Thrain Ironsword

[Jherlen]

I believe LoD was actually the player of Thrain Ironsword, back in the day. Where's he gone off to?

[Lizzie]

I believe LoD was actually the player of Thrain Ironsword, back in the day. Where's he gone off to?

Yep that was LoD's character. Here's a post where he mentions it:
http://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,1745.msg14328.html#msg14328

He was a dwarf whose focus was to free the dwarven slaves in the southern obsidian mines.

LoD had some awesome insight on how to lead a clan to greatness in his next post in the same thread, btw.

[Vositus]

I believe LoD was actually the player of Thrain Ironsword, back in the day. Where's he gone off to?

Yep that was LoD's character. Here's a post where he mentions it:
http://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,1745.msg14328.html#msg14328

He was a dwarf whose focus was to free the dwarven slaves in the southern obsidian mines.

LoD had some awesome insight on how to lead a clan to greatness in his next post in the same thread, btw.

Sujaal?! No wonder everyone loves LoD

[Armaddict]

LoD was also Bushman, a great (I think the last?) Leader of Blackmoon Raiders.

He was also a great source of complaints regarding proof of favoritism, but an example of what can happen when a player works really well with a willing-and-able staff. I always liked being involved in his stuff.

Edited to remove terrible, terrible racism.  I was on my phone man!

[Reiloth]

Blackmon Raiders is more than a little racist.

Thrain Ironsword rode a giant Aurochs and spanked Isar red with a badminton racquet. He also bequeathed Muk Utep with his laser eyeballs.

Honestly, who cares? Just play the game. Half the shit from 10 years ago is not only barely relevant, but retconned/changed to make the game evolve towards the future. Dredging up the past is like saying 'once upon a time mantis could drink beer at the bar'. Tuluk isn't playable, so who really cares about whatever liberation or rebellions took place? They're relevant only in that they did happen -- But the hows and wherefores, you may as well make up if it means you are making a good story out of it at the time. If you don't know, and your PCs don't know...Make it up! That's how legends are born.

[Patuk]

Blackmon Raiders is more than a little racist.

Thrain Ironsword rode a giant Aurochs and spanked Isar red with a badminton racquet. He also bequeathed Muk Utep with his laser eyeballs.

Honestly, who cares? Just play the game. Half the shit from 10 years ago is not only barely relevant, but retconned/changed to make the game evolve towards the future. Dredging up the past is like saying 'once upon a time mantis could drink beer at the bar'. Tuluk isn't playable, so who really cares about whatever liberation or rebellions took place? They're relevant only in that they did happen -- But the hows and wherefores, you may as well make up if it means you are making a good story out of it at the time. If you don't know, and your PCs don't know...Make it up! That's how legends are born.

That's easy to say for someone who saw much of this all, sure.

[BadSkeelz]

It's easy for anyone.

If you're a bard and you want to sing a song about Thrain, don't go to the Chronology page and cut and paste the entry. You take the details we do know - Rebellion, Mines, Dorf, Dragon, Dead - and use it as an outline. Fill it events of your own invention to tell whatever story you want people to hear.

I swear one of these days I'm going to play a noble and just devote myself to forging reams of bullshit history and filling libraries with it, just to tweak those who can't seem to function without knowing the absolute truth.

[Patuk]

Oh, that's fine, it's half of what I did when I still had my elf tribe going on. That still doesn't mean curious people shouldn't get a straight answer, though.

[RogueGunslinger]

Title: How to Crush an Armers Enthusiasm for the Game:

OP:
"It's inspiring and fun to see old stories of what players did. I like that. I think everyone likes that. Can anyone share some of this stuff?"

GDB:


OP: But why n-

GDB:
"

[Lizzie]

Blackmon Raiders is more than a little racist.

Thrain Ironsword rode a giant Aurochs and spanked Isar red with a badminton racquet. He also bequeathed Muk Utep with his laser eyeballs.

