Prologue
Sigurdi Thorenson poured over manuscripts and papers, trying to piece together the lost history of his people. The High Yarl wanted the University to have a new text that made the origins of the Vyir to be less of a mystery. Many had just assumed that they were lineal descendents of the Nords. Even fewer understood that the Vyir had gotten their start on Summersmere Island, which now belonged to the High Elf Druids. Sig opened an ancient tome and tried to make sense of the ancient runes written therein. He then realized that he had seen these same runes in the "Book of the gods of the Light" and "The Forever War Between the gods of the Light and the gods of the Darkness" the only problem was that only a Priest could read the runes. He traveled to the Temple of Light in Olstaad and asked the Priest there if he would work with him in translating both texts. The Priest only smiled and went into a backroom and produced a book that had the translations of both epics. Sig thanked the Priest with a large donation of guilders and took a carriage back to his house in Thurgidstadd. (This was 100 years after the Orc War was over) He poured over the translated texts and was surprised by a name he never saw before: Ysgramor Volundson the Mighty-Axe. His little son ran into his study. "What are you reading?" the boy insisted in his five-year old manner. "I am reading about an almost forgotten man." said Sigurdi with a smile to his son. "If you promise to be silent and listen, I will tell you the story." said Sigurdi.
Chaper One
"Ysgramor! You are a fine warrior and a man proven at arms! The High Priest of the Nords wants to speak with you!" said Magnus Yverson. "So, is the rebellion still on then?" asked Ysgramor grimly. "Come with me." said Magnus. The men walked to the former Dwarven Hold where 100,000 Nords and the High Priest of the Nords were holed up, waiting for a sign from the gods to launch the rebellion against the Orcish Empire. He strode into the great Halls and went to the Throne and saluted the High Priest. "I am ready to lead this Grand Army if you are ready to let me lead it." said Ysgramor. "Indeed I am ready, the gods told me last night that YOU are the sign I have been waiting for. Your escape from the Orcish slave camp and your quest to free as many of the Nords from slavery as possible was inspired and brilliant at the same time." said the Nord High Priest. "Well Kiel, you freed a great number yourself." said Ysgramor. "The Grand Army is yours. Go forth and conqour." said the High Priest. Ysgramor saluted and the Cheiftans of the Nords went to plan the battles with their new leader.
The White Wolf appeared in Ysgramor's dreams. "Ysgramor. You have been chosen by the gods as the Ethnarch of all of mankind, whom you are to bind together into one great Army. Take the Nords, the Volsans, the Venetians and the Gammaca and lead their tribes against the Orcs. Free mankind from their tyranny and break the yoke. Establish just laws for all of mankind and as a gift from the gods of the Light, you will be stronger than the Orcs that you fight. Go on the front lines in all battles, your great strength will be your guard." "Only know this, the Kelti will not help you. They worship the gods of the darkness, like the Orcs. You saw them guarding the slave camps. Enslave them so their descents will repent their great wickedness." said the White Wolf. "The will of the gods of the Light be done." said Ysgramor. The dream ended. "Wow. Quite a bit got dumped on my shoulders." he said to himself. He met with the Nord Cheiftans and sent messengers to the other tribes throughout the continent, all of them either under tribute to the Orcs or enslaved by them. Because of the letter to the Volsans, their leaders launched their own rebellion and freed all the Volsans from the slave camps and put all the taskmasters to death and burned scores of Orc cities to the ground. The Venetians, in their city-states, agreed to join the rebellion covertly. The wild Gammaca, never bending knee to the Orcs or doing any business with them quickly agreed to contribute 400,000 warriors to the cause. Ysgramor, armed with his long-sword, engravened with runes. It was called "Orc-Slayer" and the engravened spell could only be used once a day. It blew a circle of fire at opponents. Ysgramor and the Nord Grand Army marched south to meet the Volsans and the Gammaca. 10,000 Venetian Officers agreed to join the ranks and be the Officers of the United Army. All sides had their mages, priests and berserkers. "Listen! The Orcs still outnumber us! We will fight on the run. We'll withdraw into the forests and deserts to fight the Orcs, we'll use traps and canyons to whittle them down. Split the Army three ways, I'll get my portion of the Army, Gaskerond of the Volsans will get his share and Gaius Maximus of the Venetians will get his share. It will be a mixed force commanded by the Venetians, they have superior military tactics." said Ysgramor. His cohorts nodded. They split the Grand Army three ways and proceeded to harass the Orc Army as much as possible, free all the humans and the other enslaved races (except for the Kelti)
