Runes Of Magic Chapter III – The Elder Kingdoms

Frogster has given IncGamers an exclusive look at the background history of Runes of Magic’s upcoming chapter III, The Elder Kingdoms. If you want to find out all there is to know about the six old principalities, take a look at the full run-down below. There’s five brand new screens in there too:The Six Old PrincipalitiesBefore the ‘Great Banishment’ Kalume, the king of the Humans, and Antaikolon, the king of the Elves, collected all the armies and forces at their disposal to fight the treacherous Demons. After a fierce battle which cost many humans and elves their lives the alliance managed to bring about the Great Banishment and dispel the Demons which finally brought peace back to the world.

Kalume chose seven heroes who had excelled in battle out of the innumerable allies who had fought in the war and appointed them as Lords with the responsibility of ensuring peace and freedom for the people. Only Tirsov Fireboot, the leader of the Fireboot Dwarves, rejected the offer and took his people into the recesses of the mountains where they could live out their lives without being affected by the outside world. As a farewell gesture Kalume presented Tirsov with the powerful Hurr’khan axe to show his gratitude for the Holy Oath shield which the dwarves had prepared. The remaining six military leaders were named by the king as Lords of the World, also to be known as the ‘Six Old Lords’. They owed their existence to the Kingdom of Dalanis and to the crown of Kalume’s descendents and always paid tribute to this.

The Six Old Principalities are:
The Principality of Aren, ruled by the descendents of Letin Mocliff, the ‘Unrivaled Shield’Many parallels can be found between the childhood of Kalume’s most loyal confidant and Kalume himself. Both came from modest families. Kalume, who was later to become king, came from a fishing family, whereas Mocliff from a simple farming family. The Mocliffs did not have much to call their own but they were still happy with the little they had. At least until marauding Demons devastated the Mocliffs’ village. Whilst working on the fields Letin lost his home and his family in one day. Because of this terrible misfortune Letin almost lost the will to carry on living and tried to find relief from his sorrows at the bottom of a bottle. Mocliff became consumed by hate and remorse, bereft of hope and the desire to live. However, one day he met the then young Kalume who gave the rundown farmer his cloak and some words of encouragement. Kalume reminded this broken man of his own deceased son and he found out that this boy was there to set up a force to fight the Demons. Kalume’s noble plan to free mankind of the Demons awoke a long forgotten flicker of life in Letin Mocliff which he had abandoned in favor of alcohol. He joined Kalume’s army and was soon back to his old self after many hours of hard training. Letin forgave himself for not being able to save his family and avowed to protect his comrades and never to give up. The former farmer quickly found the army to be his true calling and his face and body became covered in scars after enduring numerous battles. This brave warrior was always the last to leave the battlefield and dedicated himself to protecting his comrades in spite of his own injuries as if they were his own family. He was given the nickname the ‘Unrivaled Shield’ by Kalume and became the young king’s closest friend and brother-in-arms. Since Mocliff had never forgotten his roots the cloak which Kalume had given him during the darker days became his most prized possession which he insisted gave him his power. In the later years Letin became a sort of cloak for Kalume; never leaving his side, always quietly present in the background, ready to give his life to protect the king. He wore this cloak until the day of his death and stipulated in his will that he was to be buried in it. However, Dalanis can expect little help from the descendents of Letin Mocliff in the Principality of Aren since they themselves are embroiled in power struggles and intrigues surrounding their country’s throne.

