Early History of Verrin

The events that took place in Verrin from the first to the fifth ages of the Thurún calendar.

Throughout the first age, the Age of Awakening, the races of Verrin awoke. The Dwarves wandered the Southern sands and mountains, the Giants explored the Northern tundras, and the Elves sailed forth from their sacred isle. They wandered Verrin alone, carving out great kingdoms for themselves, and learning the arts of music, building, metalwork and mining. Many nations emerged, each developing their own unique customs and traditions. Dwarves mined and built great mountain keeps and fortresses, Giants settled by the lakes and forests in enormous cities, and Elves settled on Verrin’s midland plains.   As they explored Verrin, the three races eventually came into contact with one another and by the year 1000, they shared their knowledge in peace. This is an era of myth and magic. Little is known for certain about this period, but many great heroes are said to have lived and died then. Dragons were a scourge upon the world.     At some point, the last dragons were slain. This marked the beginning of the second age of the Thurún, sometimes called the 'Golden Age'. Trade, craftsmanship, drinking and song defined this as an age of peace and plenty, when there was abundance of all things good in the world.   However, the second age came crashing down when the Orcs of Alkabad poured through Thengalir's Gap in the North, burning and destroying everything in their path. The third age, or Age of Blood-Soaked Earth, began in earnest. Being almost completely unfamiliar with large-scale warfare, the races of Verrin had to adapt quickly to stem the tide of Orcish warriors that threatened to overrun them. The Orcs, from the moment of their twisted creation, had been fighting one another for dominance in the far northern wastes. As such, they had never had contact with the other races until their fateful invasion. The invasion was led by an Orcish tribe that claimed dominance over all others, and at last held overlordship strong enough to prevent the tribes from turning on one another.   The Giants, who lived closest to Thengalir's Gap, suffered greatly at the hands of the Orcs, but the Dwarves and Elves were also slaughtered in their thousands. Fighting as a united front, the three races eventually pushed the Orcs back. After over a century of almost continuous bloodshed, the Orcs were forced back through the Gap and a network of watchtowers were built along it to be manned by the sharp-eyed Elves. The Pact of Thengalir was made between the three races, binding them to join forces to combat any future Orcish invasion. The pact also instructed the Elves to have a permanent garrison of warriors at the Gap's watchtowers, to give sufficient warning if another horde was to break through.   Now war had been brought to Verrin, there was no turning back. During the chaos of the invasion, lands and resources that had long belonged to one race had changed hands and their new owners did not willingly relinquish them. Soon, the former allies were at each other's throats over petty border disputes. The spark that ignited the powderkeg was the desecration of an Elven burial site by Dwarves who found that it sat upon a rich vein of silver. The Giants, in turn, took advantage of the Elves' war with the Dwarves to reclaim their own lands from both races. This war became known as the 'War of Bleached Bones' as the fighting was so intense that there was rarely a pause to bury the dead, resulting in fields of dry bones bleached by the sun.   Eventually, after many years of intermittent war, the fighting came to and end as the territorial disputes were settled either by treaty or by blood. The Elves, unable to reproduce, saw their numbers dwindle and relinquished their claim to any territories on mainland Verrin, with the exception of the city of Vanitasir, which became its own Elven city-state. Becoming reclusive and highly protectionist, the Elves retreated to their island home of Eruvanir. The lands they left behind were quickly swallowed up by the Giant kingdoms, who became Verrin's pre-eminent power. To their credit, the Elves still sent a garrison of troops to the watchtowers as per the Pact of Thengalir.   The founding of the great city of Hjalthrond marks the coming of the third age of the Thurún, the Age of Giants. During this age, the cultural hegemony of Giants was cemented over Verrin and Elves and Dwarves dared not challenge them. Great monuments to the gods were constructed and many of Verrin's most famous Giant structures were created during this age, including the Obsidian Gates of Bernitoft. Small scale conflicts occurred between rebel factions, but peace was mostly maintained.   The various Kingdoms, fiefdoms and lordships established by the Giants were united into one empire by Bacchún, who would become emperor, or Kerendir, of this new state. Originally king of the Thurún state of Mirrormount, his cunning military leadership allowed him to annex several of the neighbouring petty kingdoms. Now in control of a force too powerful to be resisted, Bacchún gained pledges of allegiance from every other Thurún king, thereby forming an enormous feudal empire- the Mirrormount Dominion. His coronation as Kerendir marked the start of the fourth age, known as the Age of Gold and Jewel.   As the name suggests, it was an era of relative peace. The races of Verrin experienced a renaissance in metalworking and miners seemed almost preternaturally lucky at striking gold and precious gems. Slowly, trust was rebuilt between the races and trade resumed. Some have taken to calling the fourth age a 'second Golden Age'. Bacchún was keen to emphasise how the races had once been firm allies and friends, and tried to reconcile their differences.   The fourth age became the fifth in 887, when strange ships reached Verrin's sparsely populated eastern shore. The race of Men had arrived from their far-off homeland, and settled in Verrin. Suspicious, but not overtly hostile, the races of Verrin began to trade with the newcomers. Bacchún, now very elderly and infirm, was not pleased with the new settlers on his territory, but he nonetheless let them stay on the condition that they do not expand any further. Bacchún died before his words could be passed on to the invaders, and control of the Mirrormount Dominion fell to Bacchún’s impetuous son, Vathlauss. Some Thurún states used this opportunity to break away from the Dominion, reducing its size considerably.   More and more human ships continued to arrive, and the race of Men spread across central Verrin before anything could be done to stop them. Thriving coastal cities were established, and a kingdom was proclaimed, the Kingdom of Fyfeldor. The human king, Aethelwulf, was revered among his people as a great leader and commander, having apparently been a war leader in the human homeland. Every day, more ships arrived.   Some warlike Giants raised warbands to raid the Kingdom of Fyfeldor, joined by many who had been displaced by the rapid expansion of Men in Verrin. Their first raid took place in 901; a village was burned to the ground and not a single survivor is known. Almost immediately after hearing the news, Aethelwulf sent out war parties of his own to retaliate. In their lust for vengeance, the Men attacked indiscriminately and sacked estates belonging to influential Thurún lords, drawing the ire of several powerful individuals. Soon enough, the conflict began to escalate to the point of war. The Mirrormount Dominion made ready for battle.   See: The War of Shattered Shields