Back when the realm was young, or at least when we began
writing down things which happened in it, The Two Cities
thought up a doomed plot for peace. The writer is sure you
all know where all that went, but let us get back to the
story. The plot was successful for a while as most plots
are. Embassies were built, messengers sent, trade routes set
up, et cetera. The main public event which has sprouted from
the attempt at good relations was the political marriage of
two humans, a male by the name of Gandor Lardamn from the
elven realms and a woman knows as Maria Shot from the drow
lands. They were set to marry in a neutral hall of prayer
which neither side cared to conquer yet, on the same day the
ambassadors go into office and begin their official work.
The reason for that, other than the symbolism of the fact,
was that the parents were the ambassadors to each side. The
whole thing was planned thoroughly, and albeit the many
difficulties which came up while it was done, many caused by
the long history of feuds and disagreements between both
sides, was perfectly outlined. The honeymoon was to be in a
home built for them by the money of both cities in a neutral
location not far from the praying place in which the
ceremony will take place. The question of where they will
live their lives, as no side wanted their children far from
their original homes, was the last to be decided upon and
reached the hardest conclusion. They will live for an entire
human year in one city, the first shall be chosen randomly,
and at the end of that year move back to the twin city, vice
versa.

The day of the marriage came, the hall of the temple looked
fabulous. It was decorated in a genius rhythm of both
cultures. The color theme was a mix of gold and blue for the
elves, and purple and red for the drow. Many flowers from
both lands covered the walls, ceiling and columns of the
hall, long silk strands were tied around the chairs and
altar while holy decorations from both sides were thrown
around in intricate designs. The sits were full, many
important guests arrived including representatives of each
city's leaders and nobles of all kinds. A crowd was
assembling outside the great hall of the praying place. The
royal couple (for they were the children of nobles now)
entered exactly one hour after the guests stopped arriving.
They came slowly up the runway and reached the altar where a
priest and priestess were beginning to conduct the ceremony.
The representative of each side, including some of the more
important nobles and even two family members gave some words
of a brighter future, and the couple were wed.

During the speeches of the representative of each town, they
both mentioned a special item which will be given to the
couple's safe keep for the rest of time, the remind everyone
of the marriage and the peace it has encouraged. The item
was actually a melding together of two figurines, each one
from their respective homeland. A robe clad woman with two
moons chipped on her shoulders and carrying to elven looking
infants was the representation of Tomyra, Goddess of the
night and fertility. The second figure was of a warrior elf,
holding what seemed like a small ball with triangle-shaped
bolts coming out of it; the sun, and a sword in the other
hand. He was the representation of Aranos, god of the sun
and light, which represented the flowing of time. Through
the handicraft of elder dwarves they were made to be dancing
together in a joined stance. The whole contraption was given
a base which looked rather simple, but which joined the both
of them for eternity. The statuette was given to the couple
and for all to remember the day both lands joined in their
own kind of dance, which was that of peace and prosperity
for both sides.

A half hour later the couple left the praying hall with a
great splendor and applause, rice and other such things
thrown at their trail as they left. It was a marvelous show,
both the wedding and their departure. After their carriage
was lost in the distance the crowd waited for all the
important figures to leave securely first, after which
everyone else began making their way home. The newly wed
arrived at their home with a special package waiting for
them in the entrance hall. It contained the statuette of the
two figures. It couldn't be given to them on the wedding
because it was left in the praying place for all to see
until they left. A letter was attached to it with fancy
words detailing the making of this figurine and what it
symbolizes, and that no matter what must be passed on to
each eldest son which is born to the family.

The Lardamn couple began their life and no one really knew
how they led it. It is of no importance, either, for they
were both forced into this marriage. They were both pretty
decent people, however, so no drama appeared here. They had
three children, one elder son who chose to stop the silly
tradition of changing homes every year, and as he grew up to
build his own family, used some of the money his parents
gained through their new nobility to build his own close to
the now demolished honeymoon plot. Upon his father's death
he received the figurine and gave it a place of honor in his
new home. And all was well.

The decades passed, and both factions have long forgotten
their attempt at peace. Before the first son of the joined
marriage passed on and his own son inherited the statuette,
the ambitious drow and haughty elves forgotten their past
foolishness and began anew their battles over land, faith
and work force. The ambassadors were killed, the embassies
destroyed and the only thing left to ever remind everyone of
the once noble attempt was the family of the third Lardamn
and the statuette.

