Birth of the Lesser Races (updated 2008/09/03)

The Dwur were the first to notice the birth of the lesser races of men and Goblyns. The first tribes of men emerged after the Allfather undertook one of his greater works and Named them. They were born into the wildernesses that surrounded the Foradol Mountains.

The Avatara were too safely ensconced in the Fortress of Forandol to take much notice of such lesser creatures--only a host of Deep Ones or Kha'din could rouse them to war. Indeed, they remained isolated and aloof until the fall of Tir'Na'Nog, when they were thrust into the wilderness themselves.

Since the time the new lands had emerged, the Deep Ones crawled from the deeps to feed on the new life born in the fertile lands of Ambar. This practice continued for millennia, and all creatures who dwell upon the land carry an instinctual fear of the Deep Ones to this day. The tribes of men had no ability to resist the Deep Ones, save for some who worshiped them like gods. The first Goblyns were born into these tribes. Half caveman and half fish-thing, the Goblyns were horrid troglodytes who bred quickly and took control of vast regions of mountain and forestland. The fought against their half-kin in tribal skirmishes and wars that lasted for thousands of years.

The Dwur were the first to see the growing threat as the Goblyn menace spread. Some Dwur kingdoms forged alliances with the more developed tribes of men, teaching them some of the secrets of writing, war, fire, and metalworking. Human cultures quickly developed and took the shape of their mentors, reflecting Dwur sensibilities and values.

The Alu also lent their knives to the struggle. They engaged in guerrilla warfare against, inflicting severe casualties and disrupting early attempts of the Goblyns at building a cohesive command structure. Some credit today's lack of a united Goblyn horde to these early destabilizing actions. Legends of the ruthlessness of the "Alu Daemons" spread amongst the tribes of men and Goblyns, and a fearful respect of an Alu Kel is almost as instinctual as terror of the Deep Ones.