[Age of Giants] The Fall of Castle Hammerfire

[Havard]

(Fire Giant King Sketch, by Jim Nelson)

INTRODUCTION
A milennia ago, another fortress lay where Blackmoor Castle stands today. Although much less formidable than the current castle, the same cannot be said for its inhabitants. The king of Hammerfire and his kinsmen were Giants. Their ancestors had driven the Dragons out of the North and assumed control of the region. The ruling class were Fire Giants, but other Giants had also been subjugated by Hammerfire. Their culture was a primitive one and tools were made of wood and stone. Their religion was to the Immortal Zugzul. Master of the Dark Flame.

King Jevarin sat comfortably on his Throne. He had few challengers these days. His ancestral enemies, the Dragons had been driven all the way into the southern mountains. The Elven King remained silent and isolated in his woodland fortess and the other Giant Chieftains were too weak to challenge the King of Hammerfire. The humans in the North of the time were the Valemen of the Swamps and the Peshwah to the south. The Skandaharians had not yet built their Longships. King Jevarin considered humans to be a puny and insignifant race.

This was to be King Jevarin's undoing. For as his mind went through these things, a human from the South entered King Uhlmar's Court. The first human to ever to be recieved in the elven court except for the King's adopted son, Halgred. This young man from the south was named Robert of Genova and he had a mind to change how things worked in the North. The Lands of Blackmoor would not be the same.

WHAT'S THIS?
I'm working to develop a scenario dealing with how the Age of Giants came to an end. The details on the Hammerfire Clan and their fortress on the Blackmoor peninsula comes from Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor (DoCBM). From that book we also learn of the various Era's of Blackmoor's history:

• Thonian Year -3000 Cthonic Age (Sar Aigu)
  
• Thonian Year -1000 Age of Dragons
  
• Thonian Year -500 Age of Giants
  
• Thonian Year 1 Bronze Age: Robert of Geneva conquers the Land. Age of Man
  
• Thonian Year 500: "Iron Age" and the Decline of Elves. Thonian Age. (Blackmoor becomes a Thonian Province)
  
• Thonian Year 800: "Modern Age". Age of Blackmoor. (Mage Wars begin)

The exact dates are assumptions of mine as DoCBM is more vague.

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
I am working to tie in these events with other events and characters that I have worked on from the same period:

• The Age of Bronze - DoCBM
  
• The Murder of Hurghast and Herutu and the Bannishment of Calelrin (Riders of Hak)
  
• Caradegg the Valeman ("The Giantslayer") - My invention. Appears in the LFC and the Vales Campaign.
  
• King Robert of Genova - Canon, various
  
• King Uhlmar, Grandfather of Menander Ithamis - My invention
  
• Halgred Forestwalker, the First Druid - BMPG, extrapolated alot by me.
  
• Battle Between Valemen and Thonians - My take on Arneson's 1969 adventure
  
• First appearance of Sun Brothers in Blackmoor (Sollux) - DA4

Input and comments are welcome!

-Havard

[RobJN]

Where is the "thumbs up" smiley when we need it?

Fantastic stuff, Havard, just what I like: take up the trail of crumbs left by the canon writers and make your own cake!

[Yaztromo]

[finarvyn]

Where is the "thumbs up" smiley when we need it?

[Havard]

Thanks for the kind response gentlemen! I have taken to reading DoCBM in more detail. There is really much more background information in that book than I first realized. I also really like how much of Dave Arneson's work can be gleamed from this book.


I'll elaborate on some of the points:

• The Age of Bronze - DoCBM

This is from DoCBM. I will assume that Thonia at its founding was at the Bronze Age, just like how Rome was in its Bronze Age when it was founded. Bronze technology had probably also reached the humans living in the North at this time; Valemen, Peshwah and Skandaharians. But the Thonians would be generally more advanced, both in terms of technology and military techniques.

[*]The Murder of Hurghast and Herutu and the Banishment of Calelrin (Riders of Hak)

Hurghast and Herutu were the two first heroes of the Peshwah. They are mentioned in Riders of Hak. The traiterous Calelrin engineered their murder, but this probably didnt happen untill around 20 years later. What do you guys think about the Peshwa heroes joining King Robert and King Uhlmar against the Giants? Or is this turning into a Soap Opera?