As for the man himself, he played the part of an unimportant
neutral trader, and using the special location of his house
which somehow escaped the ruins of war, managed to make
quite a decent amount of richness. He married a beautiful
woman who escaped the drow and brought her up as an
independent woman. She learned the way of rich neutral
families and thrived in it. In time, the figurine had
replaced its location on the mantelpiece in the neutral
house to a barracks outside the elven city, as the fourth
Lardamn had no liking to neutrality, and believing a local
gypsy that he had elven blood, chose to take part in the war
against his darker cousins. He offered the service to his
brothers and moved to their city. The figurine was kept in
his personal luggage, for he had respect for his father's
wishes and to the tradition in his now reputable lineage
(the reputation only gained in the elven city, as they had
made a hero of the son who decided to thwart the silliness
of neutrality).

The hero died in his bed many years later, and as the old
tradition demanded he passed it on to his own son, who
became a solider like him. The father, who died a high
ranking officer, had the figurine standing on his office
table, yet he did not let out the fact it stood for peace.
Instead, he made up a story about how it represented the
power of the elves against the drow, as the figure of Aranos
seemed to be a bit higher and looking down at Tomyra. The
son, now a petty officer in the same army, had kept it with
him always, for he felt it gave his father good luck. For
others, which saw it all too many times for he showed it off
often, he told it was an heirloom he couldn't part with.

The fifth Lardamn did not followed in his father's
footsteps, and died a soldier's death on the battlefield
against a drow ambush. In truth it was due to a conspiracy
made by his own wife, who by chance happened as a child to
be rescued by elves from an orc camp. Little did they know
she was already brainwashed into believing the drow are the
only true rulers. She hired an agent to infiltrate her poor
husband's brigade and on the same time act as a double agent
for the drow who set up the ambush, thus leading the
figurine directly into their hands. Once he was dead and she
was sure she covered all her steps and that the drow managed
to kill the double agent as well, she deserted and moved to
the drow lands, where she brought up their children in a
lie, telling them their father had drow ancestors. She told
them a story about the figurine; that it was made in honor
of Tomyra, who was posed as a crafty assassin about to
strike down the haughty Aranos. She gave the ownership to
her eldest son, who happened to be the youngest for she was
blessed with four daughters before him.

The treacherous wife died an anonymous death by a malevolent
drow priestess, leaving her son to run to the outskirts of
the city to live outside the grasps of those wanting the
erase any remains of the family. He used whatever wealth his
mother managed to steal from her husband's inheritance.
Since it was quite enough to build himself a respectable
house and base himself as a merchant like his ancestor, he
was happy to take on the name of his ancestors as well,
which was forgotten by the drow for decades. The Sixth
Lardamn lived a long, relatively peaceful life.

The seventh and last Lardamn, as far as this writer is
aware, was not as reputable as any of his fathers. He was
neither merchant nor soldier, and was too blunt to be
anything more than a peasant. He lost his entire inheritance
and his father's money in gambling debts, and only managed
to keep a small house and the special figurine away from the
long hands of the tax collectors. Finally, and out of any
means, he sold the figurine to a traveling smuggler.
Somehow, word got out that the famous figurine was found at
the drow lands, and the elves began a campaign to retrieve
their lost artifact. The drow, having heard rumors a Lardamn
cousin managed to slip that the figurine is in the hands of
the seventh Lardamn. They found him, and after getting the
information of where it is, killed him and formed their own
army to retrieve it from the now long gone smuggler.

The poor smuggler, unaware of his coming predicament, was
already halfway to the elven lands to complete his annual
trade route. He was actually quite close to the ruins of the
old praying hall where the ancestors of the one who owned
the figurine were joined in the past attempt of cease fire.
It was now nothing but grey rubble which no one even
bothered to clear, and had been long since robbed of all
forgotten treasures. Rumors said it was haunted by evil
spirits. It was on the exact day the smuggler decided to
camp there for the night that the two armies found him. He
was caught between the two like between the hammer and the
forge. The battle which was fought there, however, did not
make a legend, for no one returned alive from the place. It
is said that a massive natural disaster caused the death and
destruction now lying at the location, which even yours
truly do not know of.

Others, however, whisper of something less natural had
transpired in the now field of death. They even push forward
and mumble that the whole ordeal was caused by the meaning
of the figurine, that Tomyra and Aranos themselves
intervened and slew everyone on the battlefield, for that
the statuette's ancient representation of peace and the more
recent bringing of war angered them greatly, for some reason
I do not understand. And so it is this legend of a simple
statuette lies somewhere in the dirt, in the exact center of
the world where an army of all races fought for its
ownership. It is said it was taken by the gods, and that
none shall have it even if it isn't. But is it? No solid
proof has been given. And perhaps some day we'll see it
again, and its old reason of being shall return and we shall
see peace again.

- Legend of Lardamn Lineage written by an unknown human from
the slave camps of the drow. He was killed for writing it
but the manuscript has long been smuggled out of the pits to
be published. Aiden Kavan