The Book of Sulan

Introduction

Regarding

The Master Sulan

By

Theseiusis

Master-Scholor of Sulaninor

The Master Sulan was born in the Age of Men 1074, in the village of Geln, in the land of Noré, known in that time as Nouré. In his life he was known by his people as Su-lienn, and in the Old Tongue Su’len. Of his boyhood he once said, “I was the boy who knew nothing, and spoke everything.” He spoke no more of it, and no more of it is known.

What is known is that at the age of four and ten years he was struck with the Vision that he taught for the rest of his Mortal years, and which is in this Book recorded. His words spread to the far corners of Aerith, and it was not long before many wise men came to hold counsel with him. In A.M. 1134 he established on the island of Iaiul his Council, which came to be known as the Council of Sulen-en-nouré. In time the Old Name of the Island was forgotten, and was also called Sulen-en-nouré. This name in the common speech is Sulaninor, and the Island is by most men called simply Sulanor.

Sulan was the first recorded Prophet of Thoth, God of Wisdom; and his Vision was of the things that had passed. Also revealed to Sulan, though never mentioned in his Book, were ideas about Magic heretofore unknown; chiefly, that Magic could be used by anyone, not just the Gods and their servants. This Logical Theory of Magic was to change all the world forever, and this with the founding of Sulaninor were Sulan’s true accomplishments.

Notes by various learned Masters are listed in Italics throughout the work.

PART I

The Age of Gods

Ours is but one of infinite Worlds;

There was no beginning of all Worlds, and there shall be no End to all, but our World had a beginning and will have an end;

The Universe is eternal and infinite; inside of it exist all Worlds, and the rest is Void. All worlds form from the Void, and into the Void they all return. (Master Guhl)

There are Gods whose powers exist in all Worlds, and these are called the Greater Gods.

There are Gods whose powers exist only in one World, and these are called Lesser Gods;

The Greater Gods were born in the infinitude of time before Mortal Worlds formed, and represent the higher forces – Good, Evil, Law, Chaos, Power, Knowledge, Piety, and so forth. Lesser Gods have power over the forces in their Worlds, such as air, water, fire, earth, and Magic in our World. (More on this is detailed in the Tel’han, the Book of the Master Telim-im-Hanil)

The first Age of the World was the age of the Gods; in this time the earth and the sky and the seas and the forces of Magic were all as one in the Void;

Into the Void were born the Lesser Gods; and the Lesser Gods were each born of different parts of that which existed in the Void; to some were given power over what we call water, to some that which we call earth, and so on; and the Lesser Gods looked upon the Void and declared it unsuitable, and began to use their Powers to reshape it. For a long time many wars were fought between Gods with similar powers, and the World went through many forms, some very different from those we know. Many Lesser Gods were destroyed, and eventually the World became as it is today; and it was named Aerith;

In the time before the World became as it is, no man may say how many years passed; for in those times the sun and the moon and the seasons were not yet as we know them, and there were no years. (Master Almi of Koris)

Also born in the Void were many Beings not possessed of enough power to be called Gods, and these were put into the service of the Lesser Gods or left on their own. These Beings are called Demi-Gods, spirits, and many other names. Many of these Beings were destroyed in the making of the World, but many still roam through the World. (Master Telim-im-Hanil)

When at last the waters flowed in the streams and in the seas, and the earth was final in its shape, and the sun and moon and stars were all in their places, all was at peace;

In the fullness of time there came to be plants and animals upon the earth, and the Lesser Gods were pleased at what they had Created;

But of all the creatures that trod upon the earth or soared in the sky or swam through the many seas, none could appreciate the Gods and their World. “Let us create a race of creatures who can share the beauty of our creation,” thought the Gods, “and who will see the glory of our World, and worship us.”;

And so they created the First Men.

