarves and wood elves.  It wasn’t until the orcs took over Oringard that the gryphons were forced to leave their nests and go elsewhere.

The high elves infiltrated Oringard around 350 ACW, defeating the dwarves in the 2nd War of Damir and forcing them out of Oringard.  The high elves took over much of southern Oringard, built large townships and began to blaze trails all over the forestland.  Believing the dwarves would one day return and try to take Oringard back, the high elves set up a series of booby traps along several false trails that led to their town centers.  The wood elves either assimilated with their High Elven brethren or left Oringard all together. 

Descendants of the fallen elven empire at Jeriko embraced the rule of their leader, Prince Iteph, who was a very distant cousin of the royal bloodline, but the only known survivor who could be linked to the elven monarchy.  In their time in Oringard, Iteph had children who went on to establish a royal line.  But because of the massive orc invasion that would come a hundred years later, most of the records concerning the descendants of Iteph were lost.  When Kalliste gave her prophecy that an elven king would be born amongst them, many figured it would come from Iteph’s lost lineage.

Oringard part 2

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In 460 ACW, the elves of Oringard were thoroughly dismantled by a large orc incursion from the neighboring land of Nubrince in the east.  The invasion came as a sudden surprise.  The orcs hit the elves on multiple fronts, destroying their defenses easily.  The orcs were battle tested, numerous, and absolutely ruthless in their attacks.  The elves, over the course of a couple of years of futile resistance, finally yielded Oringard to them and fled west into the fields of Merrimont.  The orcs then became the primary inhabitants of Oringard and have remained such for over three and a half centuries. 

For the next one hundred years, the orcs built up Oringard into their domain, spreading to as many areas as possible within the forestland, populating and conquering whatever stood in their way, like the gryphons.  They cut down large sections of trees, mined coal, built large training arenas and fortifications.  They mapped out Oringard, learning the secrets of the forest, locating good hideouts and lookout points.  As their population swelled, so did their confidence.  The orcs stayed quiet in Oringard for over a century, until the time of Phumbaas.

To protect herself and her community of immortals, Hovaia cursed a large section of forestland that would later be called the Bleak Woods.  Making a petrified forest, the wood there became lethal to touch.  White Bark is a common dryad trap, designed to petrify intruders.  This prevented the orcs from entering her small section in northern Oringard, which would later be dubbed Hovaia’s Cradle. 

Since Phumbaas, the orcs have begun to call their clan the “Nation of Oringard”, establishing it as separate from the rest of Damir.  Because of the thick woods and its internal maze-like structures, Oringard is almost impregnable by any army.  Even so, elven merchants will occasionally venture into Oringard to seek out rare herbs that the forest is known to grow.  Some adventurers continue to search for Hovaia and other hidden treasures.  Many do not return from these expeditions, but it doesn’t keep others from trying.  The kingdom of Damir sends scouts into Oringard year round, trying to decipher what the orcs are planning and when they might invade next.  Because Oringard is so dense and long, the orcs can strike from any point along the tree line.  It is standard orc procedure to deceive the enemy as to where they will strike next.  To do this, the orcs use the trees as cover while they shuffle legions from north to south, confusing enemy scouts, and leaving Damir’s military command holding their breaths.

Oringard is viewable as far west as Whitehood, and from Merrimont’s Peach Orchards the forestland looks like an endless ocean of trees and forested hills that goes on beyond what the eye can see.  It is an ominous looking domain to anyone who comprehends the danger and threat that lies beyond its forested curtain.

Notable creatures that can be found in Oringard (aside from orcs):

1. Shunjilas

2. Black-spade Bears

3. Gryphons

4. Owl Raptors

5. Saw-tooth Beavers

6. Red-eyed Condors

7. Mud Frogs

8. Shadow Squirrels

Doves of Merrimont

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The white doves of Merrimont have been part of the city since its inception, a hundred years after the Chaos War.  Even the templar Lyndon noted that the doves there were extraordinary, as they communicated to him through telepathic powers.  Many see the doves as the city’s eternal guardians, but no one has been able to decipher what exactly they’re protecting.  It is thought, by the humans, that the doves are protecting riches beyond imagining.  However, the doves rarely communicate to humans, preferring the elves who moved into the Merrimont region in 460 ACW.  

Telepathic powers are found in some animals but not exclusively in particular species.  In other words, not all doves have telepathy but the doves in Merrimont do.  The doves seem to congregate around the city’s main and largest archway, the Dovial Arch.  Superstition over the Arch circulate from bird droppings landing on citizens passing under the archway.  It has been noted that anyone who is pooped on is doomed to die within a year’s time. Because of these deaths, many in Merrimont are fearful of the doves and believe they may have powers beyond telepathy.  In 721 ACW, an elven mason was utterly convinced the doves were evil and needed to be killed.  The stone mason managed to shoot down seven doves before he was arrested and later executed for bearing weapons and using deadly force within the city (elves were not allowed to have or use weapons within Merrimont until the Farm and Riot Act of 772 ACW).

During many of the wars, such as the 10th War of Damir where Merrimont was put in siege by the orcs led by the warlord Phumbaas, the doves served as scouts and messengers for the elves.  The doves only seem to speak to a select number of elves, including certain elven nobles.  Many elves try to tap into the secrets of the doves by feeding them or cooing at them, but typically the doves fly away when such obvious bribery is offered.  It is rumored that the doves were friends with Kalliste, the blind seer, and that it was they who gave her the prophecy about the Slayer.  Kalliste never mentions the doves at all in any of her works, but the rumors continue to circulate.

In elven lore, doves were the favorite animal of Troix, the Angel of Valor.  It has been passed down from legend that Troix had a special relationship with doves, and they would speak to her and no other.  In her battles, Troix used the doves to spy on enemy outposts and armies, relaying the size and readiness of the opposing army.  When Troix was killed in battle, abandoned by her allies, it is said the doves dispersed and were never heard of again.

Nursing Academy

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The Nursing Academy is located in the center of the city of Whitehood.  Only women are sent to be trained nurses.  Men wishing to be doctors or surgeons are usually sent to Belvadore for intense study.  Recently the nursing academy began to accept applicants from women of all walks of life.  Due to the increase in orc incursions (three in one century) the demand for nurses has never been higher. 

The academy is run by a Matron, who delegates to several head nurses who carry out her orders.  The academy is funded by the military, which gets its funding from the royal treasury.  Because it is funded by the military, the academy is forced to follow any orders given to it by any high ranking officer.  Once enrolled, a nurse is forced into service for no fewer than five years.  A nurse can stay on in the academy indefinitely, however, as long as her record remains clean.  The academy can admit any patient whose condition merits constant supervision.

A classic yarn shared among the nurses who enlist in the academy is the tale of “Nurse kiss, nurse saw.”  Long ago, a beautiful but simple-minded nurse treated a wounded knight at the academy.  The knight had been stabbed, hacked, chopped, sliced, bashed, and bloodied but still alive.  The nurse, unsure how to treat him, asked the knight what he would like her to do for him.  The knight told her that each of his limbs were rendered useless and needed to be amputated.  Feeling sad for the knight, the nurse kissed each limb before removal.  Enjoying the touch of her lips, the knight requested she kiss his head and face next.  Needless to say, the nurse had a lot of explaining to do when the Matron discovered the headless knight some time afterward.