Honestly, who cares? Just play the game. Half the shit from 10 years ago is not only barely relevant, but retconned/changed to make the game evolve towards the future. Dredging up the past is like saying 'once upon a time mantis could drink beer at the bar'. Tuluk isn't playable, so who really cares about whatever liberation or rebellions took place? They're relevant only in that they did happen -- But the hows and wherefores, you may as well make up if it means you are making a good story out of it at the time. If you don't know, and your PCs don't know...Make it up! That's how legends are born.

I really don't like this attitude at all. My character doesn't give a shit about Thrain Ironsword. But I'm curious and interested in the game's lore. So are a lot of people - that's why we have a submissions page here, and a submissions section on the main website with logs and stories and songs and pictures of our characters. I believe you are one of the contributors, no? So wouldn't that make YOU someone who cares? Armageddon is steeped in game history and lore. That's one of the things that attracts people to it; it's not just a start-up Diku that has no meat behind it. Players want to know what has led up to the current incarnation of the game, the current plots, why the gates close at dusk, why Tuluk is a city that no one can play in, why parts of the world are called the Known and the Unknown, why there's stuff on the website about the Tan Muark but you can't play one anymore.

All of these things are game history. The Fall, rise, and Rebellion of Tuluk is part of that history, and Thrain Ironsword played a part in it. That's why people give a shit. Not because their characters need to know, but the players can "grok" the game more deeply if we (players) know.

[Desertman]

Eh. Why is this even an issue?

If someone knows and wants to share the information they can share it at this point and staff won't mind.

If the people who know do not want to share the information, you can't force them.



If anyone believes it shouldn't or should be shared here is irrelevant. Your opinion does not matter in any way.

Sharing it at this point would not be breaking the rules. End of story.

The only issue on the table is if the people who do know want to take the time to type it here.

Non-issue is non-issue.

[Malken]

Anyone who has ever played with LoD knows that he deserved all the praise/staff attention that he may have gotten with his characters.

Dude's a rp legend.

[AdamBlue]

There was a dwarf who stood up and helped break the chains of slavery and raise a revolution of dwarves against the kingdom of men. Shattering those bonds, the dwarf gathered armies of slaves to march on Allanak and beseige it, having very fine weapons and tools from having been forced to work in the mines, gathering copper, metal, obsidian, ect... It's quite possible ironsword may have actually had an iron sword, though I'm not certain.
This beseiging prompted a dragon, (Tektolnes?) to return and destroy the armies of the dwarves and I think the remaining iron the mining slave dwarves had was used to build the steel dragon statue in rememberence and started the real 'religious zeal' of the highlord stuff.
At least, that's what I think I know. Please feel free to correct me.

[Desertman]

lol dorfs got cookd

cookd dorfs

lern ur plase slaves

[Withered Ocotillo]

DISCLAIMER: Do not read this if you don't want to know the history of the game world from hundreds of IC years ago. Do not read this if you don't want to know how Armageddon has changed over the last 25 RL years.

With that said, let's get on to the history lesson.

Thrain Ironsword was played by LoD, so he would have the best perspective on what actually happened to Thrain through the character's lifetime, what his motivations were, what he was like as a person, who his friends were and why, what his dwarven focus actually was, etc.

I can tell you what I know of Thrain from the perspective of a character that was an enemy of Thrain Ironsword, which would include a handful of interesting details about what happened way back around 1992-93, focused primarily around Allanak.

Some things worth noting from the time:

a) Allanak only had House Oash as a playable noble house

b) There was no steel dragon at the Allanak gate entrance, and the symbol/concept of a dragon as a representation of Tektolnes did not exist yet. Previously the dragon represented a rogue [/me tips hat to rouge spelling] force of nature that destroyed a massive chunk of Tuluk, and was considered a possible threat to both Tuluk and Allanak if it were to return to the world.