The First Men were not the strongest of the creatures of Aerith, or the largest or the fastest; for the Lesser Gods thought only of themselves in this time, and made the First Men only to serve and worship them;

The First Men were closer to the beasts than are the men of Today; shorter than Men and stronger, they lived only for the worship of the Gods, and no other thoughts entered their minds. They were a mindless and boring people. – Master Ri of the 112^th Council of Sulaninor

In time, the First Men spread across Aerith and established many lands, and their life was good;

No need had they for any but the most primitive of tools, for in Aerith food was plentiful for them, and they lived close to the land and to the Gods;

But some of the First Men held some Gods in higher esteem than the others; ‘why should we worship the gods of night and snow as much as those of day and sun, for the former bring only sorrow upon us, and the latter only health.’;

It was when the First Men questioned the Gods that he began to show his potential; that he might not be merely a worshipper but also a Creator in his own right. If only the Lesser Gods had known what they had wrought, they should have destroyed us then. – Master Tyniel of Ulor

And so there was a great tumult in Aerith, for the Gods not so highly esteemed by the First Men felt themselves cheated, and those who received the most worship thought themselves better than the others;

In these days of strife many of the First Men chose one side or the other; and many who believed they would gain power over their fellows joined the Gods of the darkness and the cold, and the Gods gave to their favorites among the First Men the powers of Magic, to use against their enemies, and the power of the First Men grew;

For the Gods the power of Magic is a tool, a useful technique. But Men, with their limitless imaginations, have found for it many more and terrible Uses for its Power. With Magic, also, did Man first begin to suspect a higher Order than this World. – Master Olimar, Chancellor of Rikhs

And the Gods of Light and Life taught the children of the First Men to despise all that lived in the Darkness, and to oppose it, and still in many men these thoughts live on to this day;

When at last the Lesser Gods and their servants had fought for many years, they looked upon Aerith and saw that they had done only harm to all Beings, and done benefit to none.;

And the power of Aerith had been weakened, and was nearly destroyed, and when at last the Gods ceased their struggle and sought to rebuild and replenish that which they had created, then came the Daemons.

We know now that the struggle of the Gods for the love of their creations was as nothing before the terrors of the Daemon Age. It was a time when much of Aerith was changed in shape, but no Beings were harmed, as they were sacred to all the Gods; it was more a disagreement among friends than a battle; as yet no man had killed any other. – Master-Scholor Theseiusis of Sulaninor

PART TWO:

The Age of Daemons

In the Great Voids between the Worlds there are many other Beings besides the Greater Gods; of most of these I have been shown little, but for the Creatures which came to our World when it was at its weakest, they which we call Daemons;

Daemons are the Bane of Life, the Destroyer of Light, the Enemies of Order;

They know not what beauty is, nor do they care for love or hate in the way all the Beings of Aerith do; they care only for destruction and chaos, and to consume the souls of the living;

For they Live not, but exist in twisted mockery of Life; they have not bodies, nor form, but only Essence, an Essence formed by Magic and forever in hatred of all but themselves;

Some men have actually tried to hunt down Daemons, taking with them all manner of swords and armours and magics; but Daemons can’t be seen, or attacked in the normal manner. They are beings of thought, power, and evil. They have no bodies to attack, and kill by infesting the minds of men. – Master Telim-im-Hanil

But their power is small, and they come only to Worlds without the protection of powerful Gods, as our World was at the time of the Battle over Man;

And the Daemons came, and poured forth from all of the places in Aerith where the power of the Gods was weakest, and laid the lands to waste for many Leagues by the power of their arrival;

And all that lived there was destroyed, and the ground has lain fallow ever since;

The scriptures speak truth; for I have seen with my very eyes the Great Wastes, and truly it is a sight to bring sorrow to the strongest of heart; for all around lie the skulls of the men and animals who could not escape, and the Waste extends as far as the eye can see. – Ranger Furlon

Quickly the Daemons advanced, consuming all in their path, and leaving scars upon the land and sea and sky; The First Men scattered in fear at their approach, and hid;

The Gods discovered too late the arrival of the Daemons, but fought them nonetheless, and Aerith was torn asunder by the force of their Wars; the seas boiled, the earth trembled violently, and the skies roared with thunder;

