Urdàri Prayer Stones

Throughout the Nar Drūden, large boulders tower above the forest floor, often jutting like ship prows above the trees. Some have suspected that these stone anomalies were summoned from the earth itself by the Jōtun or other ancients. The earliest accounts of these formations are not old, suggesting a more recent event. Examination of the boulders reveal that they covered with mystical symbols and runes, reason enough for many to leave the stones alone when found.

Shaman Stones are typically the work of Urdar. Understanding the purpose of the Stones requires an overview of Urdàri legend, magic, and community. The Urdàryr refer to themselves as a godless race, having no mythic progenitor. The diminutive race realizes their lot in life. They are not physically strong. They are not intelligent (relative to other races). They have no deity that favors them or great destiny to carry them. The key to their existence is to remain unnoticed by more important races, for whom the gods have been generous. Furthermore, the Urdar have been cursed with an appearance of evil that colors the opinions of neighboring races, and has found them roles in children’s tales of Ugly Forest Men that stealing Yrūn children in the night. Keeping a low profile is rarely enough to survive. All is not hopeless however, as some Urdar have found a niche that grants them balance.

Following the Second Acèntyra-Dekàli War the Urdar found themselves with room to expand and filled the gulfs between claimed lands (i.e., the Urdàri Kingdoms). They adopted Yrūn techniques for farming and began organizing themselves into small kingdoms as their Kændàlicousins had done centuries before. Shamen, nearly always present within sizable communities, learned the ways of Wōd and flourished with their new found knowledge and magics. In the 1st century DR, an Urdàri shaman named Ragboot was admitted into the ranks of the Stonewatchers of Knerl. In time, Ragboot returned to to his homeland and taught many shamen the Mysteries of Wōd, instructing them how to construct Shaman Stones near their communities.

The stones serve as both foci and magical instruction for each community, but over the years their significance has grown beyond this. By the end of the 5th century DR they became places for decree, judgment, marriage, and punishment within Urdàri communities.