The History of Clyan

 

Part 2:  The rise and fall of ancient Amlor

 

Ranson spent endless hours with our captive dwarf, pressing the poor creature for information on beliefs of the peoples and some of the history.

The creature gave us a significant amount of information, although we were to later discover that alternative belief system existed, and that these sometimes conflicted with each other.

I’m putting down here the original stories as the dwarf gave it, although later, when I got to the surface and did my own studies, I found different tales which I will relate later, along with a fuller history of this world – including our own role in its later development.

Perhaps the most curious aspect of the dwarf’s tale involved the belief in gods.

These came in two categories: the greater gods and the lesser gods.

The greater gods were those mysterious powers of good and evil called Asmos and Concor.

Asmos is supposed to be a pure spirit which is unreachable. But there is evidence among the many legends we later uncovered that once, he or she existed in a material form.

Some of the elder elves are supposed to be in direct contact with Asmos and see him or her in this original form of half-dragon/half-elf.

Concor’s supposed form is that of a great serpent ass well, but not with the head and face of an elf. Instead, its neck is long and its tongue flashes out this way and that, and – according to unreliable reports – it has such a sickening small that it is unbearable, perhaps even deadly to be in its presence.

Asmos, on the other hand, is strongly associated with the scent of dying roses, and those who have come in contact with the spirit or the being often remember this scent long afterwards.

Legend claims that Asmos and Concor are really two parts of one greater god, called Lucas that in the process of creating the universe grew weaker and split.

Some legends claim that creation must be blessed by both good and evil or the creation won’t work.

In creating so much, the combined god weaken itself so much that Concor found a way to sever ties with Asmos.

The first war of the world was between Asmos and Concor, and out of this, each god created an army of beings.

Asmos created the dwarves, elves, borrels, brakets and giants, while Concor created terrets, tors, trolls and demons.

Man – according to one legend – was also created at this point, but as a strange by product of both gods, as part of a struggle that ended with the creation of a creature neither god could claim loyalty from, and which neither god wanted.

Of all of Asmos’ creatures, the Elf was the greatest.

While Concor created demons to battle the elf, the demons lacked something necessary to accomplish the feat.

Demons came in three varieties: the Simterians, the sumorians and the Bulors.

The Simterians were the last and greatest of Concor’s creations – created not by Concor alone, but using some of the powers and skills of the lesser or new gods.

Of all of Concor’s creations, the Simterians alone came closest to equal the great elves. But they lacked free will. This blue-skinned creature had great skills at war and calculation, but were controlled and obedient to the will of the New Gods, who in turn working without knowledge for Concor (as some tales claim).

In some ways, the Simterians were seen as Concor’s way of making up for the mistake of man. Concor wanted beings that were better skilled, stronger, but more obedient than man.

In the first war between Asmos and Concor, Asmos – anticipating Concor’s attempt to create man as such a weapon – managed to tamper with the creation by giving man a will of his own. To prevent this, Concor operated in secret through the new gods to create the Simterians, who had no will, and no pride. They were warriors – the perfect killing machines.

The Sumorians were designed to combat Brackets. They had leathery wings and dinosaur faces. They carried spears and fought savagely, often biting and clawing victims to death when weapons failed. Surmorians, however, never came out during daylight. Their power came out of the dark. They even tend to shrink away from ordinary fire light, but will come close to it at great urgency.

Although Concor had intended man to be his greatest creation, the Sumorians rapidly became his favorite.

The Bulors are often called the Lesser Gods.

In some ways, they are an even greater disappointment to Concor than man, if only because these lesser gods betrayed him, and grew perverted partly because of the rise of man.

In some ways the history of Tbor or Clyan begins with the fall of the lesser gods. Prior to this, they were merely puppets of Concor and Asmos.

Their rebellion became a turning point in the world, and brought about the fall of Concor and Asmos as well.

With mankind rising as a real force in the world, the lesser gods because to lord over them as if creators, setting up their own kingdoms so that men might glorify them rather than Concor or Asmos.

Although immortal, the lesser gods had much in common with man, suffering similar weaknesses and needs, and often whole civilizations rose as testimony to each lesser gods desires.

But this rebellion evolved slowly.

The first age after the first war is sometimes called the Age of the Perfect Kingdoms. This was a time when Asmos and Concor ruled overtly, casting legions against each other across the great southern plains. This was a time of great hosts and greater destruction. The magic of dwarves and elves was at its height. The power of the Sumorians ruled the darkness and their great numbers swept over their enemies at night, killing while being slept. The trolls attacked and killed the giants, beating them back into a smaller and smaller space. These wars eventually reduced the number of giants so significantly, that the race eventually went into decline and never recovered.

The second age is sometimes called The Time of the Shadows, when the power of the greater gods began to wane. Their division from one god had begun a process that took time to occur, but eventually, weakened both because the source of their strength had come from their unity. They both struggled to find new sources of strength, but failed. In the end, to preserve what remained of their powers, they gave up their material form and let the lesser gods continue the war.

The lesser gods during this time operated as tools of Concor, while the elves lead the fight for Asmos.

These wars marked the beginning of recorded history.

 

Gran I

 

Gran was the first king of Kur, the greatest and last city from the previous age of the greater gods.

It became the capital of the new kingdom.

Concor abdicated reigns of world power to Gran in order to preserve his fading powers.

Asmos made a similar concession to the Elf Dlors in the three great bands of power. Asmos, according to northern legends, then consented to rise from the earth, serving as a spiritual rather than physical leader.

Gran I (as he became known in later history) ruled the kingdom of Dexr, or Amlor (as the Elves called it).