The Lesser Gods realized that they were outmatched; Aerith would be destroyed if they did not seek help; and so they dispatched the demigod Lyeth to the Dark Tower where the Greater Powers hold Council, for he was the most persuasive speaker of this World, and still is; and he waited there for ten times a thousand years to be heard in the Council of the Greater Powers;

Those times were hard upon the race of the First Men; for as the Daemons and the Lesser Gods fought, their world became a hostile place, and they could hear no longer the voices of their protectors; even as the earth was changed so too were many of the creatures within it; through the foulness of the Daemons were created the Cursed Races, to torment the First Men and bring blight to the face of Aerith; for the Daemons knew that once all they created was destroyed beyond recognition, their courage would be gone from them;

It is said that many were not aware of the Coming of the Daemons, and feared instead that the Gods had deserted them; and there was much chaos and dissent, and it is said that men for the first time spilled the blood of their fellows; and ever since this time none of the human races have been truly innocent. – Master Semig of Telorn

But the First Men which the Lesser Gods had created used all their cunning to survive; some fled into the forests, and lived closely with the trees and animals, and became close to all things living, and were hidden; and these were the fathers of the race of Elves;

Others fled into the depths of the earth, and fortified themselves in the numberless passages there, and learned to master the earth, and to forge the metals within it into weapons and tools; and these were the beginnings of the Dwarven race;

Some fled to the wastes far to the North, and theirs was the hardest life of all, and from those who survived came the great northern Barbarians.

Those who took to the hills and downs, and burrowed there like the rabbits, became the Halflings; those that survived by cleverness and cunning and their wits became the Gnomes; and similarly were all the races of human-kind created;

And many of the First Men survived much as they had been created; though they grew taller, and swifter, and more clever; and these are the origins of the true race of Men.

Many are the descendants of the First Men that are not recorded here; indeed there may be no listing of them all, and many may live in lands yet unknown to us. Nor were Men the only of the races to be split thus; for see the many dogs, and horses, and cattle that roam the earth. – Master Wydarn of Telos

Of the Cursed Races there were the Goblin, who multiplied upon the earth like a plague, and the Kobold, who hide and attack the weak like cowards, and the Orcs, who are the twisted shadow of Men, and who hate them most bitterly; and many others whose names are not important;

And in this time the Cursed Races defiled all the lands they touched, and were fought against by all the races of human-kind; and not a few Men were corrupted by the darkness of the Daemons, and were slain by their fellows; and it was a time of darkness;

There were many creatures in these times that did not survive; and it is their bones we find deep in the earth, covered by the centuries; and as many of these creatures are huge and powerful yet did not survive, we see further proof that it is cunning and guile that allowed us to survive, and not strength. –Master Ilmandir of Elven-kind

When at last Lyeth was permitted to speak before the Great Council of the Higher Gods, his plea for this World angered Inom, lord of Light, and Justice, and also others of the Greater Gods; and he determined to put an end to the struggle;

And before their might, the Daemons fled; many were trapped in the earthly forms they had used to terrorize Aerith, and denied forever the possibility of escape, and of these many are in the form of Dragons;

Many of the Daemons escaped to bring their evil unto other Worlds; and many will suffer before they are destroyed to the last;

Though many were indeed destroyed or trapped in terrible earthly form, in recent times rumors have come from the far West, that Daemons of Terror still walk this Earth. - Loremaster Zhien

And when once again the seas had become calm and the sky had become clear and the earth had become stable, Inom placed in the skies a sign of his protection, the Guardian Star, Gilmoreth, which moves not with the other stars but stays in its place as a reminder of his Power;

But even so, the Lesser Gods had been all but destroyed in the battle for Aerith, and still could not preserve its beauty from the Cursed Ones who roamed it; and others of the Greater Gods took pity on the races of human-kind, and gave unto them great Knowledge; the knowledge of Fire, and of Iron, and of Magic;

Since the Coming of the Greater Gods, Men have worshipped them above even the Lesser Gods of our own world, save for farmers, and sailors, and others who live at the mercy of the forces of Aerith. But many instead turn their prayer to the Gods of less immediate things; and whether this has brought undue misery upon us all I will not speculate.

