Editing Kulmorost Divided (section)

== Bibliography ==
Various texts from Kulmorost.

=== Dwarvish ===
====Of Human Corsairs====
Excerpt from ''“On Corsairs – A Study of Piracy in the Modern Age”'' written by Zul-Far-Kun, 717 MA.

The book is widely considered alarmist, overly reactionary, and a satirical piece due to an absence of academic language. Nevertheless, it has formed a shared cultural image amongst the Dwarves of the blood thirsty human pirate.

“It is of no question that Men thrive on raiding and piracy. Left without sufficient agriculture and rich neighbors to their south, the race of Men is famous for their exploits of violence and hatred. Nowhere else is this more personified then by the many piratical clans roaming either the western Val Ocean, or the Eastern Straits of Tahalaca.

“Festooned in iron, steel and whalebone, they reave through settlements great and minor in search of bodies, wealth, and blood sport. These activities are always carried out with the primary, almost myopic intent, of causing fear.

“Some pirates conduct themselves in complete silence, leaving only the sounds of their swords and spears cutting through sinew to carry their message. Others, often from further north, ingest psychedelic substances and chant in garbled tongues while enraptured in combat and slaughter. Different ships, different clans, different methodologies, but almost always with the same result – death and carrion.

“Woe to those who hire such creatures to do their bidding. Many a foolish Elven prince, or princess, have found themselves cornered within their own palaces, cowering in fear, as the Men they hired turn on their former masters for the smallest slight, or perceived breach of contract, or betrayal. Seemingly fickle, but in truth constant, these pirates value one form of currency above all others: blood.” 

====A Scholarly Dwarven Treatise on the Kobold====
"The Kobolds are a particularly prolific Beastmen race that have managed to spread across the Eastern Coats, (especially the swamps) in large numbers.

They speak an incomprehensible garbled babbling language and don't have the vocal cords or intelligence necessary to pronounce any more than the most basic words of or more advanced languages. Kobolds are extremely energetic, and are very good at expressing themselves through pointing, exagerated body language, and mostly harmless spontaneous magic.

Kobolds stand at one third the average height of a Human, and weigh anywhere from 30-50 pounds. To get an idea of what a Kobold looks like, imagine if someone took a small puppy, a tomcat, a salamander, and a rabbit, combined them all into an unnatural abomination, made the abomination anthropomorphic, made it look endearingly adorable, and gave it all the intelligence of the sun sum of its parts, along with a difficult to control but extremely powerful magical potential, and a burning lust for valuable obejects.

That is a Kobold, and many wise scholars theorize that in ancient times a particularly twisted Goblin did just that. Kobolds live for only a decade, a decade and a half at most, and reproduce absurdly quickly, by both laying eggs, and giving birth to live young annually. Many scholars have puzzled over this biological impossibility, the humble author theorizes that egg layers and birth givers are simply two nearly identical subspecies that live with one another, but the truth may never be known. A breeding pair of Kobolds can produce well over 200 within five decades, it is for this reason Kobold nests are destroyed whenever found.

Alone, Kobolds are cowardly and flee from danger, but in large numbers, they become fearless, and use swarm tactics in battle. Kobold hordes are a minor danger, but are a pressing one nontheless.

Kobolds are reknown for their impressive arcane abilities. Fortunately, only 1 in 50 Kobolds is capable of using magic, these gifted Kobolds lead their society. Kobold mages are incapable of subtlety and precision, instead, they recklessly, (and often self-destructively) wield extremely powerful lightning, wind, water, and fire magic, capable of destroying entire small armies on their own.

Fortunately, Kobold mages are very predictable, and a skilled practitioner of the arcane arts can easily counter even the strongest Kobold mages, though large groups may prove to be overwhelming, and they often distract mages from the hordes of nonmagical Kobolds.

Kobolds are carnivorous, and are able and more than willing to consume and subsist off of anything even vaguely meat-like. They can consume bones as well, and many Kobolds find enchanted bones to be extremely delectable. It is for this reason, their extremely low intelligence, prodigious birthrate, and their vandalising, kleptomaniacal tendencies, that Kobolds are regarded as pests by most civilized peoples, and are to be destroyed if this world is to reach perfection in the eyes of Our Maker."

- Urist Woodgut, Year 453 Of Our Maker.

====THE BASIS OF THE CULT OF THE MAKER'S THEOLOGY====
The universe is made up of three substances :
#The Essence of the Architect, his Realm, the "soul" of the Maker and the souls of the dwarves.
#The Higher Substance, the substance of the higher region of the world and of the "body" of the Maker.
#The Lower Substance, the substance of the lower region of the world and the souls of the non-dwarves.

These substances are perfectly separated with the exception of the Maker (Essence in the Higher Region of the World) and the souls of the Dwarves.(Essence in the Lower Region in the World)
But the Maker and the Dwarves will ascend to the Realm of the Architect when their task will be done, establishing a true total separation.

