THE HISTORY OF THE
ARANWYTH
As related by Hagurd Windwalker
Lawspeaker
to the King
'Anlaf was the quick
tempered son of Horik the Restless, a man whose loyality was unquestionable.
Anlaf had grown strong and he favoured hunting on the Prax, as a test of
his skills. One cold night, he spotted a ring of camp fires, far off in
the Prax. Gathering his war gear, he ran across the Long Dry until he came
to a vantage point where he could watch the camp. From his perch, he could
see a mass of Praxian Bison Riders chanting and singing their war song.
As he watched and listened, he learned that the Gods had treated the Bison
Riders harshly this season and they were set to raid Anlaf's people for
food and captives.
Anlaf wasted no time,
and made ready to leave for his tribe, to warn them. But he was discovered
by a group of Bison Riders who drew their weapons and challenged him. Anlaf
reacted by instinct, for such was his way as a trained hunter and warrior.
He nocked an arrow in his best hunting bow and fired killing four of the
Riders with one shot. The other Bison Riders grew frightened, for surely
they had disturbed a hero. Anlaf challenged them but they would not fight
him and he was able to make his escape.
The Split
On returning to the
tribe, Anlaf assembled the Clan and Clan Chiefs and the Chiefs of other
tribes, so that he could warn them of the danger. Many of his people agreed
that they should all join as one and attack the Bison Riders, and that
Anlaf should lead them, for in those days the clans were split and the
tribes sometimes fought each other for land and goods. But the other clans
would hear none of this, and they laughed at Anlaf's warnings. They argued
that their steads would be safe for they had their own strong warriors
to protect them.
The tribes argued and
fought over whether they should join and who should lead them until Anlaf
could finally calm them and ask for support for his plans. Only Anlaf's
friends Ottar Catdancer and Ormond of the Axe cried in support of him.
The clans were still split, but among the clans of Anlaf, Ottar and Ormund
were many who agreed.
The Tragedy of Ottar
Anlaf decreed that
three clans would be formed to face the Bison Riders and destroy them before
their raids would destroy the Orlanthi crops and farms. Anlaf gathered
his Weaponthanes and made plans for war.
But before Anlaf could
gather his forces a small group of Bison Riders attacked the outlying steads
where Ottar lived. Ottar's wife was taken and many of his people killed.
Ottar gave chase with many of his Alynx brothers but was killed by the
Bison Riders. The Alynx brought back his body after many days, and Anlaf
wept. The Alynx wanted revenge and would attack the main body of Praxians
on the morrow with or without their Orlanthi brothers. Anlaf pleaded with
them that they must wait and gather more warriors.
Ormond and his brother
Brognar the Humakti came to Anlaf, enraged by Ottar's death, and urged
him to attack the next day, but again he asked them to wait and gather
more men.
That evening, Ottar's
mother came to Anlaf and told him of how their stead had been attacked
by the Bison Riders, and of how Ottar had been almost killed defending
his family, and how Ottar's wife had only been taken after all the Orlanthi
warriors had been killed or mortally wounded. Ottar himself had been so
near death that he was unable to draw a full breath. His mother had but
healed his terrible wounds and he was on his feet, gathering his broken
weapons and Alynx, to chase after the Bison Riders and his wife. The Alynx
had told her how he had discovered his wife dead, and then killed every
Bison Rider he found across the plain. He had smeared their blood on his
body to show them how he longed for death, for they had killed his only
love. Eventually he died at the hand of their Khan, but they had paid a
heavy price for this victory.
Anlaf cradled the weeping
woman in his arms. He would attack in the morning.
The Battle of the
Black Bog
Anlaf marched his warriors
to the plain where Ottar had died and saw how Ottar had left a trail of
blood across the plain. The warriors stopped at the place where Ottar had
burnt the remains of his wife, Eveer. The Alynx howled and screamed their
lamentations and many of the warriors wept. Ormonds brother Brognar fell
to his knees and swore to Humakt that the Bison Khan would die at his hand.
Anlaf assembled his
men and spoke of Ottar's great deeds and how he had fallen in battle like
a true Orlanthi. He spoke of how many more fine warriors would die on this
day, and although they were outnumbered, they would use both courage and
guile to win this battle and purge these raiders from their land.
Anlaf split his warriors
into three groups. To the east of the plain was a a marsh, known to all
as the Black Bog, surrounded on both sides by high ridges. Brognar's group
would lead the Bison Riders into the Bog. On each ridge Anlaf and Ormond
would have a band of men, ready to ambush the Bison Riders when they were
caught in the trap.
As Yelm reached his
zenith, Brognars skirmishers were attacked by the Bison Rider scouts. While
the scouts rode off to fetch the main body, Brognar led his men towards
the bog. As he looked back he could see a great host assembling behind
him and beginning to charge.
Anlaf and Ormond hid
deep in the undergrowth, waiting for the moment to strike. The Bison Riders
charged into the bog and through Brognar's men. The ridges erupted in berserk
screams as the trap was sprung and the Orlanthi charged at the flank of
the Praxians.
The charge was stopped
and a fierce battle began. A Alynx fought alongside every warrior. They
leapt at riders and chewed the legs from the angry Bison.
