RuneScape Forum Archive | Y'all's Forinthry Headcanon

Jun

2023

O Teragard

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Anyone got some interesting headcanon on Forinthry? The place is such a mystery to me, but I would have loved it if archaeology explored there. Did any other parts of the games explore it besides that odd bit of dialogue with the museum curator? Or have any of you got your own headcanon that you'd like to share?

What god was it aligned with? Zaros I gather? Perhaps Zamorak right before it was destroyed?

Was Armadyl's husband killed here?

Who were the majority of inhabitants? Was is like Senntisten where it was a split between humans, demons, and mahjarrat?

What was their culture like? Click here for ideas on exploring other worlds, specifically the human homeworld Teragard. This one's me baby

08-May-2020 00:51:18

AttilaSquare

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In case it’s interesting, in 2014-2015 as part of a broader headcannon Epic of Ikov , I sketched out some stories in Forinthry at the start of the 2nd age before any gods had laid claim to it and even before many mortals had settled there:

In contrast to the populous plain of Asgarnia and the forest west of the Lum to the south, Forinthry was a vast and sparsely populated frontier. A great mountain in its center overlooked forests and plains on all sides.

At the time, Armadyl, Ikov, and a small force of about 300 troops came to Forinthry on a journey to cast out spirits sent by Zaros to gain control of the land before his arrival. Ikov and his company came first, down from Ice Mountain and into the highland moors which made up Forinthry’s southwest.

The land was inhabited only by a handful of witches, who made their home amidst the large knotted roots that twisted out of the ground here and there - roots as if from a colossal tree, but the roots themselves were the native plants. Aside from the arching roots and the fetid ground, there was only dense fog to be seen, fog that ranged from light gray at noontime to utter black at night.

Armadyl came to the company one month later, after having slain an earthen giant south of the mountain - the first manifestation of Vorago. For three more months, the company endured the fog and freezing rain and witches in the moors, until at last Ikov grasped the spirit in the fog.

He held it with his mind, unleashing the land’s native spirits that it oppressed. Terrible wind and hail fell upon the camp all through the night, while the native spirits drove out the fog and its spirit. Then the sky was clear, and all Forinthry could be seen stretched out before the company in the first light of dawn, and Ikov was carried to his tent to rest.

08-May-2020 22:45:53

AttilaSquare

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For some weeks, the company traveled east past Forinthry’s great mountain and then to the north. The land was bountiful with game and settled by very few. As they journeyed north, the forests fell away, and they came to a wind-swept plain by the eastern coast and a large village of settlers from Asgarnia.

The settlers told them of a horde of troglodytes that lived in a volcano, visible on the horizon, that lay across an isthmus of rock at Forinthry’s northeastern extreme. Not long before, troglodytes had attacked them and burned down another village.

Camped at the village, the company repelled an attack of the troglodytes in the night and pursued them across the plain and over the narrow rock bridge back to their mountain. Looking into a great fissure in the mountain itself, they beheld thousands of troglodytes barely illuminated by the magma below. The troglodytes were slaughtering and feasting upon each other. Hundreds more poured forth from terraced caves within to join the feast.

Overseeing it all was a demon standing on an upper terrace, about the height of a man, red-skinned and satyr-bodied, with large yellow pupil-less eyes. Just like with the fog before, Ikov seized upon the demon in his mind. They locked eyes, and Ikov bound the demon’s power.

Then the spell by which the demon had set the troglodytes against each other continued unchecked and ran to its utter end. While the company watched from the seaside fissure, the troglodytes consumed each other until not one was left. In the morning, Ikov released the demon at last, and it fled invisibly to the west.

08-May-2020 22:49:12

AttilaSquare

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The volcano was habitable, so the company washed away the blood and corpses. They fortified the mountain and built a lookout tower near its summit. They left the mountain to the settlers from Asgarnia as a fortress for times of war. Although it was the dead of winter, the company resolved to leave the magma-warmed bowels of the mountain to pursue the demon west along Forinthry’s northern coast.

For nearly the whole length of Forinthry’s northern coast there ran a deep gorge with a high ridge on its north side, as if an immense cosmic claw had dragged through the earth. North of the ridge lay dunes of fine gray sand; then fifty meters of beach; some meters of ice; and finally the choppy sea beyond, forever stirred by the arctic wind. Thus it was for miles and miles - a miserable way between the gray-blue sky above and the gray sand below, between the high ridge on the left and the cold salty sea on the right - until the gorge and ridge and beach ended before the forested hills that lay in Forinthry’s northwest.

Between the rocky isthmus and the start of the gorge, a totem made of black volcanic rock, three meters high, with the face of a lion and wings of a bat, lay toppled over on the gray sand. There the company deliberated - whether to journey down into the gorge, sheltered from the wind but not knowing what may live there, or to traverse the beach exposed to the wind and sea. They chose the latter and for weeks walked alone along the frozen beach.

One day, the company came upon a strange sight: Men wearing black leathery robes were walking across the beach, each alone, separated from the next by about twenty meters. Some were walking toward the ridge and others toward the sea, as if in two lines. They carried stone bowls and muttered quietly to themselves.

08-May-2020 22:52:50

AttilaSquare

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The company watched from a distance. Each man walking toward the sea would walk out onto the ice and to its edge where he would kneel and fill his bowl with water. Then he would rise and walk back toward the ridge and disappear among the dunes.

The company moved among the dunes to see where the men would go. There was an opening in the ridge, like a notch, a couple meters wide at the ground. Blocking the way into the gorge was a large stone altar; its top surface divided into two faces gently sloped toward each other and back toward the gorge.

