Argun

Revision as of 04:55, 5 October 2014 (view source) Argun (Talk | contribs) ← Older edit		Latest revision as of 04:28, 13 April 2023 (view source) Argun (Talk | contribs)
(31 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	[[File:argun photo 2.jpg|right|center|thumb|Argun at Armageddon 2013]]	+	[[Category:People]][[File:Argun_rocks.jpg|thumb|200px|Argun at [[Monster Mash V]].]][[File:Big_stick.jpg|thumb|200px|Majestic as fuck.]]
−	'''Full Name:''' Argun Barkûn	+	'''Full Name:''' Loremaster Argun Barkûn
−	'''Other Titles:'''	+	'''Offical Titals:'''
−	* called the Mole	+	*Loremaster: granted by [[Romulus]] and [[Daria]] at [[Oktoberfest 2019]] for his work creating [[Dwarf Lore]]
		+
		+	'''Other Titles:'''
		+	* Former Master of Coin of Tir Asleen (2015-2016)
	* Official TA Timekeeper		* Official TA Timekeeper
	* Wielder of the Shovel of Bodies		* Wielder of the Shovel of Bodies
		+	* called 'the Mole'
	'''Race:''' [[Dwarf]]		'''Race:''' [[Dwarf]]
−	'''Realms:''' [[Tir Asleen]], [[Barter Town]]	+	'''Realms:''' [[Frozen North]], ''formerly [[Tir Asleen]], [[Barter Town]]''
	'''Unit:''' None		'''Unit:''' None
	'''Other Affiliations:'''		'''Other Affiliations:'''
		+	* Kingdom of [[Eriador]]
	* Formerly of the [[The Húskarlar]]		* Formerly of the [[The Húskarlar]]
−	'''Favorite Weapon:''' Ax and Board, Florentine	+	'''Fighting Since:''' [[2012]]
−	[[Category:People]]	+
−	'''Lore:'''	+	'''Favorite Weapons:''' Glaive, Double Rocks
−	Argun was born into Clan Barkûn, one of the foremost smiting clans in the dwarven fortress of Narag’abad (the Black Mountain). Like most of the young dwarves of his clan he wanted nothing more than to spend his life forging beautiful and deadly axes to help defend the mighty fortress from their many enemies. And so it was that he lived for many years as little more than a smith in the forge, happily banging away for hours and hours making axes and other weapons he thought he would never use.
−	The axes Argun and his clan made went to good use. For many years the dwarves had been fighting the local elves over control of a massive stretch of woodlands not far from the mountains. The dwarves needed the wood for their fires, since the mountain had long ago been stripped of the coal the dwarves preferred to use. However the elves, as is typical of their race, opposed the dwarves for no better reason then the woods were beautiful. This lead to many bloody fights, and many dead on both sides. This feud, perpetuated by the elves long lives and the dwarves even longer grudges, had gone on for centuries until finally both the dwarves and the elves were ready to give up the fight and talk about peace.	+	===Lore===
−	So in the spirit of peace, the dwarves allowed a small group of twenty elves into their fortress to discuss a truce, and maybe a peace settlement. However unknown to the dwarves, several of the elven delegation were really drow in disguise. The drow, who were currently fighting both the elves and dwarves, didn’t want to see peace among their enemies. They feared, rather irrationally, that the dwarves and elves would team up against them if they were no longer fighting each other. The drow, disguised by magic, had taken the places of some of the elven delegation to gain entry into the fortress and sabotage the negotiations. The plan worked, and neither dwarf nor elf they weren’t elves.	+	Argun was born in the halls of the mountain fortress of Dezmesar. As a child he loved nothing more then to spend hours in the fortress' library, reading the ancient records the scribes kept there and gathering as much knowledge as he could into his young head. As he aged, his interest in knowledge only grew. All of those around him knew he would one day make a great scholar, so it was no surprise when on his hundredth name day he declared that he would join Kaldrum Tolingdran, the scribe caste. His family celebrated for a fortnight, with much drinking and merriment, for they were sure he would make a great scribe, perhaps one day becoming a paragon.<br>