- Master Relin Ar-Grahim

And of all the Men alive, they saw that Umoran was the greatest of all; and unto him they gave the task of driving the Cursed Ones into the dark bowels of the Earth; and Inom fashioned for him Elrithal, the True Sword, and they said unto him, “Go out into the plains, and there found a great city; and tell your children of what has passed before, and that as all Men are as Brothers, so should all Men work together against the Cursed Ones; and let no Man, great or small, ally with the Enemies of Man.”

And so saying, the Greater Gods left from Aerith;

And Umoran went into the plains, as he was instructed, and he made there the city of Umor, the First City. And then begins the Age of Man.

PART THREE:

The Age of Man

None of the thoughts of later masters are recorded in this Part, for they would only interrupt the story, which is complete in itself, and also, little else is known of these times besides that which is written here. - Theseiusis, Master-Scholor of Sulaninor

Umoran ruled his great city for many years, and had in his time many wives. And born to him were seven sons, and their names were Ulom, the First, Thilann, Zeliorn, Glyrin, Valukar, Triran, and Jeraeld. Ulom, being the eldest, stayed in Umor with his father, and learned the ways of governing, and expected to rule when his father’s time was ended.

And as the city grew, and Umoran became old, there came a time when the plains grew not enough to feed the city; and so Thilann took a portion of its people, and led them over the hills to the land known as Ar- Érendî, and there founded the city of Thilannia. And Zeliorn took a portion of its people, and led them to the sea; and founded Nar-Zeliôrn;

Glyrin and Triran of the brothers were most alike, and they loved the plains and streams and the sea of Aerith, and spent much time exploring them; and in the end they determined to build ships and set across the sea with any who would follow them; and so in Nar-Zeliôrn they built two great ships, which they named Dulcet Amnor and Daysun Amnor, and their father lived to see them set sail, and no more is known of them;

Valukar was of the sons the most interested in the Gods; and he spoke much with the priests of Umor, and learned from them many of the things that had passed in the time before his birth; and seeking further enlightenment, he left Umor and went into the Forests of Llaúr, and there awaited a vision; and he was not heard from for many years.

Now Jeraeld, the youngest of the sons of Umoran, was the favorite of his father, for he was in sprit most like his father, and in appearance most like his mother, Sevynia of the dark hair, who had died of the coughing sickness two years after the birth of Jeraeld. And as Umoran grew old he began to see that his Firstborn, Ulom, was well-schooled and knowledgeable, and yet he was arrogant and thought little of those under his rule;

And upon his very deathbed, when Ulom had ruled the lands of his father for many years, Umoran bequeathed the True Sword Elrithal, and with it the right to rule, to Jeraeld, and died.

When he learned of these things, Ulom was furious with his brother Jeraeld and slew him, and took the Sword for himself, and declared to all his kingship, and had put to death those who had tended his father in the end, and knew of his final words;

But his brothers Thilann and Zeliorn learned of what had happened, and the killing of one brother by the other; and they were set to make war upon Ulom;

From Ar-Érendî marched forth a host of soldiers, and up the River Alwen, called in after-times Rhônalmon, the River of Blood, came the ships of Nar-Zeliôrn; and the two converged upon Umor;

In the city Ulom had gathered what forces as he could, and set them to defend the ways into the city; but few were loyal to him, knowing of his treachery; and when the armies of Ar-Érendî and Nar-Zeliôrn approached his soldiers threw down their arms; and Ulom was slain by his brothers;

But Thilann and Zeliorn were not of a mind to rule Umor, for they had their own realms to tend to, and nowhere could be found their brother Valukar, and so the True Sword Elrithal passed to Liran, first son of the brother of Umoran; and it is said that he was a good king, and ruled many years; and Thilann and Zeliorn returned to Ar-Érendî and Nar-Zeliôrn, and ruled there, and for a time all was well;

But Valukar their brother yet lived, and indeed he lived for many years longer than any of his brothers; for during his time in the forest he had been sent a vision from Rhôn, Greater God of War, and Blood; and Valukar became his priest, and gathered to him many rough and dangerous men of the wild;

And Rhôn chose Valukar to be chief among all his priests in Aerith, and extended his life beyond that of normal men; and Valukar learned of the other priests of Rhôn in the world, and they joined him; and in time he commanded a vast legion, though it were spread far and wide;

Not until the time of King Gwyran, son of Liran, did Valukar reveal himself; and in that time he emerged with his followers from Llaúr and marched upon Umor, and destroyed it, and sacrificed Gwyran the King to Rhôn along with many of his servants; and Valukar took the True Sword Elrithal of his father Umoran, and claimed himself King of Aerith.