c) Red robe templars were playable by PCs, but still extremely rare

d) Racial prejudice existed for elves throughout the game, but dwarves, muls, halflings and even mantis could walk as a free people inside both Tuluk and Allanak. The Allanaki slave mines did not necessarily represent a time when southern dwarves were at a greater risk for being enslaved in the mines - anyone could be a slave, but in this case there was a location with an Allanaki slave camp, and it happened to have a lot of dwarves in it that were slaves. You could actually have a mul walking through the streets that wasn't a slave, so Thrain Ironsword looking to liberate the Allanaki slave mines was, in some ways, a general act of defiance against Allanak from a clan composed primarily of dwarves (but not exclusively), and this clan operated out of Tuluk. This clan may have had a political agenda that favored the interests of Tuluk, but I was never privy to what that agenda may have been, having been a player playing a character on the opposing side (Allanak).

e) Muk Utep still ruled Tuluk, and the city was enforced by red robe templars and white robe templars, but these templars did not have psionic powers (I don't believe psionicist existed as a playable guild yet), and the city did not have the dystopia theme that staff and players tried to convey with the new Tuluk (now closed). Red Robe templars had access physical spells like creating fire or hardening skin to stone, while white robes had more subtle spells like detecting invisibility, seeing magick ,etc. There were no kung fu red robes like what appeared later.

f) Tuluk was a much more free society in general compared to Allanak, and it even permitted the casting of elementalist magick in the city streets. There were elemental temples, but no elemental gems. It was around 1995ish when the law in Tuluk declared that elementalists would have to restrict the casting of magick to their temples.

With all that said to set to the stage for the final portion of Thrain Ironsword's story, I'll tell you some of what I know about how he was able to liberate the slave mines of Allanak and then put the entire city under siege for a prolonged period. I'll do my best to put a disclaimer when I'm not sure about all the facts, but some of the information may be inaccurate after so many years having passed. If LoD could jump into the thread, he and I might be able to fill in some of the gaps by comparing memories. Nessalin was also there at the time, so he may have some information to share.


Thrain Ironsword in Tuluk


Thrain Ironsword was the leader of the Ironsword clan, and from what I was told, he operated out of the tavern named Flint's Tavern in Tuluk. I never knew where he actually hung out or lived his life, as my character was confined to Allanak and had never visited Tuluk. Thrain had dwarves who followed him and who believed in him strongly as a leader, and in all my years of Armageddon play I've never seen a dwarven PC or NPC carry as much respect and influence in the game as Thrain did. My character spoke to a few of Thrain's followers via The Way, and all of them seemed to adore Thrain and would die for him without a second thought. Thrain represented freedom and power for the dwarven people - he was able to amass an army of VNPC dwarves at the end of his years who were willing to fight for him, and who eventually fought alongside him in a battle to liberate the slave mines of Allanak.


The Ironsword clan marches on Allanak


From the perspective of Allanak, Thrain marched toward Allanak with his army and went straight up to the main gates, where one of the dwarves in the army shouted out that the army wanted to talk with the templarate (not sure if Thrain was speaking). Nathaniel the blue robe templar was the first templar to make contact with the army at the gates of Allanak (and was a PC), and he stood at the top of the gates of Allanak, looking out at the army of dwarves, unsure of what to do or handle the situation. He fearfully called out to the soldiers to shut the gates, and the soldiers hesitated to follow his order at first, not believing that Allanak was about to shut its gates against an actual enemy threat for the first time in centuries. A few threats from the templar saw the gates gradually close shut, and it was at that moment that the siege of Allanak would begin for a significant amount of time.

From the reports that I heard, the Allanaki slave mines fell fairly easily without defensive support from the main city of Allanak against the Ironsword army, and then the Ironsword clan took up position around Allanak, not allowing any travel in or out of the city.


The Siege of Allanak


Due to the siege on the city, food supplies became scarce and the population began to suffer. Even more problematic for the Allanaki government was that the templars of Allanak lost their ability to call upon the Highlord for any magickal assistance. This is something that the templarate tried to hide from the common people, but as the weeks went on, more and more fighting and rebellion in the city saw the deaths of soldiers and templars. There were rumors that went around of people that could smuggle you out of the city for a price, either through magickal means or other means, and acquiring spice of any kind was even more difficult than previously (spice was still illegal in Allanak back then, as it is now).


