The man who would be High King, Balinor, is a mysterious figure in the history of Ar’rin.
He first appears in records as a mercenary paid to fight on behalf of the Wolf’s Head Tribe outside of Kalimbor against a force made of residents in a small battle for land rights near the town’s farms. The nomadic plainsfolk of the Wolf’s Head Tribe had long used the fields and glades as a springtime retreat for their herds. The rapid expansion of the town and its burgeoning farming community placed the fields under the authority of the town council.
The council was made up of forestfolk and riverfolk who built a trading post on the site of the now-famous city. In a single cyclath the outpost had grown to be a formidable town, and the community grew more and more each yiar, the need for farming consuming open land.
The nomadic tribe saw this happen each spring, and after a particularly harsh winter, they came prepared to defend their herd, prepared for hostility. The previous autumn the tribe had recruited warriors to aid them in the protection of their livestock, and they arrived ready to cause mayhem in the town.
Balinor is named among a group that was identified as burning fields and harassing farmers who denied the tribe grazing privileges. Shortly after this encounter he kills several townfolk who attack him and his companions in a tavern outside the town. All the deceased are recorded as laborers or family of prominent farms that are named in the escalating conflict.
This lead to a battle upon a hill covered in long green grass, and the people of Kalimbor refer to the encounters that spring as the Green Grass War. However, it appears to consist of only a few incidents, some burned fields, and one battle between a dozen mercenaries, a handful of Wolf’s Head warriors, and two score of armed militia.
Balinor is distinguished in the record for wounding 5 participants and disarming the militia commander, with a broken spear and a length of chain from the commander’s flail. A verse from a ballad immortalized this moment.
Balinor, O Balinor, he faced the commander then,
covered in scars and blood, he came upon him when,
with a fool’s shaft, he bound the flail, and ripped it from his arm.
The commander was chained to his loss, Forever, Forever, Forever.
The belief is that the head of the flail was somehow separated from the length of chain, perhaps too long for the commander to wield effectively. Then Balinor used it to subdue him after the broken spear was used to disarm the commander.
Switching Sides
Curiously, the next time Balinor shows up in the records is the following Spring when the tribe returns to use the fields and conduct the same campaign. Balinor is now the Captain of the Militia in the town of Kalimbor and brokers a peaceful resolution with the tribe’s Chieftain, after wrestling the Chief’s eldest son in a contest of hammer fist, as the plainsfolk call it.
The ‘hammer fist’ is best described as a brawling contest where two (or more) contestants are to fight in a small circle. Their waists are bound together with a length of rope, one hand knotted into the rope. Their other hand is wrapped in a fur sleeve, containing a splint of wood that forces the arm to remain extended from elbow to wrist. They then bludgeon one another until someone relents or until only one contestant remains awake.
Balinor wins the contest, reinforcing his respect from the tribe, and forcing them to accept the terms of an accord with the town.
Even today there are disagreements settled in the region around Kalimbor that allow for Hammer Fist as a viable option for resolution.
There is also a famous tavern near the farming fields called The Wolf’s Head which is a popular place for nomads, farmers, and warriors to drink and gamble together.
The Kalimbor Tourney
In the third year of Balinor’s captaincy, his reputation had grown enough that a tourney was held to replace him in Kalimbor. It was at this tourney that the strength of his legend truly began to take shape. The tournament started with re-enactments of the Battle at The Green Grass Hill, featuring his disarmament of the previous militia commander, a celebration of the hammer fist brawl, and even a serious of boasts where various tales of Balinor “keeping the peace” in town were exaggerated to highly entertaining levels.
However, few dared to speak of his childhood, which remains shrouded in mystery. Where did his family hail from? What ancestry did he claim among the mortal folk of Ar’rin? These and many more questions are lost to the annal of history.
However, there is a single tale that was recounted time and again during his rise, during his reign as a High King, and at his funeral: the resurrection of the fallen hero.
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