The Fellmen

The Cardinal Saga.

Who are the Bitter Kings?

"In the Beginning, there was Darkness. Ikivanha (Ancient One) last Noble of the Turo breathed His last song, and Katkara(Bitter) was it's name. From His exhalation the first Wind grew and from the first Wind, a Storm rushed forth. It shook the Void and broke the veil and Maailma was formed. That is the World." -Book of Gearwa

The Northern Kingdom of Men, Altavunta, is an independent region of (Continent). They're foundations formed in the beginning of the First Age before the Elves dominion over Men began. When the invading armies of Elves first came to (Continent) the Southern Men's armies could not stop them, the Elves magic was far too powerful for mortal shamans and priests. Before the South was routed, they sent messengers to their kindred in the North to run and hide, to accept the Elves inevitable victory and count their blessings. 

When the Southland's words reached the North, there were some who quickly believed the news, they began whispering amongst themselves that they could not hope to beat the Elves if their more war-like brethren from the South were culled so easily, and many began to agree and after a few more weeks of discussions they determined to send a rider with their surrender. 

But there was one Northman who heard the dreams of God and he spoke thusly to his people. "I have walked amongst you and heard your talk. You believe that there is no hope! That the Elves and their magic cannot be conquered! Well I tell you this; no elf can survive in the North, no Fae creature of wood and sea can sleep in the White Wilds. Even our brothers from the South do not long thrive here! I say let us go to the mountains where our kin first walked. The Elves can come, but they will not find us. We shall remain free and pay no taxes and bear no burdens from the Highbloods!" 

The Northmen listened and they began to feel a stirring in their breasts like a crooked breeze, and they hardened their hearts, and their gaze grew stern. They gathered their wives and children and fled to the vast Blackrock Mountains to the furthest reaches of the North, and there they dwelt for a time.

But the dark of long Winter was upon them, and the Mountains are unkind things. They began to whisper amongst themselves and began to question the wisdom of coming to such a place. Once more the man walked amongst his people and felt their discontent grow. So he said to them, "My people! Do no think I do not hear you! You believe I have lead you to your deaths, but fear not! I have heard the dreams of God, and in His dreams I see a mighty altar, I say to you, build this altar and pray to The One Who Sleeps and you will have what you need." With this the man said no more, and moved to a small cave near the peoples camp, and no longer dwelled with the people in their tents and halls. 

Now it must be said that the people had long ago forgotten about gods, and they now believed they had listened to and trusted a madman. But still they felt the wind in their minds and hearts, and they talked for a time and established that they had three choices before them, remain in the mountains, do nothing and die, return to the Northlands and accept Elven rule, or trust the madman and build an altar to a forgotten God. And so there they built the Syvän (Deepdark) Altar and prayed to the One Who Sleeps, Ikivanha. And for a moment He woke. He gave a blessing to the ones who remembered Him, He gave a weapon. 

A great Wind passed through the throng, and many voices cried out, "We have been changed! Ikivanha harkens to us!".

Like all Men, of (Continent) the Northmen were fair haired and blue of eye, but forever after the DeepEarth Covenant changed them. Their hair became black, their skin turned bluish and dark, their eyes deep grey, their voices became deeper and full of power, but the greatest gift of all was Hävittää(Destruction). The power to break and destroy all magic. Thus the Fellmen were born. They quickly began work on smithing armors and blades to field an army worthy of their God. The northmen had little skill in these arts for they had been a relatively simple people before the coming of the Fae. But it seemed that a presence guided their hand, and soon their swords were sharp, and their armor was thick. 

When the Elves finally conquered the last resistance of the South they turned their attention to the North, and the Fellmen were ready for them. The Fae sent their mightiest armies, led by their finest generals, but there they fell. Many an Elflord and princeling would never return to their fair homes and gardens. In the long night of winter, Illianaro the Foxfire, Lord of Aldeon and Commander of the Northern Campaign died from the wounds he received when a small army of 2,000 Fellmen ambushed his Company of 10,000 elven warriors and bowmen. This stroke ended the Elven march into the North, and forced the Elvish leaders to succeed the northern marches, forests, rivers, and mountains to Men. 

With the threat of the Elves taken care of the Fellmen turned their attention to the leadership of their burgeoning Kingdom. They could not help their kindred to the South, at least not yet. The North was too sparsely populated and the land too unforgiving to raise an army truly large enough to free all of (continent) from Elven rule.

It hadn't been a long campaign (it was later called the 100 day war) yet even so the dead were great, and many heros and warriors had fallen against the onslaught of the Elves. The Fellmen had been nothing more than villagers and subsistence farmers, there had never been a King among Men. The idea was quite foreign to them. So once again they turned to the Syvän (Deepdark) Altar and the One Who Sleeps. (developing)

The Median

First off, a word about who I am and how this all started. My name is Landon and I've been an avid reader and bibliophile since before I can remember.

Being of the lofty age of 22 I've decided to finally try and put pen to paper (or keystrokes to screen, or what have you) on the story that has been brewing in my mind since my very first reading of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Now bear in mind that I have approximately zero experience in writing, and the writing that I did do during my tumultuous college and high school careers was largely in the field of "passable" and on the whole quite unremarkable. Unless of course you count my various English teachers multiple assertions that I should be a doctor later in life because they could not for the life of them read a single thing in my very spidery/illegible script. Thankfully we live in a technologically advanced age, and computers and modern word processors have erased the pitfalls of my poor handwriting skills.