−	That night, as soon as the dwarven guards were getting sleepy, the drow struck. They killed the dwarven guards first, then killed the elves in the party using the gaurds' weapons. They made their way through the fortress silent as shadows to the back gate, which opened to a massive underground tunnel network where the dwarves did much of their mining. As they went they used elven bows to quietly slay watchers or strays, always careful not to set off any alarms. They had almost made it to the gates when a group of guards stumbled upon the trail of dead they had left behind and raised the alarm. The dwarves sounded the alarm and their warriors, roused and ready for battle, made for the gates. However when they reached them they were too late, the drow had already opened the gates, and smashed the massive machinery that would allow the dwarves to close them.	+	At first he didn’t know what project to start on, what goal to set for his life’s work, so for several years he worked in the fortress' library, maintaining the old tones and keeping them organized. However, as the time passed, he grew bored with that life.  By that point he had read most of what was kept in the library, so he knew most of the tones by heart, and they no longer interested him as they once had. He longed for new knowledge, knowledge beyond what the fortress library held. But what knowledge was missing? After reviewing the tomes, he came to the conclusion that while there was much information about the history of Dezmesar and the Khazad in general, there was little about the rest of the world, and the other races that lived within it. This interested Argun greatly, and got him to thinking that perhaps he should do something to change that. After much thought and internal debate, he decided that there was only one way to achieve that goal. He announced that he would leave the fortress, and set out on a journey to gather knowledge. He had decided what his life’s work would be; he would write a great tome of knowledge about the outside world.<br>
−	The drow were not alone. Waiting outside the gates had been an army of Kobolds, the worst enemies of the dwarves, and close allies of the drow. As soon as their drow allies opened the gates, the kobolds stormed in. The small group of dwarven guards who had been sent to stop the drow were quickly overrun, and before long the kobold were rampaging through the fortress.	+	At first his family was not happy about this. Leaving the fortress would be dangerous, and in their minds, it was not worth it for him to risk his life to gather knowledge about the rest of the world. But Argun was decided. This was what he wanted to do for his life’s work, so this is what he would do. His dedication finally won them over, and they relented. So with his family's begrudging blessing, he gathered his belongings, gathered the supplies he would need, purchased an axe and a shield, and prepared to head out into the world.<br>
−	Argun, along with every other dwarf in the fortress, rushed to its defense. The fighting lasted for several days. It was bloody and passionate, for the dwarves were fighting for their home, and the kobolds were mad with their desire to kill of their most hated enemy. By the end of the fighting more than half the dwarves in the fortress, and at least 2/3 of the invading kobolds were dead. However that was still just the beginning. While the fighting had raged inside the fortress one of the drow had managed to slip away. She had run back to the elves, and told them that the dwarves had murdered the delegation in their sleep. The elves had rallied to this, and had marched to the dwarven fortress. They arrived just  as the dwarves drove the last few kobolds from their fortress and collapsed the tunnel to crush any plans of their return.	+
−	[[File:Clan Barkun Banner.png|right|center|thumb|The Banner of Clan Barkûn]]	+
−	So as soon as the kobold threat was extinguished, the elven one lit the fires again. The siege lasted for several months, however they lacked siege engines powerful enough to take down the dwarves' mountain walls. So instead they constricted the fortress, blocked the mountain passes and kept the local humans form bringing supplies to the dwarves. Finaly, running out of food and getting desperate, the dwarves  tunneled out from under the fortress and attacked the elves form the rear, trapping them against the walls they were trying to take.	+