• Caradegg the Valeman ("The Giantslayer") - My invention. Appears in the LFC and the Vales Campaign.

Okay, this part is just completely non-canonical. For those familiar with my Vales Campaign, Caradegg is the hero who got a town in the Vales named after him (Caradegg's Rest). Note that my original idea is that he did not get the name Giantslayer untill he went to the Vales. At this point, I simply plan on having him be a minor character in the service of King Robert.

• King Robert of Genova - Canon, various

King Robert is Dave Arneson's invention, named after Rob Kuntz. The character appears the first time in the FFC. I'd like to have King Robert be a hero of his own right. I could see him dueling the Fire Giant king on the ruins of Castle Hammerfire.

• King Uhlmar, Grandfather of Menander Ithamis - My invention

A favorite creation of mine, derived from various canon sources, but with my own twists to him. My previous work involves the time 500 years later when Uhlmar is betrayed by the Thonians over the Battle against the Temple of Id. However at this point in history I would like to explain why Uhlmar would trust humans in the first place. Perhaps it was the memory of his friend King Robert that made him blind to the traitors of Thonia 500 years later?

• Halgred Forestwalker, the First Druid - BMPG, extrapolated alot by me.

This character plays an important part in the Vales Campaign. He is the first druid, and the story I have weaved about him is that he learned those ways because he was raised by Uhlmar and the Elves. My idea is also that he could be the one who introduces Robert and Uhlmar to eachother.

• Battle Between Valemen and Thonians - My take on Arneson's 1969 adventure

As I have mentioned elsewhere, my other idea about Halgred is that he would be the same as David Megarry's character in the 1969 game Arneson ran with Romans vs Celts. In this version that translates to Thonians vs. Valemen. Again, this occurs some decades after the Battle of Castle Hammerfire. At this point, relations between Thonians and Valemen is still fine.

• First appearance of Sun Brothers in Blackmoor (Sollux) - DA4

[/list]

DocBM describes how the Fire Giants are followers of Zugzul. Do you think it is reasonable that they also followed him back then? If so, we know from DA4 that the elemental warriors known as Sun Brothers oppose Zugzul. Perhaps this was Zugzul's first attempt to conquer Blackmoor and that the Afridhi invasion was just a result of him being really patient?


-Havard

[Rafael]

I like it! Will comment later.

[Havard]

According to DoCBM, the Age following the Age of Giants (The Bronze Age) is also referred to as the Fall of the Elves. I liked the Fall of the Elves to the war against the Temple of Id (Year 500). This could mean that the War against the Giants would be in the Elven Golden Age?

I wonder how the alliance between Uhlmar the Elf King and King Robert of the Thonians would have come about. Since Uhlmar was betrayed by the Thonians 500 years later, I assume that he eventually came to trust King Robert, making him prone to deception by a later generation of Thonians.

I am thinking that Halgred Forestwalker, the human adopted by Uhlmar as a child was instrumental in bringing Robert and Uhlmar together. Since he had come to trust one human (Halgred), Uhlmar would also have been more likely to trust Robert.

Their shared victory over the Fire Giants would have semented their friendship.


-Havard

[RobJN]

At the risk of derailing into Thorn-isms... Havard, how you describe King Robert and the elven king's relationship has some hefty parallels to a certain Baron and Queen of the Northern Fey....

[Yaztromo]

The recurring cyclical patterns of history... :mrgreen:

[Havard]

At the risk of derailing into Thorn-isms... Havard, how you describe King Robert and the elven king's relationship has some hefty parallels to a certain Baron and Queen of the Northern Fey....

The recurring cyclical patterns of history... :mrgreen:

Indeed. That is not a bad thing. Interesting parallels there Rob!

Again, tales of previous alliances could easily help persuade new generations to fall into the same patterns.

Back to the Age of Giants. The fall of Castle Hammerfire probably marked the end of the Age. However, in the centuries before this that race would have dominated the entire north. Their main opponents early on were the Dragons that they eventually managed to drive off and/or dominate. The Fire Giant King in DoCBM still has a pet Red Dragon, probably a tradition going back to this age.

During the midst of the Age of Giants, the elves probably kept to themselves in their deep woods. It was the arrival of the Thonians that presented the opportunity of ridding themselves with the Giant Menace. Fire Giants were probably fairly keen on chopping down the trees.


-Havard