History of Adunians

[SortedJarhead 817]

The History of the Adunians
As presented by Ser Darren Armas, the Kinslayer.
Adapted from the combined works of Thorenir Elendil II, the Lorekeeper.
12th of the First Seed, 1532

Introduction on the Adunian race

Adunians are a half breed descended from a tribe of men lead by Harren, the son of Horen, and Sarai, the leader of a group of elves known as the Mali'Dun (this means Adunians are half-elves, though not all half-elves are Adunians, only the ones descended from those specific groups). The Adunians once occupied a mountain range on the Northeast coast of Aegis, but their rule was overturned in fourth century and they were banished across the sea. The Adunians settled a small continent to the Northeast of Aegis called Al'Ildic, where they thrived until the Undead Invasion in the fourteenth century which almost vanquished them from existence. Survivors fled back across the sea to Aegis and integrated themselves with human society. Several attempts have been made to reunify the Adunians since, such as Artorus Elendil's Orenian duchy "Westfall" (originally owned by the Vivyaen family), and his grandson Lachlan's "Kingdom of Adunia".

One way or another, these attempts and many others have failed, usually creating an amount of disturbance for other nations in the process. For this reason, Adunians are generally looked in with disdain and few wish to associate themselves with them. Furthermore, Adunian culture was infiltrated by the Northern "Old Faith" religion by house Tarus after the fall of Artorus. The pagan religion has further risen hatred for Adunians among the Orenian people. As of today Adunians are spread throughout the world, implanted in various societies and generally trying to distance themselves from their ill-reputed brethren. 

Adunians all have either black or dark brown hair, though it is not uncommon to see grey haired Adunians as the pigment can fade at an unusually early age, a trait inherited from the Mali'Dun. They have either grey or green eyes and are generally of above-average height possessing a slender build. They have pale skin and their accent is somewhat of a mix between what you would hear from a Northerner and a High-Elf. Most Adunians live to around 180, making them an unusual exception to most half-elves that inherit the full strain of humanity's curse. They are also far less fertile than other humans due to their elven blood.

 

Ancient History

 

Five years after the world was supposedly built by an almighty ‘creator’, Horen, the first King of Men, was given a son by his wife Julia whom they named Harren. The child grew up in a time of conflict, and before long was commanding soldiers in his father’s army. Through all this time, however, Harren never felt entitled to his father’s holdings, and believed that he should instead forge his own kingdom to leave a legacy that would rival Horen’s own. At thirty years of age, Harren was granted his father’s permission to take his men and go north beyond the borders of his lands. 
 
The men trekked into the vast unknown wilderness for many weeks, eventually coming across a towering mountain range on the northeast coast of the Aegis continent, the Thuaid mountains. Here Harren decided he would build his kingdom, and set about conquering the Highlander tribes that dwelled there.  Little did he know that another ‘tribe’ was already at work attempting to dominate the region; a tribe of elves who called themselves the Mali’Dun, lead by a woman named Sarai. They were tall, had pale skin like snow, hair black as night, and hollow grey eyes, arming themselves mainly with bows and spears. 

As they moved through the mountains from the north, the Mali’Dun conquered the highland tribes that lived there, enslaving them and forcing them to fight in their army. Eventually the Harrenites and the Mali’Dun clashed in the Battle of Grumder Hill, with the former being vastly outnumbered. Harren was forced to retreat and avoid further confrontation with the elves for a time, focusing his efforts on the Highlander tribes once again. The Harrenites changed their tactics after the battle to mimic those of their enemy, forcing the survivors from each conquered tribe to join their force, practically enslaving them as a lower class of soldier. The playing field was leveled and the two ‘armies’ clashed a number of times in the following seven years during their individual conquests of the mountains, Sarai coming from the north and Harren the south. In the year 42 each side too heavy casualties in the Second Battle of Hrak’s Field, prompting the leaders of each army to meet and negotiate a conclusion to The War for the Thuaid Mountains.

The result of the meeting was a marriage between Harren and Sarai and the unification of their armies. Before long Sarai was pregnant with Harren’s child, and the son of Horen issued a command to his people; each Harrenite must marry a Mali’Dun and that their children would be the first of a new, superior race. The Highlanders remained a lower class throughout this and were forbidden to lie with either of their overlord races. With the end of the 42nd year Harren proclaimed the Kingdom of Fai O’Thuaid, encompassing the entire mountain range, with himself as King and his wife as Queen. What was formerly two armies became a single society and settled on the cliffs above the northeastern coast, naming their township ‘Idunia’. 
 
