The Brief Guide to the
Ulminbore
Klan Ulminbore, a race of Beauty-worshipping,
tree-loving Giants who emerged out of the Nulean Plain and descended upon Port
Royale, where they had their first, transfigurative, encounter with
civilisation. Here it was that they met
up with the Crusading Gels of Lyredh, and united with them (so to speak) to
take on the defence of the Wood Elves of Elmorin against the claims of their
darker cousins from Morlock Ced. The initial struggle, against teleporting and
invisible demon-sendings, was somewhat successful, but all gains were lost in
the aftermath – partly as the story of the Crusaders took on an impetus all its
own (q.v.) and partly as the curious, loose-living, open-hearted Giants fellow
out with the stiff-necked and uppity Wood Elves. It is a messy tale, and not often
recounted. The end result was that the
Klan sailed off to find a homeland of its own, and Elmorin in due course fell. Since then the Giants have been building up
their settlement (#174) at Ulmindale, upon what was once the Isle of Morgren
(now known as Ulmland). There have been
a few venturings-out, however; in one of which the Klan’s fifteen-year-old
leader, Cleetus Awreetus, known as the Holy Sogologue (after certain
revelations of Lyredh involving total immersion), helped destroy an army of
trans-dimensional monsters (with the aid of a Golden Acorn, gifted by his
Lady). Cleetus is now, alas, dead –
having sacrificed himself once too often in the pursuit of Beauty (and also,
more practically, in the recovery of a certain Shard). But on the upside, he has been Beatified as Saint Cleetus, and the Klan has gained a friend
in heaven…
Read
the Canonization of Saint Cleetus
The Ragged Guide to Ulmindale
- by “Melila Divine”
This spacious
little township of the future is tucked away amidst the soaring trees and
wrinkled hills of its own lushly-wooded mountain isle, that very Ulmland
claimed by the Giants of Klan Ulminbore in the aftermath of the sad debacle upon
Elmorin. (Prone as the Giants are to
talk and sing, the tales of their early days of wanderings are mercifully
blurred – a colourful veil drawn over the fumblings of their first
collaboration with the Crusading Gels, which resulted in the obliteration of
the very realm of wood elves they were trying to defend.) Still, out of loss there came new birth, and
the Klan was inspired to settle down and raise its own Lyredhical City, partly
in guilty reparation but mostly because they wanted to do Right and Wholly what
they had seen done elsewhere only scrappily.
So now they tell
proudly of how the Goddess led them hither, and gave them this perfect island
with its forests, mines and quarries; all that a Craftspeople
could want surrounding them. And well
they have wrought, not despoiling their environment but rather raising up from
it a harmonious parallel development of artifice amidst nature. Every dwelling in the settlement is unique
and individual, yet all sing from the same song-sheet of carved wood. Even the very city lay-out is inspired by the
whorls of tree-rings, resulting in a gently circuitous entanglement of homes
and gardens, workshops, shops and yards; so that the forest and its lawns
entwine into the village, and the buildings melt into the woods. Wide boulevards of grass allow amply for the
passage of Giant wagons and feet, while the otherwise obscure entrance to the
site is marked by a mysterious slender white stone obelisk with a huge and
perfect limestone sphere perched impossibly atop.
The city-leader,
Eavylyn – an ingenious Craftsperson, whose all-steal boomerang was unveiled at
the last Lorasian games – is responsible for the over-all co-ordination which
themes together the natural anarchy of creation the Klan spawns. With modest pride she showed me round the
highlights of her hometown – not omitting the wonderfully sonorous stone
sewers, Giant-sized and sparkling clean, that spider-web beneath the rooted
ground in sculptural echoes of the homes above.
Water fountains appear everywhere upon the surface, small and discreet
or showy and large, rattling into troughs or tinkling down upon
wind-chimes. Despite their huge love of
food and drink, and their relishment of every stage of digestion, the Klan are a cleanly folk these days, and the Plague remains an
unwelcome visitor.
At the very centre
of the city is the mighty and inspiring sight of the Great Temple of Lyredh,
the purest expression of the Giant’s worship of their Lady; three Giant-storeys
high, built solidly of wood and shaped like a great corkscrewing thrive of oak
and mistletoe, aglitter in lieu of leaves with the unique workmanship of the
Klan’s own stained-glass windows. Here
are worked-in contributions from every sector of the population, not excluding
the distinctive brilliance of Dark-Elvish craft, with animated statues
signalling the hours. Indeed, the very
walls of the Temple are formed into a massive Orgasum, a Giant-thundering
musical instrument of mechanic wind-bellow, pipe and pump, all operated from a
single keyboard under the delicate control of Donp Reston, choirmaster and
current Deacon of the Temple. Here the
Klan and all the population come to celebrate their Goddess with Feast and
Music on a regular basis; no event, not even the mundane passing of time, too trivial
to be enjoyed, according to their deep-set creed – one which becomes ever more
attractive and persuasive, the longer one lives in close association with its
comfortable charge.
Not far from the
Taxes are unknown
in Ulmindale, which may partly account for its popularity amongst its citizens,
but surely its strongest tie upon the heart is its beauty and its naturalness –
and its freedom for innovation and sheer eccentricity. The Giants take all manner of oddity in their
long stride, believing that Beauty is often Skewiff. Thus the behaviour of their Chief Druid,
Gregor Ypeckory, draws smiles rather than frowns – and, indeed, his discoveries
in alchemical fungi-farmacology and related areas have proved invaluable –
distillates that are reputed to improve intelligence and also reproductive
inclinations… not to mention a unique
spell of Landscape Nurturing, which he might be willing to pass on for
gold. And whether all this is fact or
fiction, certainly the colony grows apace – though the latest population bulge
came rather with an influx of emigrants from goblin-threatened Angonheim. Now housing is going up apace, and the sewers
continue to expand, while ingenious mechanical defences are put in place to
guard this crafted jewel of Lyredh’s.
Surely, as news of
this calm and lovely haven spreads, so more and more of the Lyredhical-at-heart
will be drawn across the seas to dwell in it?
The curious and the creative, and those with a bent for trade might also
think it worth a visit. As an incentive,
I give below some sample prices from the local market, but repeat that the
township’s first attraction is its liberty and loveliness. But how to find it?
– for the Klan are somewhat shy. Surely the best approach would be to contact
Eavylyn of Ulmindale via the Lorasian mails, to ascertain a route and – perhaps
– negotiate advantages…
Food Luxuries
Shaped Stone Wagons Fodder
Lumber Cattle
To buy 6 19
23 56 6 19 11
To sell 4 15
18 46 4 15 8