Beings have an essence and a hypostasis (personhood)
The Architect, Maker and Dwarves share the same essence, but are different persons even if they will be in perfect communion in the Realm of the Architect.
Non-dwarves have the same essence (the lower substance), and are all different persons.
There is an hypothetical category of beings who exist in the upper region of the world and have its essence.

The existence of Evil and the flaws in the world are caused by its imperfection as the world is not wholly finished until the dwarves have completed their task.
The Dwarves thus believe they are progressing towards the completion of the world by developing their civilization, quite litteraly thinking they are the final touch in the creation process.
They believe they are always going in the right direction in the long term because they are guided by the Maker but they don't reject responsability and the possibility of decadence in the short and mid time.
The elimination of the imperfection of the world is seen as a spiritual process completly unrelated to magic whose effects on the world are not gradual : the world will become perfect and the dwarves will ascend in a single and sudden event caused by the dwarves's efforts.

====Of Different Human Tribes====
Excerpt from, ''“On the different tribes of Men.”'' (Dra-Bul-Naz, 818 ME)
Published by the University of Valkenburg Print Press.

"Of all of the erroneous assumptions made in anthropology in the last 300 years, none has been more pervasive than the conceptualization of humanity as a single ethnic race. This could not be farther than the truth. In human tribes, there exist four distinct elements: economic, political, ethnic, and religious. Different tribes subscribe to different mixes of these elements, sometimes tolerating multiply ideologies at once.

"It is a theory of the author that Humanity as it exists now did not prior to the expulsion of men from the south. If anything, what little archaeological progress has been made in recent decades has revealed that different Mannish civilizations expressed wildly different architectures, scripts, art, and cultures. Indeed, a convergence only appears towards the beginning their exodus north.

"It is with the above in mind that one must understand that a common Mannish tongue, an amalgamation of seemingly incongruent linguistic features, has not (and will not truly exist). Linguistic differences, although seemingly split amongst ethnic lines, are the primary divider of tribes. Although some level of mutual intelligibility does exist, more often there would be difficulty in communications between two humans born on different coasts of the Northern Wastes.

"Consider the Valkgarians: a centralized tribe eking out an existence on what little green coast of the Northern Wastes there is remaining. Medium to tall of stature, with a wide variety of hair color, and with a gambit of eye colors; this tribe speaks a dialect of Mannish that does not posses grammatical cases. Nor does it have tonality. Intonal, with little inflection, their tongue relies heavily on auxiliary verbs and word order to convey meaning.

"Contrast the Vends people, possessing the same stature and similar hair to the Valkgarians, but with primarily darker eye colors and hair. Their tongue has six-to-seven cases and features complex consonant clusters.

"Theoretically, if you sat down a Vend and a Valkgarian, the two would be able to understand a word or there, but would otherwise have trouble maintaining a conversation.

"Linguistic drift is not a uniquely human phenomenon. Mankind, however, exhibits this tendency alarmingly often – more so than any other peoples."

====Hunted====
He had seen them, no doubt of it. They were still on his tracks.

Months ago the group left home with all the honors the Kingdom could give. A ceremony was held to receive the Overking's blessings, even. The last thing they saw was a cheering crowd of their family, friends and fellow countrymen, waving them goodbye into uncertainty. They knew it was going to be dangerous, and fear slowly turned to excitement at the prospect of going so far beyond any civilized lands. Without heavy support from a certain Senator the ordeal would have been inconceivable, fame and greatness wouldn't be theirs, and many lives would have been spared.

Still in the planning phase, through the many connections he'd built over the years, word came to Rut of GRON about the plans to explore the Northern Wastelands. After so many years of idleness and yearning for his days of adventuring, the sudden call to action seemed like a well-deserved rest from crowded urban life. He was gladly taken in. It was set: 40 brave dwarves would challenge the Northern Wastelands, land of the Haumics, to find their fortunes and glory for their land.

He kept running. They weren't far. He could practically smell the stench and see the horrid crude animal skins, taste the bitter metal with awful vividness. The only thing he couldn't perceive was their sound. The land was on their favor. The snow muffled their steps and the chilly wind whipped the little vigor out of the dwarf's body.

There was a higher aim for the expedition, as the Senator eagerly told them. If the information in the map was accurate and the soil in that frozen hell really hid that many mineral riches, then the Kingdom would have to put a foothold in the Wastelands. The land could be healed, he said, purged from the oblivious devils that had so far been its only inhabitants. By taming one more bit of wilderness, the world would creep towards perfection, and Dwarfkind a bit closer to fulfilling their holy task.

That was the thought of the naive Senator, who was deeply religious and idealistic to a fault. He went as far as trusting the Traders of the Mist and their strange treasures with the lives of 40 good dwarves, sent into a suicide mission for the slim chance of success in the name of a distant greater good. So deep were his faith and anxiety to see the world shaped by dwarven hands.

Rut took a moment to remember how very far away he was from home. His body screamed for rest, and his mind was already giving up. It had been stupid to go.

This had been a 3-day chase. His arm was wounded. It was frozen and lifeless, but at least no longer bled. Equally, he missed seeing blood. He yearned for color.