In the year 43 Harren’s son Baren was born, the first ‘Adunian’, with many more like him following. Gradually more settlements sprung up throughout the kingdom and in the year 104 Baren succeeded his father. Six years later, the remaining Mali’Dun departed from the mainland of Aegis, the last of their human partners having died from one cause or another, leaving the kingdom in the hands of their descendants, the new half-breed race, Adunians. For three centuries the Kingdom of Fai O’Thuaid flourished in northern isolation, the Adunians living as an upper class of noble Earls among the vast amount of Highlanders beneath them. 

Finally in the year 333 a massive rebellion led by Owyn Ulgaard, a common Highlander and the son of a miner, succeeded in removing the Adunians from power. Starting in 332 one by one the kingdom’s settlements had fallen to rebel control, their Adunian Earls either being put to the sword or forced to flee to the capital. By the following year only Idunia remained under King Arendil’s control. Though Idunia did not stand for much longer, as it was the ancestors of the Highlanders who had built the city’s walls, and so it’s secrets had been passed down to them. Rebels were able to penetrate the fortifications and open the gates for the Highlander horde to charge in and sack the city. Owyn Ulgaard confronted Arendil himself and slew him in single combat, ending the three centuries long rule of Adunians over Fai O’Thuaid. 

 During the sack of Idunia, rebels pulled Harren’s remains from his mausoleum and cast them off the cliffs into the sea, never to be recovered. With Highlander victory secured, Owyn Ulgaard had the remaining Adunians rounded up and placed on ships at a small, unnamed fishing town two days walk south of Idunia. Here the newly crowned King proclaimed Adunians banished from Aegis as retribution for their unjust enslavement of the Highlander people, vowing to annihilate them completely should they ever return. Elendil, the son of Arendil and last of Harren’s line, took command of the Adunian fleet and lead them northeast across the sea, following in the wake of their Mali’Dun ancestors in hope of finding them. 

Instead, the Adunians found Al’Ildic, a large isle almost four months voyage across the ocean. Landing on Cape Gelbor, the Adunian people settled the island, starting with the western coast. Elendil proclaimed the settled lands ‘The Adunian Realm of Al’Ildic’ and himself as the ‘Lord of The Adunian Realm and People’, establishing a new capital at the foot of Maria’s Seven White Marble Peaks, a set of towering mountains named after his wife that stood at the centre of the Great Forest of Ar’Norian. The town was called Ildon, and grew to become an impressive city in the time that followed. 

Over the centuries, the Adunians began to spread east across the island, establishing new ‘independent provinces’ and ‘realms’. In the year 626 the Second Unification War drew to a close with Al’Ildic triumphing over the Independent Realm of Eldion. From 334 to 1309 Adunian culture grew and developed on their isolated continent, traditions evolving, clans rising and falling, wars being lost and won. In the end, the realm’s end came and went in a day, taken by the Undead scourge like the rest of Aegis. 

Since then, the Adunian people have failed to recover to a position anywhere near as grand, their highest points being in the Duchy of Westfall under Godfrey Horen’s Holy Oren Empire, and again as the Kingdom of Adunia in Kaedrin. In modern times, Adunians are spread few and far between, wandering the world as ‘bowies’ or integrating with various other societies and organizations. Through it all, most Adunians remain true to their ancestry and traditions, it’s importance having been drilled into them over the generations since Al’Ildic.

 History of the Highland Adunians and the Diaspora

During the reign of Artorus Elendil, the last of the legitimate Adunian Lords, the Adunian people were primarily of two faiths; Canonism and New Adunian Creatorism. As New Adunian Creatorism shared most of Canonism’s beliefs, with a few added ones specific to Adunians, this period was without any sort of religion or tradition based conflict. This ended altogether with Artorus’s death and the rise of his successor, Torrhen Elendil, the first false Adunian Lord who stole the position from his younger brother, Harrion. Torrhen’s rule started the event known as the “highlander incursion”, with the northerner family of Tarus and the fishing clan Brae bringing the influence of north Aegisian highlander customs (including their “Old Faith”) to New Ildon and the wider Westfall duchy. 

The highlanders were able to gain Duke Torrhen’s support with little effort, who sought any method through which he could gain more followers, be they Adunian or not. Soon the highlander influence had gained a sturdy foothold in Adunian culture. Men started to wear strange skirts they called ‘kilts’, showing their legs and disgracing the Al’Ildic way of dressing. Their accent changed, going from the millennia old Thuaidian sound to a strange north Aegisian one, far more gruff and brutish on the ears, comparable to that of a dwarf. Values changed from loyalty to freedom, and soon all had forgotten the service Godfrey Horen had done in rebuilding the race alongside Artorus. All they wanted was independence, and nothing would stop them. Time after time, Torrhen Elendil and Hanrahan Brae rallied their blinded followers and rebelled against Oren in the same way Owyn Ulgaard had done under Arendil, though without an ounce of the legitimate cause that drove him. In the continent of Anthos Thorenir Elendil II, Starke Haryn and Caln Harnish raised their combined forces of the 2nd Ildician Order and Clan Harnish Rangers, loyalists to the Horen dynasty and Adunian traditionalism, using them to combat the highlander incursion. 