−	With the elves beaten and driven away, the dwarves were finally able to figure out what was going on. They discovered the bodies of several of the drow, who in their death no longer looked like elves, among the dead. This realization kindled rage in the dwarves' hearts, and it wasn’t long before the dwarves had set out to take revenge on the drow. The army that marched out from the Black Mountain was small, and tired, but also made up of all battle hardened warriors. Argun marched along with them, for he was filled with rage at what the drow had done. His forge had been destroyed in the chaos of battle, and many of his kin were now one with the stone.	+	For awhile, Argun lived with the humans in the kingdoms surrounding Desmesar. Initially the humans were excited to have a Khazad who wanted to live among them. After all, dwarves, as the humans called them, were well known for their skill as craftsmen. Who knew what skill this dwarf would have. He could be a great smith, or mason, or carver. Whatever he was, surely he would have some useful skills. However, it quickly became obvious that Argun was not that kind of dwarf. He was not a craftsmen, instead, he was kind of a pain in the ass. He was always asking questions, and wanted to know about everything the humans did. He kept sticking his nose into things where he didn’t belong, and before long the humans began to get angry with him. Picking up on this, Argun decided it was time to leave.<br>
−	When the dwarves neared the drow forest stronghold they were met by an army of elves. It turned out that after the siege broke, the drow woman who had told the elves that their delegation was killed had been caught trying to sneak away from the city. Under interrogation it had come to light she was a drow, and the elves had found out what she and he allies had done. So it was that the drows worst fear came true, and the dwarves and elves united against them. Neither side was happy about fighting next to the other, but they both wanted revenge against the drow bad enough to stand it long enough to destroy them.	+	After wandering for awhile, Argun ran into a group of elves living in the forest. Having heard of elves only from the lore of his people, he was initially very suspicious of them. However, they seemed friendly enough, and his goal '''was''' to gather information about the world and it's races, so he decided to give them a chance. He spent several months with them. Unlike the humans, the elves were fine with this strange little man taking notes on them. They thought it was funny that he wanted to know about them, and decided it was even more fun to mess with him. They would sometimes give him false information, just to see how he would react, and laugh when he took them too seriously. Once Argun realized what the elves were doing, he became angry, and decided it was time to leave them too.<br>
−	The siege of the drow fortress was very short. The dwarven siege engines reduced the wooden walls to kindling. Once inside the dwarves were relentless. They killed every drow they could, and then burned the city to the ground. The battle lasted for less than a day, and by the end of it the dwarves desire for revenge was sated, and they headed home.	+	For awhile after that, Argun wandered, not staying long anywhere. Eventually he stumbled upon a group of his kinsmen who dwelt in high, snow-capped mountains and were locked in a deadly war against the region’s [[Orc]]s. Argun had yet to encounter orcs, or any race of [[monsters]] for that matter. He agreed to join them and lend his axe to their cause in order to gain the opportunity to learn something about these orcs. He traveled with the dwarves to their mountain where he found they were locked in battle upon a crumbling sea-side glacier. Argun and his companions rushed to join the fight, but as they neared there was a ear-splitting noise and the ice below began to quake, falling away under their feet. Argun tumbled through the air and only remembered hitting his head on the ice before blacking out.<br>
−	When he returned, Argun didn’t know what to do. His forge was gone, and so many of those he had know in life were gone too. He tried to settle down and rebuild with the others, but he just wasn’t happy. He had lost to much of his home and he knew in his heart he was never getting it back. Every time he tried to settle down, he longed for the thrill of battle and the uncertainty of knowing if he would live or die at any second. Finally he decided that he would leave the fortress and head out into the world. It wasn’t an easy choice, but it was the one he knew he had to make. He said his goodbyes and headed out into the world to find what adventure he could.	+	When he awoke, he found that he shared a small ice chunk with a green faced orc. Luckily, Argun hadn’t lost his axe in the fall, and so he grabbed it, ready to attack. But as he shifted his weight, he noticed that the ice tilted frighteningly to the side. Armored as he was, Argun knew he wouldn't be able to swim if he fell into the water. He would surely sink like a stone. So he waited. When the orc stirred, shaking the pain from his head, Argun pleaded with him not to move. He told the orc, who was also heavily armored, that if he moved, they would fall into the freezing water, and they would both drown. The orc, having some sense, chose not to attack and instead counterbalanced the dwarf.<br>