During times of peace, nurses are scattered throughout Damir from Gilstad to Belvadore.  Some eventually form their own practice or team up with a local doctor and leave the Nursing Academy.  Other nurses are hired by wealthy patrons, such as the royal family or Damir’s nobility, to be in-house nurses.  Of course, a nurse must pass all exams and finish her five year requirement in order to leave the academy.

Rossi Heights

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The Rossi Heights have been a big part of the community at Whitehood since its inception.  Its name comes from the Du Rossi family: high nobles who were nearly exterminated by Ulric in 700 ACW.  Before given its now famous name, they were simply called the Southern Foothills, because they were on the road south to Merrimont.  The road that connects Merrimont to Whitehood runs through the Rossi Heights.  The Rossi Heights serve as a vanguard for Whitehood as they form a protective shield from the east and south.  The Rossi Heights have their own community, but it is mostly an outpost controlled by the military.  It has been the host of two major wars: the 6th War when the elves invaded from Merrimont in the south, and the 11th War, when Hathar the orc warlord made a run toward Whitehood.  In both cases, the humans won the war.  The orcs of Oringard often send small war parties across the Mourning River to terrorize the Rossi Heights but the hills are very well guarded.

Count Peter Du Rossi (570 – 621 ACW) was a very suave and very direct noble, who was exceptionally picky and confrontational.  He enjoyed swordplay and spent many hours of his youth learning the art of sword fighting.  As a young man, Count Du Rossi looked for every excuse imaginable to test out his skills on Damir’s best and most boastful fighters.  As a young boy he loved running through the flowery hills of the southern foothills to play, and that childhood memory inspired him to hold duels there.  It is unclear how many duels Du Rossi fought, but he claimed in his journal that he slew a hundred men there.  However, estimates from other records suggest the number is closer to fifty.  Whatever the number, Du Rossi was undefeated, and he settled disputes through these duels.  Now-a-days, duels must be approved by a magistrate to prevent any escalation or unnecessary confrontations.

The majority of duels are now fought on one of the hills of the Rossi Heights.  It is considered an ideal setting for a match because the ground is firm but not rocky, soft but not muddy.  It also allows spectators to gather and form a gallery, as the fighters duel high up where they can be seen clearly. 

Mud Frogs

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There is perhaps no more terrifying creature in Damir than the Mud Frogs, who are generally found near the three main rives in Damir: the Blue, the Paia, and the Mourning.  Mud Frogs are gigantic frogs, the size of elephants, who bury themselves in mud and then attack when its prey grows near.  They are the leading cause of death in Purewater, which is up against the Paia River and less than a league away from Oringard.  Because the three major rivers in Damir are so wide, the mud frogs have little difficulty using the rivers as a means to travel and hunt.  

Mud Frogs were at first thought to be legend, a scare tactic used by the Blood Bunch to keep the templars of Proudhill away from their hideout, deep within the Blue River.  However, in 204 ACW, Sir. Gallac and an ensemble of templars stumbled into a mud frog who devoured three of his templar knights.  Gallac slew the mud frog and the beast was no longer simply legend.  Over the centuries, many travelers have disappeared when crossing the Blue River, many believe them to be victims of mud frogs.  Incidents have dropped in recent years because knowledge of the creatures have kept travelers wary.  

Mud Frogs have a tendency of stationing themselves in an area that is soaked in mud, so travelers will usually try to avoid such areas.  In Purewater, mud frogs are still a problem, even to locals.  Thanks to the Mud Flats region, just east and north of the town, Purewater citizens have to cross the muddy terrain if they wish to reach the Paia River or head north to Paia’s Bluff where Shunjilas have been found.  Hunting is a major economy for Purewater, and the Mud Flats offer some of the best hunting ground in Damir, making mud frogs a dangerous obstacle for hunters.

Even the orcs of Oringard learned the hard way about the mud frogs and the Mud Flats around Purewater.  On more than one occasion,  the orcs have attempted to surround the river village only to lose some of their warriors to the mud frogs.  Orcs will now only assault the eastern and southern ramparts of Purewater, just to avoid the threat of mud frogs.

The Peach Orchards

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Up on a northeastern hill outside of Merrimont are the vast Peach Orchards, which were at one time owned by a very wealthy elven noble.  The noble and his family were killed during the 10th War of Damir, during the orcs invasion of the Merrimont region, and the orchards have since become community property.  It is fitting that it is also the resting place of Phumbaas, the orc warlord who nearly destroyed all of Merrimont and  attempted to annihilate the elves. 

Because of how massive Phumbaas was (eight feet tall and five hundred pounds) they did not bother to move him to the burning pile of the other dead orc warriors.  The elves decided to bury his remains, and not cremate him where he lay for risk of torching the prized peach orchards.  His grave was unmarked, however, and every so often a skull hunter tries to find it to dig up his remains.  But so far nobody has.

As a result of Merrimont’s biggest offender being buried in the Peach Orchards, the grounds are considered tormented and hallow.  Ghost stories of the infamous warlord walking amongst the trees have circulated for over two centuries, but many scoff at this, calling it superstitious nonsense.  However, not even critics can deny that something ominous does occur there during full moons.  Every full moon, a peach tree dies.  Its fruit rots and the soil goes bad, making the spot unacceptable for planting.  No one has an explanation for this, other than the superstition that Phumbaas’s tormented soul is spoiling the orchards.

Despite the haunting, the great Peach Festival is held every summer in Merrimont at the orchards.  It is the largest elven gala in Damir where the social elite and common elves gather on neutral ground.  It is a favorite place for weddings, wedding announcements, and courtships to take place.  The common saying among elven gents associated with the Peach Orchards is: “Take a peach, find a peach, get a peach at the Orchards!”

Merrimont part 2

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As the years and decades passed, the kingdom of Damir became intensely jealous of the elves and their ability to farm the land and dam the rivers without going through the hardships their ancestors suffered.  With control of Merrimont and the southern farmlands below the city, the elves were enjoying a cultural renaissance in Damir, and they would not recognize King Bandrian or any human king as their ruler.

In 485 ACW, the elves of Merrimont were feeling a bit brave from having occupied the fields and farmlands so successfully that they decided to try and settle on the hills north of Merrimont, on the way to Whitehood.  The Rossi Heights (or so they would be named at a later date) guarded Whitehood from the south and east.  Upon hearing that elves had moved into the area, Bandrian sent his army out to shoo them off.  The shooing resulted in bloodshed and Bandrian’s army pursued the elves by driving south, almost to the gates of Merrimont where they had a short but inconsequential battle with the elven army.  The confrontation became the 5th War of Damir, but it was closer to a skirmish, and later standoff-than a war.

