THE WORLD OF STEEL & BLOOD

THE ROTHS: THE RELIGIOUSLY DEVOUT

Like the Halloranns, the Steinwicks and the Garretts and other families that rose to prominence within the Goldlands, the House of Roth saw its beginnings in the early years of the Expansion.

According to legend, a family of trappers and fur traders, that was suffering dramatically under the rule of Hallorann the Sloth, set out from Siren's Bay and into the Western Woods.

Instead of joining with Garrett the Huntsman and his people in Evergreen, the patriarch of this family; a man by the name of Roth the Trapper ventured further into the Western Woods, hoping to find the perfect spot for him and his family.

The pressure of finding a new home was mounting upon Roth, especially with the winter season approaching, until he and his family came upon the Wolf's River and found a high hill overlooking said river.

In no time, Roth and his brothers and sons got to work on setting the foundation for their new home.

On the day of the first snow of winter, Roth the Trapper had finished his family's home; Wolf's Den and there, the foundation of the House of Roth was built.

The township of Boulder was also built during the construction of Wolf's Den.

Decades after the completion of Wolf's Den, the fur trade came through the Western Woods with the Garretts leading.

Not to be outdone by a rival family, Roth the Trapper got back into the fur trade and began selling a vast collection of pelts and fur blankets to Northerners and to other Westerners.

While Roth the Trapper was busy handling the business of selling beast skins, his eldest son, Rickard Roth carved a mighty wolf outside the gates of their family home.

Over a five-year period, Rickard Roth's creation was complete, and it stood outside of Wolf's Den. In time, this great wood carving would be given the name "The Great Protector of the Den".

In addition to being great fur trappers, the Roths of Wolf's Den were also known to be devout followers of the deity of the sun, Artos.

So devout they were to Artos, that the younger son of Roth the Trapper, Finnegan, erected the first Holy House of Artos and Finnegan training himself in the ways of Artos, so that he may become the first Great Priest of Artos and throughout the Goldlands and quite possibly all of Dragos.

While such fortresses in the West and the North were rebuilt in stone centuries later, Wolf's Den continued on as a massive log fortress, disregarding the need to evolve, like the other families.

And for thousands of years, the Roths continued to flourish not only as fur trappers, but also devout servants to the sun-god Artos.

Throughout those centuries, the influence of the Holy House of Artos was felt everywhere in the Goldlands, from Boulder to Evergreen to Summertown and even all the way to Raider's Rest, which sits along the coastline which looks to the Gulf of Dragons.

But while there have been devoted followers of the sun-god, there too was also radicalized followers that preferred converting non-believers not through their kind words, but with steel and blood.

It is believed that thousands of years ago, extremist believers joined together and invaded the City of Scholars. Many Scholars and common folk were slaughtered in the attack and most of the Great Library's books were torched, which explains why most of the realm's history has been forgotten.

According to the research of Grand Scholar Cordell, these extremists saw the Scholars as heretics and fork-tongued devils "deceiving the masses with their fancy talks of science and logic and reason".

Closed-minded fools, they were or rather still are. Even as I write these words, there still remains a small number of radicalized followers of the sun-god.