−	For awhile he traveled alone, making his living as best he could until he stumbled upon a group of his kinsmen who dwelt in high, snow-capped mountains and were locked in a deadly war against the regions mountain orks. Having nothing better to do, Argun pledged his axe to their cause and joined them in many battles against the blue menace. So it came that he was locked in battle upon a crumbling sea-side glacier. There was a ear-splitting noise and the ice below began to quake falling away from his feet. Argun tumbled through the air and remembers nothing for some time.	+	The two drifted for several days, enemies bound by ice. It turned out the orc was named [[Güv]], and while he was initially fine with just sitting still, as time passed Argun feared more and more that his hunger would lead him to do something rash and get them both killed. Just as the dwarf was really beginning to fear for his life, the pair were happened upon by a dragon ship crewed by Norsemen. Their leader was named [[Sigurd]] Amundson, and he chose to take the strange people aboard and put them at the oar. Not seeing any other option, and interested in getting a chance to observe these Norsemen, Argun agreed to the raider’s terms. After a time, Argun came to like the Norsemen quite a bit, and while they were initially suspicious of him, they grew to like him too. They were particularly interested in the runes he used to record the information he gained about them, for they were similar to the ones he used. With time, Argun even grew to like Gϋv the orc. It turned out that so long as the orc was not hungry, he could be a rather amiable person.<br>
−	When he awoke he found that he shared a small ice chunk with an blue faced ork. Argun scrambled, luckily he still gripped his axe. But as he shifted his weight he noticed that the ice tilted frighteningly to the side. It is common knowledge that dwarves cannot swim, and Argun dressed in full armor would surely sink like a stone. So he waited. When the ork stirred, shaking the pain from his head, Argun pleaded with him not to move or they would both drown. The ork, having some sense, chose not to attack and instead counterbalanced the dwarf.	+	Argun sailed with the Norsemen to Sigurd's homeland. After resupplying and sealing off the spoils of the Norsemen’s raids, the raiders prepared to head out again. Argun and Gϋv agreed to join them. Before they left, Argun used some of the money he’d saved from their last trip to reequip himself. He had found on his travels that outside of his mountain home, an axe didn’t serve him as well as it could. With his short statue compared to the men, elves, and orcs he had met, he was at a disadvantage. He needed more reach, and decided that it was time the invest some money in crafting a new weapon for himself, a [[glaive]]. <br>
		+
		+	So with his new weapon in hand, Argun once again joined his companions on a raid. They boarded the boats and set sale for a strange land Sigurd called the Rusland. [[Visund]], Sigurd's friend and kinsman joined them. Initially the raid went well, until one night, while ashore, the party was ambushed by a large levy rus warriors. It was a terrifying battle, and devastating to the party. Argun's new glaive cut down many foes, and helped keep the swarming Rus at bay, but at the end only left Argun, Gϋv, Sigurd, and Visund were left alive. Unable to man their ship with so few people, they decide to burn it as a funeral pyre for their dead brothers and set off on foot.<br> [[File:Clan Barkun Banner.png|right|center|thumb|The Banner of Clan Barkûn]]
		+
		+	For many days the group traveled, being harassed by the Rus at every turn. They fled south looking for a safer place to hole up and treat their wounds. For awhile things looked grim, and it seemed like they would soon be overrun, but then, suddenly, the Rus stopped following. It was as if they had simply disappeared. While Sigurd and Gϋv rested, Argun and Visund went back to see if they could find out what had happened to the Rus. It didn’t take long for them to find out, they found their butchered and mutilated bodies strewn across the steppes. It was a terrifying sight, for it was clear no human had done the work. While many of the men’s injuries were from swords or daggers, far more were clearly the marks of teeth, claws and tusks. This was clearly the work of monsters, and from the looks of it, many kinds working together. Visund decided to push on, but Argun agreed to go back and warn the others. However, when he found them, it was too late, the monsters had already caught them. Argun tried to sneak in and rescue them, but the clinking of his chainmail gave him away, and he too was captured.<br>