Bandrian had made his point, however, and did not want open warfare (the king was growing old and weak).  He summoned his troops back to the Rossi Heights and made a declaration that the hills belonged to the kingdom of Damir and that any further encroachment by the elves would mean war.  While the elves celebrated Bandrian’s retreat they knew that his army was more than capable of destroying theirs and agreed to his demands.  A truce was called and the humans of Whitehood and the elves of Merrimont had peace.

This truce would be broken when Bandrian’s grandson, Bandrian III, thought it a good idea to attack Merrimont with the full force of the royal army.  In 557 ACW, Bandrian III was beside himself in anger over hearing about the elven prophecy: that a king would spring from their own and likely compete against a human king.  He used the prophecy as propaganda to garner enough initial support to attack the elves, but went overboard.  Instead of demonstrating a show of force against the outlying farms north of Merrimont, he took it a full step further and marched on Merrimont.  But this 7th War of Damir was brief.  Once the elven scouts learned of the human army’s intentions to invade Merrimont, they broke the northern dams of the Paia and Blue Rivers, flooding the land and wiping out the invasion force.  It would take years for the elves to rebuild the farmlands north of Merrimont, but at least their city and people had been spared.  Unfortunately, the elves had no idea what was next to come around the corner.

In early 601 ACW, several elven provinces east of Merrimont were destroyed one by one by an invasion of over 10,000 orc warriors led by the warlord, Phumbaas.  Elves everywhere fled to the confines and safety of Merrimont, hoping the city would protect them from the orcs.  The elven army tried to slow Phumbaas down from reaching the city, attacking him in small clusters, killing off the frontline soldiers, but the warlord always seemed to have plenty of warriors to replenish his losses.  The elven army dwindled, chipped away by these small battles.  They made their final stand just outside of Merrimont, near the Peach Orchards, and slugged it out with Phumbaas.  But the warlord was too strong and the elven lines broke.  The army slaughtered, Merrimont prepared itself for a siege.

Desperate for relief, and surrounded by orcs, the elves managed to send an envoy of emissaries to Whitehood to plead for help from the human king, Valimond.  The purpose of the emissary was for Damir to enter the war on Merrimont’s behalf, and save the elven people from being annihilated.  But King Valimond wanted more than just a war-time alliance against the orcs of Oringard.  He wanted a treaty with the elves and the annexation of Merrimont into the kingdom of Damir.  He wanted recognition from the elven people that they were subjects to a human king and would pledge their loyalty as citizens of Damir.  To ensure this, he stipulated that elves would have to give up their rights to land, dissolve their caucus and reduce their merchant trade.  These demands were unacceptable, but under the grave circumstances Merrimont was experiencing, they rushed through negotiations and agreed to Valimond’s demands.

Armed with the might of Damir’s massive royal army, Valimond relieved Merrimont of its siege just in time.  The ramparts of the city had fallen, half of Merrimont was left in ruin, and Phumbaas had already extinguished thousands upon thousands of elves in his wake.  Phumbaas did not anticipate the arrival of the Damish army and was flanked.  The warlord attempted to thwart their efforts to save Merrimont by dividing his army in two and leading his own side against Valimond’s.  But Phumbaas was cut down in the battle and the orcs were pushed back.  The war was over and Merrimont was spared.

Merrimont was a shell of its old self, and less than half the elven population remained.  Forced to rebuild under the stern laws set forth by the Treaty of Merrimont, the elven city would go through a century of darkness: riots and plagues would become the city’s legacy.  However, during King Valan II’s reign, the elves gained more control of their society and Merrimont began to turn around circa 700 ACW.  Their temple was reconstructed, roads re-built, fountains and archways were erected to mark the return of elven pride and cultural rejuvenation.

Merrimont part 1

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Located strategically between the Blue and the Paia, two of three main rivers in Damir, is the elven city of Merrimont.  The name “Merrimont” is not elven, but human.  In 102 ACW, a massive party of immigrating human pilgrims, led by the great templar Lyndon, passed through the flower fields and grassy knolls of southern Damir.  Because of the flower fields and the small hills, it was named “Merrymont,” later spelled as “Merrimont.”

Flanked by the two rivers, the soil and ground seemed to be prime farmland that could be cultivated.  A large group of Lyndon’s followers broke off and decided to remain behind to farm and establish a human township in the fields.  Lyndon himself admired the ground but wanted access to the sea so he pressed ahead. 

Early on, it appeared the humans had found the perfect place to settle.  The fruit orchards provided plenty of food, and the humid climate added to the growth of their crops.  However, human irrigation technology was lost in the Chaos War.  Knowledge of cultivation was low, and the people were forced to learn anew.  Among the lost knowledge was how to properly dam a river.  After about ten years, the Blue River flooded the settlement and most of the outlying farms.  Five years after that, the Paia did the same.  The floods were catastrophic: dozens of people died at a time, houses and crops washed away, livestock killed. 

Feeble attempts to dam the rivers failed miserably, as the flooding continued to wreak havoc on every new settlement the humans built.  Still, for over a hundred years the humans in Merrimont gutted it out and kept rebuilding after each flood.  Then in 221 ACW, both the Paia and the Blue flooded simultaneously, wiping out the township completely, killing hundreds, destroying farms, crops and livestock; the people there were reduced to nothing.  The humans were fed up.  Every time they harvested a good crop it would flood.  Every time their livestock began to bear young it flooded.  Every time. 

By 240 ACW, virtually every human left the Merrimont region, convinced that the area could not be properly settled because of the rivers.  They went north, many settling near Mt. Whitehood and establishing a human outpost there.  Others went to Proudhill in the west.  But the fields of Merrimont were deserted.  Only a handful of human farmers tried to stick it out. 

Around that time the elves had successfully entered Oringard from the south and pushed the dwarves out.  The war between the elves and dwarves was technically the 2nd War of Damir.  It started when the elves, in search of a homeland, were given permission by the dwarves to pass through Oringard on their way north.  However, the forest proved to be just what the elven wanderers were in search for and they decided to stay and settle.  The dwarves took exception and began hostilities.  Eventually the dwarves, who had been mining up north, decided to retreat there and give up the forestland.

But in 461 ACW, over two hundred years later, the elves got a taste of their own medicine when the orcs of Nubrince entered Oringard and attacked.  The elves were too spread out and unprepared for an attack coming from their eastern border and scattered.  Iteph, their royal prince, did not escape and he and his family were massacred.  The elves that did manage to escape found themselves following the Paia west to the flowery fields of Merrimont.  In 469 ACW, the elves learned through the few human farmers that lived in the area that the land was called Merrimont and the elves decided to establish themselves there. 

The new elven township sent shockwaves across all of Damir.  Due to their location, the elves were now southern neighbors to the humans, who had established Whitehood as their primary domain.  Under their new king Bandrian I, the humans saw the elves as potential threats and fortified the hills (later called the Rossi Heights) above Merrimont.  However, many humans did not initially feel threatened by the elves, knowing they had settled in a region prone to flooding and would soon be wiped out.