Their silent march continued; snowflakes fluttered and danced all around him, cold as iron, white as death, as they pricked his face and sucked the warmth off his body. The indistinguishable landscape after him went on and on - could it be endless?

Deep down, he knew it was a pointless struggle, one last attempt to preserve his pride, feigned bravery before his legs inevitably lost their strength and the snow swallowed him alive. Realistically, he could not flee. He didn't even know if there was any place to flee to. If nothing else, it could be worthwhile to keep it up to spite the bloodthirsty bastards. Or so he told himself, as his muscles threatened to snap and his face twisted into a grimace of pain.

If he was not so tired, he would weep for his companions. Nobody deserves that end. These particular humans had a terrifying hunger for magical flesh, and Rut guessed at least 39 of the 40 brave dwarves would be used to sate it. Not long ago they had caught the only other survivor who'd kept up with him nearly this far. Rut heard him screaming and bawling like a baby, until it suddenly stopped.

Sooner or later, the tall wights of the North, the dreadful iron revenants, they would find him. Then the ugly iron masks would come off, and he would have no rest.

====Note from Goblinoid Trader====
Not even the proud Lesian race dares set foot on their neighboring island, the "Everliving Isle", while trading with the Lesians as an envoy the Goblinoid city VRON l was sent to acquire items from the Lesians homeland, items others may see as.... distasteful. After giving the Lesians the goods we had agreed on (mostly small amounts of silver and a small collection of outdated Dwarven texts on the races of Kulmorost) and loading my goods in kind, l inquired about the so called "Isle of the Everliving". The Lesians eyed each other and reverted back to their lower tongue speaking among themselves for a time. then l got my answer. ''"do not land on isle, long-ear. nothing of worth, queen takes men minds, brings the dead. better left be"''

Perhaps the Lesians are simply superstitious, l will put forward that we should mount an expedition once l return to the VRON mages, there we may find some help to our ongoing experiments.

====Of Necromancy====
Excerpt from Dwarven ''"Val-Embor Brumgaurd's fun with magic volume 3"''

"Although some may tell you the act of reanimating the dead is an impossible task, in my own studies l have proved otherwise, although l'll tell you necromancy, while possible is somewhat impractical as the amount of magical energy one must use to keep a deceased body animated much outweighs the usefulness of the dead body. Such foolish proposals of an "army of the dead" is utter nonsense.

all of my experiments are conducted on (mostly) healthy human males captured during a raid on Dwarvish settlements in the northern mountains as well as a few recently dead human corpses 

One of my first experiments was whether one could force the soul of recently deceased man back into his body, though the humans resisted interrogation of other Dwarven mages while alive l thought l might be able to gain some insight after bringing them back. l resolved that the sooner l could bring back the spirit to the body the better my chances of success would be, after suffocating one of the human males in a contraption of my own design, l complete the rituals making a number of animal sacrifices and life essence transferals l was successful in my endeavor, the humans eyes started moving about once more as life returned to the body, though the eyes still looked like that of a dead man l was assured he could see as l waved my hand in front of his face. After the humans initial response of great confusion and discomfort l decided to start the questioning. l was unsuccessful in my efforts of exacting information, l told the human if he answered my questions l would return him to the dead, instead of acting reasonable he instead decided to scream in what could be described perhaps as "spiritual agony" cursing my race and my family before fading back into death after a number of hours. this is not much more than l should have expected from these barbarians "

"in my second series of tests l found that returning the body of the recently dead to life was the easy part, getting the dead to perform intricate tasks was the tricky part. One way l found was by carving instructive runes into the sternum of the dead, either descriptive of a specific task like "protect this one from danger" or a much broader one like "follow instruction"

using these runes on two different bodies l had one with "protect this one from danger" and the name of my then assistant Bal-goran Runemar and then gave instruction to the other once dead man to kill him. the instruction given to the second was successful, perhaps too successful, although the dead seem to increase in strength they lack all skill in their fighting, preferring to randomly tear at the flesh and disembowel the target as opposed to ending their life quickly and mercifully, as Bal-goran found out first hand when the second dead broke through the defenses of the first, completing its given task. My assistants untimely death, though saddening had provided me with another body to experiment on (perfectly legal as he had signed his bodily rights to me for experiment purposes long before his death). using the method described in the previous log l brought back my assistant and asked him of the events that had transpired, he described it as being "quite unfortunate" and "less than ideal" before mirroring that which l described in my first experiment, a kind of "spiritual agony" before fading back to the other side while sobbing and crying out for his mother 

"continuing with my task l invited my other less experienced second assistant (whom l thought wouldn't be needed for these experiments) into the workshop to help with my work. As one could expect he looked somewhat concerned with the current state of my workshop, a number of animal carcasses now littered the workshop floor along with the still twitching bodies of dead and then for a short time not quite as dead human specimens, oh and one cannot forget the disembowel corpse of my deceased first assistant, but l digress. My now first assistant saying nothing of the horrors (or his very recent promotion to my first assistant), was happy enough to help out with further experiments. 