The Adunian Civil War was the result of this conflict, leaving both sides completely decimated and unable to remain unified, let alone start any sort of Adunian settlement. In the end, the highlander side rose up again almost a decade later, this time under the leadership of Torrhen’s son, Lachlan mor Elendil, the second false Adunian Lord. Lachlan founded his own ‘Kingdom of Adunia’ beneath the dwarves, first settling in Vaerhaven and later occupying Kaedrin. The so-called Kingdom was entirely based on a cult of personality surrounded Lachlan, and collapsed with his death, beginning the Adunian diaspora that continues to this day. Several attempts to create Adunian settlements have been made since, most notably by Kayrin Towers and Eldaril Elendil. 

As Harrion’s heir, Eldaril Elendil would have been the first legitimate Adunian Lord since Artorus, but the Circlet of Horen could not be recovered, and as so his coronation could not take place. He died of illness and the Adunian Realm collapsed once more. Now Adunians wander far and wide, spread throughout various societies and organizations. Some attempt to keep their lineage a secret due to the hatred felt for Adunians by the majority of humans (a result of the rebellions orchestrated by Torrhen Elendil and Hanrahan Brae), while others show it with pride, reverting to their age-old customs from Al’Ildic and trying to restore the wider community’s faith in the Adunian people.

 

Religious History 

 When Fai O’Thuaid was founded, Orthodox Creatorism was the official religion enforced by Harren and his descendants. Though they were isolated from the church and took no efforts to maintain contact, they were still devout Creatorists who kept true to their beliefs and traditions. After landing in Al’Ildic however, many Adunians had lost their faith in god, asking why he would’ve allowed the Highlander uprising and their subsequent banishment from Aegis. In the early 400’s Braen Elin’sehn, son of Elendil, began preaching a new belief; that the Creator had abandoned them, leaving the spirits of their ancestors behind to take on his role as their guide. The belief was quick to catch on in Al’Ildic society, giving birth to Adunian Creatorism.

Adunian Creatorism centres around the belief that a single Creator (the same Creator seen in the Canonist religion) built the world, but then abandoned his people after they disappointed him. This called for the spirits of the dead to step in and take up the Creator’s role as the guiding hand for the living. A century later the religion had evolved and built itself upon three main figures; Elendil, the father, Maria, the mother, and Braen, the son and chosen prophet of the Creator. Followers of the religion would pray to these three figures, as well as their own personal ancestors. 

As the centuries went on, more patrons were added to the original three. Cirimas Elendil became the patron of protection and justice, Garth Haryn the patron of war and triumph in battle, Falcryn Delmar patron of politics and negotiation, Reman Elendil patron for vengeance and loyalty, Rymeul Elendil patron of exploration, Vol Schote patron of harvest and agriculture and finally Mercator Varmir the patron of hunting and luck. Other lesser patrons also existed, though they were not as widely worshipped and generally specific to a particular province of Al’Ildic. 

Various shrines were erected across Al’Ildic, most notably a shrine to both Elendil and Maria in Ildon, a shrine to Cirimas in the north of Ar’Norian, a shrine to Braen high in Maria’s Peaks, and a shrine to Garth Haryn in Del Kaev. The shrines took the form of large, stone statues representing their chosen figure, a stone altar at their feet where offerings of gold, food and other valuables would be left. Pilgrims would try to leave offerings relevant to their particular patron at each shrine, for example a sword for Garth Haryn or a deer skin for Mercator Varmir. Another important part of Adunian Creatorism was the connection between the people and the sea. This importance was derived from the sea having been where the Mali’Dun disappeared, where Harren’s remains were cast by Owyn Ulgaard’s rebels, and the place Elendil, the patron father, had chosen to take his last voyage, never to be seen again. Some say that Elendil did not die at sea, but was rather raised directly to the heavens by the Creator’s own will, God’s last act before complete abandonment. 

This method of worship went undisturbed for around six hundred years before the Canonist Faith was brought to Al’Ildic. When Lord Rymeul Elendil reopened trade with mainland Aegis in 1001 the faith of Oren was soon to follow, and began spreading its influence on the lesser continent. Although this was not as effective as one would think, the Canonist Church struggling for three centuries to gain a sufficient foothold among Adunians, only having converted around five percent of the population by the time of the Realm’s fall in 1309. 