Gran was a half man, half-god, who was endowed with god-like powers in exchange for surrendering his free will. Gran obeyed his creator. But did not rule Amlor absolutely. His was but one of four lesser god kingdoms on what was then called The Great Isle. But his was the mightiest and during his first years of power, the others swayed to his will.

At one point, giants also occupied this part of the world, but were driven off in what some call the First Great War. But even years later, giants and trolls held the shoreline south of Tbor proper.

Gran’s great ambition was to extinguish all from those shores. But each sailing of his great ships proved disastrous.

Concor’s influence did not extend much beyond the boundaries of the Isle itself, so that any victory over seas depended heavily on the military ability of the Kur warriors – a skill they largely lacked. They were driven away from the shore.

This, of course, was prior to first contact with the Elves.

Gran knew of the great elf empires up in the center of Tabor, but the interests of the four great Amlorian powers did not come into conflict with these empires, so that both races generally ignored each other.

This was true, too, of the lesser gods, who had no wish to fight among themselves – at least not yet.

 

Raina

 

Raina was the fair child of King Gran, daughter of the witch of Hazel-Droth.

She was called saintly, but like her father she was stubborn and willful, and took advice badly.

While her father had made the mistake of driving the fleets north and wasting men and resources on wars he could never win, Raina went through lovers. But this side of her wasn’t widely known by the masses of men who served her or her father.

She was called “virgin queen” and was the subject of song and legend on each ship to each war. Men said her magic could carry a ship through the worst of storms and toughest of battles.

But in truth, Raina could be cruel at times. Other tales brought out later by the future enemies of Gran claimed she killed slaves and ex-lovers. She was demanding of everyone, including her father. She once demanded the head of a certain giant that was rumored to be the greatest giant warrior in all the lands, and her father sent ship after ship after it, and though they managed to return with the giant’s head, thousands of warriors died to accomplish it.

 

Murra

 

Murra, another lesser god and the first son of Alit, the god of the Southern Seas, loved Raina intensely.

Murra, however, was fated for a celibate life because some curse threatened to steal the powers passed on from his parents if he had sex.

His mother was a half witch of Dimar Island and because of this, a curse claimed that for every experience of the flesh Murra took, he would lose half his power.

Raina never knew this – or she would have enticed him out of spite.

Although tortured by his desire for Raina, Murra was fortunate that she simply saw him as another in a long line of men looking for her hand.

So Murra would live a very, very long life in his unhappy desire for her.

Yet another fate awaited both of these child gods.

Murra, while watching Raina one day in the woods, was attacked by a rare horned creature called a Knarl.

It was a mountain creature that held in its hors a poison that inflicted mortality on a god.

Murra was wounded, and found lying in the woods by Raina’s servants.

She in a very cold way nursed him back to health.

She eyed him then as a potential lover. But he seeing what she really was like for the first time, and fearing to lose his god-like powers, fled her.

But being stubborn in such matters, refused to have a potential lover spurn her. She pursed him, and forced him to marry her.

She knew wounded he would grow old when she would not.

He knew he could never make love to her and was obsessed by this fact and his continued desire for her.

The marriage was never consummated.

This not only angered Raina – who refused to relinquish Murra out of spite – but more so her father, Gran and Murra’s father, Alit, both of whom wanted an heir that would eventually unit the two kingdoms.

Secretly, the father’s arranged for Alit’s second son, Enal to visit the Castle of Kur.

 

Enal

 

Enal is known at the war god.

He was the mighty and proud son who went off to war in the name of Dexr, determine to do what Kur’s other armies could not, conquer the race of giants.

It was Enal, who cut the head from the giant Raina so desired. But more importantly, Enal stood firm during all of the conflicts so that the giants could not break through the lines later when they tried to invade North Amlor.

His shinning and silver armor announced him long before he arrived any place, and throughout the lands – his and others – people praised him.

Enal – as would the great twins, Ely and Ajax of Amlor many centuries later – was bitter at his lack of birth right since Murra had been first born, and entitled to rule Kur.

Enal always saw Murra as weak, a mere god of harvest, who did little in war.

Murra, on the other hand, once loved Enal greatly, but grew distance and sad at Enal’s bitterness. Murra, however, did understand his brother’s anxiety, and assured him – especially after his being wounded in the woods – that Enal would eventually get all that he wanted when Murra passed on.

Impatience for that day only increased Enal’s rage, and made him see Murra as even wearker for his new lack of immorality.

None know what the great gods Asmos and Concor thought of all this. But another, perhaps greater power was at work that even the great gods were helpless to half.

Fate played a hand, altering the course of history in a way none expected.

One day, Enal arrived in his fiery chariot, blacking the steps to the Castle at Kur. Mere mortals gathered to watch in awe as the lesser god stepped out of the flame.

Gran greeted Enal as if his first born.

This was what he always wanted in a son – or in this case, son in law. This was the seed he wanted planted in his daughter so that Kur would yield a great crop of future heroes even Murra, the bringer of harvests, could not provide.

Enal knew all about Fraina, knew about her lovers and her disposition. He saw her as a conquest as great as those in the north with the giants.

Gran made no secret of his wishes, telling Enal he must take Raina, if necessary, by force.

But Murra must not know. He must be led to believe this is his child.

How could he believe that if Murra refuses to engage with Raina, asked Enal.

Gran said the matter was arranged and for Enal to do his own part, and leave the rest of the king.

Raina, not yet knowing the full extent of the plot, drugged Murra with drink, and though he was unable to perform, she convinced him he had finally honored his marriage vows to her.