The Clash of the North and South


Eventually the armies of Allanak planned to ride out to break the siege, lead by Liben the red robe templar (PC), and accompanied by Caligula the blue robe templar and Nathaniel the blue robe templar. The Allanaki forces rode out to clash with the dwarven army, but the dwarves retreated immediately. Being chased by the Allanaki army, the dwarves fled back to the slave camp, and then that's when things turned sour for Allanak. The Allanaki forces met head on with Tuluki forces (I think Kurac may have also been there) combined with the dwarven army, and the battle went far worse for Allanak than anticipated. Allanak was unprepared for this surprise, and most of the Allanaki forces were killed. If I recall, the raider clan Blackmoon rode out with Allanak as paid mercenaries in defense of the city, but turned on Allanak when the battle began (I remember the Blackmoon names of Wolf and Vis, but this Blackmoon part may need clarification of facts). The climax of the battle was Thrain Ironsword fighting off soldier after soldier (nearly every Allanak soldier NPC was targeting him in the fight), where Thrain eventually clashed against Liben the red robe templar. In those days the combat code did not penalize you for fighting multiple targets at once, so Thrain may have actually been fighting off 15+ combined NPC soldiers and templars at the same time, and was still holding his ground due to the defensive code being more generous than it is today (after changes made by Morgenes quite a few years ago). Even for that time, it seemed incredible that Thrain could stand against such a force. From a technology perspective, you have to imagine that a lot of people were using 1200 baud modems for their connection to Armageddon, and the text scrolling speed was actually quite slow. Having so much spam from combat made it impossible to react quickly to what was happening because your actions were delayed by quite a few seconds, even moreso than you might imagine in such chaos today with the screen flying up with text you can't read in time (at least with 1200 baud you could painfully read the text, but you knew you couldn't act for a while).

Because the combat text was just massive, and because my logging buffer size wasn't enough to keep a log of the fight back then, I never had any record of the combat beyond the memory of what I was able to read during the fight. What I do know is that Thrain was killed at the end of the fight (rumor has it by Liben), and then Liben was killed by Thrain's followers. Caligula and Nathaniel the blue fled from combat, and both of them barely managed to escape. Nathaniel made it back to the city nearly dead and without a mount, and Caligula survived because he actually found Nathaniel's abandoned mount in the desert when Caligula's own mount was too exhausted to go on.

Caligula could not endure the shame of defeat - the idea of Allanak being defeated was too much for him to bear, and so he gathered as many volunteer soldiers and commoners as he could to join him on a second march. It was the act of a desperate man, and every person that went to join him did so with the understanding that they weren't coming back. The door of death was open as an escape from the future that seemed inevitable: Allanak was going to be conquered.

Nathaniel watched the small band leave from the top of the gates, and he noticed that only the templar was mounted at the front of the line. He never saw them again.


The Rise of the Dragon


With Allanak's army defeated by the Ironsword clan and the northern forces, it looked as though Allanak was about to be conquered, or at least sieged to starvation.

There weren't any sudden riots or crime sprees through the city when Allanak's army was defeated. Just a kind of paralyzing fear as the city tried to grasp the idea of losing to an enemy when the entire culture thrived on being the center of the world, protected by the great and powerful Tektolnes. Was Tektolnes dead? The idea had been lingering in the minds of the templarate throughout the siege. Why did the templarate not have their powers?

But then, just as all hope had begun to drain from the people of Allanak, the sky was filled with a terrible shriek and an enormous shadow passed over the city (the potential historical origin of "In His Shadow"). The form of a dragon flew overhead and it roared and breathed flame on the enemies of Allanak, and the earth opened up beneath the armies and swallowed them whole, including any Allanaki forces that happened to be in the area. The northern armies were defeated, and Allanak was saved thanks to the power of Tektolnes, who now apparently took the form of a dragon. The templarate regained their powers once more.

A pair of black robe templars appeared in Allanak, announcing that Tektolnes had come to save the city and was furious with his army for being unable to dispatch his enemies. As punishment, one of the black robe templars and Nathaniel the blue robe templar were publicly executed in front of the city gates as example of what happens to those who fail the Highlord. 

