Röld was one of the innermost farmstead communities on the Continent, nestled against the slopes of the Sword Mountains foothills. The great shaman Orduk of Tribe Iokarr (Bonecrunch) was born there in 52 b. OW. Lennidskirkn was the town's church.

History

The church was built in 1'173 b. OW, likely by motivated Ferdskjon pioneers from Röld and surrounding communities who wished to earn the goodwill of the unknown mountain spirits. A priest familiar with the spirit of ice, the "soul of the mountains", eventually known as Joknurr, came to dedicate the church half a decade later. The building - little more than an 18 square meter rectangle - was not the permanent residence of any clergy, but it was regularly used by the people of Röld to congregate and pray to Jokurr, and also as a burial ground.

During the Drubark occupation of the Ferdrskjisle, Lennidskirkn was briefly mentioned in Lalein's Saga, in 1'042. It told that Lalein and her lieutenants, whose force was staying around Röld, came to the church to collect their spirits and seek the ice-god's strength. A few days later, they drifted down a cold river in late winter to enter and free the fortified town of Contje.

The church remained in local use for another half century. It was fully rebuilt at least once, using very durable dark oak this time, but the exact footprint of the original building was kept and the villagers made a point of pride that their roof was the exact same as their earliest ancestors'.

The Nordalen-based Church of Jokurr Descended appointed a bishop to Adcontje in the early 6th century. This woman, Irika Thodlagsdottr, rededicated the old Lennidskirkn to her formal god, and at the same time appointed a priest to oversee religious service in the town. As for many other old small churches, the bishop then forbade religious service in Lennidskirkn in 420, resulting in the building being used as little more than a graveyard.

With an orcish immigrant population came the shamanistic religion of Grak'Uruk, which was received rather well by the locals. A shaman joined the old building to the Watched Domains of his deity in 195, and it became a place of prayer to the odd mix of Ferdr-orcish spirits.

After Bonecrunch took over the region, Lennidskirkn suddenly became an interesting holy site again thanks to its long history (larger, more modern churches were less suited to Bonecrunch practice). A new church was built on top of Lennidskirkn's circular footprint, keeping the old rectangle as a central nave. The locals still referred to it by the same name, however, and parts of the old building were integrated into the new one. It was anointed in 110 as the seat of a shaman revered.

The building fell apart in 22 OW, and only the inner nave could be used for services. In 31, using imperial funds and enlisted manpower, the old building was flattened and a large stone church built in a similar location, serving as the new, prestigious spiritual center for the region.

Construction

Lennidskirkn is called a "peat church" because of its construction: on top of a wooden frame were added slabs of sod, which served as a durable roof. The church was approximately 6 meters by 3 meters, and gave space for a good 20 people. The inner layout changed over time, though the walls were always painted with scenes of Ferdr and then Bonecrunch legend, and had to be repainted approximately every 70 years.

The church stood in the middle of a circular graveyard; the graves were arranged perpendicularly to the low sod wall which ringed the building, at an approximate 7 meter radius. This was understood as a direct spiritual channel to "return to the mountains", a religious belief apparently inherited from the Mruggenrykz' Tharmounts mountain-dwellers in the north. It is believed that some of the settler pioneers were in fact people from the central Mruggenrykz, who had much more experience with this kind of land than the seafarer Ferdskjonner.

1000smth big war, visited by Lalein herself 630 continent lost but not too long, probably remains human town