However, this did not happen.  The elves knew of ways to dam the rivers, create waterways and proper irrigation, and minimize the flooding damage.  As a people, elves  often have a natural knack when it comes to cultivation and agriculture.  Within twenty years of establishing a township, the elves blossomed in agriculture and farmland.  Although the rivers still flooded, the preventative measures the elves took kept the damage manageable. 

Orcs part 3

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The Trials for male orcs involve a grueling set of tests designed to place the orc correctly in orc society.  It is here that the Sheshua try to determine if the orcling has any special abilities or gifts.  If the child appears to have gifts he is set aside to undergo the Gift Trials, for orcs who might be candidates to become members of the Orc High Council.  Orcs who are born with no magical tendencies or special abilities undergo the Blood Trials, the passage to become a warrior and perhaps a Tron later on.  Orcs who fall in between or it is uncertain where to be placed but appear to be useful are trained to be Sheshua.

Orcs who are larger and much stronger and intelligent are considered candidates for becoming a Tron (a superior orc) who answers only to the warlord.  Trons help the warlord with strategy, organizing legions, arming and prepping their warriors and controlling the clan in general during times of war.  The majority of Trons are above seven feet and are athletically built for intense warfare against a variety of opponents.  To become a Tron an orcling must first pass the Blood Trials.  Depending on how he scores, a warrior can be given Tron status, but this is the exception to the rule; most become standard warriors.  Trons are exceptional warriors who are candidates for becoming the future warlord of their clan.  Becoming a Tron automatically means annual breeding rights with the females.

Orcs are taught not to fear death but to welcome it.  Suicide, however, is thought to be a coward’s end, while death in battle is considered glorious.  Orcs who have been badly wounded or have become too old are honorably put to death.  Orcs believe that when a warrior dies honorably he goes to the Great Mountain, which is the gateway to the Spirit Realm.  The Spirit Realm is the collection of the greatest warrior souls, where they serve as ancestral guides to the living.

The orcs of Oringard are one clan of the Orc High Council of Nubrince.  It is not unheard of for clans to go rogue and break off from a High Council, such as was the case with the orcs of Kasmoon, who conquered the upper half of the divided ancient kingdom of Paia, then appointed a king and fashioned an entirely different orc society separate from the High Council.  The Nation of Oringard is among the much larger and more successful clans who adhere to the Orc High Council of Nubrince.  The orcs were triumphant in their invasion of Oringard, driving out the elves in 460 ACW.  However, early on in their history, the orcs of Oringard began to squabble over what land to conquer next.  Most wanted to press west into Damir, where the ground could be cultivated, yet a segment of their people saw the Golden Mountains as a place to take refuge and launch attacks from higher ground.  This division caused a civil war within Oringard, one that lasted nearly forty years and decimated the clan.

The orc civil war within Oringard ended with the losing clan wishing to drive north to go rogue, defying the High Council, which ruled in favor of the orcs staying in Oringard and eventually conquering Damir.  Heading north, this rogue orc clan stumbled upon the dwarven fortress of Gilstad in 525 ACW and attacked it, launching the 7th War of Damir.  But the war was brief and the orcs were badly defeated.  Forced to retreat, their shattered army went north into the Golden Mountains and were never heard from again.  The orcs that stayed behind in Oringard spent the next seventy years forced to re-populate and rebuild defensive structures that had been totaled during the civil war.

The orcs did not make headway against Damir until the warlord Phumbaas, who organized the first ever massive orc invasion to cross the Paia and marched west toward Merrimont, the city of the elves, in 601 ACW.  The 10th War of Damir changed the land and gave the orcs tremendous confidence that they would eventually take Damir, despite the loss.  Even with Phumbaas’ defeat, the orcs had made their point: they were to be a thorn in Damir’s side for years to come.

Mal Orah-

The warlord and/or his Trons issue battle commands through the beats of orc drums.  The Mal Orah, which means “Death Charge”, is a command given to attack with maximum effort.  Typically, the Mal Orah is sounded for a full verse before the orcs actually charge, as a means of intimidating their enemies prior to assault.  The Mal Orah consists of slow beats that gradually get faster and louder until they are done in rapid succession.  The Death Charge is described as deafening, as the orcs usually use an abundance of drums, which beat together at once.  The Mal Orah is also used as a form of distraction, the noise making it difficult for their enemies to communicate.

Shogue Language-

The native tongue of orcs everywhere is the Shogue language.  The orcs refused to adopt the Druish language, yet it was still learned in some circles and is still taught among orcs of high positions such as Trons.  Considered the language of the Juhas, orcs only speak Druish rarely or for reconnaissance purposes.  Shogue is a slow language, as it is more important to pronounce the word than to speak it quickly.  Partly due to their militaristic society, orcs want to ensure that their words are heard and understood.  Because Shogue is relatively simple and slow it is among the easiest languages for other races to eventually master.

Orcs in Age of Thunder:

  • Kazul
  • Gozma
  • Noxima
  • Crohl
  • Mogabi
  • Mutawa
  • Morgon

Orcs part 2

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The Orc High Council does not become involved in war; they simply sponsor it by granting a warlord to each clan.  This is only done by the High Council’s unanimous approval for the individual clan to go to war.  A warlord is selected from amongst the individual clan’s class of Trons.  The warlord is then given complete control of the clan during a time of war and is free to run the war however he wishes, using whatever methods necessary to achieve success.  The warlord has absolute authority of the army- not even the Orc High Council can interfere while the war is ongoing.  Afterwards, depending upon the success of the warlord, the High Council will determine if a new warlord is needed or not.  Generally speaking, if a warlord fails in his objectives he is removed, or if retained he is asked to restructure and reform the army in defensive positions.  

A warlord, although given full authority, is under constant pressure from the Orc High Council, which demands victory followed by victory.  It is uncommon but not unheard of for a warlord to go rogue from the High Council and to even try to use the army to march on Nubrince and dissolve it.  To maintain their control over the individual clans and keep tabs on any given warlord, the Council relies on the Sheshua.  The Sheshua are the right hand of the Orc High Council.  They are bodyguards and agents who are dedicated to the preservation of the High Council’s authority.  The Sheshua operate outside the parameters of orc society and warfare.  They do not engage in war and do not have to adhere to any laws made by the warlord during a time of war.  They answer only to the Orc High Council.  Sheshua are skilled, observant, nimble, studious, and highly intelligent as well as motivated guardians of the High Council. 

The Orc High Council uses the Sheshua for everything.  This includes spying on warlords and reporting any suspicious actions that might indicate that a warlord is preparing to rebel against the High Council.  Warlords are not oblivious to the Sheshua, and are often accompanied by them, and they are usually treated as observers.  However, the warlord has no authority over them and cannot order them to leave.  The Sheshua are also protected by laws that prohibit any wrongdoing done to them.  A member of the Sheshua dying under suspicious circumstances will result in an increase in the Sheshua presence, who will investigate the death for foul play.  If foul play is determined, and it is linked to the warlord, that warlord is then stripped of his title and will face a horrific and humiliating death sentence.