Brognar had lost most
of his men and screamed his battle cry to rally those that were left. A
charging Bison Rider came at him from behind and pirced his shield arm
with his lance, ripping the arm from his shoulder. Brognar screamed and
cut the rider in two with his sword. His men ran to him to heal him, but
he refused to be stopped and cut down foe after foe to reach the centre
of the battle, and the Bison Khan. Brognar's remaining warriors would not
leave his side and fought alongside him, parrying and dying for him.
The battle had become
a mass of bloody bodies hacking and stabbing until the muddy bog lay thick
with blood and corpses. Anlaf and Ormond fought courageously on the flanks
but were heavily outnumbered by the Bison Riders, and were slowly losing
their position in the marsh.
Brognar had cut a swath
of death for Humakt. All of his men had been killed and he stood bleeding
in front of the Bison Khan. The two screamed as their swords clashed, the
roar of powerful magic drowned out the sound of the screaming and dying.
The fighting around Brognar stopped as both sides watched to see who the
victor would be. Brognar was knocked to the ground and the Khan charged
at him. Brognar quickly brought up his blood caked sword and buried it
in the Khan's chest, Brognar stood and lifted the body on his sword, throwing
it into the air and cutting it into a thousand pieces, for Ottar.
A great howl came from
the Bison Riders and they charged Brognar in a great mass of bodies. Anlaf
and Ormond had seen the fight from a distance and pressed their advantage
against the demoralised Bison Riders, to reach Brognar before it was too
late. The Bison Riders died swiftly as they lost the will to fight and
the battle was soon over. The bog was littered with bloody heaps of the
dead and dying, all slowly sinking into the mire, but no trace could be
found of Brognar Deathstroke. The hill on which the bog is found has since
been called Brognar's hill, in memory of the Humakti hero.'
THE TALE OF GUDRUN
(1340)
'There was a woman
named Gudrun Horsemistress, daughter of Boru, whose guile and trickery
in trading had earned her the name 'Twotongues'. The name of her tribe
has been forgotten but all remember how she tricked a horsebreeder into
trading a magical stallion for a bag of worthless eggs. The Tribal Lawspeakers
denounced her practices and she was judged a criminal and ordered to pay
wergild. Instead, she severed her clan's ties with the tribe and went north.
On the way, the clan earned much silver by selling breeding rights to other
clans before settling in the Forloss hills, where they used their silver
to buy land from the Ottari and Thormundi.'
HOW THE TRIBE WAS
FOUNDED (1423)
'A band of Ormundi
hunters were moving through the Six Sisters. While they scoured a slope
with their farsee magic they saw a band of Broo. Being brave and also foolhardy,
they moved closer in order to investigate. Noone remembers how many hunters
set out that day, but all remember how only one got back home. He was sick
and diseased and told the clan about the band of Broo and of how they were
led by a Priest of Thed. The Ormundi had a champion whose name was Aranwyth.
Aranwyth was also a Humakti and a great warrior and on hearing the bad
news, he immediately assembled clansmen from the militia and set out to
track the chaos fiends.
After many days of
tracking, Aranwyth was about to give up when his band were ambushed by
the foul Broo. Many died on that day and Orlanth himself had to help Aranwyth
defeat the chaos. In the days that followed, the Broo attacked many steads
and killed many people and sheep. Aranwyth gathered the clan leaders together
and tried to convice them that they needed to band together as a tribe
to defeat these threats. The clan leaders decided to think further on the
matter, but gave Aranwyth many of their warriors to help destroy the Broo.
Aranwyth set out again
to track the Broo, with more warriors than before. After two days, the
Broo hideout was found and a great battle took place. The Broo clan was
destroyed, but Aranwyth was killed as were many of the warriors. Aranwyth
could not be brought back, but his ideas and leadership were not forgotten.
In 1424, the clans formed a tribal ring and summoned a tribal Wyter, so
that Aranwyth's name would live forever.
THE TRIBAL RING
| POSITION |
NAME |
| Orlanth
Rex (King) |
Jaldor
Metal Belly |
| Humakt |
Jonaton
Trollsbane |
| Storm
Bull |
Rugar
Urdarson |
| Thunder
Brothers |
|
| Adventurer |
Algard
Thorolfson |
| Thunderous |
Mivir
Beldson |
| Issaries |
Humall
Thyrson |
| Lhankor
Mhy |
Katlin
Erigson |
| Chalana
Arroy |
Stena
Misadotter |
| Elmal |
Ilgalad
Trollfriend |
| Ernalda |
Halin
Fairspeech |
| Asrelia |
Versa
the Dark |
| Voria |
Ailee
Raindancer |
| Eurmal |
Laughing
Boy |
THANES
| THANE
TYPES |
NAME |
| Dish
Thane |
Pedur
Truehands |
| Chief
of the King's Bloodline |
Morgor
Onetongue |
| Chief
of the King's Stable |
Wulf
of the Eye |
| Fyrd
Officers |
Fergard
Mordson |
| Ulgar
Sergardson |
|
| Sigurd
Udarson |
|
| Wingar
Magardson |
|
| Tribal
Champion |
Jonaton
Trollsbane |
The Clans
ANLAFI
GUDRUNI
(BROWN HORSE)