The rape of Raina followed shortly, and the shame of it, forced her into silence so that Murra never learned the truth.

But he suspected something wrong with it all.

Raina enraged by the rape decided to become a loyal queen to Murra, who was to inherit the throne of both Gran and Alit.

She warned both fathers that she would take the truth to the people and they would throw down all four of the kingdoms in rage over this great crime – and the greater crime the fathers had planned for after the heir was born: the murder of Murra.

Raina’s outrage set Murra on the throne of the two kingdoms and promised to deny the throne to Enal, since Enal could not inherit the crown if Murra had a son – which Raina shortly delivered.

Angry over the twist of fate, Enal, however, remained Raina’s lover, a matter that vexed Alit, who was so fed up with the whole affair, he wanted to the sons by sending Enal to war somewhere.

Enal’s fame as a warrior god continued to grow and after time, he took satisfaction in glory which he could not get by obtaining the crown.

 

Other lesser gods

 

This two union of two kingdoms of Tbor did not sit well with many of others, because Kur suddenly became a powerful political, commercial and military entity only a union of  other kingdoms large and small could contain. But since it was common for most of the kingdoms, great and small to bicker, Kur usually got its way.

To ease tensions, Alit met with the gods of the central kingdoms: Akel, the god of the north seas, Vada, the goddess of flame, Meror, the goddess of earth, Riza, the goddess of air. (The elven mythology has other names for these gods and a sharply different history, which I’ll get into later). These gods and their children ruled over more minor kingdoms and less powerful lesser gods, who lived in their sphere of influence.

Alit has most in common with Akel, since both had power over the world’s waters. An agreement between had divided the seat with Alit ruling those south of Amlor while Akel ruled all to its north.

In some ways, Akel and Alit were seen as the most powerful of the lesser gods, the king of kings, although many of the lesser gods denied this ranking.

For the most part, the other gods and goddesses were free to do what they wished in other realms of the world, provided they made no effort to control either realm of Akel and Alit.

Alit’s union of Murra and Raina made the other lesser gods uncomfortable enough to unite against him, so that Akel, Vada, Riza and their less powerful associates demanded Kur somehow be stripped of some of its new influence.

Alit argued that it was not good for the lesser gods to fight. But the son fathered by Enal, mothered by Raina, and adopted as his own by Murra, had grown and become a powerful influence in his own right. Narumi wasn’t merely a powerful offspring of powerful parents, but also a great champion of ordinary people. He had inherited both his father’s immortality but his father’s skill as a warrior as well. He also studied under Murra and soon combined higher learning with skill as a warrior, angry at injustice and brave enough to challenge even the most powerful of the lesser gods.

Even Akel feared this new rising god, because he saw that fate accompanied Narumi and steered the young lesser god along paths of its own design.

The lesser gods decided to crack Kur and war soon came upon the lands. Murra perished in the raising of Kur.

But this stirred up Narumi’s anger and he soon led hosts against the gods.

 

The fall of Kur

 

Our captured dwarf was fading fast. Arguments among our staff ensued with some of us demanding that the dwarf be brought back to his own people for care. Clearly, contact with us and his remaining on our platform was slowly killing him.

Unfortunately, Ranson got additional allies from those of us – many on my side normally – that we cannot return the dwarf to the planet because it was disclose our presence, and distort the natural development of the planet.

Although I argued that land missions to study the surface already risked that contact, I was out voted. Some of our medical people dedicated their time to trying to find a way to reverse the deterioration, though in truth, they were bent on a more in-depth study of the dwarf anatomy.

Weakening or not, the dwarf continued to convey details of the lesser gods, with Ranson pressing him for more and more, while I listened in.

The dwarf seemed to think it was important to give us more specifics about the Fall of Kur and Narumi’s eventual revenge.

True to this far in his tale, dates were really unimportant. Events could have taken years or centuries to unfold, we could not say.

Even the dwarf had not clear knowledge, telling us that some of his people believe the fall of Kur took as long as a thousand years, and the war itself much longer.

Some, he said, believe that the war and destruction of Kur lasted only to the point when Narumi finally uncovered the truth of his siring and learned that Murra was not his father.

Narumi decided Kur must be free of the gods, unaware or perhaps only partly aware, that because he was the off spring of two gods, he was also a god.

While one of the immortals, he did not rule with the same kind of powers other gods did. His power came from his ability to wield the sword. He was a great general, perhaps the greatest of all time. He and Jore, the grandson of Gran, made the declaration freeing Kur of gods from the steps of the palace.

Alit was so outraged by this, he abandoned the mighty nation. Others also withdrew their bounty. Enal -- the war god – alone remained loyal to Kur, but this was out of his love of Some gods, however, were not content to simply abandon Kur. Heror made the earth tremble under the nation and the capital. Akel made the north seas rise. Alit soon joined in this and made the south seas rise as well.

Kur fleets perished.

Unable to reach remote armies around the gulf, those in the capital lost touch and then control of them, eventually causing small kingdoms to spout up around once great generals.

The lashing out against Kur spilled over onto the other north kingdoms of Myt and Rorfan, both of whom lost their fleets as well. Delfar maintained a small fleet which it used eventually to conquer Kur – and this was only possible because Narumi was thought to be lost at sea.

Enal, hearing news of his lost son, became despondent. Both the woman he loved and his son were dead. His godly days ceased. Legend claims he threw himself into the southern sea and drowned.

The death of Narumi and Enal sobered Alit, who regretted his earlier anger. His two sons had perished. He became known at the unhappy god.