When the Adunians eventually resettled in New Ildon under Lord Artorus Elendil, the future of Adunian religion was reshaped again. Artorus had been raised for the most part in Renatus and had been indoctrinated by the Canonist Faith from a young age. When his time to lead came he made sure to spread his beliefs among his followers, as to assure they were fully accepted as members of Godfrey’s Holy Oren Empire. Artorus’s son and heir, Harrion, was himself extremely devout to the point of founding a holy organization known as the “Monastic Order”, making him another driving force behind the Canonization of Adunians. 

During Artorus’s reign there was a massive shift away from Adunian Creatorism, almost wiping out its existence. The majority of Adunians converted to Canonism, while the vast remainder merged Adunian Creatorism and Canonism together, forming what is known as ‘New Adunian Creatorism’. New Adunian Creatorism brings the belief in the patron ancestral spirits with the tenets of the Canonist Church, and dispels Braen Elin’sehn’s claim that the Creator had abandoned his people. Following Artorus’s death, the northern highlander religion known as the ‘Old Faith’ began to seep into Adunian society, bringing the belief in a number of pagan gods rather than one Creator, completely ignoring Canonism, Adunian Creatorism, and New Adunian Creatorism. 

The Old Faith began a massive incursion by highlander culture into the Adunian way of life, slowly corroding the traditions, customs and beliefs that had been in place for hundreds of years. Eventually Adunian society could no longer sustain itself and it’s downfall began. Several rebellions took place under the leadership of figures such as Hanrahan Brae and Torrhen Elendil, culminating in the Adunian Civil War between traditionalist Oren loyalist and highlander rebels, ultimately decimating both sides. The Old Faith remained prevalent among Adunians for several decades longer as the highlander incursion continued, coming to an abrupt end with the downfall of Lachlan mor Elendil’s so called “Kingdom of Adunia”. During the diaspora of Adunian people since, Canonism and New Adunian Creatorism have regained their foothold, with only a select minority still holding onto their highlander Old Gods. 

Language 

 

When the Harrenites, Mali’Dun and highlander tribes were all united as the Kingdom of Fai O’Thuaid there were a number of different dialects spoken. The Mali’Dun had their own adaption of elvish, each highlander tribe had a different take on a strange northern tongue, and the Harrenites brought flexio with them from the human lands. Rather than force the groups to conform with his own language, King Harren attempted to merge them all into one. The result of this effort was the Thuaidian tongue. The Thuaidian tongue slowly developed and became the official language of Fai O’Thuaid during it’s three hundred year existence, and remained in use by the Highlanders for another century after the Adunians were banished. In Al’Ildic, the Thuaidian tongue continued as the sole language of its citizens until Rymeul Elendil reopened trade routes with Oren, at which point the common tongue was introduced. From the year one thousand to Al’Ildic’s fall in 1309 the practicality of speaking common allowed for the hasty decline of Thuaidian, and its eventual extinction. 

Those who survived the continent’s destruction spoke no more than a few words of Thuaidian, and no books or scrolls on the language could be recovered, despite Halboron Elendil’s efforts. What has been recovered, however, is the Thuaidian runic alphabet. The alphabet was adapted from several Highlander tribes during the Thuaidian tongue’s conception, and used for both the common and Thuaidian tongues up until the fall of Al’Ildic. To this day some Adunians choose to write in Thuaidian runes, and many clan banners and artifacts are decorated with them. The other surviving reminder of the Thuaidian tongue is the so called ‘Thuaidian accent’ or ‘Adunian accent’. As the language itself was derived from those spoken by the gruff human highlanders of the Thuaid mountains, along with the gentle tongue of the Mali’Dun elves, the accent that came with it reflected the same nature. In the past, it has been called a cross between the educated voice of a high elf, and the toughened, more brutish accent of a north Aegisian. The accent stayed strong with Adunian folk throughout their time speaking Thuaidian in Al’Ildic, and continues today in the common tongue [OOC note: somewhat close to a Manchester accent]. It is important to note that the word ‘thuaidian’ is not a term from the Thuaidian language. There is no word for the language in Thuaidian, and the word ‘thuaidian’ would mean ‘land-dweller’ or ‘from the land’. ‘The Thuaidian tongue’ is the name given to the tongue in common or other modern dialects, derived from the name of the Adunian Kingdom ‘Fai O’Thuaid’ (furthest north land).