The third and final trial may have been the most successful albeit the most mentally and physically taxing of the three. This time combining parts of previous experiments, l sacrificed the lives and essence of a few beasts, carved runes into the deceased l wished to bring back and then most importantly l gave some of my own life energy to the body, in short binding my own will to that of the dead. l used only small amount as not to dramatically reduce my own lifespan, l calculated l could give the body around 5 hours of animation with all of these processes combined. SUCCESS!! lthe body rose this time, without screaming nor showing any signs of incredible stress. After questioning how the body about recent human activities he was quite cooperative, telling me all that l wanted to know and speaking only when told to. After a time l decided to perform a few simple tasks, l had him collect some of the entrails and generally rearrange a few things in the workshop. After this l decided to take him and my now first assistant for a celebratory drink at the local tavern and let me tell you people at first were quite alarmed to see an undead human wobbling around the streets, but they became calm after l showed them he was entirely bent to my will by having him..."

"Dance to my assistants wonderful flute musings, garnering a few stares and many, many laughs from onlooking Dwarfs. After arriving at the pub my assistant and l partook in some of the finest wines and spoke to some fine Dwarven maidens, though l must admit we lost track of the time and soon enough the spell had worn off. we were alerted to this when the undead man started screaming and clawing at his eyes in a most uncivilized manner before slumping to the floor. We had the owner of the fine establishment keep the body in one of the backrooms ensuring him we would be back for the body the next day when sober and rewarded him a gold coin for his troubles. 

In all regards l wholeheartedly enjoyed my time with necromancy and will return to the subject every once in a while when l think of more experiments. As l stated in the beginning of this chapter necromancy is entirely possible, but somewhat impractical, one would need an almost unlimited about of life essence to keep even a single undead bound to his will for an extended amount of time, making notions of an "undead army" quite impracticable. 

The incarnations, spells, runes and other misc items l used for these experiments as well as diagrams can be found on the next page. Always be careful around humans, alive or dead. Have fun and stay safe!!" - (Val-Embor Brumgaurd's fun with magic volume 3)

=== Human ===
====Grante Raley & The Forsaken Isle====
The Forsaken Isle gained it's name largely from the well-known explorer Grante Raley, an ancient human from the times in which they had true holdings.
In the year of the Swallow of the fifteenth Cycle, he set off to plunder the Tomb of the Forsaken Isle -now commonly known as Tomb Island- but was caught in a storm and found himself on the Eastern Continent. Believing himself to be on the Forsaken Isle he searched his surrounds for the Tomb but merely came up with previously undiscovered plants and animals as well as a near-death experience with one of the native tribes.
Electing to return to charted waters and make a second attempt at a later date, he set of West again and made landfall on the original Forsaken Isle, where he was loudly ridiculed by the native Dwarves upon retelling of his travels.

The story continues as a joke against the humans but also their tenacity and stubborness as Grante and his crew was the first to make the journey to the eastern continent and without even the aid of an arcane sailing vessel. These days only the rare vessel with a whalebone keel dare to make the journey.
Thus he endures as both the butt of a joke and a folk hero. 

====Whispered from father to son====
Legend says that there is a small settlement even beyond these wastes where the storms are strongest. In this settlement no magic at all exists, it is said that they are some of our ancestors who were alive when we were prominent in the south. My grandfather told me that one day they will come and gather us all, all of us humans, we who are hunted, used as slaves, sport, or cattle. they will come, and when they do we will rise.

For they have a gift, they are the ones who can destroy magic, they are the old ones. My grand father told me, that they were searching for a way to have us all gain their gift. So wait my child, soon one day, we will strip the knife ears of their pride in magic, demolish the ancient cites of the dwarves and annihilate the other beasts that have forced us to live this way. so wait my child, wait and grow strong. For soon the bloodied shall come. I only hope I can live to see that day!

====Tale of Valnar====
Who could be the One to Unify the Humans? You must be talking about Valnar Iceborn of the Long Walkers. Unknown to all but the tribes in the north, he was born during the night of the coldest winter. He grew up to be a stronger man and lateral became leader of his tribe. Inspired by the stories of old, told by the tribes tellers he started uniting the other tribes. However after having a few tribes join him, he got injured in a duel with another chieftain. The injury got infected and he died shortly after 

====Tale of Inïpat ====
Valnar ?! No, no, no, no....you must be talking about Inïpat Amanur, born from the union of an artic woman and a polar bear spirit.
Some people say he is over nine foots tall, his skin looks like silver and is as hard as steel.
He can swim in the air as in water, he is so strong he killed a bear unarmed.
He could jump from the arctics to the lands of the monsters, his feet are invisible and he is not only half spirit but also two third god.
If he is killed, then he can force himself to be alive again through sheer force of anger.
His punches are so strong that his enemies die even when he miss them.
He also has two heads : one explains to his soldiers how to be strong, and the other how to defeat the monsters of the south.
Animals serve him and all women fall in love him when they see him. 

====Enchanted Arms and Armour of the human Species====
Its said that the one thing all the races of Kulmorost would agree upon is that nothing quite fits in the hand of a human quite like a well forged sword. Its not surprising then that even with the humans limited abilities in the magical disciplines that they would attempt to imbue their primitive killing tools with what magic they could.

