Great Five
The Great Five was a longstanding pact between the 5 mightiest lineages of the Norhan continent: Ryker, Medaster, Blackwood, Stonesword, and Whalleyon.
History
Founders of these lineages were the first rulers of the continent, and made a pact to keep the peace in order to govern the country. They were the descendents of the First Men: the first human species that roamed the continent of Norhan after the Age of Shadows. The First Men stopped being a Nomadic people after the Divine Pillars were discovered. The First Men settled, with the colossal artifacts in close proximity of their settlements. They prayed to it, made offers and thanked the gods for their newfound places. When other tribes arrived they were welcomed to join. These settlements slowly grew into cities. Which meant they needed names. Leadership. And governments. Each of the cities handled this sensitive manner in different ways.Ryker
In the North, at the foot of the White Mountains, the Snowalkers and the Northcavers arrived at the Colossal Artifact around the same time. The tribes merged, and named the artifact: Umber. And so, the City of Umber was founded. The people dropped their tribe names and started to call themselves Umberians. In order to protect themselves against the freezing winters, they had to come up with a logistical plan. They needed to gather enough wood, coal, and food to sit out the winters. The organization became a chaotic mess. Everyone wanted to contribute to the greater cause, but they did so in their own way. The result: an overload of wood, but not enough food. And so, they learned their hard lesson during the First Winter of Umber, when more than thirty percent of the population starved and violence erupted. Fathers and mothers tried to get hold of every tiny piece of meat they could scavenge. Even if they needed to kill for it. When spring finally came, the peace returned. The Umberians decided they had to appoint a leader. After much debate, and some backstabbing here and there, there were two final candidates left. Tormant Snowalker and Reidar Ryker. As per tradition of the old tribes, a battle would decide the chosen one. Tormant was a large, ferocious man with enormous hands that he used to handle his stone hammer. Reidar, coming from the small Ryker tribe, relied on his sharp spear. It was a bloody fight, later archived as The Bloody Battle of Umber. Reidar eventually came out as winner, but with his left hand obliterated. People started calling him Reidar the Right. His official title: Reidar Ryker I, Ruler of Umber.Blackwood
More to the east, on the green plains, The Blackwoods, Underlanders and Hillfolk settled around their artifact: Thumon. Thumon hovered above a large lake, in the middle of the grasslands. It was a sustainable country. The people of Thumon were calling themselves Thumen. And, as their country was full of life, they had no quarry among themselves. The city grew fast, not in the least because the three settling tribes were quite large. And word of mouth about the fertile grounds led to new tribes marching to Thumon. As the city grew everyone agreed that each of the original setteling tribes should bring forth a leader. And that those three leaders should rule the city together. Thus, the first rulers of Thumon came to be: Marik Blackwood, Antor Underlander and Arek Hillfolk. During the second year of their ruling they erected a huge, wooden wall around the city center and named the city: Thornwall. Power, however, never ceases to corrupt men. Marik Blackwood set up an elaborate scheme to seize power for himself. Antor Underlander and Arek Hillfolk were hanged. And so we have: Marik Blackwood, King of Thornwall.Whalleyon
On the other side of the Chevron River even more to the East of Thornwall, the Nearfalls built Falcoff the round city. Distinctive of the Nearfalls was that they chose women as leaders of the Tribe. When they founded Falcoff, their leader was Savasta. The Nearfalls’ religion was, not entirely surprising, based in water. The Tribe had gotten their name as they marched through the wetlands, rich with waterfalls. They believed the Gods were traversing the world through the flows of water. When a leader was chosen, the priests performed a ritual that we today would classify as baptism. The chosen woman’s tribe name would be replaced by a name chosen by the priests based on the information they received from their Gods. Thus, Savasta Nearfall became Savasta Whalleyon. After the first small walls of the city were erected, Savasta Whalleyon named herself Queen. And so, Savasta Whalleyon, Queen of Falcoff was archived.Stonesword
Medaster
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