But ere long the rulers of Ar-Érendî and Nar-Zeliôrn, who were Collyn son of Thilann and Vaenvan son of Zeliorn called to war their legions; and also did they call on Hedric, King of Lâr-Oruň, who was their ally; and they met Valukar on the field of battle near the ruins of Umor;

Though they fought long and hard to avenge the fall of Umor, Valukar had called to him many of the followers of Rhôn, and had been shown in a dream sent by Rhôn the power of the True Sword, and he wielded it as had none before him; and he slew many that day;

And in that battle Collyn and Vaenvan were both slain, and their legions were routed back to Lâr-Oruň; and there they pledged their allegiance to Hedric, having little other hope; for many had seen firsthand the terrors of the followers of Rhôn; and the sacrifices made by Valukar that night were many; and Rhôn was well pleased.

Valukar was quick to take Ar-Érendî and Nar-Zeliôrn, and they had little with which to resist, and fell quickly;

But unknown to Valukar, Kairien, wife of Vaenvan, had borne him a son, Curan; and when the armies of Valukar approached Nar-Zeliôrn, Kairien gave Curan, who was then not a year old, to some friendly fisherman; and they carried him safely to Lâr-Oruň, and Hedric the King raised him as his own;

In those days it was well known that Kairien, daughter of Tilian, was among the most beautiful of women; and when she was brought captive before Valukar, he determined to take her as wife, and did so; and in time she bore to him a son, Vilúmir;

Vilúmir stayed at his mother’s breast only until the day he could walk, and after that was taken from her and raised by Valukar and his priests in secret; and Kairien was so forlorn at the loss of her second son she became infertile, and would bear no more children to Valukar;

Vilúmir, raised by his father and the Priests of Rhôn; grew to manhood as evil as his father; and it was said that he would be the High Priest of Rhôn after Valukar passed beyond; and Vilúmir was granted many powers;

Meanwhile in Lâr-Oruň, Curan son of Vaenvan son of Zeliorn grew into manhood learning of the evils of his Great-Uncle Valukar, and hating him; and many of the wise-men of Lâr-Oruň saw in him the strength of his Great-Grandfather Umoran, and knew he was destined for great things;

And indeed, upon his fourteenth birthday Curan was given a vision from Inom, Greater Power of the Light and Justice that was the highest enemy of Rhôn, and the power of it struck him to the ground, and he was in bed many days; but when at last he returned to the world he was changed, and in his eyes was a new and terrible light; and he became Inomiran, the Chosen One of Inom, First of the Paladín.

When Valukar learned of these events he felt great fear, and knew his time was drawing to an end; and he went to the secret place in the Forests of Llaúr where first Rhôn had spoken to him; and he prayed for guidance;

And the guidance of Rhôn was this: that he take his forces, all that he could muster, and go directly to Lâr-Oruň, and destroy those who yet resisted him, and sacrifice the boy Inomiran before he could come to his full power; and Valukar did as he was told;

Upon the banks of the mighty Tiré-almôn met the hosts of Valukar and the armies of Lâr-Oruň, and there they fought, and on both sides many soldiers were slain, and among them King Hedric of Lâr-Oruň, who died in combat with Valukar himself, and wounded him; and as the sunset came yet there was still no clear victor, and the armies retreated to gather themselves;

Many of the soldiers of Lâr-Oruň wished to pull farther back, and make their stand at Oruňar, the capitol; but Inomiran upon his white horse spoke to them with words of wisdom; that if they retreated when both armies were weakened, then Valukar would have time to regroup his forces, and receive reinforcements, and keep them forever in retreat;