One thing common of both early and later stage Human weapons is the use of human bone in place of wood for the handle, which was then wrapped in some kind of leather or rope. the carvings on the handle itself seems to act as some kind of a magic bonding rune, binding the weapon to either those of a specific bloodline (in early examples) or to the human race itself. In essence prohibiting ones enemy from gaining any benefit (however slight) from using the weapon.

In most cases the magic was relatively small changes to how the weapon handled in a humans hands, early examples are said to simply make the sword lighter in those who are able to use it. Later examples became increasingly intricate, including inscriptions in silver embedded on the length of the blade, giving one much more substantial protection against magic attacks and magical attempts at disarming. Its said that after extended battles the silver inscriptions on these weapons glow a faint, dull red.

Even at the height of human metal-working these swords were rare, making the value of these weapons among skilled human warriors priceless 

====Of The Eye Of Storm Ocean====
"Few dare to enter the depths of the Storm Ocean, as the creature called by many '''The Eye Of Storm Ocean''' resides there, usually undisturbed. Hell awaits the victims of its disturbed nature, however, as the beast will not rest until its victims are either dead or not within its attacking radius. The beast is described as enormous, having many barnacles on its many tentacles, with a colossal one-eyed tentacle at the centre of its body. This is merely what can be seen above the cold waters - for undiscovered biology remains below. The creature's greatest strength (and form of attacking) appears to not be physical, despite its size, rather it is its ability to sacrifice the many barnacles on its body to generate magic of great power almost immediately. I do not believe I have ever heard of a creature with such control over sorcery, and I'm not sure I'll live to ever see it myself. These waters are hard on our mere wooden boat, but we will think of a way. Hopefully we don't learn more about 'The Eye Of Storm Ocean' through physical examples."

- Diary entry from a diary on a shipwrecked Human-controlled ship, unknown author (presumably dead)

====Of Lemons and Wings====
Uncle had spoken to father first when he arrived back and then to us both, he spoke about bloodlines, the time before the Exodus, our ancestors, how Lucius Latrosia became the lord of our house while his father held the hills in the south. How the had built the walls we live behind while the other Great lords fled further and further north, things l'd known since birth.

Then he spoke of where he had been, about how he had brokered a trade between himself and a hill troll he was on good terms with months ago. "The deal was simple enough. l would receive the sword he had found on his land and in return he wanted a cloak like mine, a red one to impress a female troll, oh and one of those woolly rhinos to munch on" he laughs and goes on to explained how he had traveled to frostfrontier, spending a great deal of silver to have a huge cloak woven from rhino wool. And then onto the pirate lords

The pirates wouldn't be so easily bartered with, They'd demand a high price for the expensive dye and the lemon trees that grow behind our walls are an important commodity to our great neighbors. "They wanted half of our lemon harvest for a year, l got them to a quarter. A good a deal as we'd get from those bastards most likely" 

He spoke of the arrangement's he'd made in the north and that l am to go with him in two weeks time to the Cathedral. "it was time l learned to be Valkyrie" he told me "our blood is as important now as ever" 

So l leave my home on the neck soon enough, the comfort of my family and our fort. 

But l am blood of Latrosia, and l would be a winged knight of Valkyrie soon enough

Journal entry - Magnus A. Latrosia IV, age 15

It has been some time since my last entry, the journey was long and arduous and its only now l feel l should write once more

We passed through the winding gates up to the Cathedral. Seven gates l counted, though it may have been more. Steel and stone is what greeted us and l miss the sweet smelling trees of my family home now more than ever. We were welcomed inside the great hall by one of the elder members. We spoke for a time of the journey, the current state of the land and the elder asked if my Uncles mission was successful, this is when l was ushered to my sleeping quarters. 

It was 3 weeks later when l saw my uncle next, he had been on "important business" he said. He asked how it had been for me this past month, l told him the truth "Its cold here, the men even colder, l'm sick of carrying wood through those damn gates.... But l am well fed and my training in the sword is going well" he seemed glad to hear it. After a small meal and a pint of mead my uncle told me to follow close and to keep quiet. He lead me to a part of the cathedral l had never stepped foot in, the room was small and dark, books and scrolls littered the shelves, a whetstone and two bowls sat on the floor and next to them two prisoners lay on the floor, hands in chains, mouths filled with rope. l could tell what they were, one an Elf, the other a Dwarf. By the look of there close l concluded they had been traders, captured by pirates no doubt, l would learn soon enough why they had been bought to our most sacred of temples

The Elder that had welcomed me here entered soon after l had and l recognized the sword he was carrying was the same my uncle had bartered for with the troll. "Prepare the ritual" the Elder said to Uncle, gesturing towards the prisoners. Uncle drew his knife, making a slit on both the prisoners arms and collecting the blood in one of the bowls. "Hold out your sword hand boy" uncle commanded. he sliced my palm before

Collecting my blood in the same bowl. 