The Principality of Lechif, ruled by the descendents of the ‘King of the Night’, Shint KanchesShint Kanches was born in the port city of Lechif, a city on the island of Tergot’en without ever knowing who his parents were. This orphaned child was entrusted to the care of an old man whom Shint, and the other children he grew up with, affectionately named him master. From an early age he proved himself to be a deft pickpocket in the streets of the pirate city with extremely nimble fingers, and by the age of fifteen was considered to be the best by the other children. There was no lock that he could not pick, no door he could not open, and no treasure he could not steal. He was the unofficial king of the pickpockets until the day that he met the man who would change his life forever. This man was no less than the legendary king Kalume who took the young ragamuffin under his wing and into his army. His talent of hiding in the shadows quickly elevated him to the best spy in the king’s army. Since Shint grew up without a father he had the highest respect for Kalume and considered him and his most trusted Knight, Androth, as older brothers. Eager for knowledge, he absorbed everything the two men taught him. Although Androth wanted to teach Shint not only the skills of espionage but also the skills of battle, Kalume considered his ability to blend into the shadows as more important and thought attack missions against the Demon leaders to be too dangerous for his favorite pupil. The wise king was right after all.  During a planned attack against the Demon Lord, Sismond ‘The Slaughterer’, Shint was killed. However, the demons subsequently brought him back to life as an undead being with the task of murdering the king. The young hero was eventually killed by Androth at the tender age of twenty-four. Kalume posthumously named him one of the ‘Six Old Lords’ in order to express his pain and to pay honor to Shint’s memory and in doing so Shint’s legacy was known to all of Kalume’s people. The Principality was then named after Shint Kanche’s hometown, ‘Lechif’.{PAGE TITLE=Runes of Magic Chapter III – The Elder Kingdoms – Page 2}The Principality of Shador, ruled by the descendents of the ‘Thousand Feathers’, Jenny GiantJenny Giant was a human huntress from the Shador Forest who, because of her and Kalume’s deep connection to nature and shared love for all living creatures, joined Kalume’s army. Her skills with the bow and arrow were legendary; no words could convey the sheer breadth of her abilities. It was not simply due to her deadly accuracy that she was called ‘Thousand Feathers’ but also because of the unbelievable speed at which she could fire an arrow. During a nighttime battle against the Gnolls from the Demon army this graceful and seemingly fragile woman proved that she was far more dangerous than her appearance let on. Without the help of a single torch she shot every single Gnoll that attempted to cross the river where the battle took place. The Gnolls had already retreated as the royal troops arrived to support Jenny. Only after the soldiers had lit the torches could the extent of Jenny’s efforts truly be appreciated, even the most hardened soldiers were lost for words. The river was piled high with corpses peppered with arrows – not a single Gnoll had reached the other side of the river. During this one night Jenny Giant had killed over 300 Gnolls and shot over 1000 arrows. From then on, no one dared doubt the abilities of this young woman.During the battle of the ‘Great Banishment’ Jenny and the Elven priestess Artis from the Temple of the Moon Spirit provided the archery support and the similarities in their technique were impossible to ignore – even the Elven King Antaikolon believed ‘Thousand Feather’s technique was rooted in Elven technique. However, since the reticent Jenny never spoke of her life before joining Kalume’s army the origins of her abilities remained shrouded in mystery. After the big wars she became one of Kalume’s ‘Six Old Lords’. Shador and the Principality of Aren provided a secure barrier at the eastern and western fronts around Dalanis. But nowadays the reminders of the loyal leaders of these two realms are but a shadow of what they once were.  Nobody quite knows what Aren and Shador think of the young king Callaway today.Many poems and songs today bear witness to Jenny’s unrequited love for Kalume who thought of her as more a member of the family. The story of this huntress who dedicated her life to a man she loved but could never be with is so dramatic that it is still enacted in theatres to this very day.