		+
		+	It was then he found that his friends had in fact, not been captives, but had actually been taken in by the monster [[Horde]]. Gϋv, as an orc, was welcomed, and Sigurd, though he looked to be simply a large human, was actually part [[Ogre]], and thus was allowed in. Argun however, as a dwarf, was nothing but food to these monsters. They planned to prepare him for the pot, but at the last moments, his former companions intervened. They convinced the Horde to keep the dwarf for now, and eat him later when rations were low. After all, meat keeps better when still alive.<br>
		+
		+	At first Argun was terrified. But as time passed, his fear began to wane. He was never sure why, but after a time, it became apparent that the monsters, despite their initial insistence otherwise, were not going to eat him. Maybe they had come to like him, or liked messing with him at least. Or maybe they had just kind of forgotten why they had kept him around in the first place and assumed he was there for some reason or other. Argun was never sure. But when he decided that he wasn't about to die at any moment, he realized he had an opportunity few dwarves in history had ever been given. He had the chance to observe monsters of many kinds in their wild state. He had, after all, set out to learn about the world and its people, and in a weird kind of fringe way, monsters were people. Argun began taking notes on the [[monsters]], observing what they did and how they did it. He didn’t understand most of it, of course. They were strange creatures, after all, but in time he came to appreciate some of their more amiable qualities, and he suspected some of them might even have come to like him. Or at least tolerate him till one of them remembered he was supposed to be food at some point.
−	So they drifted. Enemies bound by ice. Until they were happened upon by a dragon ship crewed by [[Norsemen]]. Their leader was [[Sigurd]] and he chose to take the strange people aboard and put them at the oar. Argun was paid out from the spoils of the riads and was content despite being at sea. Together with two other ships who joined with them in Sigurd's homeland he went to a strange land Sigurd called the Rusland. [[Visund]], Sigurd's friend and kinsman was with them. One night, while ashore, the party was ambushed by a large levy of humans. It was a terrifying battle which only left Argun, Gϋv, Sigurd, and Visund alive. They burned the ship as a funeral pyre for their dead brothers and set off on foot.
−	After several more months of wandering, Argun finally came across a small kingdom known as Tir Asleen. There he found a small human population living in a land mostly dominated by monsters. Argun could see that these people needed help, and so he stopped for awhile, to offer his skills to help fight the hordes of monsters that were plaguing the land. However, after some time he began to come to like Tir Asleen, and for the first time since leaving his mountain he felt at home.
	''Events Attended:''		''Events Attended:''
−	[[Oktoberfest]] 2012, 2013	+	[[Oktoberfest]] 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
−	Eriador Halloween 2012, 2013	+	[[Eriador Halloween]] 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
−	WPO 2013, 2014	+	WPO 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019
−	[[Spring Wars]] 2013	+	[[Spring Wars]] 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018
−	Melcaorme XI(2013), XII(2014)	+	[[Melcaorme XI|Melcaorme 2013]], [[Melcaorme XIII|2014]], [[Melcaorme Q|2015]], [[Melcaorme 2016|2016]], [[Melcaorme 2017|2017]], [[Melcaorme 2019|2019]]
−	[[Armageddon]] 2013, 2014	+	[[Armageddon XII|Armageddon 2013]], [[Armageddon XIII|2014]], [[Armageddon XV|2016]], [[Armageddon XVI|2017]]
	June Eriador 2013		June Eriador 2013
−	Bear Brawl 2013	+	Bear Brawl 2013, 2015
		+
		+	[[Prelude]] 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
		+
		+	Hyboria Realm Opener 2015
		+
		+	Monster Mash 2015, [[Monster Mash III|2017]], [[Monster Mash IV|2018]], [[Monster Mash V|2019]]
		+
		+	Wreck the Halls II (2017), IV (2019), V (2020)
		+
		+	Rhun in June 2016, 2018
		+
		+	"Election-fight" 2016
		+
		+	Giants Awakening VI (2016), VII (2017)
		+
		+	Hybrasil Opener 2017
−	Prelude 2013, 2014	+	Hybrasil Closer 2018