The Elder drew the blade, inspecting it for a moment before sitting down by the whetstone. l could barely see the blade in the dark room, it was covered in dirt and what must have been centuries old blood. 

The Elder wet the blade with the collected blood and honed it on the stone. It was only minutes later that the blade was as new. The inscriptions etched to the blade gleamed in the lamps dull glow. The Elder cleaned the sword and beckoned to me, handing me the blade. The blade felt strange to me, it was warm in my hand, familiar, almost comforting, like holding mothers hand as a boy. The Elder and my Uncle shared a look and then pointed me toward to the prisoners. 

l took the Dwarfs head first, then the elves as the runes on the sword began to glow a dull orange, my heartbeat grew heavy in my ears and the world slowed to a crawl. After some time the Elder took the blade from me and sheathed it, l have not seen it since.

The sword calls to me now and l long to have it back.

l am blood of Latrosia and l shall be a knight of Valkyrie soon enough

Journal Entry - Magnus A. Latrosia IV, age 16


====Trading in the Northern Wastes====
Journal of Korneus of Grimbridge, trader sentenced to death for weapon smuggling in Toren

" ...Trading in the Northen parts of the Haumic Lands truly is horrific, no inns like in Frostfrontier, none of that sweet lemonade from the famous keep and no security like back home. Can someone explain to me why are their people in such cold and dangerous lands? Going from Frostfrontier to Tempest Edge by land route is so incredibly hard! I did it to avoid the pirates, but the polar bear, feral rhinos, crazed centaurs bands and the old school bandits are far from being better! I even saw dire wolves and some snow lions! Snow lions and dire wolves! Those things were supposed to be mythical! Like the Frost maidens of the city of bones.

I have got a cart filled with things: Rhino wool as well as sheep wool, several flasks of lemon liquor, Elder tree branches and some ingots of the finest steel Captain Lucio could steal from the Frostfrontier Trading company. Tomorrow. I will sneak in Toren and see if I can find someone willing to sell to a stranger, if everything goes well I will be able to marry Celestina in the Spring and I will have enough silver to not have to travel until she is with child."

=== Elvish ===
====Of A Treatise on the Fairer Sexes of each of the Civilized Races of Kulmorost==== 
written by yours truly, Terk Syrnal, humble elfen bard and womaniser extraordinaire.

"Elven women are generally thin, lithe, small chested, and their faces have a sort of strange, exotic beauty about them. Their pointed ears are long, almost like a short knife, flexible, sensitive, and soft like velvet. The author is somewhat biased, but he believes that Elf women are among Kulmorost's most skilled in sensuous matters.

The whiter ones are delightful, sultry farmer's daughters types, and are typically naive and curious about the world beyond their family homestead. They're quite modest and shy, but once intoxicated can become quite brazen and playful.

The browner ones have a much more fiery, tempermental, and energetic personality, somewhat fittingly, given their desert home. They're less inhibited than their northern cousins, and are generally more susceptible to the advances of foriegners.

The author had the utmost difficulty in locating, let alone seducing a Drow, but the author is quite persistent and experienced in his craft, and after much trial and effort, was able to succeed.

The drow tend to be extremely quiet around foriegners, are overly rational and calm, showing very little outward emotion. Almost invariably, drow women have a sort of nervous shyness around men they find attractive, and will loudly voice their disdain if one attempts to call them out on it. 

Despite what common sense dictates, it is folly to attempt to outright seduce a drow woman, as they become very defensive and close themselves off, causing their would-be lover to lose their opportunity."

"Rather, if one is attempting to seduce a drow woman, the would-be seducer must ingratiate himself into a drow tribe. which is a challenge in and of itself. He must then openly demonstrate some sort of skill uncommon among the drow, such as lightning magic or in the author's case, skillfully playing a lute. Demonstrating a skill is of the utmost importance, as drow women prize capability in their mates above all else. The would-be seducer must then politely ignore the drow women, whilst continuing to demonstrate their skill.

If he stays the course, the seducer will incite lust among a few of the Tribe's younger, unmarried drow. He musn't speak to them, or show even the slightest sign of interest, or they will lose interest, as the seducer must seem to be unattainable to retain interest.

When a few months have passed, one of the drow women will ask the would-be seducer to demonstrate their skill to them personally. It is then that the would-be must seduce their quarry. He must do so subtly, and somewhat patronizingly, as if she isn't worth his time, and if done correctly, the drow will slowly but surely become enflamed with lust. The would-be seducer must not make the first move, but he must then begin to show slight interest.

If the would-be seducer has done everything correctly, the drow will begin to flirt herself, and it is then that the Drow and would-be seducer enter in a battle of words, and the would-be seducer must begin slowly and, above all, subtly escalate the innuendo in his attempts at seduction, until the drow is practically dripping with barely disguised lust.

It is then, that the would-be seducer makes the first move, something innocuous, like putting a hand on her shoulder, or on her knee. If the would-be seducer has done everything correctly, the drow will initiate intercourse, and it will have been by far worth the wait."