Recovered Thuaidian Words-

Ay - Yes
Den - No
Yen - The 
Ave - Hail, greetings
Vale - Farewell
Ildon - Haven, sanctuary
Dul - A hillish or mountainous area
Dure - An oath
Val - Serene, peaceful
Loch - Lake
Staig - Next to/beside
Avek - Power
Tor - Seat/throne
Fai - Furthest, a long distance
Thuaid - Land
O/Oh - North
Al - Northeast
Ar - East
Svel - Southeast
Ol - South
Svek - Southwest
Il - West
Hal - Northwest
Ryme - Exploration related
Rhodi - Exile
Fheum - Useless
Scoh - Train, practice
Droch - Worthy, (‘dendroch’ for ‘unworthy’)
Brol - Good, large
Del - Town
Ildic - Home
Dyr - Peak of a mountain, summit
Roh - My, mine
Yohn - Your, yours 
Sehn - Son
Belyn - Boy 
Voysehn - Nephew
Mihr - Father (used as Brolmihr as grandfather)
Fyor - Mother (used as Brolfyor as grandmother)
Byeder - Sibling, brother or sister (byederin for plural)
Koyder - Cousin, male or female (koyderin for plural)
Hanihr - Aunt 
Onihr - Uncle 
Tohl - Daugher
Brehnyr - Girl
Voytohl - Niece 
Clahn - Family
Elkor - Friend (elkorin for plural)
Olin - Foe, enemy, opponent (olinin for plural)
Sehr - Man, used to refer to a ‘human’ also (Sehrin for plural)
Olsehr - Woman 
Therin - Generalised word meaning ‘leader’, not used for the title of Adunian Lord or Earl, as the word ‘lord’ is the same in both common and thuaidian, and Earl is it’s own term, though it has been used to refer to a king, either the King of Fai O’Thuaid or the King of Irthgard
Vars - Morning
Emek - Afternoon (the greeting ‘brol emek’ is used for ‘good afternoon’ and ‘good evening’)
Jron - Night
Ascella - Wind
Freyl - Fire
Thuak - Earth
Valoth - Water
Dale - Sword
Emyd - Bow
Yolch - Please and/or thankyou
Auchet - Curse word to call an object, as an exclamation, or to emphasize another word
Vlagt - Curse word used as an exclamation or to call a person
Jagg - Pronounced ‘yaag’, another curse word 
Skey - Away, off
Halmyn - Dwarf
Malir - Elf 
Gnekyr - Orc

Alternate Views on Historical Events 

 

There is a particular period of Adunian history around the time of Harren that has conflicting records of events. While Adunian sources claim that after Harren marched north and carved out his own kingdom of Fai O’Thuaid he stayed there in isolation (as did his successors), the Canonist church’s own sources state that Harren went south again, killing Krug and reclaiming his father’s lands. In his attempt to unify all of humanity under one banner, Harren then killed his youngest brother Godwin in single combat and forced his middle brother Joren to surrender his lands. Harren then reigned over all of humanity for over a decade before his nephew, Owyn Godwinson, rose up and defeated him at the Battle of Aaun, forcing him to flee north and abandon his southern holdings. 

Sources from Adunians and the Canonist church begin to realign at this point, but there are a number of smaller splits later on such as the Canonist belief in Baren killing Lorenus, the grandson of Joren. In the end, both accounts match up at Owyn Ulgaard’s highlander uprising and the banishment of Adunians from Aegis. Neither side can be entirely proven, as it can be argued the Canonist church fabricated accounts to use as propaganda against “Highlander Adunian” rebels, but it can also be argued that Adunian historians removed such events from their records in shame or to protect the reputation of their people. Most humans will argue that the Canonist account is the truth, while the majority of Adunians will remain loyal to their own accounts of history.