---

Latest revision as of 04:28, 13 April 2023

Full Name: Loremaster Argun Barkûn

Offical Titals:

• Loremaster: granted by Romulus and Daria at Oktoberfest 2019 for his work creating Dwarf Lore

Other Titles:

• Former Master of Coin of Tir Asleen (2015-2016)
• Official TA Timekeeper
• Wielder of the Shovel of Bodies
• called 'the Mole'

Race: Dwarf

Realms: Frozen North, formerly Tir Asleen, Barter Town

Unit: None

Other Affiliations:

• Kingdom of Eriador
• Formerly of the The Húskarlar

Fighting Since: 2012

Favorite Weapons: Glaive, Double Rocks

[edit] Lore

Argun was born in the halls of the mountain fortress of Dezmesar. As a child he loved nothing more then to spend hours in the fortress' library, reading the ancient records the scribes kept there and gathering as much knowledge as he could into his young head. As he aged, his interest in knowledge only grew. All of those around him knew he would one day make a great scholar, so it was no surprise when on his hundredth name day he declared that he would join Kaldrum Tolingdran, the scribe caste. His family celebrated for a fortnight, with much drinking and merriment, for they were sure he would make a great scribe, perhaps one day becoming a paragon.

At first he didn’t know what project to start on, what goal to set for his life’s work, so for several years he worked in the fortress' library, maintaining the old tones and keeping them organized. However, as the time passed, he grew bored with that life. By that point he had read most of what was kept in the library, so he knew most of the tones by heart, and they no longer interested him as they once had. He longed for new knowledge, knowledge beyond what the fortress library held. But what knowledge was missing? After reviewing the tomes, he came to the conclusion that while there was much information about the history of Dezmesar and the Khazad in general, there was little about the rest of the world, and the other races that lived within it. This interested Argun greatly, and got him to thinking that perhaps he should do something to change that. After much thought and internal debate, he decided that there was only one way to achieve that goal. He announced that he would leave the fortress, and set out on a journey to gather knowledge. He had decided what his life’s work would be; he would write a great tome of knowledge about the outside world.

At first his family was not happy about this. Leaving the fortress would be dangerous, and in their minds, it was not worth it for him to risk his life to gather knowledge about the rest of the world. But Argun was decided. This was what he wanted to do for his life’s work, so this is what he would do. His dedication finally won them over, and they relented. So with his family's begrudging blessing, he gathered his belongings, gathered the supplies he would need, purchased an axe and a shield, and prepared to head out into the world.

For awhile, Argun lived with the humans in the kingdoms surrounding Desmesar. Initially the humans were excited to have a Khazad who wanted to live among them. After all, dwarves, as the humans called them, were well known for their skill as craftsmen. Who knew what skill this dwarf would have. He could be a great smith, or mason, or carver. Whatever he was, surely he would have some useful skills. However, it quickly became obvious that Argun was not that kind of dwarf. He was not a craftsmen, instead, he was kind of a pain in the ass. He was always asking questions, and wanted to know about everything the humans did. He kept sticking his nose into things where he didn’t belong, and before long the humans began to get angry with him. Picking up on this, Argun decided it was time to leave.

After wandering for awhile, Argun ran into a group of elves living in the forest. Having heard of elves only from the lore of his people, he was initially very suspicious of them. However, they seemed friendly enough, and his goal was to gather information about the world and it's races, so he decided to give them a chance. He spent several months with them. Unlike the humans, the elves were fine with this strange little man taking notes on them. They thought it was funny that he wanted to know about them, and decided it was even more fun to mess with him. They would sometimes give him false information, just to see how he would react, and laugh when he took them too seriously. Once Argun realized what the elves were doing, he became angry, and decided it was time to leave them too.

For awhile after that, Argun wandered, not staying long anywhere. Eventually he stumbled upon a group of his kinsmen who dwelt in high, snow-capped mountains and were locked in a deadly war against the region’s Orcs. Argun had yet to encounter orcs, or any race of monsters for that matter. He agreed to join them and lend his axe to their cause in order to gain the opportunity to learn something about these orcs. He traveled with the dwarves to their mountain where he found they were locked in battle upon a crumbling sea-side glacier. Argun and his companions rushed to join the fight, but as they neared there was a ear-splitting noise and the ice below began to quake, falling away under their feet. Argun tumbled through the air and only remembered hitting his head on the ice before blacking out.

When he awoke, he found that he shared a small ice chunk with a green faced orc. Luckily, Argun hadn’t lost his axe in the fall, and so he grabbed it, ready to attack. But as he shifted his weight, he noticed that the ice tilted frighteningly to the side. Armored as he was, Argun knew he wouldn't be able to swim if he fell into the water. He would surely sink like a stone. So he waited. When the orc stirred, shaking the pain from his head, Argun pleaded with him not to move. He told the orc, who was also heavily armored, that if he moved, they would fall into the freezing water, and they would both drown. The orc, having some sense, chose not to attack and instead counterbalanced the dwarf.

The two drifted for several days, enemies bound by ice. It turned out the orc was named Güv, and while he was initially fine with just sitting still, as time passed Argun feared more and more that his hunger would lead him to do something rash and get them both killed. Just as the dwarf was really beginning to fear for his life, the pair were happened upon by a dragon ship crewed by Norsemen. Their leader was named Sigurd Amundson, and he chose to take the strange people aboard and put them at the oar. Not seeing any other option, and interested in getting a chance to observe these Norsemen, Argun agreed to the raider’s terms. After a time, Argun came to like the Norsemen quite a bit, and while they were initially suspicious of him, they grew to like him too. They were particularly interested in the runes he used to record the information he gained about them, for they were similar to the ones he used. With time, Argun even grew to like Gϋv the orc. It turned out that so long as the orc was not hungry, he could be a rather amiable person.