The gods of the Light were with the Grand Army. The Orcs fell before their foes and after two years into the Rebellion, the Orcs would flee the slave camps before one of the three armies came. The Commanders stayed loyal to the 1st Command; "Do not fight in the open" and they slew scores of Orcs while being barely effected themselves. The three armies had less success with the heavily defended Orc cities though. So, in the campagin against Ter'rock'agar, Ysgramor used messenger hawks to signal the human slaves inside of the city to revolt while his Army besieged the city. The slaves in the city immediately revolted against their Orcish overlords and opened the gates of the city to the Grand Army. The Grand Army armed the freed slaves and put the city to the torch and killed all the Orcs therein. They tore down the great stone walls to deny the Orcs a strong point. The Armies destroyed 300 Orcish cities in a three year timespan. The whole Continent was a massive battleground. The Orcs withdrew to a well-defended Valley and rebuilt their Capitol. The Grand Army was no-where near the valley at the time so the Orcs were able to survive utter extiniction. The war was basically over and the Orcish Emperor sent an envoy to Ysgramor for terms a year later. "They want terms? They have to free their remaining slaves and then they will have peace." said Ysgramor. "And we get the mountain regions to the north and the spit of land above that." said the Orcish envoy, Har'ath'agar. "Then we have an agreement!" said Ysgramor. Both Ysgramor and the Orcish envoy and the three other Captains signed the treaty. The Orcs satyed true to their agreement, only because the Nords sent "watchmen" with the Orcs to make sure that the Orcs freed all the slaves and withdrew to the agreed-upon borders. The Nords claimed a huge chunk of territory, the Volsans their chunk and the remainder went to the Venetians and the Gammaca. The Kelti left the service of the Orcs after the war and illegally set up a Kingdom inside of Gammacan territory, which started a war between the Kelti and the Gammacans)
As a "thank you" for freeing the race of mankind, the Volsans cleared the Ise of Summersmere of Frost Trolls and gave it as a present to Ysgramor. (The island had once been the possesion of the Frost Elves and later, the Frost Orcs, the Frost Orcs gave the Island to the Frost Trolls for their loyalty.)
Ysgramor married twenty Nord women and his 70 Nord followers built long ships and in the summer months after the war, sailed for Summersmere Isle. He built his Nord-style Hall with some of his own ideas. He brought over seed, cattle and horses and sired 300 sons and daughters, all of whom married Nords once they became adults. All the descendants of Ysgramor were 3 hands taller than their Nord cousins and all of them had Ysgramor's incredible strength and fire-red hair. In the years following, the Nord descendants of Ysgramor began to call themselves "Vyir" meaning "favored" in the ancient Nord language. The Vyir began to raid the Kelti and brought them back to Summersmere Island for slave labor, thus reducing their numbers and it allowed the Gammacans to regain their territory. The Kelti fled to western part of the continent and built several kingdoms, all of them loyal to the Orcish Emperor. They mined gold and silver and sent it all as tribute to the Orcish Emperor, they gave their strongest men as warriors and their woman as prostitutes. They even began to burn captives taken in war to their dark gods. The Nords and the Vyir raided the Kelti kingdoms mercilessly, carrying away gold, silver, silks and captives. After several generations, the Vyir Yarl declared the Kingdom of the Vyir on Summersmere Isle and stopped sending tribute to the Nord Yarls. The dispute seemed was over if the Nord Yarls on the Continent could impose taxes, tarrifs and fees on the Islanders. The Vyir Yarl and the Thanes on the island were opposed to the measure, since the Nord Yarls did nothing for them in return. Another thing that didn't help relations was that the Nord Yarls claimed that Ysgramor said that they were entitled to 90% of all loot taken from all enemies. (Which Ysgramor never said) and to make it worse, the Nords began to accuse the Vyir of being atheists for not having the right number of Temples to the gods of the Light. Independence was easy, the Nord Yarls didn't send in an Army but they stopped trading with the Vyir for a few years until the new Vyir High Yarl sent an envoy to make a trade treaty.
"You know the rest of the tale, my son, how we came down from Summersmere Island to help the Orcs against the troublesome Frost Trolls, how they refused to pay us and how we took the Pennensula in payment and made it our new homeland." said the historian to his boy.
