I write in praise of Great Lady Kasumi, Empress of Infinite Compassion, Lady of the Stars, Suzerain of all Terrestrial Kingdoms! May her Restoration be hastened by the hands of the faithful!

In the year 287 of our Great Exile from the land of the Empress’ birth, calamity has fallen upon our people. Warriors of the World-King, the Great Lugal, have come to our temples and burned them. They accuse us of great treason, of plotting against the Lugal, of mockery of his gods, and rebellion against the natural order of Master and Servant. We protested against these allegations and reaffirmed our loyalty to the Viceroy of the Empress, but the uneducated and churlish warriors misinterpreted certain clearly allegorical passages of our scriptures.

Our protests fell on deaf ears as our Siblings were put to flame and sword. Blessedly, Great Kasumi heard our lamentations and her winds delivered unto us the armies of the Royalists, those who believe that the Lugal’s priesthood has deposed the great king and rules only in his name. In the fighting, a great many ships bearing sacred relics and artifacts were secreted away. We have come into the service now of a small group of adventurers who have laid claim to a fortress in the flooded Great Tree Swamps. One of their number is a faithful and devoted Kasumite who has thrown herself down in adoration upon hearing the infinite benevolence of our Lady, but the others regrettably still hold onto heathen beliefs. In time they will learn the truth. To facilitate the spread of our Empress’s benevolence and to aid our graceful hosts, we have taken it upon ourselves to compile a brief summary of the peoples of the land, their beliefs, and their status. We have only dwelled in this place for a short time and so our knowledge is limited. As more peoples are encountered and we learn of their ways, we will continue to expand our descriptions.

The Grendels of Grenlund

The Grendels are a small group that has come to dwell in the domains of our hosts. They are outsiders to both this land and to this World, having come from the stars generations ago as soldiers in the employ of the Lugal. For some slight against the Lugal the Grendels either do not know or are unwilling to describe, their Great Company was anathematized, and their people declared Goblinkind by Royal Decree. Most distressingly, we suspect that the superficial resemblance of thesepeople to pigs and swine on our world contributed to this injustice. Now small bands live scattered along the Inner Sea attempting to survive despite their outlawry. Some bands are hired by local powers to serve as soldiers, while others have been driven into the wilds to contend with other outlaws and goblins. This band in question was befriended by our hosts and shepherded away before a Royal Warband could destroy their home. They are the most numerous people in the lands surrounding the castle of our host, and thus the castle has been dubbed Grenlund.

The Grendels hold strong to their military heritage, and each member of the Company (or so they call the community) is expected to be trained to stand and fight in formation from a young age. Though they are inexperienced farmers, being used to an itinerant lifestyle as mercenaries, they have taken well to farming the fertile muckfields and growing the many nutritious fungi native to this region. They maintain a military Commander as well, the leader of the band selected for wisdom and experience in battle by a vote of all households. This Commander remains sovereign despite the Grendels’ agreement to live on the land, and they reserve the right to depart should the situation become unfavorable to them and to command themselves in the event of warfare or attack. They do not live as subjects of our Hosts, but rather as guests. In regard to their behavior, I must note their remarkable constitution. The Grendels can eat food we deem to be utterly unpalatable, even rotten. Some of their youths have made great sport of causing Brother Ichiro to become ill by performing feats of intestinal endurance in his presence. We have politely requested that they cease the torment of our Brother, but this seems to make it all the more sporting for them.

The Grendel of this band as a whole adhere to a view of deterministic atheism, believing the universe to be a great machine of sorts ruled by blind and deaf rules of natural philosophy. The closest thing they observe in regard to ritual or worship is a weekly Roll Call derived from their militaristic past, in which all households report to the Commander to be counted and to discuss matters of importance to the Company as a whole. They regard our faith and the faiths of our planet as a whole as primitive superstition, worship of myths and of beings we falsely believe to be deities. Despite this, they bear no ill will against our faith and a number have listened to our prayers, witnessed our magics, and even participated in our rituals. Though many stubbornly insist that the magics we work by the Grace of the Empress are merely higher cosmic principles we do not understand, they regard us with at least tolerance, and a few younger members of the Company have even earnestly and truthfully called out for the Infinite Benevolence of our Lady. Overall, our relationship with the Grendels has been friendly, and we value the security they bring to Castle Grenlund. With time, we have confidence that the Benevolence of Lady Kasumi will touch their hearts and at the very least drive them to treat Brother Ichiro with a slight bit more tolerance.