Voyage to Urthidun - Tales of Camadorn

In the days of the Old Empire, before their fall, a great catastrophe occurred in Hirajorg. The earth shook, shoots of fire and steam burst from the ground, and waters rose. Settlements were destroyed by catastrophe, and even the greatest city of Hirajorg, Berowaid, was lost beneath fire and water. Yet the strife of the realm did not end with the calming of the land.
                 The Old Empire had yet to incorporate Hirajorg into its realms, and so sailed an army to their shores in the wake of this. Any who would not submit were put to the sword, and those that became their slaves wished for such a death. The empire swept over the land and took what they wished. There was but one holdout on the western coast, a place that is now called the Garden of Giants.

If one is unfamiliar with the inhabitants of this land, it should be explained now. In Hirajorg and in other places of the world, there are those who some have called giants, though their proper name would be madorn. The madorns have the form like that of an abnormally tall human, usually even taller, and are rather bulky in proportions. They have curled horns most often, the shape of the curl usually denoting some heritage or another. The madorns of Hirajorg had bluish-gray skin, black or sometimes red hair, and yellow or orange eyes, yet those of other regions usually appear differently. To describe the temperament of all madorns is as impossible as to describe the temperament of all humans, but these at least were not normally prone to violence or acts of rebellion, at least not on a widespread scale. So their actions here are noteworthy indeed.