"When the deed is done, the successful seducer must remain in the Tribe for some time, to leave suddenly would incite suspicion, and possibly scalping. He must wait, spending each night with his lover, until at least one month has passed. He must then wait until nightfall comes, spend a final night with his lover, and when she has fallen asleep, leave in the dead of night as stealthily as possible.

With luck, the Tribe won't realise what happened and hunt the seducer down, and the seducer will get off scot-free. Usually, when three months have passed, the stomach of the seducer's former lover will begin to dwell and the Tribe will catch on, but by then it's much too late to do anything about it.
Dwarven women are short, thick, soft, and curvaceous. Regardless of what popular rumor may claim, they do not have excessive body hair, and are not, for the most part, racist prudes or drunken harlots. When one is attempting to seduce a Dwarven woman, he must be careful to ensure that she is unmarried, and impious, else one's efforts are doomed to failure.

Good food and plenty of it, is the key to a Dwarf woman's heart and bosom. One must be blunt with their intentions and clear that they don't intend to settle down in a lasting relationship, (unless one is a Dwarf himself, in which case the opposite is true,) and odds are, she'll be receptive to one's advances.

Orcish women are large, and possess a strange sort of rugged beauty, with a form both muscular and feminine, and supple, glistening green skin. They are extremely blunt about their intentions and feelings, and if one is blunt and attractive themselves, they'll most certainly succeed in their endeavor."

"Human women are stubborn, hateful, and nigh impossible to bring to heel if one is not a Human themselves. As for appearances, they vary tremendously, and run the gamut of thick and thin, but almost all have an enticing sort of inner fire. Regretfully, the author was unable to seduce a Human woman, and as the author is an elf of honor and scruples, he was unwilling to force a Human woman to copulate, as much as both parties might've enjoyed it.

The author hopes this Treatise was informative to the reader, and will aid him in his own efforts."

''Historians note:'' Terk Syrnal disappeared shortly after publishing this Treatise and a dagger of unknown make, possibly drowish or orcish, was found on his pillow.

====About the Lesians==== 
The Lesians?

The crude semi-intelligent lizards from the island over the canal? Hah! Do not dare to label them as one of the Mighty Magical Races!
They chirp to each other like birds, a brutish language lacking the sophistication of our elven language or the systematic focus of the dwarvish script. I am not even sure can they write at all.
I have understood that they have recently began to imitate human speech and the humans have been sufficiently bluffed that they actually believe to be talking with them! Rest assured, imitating human speech is simple feat that even elven children could do if we would be so cruel to allow one to experience that horrible babbling.
Their religion is a travesty, a pale copy of the dwarven mythos without deeper understanding of the world around them.
As such, the Lesians are fully without a Society, merely interest to us because of their predatory nature and great numbers, which were sadly left unchecked for too long. Alas if the other Princes had listened to my grandfather, who campaigned for their culling in his youth!

Even the Lesians only militaristic achievement, the defeat of the Blood Orcs, can be easily explained by the numbers of the Lesians, their characteristic disregard of their own casualties and the utter ignorance of military tactics of the Blood Orcs, who cared much more about gory kills than winning.

In conclusion, the annoying Lesian raids are no match for the combined might of the Elven Principalities and our staunch dwarven allies!

-Cinnar, Prince of the coastal realm of Kinost, 2 years before the Invasion.

====Notes of Amanur, the Troll Headhunter====
(The notes are popular among mercenaries)

We gather in city of MUN that sits on the edge of troll land, in group of fifteen mercenaries, enough to kill a troll without problem yet small enough to go unnoticed. After preparing everything: food, weapons, traps and rope strong enough to pull the body.

We leave at the sunrise and venture into land of those beasts, this land is completely uncivilized, almost no agriculture, no roads or bridges. What is there are those towers stupid beasts build, they are seen from far away for us before troll inside will see us. That's when we stop and put up our camp and prepare to night when we strike.

When sun falls we leave two guys at camp while everyone else moves toward the tower. We break at enough groups to enclose them from all sides and overwhelm beasts from range, magic, bows, everything works as long as you don't get in close. That not always so smooth as trolls are stubborn and refuse to die quickly, running wildly into us....The death of one or two are no problem, we still can carry their bodies, but if more than half dies we bury bodies in our camps.

We don't stay for night to sleep at camp, we tie our price and go back to city as fast as we can, staying more than one day in this land rises danger tremendously, most groups return on second day, those who go deeper into enemy land return on third day, rarely any groups who left after three days ever returns.

The pay is very hefty, better than working on fields, that's for sure. Bounties on Night trolls started to pop up recently and every body has price five times higher than Hill one!

====The Tragedy of Lilith====
Lilith Armeni Liliac, the Seductress, Traitormaker and Witch-Whore of south (all these titles only know to a humans), a woman who caused Carnage of Cain.
Lilith was a quite unimportant princess of very small duchy near northern borders on South, she and her cousin seeker a glory and fame for their duchy in Human Exodus war. They both devised a very Machiavellian plan: they in secret maked several human kingdoms unite against invasions, while several of them was traitors. In plan, they will betray their kin, cousin will win battle against separated forces and capture traitors to keep them as gelded pets in gilded cage.
But every plans goes awry: Lilith cousin was accidentally killed by a single stray arrow right at beginning of battle. In the end, all credit was taken by his second-in-command, a petty noble with no lands, Bre Guile (to this day, House Guile one of most powerful families of South, they name revered for tactical genius and bravery), human traitors was killed and role of Lilith was mostly unknown for Elves, but not for Humans.
Her name is still reviled by humans and to this day, Elves is still heavily associated with her.