The End.
Sigurdi Thorenson poured over manuscripts and papers, trying to piece together the lost history of his people. The High Yarl wanted the University to have a new text that made the origins of the Vyir to be less of a mystery. Many had just assumed that they were lineal descendents of the Nords. Even fewer understood that the Vyir had gotten their start on Summersmere Island, which now belonged to the High Elf Druids. Sig opened an ancient tome and tried to make sense of the ancient runes written therein. He then realized that he had seen these same runes in the "Book of the gods of the Light" and "The Forever War Between the gods of the Light and the gods of the Darkness" the only problem was that only a Priest could read the runes. He traveled to the Temple of Light in Olstaad and asked the Priest there if he would work with him in translating both texts. The Priest only smiled and went into a backroom and produced a book that had the translations of both epics. Sig thanked the Priest with a large donation of guilders and took a carriage back to his house in Thurgidstadd. (This was 100 years after the Orc War was over) He poured over the translated texts and was surprised by a name he never saw before: Ysgramor Volundson the Mighty-Axe. His little son ran into his study. "What are you reading?" the boy insisted in his five-year old manner. "I am reading about an almost forgotten man." said Sigurdi with a smile to his son. "If you promise to be silent and listen, I will tell you the story." said Sigurdi.
Chaper One
"Ysgramor! You are a fine warrior and a man proven at arms! The High Priest of the Nords wants to speak with you!" said Magnus Yverson. "So, is the rebellion still on then?" asked Ysgramor grimly. "Come with me." said Magnus. The men walked to the former Dwarven Hold where 100,000 Nords and the High Priest of the Nords were holed up, waiting for a sign from the gods to launch the rebellion against the Orcish Empire. He strode into the great Halls and went to the Throne and saluted the High Priest. "I am ready to lead this Grand Army if you are ready to let me lead it." said Ysgramor. "Indeed I am ready, the gods told me last night that YOU are the sign I have been waiting for. Your escape from the Orcish slave camp and your quest to free as many of the Nords from slavery as possible was inspired and brilliant at the same time." said the Nord High Priest. "Well Kiel, you freed a great number yourself." said Ysgramor. "The Grand Army is yours. Go forth and conqour." said the High Priest. Ysgramor saluted and the Cheiftans of the Nords went to plan the battles with their new leader.
The White Wolf appeared in Ysgramor's dreams. "Ysgramor. You have been chosen by the gods as the Ethnarch of all of mankind, whom you are to bind together into one great Army. Take the Nords, the Volsans, the Venetians and the Gammaca and lead their tribes against the Orcs. Free mankind from their tyranny and break the yoke. Establish just laws for all of mankind and as a gift from the gods of the Light, you will be stronger than the Orcs that you fight. Go on the front lines in all battles, your great strength will be your guard." "Only know this, the Kelti will not help you. They worship the gods of the darkness, like the Orcs. You saw them guarding the slave camps. Enslave them so their descents will repent their great wickedness." said the White Wolf. "The will of the gods of the Light be done." said Ysgramor. The dream ended. "Wow. Quite a bit got dumped on my shoulders." he said to himself. He met with the Nord Cheiftans and sent messengers to the other tribes throughout the continent, all of them either under tribute to the Orcs or enslaved by them. Because of the letter to the Volsans, their leaders launched their own rebellion and freed all the Volsans from the slave camps and put all the taskmasters to death and burned scores of Orc cities to the ground. The Venetians, in their city-states, agreed to join the rebellion covertly. The wild Gammaca, never bending knee to the Orcs or doing any business with them quickly agreed to contribute 400,000 warriors to the cause. Ysgramor, armed with his long-sword, engravened with runes. It was called "Orc-Slayer" and the engravened spell could only be used once a day. It blew a circle of fire at opponents. Ysgramor and the Nord Grand Army marched south to meet the Volsans and the Gammaca. 10,000 Venetian Officers agreed to join the ranks and be the Officers of the United Army. All sides had their mages, priests and berserkers. "Listen! The Orcs still outnumber us! We will fight on the run. We'll withdraw into the forests and deserts to fight the Orcs, we'll use traps and canyons to whittle them down. Split the Army three ways, I'll get my portion of the Army, Gaskerond of the Volsans will get his share and Gaius Maximus of the Venetians will get his share. It will be a mixed force commanded by the Venetians, they have superior military tactics." said Ysgramor. His cohorts nodded. They split the Grand Army three ways and proceeded to harass the Orc Army as much as possible, free all the humans and the other enslaved races (except for the Kelti)