With Narumi and Enal gone, Delfar – supported by Riza, the goddess of air, swept in and conquered Kur. Murra standing on the steps of the throne fought to his death to protect Raina, whom Delfar called “The Queen Witch.” When the last defender fell, Delfar warriors dragged her off the throne, murdered her near where Murra’s body lay, then burned both bodies as well as the palace and a good portion of the capital.

Enal wept openly at news of Raina’s death.

Some legends make Delfar out to be as great an empire as Old Kur was. But most believe otherwise.

But Delfar lusted for conquest and under its first real warrior king, Vaul, it succeeded in becoming the most decadent of all historic empires, full of vices so scurrilous even the gods blushed. But Delfar did not master the seas. Its ships never wandered out of sight of land, knowing the ill favor the gods of the seas felt about Delfar’s moral behavior. Even the gods of earth and fire found on disgust in Delfar and gave the nation no favors. Droughts often plagued the countryside, bringing famine only additional conquests cured. These leathery winged legions never did take their conquests across the seas.

In its defeat, Kur grew in stature as one of the greatest and most enlightened kingdoms ever more. Even the kings and people of Myt and Rorfan, who had fought against Kur in the great wars, saw it as the first real great kingdom of Amlor, a golden age when gods supported man’s ambitions. It did not take long for Myt and Rorfan to sever their ties with Delfar, the populations finding more to hate in the new empire than the one it had displaced. Both cities prayed to the gods to take action against Delfar. But with Murra, Enal, Raina and their great son, Narumi dead – and the isolation of Alit, the other gods feared to support another war that might bring god into conflict with god again. They were no willing to risk the death of more gods to support the ambitions of mortals. Thamor, the wind god, alone acted against Delfar, but only to blow the winds against any flight of conquest that allowed Delfar to stretch its power beyond what it already had.

Then rumors of Narumi came.

Not only did he still live, but was sailing across unfriendly seas with a fleet. He intended to invade Delfar and restore the kingdom of Kur.

His survival – no, his ability to hide from the eyes of even the two great sea gods, puzzled and terrified the other gods. What had the mating of Enal and Raina wrought.

Narumi’s return was seen at the return of a god from death, and this shook mortal and immortals alike. A lesser god had risen from the dead to challenge all. Rumor spread across the lands. Armies rose in Myt, under Freida, the woman warrior. And in Rorfan, Tilda, the battle maiden, gathered her own armies. Both women intended to support Narumi’s return.

The people of the north saw this as the final battle that would at last free them from the gods.

The gods saw it as the attempt of an upstart to overthrow them, and over throw the greater god, Lucas before them. So the gods gathered with Vaul and Riza, and brought a great host from over the seas to wait on and eventually throw down the warrior son of Enal.

Reports soon reached the gods that several elf lords and their hosts accompanied Narumi, along with a host of dwarves. While dwarves frequently interacted with men, especially in the north, elves rarely got involved with the conflicts of men or the lesser gods. But such as the fear of Delfar’s hunger for conquest, the elves decided to bring the fight north since they would have to fight Delfar sooner or later.

Elves, men and lesser gods had come into conflict before, but always with Kur’s expansion, these were minor skirmishes. Kur had more of an interest in commerce than in conquest, seeking treaties where ever possible. Conflicts with elves and the many other people of the south because of a misunderstanding. Delfar, however, made no secret of its ambitions, and the elves, mistrusting the flighty nature of the lesser gods, feared the gods would eventually take the side of Delfar – which proved true with Narumi’s approach.

Narumi arrived like a storm. He had recovered his true father’s sword. None know how, although some claim sea nymphs carried it up from the depths for him.

His force landed at the Bay of Hmon and drove Vaul’s armies back to the walls of their capital.

Meanwhile, Freida came down from Myt and attacked the western armies at Morm.

Tilda came and defeated the eastern armies at Tert.

Delfar seeing the way the wind was blowing, closed itself in anticipation of siege. The gods, shocked by Narumi’s wrath and power, cast spells over the city in an attempt to force peace. These spells were designed to keep Narumi from entering the city, but also to keep the warriors in the city from striking out at Narumi’s army.

The gods realized at this point that could not defeat Narumi in conflict, despite all their powers. But they did not believe until the great battle at Morm that Narumi could defeat them, which he did.

While even the gods didn’t completely understand how, they sensed for the first time just how powerful the elf lords were, and how much they contributed to the victory. Some legends also claim that Narumi had the help of a powerful sect of strange magicians, who brought with them powers that even the gods did not recognize and could barely fend off. Flame that burned and could not be extinguished by water. Smoke that carried poison where ever it went.

When it became clear the Narumi intended to use these powerful forces against the gods if they stood in his way, the gods withdrew their support from Delfar, and went back to protect those cities which paid them homage. Riza, however, remained with Delfar since this was her city.

Those who saw Delfar before the attack remembered how terrible the place looked, its tall towers reaching menacingly towards the sky like fingers of a black hand. Since its citizens could fly, the gates were high up in the walls.

Narumi’s attack failed to break the city, partly because Alit – fearing his own grandson would kill him – stayed with Riza and cast his greatest spells to keep the walls from being breached. But there was a price for these spells, casting the city into perpetual darkness, and cursing its residents from wandering far beyond its walls.

Narumi saw justice in the self imprisonment, and ceased his siege.

Yet despite his dreams, he could not restore the once great Kur empire. The alliance of elves, dwarves and men could not remain without a common enemy. Even his own people scattered across the land, settling into farmers.

Narumi, disillusioned, resided in Myt for a time, then later when myt grew fat and decadent, he journeyed to Rorfan where he resided with Vada and Heror, until the rise later of other lesser gods.