Though many were still unsure, Inomiran took command of them, and told them prepare for battle again on the morrow; and indeed his insight was good, for Valukar thought that without Hedric the armies of Lâr-Oruň would retreat, or scatter; and so he told his soldiers to rest easy, and that they would stay in camp for another day, to await fresh troops;

Thus when the battle resumed on the rising of the sun, the troops of Valukar were unready, and many still rested, thinking themselves secure. Inomiran moved quickly to their camp, and giving them only the amount of time to prepare that honor demands, the forces of Lâr-Oruň attacked, and won the day; and Inomiran himself slew Valukar, whose power failed him at the last; he had lived for one hundred years and three.

At last, the True Sword Elrithal was wielded by the rightful heir of Umoran; and with it Inomiran drove the followers of Valukar from Ar-Érendî and Nar-Zeliôrn, and was reunited with his mother Kairien at last; and being old then she was at last happy when she died not many years later.

Vilúmir and many of the Priests of Rhôn escaped to the Forests of Llaúr with a small troop of soldiers; but not long after Inomiran pursued them there, and defiled the sacred shrine of Rhôn; and Vilúmir and the Priests escaped to the West only with their lives;

Inomiran took for wife then Elaûra, granddaughter of King Hedric, and from their union was born Tùlir, who was hailed by all as the one to be Umoran the Second, who would rule all the lands of Umoran with a just hand.

But though Inomiran was pleased at the defeat of Valukar, still he worried often of the evils which Vilúmir was wont to practice if not found, and slain.

Of these matters he prayed often to Inom, and was told only that Vilúmir yet lived, and was ever plotting his revenge; and when at last he could stand it no longer, Inomiran set out with a small force to find his half-brother, and slay him once and for all;

For his part, Vilúmir had taken up residence in the Mountains of Mirthir, far to the West; and there he began to gather followers from among the wild men of the land, even as had his father in the early days; and also he befriended the Negerzvergen, Dwarves who lived deep inside the mountain, and were known in the toungue of Men as the Black Dwarves;

In the years before Inomiran set out to find him, Vilúmir had used his time well, and had captured many slaves to tend his fields; and in exchange for this food the Dwarves labored to forge armor and weapons for his soldiers better than any that Men possessed.

Among the Black Dwarves of Mirthir was Segnar, greatest of their smiths; and he created a sword unequaled in Aerith, save for Elrithal the True Sword itself. And Vilúmir enchanted it with his greatest and most vile magics, for he feared the True Sword in the hands of Inomiran, and desired a sword to equal it; and this he named Gorilündârhôn, which is the Vengeance of the Chosen of Rhôn; and second only to Elrithal was it in its power;

Thus when Inomiran and his troop came at last to Mirthir they were waylaid by the patrols of Vilúmir; and seeing the Sign of Valukar on their uniforms Inomiran knew that he had come at last to the hiding-place of his half-brother.

Quickly they were surrounded, and fought well; but ere they could defeat the soldiers of Vilúmir, Inomiran was wounded from afar by an arrow, and fell; and then his comrades knew they were lost; but they fought on to the last to defend their master, all except for a man named Ryer, who knew that if word did not reach Tùlir of what had happened, all would have been in vain; and also he knew that at all costs the True Sword must not fall again into the hands of the Priests of Rhôn; so taking up the Sword he rode swiftly back toward Ar-Érendî, and the soldiers of Vilúmir, who still knew nothing of who they were attacking, paid him no heed;

When Vilúmir learned of the capture of his half-brother he was overjoyed; for knowing not that Inomiran had a son, Vilúmir believed he would soon be able to retake the lands of Umoran;

But Ryer returned to Tùlir and told him all, and the son of Inomiran vowed to rescue his father, and destroy his half-uncle. He rallied what force he could and moved West; and the spies of Vilúmir told him of this, and he laughed, for Mirthir was a fortress stronger than any Men had before seen; he knew that no soldiers of Men would crush it.