The Sheshua are also moderators of orc society.  They monitor distribution of food, breeding, and orc placement.  Orcs have no fundamental understanding of monetary compensation or the purchase of items or bartering.  There is no money in orc society.  All essentials necessary to live are provided to every orc via the Sheshua, which includes food and medicine.  The Sheshua also control the Breeding Temples in Nubrince, where females are taken to breed and nourish the young.  There is no marriage in orc society, no romance, no courtship, no family.  The women, when old enough, serve as a harem to every orc warrior who has “earned” a month of breeding with the females.  The warrior then makes his rounds to a different female a day, looking to impregnate each of them before returning to his clan.  Warriors chosen are usually those who have fought with honor (meaning they killed a lot of Juhas) or Trons.  The Sheshua chooses these warriors, sometimes from a list provided by the warlord or Trons, or by their own observations. 

Women have a limited role in orc society.  The common misconception among the other races is that orcs mistreat their women, beating them and defiling them, when in reality orc women likely live more comfortable lives than the majority of women from the other races.  Because orcs see their women as “replenishers” for fallen warriors, the mistreatment of their women is not permitted.  Orcs do not believe in abusing their most precious commodity.  Instead, orcs keep the women well rested, well fed, relaxed, groomed, bathed, and pampered in order to prep them for breeding and later pregnancy.  The Sheshua protect and provide for them. 

However, women are only valued in orc society as long as they can breed.  When a woman becomes too old or infertile or if she is born deformed or incapable of breeding, she is summarily put to death as she is not considered useful to orc society.  Thus, an orc woman’s life is a gilded cage: full of comfort but trapped with no way out.  After a successful pregnancy, the orcling is nourished by each female with her milk until the child can walk.  Once the child is considered functional without a mother (age 2 at the earliest) the Sheshua whisk the orcling away and prepare to put it through the Trials, unless it is born female (it then stays in a separate temple until it is ready to breed as an adult).  Orclings reach full maturity at about age sixteen for females and twenty for males.

Orcs part 1

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There is perhaps no other organized race as feared or as disliked as the orcs, also referred to as “beastmen.”  Tall, muscular, and athletic, orcs have the signature build of a warrior.  Even their skin is thick and not easily pierced, rough like worn leather.  Their skin comes in multiple colors from black to blue to orange.  Orcs can range between 6’0” to 8’0” tall and weigh between 250 and 450 pounds.  They have very pronounced jaw lines, with jagged teeth and protruding canines, pushed up noses and big ears.  Orcs are capable of growing hair over their entire bodies but tend to shave it all off except on their heads (they believe it hinders them in combat).  The most defining physical characteristic of the orc is its bone-spikes.  Orcs have an unusual skeletal system in that their bones do not stop growing and will continue to grow even after the orc is fully developed.  Thus, the bones can pierce through certain points of the skin like antlers, only throughout the body.  The most common places for bone-spikes are on the top of the skull, neck, jaw, spine, elbows, wrists, knuckles, shoulder blades, and cheek bones.  During the Trials of Adulthood, to prove they’re ready for war, orclings will cut their bone-spikes and chisel them sharp.  The process is excruciatingly painful but helps develop a certain level of pain tolerance while turning the orcling’s body into a weapon.  These bone-spikes can be used in hand-to-hand combat, and gives the orc a natural advantage. 

To many of the other races, orcs have a complicated social and political system, but in practice it is quite simple.  Orcs believe in a higher power, and that in all things they take orders from somebody, even if that person is dead or in spirit form.  The orc political system has similarities to that of a confederacy.  There is one central power that governs the many clans that have spread out across the region- the Orc High Council.  While the many clans do not work together and stay in their designated areas, they all answer to the same Council.  Working separately gives the individual clans a sense of identity and independence from each other; however they’re all essentially an arm of the Orc High Council. 

The Orc High Council is a committee of orcs who have been deemed “gifted” and  given a place of honor at the Great Temple at Nubrince.  Gifted orcs are identified at a young age by the Sheshua.  Orcs who can move or read things with their minds, make things appear or disappear, and most especially speak to spirits and visit the Spirit Realm are considered “gifted” and set aside to become future High Council members.  Because of their powers, these orcs are deified: they are worshipped and offered sacrifices.  There can be anywhere between ten to fifty members on the High Council at any time.  Gifted orcs are the most educated of all orcs, but focus is paid to controlling their powers and tapping into spiritual energy.  The High Council is held in such high esteem because of their ability to communicate with their ancestors, upon whom the orcs have fastened their religion.  These communications are done through dreams and induced hallucinations from certain substances.  However, the orcs do not see them as hallucinations but as visions.

From the Great Temple in Nubrince, the Orc High Council rules all the clans that fall under their supervision.  They routinely send messengers and members of the Sheshua to each clan giving them instructions.  Each clan is treated differently by the Council, as some are more advanced militarily or are further along in numbers.  Orcs never consider joining two clans together to make them stronger.  To do that would insult the ancestors of the weaker clan by erasing their destined conquest and insulting that for which they sacrificed their lives. 

The creation of the Orc High Council is relatively new in orc history.  Before the Chaos War the orcs were ruled by a monarchy, but then the orcs discovered magic and were able to summon spiritual power.  This dark magic gave certain orcs an advantage over others and led to those magical orcs being treated differently.  Orcs do not believe in challenging a superior but to reward and deify them.  Orcs admire strength, power and success, as they believe it is the key to global conquest.

Orcs have a fundamental belief that the world belongs to them, and there is no room for the other races, who are populating while depleting their earth’s resources.  Their goal is then to either suppress or exterminate the Juhas (the other “inferior” races), take back the earth, and populate so the earth will continue to live for eternity.  It is their belief that only the orc people can correctly husband the earth because it was created, after all, for them and them alone.  The other races are not seen as equal sentient creatures but as vermin, akin to how other societies view thieves and rapists.  This intolerance the orcs have for the other races drives their lust for war and genocide.

Elves part 1

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In Damir, the elves first arrived in 350 ACW into Oringard, which was inhabited at the time by the dwarves.  The dwarves were too spread out and disorganized to ward off the elven incursion, and fled northwest.  Claiming Oringard as their own, the elves set up villages throughout the forestland in an attempt to solidify a homeland of their own.  They were led by Iteph, the last remaining member of the old royal family from Jeriko.  The elves, who were almost a hundred percent high elf, discovered they were not the only elves in Oringard.  The wood elves pre-date even the dwarves, but stayed to themselves in small communities within the forest.  The arrival of their high elven brethren either assimilated the wood elves into their society or drove them out.

A hundred years later, the elves had multiplied and were prospering in Oringard.  But in 460 ACW, the orcs of Nubrince invaded and ambushed the elves, slaughtering thousands and killing Iteph’s entire family.  Forced to flee, the elves escaped Oringard and ventured west to the fields of Merrimont.  Led by Iteph’s top advisor, Malthus was promoted to steward prince, and with his guidance the elves quickly built up the Merrimont region. 