The Principality of Angren, ruled by the descendents of the ‘Berserker’, Lekani of the Leonine peopleThe feline appearance of the Leonine people is not the result of demonic experimentation, they are an ancient race from Zandorya who were previously known as Angren beast men. This race was once very hostile and would defend their jungle to the death, hunting down anyone that dared venture into their territory. The Demons from the west became aware of this proud and strong race at some point and suggested they create an alliance. The Leonine people accepted the offer and many fought against the humans. However Lekani’s mother, Menimen, the chief of the Leonine people was betrayed by the Demon Sismond, also known as the ‘the Slaughterer’. He used the wounded Leonines for terrible experiments with rune magic and thereby broke the trust of his allies. On the way to the castle of the ‘Slaughterer’ to confront him with allegations Menimen was attacked from behind and killed. Lekani placed responsibility for her mother’s death on Sismond and so the Leonines left the Demon army and joined Kalume’s troops which dramatically changed the balance of power in the west.However, it was Androth, the general of Kalume’s royal army, who was truly responsible for the death of Lekani’s mother.  It was a rouse to encourage the feline creatures to enter into an alliance with the humans. King Kalume did not want to employ Androth’s underhanded methods and decided to assume responsibility for Lekani’s mother’s death. As Kalume put his weapon, and his life, into the hands of the proud Leonine leader she was so overwhelmed by the integrity of the great leader that she decided to continue fighting by his side. According to Leonine custom, his life now belonged to Lekani and it is said that she often loudly proclaimed to the enemies of the king: “This man’s life belongs to me. I dare anyone to try and take it from me”.

The Principality of Kalon, ruled by the descendents of Heurton, the ‘Prince of Sadness’, of the Rhino peopleThe knights of Kalo are known as the warriors of the Principality of Kalon, one of the six old principalities. Their appearance is unmistakable since they are not human. The Kalo race are like two-legged rhinoceroses, huge and immensely powerful.  A fully grown human being only reaches their chest and is about half their girth. Due to the enormous size and weight of their thick-skinned bodies there is no cavalry in the Kalo army since there is no creature large enough for a Kalo to ride upon. Although not very agile, they have powerful bodies and utilize runes to craft advanced armor which makes them one of the continent’s most feared armies. During the wars against the Demons the Rhinos, strengthened by runes, stood in the front ranks and trampled the invaders into the ground.Their first leader was Heurton, the ‘Prince of Sadness’, a childhood friend of the legendary Kalume and brother-in-arms in many battles.During these times the land was ruled over by Lord Ronick. This powerful Rhino gave Callaway the same respect as his forefathers gave to Kalume. However, the only thing the Kalos really respect is strength. If the young king is not prepared for the pressure his responsibility entails and displays signs of weakness the Rhinos may turn their back on him.The Principality of Limon, ruled by the descendents of Kawak Angerfang, ‘Iron Teeth’, of the Canine peopleKawak Angerfang of the ‘Iron Teeth’ tribe was a so-called ‘Limu beast man’, half man half dog creature, who are nowadays called the canine race. The Limu, like many other humanoids or beast men, were between the humans and the Demons on the side of the oppressor in the early stages of the war. These warriors are tough, attack from behind and feel at home on difficult terrain which caused many problems for the human army since the Limu were deft at ripping armies to shreds. However, one day Androth, the human general, succeeded in capturing the notorious, Kawak Angerfang, leader of the Iron Teeth. The wise mage, Aba Shodu, highly respected by both Kalume and Androth appealed against Angerfang’s impending execution and the brutal beast man was saved. Shodu saw that the inner-nature of the Canine people was goodhearted and he was released under Shodu’s responsibility. Instead of immediately returning to his tribe Kawak observed the king’s encampment for a while and noticed that Kalume, unlike most other humans and Demons, treated beast men as equals. The equal treatment of beast men by the young king was something Kawak Angerfang was not accustomed to. This made him question his life up to that point and he discussed with his clan whether they should join the noble young king. It took no time at all for the entire Iron Teeth clan to decide to join their new king. According to the stories from the time Kawak was constantly aggressive and rarely shared the same opinions as Kalume, and therefore those of his most loyal general, until the end of his days.Many claim that the ‘Great Banishment’ was only brought to pass through the actions of Kawak since it was he that lured the Demons into the heart of the banishment spell and so sacrificed himself for the good of the free world. The Demons pursued the legendary warrior blind with bloodlust and were banished. His descendents accepted the sixth principality and founded the Principality of Limon on his behalf. A statue of the great leader still stands today in the center of the Principality so that the Canine people can honor his name and admire his great deeds.