Traditional Law 

The hierarchy of Adunian society in Al’Ildic was not a difficult one to understand. At the top were the Elendils, the one ‘ruling clan’ from which each ‘Adunian Lord’ came. The Adunian Lord was the sole and all-powerful monarch of the Realm, his right to rule residing in his descent from Horen the first of men, Baren the first of Adunians, and of the core triumvirate of Adunian Creatorist patrons; Elendil, Maria and Braen Elin’sehn. Beneath the Lord, the Realm was split into ‘provinces’ and divided among ‘great clans’ who would govern them. From the great clan that owned a province it’s ‘Earl’ was chosen, following the same laws of succession as the rest of the Realm. The Earl governed his province and the ‘regions’ it was divided into. Each region of a province would in turn be governed by an ‘overseer’, though the man who held this position was not chosen by blood. Below the great clans, all remaining families were equal, ‘common clans’, no matter the positions they held or the deeds they had done. As to assure he kept involved with the governing of his land, an Earl would be personally required to chose the overseer of each of his regions from the citizenry within it. When an overseer died or otherwise lost his position, his region would not pass on to another member of his clan or even his direct heir, but rather the Earl would choose a new one from all the prominent citizens of the province. Each province of the Realm had a main town or city, and then depending on the wealth and power of it’s great clan, possibly another town or a fortress-town. A number of smaller villages or hamlets would occupy the remainder of the province, from where an overseer might govern his region. While the member of a great clan (or ruling clan) who was it’s official ‘Earl’ was chosen through succession law, the clan’s leader was a different man, called the ‘Elder’. The Elder of a clan would generally be it’s eldest member, unless there was sufficient reason for him to be bypassed, in which case it would fall to the next oldest. While the Elder of a clan held no additional official political power in the Realm or even his family’s province, he was the patriarch of his clan who all members were required to listen to. All clans, from ruling to common, would have an Elder to lead and guide them. Due to his age, the Elder was said to be closest to the spirits of the dead, and hence capable of giving the best advice and guidance. Another group stood between the Adunian Lord and his Earls; the Council of Thanes. The Council of Thanes were the ruler’s advisors who would oversee a specific area of the Realm’s governing. The positions on the Council were not set, but instead changed from Lord to Lord in accordance to his requirements. Generally though, there was at the least a High Marshal, a High Steward, and a High Treasurer on the Council of Thanes. In times when the Council had particularly high numbers, the Adunian Lord might instate a ‘High Thane’ to lead and organise the Council, essentially making him second in charge of the Realm, and regent in the Lord’s absence. The Thanes were not required to be of Earl status, or even born of a great clan, though typically the close relations and family ties through the ‘nobility’ meant the Council was dominated by the rulers of provinces. Some common clans, such as Douglas, were able to gain a seat on the Council a number of times throughout history due to their close friendship with the Elendils, eventually gaining themselves great clan status and a province in the final years of the Realm’s existence. All these ruling positions within the Realm could only be held by men, women were forbidden from obtaining such roles of power.

Succession laws in Adunian society differ from those of most other races. While a man in Oren will leave his lands and titles to his eldest son, an Adunian would leave his to the youngest. This system was put in place to assure a landowner could spend the longest time possible in his position, and quell the threat of political instability from provinces constantly changing hands. It also took away the issue of sons killing their fathers to take their positions ahead of time, as most heirs were too young to even consider such a course of action. In spite of this, the law did cause unnecessary hostility within families, as a young boy could grow up thinking he was his father’s heir, only for said father to bare a second child and force the first to relinquish their claim. It was a testing dilemma for many young Adunian men, but also a fitting method for them to prove their honour and dedication to their family above all else. The Adunian succession laws have been in place since Braen Elin’sehn, who left his position to his youngest son Farwil rather than his eldest Cirimas, who had been absent for many years living as a bowie.

Adulthood in Adunian culture begins for a man when he has lived through 17 winters. At this point a large celebration of drinking, dancing, and music will be held in honour of the man, the extent of festivities varying depending on his clan’s wealth. The celebration can last from one day to an entire month. When the festivities have concluded, the now adult Adunian man sets off on a trek. A man from a common clan might only explore his native province, when a member of a greater clan might also visit his neighbouring regions and important sites around the realm. An Elendil, however, or other ruling-class Adunian is expected to visit each of the realm’s provinces, their main towns or cities, and major shrines to patron spirits. When the man returns, he can take on political or military roles in society, or elevate his position in whatever sect of the workforce he was being trained in beforehand. Adunian women have a completely different experience in their transition to adulthood, still being considered children until they have seen 20 winters. No elaborate celebrations are held to celebrate a woman’s coming of age, but a small family gathering might still be held with a few friends of the clan. The main change that marks the transition into adulthood for a woman is the ability for her to marry.

Women have a strange place in Adunian culture. They dont face the same extreme control they are subjected to in societies like Oren, but they are still frowned upon if they seek certain career paths and are banned from positions in the Realm hierarchy. When they reach adulthood, women gain the same freedoms as men; they can enter the workforce, choose their own husband without the interference of other family members (though they were often threatened or pressured into heeding the judgement of their father or clan Elder), travel, or in extremely rare cases enter the military. While the ARC and Ildician Order were both strictly male-only, every once in a while a woman could rise to command the army of province or gain the status of a duelist among bowie-folk. For the most part, though, women were known to stay home, tend to the household, raise children, and contribute to the wellbeing of their town or city, and this was expected of them. Like all Adunians, women were expected to uphold dress standards, covering themselves from the head down, only exposing the skin on their hands, face and neck.