Damming the rivers was the first order of business, so any township built could be sustained.  The southern hills and plains were perfect for farming, and the elves began to grow and harvest their agriculture.  In a short amount of time, the township of Merrimont had taken off and was booming in population.  Before either the humans or dwarves knew it, the elves had taken control of southern Damir.  Immediately, the human king Bandrian was outraged over the elves settling in the Merrimont region and damming up the rivers, something the humans had failed at spectacularly in the past.  Envy and distrust kept the humans and the elves from getting along, and for over a hundred years the two would be disdainful neighbors to each other. 

With the Malthus line established as the steward prince line, the elves selected their worthiest families to make up the elven nobility and Caucus.  The elven Caucus serves as the center of politics, law enforcement and justice for the people.  Unlike the human king of Damir, a steward prince does not have absolute power, and is politically an equal member of the Caucus.  Being steward prince gives him the privilege to break ties and to represent them in international courts.

In 556 ACW, the human king Bandrian III tried to have Merrimont invaded and conquered, but the elves had prepared for such an assault by demolishing the dams they had built and flooding the area north of Merrimont.  Drowned and defeated by the rivers, the humans did not try again.  However, in 601 ACW the elves were unable to fend off the orc warlord, Phumbaas, and the massive horde he commanded.  Phumbaas routed the elven army, almost annihilating them, and putting Merrimont in a deadly siege.  Unable to hold out against impossible odds, the elves sent an envoy to King Valimond, the human king of Damir.  Desperate for relief, the elves agreed to swear fealty to the crown of Damir, giving up land rights, their merchant trade, and their Caucus just to preserve their future as a people.  The agreement between Valimond and the elves was known as the Treaty of Merrimont.  The treaty was grossly unfair to the elves, as it reduced their status to serf class, and forced to work for human land owners. 

The annexation of Merrimont and the southern farmlands, all at one time controlled by elves, to the kingdom of Damir was a difficult transition.  Elves who owned farm land were now forced to hand over the deeds to their property to human land owners.  These elves were allowed to stay on, but as workers.  The elves saw this as theft, and the humans saw this as justice.  

The elves have since rioted a handful of times in the past hundred and fifty years of having their land stripped.  The Caucus has been reformed and dissolved several times by the human kings that have ruled over them.  The merchant trade has bolstered the economy in Damir, but for forty years the Treaty prohibited elven merchants to sell their goods outside of Merrimont.  In 619 ACW the elves rioted, as the conditions of the Treaty had proven to be too much.  To punish them for their insolence, King Valimond II had five hundred known rioters (some innocent) put to death.  It became known as the 500 Purge, a dark day in Merrimont’s history. 

The Elven Reprieve Act of 643 ACW gave the elves the right to sell their wares outside of Merrimont.  For ten years, the elves began to clean up Merrimont, which had become a city of slums because of the Treaty.  With merchant trade turning high profits, the elves were blossoming, despite being second class citizens.  But in 653 ACW, the new king of Damir, Viktor II, decided to revoke the Reprieve Act, which prompted a bloody revolt in Merrimont.  That caused Viktor to retaliate, and he executed several noble elves who he felt were behind the riots.  The executions were public beheadings and thus earned the title the “Axe Purge.” 

Finally in 772 ACW, Valimond III came to terms with Mortimus, the steward-prince, and passed the Farm and Riot Act.  The policy was an agreement between the elves of Merrimont and the crown.  In short, the elves were to no longer resort to rioting and violence, but to declare their fealty to the crown.  In return, the law in Damir would recognize elven land owners.  The Caucus would also be allowed to govern Merrimont without a human overseer or magistrate.  The elven Caucus would be permitted to sponsor their own laws for their own people, as long as it did not contradict with the laws of the kingdom.

Shunjilas

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Shunjilas are among the most prized and reputable creatures that can be found in Damir.  Found near the massive forestland of Oringard, Shunjilas are renowned for using the trees as their homes.  Described to be foxes with three tails and a frill about its neck resembling a white collar, the Shunjila’s most famous attribute is its ability to glide. Using the trees as a means to both hunt and flee, the Shunjila gracefully glides from branch to branch.  On the ground, the Shunjilas possess both the speed and agility of any other fox.  Its three tails can be used to cover its tracks by releasing a scent in the air, confusing hunters.  The tails of a Shunjila are highly valued among merchants and tailors, who work closely with skilled hunters to obtain them.  Considered the “gold medal” for hunters, a Shunjila is particularly difficult to track and catch.  Yet their fur is in such high demand that any hunter who successfully hunts a Shunjila will be rewarded with a fortune.  Most Shunjilas can be found near the village Purewater, around the Paia River.

Ancient elven lore states that Shunjilas are magical creatures with telepathic capabilities.  Because of how tricky it is to catch a Shunjila, it was believed for several centuries that the creatures had the ability to turn invisible and vanish suddenly.  The wood elves of Oringard revered the Shunjilas as wise and crafty creatures, refusing to hunt them as they were seen as allies to the forest.  However, when the orcs invaded Oringard in 460 ACW, the Shunjilas were hunted for their meat and slaughtered.  Driven to the Paia River region of southwestern Oringard, Shunjilas are close to disappearing from Damir all together.

A favorite human fable told around the fires of Purewater is the Tale of Tayles.  The story goes that a great Shunjila named Tayles encountered a young woodsman in the forest.  The woodsman was lost, looking for help.  Darkness had fallen, and the woodsman could not determine which direction to head.  Tayles warned the woodsman that if he followed the river north it would lead him to the Mud Flats where he would drown in the soft mud.  He instead advised the woodsman to go south where he would find civilization and the help he would need.  The woodsman took Tayles’ word  and went south.  He walked straight into the Mud Flats and drowned in the mud.  While the story is simple, it paints the Shunjila character Tayles as a devious liar not to be trusted.  Some believe Tayles is no mythical character but real.  Actual accounts of hunters and woodsmen getting lost about the Paia River and walking into the Mud Flats has happened numerous times.  Many believe it is the work of Tayles, who has a knack for confusing the direction of travelers.  A second spin on the tale defends Tayles, and blames the woodsman’s death on his own stupidity and overall poor sense of direction.  Some say Tayles has saved countless lives from the Mud Flats by showing lost travelers the way by gliding across the stars in the direction they should travel; all that is needed is for the traveler to look up and follow.  Regardless of his depiction as guide or villain, Tayles is immortalized in Purewater folklore with endless stories detailing either his heroics or his misdeeds.

Proudhill part 2

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As the years went by, Proudhill grew and the power of the human council began to exceed that of the church’s.  Sister Branta, a prominent member of the church, became an outspoken critic of the human council and demanded more involvement in Proudhill’s policies.  As a sister she didn’t outweigh a priest or priestess in authority but became the voice of the church nevertheless.  Branta wanted the laws in Proudhill to reflect that of the moral doctrine the church insisted upon.  She wanted social norms to be enforced by military means: specifically rigid rules on marriage (no legal divorce to be tolerated and adultery punishable by death).  The Council refused to make policy supporting these norms.   Sir. Humpecker, a very devout templar, took it an extra step and threatened to remove the council all together and replace it with members of the church.  These threats proved to be fighting words to the Council, who turned to Sir. Gallac once again.  Gallac was now much older but was still held in high regard by the Council.