And so the madorns of Hirajorg saw the Old Empire coming, and some wished to fight them. Yet their elders counseled that fighting them would only end in their own destruction, so any other action was preferable. Yet there was one, neither elder nor youth, named Ijorg who would be called the Valiant hereafter. Ijorg counseled the elders that he and many others would rather die than serve under the empire. Yet the elders already knew that a third option was indeed called for.
                 So they chose to pick up what possession they would need or could not bear to part from, and march as one people to the nearest friendly port. There they hired the services of ships and crews to take them away, though they did not know where yet. With the empire fast upon the city, they put to sail before wind or wave was right, and left Hirajorg behind.
                 Their exodus was not entirely impulsive though. They had brought livestock and seed for whatever place they would settle, and what money they had left was guarded closely. They knew there were not enough ships for all of them, so it was decided who should go ahead. All but three of the elders were left behind, some couples were split, yet the children were left behind least of all. Sometimes, children would be entrusted to their parents’ siblings or family friends so that there would be room to bring them along. Ijorg the Valiant wished to stay behind for the sake of his kin, but the elders agreed that his energy would be necessary to keep the morale of their people from wasting away. It is not told here what happened to the madorns who stayed but only the ones who left.
                 The seas were calm their first weeks out of port, and while they did not go very far, their destination was still a mystery. They kept faith that there would be a purpose behind this, and it was helped by Ijorg the Valiant’s encouragement and the wise words of the elders. It was then that they continued the discussion of their flight and where it would be to.
                 Ijorg the Valiant took part in the discussion, as did the three elders who stayed with the group, whose names are recorded here. There was Lored the Old, whose father was Lored the Elder who stayed behind. There was Niliard the Fair, who first earned her name with beauty then by her judgements, and age had only been able to dull the first at all. And last of them was Broel the Powerful, who knew firsthand the heights their folk could achieve as he was a mighty man in his youth, and mightier than some even in old age. It was those three and Ijorg the Valiant that took counsel to find a new home.
                 It seemed the world was under the empire’s reign. They had heard tell of a land far to the southeast that was independent, yet it was a hostile land and deemed too dangerous for them to settle if they could even get there. When the ship captain whose craft they were using for this discussion overheard them, he noted that there were islands off the coast of Hirajorg that might prove fruitful to settle on. So they decided to allow this captain, whose name was Kroel, guide them to these island.
                 Yet as soon as the sea’s calm ended, storms of snow and rain bashed their ships. These were no galleons, for they had no ship like that at the time, but instead smaller craft. It was bad enough for the madorns being at sea, for few trusted in any sea craft to hold them, but the storm made things worse. Children cried into the night, and those parents they had left wished to join them. Yet Ijorg the Valiant joined the battle against the storm and helped the sailors in their struggles. By his lead, the madorns did what they could to keep the ship aloft, bucketing water or heaving robes. They did what the sailors told them to do and did it well. So they survived the six day storm, even if some did not.
                 Upon the storm’s end, they came across an island. It was small, and they knew that it would never sustain them all, but it was respite. The named it Joladun, or “rest island” in the common tongue, though it had other names on maps. There the people and their animals could roam about, free after weeks of being trapped onboard. Some wanted to stay, but Ijorg and the elders counseled against it.
                 Though it was there that a madorn woman would give birth. Her husband had been swept away in the storm, and it was her first child that she now delivered. Though it was difficult, she gave birth to a baby girl who she would name for the island they stopped at, Joladuni. The woman herself was named Belain the Caring, as she would often look after children and adults who were scared during the storm. Though Belain would take ill after her birth, due to fatigue gained from both the experience with the storm and birthing her child, she would recover, yet it prolonged their stay on Joladun.
                 The crew and some of the madorn men made repairs to them ships while they were ashore, while the sick were tended to by those who were wise in such matters. Captain Kroel oversaw much of this, and personally congratulated Belain the Caring upon her daughter’s birth. Ijorg came to respect Kroel, as he was a man of wisdom and empathy, though also one of courage. They became friends and leaders of the expedition, though often advised by the elders. Once the sick were well enough to travel and the ships were repaired, those who wanted to stay were greatly outnumbered so they came along when they set sail again for an island to live on.
                 Not a week since leaving the island, their small flotilla was attack by ships from the Old Empire. They had no patience for pirates nor rebels, and so attacked the ships carrying the madorns. Ijorg led the men in the defense of their ships, and Captain Kroel sent his first mate and many of his sailors to sabotage the enemy ships. Once the sabotage was done, the madorns managed to flee, the empire’s ships being too damaged to catch them. Though again several were lost, even if most of them survived.
                 Though the empire still would chase them until the Day of Fire. It was two months since they first set out from the cost of Hirajorg that a great pillar of steam rose out of the sea ahead of their ships, and a great roar echoed across the water. They knew not what it was, but then another joined in and then a third until the sea was blanketed by fog. After many hours, then the fog turned reddish-orange, and some said they saw fire towards where the pillars of steam had been. If it had not been the end of the world in Hirajorg, it seemed it was here now.
                 After three days of steam, fog, and glimpses of fire, the roaring of the water ended, and all was calm. After another two, the fog was blown away to reveal three great islands where the steam had once shot from. Upon these islands was no vegetation, but dark soil like they had seen at the foot of their mountains, and great mounds at the center of each isle. They sent men to survey the islands and found that at the center of these isles were pools of fire, yet the soil was rich indeed. So they decided to settle there, though kept the ships close at hand.
                 Then there was the matter of the sailors. Captain Kroel led them as they announced that most of them would not be returning to Hirajorg or the empire. They had come to respect the madorns and knew that they had no wish to become slaves of the empire. Therefore, they asked permission of their elders and Ijorg the Valiant—who was now called such after the storm and the battle—so that they might become one people with the madorns. The elders said that no law or ban would be passed among the madorns to keep the sailors from their people, and that they would be treated to the best of their ability just as their own. The sailors who did not wish to stay were allowed the smallest ship and enough supplies to make it back to Hirajorg. The sailors who did stay, more often than not, would marry into the families of the madorns and their children would eventually become indistinguishable from others apart from some having blond hair and being somewhat shorter.
                 Of the marriages, chief among them was Captain Kroel’s marriage to Belain the Caring. Though the groom was dwarfed by the bride—which was common between humans and madorns—it was a happy occasion. Many cheered for them and were glad in the following years when their children were born. It was the beginning of a happy time on the islands.
                 They would call the islands Urthidun, literally meaning “many home island” when translated into the common tongue, though most would more accurately say it is “home islands.” It was there that they built a new civilization, growing crops and raising livestock. They took the islands’ creation as a sign that this was land appointed to them, and so did not leave even to trade, and kept pirates and brigands from making any lair on their islands. They were happy even in their hardships in those days.
                 Yet five years after they settled, fire came from the mounds upon the islands, and they made for the ships. After three days they returned to find many of their homes and fields destroyed, but they rebuilt. Such would be the cycle for the next three hundred years as fire came from the mounds and made new land upon the waves, eventually making the three islands one.
                It was sometime after that some braved to return to the empire, to trade their excess for goods they needed. It was then they learned that the empire had fallen, destroyed by the Army of Outlaw Kings. The tradesmen brought back this news to Urthidun, they rejoiced and began to openly trade with many, though they never did allow outsiders to come to their island and instead used the isle of Joladun as a trading post.
                 As such, the madorns of Urthidun became famous as one of the only madorn cultures that took to the sea. Some say it is because they had the blood of human sailors, but other say that they had to adopt it. In any case, the location of Urthidun is unknown to any but the madorns native to the island, who are called Urthiads. It has been said to be a bastion of good and a place where there is little woe, yet others assume it is like any other land, only disconnected from the rest of the world. Yet their tale has been said, and their character can be judged from it.