 Great Clans thought Adunian History 

Elendil
Haryn
Varodyr
Delmar
Douglas
Caellach
Viathas
Valdemere
Culloch
Annion
Wynsehn
Wallas
Marsh
Nivin
Cercial
Marsyr
Armas
Carthaig
Lene
Loyola
Antiachys

Notable Adunians

-Baren “the Bold”, son of Harren and the first Adunian. Baren killed his father in a duel for leadership of the northern Kingdom of Fai O’Thuaid, and oversaw its largest period of growth. According to Canonist sources, he also slew Joren’s grandson and heir Lorenus, taking Jroth into his own lands.

-Arendil, the king of Fai O’Thuaid at the time of its downfall. He is generally remembered as a weak man with little interest in maintaining his holdings, spending most of his indulging himself rather than seeing his duties upheld. He was killed in single combat by Owyn Ulgaard, as he himself knew little about fighting and had not practiced since he was a child. Elendil begged Owyn for permission to bury his father, but the rebel leader cast Arendil’s corpse off the cliffs instead, as he had done with Harren’s remains.

-Elendil, the first ‘Adunian Lord’. He lead his people aboard the Grey Fleet from Aegis to Al’Ildic where he founded the Adunian Realm and settled in Ildon. He is remembered as a noble man who cared deeply for his people, and was among the wisest who ever lived. Adunian Creatorism remembers him as ‘the father’, it’s chief patron. In the end, Elendil refused to be killed by any will other than his own, and set out across the Frozen Sea in a small boat with a single sail and a pair of oars, never to be seen again. It is said by many Adunian Creatorists that Elendil was not killed, but rather raised into the heavens by the Creator in his mortal from.

-Maria of Wallas, the first ‘Lady of Al’Ildic’. Maria played an important role in holding the Adunian folk together after the exodus from Aegis. She appealed to the women aboard the Grey Fleet so that they remained hopeful for salvation and kept at their duties, while also acting as a mother to all the younger Adunians. Maria also assisted in establishing the fishing villages and agricultural communities of Cape Gelbor, a region where she was celebrated until Al’Ildic’s collapse. Without her guiding role the Adunians may have turned on each other during their voyage and never reached the shores of Al’Ildic, and as a result she is remembered as the patron mother in Adunian Creatorism.

-Braen Elin’sehn, the patron prophet of Adunian Creatorism. The son of Elendil and the first of his line to be born in Al’Ildic, which he called ‘Harren’s chosen land for his descendants’. Braen believed the ancestral spirit of Harren spoke to him in visions which gave him the basis for Adunian Creatorism. He spread his word throughout Al’Ildic and some time after his death it became the Realm’s official religion. Braen was killed shortly after succeeding his father as Adunian Lord, slashed across the chest by an Ildician baer during a hunting expedition on the Frozen Shore. It is said that before he died he told his friend Joerk Douglas that his father’s spirit was speaking to him, and demanded that he join him in the skies above. Joerk’s son Grimhal went on to spread the word of Braen’s deeds and establish the three original patrons of Adunian Creatorism. The Ildician baer that killed Braen was made the sigil of Clan Elendil after his death.

-Cirimas Elendil, the founder of the ARC (Al’Ildic Ranger Corps). Cirimas left Ildon at seventeen and joined a group of bowies in the east of Ar’Norian. After 53 years he returned to Ildon and convinced his brother, Lord Farwil Elendil, to send him on an expedition east with the intent of exploring the continent and setting the path for future settlement. Cirimas and his band of bowies, who would become the first ARC rangers, mapped the entire continent over five years and cleansed it of the monsters that dwelled in the uninhabited regions. In his wake, many settlers moved out into the plains region and mountain range beyond, creating new independent realms and provinces. After his expedition was complete, Farwil placed Cirimas as the Chief of the ARC and gave him the task of maintaining peace and order in his Realm. Cirimas was made the patron of protection and justice in Adunian Creatorism after his death.

-Garth Haryn, the founder of the Ildician Order. The Haryn clan is said to have descended from a bastard son of Harren by one of Sarai’s servants. By the time of expansion, the clan was stronger than most and well respected, renowned for their fighting skills. They laid claim to the plains region of Al’Ildic, conquering their neighbours and forming their own Independent Realm of Ildicia. Garth Haryn was the clan Elder and Lord of Ildicia at the time, and he used his position of power to found the Ildician Order that would protect his lands. The Ildician Order played a vital role in the years to come, participating in every major Adunian war ever to take place. The Haryns kept a firm grasp on the order’s leadership, though it’s allegiance eventually changed to favour Clan Elendil and the Adunian Lord. Garth Haryn also took a notable position in Adunian Creatorism as the patron of war and triumph in battle. He was killed by Nivinese rebels three years before the start of the First Unification War.