Over the years, Proudhill’s templars had become more and more disgruntled with the church and their pious teachings.  Several templars were not looking forward to a church-controlled council and sided with the Council on the matter, rallying behind Sir. Gallac.  This division amongst the templars contributed to Proudhill’s Civil War.  In 240 ACW, Proudhill turned its war of words into a war of swords.  Templars fought templars, farmers attacked farmers, peasants attacked peasants, and the priests and councilors pulled the strings.  It ended when the prominent leaders of the church died.  Sir. Humpecker was cut down in a skirmish and Sister Branta tripped on her skirts while trying to flee, falling down a rocky slope and breaking her neck.  (The slope has hence been named “Branta’s Tumble.”)

After the war (which lasted only a few months), the term “templar” was replaced by “knight” and the church was no longer allowed a say in policy.  Knights of Proudhill became protectors of the Council, as templar training was officially dissolved.  Those loyal to the church left Proudhill; some went to Belvadore in the south, others went east and helped build up a small fortress there called Whitehood.

The largest threat Proudhill dealt with, aside from the bandits of the Blue River and the occasional raids of barbarians like the Blood Bunch, was corruption on the Council.  The Council was composed of elders: old families that had been among the first to settle there.  Tradition in certain families on the Council was permitting corruption to run rampant and the people of Proudhill began to demand reform.  The power grabbing that was happening in Whitehood served as a lesson for Proudhill not to replicate.  To prevent sedition and class envy, Proudhill instituted a roulette system of governance.

The Council would have nine people, from nine families, and each council member would have a term of five years.  After the five years, that council member’s seat becomes available to the next family, which is chosen by lottery.  This rotation by roulette and raffle became known as the “Raffle Senate” and it stayed in place for nearly two-hundred years.  The system was successful: exciting, but risky at times.  Every so often a certain Proudhill family would be selected to sit on the Council but their expertise on political and economic matters was limited.  Candidates were limited to only those families that either owned businesses or had a history of service to the Proudhill region.  Merchants, knights, priests, land owners, ranchers and bankers were common occupants on the Council.

Proudhill kept a frosty relationship with its neighbor Whitehood to the east.  Whitehood had fallen on hard times and was changing its system of government and leaders.  Warlords and corrupt councils kept steering Whitehood into becoming an eventual threat to Proudhill.  This all changed when Bandrian became its Protector and wiped out the dwarves of Duinmire.  The emergence of a human hero in the land caused much discussion for a Damish kingdom and the establishment of a royal line.  But Proudhill was against the idea, because their system of government had been so successful for so long.  Yet, Proudhill was still plagued by bandits and Blood Bunch barbarians who kept attacking the outlying areas and travelers.

Whitehood’s military was twice the size of Proudhill’s, and they boasted a larger population.  The leaders of Proudhill knew that Whitehood would only expand, and that Bandrian had demonstrated that he was an effective leader of men.  To protect the Salt Trade, the primary resource Whitehood shared with both Proudhill and Belvadore, Bandrian used his military to patrol the Blue River, keeping bandits away.  Compounding this were the elves of Merrimont and the orcs of Oringard, who barged into Damir, claiming lands and making humans in Damir uneasy.  Bandrian proposed a permanent alliance, a unification of the major settlements into a single kingdom.  United, the human kingdom would be well protected and any hostile action made by the dwarves, elves or orcs would be met with the banner of a kingdom, not just a settlement or two.

After years of negotiations and debate, the Council in Proudhill dissolved and joined under a single Damish banner, and pledged allegiance to King Bandrian.  A governing family was selected to rule Proudhill, and so the people unanimously chose the house of Gallac.  For over three hundred years, the house of Gallac has been the governing family in Proudhill.

Whitehood part 3

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The 4th War of Damir was one of the most deliberate and certainly darkest moments in Damir history.  Bandrian believed strongly that it would only be a matter of time before Duinmire would launch another invasion against Whitehood.  Unwilling to wait, Bandrian formed his own assault and marched on Duinmire.  The attack came during torrential rainfall, and Duinmire’s defenses were not alerted to Bandrian’s army until they were upon them.  The attack was perfectly coordinated and the fortifications around Duinmire did not hold.  In the mud and rain, Bandrian’s army butchered the dwarven army and later the civilians within Duinmire’s populated township.  Over three thousand dwarven men, women and children were savagely killed by the end of it- over half the population of Duinmire.  Those that were lucky enough to flee went east, to the security of Chance Rock.

Known as the “Duinmire Massacre” the butchering of civilians alongside soldiers is regarded as one of the most sadistic deeds ever executed in Damir history.  But at the time it made Bandrian a hero and he was celebrated for it.  It gave him a reputation, one that gave pause to all of Damir.  To the people of Whitehood, Bandrian was a symbol of human strength and resiliency.  Bandrian’s remarkable feats gave the human race a significant edge in Damir over the dwarves, and later the elves and the orcs.

After Duinmire’s sacking, the town became a settlement for humans looking to take full advantage of the mining operations the dwarves had started.  Adding rich minerals to their salt trade, Whitehood began to expand and profit from its wars.  Bandrian was the most reputable person in the region.  People were in awe as well as in fear of him.  Shortly after becoming Protector, Bandrian built and trained his army into the most lethal force in Damir.

Fearing that Bandrian would push east and wipe them off the face of the earth, the dwarves of Chance Rock began to build a massive fortress to repel him.  This fortress would become Gilstad; but at the time Bandrian ignored them, no longer considering them a threat to Whitehood’s domain.  Eventually, Whitehood’s military served as peace keepers throughout Damir, not just in Whitehood.  Slowly, the other human settlements began to see Whitehood and Bandrian as protectors to all of Damir.

With the orcs taking Oringard away from the elves, who were forced to flee into the fields of Merrimont, Damir’s power structure shifted.  No longer was Damir a land to be torn apart or fought over by only humans and dwarves, but with elves and orcs in the land, it made Damir a hot zone over racial tension and encroached territories.  Whitehood sat on the front lines and Bandrian’s army kept the other races at bay.  Finally, in 470 ACW, the humans of Damir united under one banner and one king.  Whitehood served as the heart of the new human kingdom and resting place of Damish royalty: the house of Bandrian.

Since King Valan II, Whitehood has become quite diverse in its racial makeup.  Once completely dominated by humans, Whitehood has a large population of both dwarf and goblin.  Humans still make up 80% of the total population, but the percentage continues to drop annually.  The salt mines of Mt. Whitehood are excavated by goblins mostly, as it is dangerous work, and the only legitimate work goblins are permitted to do.  Dwarven merchants are found by every street and plaza corner, haggling and selling their wares to everyday citizens.  There are a few elves, but they’re usually on official business as they are still treated poorly in certain human circles.