The gods of the Light were with the Grand Army. The Orcs fell before their foes and after two years into the Rebellion, the Orcs would flee the slave camps before one of the three armies came. The Commanders stayed loyal to the 1st Command; "Do not fight in the open" and they slew scores of Orcs while being barely effected themselves. The three armies had less success with the heavily defended Orc cities though. So, in the campagin against Ter'rock'agar, Ysgramor used messenger hawks to signal the human slaves inside of the city to revolt while his Army besieged the city. The slaves in the city immediately revolted against their Orcish overlords and opened the gates of the city to the Grand Army. The Grand Army armed the freed slaves and put the city to the torch and killed all the Orcs therein. They tore down the great stone walls to deny the Orcs a strong point. The Armies destroyed 300 Orcish cities in a three year timespan. The whole Continent was a massive battleground. The Orcs withdrew to a well-defended Valley and rebuilt their Capitol. The Grand Army was no-where near the valley at the time so the Orcs were able to survive utter extiniction. The war was basically over and the Orcish Emperor sent an envoy to Ysgramor for terms a year later. "They want terms? They have to free their remaining slaves and then they will have peace." said Ysgramor. "And we get the mountain regions to the north and the spit of land above that." said the Orcish envoy, Har'ath'agar. "Then we have an agreement!" said Ysgramor. Both Ysgramor and the Orcish envoy and the three other Captains signed the treaty. The Orcs satyed true to their agreement, only because the Nords sent "watchmen" with the Orcs to make sure that the Orcs freed all the slaves and withdrew to the agreed-upon borders. The Nords claimed a huge chunk of territory, the Volsans their chunk and the remainder went to the Venetians and the Gammaca. The Kelti left the service of the Orcs after the war and illegally set up a Kingdom inside of Gammacan territory, which started a war between the Kelti and the Gammacans)
As a "thank you" for freeing the race of mankind, the Volsans cleared the Ise of Summersmere of Frost Trolls and gave it as a present to Ysgramor. (The island had once been the possesion of the Frost Elves and later, the Frost Orcs, the Frost Orcs gave the Island to the Frost Trolls for their loyalty.)
Ysgramor married twenty Nord women and his 70 Nord followers built long ships and in the summer months after the war, sailed for Summersmere Isle. He built his Nord-style Hall with some of his own ideas. He brought over seed, cattle and horses and sired 300 sons and daughters, all of whom married Nords once they became adults. All the descendants of Ysgramor were 3 hands taller than their Nord cousins and all of them had Ysgramor's incredible strength and fire-red hair. In the years following, the Nord descendants of Ysgramor began to call themselves "Vyir" meaning "favored" in the ancient Nord language. The Vyir began to raid the Kelti and brought them back to Summersmere Island for slave labor, thus reducing their numbers and it allowed the Gammacans to regain their territory. The Kelti fled to western part of the continent and built several kingdoms, all of them loyal to the Orcish Emperor. They mined gold and silver and sent it all as tribute to the Orcish Emperor, they gave their strongest men as warriors and their woman as prostitutes. They even began to burn captives taken in war to their dark gods. The Nords and the Vyir raided the Kelti kingdoms mercilessly, carrying away gold, silver, silks and captives. After several generations, the Vyir Yarl declared the Kingdom of the Vyir on Summersmere Isle and stopped sending tribute to the Nord Yarls. The dispute seemed was over if the Nord Yarls on the Continent could impose taxes, tarrifs and fees on the Islanders. The Vyir Yarl and the Thanes on the island were opposed to the measure, since the Nord Yarls did nothing for them in return. Another thing that didn't help relations was that the Nord Yarls claimed that Ysgramor said that they were entitled to 90% of all loot taken from all enemies. (Which Ysgramor never said) and to make it worse, the Nords began to accuse the Vyir of being atheists for not having the right number of Temples to the gods of the Light. Independence was easy, the Nord Yarls didn't send in an Army but they stopped trading with the Vyir for a few years until the new Vyir High Yarl sent an envoy to make a trade treaty.
"You know the rest of the tale, my son, how we came down from Summersmere Island to help the Orcs against the troublesome Frost Trolls, how they refused to pay us and how we took the Pennensula in payment and made it our new homeland." said the historian to his boy.
The End.
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