Each man would dump the water from his stone bowl onto the altar so that it trickled to the backside of the altar and into the gorge. Then he would turn around and walk back to the sea. The men took no notice of the company, and the company camped nearby that night.

In the morning, the strange priests were gone and had taken captive some of the company. Discouraged, the company continued their march on the beach. They discovered more altars at openings in the ridge, and one day at noontime they came upon a village of homes cut into the ridge itself.

The demented people of the village, all clothed in the black leather of sea serpents and armed with silver swords, men, women, and children, attacked the company. They kept perfect silence through the attack, and stayed silent when they were driven to the edge of the ice, and stayed silent even until the last of them drowned in the arctic water.

The company overturned the altar in the stone village and from its place crossed down into the gorge to search for their lost companions. In the gorge, they found that the world grew thin. Several slipped into portals, and were devoured by demons. In their desperation, they protected their minds from the demons’ torment by singing and dancing and running together until they reached the end of the gorge and took shelter in the forested hills.

08-May-2020 22:55:14 - Last edited on 08-May-2020 22:57:35 by AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

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Once the company was safely encamped, Armadyl and Ikov alone turned back to walk the whole length of the beach and came to the toppled totem near the isthmus of rock. The totem was no totem but a mirage, a play of light that hid a cave. Within the cave there was a glowing crystal, whose light reflected from a mosaic of black volcanic glass and pools of quicksilver to create the appearance of the totem.

Ikov smashed the crystal. By destroying its magic, he healed the world where it was thin. He shut out the power of the demons in the gorge - the demons who had driven mad the troglodytes and the villagers clothed in black. Then he flew with Armadyl back to the company.

Six villages of Fremennik lay in the wooded hills. They longed to return to their kin in the west, but the pass through Trollweiss was guarded by an undead seer, a phantom who wandered the woods at night and struck down passersby with the green rectangular blade that he dragged behind him.

With the encouragement of Armadyl, Ikov, and the company, all the Fremennik in the villages gathered to journey back to the west. Armadyl led them through the pass, while Ikov took another route through the cave of an ancient wyrm. In utter darkness he walked deep beneath the mountains for days, sensing the seer ahead. At last, he struck down the seer, and Forinthry was freed from the spirits of Zaros.

Ikov climbed from the cave to rejoin the host. Three more villages of Fremennik upon the icy shelf north of the mountains joined them too, and on the first day of spring Armadyl, Ikov, their company, and the Fremennik villagers arrived in the west.

08-May-2020 23:02:19

Jun

2023

O Teragard

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Omg that is beautiful work you have there. Thanks for sharing! Armadyl, Ikov, and company journey into Forinthry to keep Zaros from gaining control? Like... that probably totally happened, yet we have no idea about it because of time. Honestly if they had a Forinthry dig site, I would love to see Armadyl lore there too. Click here for ideas on exploring other worlds, specifically the human homeworld Teragard. This one's me baby

09-May-2020 01:15:12

Aug

2023

Barnabix

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Well the only actual evidence of anything;

During the 2nd Age is was mostly dominated by Zaros. Plenty of the Ancient teleports are locations inside the Wilderness. As well as the "Roots in the community" (Or whatever it was called) story about where Cres originally came from before he built up Guthix's Chambers

After that, all we know about the 3rd Age is that Armadyl, Saradomin, and Zamorak chipped away at different locations of Zaros' empire. Saradomin and Zamorak probably had the most control over the area as seen in Ritual of the Mahjarrat and with The Fist of Guthix being the place Saradomin hid the Stone of Jas during that time.

Armadyl probably had floating cities above Forinthry which might explain why do many died with Zamorak's last stand. (And yes, Armadyl's husband of the time died because of that)

There's a LOT of room from the 1st Age to the 3rd Age to be done about Forinthry though

Balance in all things

09-May-2020 03:11:33

Jun

2023

O Teragard

Posts: 4,181 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Barnabix said :
...There's a LOT of room from the 1st Age to the 3rd Age to be done about Forinthry though

Yeah, the more I hear the more fun I have speculating. Forinthry was massively important compared to now. Interesting about Saradomin too, and hiding the stone of Jas. I should replay those old quests. Click here for ideas on exploring other worlds, specifically the human homeworld Teragard. This one's me baby

09-May-2020 23:03:28

Jun

2023

O Teragard

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Some dialogue from endgame suggests that there were Aviansie at Forinthry when Zammy nuked it. Perhaps part of a military effort? But the fact that most of his race were present when the nuke went off suggests that they were living there, either on the ground or above and still within vicinity of the nuke.

A:Murderer, how dare you show your face here!

Z: You dare slander me with that title, god slayer? You who decapitated Bandos and encouraged a war across all of Gielinor to do so?

A:That was different. You murdered almost an entire species. Your attack on Forinthry...

Z:Ha! You speak as though I had a choice. You and Saradomin stood beside one another ready to pronounce my death sentence. I only did what I did as a last resort.

A:We could have been reasoned with. We would have listened. We would have accepted a graceful surrender.

Z:You...perhaps. You still cling to the mortality of mortals, perhaps trying to convince yourself you are one. But not him. Not Saradomin. He had my death sentence pronounced from the moment our war began. He cannot stand that my message is as powerful as his. That freedom can be just as powerful as his mindless dogma.

A:That does not excuse what you did. To save your life, you took thousands of lives. You nearly destroyed my entire race.

Courtesy of Talonstalker at 341-342-913-66051101 for providing this dialogue Click here for ideas on exploring other worlds, specifically the human homeworld Teragard. This one's me baby

10-May-2020 05:22:02 - Last edited on 10-May-2020 05:23:02 by O Teragard

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Y'all's Forinthry Headcanon