As for Elven history? Well, she was nothing but mere footnote - she was only known only as princess of duchy who was quietly assimilated after her death, she attended several very decadent patries and, in the end, was permanently was enchanted as statue in colonnade for "having too deviant tastes" by very powerful wizard for his own brothel. These brothel is still there and very famous these days, indulging almost every sin and fetish possible.
Such life in Elven Principalitites!

====An Encounter Between The Eye Of Storm Ocean and Three Sky Whales==== 
''The following was written by a Elven fisherman, who wishes to remain anonymous:''

I am not one to recount events of my life onto paper, but I am willing to make an exemption. Merely 30 minutes ago, we were in Storm Ocean on a trip to deliver cargo and for a little bit of fishing on the side. They always say, Storm Ocean's fish taste better than any other, and I cannot disagree. Nevertheless, we were fishing in Storm Ocean, and we saw the Eye in the distance. It was looking away from us, but we were all still on edge. As we started at the beast, something uncanny occurred: three Sky Whales came down from the clouds and struck the Eye directly into its... well, eye. The Eye regained its focus after the attack, and suddenly, almost like a divine intervention, its eye glowed yellow and all of the Sky Whales stopped moving mid-air. They slowly began sinking through the air, unable to move in any other direction but down. They must have realised what was going to happen, as all three seemed to be panicking to a frightening degree. And, sure enough, they were slowly lowered into the water, and held underwater, all three thrashing wildly and bubbles surfacing from their helpless bodies. This went on for minutes, with the Eye never breaking its gaze on its three victims. Eventually, the movements stopped and the bubbles no longer emerged from underwater. Three tentacles, however, did emerge from the water, only to be wrapped around the three carcasses and lowered deep underwater. This event alone was enough for the captain to command the ship to leave Storm Ocean. 

Now, I am aware how ludicrous the following may sound, but I swear on my mother's soul that this really did happen. As we were leaving, the Eye looked at our boat. And then it leered at us, and one of its tentacles moved side-to-side, as if it was waving! I'm hoping to all that is pure that the waving was just a reflex and the leering was because we were leaving its line of sight, but I certainly felt an aura of unpleasantness by just looking at the thing. If what I saw was anything different from reflexes and sight problems, it would explain why it bothered to drown three Sky Whales instead of twisting their spines, which is the most common form of death recorded in relation to the Eye. If it was sending a message, message received. I'll fish in Val Sea from now on, I'm sure the fish taste just as nice.

=== Orcish===
====Of Human Settlements==== 
Excerpt from ''“Anthropology - Know your Enemy Vol.2: Settlements”'' written by Valko Tiamare, circa 300 MA.

A very old series of books written by an orc explorer that used to roam the human lands before orcs were seen as enemies of humanity like elves and dwarves are. The books are a well respected source on human behaviour and culture.

“Humans live in all kinds settlements in the Northen wastes. Settlements of all sizes above the ground some permanent and others seasonal some humans live in small underground settlements. That said, ironically, their biggest city lies within a massive cave system with sea access on one of the coasts near their southern border. From what I have heard, there is only two official ways to enter and one of them being a cave that gives access the city's harbour. I didn't gain access to it but the city seems to have within it's limits a great market and a great forge.”

“...once your men start falling to traps, you will know that you are near a underground human settlement, locals seem to know the placement of all the traps, while travellers usually will blow their goat horns when they feel they are near a settlement to ask to be escorted inside. No one enters an underground settlement without being invited in.”

“Palisade walls protect even the smallest permanent settlements above the ground, all permanent settlements have guards on standby ready to rain arrows on all approaching threats. Always approach with extreme caution.”

====The Beginning to the extinction of Laffu====
The Laffu were used to surprised attacks from the other local Orc tribes, but this was not a local Orc tribe

The Children moved silently in the night, their footsteps made no sound on the sand. They came naked, armed with spears pulled from the earth, their dark skin making them all but invisible in the black of the wastes. They approached the walls of the Laffu unseen and unheard, moving the earth under the walls to gain entry to the fort. By the time the night watch had figured out what was happening, most of the Orcs lay dead with a spear through the heart, or their throat slit in their bed. Only one of the black Children died in the fight, his throat pierced by a thrown Orcish spear. His blood gushed from his wound, bursting into deep red flame, he fell to his knees before crumpling into ash. The orcs that saw this lost all want to fight, they were finished off cleanly.

In less than an hour the hold by the sea had been emptied. More than 60 orcish men, woman and children lay dead to a force of only 15

They would not sleep nor eat tonight, they would not morn their dead. They moved back into the dark as silently as they had come, vanishing into the black