Rorfan grew powerful, opening itself up to trade – since the war had brought so many people from so many other lands. Rorfan built roads  and trading posts in a network across its lands.

Akel went over the sea, looking for a more stable home. He was ill from the wars between the gods, and felt the fate of their own rebellion against Lucas beginning to turn against him.

 

The Third Kingdom

 

When Narumi settled in Myt, so did many of the magicians he had brought with him from other parts of the world. The city became a mystical place, and feared, because the magicians cast spells and spread their magic in an attempt to draw a net over those lands formerly ruled by Kur and Delfar.

Each magician became a powerful lord in his own right, with small but ruthless armies that demanded significant tribute from men and others they encountered.

Although Narumi played no role in these ventures, his unwillingness or inability to reign in these new lords made some blame him.

With the two sea gods in self imposed exile, the seas became free again for ships to travel. Myt built great fleets and began to sail the great Gulf, continuing its ruthless pursuit of power.

While never as blatant as Delfar or even as aggressive, the magicians of Myt made no secret of their ambitions to rule the world. This brought them into conflict with Elves more often.

Finally, unable to remain uninvolved, Narumi fled Myt and sought counsel from the gods at Rorfan. He did not go alone. Three of the magician, who resisted the urge for power, accompanied him. These were Blyord, Jiero and Chariolet.

They will Vada, Heror, Narumi and several dwarf lords held a council on how to control Myt’s ever spreading influence.

Sick of war that had brought down Kur and isolated Delfar, the council refused to build a new alliance.

Blyord eventfully fled east over the wide sea, only to return later to settle in Cort on the edge of the eastern sea

Somehow the named Blyord, Jiero and Chariolet sounded familiar, yet because the dwarf grew weaker and he struggled to speak, my attention remained fixed on the tale he told rather than drifting off into speculation of my own.

He told us that Jeiro and Chariolet sired children, but of these only Kern emerged as anyone of note.

Kern, raised close to Narumi, soon learned the craft of war, and became nearly as great a warrior of Narumi had been.

Unlike Narumi, however, Kern lusted for power – perhaps even envying those in the dark and isolated city of Delfar. Some legends claim he secretly stole off to the stand outside the walls of the dark city where he received instruction from Alit and the terrible winged gods, lessons on war Narumi denied him.

When he came of age, Kern journeyed over the seas and returned bearing salves and riches. Attracted to the ambitions of Myt, Kern soon took up residence there, where he learned more at the hands of the other wizards there, and soon became a powerful presence even among the powerful lords of magic.

But Kern did not come at a good time. Myt’s dominance was already on the wane, largely because of the disputes among the lords of magic, each living with the dread that one or more of the others plotted against him or her.

Yet the most serious blow came as a result of their own greed. Unlike the great cities before it, Myt had populated itself with slave races from around the gulf, people brought back to serve the lords and the original population of people acting superior. Knowing how to do little but wage war and make magic, Myt’s elite suffered a mortal blow when the slaved rebelled and fled the city to popular the more rural landscape nearby. The great houses that had relied so heavily on slaves and the economy that depended on slave labor, soon fell into decay.

Many of the ships that sailed off, did not come back. Wars overseas became numerous and expensive, since the lords were forced to hire foreign legions to guard their outposts. But paid soldiers are hardly loyal soldiers, and with the fighting so far from the center of power, many generals became mercenary, and laid claim to possession Myt could no longer hold onto.

The expense of these wars soon drained wealth of Myt.

Desperate to clutch the former greatness that alluded them, the lords of Myt plotted even more. Coalitions allowed one lord to claim the title of king, only to have that king dethroned by another coalition, who put their own king in his place. Some claimed that the remaining lesser gods at Rorfan sided with this lord or that in a deliberate attempt to keep Myt weak. Kern clearly believed this, some legends claiming he was strongly influence by the voices of Delfar and Alit, whose bitterness spilled over into hatred, and still sought some way to get vengeance for being isolated.

But Kern could not pull together any host powerful enough to lay siege to Rorfan, and he foresaw the end of Myt’s power and the decline of the North. Amlor was fading as the center of the world. Powerful forces in former colonies to the south were already rising up to claim their own. They began to rule themselves, leaving the ancient kingdoms of Amlor to rot.

The plotting of the lords of Myt soon devolved into open warfare. Petty conflicts made the city even weaker. These feud like conflicts even spread out into the local farming communities. Eventually, a few of the lords of magic united, became strong enough to evict those who refused, then taking a lesson from Delfar, closed the gates of the city to outsiders, and cast their own spells to prevent further decay. This did not stop the slaughter outside the city, where armies, loyal to one lord or another, and some even to the lords of the closed city of Myt, ravaged the landscape in a constant wave of violence that stirred up the wrath of the lesser gods of Rorfan.

They were concerned about the chaos spreading into their own lands, and perhaps even unleashing the power of the dark city again so that new and greater wars would destroy all the great cities of Amlor.

Led by Narumi, Heror and Vada,  Rorfan attempted to force order on the wayward peoples, sometimes by brute military force, but most times by negotiating treaties. The peacekeeping efforts, however, were weak stitches in a fabric being yanked apart by forces beyond anyone’s control.

A minor conflict in the south portion of Amlor touched off the final death blow of Myt and forever destroyed the triangle of balanced power for the region.

Oofla, a minor king of a farming community attacked one of the farming regions of Delfar, slaughtering men, women and children at a place call Fay.

Alit was so enraged by the butchery, he emerged from the dark city and leg an army across the River Torn to attack King Oofla.

