N/Entities/Duran the Great
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Duran the Great (3702 - 3805 CE) was the first great leader and war hero of the Armidions, a figure steeped in legend. Born to a poor blacksmith and his wife, Duran's birth was foretold by prophets across Durmorin (in some accounts, Tukaku shamans were first forewarned of his greatness). A charismatic and ambitious young boy, Duran became Guardian of Allnuré, his tribe, at the age of 16. At 20 years, he had already unified some of the southern tribes, and was on friendly terms with other chieftains. He was made chieftain at 27 years old, and after two years, he had already unified all but two of the southern Armidion tribes. In 3732 CE, at the Battle of Brullno Bridge, he conquered the remaining two tribes and was on the way to unifying all the Armidions.
In 3733 CE, one of the northern chieftains, Lulhullo, shocked and jealous at the efficiency with which Duran had unified the southern tribes, called all the northern tribes together in order to overthrow the growing southern menace. On the fifth day of the moon of Hukbalaha, at the citadel of Alhui Dormor, Lulhullo and 23 other chieftains declared war on Duran and his allies. Duran, with his foresight, had already fortified the important settlements (such as the Allnurin capital of Cormoré and the granaries in Pulnolé) and had strengthened his armies earlier that year. He had also won favor with the Tukaku chieftains, who promised to assist him throughout the war.
Duran and the Southern Alliance (as the tribes were then called) valiantly resisted defeat and managed to overcome a few cities at the end of the year. The next year, the tide turned, however, and the Alliance suffered major losses, like when the insightful commander Peregrin was killed in the Battle of Culloghan Field, or when the Northerners razed the vital fortress of Silmorié to the ground.
Shaken by the loss of Silmorié, Duran retreated to the wilderness for a few weeks, where he was taught by a Tukaku shaman in the art of prophecying, and where he obtained a ring, said to bear great magical powers, and which would eventually bear his name. Returning to the battlefield, he learned that Lulhullo had personally executed one of the Southern chieftains, and was soon going to conquer the South.
Duran called his troops, chieftains, and commanders together and made a plan to overcome Lulhullo's armies at the Cormorin Pass, a narrow pass between two high and seemingly impassable mountains, through which any invading army had to go. On the seventh of the moon of Maio, Duran and his allies assembled their troops on the mountains and attacked the Northern troops in a decisive victory. Lulhullo's army was reduced to a seventh of its size, and the winter of that year saw the Northern armies retreating to their strongholds. Duran eventually conquered the whole of the North in 3735 CE, two years after the war had begun, and imprisoned Lulhullo and his henchmen in the bottomless pit of Xabuvio.