Tùlir knew this too, the moment he first laid eyes upon the rocky mountains; but also he knew that Vilúmir would be watchful for the movements of men-at-arms; and so, taking the True Sword Elrithal with him, Tùlir and a small band of his most trusted soldiers disguised themselves as soldiers of Rhôn, and were able to come inside the mountain, while his host camped not far away.

Tùlir and his party were quickly lost inside the many tunnels and mines of the Dwarves, and feared they would never find their way out again, nor see their lord. At long last they came to the cell of Inomiran, deep within the earth; and so long had he abode there that his hair was white, and his eyes nearly blind, and he could barely stand. But when he held Elrithal in his hands once more, his back straightened, and the old light came into his eyes, and before they could stop him, Inomiran was running through the tunnels, screaming his half-brother’s name.

Meanwhile outside, the host of Tùlir had been scattered by the Legion of Vilúmir, with its Dwarven arms and Dwarven allies. With this easy victory they were eager to move on to the plunder they had been promised by Vilúmir in the far-off lands of Umoran, and to the East they began to march.

Inomiran found his way to Vilúmir quickly, some say, by a vision sent by Inom, and he was not lost in the many passages. Vilúmir had stayed at Mirthir, remembering how many lords have died at the head of their armies and not wishing the same fate; but in so doing he more surely signed his death warrant than by any other way.

Long was the battle of Inomiran and Vilúmir, and no less was the struggle of Elrithal and Gorilündârhôn, their swords. The sound of their clashing was like thunder in the darkness beneath the mountain, and all who heard it fled from it. And when the last blow fell, both men lay mortally stricken.

It was yet another hour before Tùlir found his father and half-uncle in the darkness; his father and the True Sword he bore away, leaving Vilúmir to die alone; but no thought did he give to Gorilündârhôn, and it was many years before it was heard of again.

Yet the struggle was not yet over; for the Legion of Vilúmir still marched on towards the lands of Umoran, and there was no force to stop them. Tùlir and his loyal guards fled toward the East carrying Inomiran with them; and when at last they stopped to rest, Inomiran spoke; “This far I may go, and no further. My time is near its end. But before I die let us pray to Inom to deliver our lands from the evil of Vilúmir.” And Tùlir prayed with his father, and Inom heard their prayer in this most hopeless hour; and with that Inomiran died, and Tùlir, obeying his father’s wish that he go no further, buried him where he lay, and marked his grave as best they could, but in a very few years it was lost.

As the Legion of Vilúmir approached the lands of Umoran they happened to pass through the green Forests of Ellivanar, and there came upon an Elf-maid, Fiwen; she had never seen men-at-arms, and knew not to be afraid of these Men of Valukar and the Black Dwarves who came with them, and she greeted them without fear. They brought her into their camp as a guest, and when she least suspected they took her and had their way with her, and in the end offered her as sacrifice to Rhôn.

But Elarion, brother of Fiwen, had followed her and seen all, and horrified returned to the camp of his fathers; and such was the rage of the Elves of Ellivanar that they turned their hunting bows and other tools to war, and attacked the Legion of Vilúmir as it marched, catching them off-guard and unable to fight in the dense forests; and not a one of them survived to tell the tale.

Tùlir returned to find the lands of his fathers intact, and found no trace of the forces of Vilúmir, but remained watchful for many years. His reign was long and good, and he was known to his people as King Umoran II.

The Negerzvergen shut tight the doors of Mirthir, and came forth never again to threaten Men; so too did the Elves of Ellivanar seclude themselves from the eyes of Men, and it was many years before they would talk with Men again;

Thus ends the tale of the struggle of the sons of Umoran; the lands that lived under the rule of King Umoran II were Ar-Érendî, Nar-Zeliôrn, Lâr-Oruň, and the Plains of Umor. In time these lands became as one, and were known as Aren-Umoran, the Lands of Umoran, and in time it became Arénûmor.

When Umoran II died at the age of 112, the Age of Men had lasted 435 years.

In the many years after, peace reigned in Aerith, and the sons of Umoran spread far and wide, and found many strange and interesting lands, and there they settled. Many wars were fought after the fall of Vilúmir, but always the decendants of Umoran have borne the True Sword Elrithal, and none contest it.

