Gernerian Epic

The Gernerian Epic is an oral folktale passed down by the bards of Savanor. It used to be a popular folktale throughout the Vasterlands, though has since been replaced by the Tol d'Gadfreuy.

## Plot

### Rise of Gernerin

In time immemorial, there was no life. Only the unblemished landscape, with no fauna to complement the flora. This changed when the stones of the Spring of Hunkor began to transform.

Over the course of a thousand years these stones began to stand. They grew heads, then arms and legs. Finally, on the last day of the thousandth year, the stones came to life. There were seven of them, five feet tall each and almost as wide as they were tall. Dwarves.

These dwarves were led by the shortest of them all, Hunkor. For another thousand years they travelled, bestowing the secret of life upon all that would listen. Leaves became birds, fallen branches turned to snakes. But they were incapable of creating more sentient life while on the move, and this travelling was making the dwarves tired so, on the last day of the thousandth year of their travel, they settled down back at their spring. They talked to the stones until more dwarves were born.

After another thousand years six of the seven original dwarves had turned back to stone, but in their place was a bustling metropolis. Thousands, tens of thousands of dwarves made themselves busy as citizens of the Kingdom of Gernerin, vassals of King Hunkor.

### Betrayal of Fenkart

Gernerin stood tall for exactly five thousand years. This was also Hunkor's eight-thousandth birthday, and he was ageing and ailing. And he had rivals, his creations who had lost faith in his abilities. There were three of them: Fenkart, Golnor and Hondar.

These three dwarves began to spread dissent leading up to Hunkor's birthday, splitting the dwarves into two camps: those who believed in Hunkor, and those who did not. Fenkart gained the support of the dragons of the mountains, a tale which is told among the Chaons as the Ballad of Fenkart.

On Hunkor's birthday a feast was held. Fenkart and his allies caused a scene - legends conflict over what exactly they did. One tale tells that they smuggled in the king of the dragons in disguise, while others say they harassed the serving-girls or insulted Hunkor's hospitality. One way or another, they incurred Hunkor's wrath. The host defended his honour by challenging the offenders to a three-on-three duel as was tradition.

Hunkor chose two champions, Kelnir and Jormen, to stand by him as he faced Fenkart, Golnor and Hondar. The fight began, and after five hours of fighting only Hunkor and Fenkart were left standing - Hunkor's champions had been wounded, and Hunkor's warhammer had brought outright death to Golnor and Holdar. Eventually, after a fight that lasted two days, Fenkart struck a mortal blow and Hunkor was killed.

### Travels of the Champions

Following the battle Fenkart assumed rightful rulership of Gernerin. The followers of Hunkor were exiled from the mountain kingdom, and they travelled north under the protection of Hunkor's champions Kelnir and Jormen. Once out of the mountains, the two split and their following split as well. Kelnir settled in what is now the town of Nelvia, while Jormen headed northwest. He is said to have settled in the now-abandoned fortress of Val Trum.

Back in Gernerin, Fenkart;s dwarves were interbreeding with the dragons. Over time they warped; their personalities were tainted and their skin turned to stone. They became the Mountainfolk, who the Savanese still refer to as the 'Children of Fenkart'. Hunkor's followers, by contrast, grew taller and stronger. They became humans, with their growth supplemented by the fertile soil of the Vasterlands and the warm air of the plains.

Once Hunkor's followers were settled, both Jormen and Kelnir grew restless. Gathering a core of champions, they made an attempt to reclaim their home. It was a disaster, and Jormen was killed along with most of the host. Kelnir retreated to lick his wounds, and in a moment of madness he threw away his pride.

Kelnir trekked all over the Vasterlands. He visited the eagles of Razaden Island, the trolls of Ourjah, the bears of the Daklian Forest. And everywhere he went, he begged for help. These creatures had all once been friends of Gernerin, valued allies and trading partners. And so they came to help.

### Battle for Gernerin

Kelnir returned to the mountains with an army more numerous than the leaves in the autumn breeze. He engaged Fenkart in battle and the fight raged for forty days.

By the end of the fight both armies were exhausted and beaten. Kelnir's allies were either dead of long fled, and Fenkart's allies had routed to the far ends of the mountains. Gernerin as a state ceased to function. Most importantly, Kelnir managed to stab Fenkart through the eye at the same moment Fenkart beheaded him. This brought an end to the blood feud that had existed since Hunkor's five-thousandth birthday, and beings and end to the Gernerian Epic. Traditionally the last moment of that fight has had time slowed dramatically, and when Kelnir's decapitated head hits the world will end as the last hope of humanity dies.