Kern, who had become the defacto king of Myt, lead his army and in the Battle of Torn, killed Alit.

The act shook Amlor and the world like no single event prior to it, and united previous enemies, including lesser gods, elves, dwarves and others, to hunt down Kern – who felt Amlor as an outlaw, although he promised he would return and take vengeance on them all.

Chariolet and Jiero made official the parceling of Myt’s lands, giving the remaining possessions to former slaves and others to farm and rule.

Rorfan constructed new roads out of Amlor to the new kingdoms in the south.

Yet as positive an outcome that the Battle of Torn eventually had, the lords of the lands could not shed the shame of Alit’s death.

Of all, Narumi took the death hardest. The deaths of so many close to him had worn heavy on his shoulders and now to witness his grandfather’s death stirred up a rage unequalled until the Wars of Enchantment many ages later.

Narumi vowed he would kill Kern with his own hands.

But being history’s greatest general, he knew not to rush off after Kern. He would wait, lay his trap for when Kern returned.

All knew what the outcome would be when Kern returned, and all waited with anxious anticipation.

From this point on, ten small kingdoms dominated Armor. The influence of each would rise or fall with petty conflicts, but would shape the fundamental political structure of Amlor for many hundreds of year. And for a most part, peace prevailed. The gods went to sleep, stirring now and then over these years with a sigh. But for the most part, their time had passed.

This changed the world in a fundamental way.

With one sea god dead and the other in a self-imposed exile, the seas became less predictable, and sailing them required sailors to do more than offer sacrifices. But this had its own attraction, drawing men and others of great courage to challenge the sea’s new moods.

Likewise, as the other gods slept, weather become a random element in survival, and growing crops required new techniques. While the world still had its share of petty gods, nymphs and others who required tribute, life took a different, more unpredictable turn, creating new challenges to the newly emerging people of the world.

With the seas free of patronage, most of the races that settled along the Gulf of Qar developed merchant and military fleets. But the world north and south had become fragmented in many small kingdoms with no great empires claiming rule over them.

Most had a vague allegiance to Amlor since that was where the fading Lesser Gods resided.

After the death of Alit, even the other gods seemed to lose heart and power, growing weary with the world. They slumbered leaving the emerging world to their children and their children’s children as well as the rest of the races great or humble to rule.

While new lesser gods came as a result of unions – such as the three children from the union of Akel (prior to his exile) and Vada, these were weaker gods, immortal, but no longer masters of the environment as their parents had been. And of all these new lesser gods, the children of Akel and Vada were the most powerful.

Eret, the first born, was the only manchild from this union. He inhabited a kingdom in the north called Nino. Soothsayers predicted that Eret would one day be the god who would welcome back Kern to Amlor in spite of Narumi, of whom he was acutely envious. Eret ached to have the sword of Enal, which Narumi possessed. Eret was deluded in believing himself the true heir to the blade and rarely thought of anything but ways to acquire it.

Eret inherited from his father, not power over water so much as influence. He could make it do things he needed, rise or fall, grow frantic or calm, and he could call the things of the sea at need.

Petee, the second oldest, inherited some attributes of her mother. She could influence flame, have it erupt in places with a ferocious power, but did not have the incredible power over it as Vada had. She envied her mother’s powers the way Eret envied Narumi. Both brother and sister knew that the time of the older lesser gods was coming to a close, and they actively plotted to deal a final blow that would forever close that chapter in history, leaving their weaker powers as the most potent in the world.

The third child, Alab, drew powers from the more distant Lucas, a mystical being, whose powers were unusual among the lesser gods. She could not influence or control nature, but she could call on the supernatural, raising the lords of the underworld at her need. She could even raise the dead to serve as her army, although these were essentially puppet like creatures, vast in number, but easily beaten by well-armed living army.

Like her brother and sister, Alab also wished the older lesser gods gone, but she was unwilling to share power with her brother and sister, seeing them as merely pale imitations of the old order. Alab had darker designs for the future, and cultivated her connections with the dark city, often seeking to learn all they knew about that mysterious underworld where truly evil creatures of Concor lived. She was always attempting to make contact with Concor himself, begging for him to use her for his evil uses.

But Alab also loved Narumi, a love she kept silent about. She knew Narumi would never go along with her dark plans.

This love at a distance kept Amlor in relative peace.

Since Narumi remained loyal to the older lesser gods, Alab would make no move against them despite her wishes to see them gone.

Even more frustrating to the three was the fact that Blyord supported Narumi from his tower in Cort – at the time the new center of magical power in the world.

But the balance of power could not be maintained forever, and a new, perhaps strange alliance formed in secret between Eret, Petee, Jiero, Chariolet and Kern across the sea.

Peace did not evaporate in one great war, but in a number of small conflicts that soon escalated into open warfare. Nor were the sides always fixed with the older lesser gods shifting as they saw need. While never coming into conflict with each other directly, sometimes they supported opposite sides in minor conflicts. Despites among the ten nations became more frequent, so that eventually, a conflict involved unions of nations went on perpetually.

Yet eventually, sides began to form behind the new or older lesser gods.

Myt, Minoand and Antle threw their allegiance behind the new gods. Rorfan and the dark city of Delfar remained loyal to the older gods, while the remain kingdoms became pawns in the growing conflict, used by one side then the other, each of the independent nations struggling to make the right choice in order to avoid being destroyed if they picked the losing side.

Then, a remarkable thing happened.

New gods appeared from across the seas, bringing with them strange new weapons of war.

This startled me, as well as Ranson. The dwarf’s speech had become so slurred we had to have him repeat his statements several times before we could fully comprehend him.