A list of the people, places, and things in the Book of Sulan, Compiled by Theseiusis, Master-Scholor of Sulaninor

Arénûmor – kingdom of Umoran II and his decendants; the lands of Umoran

and Lâr-Oruň combined.

Ar-Érendî – land settled by Thilann, son of Umoran. The capitol is

Thilannia

Collyn – first son of Thilann, slain in battle with the forces of Valukar

Curan – birth-name of Inomiran, son of Vaenvan and Kairien

Dulcet Amnor and Daysun Amnor – flagships of the colony-fleet of Glyrin

and Triran, sons of Umoran

Elarion – brother of Fiwen, of the Elves of Ellivanar

Ellivanar, Forest of – home of the Elves of Ellivanar, who for woe at the

rape of Fiwen destroyed the dreaded Legion of Vilúmir.

Elrithal – the True Sword, given to Umoran and his heirs by Inom to guard

against evil.

Fiwen – Elf-maid of Ellivanar, murdered by the Legion of Vilúmir.

Gilmoreth – the Guardian Star of Inom.

Glyrin – fourth son of Umoran, captain of the Dulcet Amnor.

Gorilündârhôn - The Vengeance of the Chosen of Rhôn; the dreaded

weapon of Vilúmir, forged by Segnar of the Negerzvergen.

Gwyran - son of Liran, King of the lands of Umoran, killed by Valukar in

the destruction of Umor.

Hedric - King of Lâr-Oruň, who raised Inomiran as his own; killed in

combat with Valukar at the Battle of Tiré-almôn.

Inom – God of Light, and Justice.

Inomiran – First of the Paladín, the Chosen One of Inom; Slayer of Valukar

and of Vilúmir; killed by Vilúmir; greatest of Mortal champions; father of Tùlir.

Jeraeld – seventh son of Umoran, second rightful King of the lands of

Umoran; killed by his brother Ulom

Kairien – mother of Curan-Inomiran and of Vilúmir; wife of Vaenvan;

among the most beautiful of women.

Lâr-Oruň – the land of King Hedric; later part of Arénûmor

Liran – Father of Gwyran, third rightful King of the lands of Umoran

Llaúr, Forests of – location of the Shrine of Rhôn, destroyed by Inomiran

Lyeth – demi-god of Aerith skilled in diplomacy

Mirthir – Fortress of Vilúmir; mountains of the Negerzvergen.

Nar-Zeliôrn – city of Zeliorn-on-the-Sea

Negerzvergen – the Black Dwarves of Mirthir; allies of Vilúmir.

Rhôn – God of War, and Blood.

Rhônalmon – River of Blood; river on which lied Umor, and Nar-Zeliôrn

Ryer – scout of Tùlir.

Segnar – Dwarven forger of Gorilündârhôn.

Sevynia – last wife of Umoran; mother to Jeraeld

Thilann – second son of Umoran; founder of Thilannia

Thilannia – capitol of Ar-Érendî

Tilian – mother of Kairien

Tiré-almôn – river that was the border of the lands of Umoran and Lâr-Oruň;

site of the Battle of Tiré-almôn, in which perished King Hedric and Valukar

Triran – sixth son of Umoran; captain of the Daysun Amnor

Tùlir – son of Inomiran; birth-name of Umoran II, First King of Arénûmor

Ulom - first son of Umoran; murderer of Jeraeld

Umoran – Greatest of all Men; founder of Umor; first wielder of the True

Sword Elrithal

Umoran II - First King of Arénûmor; son of Inomiran.

Valukar – fifth son of Umoran; first High Priest of Rhôn in Aerith; father of

Vilúmir.

Vaenvan - son of Zeliorn; father of Curan-Inomiran; husband of Kairien;

killed by the forces of Valukar in battle.

Vilúmir – second High Priest of Rhôn; son of Valukar and Kairien; creator

of Gorilündârhôn

Zeliorn – third son of Umoran; father of Vaenvan; founder of Nar-Zeliôrn.