5001-HârnWorld/3rd Edition/40

The origins and early history of the island kingdom are obscure. Numerous henge sites, notably Gelimo on the west coast of Melderyn, date from around 2500 BT, suggesting the existence of an advanced culture many centuries before the Jarin migrations to Hârn. In any event, Melderyn was subjected to the same invasions as the rest of Hârn but assimilated each wave of newcomers without bloodshed. Cherafir was first inhabited during the early Jarin migrations on a site of Earthmaster origin.

Approximately 1,000 years ago, five small kingdoms were known to exist on the island, coexisting in a peaceful and loose alliance. The Five Kingdoms period came to an end 720 years ago, in the year from which all other Hârnic dates are reckoned, when the whole island peacefully came under the rule of Erebir Pendragon.

Since its founding, Melderyn has exerted very little obvious influence on the Hârnic mainland. Its interference has been generally limited to occasional visits by individuals, many of whom have exhibited “strange powers.” These figures have earned the island the title “Wizards’ Isle” or “Mages’ Isle” and a reputation for magic and strange happenings.

LOTHRIM THE FOULSPAWNER
The anarchy prevalent throughout most of Hârn during the early centuries of this millennium presented opportunities for ambitious men. One who seized great power was Lothrim, chieftain of a semi-civilized tribe inhabiting the Chelna Gap 600 years ago. Lothrim was a man of learning; some have suggested that he was a renegade mage from Melderyn. Lothrim delved deeply into the arcane arts and unleashed a campaign that gained him an empire stretching from the Thard to the

Kald (excluding, of course, the Shava Forest). Lothrim’s subjects differed widely in cultural development, from primitive, nomadic tribes who chafed under any external rule, to those who traced their lineage to the early Jarin and who had preserved their pastoral and agricultural skills. City-building was not a major pastime; Lothrim chose Elkall-Anuz, an Earthmaster site, as his capital; but other than this, only the eastern outpost of Kelapyn-Anuz (now Tashal) had a population in excess of 1,000.

The Foulspawn
Lothrim was obsessed by the mystique of the Earthmasters. Determined to rule all of Hârn, he decided the Ancients had done so aided by a race of humanoid soldier-slaves. By means of arcane arts long forbidden by the Sindarin, he managed to create or import a fastbreeding, short-lived race with very aggressive behavior. These he called Gargun. They proved violent, rebellious and quarrelsome; Lothrim was forced to govern them with an iron rod and to occupy them with constant wars. He undertook a reign of terror against the surrounding tribes now known as the “Tyranny of the Foulspawner.”

The Penultimate Tome
In his unending quest for artifacts of the Earthmasters, Lothrim heard tell of a book, owned by the Khuzan king of Kiraz, said to contain the great secrets of the Ancients. Never wholly sane, Lothrim became obsessed with the thought of obtaining the Penultimate Tome at any cost. Kiraz was also a major obstacle to expanding his empire throughout western Hârn. Lothrim decided to lead an army of gargun against the Khuzan stronghold.

The Carnage of Kiraz
After a long and difficult march around Lake Benath, up the steep Deret River valley, and across the Rayesha Mountains, Lothrim and his army arrived at the mountain fastness of Kiraz. The defeat of Lothrim’s weary forces would have been likely but for a freak of fortune. Most of the Khuzan warriors had recently departed down the Uthel River to hunt and gather food before the onset of winter. The tyrant’s forces burst upon the lightly defended cavern city and captured it with relative ease. The gargun engaged in a terrible orgy of bloodlust, rape, and pillage. Every Khuzan male, female, and child in Kiraz was slain and feasted on by the gargun hordes. Lothrim was delirious when a very old tome was discovered, written in a script unknown to him. Lothrim might have wintered in Kiraz, but supplies were short. So, confident that the power of Kiraz was destroyed, he began the long march home.

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