The later Orcmigrations

Content

• -2,542 until -2,537: The Descent of the Dwarvenkind
• -2,503: Fall of the House of Narnil
• -2,497: The Orcish Crusades-New Lands
• -2,482 until approx. -2,330: The Drow
• -2,331 until -2,320: The Aramon Conflict
• -2,329: Insurrections in Albar

-2,542 until -2,537: The Descent of the Dwarvenkind

Scouts of the Waraxe Clan stumble upon a settlement of dwarves in a mountain vale of the Aramon rock ranges. The dwarves, who had been conveying ore and gems in spacious mines to daylight over the course of centuries, possessed tools, platemails, and weapons made of reinforced steel. The baffled warriors of the Waraxe Clan have to face the fact of their spears and arrows bouncing off their enemies with next to no effect whatsoever. The looting of a dwarven settlement, as such, proves to be an extraordinarily difficult matter. The Waraxe Clan retreats quickly in order to notify the other clans and warn them of "Small, shiny warriors".

Alarmed by the contact with the orcs, the council of elders of the dwarves decides to transfer the settlements into the mines. Firstly, this would offer less surface for attacking, and on second thought this would offer to excavate deeper galleries and dig yet deeper into the earth. The mining caves that were already used as warehouses and storage caves anyway are expanded to domestic quarters, and the entrances are concealed.

Many years later, the orcish tribes return. When the scouts pass through the mountains and find several entirely empty settlements and not a single dwarf, the orcs grow suspicious. They disperse the soucts in all directions. Those unlucky scouts who actually get near the entrance of a dwarven mine are to never return. A theory is developped that malignant spirits had devoured the dwarves and the scouts...

The Aramon mountain range was then passed by the orcs as swiftly as possible, and for a long time, it was considered to be cursed land.

-2,503: Fall of the House of Narnil

Onathrae Nirié Narnil, eldest of the elven house of Narnil, was a surviving captive of the orcish attacks. According to the legens, she had to witness how her parents were slain and one of her brothers was sacrificed and devoured by the orcs. Over the course of the 75 years during which the council of elders discussed about the orcs, she and her sister were the ones who most vehemently stood in for annihilating the orcs once and for all.

However, some of the captured orcs had befriended some of the elves over the course of these years. They had proved themselves as honorful and studious, although their fiery talents kept the eldest elves feeling uneasy. In any case, the council of elders agreed on the situation of the orcs. They were refugees and wanderers, and there was not a clue to be found concerning demonic magic.

When the council decided to cease attacking the already weakened clans of orcs and also cease to track them, Onathrae was enraged and called upon the Gods. She received no answer. And so it came that the House of Narnil heard the call to arms, to set out and destroy the clans single-handedly.

It is said that in this moment a priest stood into their way and announced that Elara, Zhambra, Sirani, and Malachin forbid to chase the orcs, and of all things, forbid to wipe the clans out.one may not condemn an entire race just because of the crimes of individuals. The destruction of an entire race would be an intolerable blasphemy towards the will and way of the Five.

Onathrae slew the priest on the spot and fled. Shortly thereafter, her sisters and the entire house of Narnil departed in hunt of orcs. It is told that in this moment the Gods themselves cursed her and her sisters. From this day on it was impossible for them to travel by day, for their eyes could not bear sunlight any longer, so that they only thereafter did travel by night. It is also said that the entire house of Narnil turned their backs on the Gods. In the following night they picked up their chase of the orcs, who in turn were already marching on far past the mountain ranges.

-2,497: The Orcish Crusades-New Lands

The Bloody Skull Clan, the Waraxe Clan, the Nighthawk Clan, and the Howling Wolf Clan traveled for long through unsettled territory which was however rocky and lacking in fertility. The Clans followed the river of Andrilai.

In order to travel with more speed before winter falls and still find fertile lands, the tribes gathered all wood from all forests along their way and crafted river rafts thereof. The Clans reach Lake Talith, where the Andrilai and two other rivers collect and connect to the Vorthain Current.

Grubuk Thunderhand, eldest seer of the Bloody Skull Clan gathers all Clans together at the shores of the lake and explains that a falcon led him down the path into a new home, in his dreams. A black river that flows forth into the lake would guide them to their new home.

Come spring, the Clans travelled around the lake, and crossed the mouth of a river (nowadays named Thornwater) using their rafts. There they set up camp at the mouth of the Black Current to wait for the latecomers.

Three days later, the Black Current swells up. Glacial ice that had melted in the mountains had conveyed black mud with it, which was gave the river its name. Filled with rejoice, the Clans follow the river up against its stream all the way into the high plateaus of Norbuk, which means "Strong Land". Around -2,495, the tribes settle in the plains.