At this point I can't remember if a plan was made to create the steel dragon statue above the gates of Allanak as a commemoration of what happened, or if that steel dragon was created after the iron mines mega RPT chain from around 2001. Maybe someone from the iron mines RPT era can remember if the steel dragon had already been there at the time, or if it was built after Allanak managed to get some metal from the mines in the clash with Tuluk.

What I do know is that from this point on, the symbol of Allanak and embodiment of Tektolnes was a dragon.


So there you go. I hope this was of interest to some players and staff members. I would be happy to discuss any other information from the past if anyone is curious.

[Patuk]

That is awesome, though. Thank you very much. It was exactly what I was hoping to see, and I'm sure OP agrees, too.

[Lizzie]

That was AWESOME, thanks! It's stories like these that can really thrust yourself into your character's mentality. Why do they think the way they think? Why do we refer to His shadow? What's the deal with the steel dragon? What atmosphere did our characters grow up in, and what led to that atmosphere? This is the stuff that successful games are made of - lore and legend, especially when it involves PCs of days past. So thank you for that!

[Jherlen]

That was AWESOME, thanks! It's stories like these that can really thrust yourself into your character's mentality. Why do they think the way they think? Why do we refer to His shadow? What's the deal with the steel dragon? What atmosphere did our characters grow up in, and what led to that atmosphere? This is the stuff that successful games are made of - lore and legend, especially when it involves PCs of days past. So thank you for that!

Totally agreed. What makes Armageddon so special is that it's a world so rich with these sorts of stories. You can see the way in-game events that other players led or influenced affect the world, even multiple RL decades and multiple IG Ages later. Stuff like this to me is what puts the I in RPI.

Very cool you took the time to write this up, Withered Ocotillo.

[Desertman]

+ Over 9,000 for awesome.

[Decameron]

Thrain was the bringer of rain, after defeating Theokoles within the arena.

He was the first person to master the create rainbow skill.

He fought in the first rebellion of Allanak against the forces of Tuluk ( the sekrit one).

[Malken]

Hahah, wait.. I wonder if it's the Nathaniel I'm thinking of, a RL friend of mine from loooooooooooong ago.

Did he try to flee to Tuluk and was insta-brought back and beheaded?? Was it still when "healing" potions were available to buy? If so the amount of twinkery going on between all of us at that time was pure insanity and while the story is pretty awesome, there's no way that anything like that would fly in today's Armageddon.

The main reason why I started playing Armageddon was because I couldn't speak or write a word of English and Nathaniel and a couple of other friends were from Montreal so they knew -some- French and they would tell me in the most basic of French to English and vice versa what to do so I could help them twink up and make crazy amount of 'sids and get metal weapons aplenty. That's pretty much how/why I learned English in the first place.

If it's not the same Nathaniel then please disregard
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omg, it's really you Chuckles, I can't believe this.
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[LauraMars]

You can tell 1992 (holy crap, 24 real life years ago) was a different time just based on some of these wild names.

Caligula
Wolf
THRAIN IRONSWORD
Nathaniel

Mantis trading in the streets of Allanak and casting in the streets of Tuluk.

A wildly different time.

[BadSkeelz]

That's a downside for learning some of the old lore: it's so different that it comes across as twinky and stupid (and some of it is just stupid), even if it was just how things were back in the day.

[Malken]

You can tell 1992 (holy crap, 24 real life years ago) was a different time just based on some of these wild names.

Caligula
Wolf
THRAIN IRONSWORD
Nathaniel

Mantis trading in the streets of Allanak and casting in the streets of Tuluk.

A wildly different time.

It gets even weirder when you receive a PM that starts with "Is this Batman from Gamemaster BBS?"

[LauraMars]

That's a downside for learning some of the old lore: it's so different that it comes across as twinky and stupid (and some of it is just stupid), even if it was just how things were back in the day.

It's all gotta start somewhere.

Full disclosure, I asked Withered Ocotillo (my husband) to come post here and share some of his ancient memories, since at this point, it's starting to qualify as RL history just as much as in game history. He no longer plays the game but remembers Thrain and the events of that time.

He's been walking around the house laughing about reconnecting with his old buddy Malken for the past half hour.