The Tale and World that has taken root in my mind is at the moment tentatively titled The Cardinal Saga, and its companions The Ordinal Sub-Saga. The main Part or Saga is a series of four books telling the story of the current Age of the Cardinal Universe. These books will be an unbroken chain from the points of view of multiple characters from multiple races, seeing and living the events of a Great War sure to change the balance of power throughout the world. These books are of course titled North, East, South and West.

The Ordinal Sub-Saga explores the origins of the factions taking a part in this war, be it the Bitter Kings of the Northern Men, or the sundering of the Deep Elves (Trow) from the Bright Elves (Fae). This series will also be 4 books, and the titles are very much in the air at the moment, (I would hope I have the time to think of some suitably clever ones).

The factions of this War are very great and each of them are trying to out maneuver the other. However it can largely be separated in two very great powers. The Deep Elves and the Surface Dwellers.

The Surface Dwellers are then broken up into 3 separate races (although I believe some would argue that "True" Dwarves and "Melded" Dwarves can be divided into sub species much like the Trow and Fae) and factions.

• The first is the faction of Free Men known as the Bitter Kings. Through out the ages mankind has either been subject to Elvish or Dwarvish rule, except for one very notable standout, the Fell North. These Men hold fast to the traditions set down by the Elds or First Gods, and in return for this worship and submission the Elds grant The Bitter Kings a terrible gift. The North Men are born with the gift of Magic Destruction. As they get near Magical sources or beings the magical bonds begin to fail. Small contingents of North Men can hold at bay entire Fae armies for the Elves are innately magical, and if the Fellmen come near, their very fabric of being is torn apart. Thus the North has stood unconquered by Elvish rule and as such the Fellmen are a proud race and distrustful of other races including Men of the South. However in this Age of our tale worship of the Elds has wavered and as such Northmen have not been born with their gift for quite some time. Thankfully this has not been an issue since the Fae had long ago lost their Empire and with it their Magic stolen, and the Melded Dwarves have in relatively recent history shut their gates forever.

• The Second of course is the Fae or Bright Elves. In the First Age the elves had a vast empire spanning most of the world, only the Dwarves of the South and Men of the North still resisted them, the Men with their Nulling and the Dwarves with their great Walls and war machines. The southern men were surfs to their Elven lords, and as such abandoned the First Gods and began to worship the Gods of their captors. The Elven Gods give different gifts, and the Southern men found them much more lenient and less restrictive. For a time great Elven cities spanned the world over, and much trade and prosperity went throughout. Sadly as that old adage says "Absolute power absolutely corrupts." The Fae grew vain, they began asserting that they themselves were gods equal too and even greater than the Gods of their ancestors, finally at the height of their power they began to crumble. It is at this time that the Dwarves unleashed their secret offensive.

• Which brings us to the Third faction the Dwarves. When the Elven Empire began to waver and fall in on itself the Dwarves seized the opportunity they had so desperately waited for. They launched an offensive so devastating that the Fae could do nothing but retreat again and again and again, for the Dwarves were carrying with them a new weapon of terrible potency. This machine travelled with the marching Dwarf legions and stole the innate magical abilities of the Elves. It stole the enchantments off their weapons that kept them sharp, and the dweomers off their food that kept it fresh. Worst of all it stripped the Elves themselves of their natural born magical supplies, and in addition made them for all intents, sterile. The Elves that had been infected by this weapon could father no children and cast no spells for ever after. Faced with this terrible foe the wisest of the Elves retreated to the Isle of Whispers, and there cast the largest and most powerful of their spells, ripping the isle from the plain of existence. The isle became mist and forever after no being could find where it was hidden. So the Elf Empire collapsed and from its ruin arose a new Dwarven nation.
• The machine which had stripped the Elves of their power had an even darker purpose. It harvested the Magical energies and with those energies the Dwarves gave to themselves magic. Dwarves are not innately magic creatures and had long coveted the Elves their gift. Now the Dwarves held the magic of an entire race and with it they created the Art of Sympathy. Unlike Elves; Dwarves had no natural magical abilities so they devised rules for themselves, they created new spells based on arithmetic and science rather than the pure instinctual magic favored by the Elves. As the Dwarves continued to use and perfect their Art, a strange thing began to occur, they grew taller and less stout, their beards became fine as did the hair on their heads, and their days of living lengthened; in short they became elfish. This was the creation of the Melded Dwarves.
• However they're were some Dwarves who resisted this change and clung to the Old Ways, they remained just as dwarvish as ever and forever after they called themselves the True Dwarves. The True Dwarves founded new cities in the Southern lands and proclaimed themselves independent city-states.
• The Melded dwarves proved wise rulers and the world blossomed under their care, however they were still Dwarves at heart and suddenly their leaders without warning shut their mountain halls and disappeared from the annals of time. The world was left to fend for itself.

• Finally we come to the last faction the Trow. The Trow have long bided their time and they covet the surface, now they are poised on the cusp of War with the overworld. After all their cousins are hidden, the Melded Dwarves have disappeared, and the only ones left who can fight are the North Men who have lost their only protections. It seems the Age of the Trow has come.