-2,482 until approx. -2,330: The Drow

The highest head of the house of Narnil, Onathrae Nirié Narnil, led her house in pursuit of the tracks of the orcs all the way to the feet of the Aramon mountain range. Because the orcs had passed the territory around sixty years ago, the tracks are hardly to be found.

The "erume-lie" ("those (folks), who have departed": this is how the drow were named by the elves) discover rotten buildings in the mountain vale. For them it seems to be obvious: The orcs must have butchered the populace. But because there are no signs of a war, it is assumed that the inhabitants were peaceful craftspeople who could not defend themselves.

One of the scouts finds a cavern entrance in the mountains. The passage leads into a deserted dwarven mine. Further scouts dermine that subterranean halls leads deep into the depths of the mountains.

The house of Nanril falls into quarrel: While Onathrae Nirié wishes to continue hunting down the orcs, many deem this chase pointless. Some wish to return to the cities of the elvenkind, yet others wish to explore the subterranean hallways. Onathrae Nirié Narnil is found stabbed to death in her camp one evening, after it had been heard that she had been audibly arguing with her sisters. Both of them get their way and decide to continue exploring the caves.

The scouts eventually meet a guardian of the dwarves. The conversations are reserved, but peaceful. The dwarves forbid them entrance of their hallways, but they allow the exploration of the caverns.

Because the daylight pains their eyes, the sisters for living from there on in the cave, and send hunters to the surface by night. Most of the elder members of the house of Narnil are however discontent over this decision.

In the following centuries, the drow settle the cavernous complex and explore it, discovering it to reach further into the depths than even the dwarven halls: There are even old remains of ruins, which had been shunned and precariously avoided by the dwarves, who deemed it a hallowed hall of evil. There are some territorial conflicts, but they are resolved verbally.

A large portion of the drow splinters off the house of Narnil. They depart and venture to return to the other elves. Around -1,390, the splinter reaches the old settlements of the elves, but they are regarded as outcasts, Godless, and cursed. Instead of handing them back the properties of the house of Narnil, they are commanded to firsthand beg the Gods and the council of the eldest for pardon.

Instead of complying to this bid, some of the drow steal of the artifacts from the temple of the Five, which had long ago belonged to the house of Narnil: A faceted gem which, according to the legend, turned blood red when a temple guard died with a knife in the back.from there on called the "Bloodstone"; as well as the old emblem of the house of Narnil, a silver chalice in the shape of a Firnis blossom.

When the temple guard was found the morning after, the "Lost" were made responsible for it. The latter denied having done the deed. Finally, the erume-lie were banned from the city by the council of eldest.

The banished returned to their caves, for the daylight still caused pain in their eyes. There, quarrels with the dwarves had erupted: The meanwhile settled and rebuilt ruins were considered, by the dwarves, to be cursed. A reconstruction was equal to blasphemy. Besides that, the dwarves controlled the single only paths back to the surface.

Hunter of the drow had in spite increasingly often chased herd animals of the dwarves up to the surface.

At the end of elongated conflicts, the drow wandered on and deeper into the caverns. The dwarves had summoned reinforcements from other settlements, and they conquered and destroyed the ruins completely. They also conquered and acquired the emblem of the former house of Narnil, the Firnis-shaped silver chalice.

It became an often happenstance that dwarven workforces were ambushed in the deeper mines, until priests of the dwarves caused the passageways to the lower caves to collapse.

It is said that the house of Narnil was thus lost. But according to reports, some singled out groups of drow made appearances in completely different areas, far away from the Aramon mountain range.

-2,331 until -2,320: The Aramon Conflic

Based on the conflict between the dwarvenkind of the Aramon mountains and the drow, a troupe of dwarves attacks elven merchant caravans. In resonance to these unexpected hostilities, diplomats are sent. These return though with the message that dwarves do not deal with liars. In response, the elves take dwarven merchants into "custody".

Upon this hostage situation, Barak Oxbreaker, a high lord of the dwarvenkind, sends a small army (two hundred-ships) with the mission to free the captives. They are however unable to locate the elven city in the widespread forest ranges. The dwarves are fired at by archers the moment they enter woodland range.

So it came that Bardak Oxbreaker, Lord of Sevenmount, screaming angrily at the elves, demands that they end their cowardly game of hide-and-go-seek, and face them man to man, or else just hand out his brother (one of the merchants). Thereupon, hundreds of elven warriors appear to them. The dwarves retreat in the face of this overpowering outnumbering.

Several smaller skirmishes and long negotiations ensued. By -2,319, the "Peace of Aramon" was sealed, a peace treaty that would hold longer than one and a half millenia.

-2,329: Insurrections in Albar

There is a rebellion of peasants in the Albarian lands. The insurrection is beaten back down by the royal guard in a bloody battle. Due to the rebel leaders having fled to Salkamar, their nearest relatives were instead condemned to hang. Twelve farmers are captured in their escape and are executed. Over the course of the year, over five thousand peasants seek refuge in Salkamar.