Argun sailed with the Norsemen to Sigurd's homeland. After resupplying and sealing off the spoils of the Norsemen’s raids, the raiders prepared to head out again. Argun and Gϋv agreed to join them. Before they left, Argun used some of the money he’d saved from their last trip to reequip himself. He had found on his travels that outside of his mountain home, an axe didn’t serve him as well as it could. With his short statue compared to the men, elves, and orcs he had met, he was at a disadvantage. He needed more reach, and decided that it was time the invest some money in crafting a new weapon for himself, a glaive.

So with his new weapon in hand, Argun once again joined his companions on a raid. They boarded the boats and set sale for a strange land Sigurd called the Rusland. Visund, Sigurd's friend and kinsman joined them. Initially the raid went well, until one night, while ashore, the party was ambushed by a large levy rus warriors. It was a terrifying battle, and devastating to the party. Argun's new glaive cut down many foes, and helped keep the swarming Rus at bay, but at the end only left Argun, Gϋv, Sigurd, and Visund were left alive. Unable to man their ship with so few people, they decide to burn it as a funeral pyre for their dead brothers and set off on foot.

For many days the group traveled, being harassed by the Rus at every turn. They fled south looking for a safer place to hole up and treat their wounds. For awhile things looked grim, and it seemed like they would soon be overrun, but then, suddenly, the Rus stopped following. It was as if they had simply disappeared. While Sigurd and Gϋv rested, Argun and Visund went back to see if they could find out what had happened to the Rus. It didn’t take long for them to find out, they found their butchered and mutilated bodies strewn across the steppes. It was a terrifying sight, for it was clear no human had done the work. While many of the men’s injuries were from swords or daggers, far more were clearly the marks of teeth, claws and tusks. This was clearly the work of monsters, and from the looks of it, many kinds working together. Visund decided to push on, but Argun agreed to go back and warn the others. However, when he found them, it was too late, the monsters had already caught them. Argun tried to sneak in and rescue them, but the clinking of his chainmail gave him away, and he too was captured.

It was then he found that his friends had in fact, not been captives, but had actually been taken in by the monster Horde. Gϋv, as an orc, was welcomed, and Sigurd, though he looked to be simply a large human, was actually part Ogre, and thus was allowed in. Argun however, as a dwarf, was nothing but food to these monsters. They planned to prepare him for the pot, but at the last moments, his former companions intervened. They convinced the Horde to keep the dwarf for now, and eat him later when rations were low. After all, meat keeps better when still alive.

At first Argun was terrified. But as time passed, his fear began to wane. He was never sure why, but after a time, it became apparent that the monsters, despite their initial insistence otherwise, were not going to eat him. Maybe they had come to like him, or liked messing with him at least. Or maybe they had just kind of forgotten why they had kept him around in the first place and assumed he was there for some reason or other. Argun was never sure. But when he decided that he wasn't about to die at any moment, he realized he had an opportunity few dwarves in history had ever been given. He had the chance to observe monsters of many kinds in their wild state. He had, after all, set out to learn about the world and its people, and in a weird kind of fringe way, monsters were people. Argun began taking notes on the monsters, observing what they did and how they did it. He didn’t understand most of it, of course. They were strange creatures, after all, but in time he came to appreciate some of their more amiable qualities, and he suspected some of them might even have come to like him. Or at least tolerate him till one of them remembered he was supposed to be food at some point.

Events Attended:

Oktoberfest 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

Eriador Halloween 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022

WPO 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019

Spring Wars 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018

Melcaorme 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019

Armageddon 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017

June Eriador 2013

Bear Brawl 2013, 2015

Prelude 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021

Hyboria Realm Opener 2015

Monster Mash 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019

Wreck the Halls II (2017), IV (2019), V (2020)

Rhun in June 2016, 2018

"Election-fight" 2016

Giants Awakening VI (2016), VII (2017)

Hybrasil Opener 2017

Hybrasil Closer 2018