-Mercator Varmir, leader of the Nivinese Revolution. Mercator Varmir was born to a pair of Nivinese bowies and grew up among the nomadic people. At a young age, he joined the ARC and served during Cirimas Elendil’s time as Chief. He rose through the ranks and became a respected Veteran Ranger, known for his fighting swiftness, skill in leadership, and his sense of justice. In 544 he triumphed over Garrus Othran in the Fight at Last Pine, a legendary tale known by all Adunians to this day. Five years later he left the ARC and began massing support in his homeland of Nivinor, culminating in the Nivinese Revolution against The Ildician Realm. Mercator was killed in the Siege of Fort Indarys, and his rebellion ultimately failed, but it triggered a reaction throughout the other provinces under Ildician rule and caused the First Unification War. Varmir’s descendants became the Nivin clan who would rule the province for centuries to come. Mercator himself is remembered as the patron of hunting and luck in Adunian Creatorism.

-Falcryn Delmar, the Lord of The Independent Realm of Eldion at the time of the Second Unification War. The son of Hallus Delmar, whose ancestors had been the Earls of the town Del Mar in Fai O’Thuaid, Falcryn used the failed invasion of Canmoor by Al’Ildic forces to crush his neighbours to the north and incorporate them into his holdings. He started the Second Unification War by invading Dunwic and using his political skill to convince the Marshes of Muir to join his cause. Falcryn was not a military man, and did little fighting or commanding himself during the war, instead leaving these duties to the commanders beneath him. Where Falcryn excelled was in his ability to unite and influence his people, which resulting in a massive movement of Irthgardian nationalism in the time of war, and greatly bolstered the numbers of Eldion’s armies. Upon his defeat, Falcryn continued to use his skill to retain his position as Earl of Eldion beneath Elendil rule, and even rose to become High Thane of the Realm under his opponent Erthor Elendil. After his death, Falcryn was made patron of politics and negotiation in Adunian Creatorism, and many Adunian Lords believed his spirit guided them in the generations that followed.

-Reman Elendil, the Adunian Lord who ordered the Umer Dul Massacre. Reman was the son of Sinderion Elendil, the Lord who oversaw the majority of the Umer Dul Crisis. In the last months of the crisis, Carmoor Havath, one of the rebel leaders, escaped his cell beneath Il’Tohr palace and slew Sinderion Elendil. As the rebel fled, Reman, a man renowned for his swordsmanship, stepped in his path and decapitated him with a single strike. After his father’s funeral and his own coronation, Reman’s first order was the slaughter of every last inhabitant of Umer Dul as retribution for his father, starting the Umer Dul massacre and completely depopulating the Umer Dul Wasteland. For his efforts, Adunian Creatorism remembers Reman Elendil as the patron of vengeance and loyalty.

-Rymeul Elendil, the first Adunian Lord to travel back to Aegis. In his childhood Rymeul Elendil had spent his time studying the histories of Al’Ildic as most young Elendils did, and during this time he took a particular liking to Cirimas, especially his exploration of the continent. When he eventually became the Adunian Lord, Rymeul sought to follow in Cirimas’s footsteps. He had a fleet built, and set across the Southern Sea towards what he knew as the ancient continent of Aegis. In Aegis, Rymeul created ties to the northmen, opened trade with Oren, and brought the town of Kjelov under Al’Ildic rule as Vel’Kellon. In Adunian Creatorism, Rymeul is the patron of exploration. The word ‘ryme’ in Thuaidian was named after him, meaning a settlement away from the homeland, or to do with exploration.

-Yaepl and Yopil

-Rydel Elendil

-Thorenir Elendil

-Icarien Delmar

-Halboron Elendil

-Artorus Elendil

-Torrhen Elendil and Hanrahan Brae

-Lachlan mor Elendil

-Starke Haryn and Caln Harnish

-Harrion and Eldaril Elendil

-Darren Armas

 

Edited November 7, 2015 by SortedJarhead

[SortedJarhead 817]

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[SortedJarhead 817]

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[SortedJarhead 817]

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[Heff 2460]

Vlad Ivanovic frowns, sharpening his pitchfork and readying his torch. "**** all macecatchers..."

[SortedJarhead 817]

Vlad Ivanovic frowns, sharpening his pitchfork and readying his torch. "**** all macecatchers..."

Darren Armas, whom was knighted by two Carrion Kings and a loyal member of the Decterum, not only wonders why Vlad Icanovic got a hold of Adunian history, but why Vlad would be so prepared to mob a man who's raevier roots go farther back than Vlad himself. For, obviously not all Adunians are laying with dwarves such as the famous mace catcher  Lachlan Mor Elendil was!

[CheekyNolan 5420]

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.