Where did these new gods come from?

They brought to the conflict machines in a world previously free of machines. Our studies of the landscape showed no progress in this world beyond that which Earth had reached in the 10th Century.

One such machine introduced in the Kingdom of Coul, the dwarf told us, could fly through the air, effectively challenging the winged warriors of Delfar. Another brought to the Kingdom of Willor in the east was a kind of cannon that could breach any wall, even those protected by heavy spells.

More named emerged that rang in me with an uncomfortable familiarity, Koor and Oca named as magicians of machines.

Fortunately for those countries not blessed with the gifts of these magicians, the new weapons were few with only these new gods capable of wielding them.  And then after a time, these new gods vanished again along with their machines and the knowledge to duplicate them.

Whether murdered or mortals, I can’t say. But the new obviously puzzled Ranson and increased the urgency of his interview, even though it was clear that our medical team could not keep the dwarf alive for too much longer. If he did not return to his planet, he would most certainly die.

I brought this up again at our council, suggesting that we move to the surface of the planet where we might build a facility and continue the interview there. At least then, we would arrest the dwarf’s deterioration. Once more I was out voted in an division of the staff that was nearly as chaotic as the people we studied, some thinking the danger of an extended stay on the surface too risky, while others believed the dwarf might find a way to escape and compromise us.

A new startling thought had started in my head, a thought that I knew might sway my argument to some degree. Yet I dared not speak of what I thought, choosing instead to live with the vote even if that meant the dwarf would die, since I knew that if what I suspected was true, the dwarf’s death was the lesser of evils.

Revived slightly, the dwarf continued the interview, although he was often confused or forgetful. He did not remember how Heror, the goddess of earth, perished – whether in war or betrayal or some unknown weakness.

Rom and Heere, Heror’s daughters were mortal because Heror had mated with a mortals, and the children had taken on the attributes of the father, not the mother.

Each of the daughters had a different father. Rom, the first born, feared that Heere was seeking to steal her inheritance – which turned out was true, although the conspiracy did not surface until Heere moved to Myt where she joined the dark league in their effort to once and for all put an end to the older lesser gods.

Later information I gathered from another source suggested that Heere was involved with the dark league much earlier, and that she may have helped in the murder of her own mother. But this did not come from the dwarf.

Heere’s open declaration against the old order actually gave the new order enough power to succeed in their ambitions. They attacked Riza in Belcon, luring her there on the pretext of a council of peace. Although Riza quickly realized what was happening and fought back, she and her birds of flight were slaughtered in a great battle at the Cliffs of Dal. Riza was the last to fall.

As with the death of Alit, Riza’s death shook the old order, but the older lesser gods no longer had the ability to stop the inevitable.

Alab, Narumi and Blyord – seeking to cut down the rebellion – struck the capital of Mino, destroying it completely. But in the conflict, Akel and Vada – failing to understand how weakened they had become – fell in combat. Akel died in Vada’s arms.

Enraged by the death, Narumi led to host to Myt, and level that city as well, but not did not succeed in capturing or killing the leadership of the dark league.

Legend claims that Eret met Kern at short with a host of lords and wizards, including Heere.

The wars had gone badly. Rorfan and the new power of Delfar now controlled Doul, Belcon and Willor.

Greene only remained firmly in the grasp of the new order.

Much of the land had been laid to waste in the perpetual warfare.

Narumi, supported by Blyord and Vada, clearly controlled most of Amlor in one fashion or another.

Without Kern, the effort was doomed.

Kern brought with him powerful warlords from another shore: Nfor and Grot, who were in themselves of lesser god blood, and bore great skills in war. They also brought a host of minor magicians and wizards with hopes that this would turn the balance of the war in their favor.

But they also brought something unforeseen, not machines of flight or exploding cannons, but the vanguard of Concor’s strength, The Simterians.

This was a warrior race constructed by Concor. They were the final perfected being Concor had worked feverishly to produce, breeding and rebreeding until he produced the perfect mix of agility that allowed them to kill. Almost gods themselves, The Simterians were also extremely intelligent and innovative, and soon produced machines of war the gods great and lesser had never imagined, and strategies for conquest none could compete against, even Narumi.

With such a force, Kern came across the heart of Amlor, attacking and defeating whatever army chose to stand and face him. Many did not, scattering into the wastes in order to avoid being run through by the Simterians.

Narumi retreated to the holds of Rorfan in order to regroup. Vada went to Delfar to give the defenders courage. Blyord did the same at Cort.

Kern invaded Coul, Belcon and Willor, isolating the two remaining kingdoms.

All knew now that the old order was doomed, and that Kern would rule as king of Amlor.

Delfar fell, despite a heated defense, and in the battle Ert and Rom died.

Vada flew to Rorfan and took refuge there.

Blyord joined her there, where they held what was later called the Council of Itorh, where they agreed to surrender all of the lands to Kern except for Rorfan and Tower of Cort.

Kern refused, saying they give him what he already has.

So knowing his fate before he started, Narumi led his army against Kern, dying in a battle in which he slew Nfor and Grot at the River Herme in the land of Belcon.

Despite the massive loss of human life in the effort, Kern sang out laying claim to Amlor – even though Vada still reigned in Rorfan, defending its walls against attack, and Blyord resided in the Tower of Cort in a nearby delta.

Kern’s blood lust apparently sated by the death of Narumi, decided to declare peace and had himself coroneted king.

He divided Amlor into seven provinces and built a tower of power in each of them with Rorfan and Cort falling into the northeast province of Dway.

