The Legend of the Fenrir

Legend of the Fenrir

For centuries, the ancient dwarven kingdom Moria has sat in shambles from its time of great conflict; the time of the Fenrir. A monstrous beast born by the gods and placed on middle earth as a weapon against the mortal's growing strength. The mortals were becoming more and more powerful by the day, to the point the gods grew jealous and frightened by their power. This beast was just one of many, created to be a predator to the seemingly unbeatable world. The wretched Fenrir was a mangled wolf of hell. It's teeth alone grew to be the size of cottages and its paws could crush villages. It seemed to only enjoy the taste of blood as it attacked every few nights to feast on the dwarven kingdom. It's mangy fur was rugged, but as thick as wool, and the dark skin that lined its body was almost impenetrable, almost.

There was once a time of great prosperity in Moria. The days of old where dwarves mined and worked. They were the center of almost all trade in the middle earth, with their largest gold transport at the Lonely Mountain. The king at the time had not yet found the Arkenstone, and the overwhelming greed he was to have had not yet begun. Even elves would wander into their villages, which at the time were settled outside the mountains rather than in them, to buy their iron and metal to create their vast arsenal of weaponry. The Fenrir was first seen on the edge of Amon Rudh, blood of the stone, named for its appearance. It sat among pastures that could be seen for miles, but that one hill was special. Upon its top sat millions of red flowers known as Seregon, making the hill look as if it was always bleeding.

A village sat just north of the hill, filled with mostly farming dwarves that were no longer fit for mining. Either blinded by the years of dust in their eyes, or injured through accidents and cave-ins. They lived happily on the lands, some even mastered the new found art of taming and domesticating animals. Among the many, was wolves.

A wolf pup showed up one day on the village grounds. The handlers took it in and named it Duerya - Dark Guest, but she later became known as Duerydd - Dark Queen. It all began with her trainer whom went by Nurik - Steady Brother. But it all ended with Duerydd.

The pup was smaller than a kitten and Nurik couldn't help but feel sorry for it as he kneeled down to see it coward in the bushes. His green eyes stared down at the creature gently till her eyes looked back up at him. Unlike most wolf eyes, hers were a dark amber, and her fur was a dark smokey grey. Usually the wolves they found near Blood of the Stone were brown or light grey to match the pastures around them. Nurik reached out for the pup, but it wedged itself farther away from his outstretched hand.

"Come along, young'en. I won't hurt ya, love," he whispered into the boosh lightly. Two glowing eyes looked up at him from the darkness. Their spiraling curiosity reflected into Nurik's until finally she scuffled toward his nimble fingers. He wrapped his rough hand around the creature and scooped her off the cold ground into his arms. His long brown braided beard acted like a blanket as she curled into him for warmth and protection. "There ya'r, young'en," he cooed to her gently. With her safe in his arms, he headed back toward the village. Little did he know that the life he had saved that night was to be the destruction of almost his entire race.

At first she spent most of her time hiding on Nurik's shoulder, but she began to grow slowly yet surely. The village people grew familiar with Nurik's little pup, but a name had not yet been given. The dwarves began to call her ya - guest, mostly because they couldn't think of a better name yet. It wasn't until she was the size of a proper mut when she was to be called Duerya. She had come along with Nurik on a hunt, among other dwarves, where she disappeared through the night leaving Nurik uneasy about leaving. Halfway back toward the village they noticed something in the darkness running along beside them a ways. With a shine of their lanterns they learned it was Duerya and that she had never left their side in the first place.