Damir

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Located in the northwest corner of the continent, Damir is about 37,000 square miles in area.  Damir has no access to the sea, landlocked by four neighboring lands: Lyndon, Gronde, Nubrince, and the Ice Lands.  Officially named by Samjin the Scout in 102 ACW, the word “Damir” is an Elvish term meaning “Land of Awe.”  Samjin considered the name on his expedition through Damir’s wilderness, across the open green plains and rolling hills, to the Reverence Mountains in the west.  Ultimately, it was the land’s high concentration of dark clouds and thunder that inspired Samjin to name it Damir.

Damir had been occupied for centuries by the cyclopsians, giants whose most notable physical trait is their one eye.  Using their size to their advantage, they had enslaved all the other indigenous races.  The brutality of the cyclopsians kept the indigenous humans and elves from prospering and multiplying.  Due to their own internal strife, the cyclopsian leadership acted more along the lines of a confederacy rather than a unified nation.  They were broken up into several clans and some of the clans resented the others.  Small wars over Damir’s lush lands yielded nothing but hardships and their culture did not progress.

Although the dwarves were the first to immigrate to Damir, they avoided the cyclopsians by staying well protected within the forestland of Oringard.  The cyclopsians knew of the dwarves but were afraid of the immense forest, and thus the two races did not interact.  However, because of how disorderly their society was, the cyclopsians did not detect Samjin, and the scout was able to move through Damir, taking note of the landscape.

Samjin was the personal and most trusted scout of the renown Templar, Lyndon.  Lyndon was leading a mass exodus of humans and some elves out from the ruins of the Chaos War.  He sent several scouts ahead of his migration north to find land that would be suitable to cultivate and rebuild.  When Samjin returned, Lyndon was convinced that Damir was the land they had been searching for. Despite the cyclopsian occupation, Lyndon felt convinced he could take the land because of the disorderly nature of the cyclopsian rule.  Entering Damir, Lyndon bypassed Oringard because neither he nor his followers had any interest in the wooded wilderness, compared to the fertile meadows to the west.

Initially, Lyndon and his followers settled near the Paia River but it flooded and destroyed their early settlements.  As a result, Lyndon pushed north and then west, and ran into the cyclopsians who met Lyndon with hostility.  It is unclear who attacked first, but in the end Lyndon drove out the cyclopsians from Damir after a five year campaign.

Along the way and during his wars with the cyclopsians, Lyndon’s followers began to settle across Damir, ending their continental migration to call the land their home.  Lyndon himself was not satisfied with Damir and had originally mistook the Blue River for a coastline.  Learning that the land of Damir was landlocked and had no access to any sea, the great Templar moved on and would later found the neighboring marshland, which would bear his name.

With the cyclopsians driven out, the vast majority of the people who migrated under Lyndon’s banner were human.  The human populace quickly spread and multiplied to become the primary race in Damir.  They would exist as a series of settlements until unification in 460 ACW by Bandrian, the first king of Damir.  The land of Damir became the kingdom of Damir and would attract other cultures and races to its lush domain.  Even with Oringard being overrun by invading orcs, the kingdom has withstood many different wars, which have shaped and molded it into a thriving monarchy.

The land of Damir has withstood thirteen wars, and have named the wars accordingly.  These wars include internal conflicts, and do not include minor border conflicts with Lyndon in 676 ACW and again in 715 ACW, both of which ended up favoring Damir.  Because the Blue River runs through both Damir and Lyndon, control of it has always been the motive behind the western border wars.  However, since the Templar Lyndon’s line was restored to Lyndon’s monarchy as supreme ruler, the two adjacent kingdoms have been allies.

To the south, the rocky and mountainous land of Gronde has been a passive neighbor to Damir.  Due to their free market, Gronde was once the center of trade in the northwest region and had a direct route to Blood Coast.  While Gronde has often distanced itself politically from Damir, the two have never shown aggression to each other, until the tyrant Rudimond took control of Gronde and formed a threatening army.  Rudimond has militarized the border between Damir and Gronde, making open trade impossible while putting a strain on their relationship.

Nubrince to the east has proven to be a nest of orc activity, but Nubrince only supplies the orcs of Oringard with recruits and has not declared open hostility against Damir.  In Nubrince, only orc law is present and that comes from the Orc High Council.  The Ice Lands to the north is a remote region of frozen tundra and hills.  It is rich in resources but no kingdom has ever been established there.  It is seen as a refuge for illegal activity and outlaws fleeing Damir and Lyndon.

The extreme west of Damir is only thirty leagues (almost a hundred miles) from the coastline, known as Blood Coast.  Although Blood Coast does not border Damir, only a sliver of Lyndon land sits between them.  Blood Coast is nearly five hundred leagues long, but only forty leagues wide, as it stretches down half the western coastline of the continent.  Blood Coast is lawless, controlled by pirates, mercenaries, and black market smugglers and operatives.  It’s illegal trade has infected nearby lands (including Damir) in a three hundred league radius.

Damir’s flag consists of a golden crown on a blue background.  The orcs of Oringard use a black flag with bright green Shogue (language of the orcs) letterings.  Since the orcs’ arrival, Damir has fought six notable wars against them.  The latest, the 13th War of Damir, was fought from 791-92.  Damir forces came close to capturing Mt. Phumbaas within Oringard, their military stronghold, but were forced to withdraw, allowing Oringard to replenish its numbers and gear up for another war.

Damir has a population of somewhere near 150,000 but it has been as high as 200,000 on more than one occasion.  Along with its wars and internal strife, the kingdom has lost large chunks of its population from time to time due to plagues (Scarlet Rash & Beggar’s Breath) and natural disasters, such as flooding.  Humans make up 54% of the population, while elves sit at 32%, dwarves 10%, while goblins and centaurs round out the population at 4%.  This excludes the orcs of Oringard (as the realm is viewed outside the kingdom of Damir despite existing within the land’s borders).

The most populated city is Whitehood, then Proudhill, followed closely by the elven city of Merrimont and  Belvadore.  Whitehood encompasses the Rossi Heights area, which sits between it and Merrimont.  When combining the populations of the Southern Farmlands and Merrimont, the population there surpasses Proudhill.  Gilstad can swell to fifth place during wartime, as the fortress is a frontline to orc invasions.  The ranking of city by population is thus:

  1. Whitehood
  2. Proudhill
  3. Merrimont
  4. Belvadore
  5. Chance Rock
  6. Duinmire
  7. Gilstad
  8. Purewater

Release Dates

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Due to the sheer size of the book, Age of Thunder will be divided into three parts.  The first part, An Imminent Storm, was released in November 2014 and is available on Amazon.com.  The second part, Enter the Maelstrom, will be released some time in 2015.  I will update this post when each part is released and is available at Amazon.com.  Please keep in mind that this book will be in e-reader format, available only on your smart phone or tablet.  Hardcover editions of the book are not currently available.  If you have any questions regarding any of this then please make a comment or send me an email at ageofthunder@yahoo.com.