Southeast of Dway, he built the Tower of Hum, to which he appointed Petee master. In the province furthest southeast, he build the tower Krat, giving that to Chariolet. In the central province, he built the tower Ereo and gave this to Jiero. He divided the wastelands two, building a tower he named after Nfor, and gave it to Nfor as his own. In the east, he built the tower Grot, after the fallen warrior who in death managed to slay Narumi, and gave this to someone the dwarf could not recall.

Greene, Kern saved for himself, and built a great tower on top of a great palace, on the ruins of the former capital of Kur, believing his kingdom overshadowed even that ancient citadel.

Then, Kern ordered great fleets built, and these sailed around the world, setting up new colonies and new outposts in foreign lands. But even Kern could not undo what had already been done, could not reverse the rise of kingdoms in the south that had shaped themselves out of the outposts of former kingdoms.

Great nations had risen along all the coasts of the gulf. Lands like Orahn in the far east, and Louver in the west, nearly rivaled Kerns’s new power.

As much as he hungered to dominate the world the way Kur once did, Kern was denied, and he blamed Veda and Blyord for working in secret against him, when in truth, both were too weary of war and shattered by the loss of life – especially Narumi – to do more than maintain their defenses against Kern’s intrusion.

Kern decided to bring those former outposts into line through force and sent armies to those places to bring them down.

But these wars only weakened Kern in the eyes of the people, whose sons died far from home for no purpose other than gratifying Kern’s inflated ambitions. Adding to this, Narumi’s death had made the great warrior into a cult figure. People – the common folks – spoke of his returning from the dead again.

Blyord, immune by the powerful magic he weaved around his tower at Cort, mocked Kern, warning the emperor that someone like Narumi was bound to rise up as leader of that cult.

Kern, already enraged by losses in war overseas, began to rethink his peace with Rorfan and the Tower of Cort, and bent his will to bring both down, but could not.

Both were guarded by powers beyond even Kern to break, powers tapped from the underworld that only witches or worse could wield. Kern feared such witches, remembering some dream he had as a boy which said a witch would be his doom.

But such was his rage, Kern eventually turned to Alab for help.

Narumi’s death had struck her to the heart, and turned her darker than before. She turned to rituals and magic shunned by the most powerful gods, magic that twisted her mind as well as her body.

Although she had worked with Kern in the wars against the old order, she blamed  Kern for Narumi’s death and secretly plotted Kern’s demise.

She would not attack Kern openly.

But her mind was twisted enough for her to believe the cult who said Narumi would return. In fact, she focused her whole power in an effort to bring him back from the underworld, not as a puppet-like creature of others she had raised, but the living man,  to whom she might confess her great love.

Time worked against Kern.

People at home grew so dissatisfied with him, he was forced to suspend using locals for his wars overseas. He relied more on The Simterians, but even they struggled against the new alliances of men, elves and others that Orhan and Louver could muster so that The Simiterian began to desert him for their traditional home. Those allies Kern had developed overseas also abandoned him.

In a series of short engagements called the Sortine Wars, Kern lost a good portion of his fleet to a smaller, but faster fleet put to seas by Orhan. The battle of Riche Sea broke the back of his navy with nearly every ship except those commanded by the very able Hatto, sank into the sea.

Kern’s armies tended to do better in land conflicts, but the constant grind wore down Amlor’s wealth and resolve. Kern’s philosophy of total destruction of enemies only harden opposition at home and abroad.

Eventually, rebellious groups formed inside Amlor with the aim of replacing the maniacal Kern.

Jiero and Chariolett attempted to overthrow Kern in what was called the Eastern Rebellion.

Kern, fearing to kill them because of their great magic, had them exist to the Colies of Craine and Derr.

Heere and Petree tried next. But Kern still had a core of Simiterian, who defeated and captured them. Kern ordered them existed as well. Petree went to the Isle of Traum. Her went to Stan.

But the lands these four rebels owned did not fall back into line, but became bastions of rebellious behavior, refusing to recognize Kern as their leader.

Paranoid beyond madness, Kern convinced himself that Blyord and Vada were going to help the Knights of Louve invade.

His insane paranoia drove off many of his formerly most loyal so that he was left with little choice but to turn to the Witch Alab as his chief advisor.

She poisoned his mind, pumping up his fears while working a magic against him, turning him into something very dark inside. He could hardly think, and eventually, went completely mad and threw himself off the castle wall.

No one touched his body, not even the buzzards, so that over time, the flesh rotted from the bones, and the bones eventually withered away. It is said that his ghost still haunts that part of the castle.

His death was the final blow to Amlor, and the kingdom he cobbled together, broke apart into smaller segments. Men who had sailed away either stayed away to live their lives out as part of another culture, or returned home to remain home, as Amlor faded from the world scene and new empires rose in the south, leaving Amlor only as a memory of where the gods once lived.

As if waiting to complete his tale, the dwarf expired.

Ranson was beside himself, glaring around with an obsessed look, asking me what we do now.

He needed more information. He intended to go to the surface to get it if he had to. He said he wouldn’t settle for a dwarf. Next time, he would capture an elf.

Although startling, I ignored his ranting, and went to the our record room on a hunch. I called up menu for the scout ship that had been here prior to our coming. I looked up the names of the crew. There I found the name of Henry Blyord as well as the names of many of the other so called magicians from the dwarf’s account.

Worse, I now knew that we were not immune to the planet’s magic. Once on its surface, we became gods of sorts, acquiring great powers like those of the gods, and immortality.

I also knew that sooner or later, with or without the help of this list of names, Ranson and his supporters would find out this fact, too, and then nothing could stop them.